for a prey as it is expressed Ier. 38. 2. look not behind thee y Like one that grieves either for the loss of thy pleasant habitation or vast estate or for those cursed miscreants justly devoted to this destruction And this command though given to Lot alone yet was directed also to his companions to whom doubtless he imparted it as is evident both from all the other commands which equally concern all and from the following event See Matth. 24. 18. Lake 9. 62. neither stay thou in all the plain escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed 18 And Lot said unto them * i. e. Unto one of them as is manifest from the following words Oh not so my LORD 19 Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life and I cannot escape to the mountain z Because of the infirmity of my age and the fainting of my spirits Thus he sheweth an unworthy and unreasonable distrust of Gods Power and Goodness which he had now experienced and acknowledged lest some evil take me and I die 20 Behold now this City is near to flee unto and it is a little one a Therefore as its inhabitants so its sins are fewer and it will not be an eminent example of thy vengeance as the other places will be O let me escape thither is it not a little one and my soul shall live 21 And he said unto him see I have accepted †Heb. thy face thee b Heb. I have lift up thy countenance i. e. granted thy request The manner of the expression possibly may be taken from the custom of the Eastern parts where petitioners used not to fall upon their knees as we do but to prostrate themselves with their face to the ground and the person to whom they addressed themselves in token of his favourable acceptance of their petitions commanded them to be lifted up concerning this thing that I will not overthrow this City for the which thou hast spoken 22 Haste thee escape thither for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither c Because of Gods decree and promise to save thee from the general destruction therefore the name of the City was called Zoar. 23 The sun was †Heb. goâ—… forth risen upon the Earth d This phrase may note either the time of the day when this was done or rather the nature and quality of the day that the Sun appeared and shone forth that morning in great lustre and glory Which is well noted as a very considerable circumstance of the History and a great aggravation of their ruine which came when they least expected it when Lot entered into Zoar. 24. Then * Deut. 29. 23. Isa. 13. 19. Jer. 50. 40. Ez. 16. 49. Hos. 11. 8. Amos 4. 11. Luke 17. 29. 2 Pet. 2. 6. Jude 7. the * See Jud. 5. 20. 2 Chron. 7. 1. Ezek. 11. 24. LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrha e And the Neighbouring Cities Admah and Zeboim as appears from Deut. 29. 23. Ier. 49. 18. Hos. 11. 8. brimstone and fire f Brimstone is added to the fire either to conveigh and carry down the fire which in it self is light and apt to ascend or to increase it Isa. 30. 33. or to represent the noysomness of their lusts from the LORD g i. e. From himself The noun put for the pronoun as Gen. 1. 27. 2 Chron. 7. 2. But here it is emphatically so expressed Either 1. To signifie that it proceeded not from natural causes but from the immediate hand of God Or 2. To note the plurality of persons in the Godhead God the Son who now appeared upon the Earth rained from God his Father in Heaven both concurring in this act as indeed all outward actions are common to all the persons of the Trinity out of Heaven 25 And he overthrew those Cities and all the plain h To wit where these Cities and their Territories lay called the plain of Iordan Gen. 13. 10. all which then became and to this day continues to be a filthy Lake called the Dead-Sea because no Fish lives in it and all the inhabitants of the Cities and that which grew upon the ground 26 But his wife looked back i Through curiosity or unbelief or desire of what she left or from all these causes from behind him k i. e. From behind her Husband whom she followed Which circumstance seems to be mentioned as the reason of this presumption because she could do it without her Husbands observation or reproof to which she had a greater regard than to the all-seeing eye of God and she ‖ i. e. Her body by a very common Synecdoche became a * Luke 17. 3â—… pillar of Salt l Either metaphorically i. e. a perpetual durable pillar as an Everlasting Covenant is called a pillar of Salt Numb 18. 19. or properly for there is a kind of Metallick Salt which resists the Rain and is hard enough for Buildings as Pliny Solinus and others Witness And that Salt was here mixed with Brimstone may be gathered from Deut. 29. 23. Adde to this that Iosephus Antiq 1. 12. Affirms that this pillar remained in his time And the like is witnessed by others after him 27. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he * Chap. 18. 22. stood before the LORD 28. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrha and toward all the Land of the plain and beheld and lo the smoak of the Countrey went up as the smoak of a furnace 29 And it came to pass when God destroyed the Cities of the plain that God remembred Abraham m Either 1. The promise made to Abraham Gen. 12. 3. Or 2. The prayer made by Abraham Gen. 18. who doubtless in his prayers for Sodom would not forget Lot though his prayer for him be not there mentioned And hereby it is insinuated that Lot though he was a righteous man and should be saved eternally yet deserved to perish temporally with those wicked people to whom he associated himself meerly for worldly advantages and should have done so if Abraham had not hindred it by his prayers and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the Cities in the which Lot dwelt 30 And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him for he feared to dwell in Zoar n Lest he should either suffer from them or with them perceiving now that though it was a little City yet there was more wickedness in it than he imagined and he dwelt in a cave he and his two daughters 31 And the first-born said unto the younger Our father is old and there is not a man in the earth o Either 1. In the whole Earth For they thought the same deluge of
and Cursed Death See Luk. 12. 50. Ioh. 10. 18. Heb. 10. 9 10. O my God yea thy law is †Heb. in the midst of my Bowels within * Psal. 37. 31. Jeâ—… 31. 33. my heart e i. e. I do not onely hear and understand it but I receive it with heartiest Love and Affection delighting both to meditate of it and to yield Obedience to it 9. * Psal. 35. 18. I have preached righteousness f To wit thy Righteousness as it is expressed in the next Verse i. e. Thy faithfulness as it is there explained Or Righteousness properly so called for both were fully declared and demonstrated in Christ the former in sending him into the World according to his Promise Act. 13. 23. and the latâ—…er in inflicting Death upon him for Mans sin Rom. 3. 25 26. in the great congregation g â—…n the most publick and solemn Assemblies not onely to the Iews but also to all other Nations to whom Christ preached by his Apostles as is observed Eph. 2. 17. â—…o I have not refrained my lips h To wit from Preaching it out of sloth or Fear or Self-Love but have Preached it publickly and even to the Face of mine Enemies though I knew my Preaching would cost me my Life O LORD thou knowest i I call thee to Witness the Truth of what I say 10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart k I had it there v. 8. but I did not smother or shuâ—… it up there but spread it abroad for thy Glory and the good of the World I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation l Which thou hast wrought both for me and by me I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation 11. With-hold not thou thy tender mercies from me O LORD m This Prayer is uttered by David Either 1. In the Person of Christ to whom it may agree Or 2. In his own Person Having been Transported and carried forth by the Spirit of God to the Contemplation and Commemoration of the great Mystery of the Messias of whom he was an illustrious Type now he seems to be led back by the same Spirit to the Consideration of himself and his own particular Case let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me 12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities n Either The punishment of mine iniquities as Gen. 4. 13. 1. Sam. 28. 10. Psal. 31. 10. Or 2. The iniquities themselves This Phrase cannot be understood of Christ. For although our sins are said to be laid upon Christ Isa. 5â—… and upon that Account he is said to be made sin for us 2 Cor. 5. 21. yet the Scripture every where represents him as one that never knew nor did any sin aâ—… in that place and 1 〈◊〉 2. 22. and elsewhere and even when his Punishment is described yet it is expresly noted that he did not suffer for himself or for his own sins but onely for us and for our sins as Isa. 53. 4 5. Dan. 9. 26. 1 Pet. 2. 24. And therefore it is not probable that the Holy-Ghost would use such an Expression concerning the unless Christ of God as is never used in Scripture but either of a Man 's own sins or of the Punishment deserved by his own sins have taken hold upon me o Mens sins are figuratively said to follow them 1 Tim. 5. 24. and to find them out Numb 32. 23. and here to take hold of them as a Serjeant takes hold of a Man whom he Arrests so that I am not able * Psal. 38. 4. 10. to look up p Unto God or men with any Comfort and Confidence I am ashamed and confounded by Reason of my numberless sins Or so that I was not able to see Either because he was as it were drowned or overwhelmed with his sins Or because his Eyes did fail or were Consumed through Grieâ—… as he Complains Psal. 6. 7. and 38. 11. Or he means that he could not foresee them the Simple Verb being put for the Compound as it is frequently among the Hebrews They came upon him unawares and therefore were the more grievous to him they q To wit mine iniquities here mentioned Properly so called For God's people are more apt to aggravate their sins than the Punishments of them See Ezra 9. 13 14. are more than the hair of mine head therefore my heart †Heb. forsaketh faileth me 13. * Psal. 71. 1. c. Be pleased O LORD to deliver me r From my sins and the Punishments due to them O LORD make haste to help me 14. * Psal. 35. 4. 26. 70. 3. 71. 13. Let them be ashamed and confounded s For the disappointment of their Hopes and Designs together that seek after my soul k to destroy it let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil t i. e. My Life as Exod. 4. 19. 1 Sam. 20. 1. 15. Let them be desolate u Or amazed or dismayed or overthrown Of such Imprecations I have spoken before for a reward of their shame x i. e. Their sinful and shameful Actions as Shame is put for a shameful Idol Hose 9. 10. and as Fear is oft put for the Evil feared that say unto me Aha aha 16. Let all those that seek thee rejoyce and be glad in thee let such as love thy salvation y Either 〈◊〉 Such as desire and rejoyce in the Salvation and Deliverance which thou givest to me and to others of thy People which was a great Eye-sore and Grieâ—… to the wicked Or 2. Such as expect and seek for their Salvation and Happiness not from Idols nor from their wicked Courses nor from any Creatures as other men do but from the onely and gladly accept and embrace that Salvation which 〈◊〉 hast promised together with the Conditions required to it to wit Faith and Repentance Or 3. Such as love thy Messias upon whom both David's and other Holy Proâ—… and Saints Thoughts and Affections were much fixed a is Evident from many places of Scripture as Ioh. 8. 58. Act. 2. 30 31. 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. who is called the desire of all Nâ—…tions Hagg. 2. 7. and the Glory and Consolation of Israel Luk. 2 25. 32 yea and by the very Title here used God's Salvation Isa. 62. 11. Luk. 2. 30. whose appearance or coming the Godly of all Ages did Love and long for and of whom David had so lately and clearly spoken v. 6 7. c. All which considered this cannot seem a forced or very far fetched Intepretation say continually The LORD be magnified z Let them have continual Occasion to magnifie God for his Mercies vouchsafed to them 17. But I am poor and needy yet the LORD thinketh upon me thou art my help and my deliverer make no tarrying O my God PSAL. XLI The ARGUMENT
have done And this Protestation Samuel makes of his Integrity not out of Ostentation or Vain glory but partly for his own just Vindication that the People might not hereafter for the Defence of their own Irregularities reproach his Government partly that being publickly acquitted from all faults in his Government he might more freely and boldly reprove the sins of the People and particularly that sin of theirs in desiring a King when they had so little reason for it and they had so just a Governor from whom they might bave promised themselves an effectual Redress of his Sons mal-administrations if they had acquainted him therewith and partly that by his Example he might tacitly Admonish Saul of his Duty and prevent his misunderstanding of what he had formerly said chap. 8. v. 11 c. and mistake that for the Rule of his just Power which was onely a Prediction of his Evil Practices before the LORD and before his anointed * Numb 16. 15. Act. 20. 33. Whose ox have I taken or whose asse have I taken or whom have I defrauded whom have I oppressed g Whom have I wronged either by Fraud and false Accusation or by Might and Violence or of whose hand have I received any ‡ Heb. ransom bribe h Heb. Prince of Redemption given to Redeem an unjust and lost Cause or Person from that Righteous Sentence which they deserved ‖ Or that I should hide mine eyes at him to blind mine eyes therewith i That I should not discern what was right and just or dissemble it as if I did not see it Or that I should hide or cover mine eyes i. e. wilfully wink at the plain truth for it i. e. for the Bribe or for him i. e. for his sake and I will restore it you k Or and I will cover mine eyes for him i. e. I will take shame to my self and cover my face as one ashamed to look upon him 4 And they said Thou hast not defrauded us nor oppressed us neither hast thou taken ought of any mans hand 5 And he said unto them The LORD is witness against you l To wit if you shall at any time hereafter reproach my Government or Memory Or rather against you that I gave you no cause to be weary of Gods Government of you by Judges or to desire a change of the Government and therefore the blame of it wholly rest upon your selves But this was onely insinuated and therefore the People did not fully understand his drift in it and his anointed is witness this day that ye have not found ought m i. e. Any thing which I have gotten by Bribery or Oppression in my hand And they answered n Heb. he answered i. e. the whole People who are here spoken of as one Person because they Answered thus with one consent He is witness 6 ¶ And Samuel said unto the people It is the LORD that ‖ Or 〈◊〉 advanced Moses and Aaron o That for your sakes raised constituted and exalted Moses and Aaron to that great Power and Reputation which they had and used to deliver you and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt 7 Now therefore stand still that I may reason with you p Since God hath laid so great Obligations upon you let us a little consider whether you have Answered them before the LORD of all the ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 benefits righteous acts q Heb. the Righteousnesses i. e. Mercies or Benefits for so that word is oft used as Psal. 24. 5. and 36. 10. Prov. 10. 2. and 11. 4. and that is the chief Subject of the following Discourse some of their Calamities being but briefly named and that for the illustration of Gods Mercy in their Deliverances of the LORD which he did ‡ Heb. 〈◊〉 to you and your fathers 8 * Gen. 〈◊〉 When Jacob was come into Egypt and your fathers * Exod. 〈◊〉 cried unto the LORD then the LORD * Exod. 〈◊〉 and 4. 〈◊〉 sent Moses and Aaron which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place r In this Land in which Moses and Aaron are said to settle them partly because they brought them into and seated them in part of it to wit that without Iordan partly because they were under God the Principal Authors of their entring into the Land of Canaan inasmuch as they brought them out of Egypt conducted them thorough the Wilderness and there by their Prayers to God and Counsel to them preserved them from utter ruin and gave Command and Direction from God for the distribution of the Land among them and incouraged them to enter into it by promises and assurances of Success And lastly Moses substituted Ioshua in his stead and commanded him to carry them thither and seat them there which also he did 9 And when they forgat the LORD their God s i. e. They revolted from him as it is explained v. 10. and carried themselves as ungratefully and unworthily towards God as if they had wholly forgotten his great and innumerable Favours and their infinite Obligations to him Forgetting of God is oft put for all manner of wickedness whereof indeed that is the true cause See Isa. 17. 10. Ier. 3. 21. Ezek. 22. 12. This he saith partly to Answer an Objection That the reason why they desired a King was because in the time of the Judges they were at great uncertainties and oft times exercised with sharp afflictions to which he Answereth by Concession that they were so but adds by way of Retortion that they themselves were the cause of it by their forgetting of God so that it was not the fault of that kind of Government but their transgressing the Rules of it and partly to mind them that this their ungrateful carriage towards God was no new or strange thing but an hereditary and inveterate Disease that so they might more easily believe their own Guilt herein and be more deeply humbled both for their own and for their Parents Sins * Judg. 4. 〈◊〉 he sold them into the hand of Sisera captain of the host of Hazor and into the hand * Judg. 〈◊〉 of the Philistines and into the hand of the king * Judg. 3. 12. of Moab and they fought against them t To wit with success and subdued them 10 And they cryed unto the LORD and said We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies and we will serve thee 11 And the LORD sent * Judg. 〈◊〉 32. Jerubbaal and Bedan u This certainly is one of the Judges and because there is no Judge so called in the Book of Iudges it is reasonably concluded that this was one of the Judges there mentioned having two Names as was very frequent And this was either First Sampson
David on her face and bowed her self to the ground h Not onely in token of deep reverence but as a most humble suppliant as 2 King 4. 27. 24 And fell at his feet and said Upon me my LORD upon me let this iniquity be h Impute Nabal's Sin to me and if thou pleasest punish it in me who here offer my self as a Sacrifice to thy just Indignation This whole Speech of Abigail is done with great artifice and she doth here by an absolute submitting to Mercy without any pretence of justification of what was done but rather with aggravation of it indeavour to work upon David's generosity and good nature to pardon it And with great art first would divert the punishment from her Husband to her self because she had then much more to say why David should spare her then why he should spare Nabal And there was hardly any need of Argument whence the greatest Orator might argue in this case which she doth not manage to the best advantage and most plausible insinuations for such an exigent and let thine handmaid I pray thee speak in thine ‡ Heb. ear audience and hear the words of thine handmaid 25 Let not my lord I pray thee †regard l His Person and Words deserve thy contempt but not thy regard this ‡ Heb. lay it to his heart man of Belial m For such he hath shewed himself to be by this wicked and abominable carriage towards thee even Nabal for as his name is so is he Nabal is his name and folly is with him n His noted folly and stupidity is a more proper Object for thy pity than anger His fordid Answer to thy Servants did not proceed from any ill design or deep malice but from brutish Soâ—…tishness and want of the understanding of a man in him It may be thought a great Crime that she traduceth her Husband in this manner But this may be said for her That she told them nothing but what they all knew concerning him and that she onely seemed to take away that which he never had indeed to wit his good name that she might preserve that which he had and which was more dear and important to him even his Life and Soul but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord whom thou didst send o Though I freely submit my self to the Punishment in my Husbands stead yet I was innocent of the Crime 26 Now therefore my lord as the LORD liveth and as thy soul liveth seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood p Seeing God hath so ordered this business by his wise and wonderful Providence that I should accidentally and unexpectedly come to the knowledge of my Husbands vile and sordid Carriage and that I should come to meet thee and find thee so gracious as to give me a favourable Audience and all this that hereby he might with-hold thee from the Sin of Blood-guiltiness and from ‡ Heb. saving thy self avenging thy self with thine own hand now let thine enemies and they that seek evil to my lord be as Nabal q Let them be as contemptible and hateful as Nabal is and will be for this odious Action let them be as unable to do thee any hurt as he is let them be forced to yeild to thee and implore thy Pardon and Favour as Nabal now doth by my mouth let the Vengeance thou didst design upon Nabal and his Family fall upon their heads who by their constant and inveterate Malice against thee do more deserve it than this silly Fool for this one miscarriage and much more than all the rest of our Family who as they are none of thine Enemies nor such as seek thee evil so they were no way guilty of this wicked Action And therefore spare these and execute thy Vengeance upon more proper Objects 27 And now this ‖ Or present blessing r So a gift or present is called here and Gen. 33. 11. and elsewhere not onely because the matter of it comes from Gods blessing but also because it is given with a Bleâ—…ing or with a good will which thine hand maid hath brought unto my lord let it even be given unto the young men that ‡ Heb. walk at the feet or c. follow my lord s As being unworthy of thine acceptance or use 28 I pray thee forgive the trespass of thine hand-maid t i. e. Which I have taken upon my self v. 24. and which if it be not Pardoned but Punished the Punishment will reach to me for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house u i. e. Will give the Kingdom to thee and to thy House for ever as he hath promised thee And therefore let Gods great kindness to thee make thee gentle and merciful to others do not fully thy approaching Glory with the stain of Innocent Blood but consider that it is the glory of a King which thou art by Gods appointment and shall ere long actually be to pass by Offences and that it will be thy loss to cut off such as will shortly be thy Subjects because my lord fighteth the battels of the LORD x i. e. For the Lord and for the People of the Lord against their Enemies especially the Philistines And as that is thy proper Work and therein thou mayest expect Gods blessing and help so it is not thy work to draw thy Sword in thy own private quarrel against any of the people of the Lord and God will not bless thee in it and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days y Though thou hast been oft aspersed and charged with many Crimes by Saul and others yet thy Innocency hath been and is evident to all men do not therefore now by this cruel act of Vengeance justifie thine Enemies Reproaches nor blemish thy great and just Reputation 29 Yet a man z To wit Saul though no way injured nor justly provoked by thee is risen to pursue thee and to seek thy soul a i. e. To take away thy Life but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life b Or in the bundle i. e. In the Society or Congregation of the living out of which men are taken and cut off by Death The Phrase is taken from the common usage of men who bind those things in bundles which they are afraid to lose because things that are solitary and unbound are soon lost The meaning of the place is God will preserve thy Life and therefore it becomes not thee unjustly and unnecessarily to take away the Lives of any especially of the People of thy God and Saviour with the LORD thy God c i. e. In the hand and custody of God who by his watchful Providence preserves this Bundle and all that are in it and thee in a particular and singular manner as being thy God in a peculiar way
Iudg. 21. and because God foresaw that they would be faithful to the House of David in the division of the Tribes and therefore he would not have them diminished And Ioab presumed to leave these two Tribes unnumbred because he had specious Pretences for it for Levi because they were no Warriours and the Kings Command reached onely to those that drew sword as appears from v. 5. And for Benjamin because they being so small a Tribe and bordering upon Ierusalem their Chief City might easily be numbred afterward for the kings word was abominable to Joab 7 †Heb. and it was evil in the eyes of the LORD concernning this thing And God was displeased with this thing d Because this was done without any colour of necessity and out of meer Curiosity and Oftentation and carnal Confidence as Davids own Conscience told him which therefore smote him as it is related 2 Sam. 24. 10. therefore he smote Israel e Which is particularly related in the following verses 8 And David said unto God * 2 Sam. 24. 10. I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing * 2 Sam. 12. 13. but now I beseech thee do away the iniquity of thy servant for I have done very foolishly 9 And the LORD spake unto Gad Davids seer saying 10 Go and tell David saying Thus saith the LORD I †Heb. stretch out offer thee three things chuse thee one of them that I may do it unto thee 11 So Gad came to David and said unto him Thus saith the LORD †Heb. take to thee chuse thee 12 Either three years famine or three months to be destroyed before thy foes while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee or else three days the sword of the LORD even the pestilence in the land and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel Now therefore advise thy self what word I shall bring again to him that sent me 13 And David said unto Gad I am in a great strait let me fall now into the hand of the LORD for very ‖ Or many great are his mercies but let me not fall into the hand of man 14 So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men 15 And God sent an * 2 Sam. 24. 16. angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it and as he was destroying the LORD beheld and he repented him of the evil and said to the angel that destroyed It is enough stay now thine hand And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing-floor of ‖ Or Araâ—…nah 2 Sam. 24. 18. Ornan the Jebusite 16 And David lift up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem then David and the elders of Israel who were clothed in sackcloth f i. e. In mourning Garments humbling themselves before God for their Sins and deprecating his Wrath against the People fell upon their faces 17 And David said unto God Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbred even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed but as for these sheep what have they done let thine hand I pray thee O LORD my God be on me and on my fathers house but not on thy people that they should be plagued 18 Then †Heb. an angel the * 2 Chr. 3. 1. angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite 19 And David went up at the saying of Gad which he spake in the name of the LORD 20 ‖ Or when Orâ—…nan turned back and saw the angel then he and his four sons with him hid themselves And Ornan turned back and saw the angel and his four sons with him hid themselves g Or And Ornan turned back i. e. turned his face from the Angel for or when for the Hebrew vau is frequently used both those ways he saw the angel and so did his four sons with him hiding themselves partly because of the Glory and Majesty in which the Angel appeared which mens weak and sinful natures are not able to bear and partly from the fear of Gods Vengeance which was at this time riding circuit in the Land and now seemed to be coming to their Family Now Ornan was threshing wheat 21 And as David came to Ornan Ornan looked and saw David and went out of the threshing-floor and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground 22 Then David said to Ornan †Heb. give Grant me the place of this threshing-floor that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD thou shalt grant it me for the full price that the plague may be stayed from the people 23 And Ornan said unto David Take it to thee and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes â—…o I give thee the oxen also for burnt-offerings and the threshing-instruments for wood and the wheat for the meat-offering I give it all 24 And king David said to Ornan Nay but I will verily buy it for the full price for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD nor offer burnt-offerings without cost 25 So * 2 Sam. 24. 24. David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight 26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings and called upon the LORD and he answered him from heaven by fire h Heb. by fire sent from Heaven which was the sign of Gods Acceptance See Levit. 9. 24. 1 King 18. 24 38. 2 Chron. 7. 1. upon the altar of burnt offering 27 And the LORD commanded the angel and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof 28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite then he sacrificed there i When he perceived that his Sacrifice there offered was acceptable to God he proceeded to offer more Sacrifices in that place and did not go to Gibeon as otherwise he should have done 29 For the tabernacle of the LORD which Moses made in the wilderness and the altar of the burnt-offering were at that season in the high place at * 1 King 3. 4. Ch. 16. 39. 2 Chr. 1. 3. Gibeon 30 But David could not k i. e. Durst not go before it l i. e. Before the Tabernacle where the Altar stood to enquire of God m Heb. to seek God i. e. humbly to beg his Favour by Prayer and Sacrifice for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the LORD n i. e. When he saw the Angel stand with his drawn Sword over Ierusalem as is related above v. 15 16. he durst not go away thence to Gibeon
Bebai Jehohanan Hananiah Zabbai and Athlai 29 And of the sons of Bani Meshullam Malluch and Adajah Jashub and Sheal and Ramoth 30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab Adna and Chelal Benajah Maasejah Mattaniah Bezaleel and Binnui and Manasseh 31 And of the sons of Harim Eliezer Ishijah Malchiah Shemajah Shimeon 32 Benjamin Malluch and Shemariah 33 Of the sons of Hashum Matanai Mattathah Zabad Eliphelet Jeremai Manasseh and Shimei 34 Of the sons of Bani Maadi Amram and Uel 35 Benajah Bedejah Chelluh 36 Vaniah Meremoth Eliashib 37 Mattaniah Mattenai and Jaasau 38 And Bani and Binnui Shemei 39 And Shelemiah and Nathan and Adajah 40 ‖ Or 〈◊〉 â—…bai according to some copies Machnadebai Shashai Sharai 41 Azareel and Shelemiah Shemariah 42 Shallum Amariah and Joseph 43 Of the sons of Nebo Jehiel Mattithiah Zabad Zebina Jadau and Joel Benajah 44 All these had taken strange wives and some of them had wives by whom they had children c Whereby he implies that most of their Wives were barren Which came to pass by Gods special Providence partly to manifest his displeasure against such matches and partly that the practice of this great and necessary duty might not be encumbred with too many difficulties NEHEMIAH THis Book seems not to have been written by Ezra because it is written in a quite differing and more plain and easy stile and without that mixture of Chaldee or Syriack words which is in the Book of Ezra but by Nehemiah ch 1. 1. who writ an account of his own Transactions as Ezra did of his But whether this be the same Nehemiah who came up with Zerubbabel Ezra 2. 2. Nehemiah 7. 7. may be questioned the same name being oft given to divers Persons And for the name of Tirshatha which is used both Ezra 2. 63. Nehem. 7. 65 70. that seems to be the Title of his Office and so belongs to any Governour whether it was Zerubbabel or Nehemiah or any other CHAP. I. 1 THe words a Or rather the acts or deeds as the word oft signifies of which he here treats of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah And it came to pass in the month * Zech. 7. 1. Chisleu b Which is the 9th month containing part of November and part of December in the twentieth year c Of Artaxerxes ch 2. 1. as I was in Shushan d The Chief and Royal City of Persia Esth. 3. 15. the palace 2 That Hanani one of my Brethren e Of my Family or Tribe or Nation came he and certain men of Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped f Out of the slavery which they indured in strange Lands which were left of the captivity g The remnant of those numerous Captives and concerning Jerusalem 3 And they said unto me the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province h i. e. In Iudea which was now made a province under the Persian Monarchs see the Notes on Ezra 5. 8. are in great affliction and reproach i Despised and distressed by the neighbouring Nations the wall of Jerusalem also * 2 Kin. 25. 10. is broken down and the gates thereof are burnt with fire k i. e. The walls and gates continue in the same woful plight in which Nebuchadnezzar left them the Jews not being yet in a condition to rebuild them nor having Commission from the Kings of Persia to do so but onely to build the Temple and their own private houses And this made their enemies scorn them who also would have ruined them but for fear of offending the Persian King 4 And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sate down and wept and mourned certain days and prayed before the God of heaven 5 And said I beseech thee * Dan. 9. 4. O LORD God of heaven the great and terrible God * Exod. 20. 6. that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments 6 Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee both I and my fathers house have sinned 7 We have dealt very corruptly l Or we have wholly corrupted to wit our selves and our ways and thy Worship against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments which thou commandedst thy servant Moses 8 Remember I beseech thee the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses to deliver to us saying * 〈◊〉 26. 39. 〈◊〉 4. 25. â—… if ye transgress I will scatter you abroad among the nations 9 But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them * 〈◊〉 30. 4. though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand 11 O LORD I beseech thee let now thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of thy servant to the prayer of thy servants †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who desire to fear thy name and prosper I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man m The King who though a God by Office is but a man by Nature and therefore his heart is wholly at thy disposal For I was the kings cup bearer n Whereby I had opportunity to speak to him and some Favour and Freedom with him which encouraged me to make this Prayer and to hope for some success CHAP. II. 1 And it came to pass in the month * 〈◊〉 3. 7. Nisan a Which was four months after he had heard those sad ridings The reason of this long silence and delay might be manifold either because he thought fit that some time should be spent by himself and possibly others of his brethren in seeking God by solemn Prayer and fasting for Gods blessing and the good success of this great affair or because he could not take so long and dangerous a journey in the depth of Winter or because his turn of attending upon the King did not come to him till that time or because till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to the King by reason of the Kings indisposition or occasions or multitude of attendants among whom there probably were diverse enemies to the Jews who he feared might hinder his design and desire in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes b Artaxerxes Longimanus the Son of the great Xerxes who reigned both with his Father and after his death alone whence the years of his reign are
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
And so all their designs shall be abortive and never come to perfection 7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom 8 Neither do they which go by say The blessing of the LORD be upon you k Which was an usual salutation given by passengers to reapers as Ruth 2. 4. So the meaning is It never continues till the harvest comes we bless you in the name of the LORD PSAL. CXXX A song of degrees This Psalm was composed by the Prophet when he was conflicting with horrors of his conscience for the guilt of his sins and imploring Gods mercy and pardon 1 OUt * Lam. 3. 5â—… Jon. 2. 2. of the depths a Being overwhelmed with deep distresses and terrors and ready to despair have I cried unto thee O LORD 2 Lord hear my voice let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications 3 * Psal. 143. 2. If thou LORD shouldest mark iniquities b Observe them accurately and punish them severely as they deserve O LORD who shall stand c In thy presence or at thy Tribunal No man can acquit himself or escape the sentence of condemnation because all men are sinners Eccles. 7. 20. Iam. 3. 2. To stand is a judicial phrase and notes a mans being absolved oâ—… justified upon an equal tryal as Psal. 1. 5. Rom. 14. 4. where it is opposed to falling 4 But there is forgiveness with thee d Thou art able and ready to forgive repenting sinners that thou mayest be feared e Not with a slavish but with a child-like fear and reverence This grace and mercy of thine is the foundation of all Religion and Worship of thee in the world without which men would desperately proceed on in their impious courses without any thought of repentance 5 I * 〈◊〉 27. 14. 〈◊〉 1. wait for the LORD f That he would manifest his favour to me in the pardon of my sins my soul doth wait and in his word g Wherein he hath declared his merciful nature Exod. 34. 6 7. and his gracious purpose and promises for the pardoning of sinners do I hope 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that wait for the morning h Whether Souldiers that keep the night-watches in an Army or City or the Priests or Levites who did so in the Temple who being wearied with hard service and want of convenient rest diligently look for and fervently desire the morning when they may be discharged Compare Psal. 119. 148. ‖ 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 â—…nto the 〈◊〉 I say more than they that watch for the morning 7 Let Israel i Every true Israelite by the encouragement of mine example hope in the LORD for with the LORD there is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption k Abundantly sufficient for all persons who shall accept it upon Gods terms and for the remission of all sins and therefore here is good ground of hope for all contrite and returning sinners 8 And he shall redeem l The Lord either God the Father by his Son or God the Son by his own blood Israel m All true Israelites whether of the carnal or spiritual seed from all his iniquities n From the guilt and punishment of all their sins PSAL. CXXXI A song of degrees of David This Psalm seems to have been composed by David during Sauls persecution When he was charged with boundless ambition and a greedy affectation of the Royal Throne and that he sought it by wicked practices against Sauls life and dignity And for his own just vindication he is forced to publish his own integrity and to declare that as the right 〈◊〉 the Kingdom was not sought or coveted by him but freely conferred upon him by the unexpected and undesired favour of God so that he had no thought or design to invade the Throne before his time but was willing to stay Gods leisure for it and in the mean time was resolved to behave himself towards Saul as became a faithful Subject seeking nothing but to preserve his own life from the rage of unrighteous and bloody men 1 LORD my heart is not haughty a Or lifted up with that pride whereof I am accused as thou the searcher of all hearts knowest nor mine eyes lofty b Which is a sign and effect of pride Prov. 6. 17. 21. 4. neither do I †〈◊〉 walk exercise my self in great * 〈◊〉 139. 6. matters or in things too †〈◊〉 wonderâ—… high for me c Heb. neither have I walked in great matters c. It neither is nor hath been my course to attempt or arrogate any thing to my self above my degree and private capacity or to affect worldly glory or domination 2 Surely I have behaved and quieted †Heb. my soul. my self d When my mind was provoked to irregular practices either by my own corrupt heart or by Sauls implacable rage and tyranny or by the solicitation of any of my followers as 1 Sam. 24. 26. I restrained and subdued all such evil motions * 〈◊〉 18. 3. â—… Cor. 14. 20. as a child that is weaned of his mother e Either 1. as void of all that ambition and malice wherewith I am charged as a child newly weaned or rather 2. as wholly depending upon Gods providence for the way and time of bringing me to the Kingdom as the poor helpless infant when it is deprived of its natural and accustomed food the mothers milk takes no care to provide for it self but wholly relies upon its mothers care and providence for its support my soul is even as a weaned child 3 Let Israel hope in the LORD f Let all Israelites learn by my example to commit themselves to God in well-doing and to fix all their hope and trust upon him alone †Heb. from now from henceforth and for ever PSAL. CXXXII A song of degrees The Penman of this Psalm was either 1. David when God had graciously declared his acceptance of Davids desire to build an house for God and his purpose of establishing the Kingdom to David and his seed for ever or 2. Solomon as may be gathered from the whole matter of the Psalm which seems better to agree to him than to David and particularly from v. 8 9 10. compared with 2 Chron. 6. 41 42. where we have the same words with no great alteration 1 LORD remember David a Either 1. thy Covenant made with David or rather 2. Davids eminent piety and zeal for thy service amplified by the following clause and all his afflictions b All his sufferings for thy sake all the solicitude of his mind all his hard and wearisom labours for thy service and glory and for provisions towards the building of thy Temple and for the establishment of thy people in peace and tranquillity that so way might be made for that
help me that justifieth me b That will publickly acquit me from all the calumnies of mine adversaries who say that I am a transgressor of the Law a false Teacher and Deceiver a Blasphemer and a Devil and the like in which opinion they are confirmed by my Death and Sufferings But God will clear up my Righteousness and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders that he is well pleased with me and that I lived and died his faithful Servant who will contend with me let us stand together who is †Heb. the master of my cause or suit mine adversary let him come near to me c I challenge all my Accusers to stand and appear before the Judge Face to Face and to produce all their charges against me for I am conscious of mine own Innocency and I know that God will give sentence for me 9 Behold the LORD GOD will help me who is he that shall condemn me d That dare attempt it or can justly do it lo they all e Mine Accusers and Enemies shall wax old as a garment the * Ch. 51. 8. moth shall eat them up f Shall pine away in their iniquity as God threatned Lev. 26. 39. shall be cut off and consumed by a secret curse and Judgment of God which is compared to a moth Hos. 5. 12. whilest I shall survive and flourish and the pleasure of God shall prosper in my hands as is said Isa. 53. 10. 10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD g He now turneth his Speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews to those of them who were or should be pious that obeyeth the voice of his servant h Of the same person of whom he hath hitherto spoken of Christ who is called Gods Servant Isa. 52. 13. 53. 11. partly by way of eminency and partly to intimate that although he was God yet he should take upon himself the form of a Servant as is said Phil. 2. 7. He hereby signifies that the Grace of God and the comfort here following belongeth to none but to those that hear and believe this great Prophet of the Church which also was declared by Moses Deut. 18. â—…5 compared with Act. 3. 22 23. that walketh in * Ch. â—…8 8 10. 59. 9 10. darkness i Not in sin which is oft called darkness as walking in darkness is put for living in wickedness 1 Ioh. 1. 6. but in misery which also frequently cometh under the name of darkness that liveth in a most disconsolate and calamitous condition together with great despondency or dejection of Spirit and hath no light k No comfort nor hope left let him trust in the name of the LORD and stay upon his God l Let him fix his Faith and Hope in the name i. e. in the most excellent and amiable nature and infinite perfections and especially in the free Grace and Mercy and Faithfulness of the Lord declared in his word and in his propriety or interest in God who by the mediation of this Servant is reconciled to him and made his God 11 Behold all ye that kindle a fire m That you may enjoy the light and comfort of it as it is explained in the following words You that reject the light which God hath set up and refuse the counsel of his Servant and seek for Comfort and Safety and the Knowledg of Gods Mind and the enjoyment of his favour by your own inventions which was the common errour of the Jews in all Ages and especially in the days of the Messiah when they refused him and that way of Righteousness and Salvation which he appointed and rested upon their own Traditions and devices going about to establish their own Righteousness and not submitting unto the Righteousness of God as it is expressed Rom. 10. 3. that compass your selves about n Indeavouring to warm and refresh your selves on all sides with sparks o Or rather with Firebrands as this very word is fitly rendred Prov. 26. 18. which is better than sparks or flames which is there put in the margent because firebrands only and not sparks or flames are capable of being thrown by one man at another And this word is no where else used in Scripture He mentions fire-brands either to imply that these fires yielded more smoak than heat or light or because these were the usual materials of a fire walk in the light of your fire * Joh. 9. 39. and in the sparks that ye have kindled p Use your utmost endeavours to get comfort and satisfaction from these devices This shall ye have of mine hand ye shall lie down in sorrow q This shall be the fruit of all through my just Judgment that instead of that comfort and security which you expect by these means you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery which shall pursue you both living and dying for this word which is here rendred lie down is frequently used for dying as Gen. 47. 30. Iob 21. 26. and elsewhere Or it is a metaphor from a man that lying down on his Bed for rest and ease meets with nothing but trouble and pain as Iob complain'd chap. 7. 13 14. CHAP. LI. 1 HEarken to me ye that follow after righteousness a Now he turneth his Speech again to the believing and godly Jews ye that seek the LORD b That make it your chief care and business to seek favour and help from God look unto the rock whence ye are ‖ Or were hewen and to the hole of the pit whence ye are ‖ Or were digged c Consider the state of Abraham and Sarah when they procreated Isaac from whom Iacob and all of you sprang For so he explains the Metaphor in the next verse He compareth the Bodies of Abraham and Sarah unto a Rock or Pit or Quarry out of which stones are hewed or digged thereby implying that God in some sort actually did that which Christ said he was able to do Mat. 3. 9. even of stones raise up Children unto Abraham it being then as impossible by the course of nature for Abraham and Sarah in that age to procreate a Child as it is to hew a living Child out of a Rock or to dig one out of a pit of stone 2 Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bare you for I called him d From his own Country and kindred to follow me to an unknown Land where I promised that I would multiply and bless him as is particularly explained Gen. 12. 1 2 3. alone e Heb. one either 1. Him only of all his kindred for though he carried some few of them with him yet I called none but him So this notes Gods singular favour to their Progenitors above all the rest of the World Or 2. Him when he was alone or solitary to wit as to any Issue when he neither had nor was likely to have any
yet it was never done during that Kings Reign But in the year of our Lord 1577. which was tha 19th or 20th of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Some Bishops published a new Translation but till that time the Bibles used in Churches were Tindalls and Coverdales being allowed by the publick Authority of King Edward 6. 1551. 1552. And to this day the Psalms and the Gospels and Epistles in our Service-Book are according to Tindalls and Coverdales Bibles which should make us wary in our Censures of that Translation tho we see reason in many things to dissent from it Onely we having a more correct Translation Established by Authority why for the avoiding the offence of the less knowing people we have not made use of that but retained a Translation not undertaken by any publick Authority and confessed to be more imperfect is what I cannot nor count my self obliged to account for Possibly God for the honour of his Martyr hath so ordered it After this King James coming to the Crown being a Prince of great Learning and Iudgment and observing the different usage of some words in his age from the usage of them in K. Hen. 8. or in Qu. Elizabeths time and also the several mistakes tho of a minute nature in those more ancient Versions was pleased to employ diverse learned men in making a New Translation which is that which at this day is generally used With what Reverence to former Translators what labour and care and pains they accomplished their work the Reader may see at large in their Preface prefixed to those Copies that are Printed in Folio and in their Epistle to K. James in our Bibles of a lesser form of which Translation tho it may not be without its more minute Errors yet I think it may be said that it is hardly exceeded by that of any other Church By this History Reader thou mayest understand the mighty workings of Divine Providence and wonderful goodness of God to this Nation in the plenty we have of Bibles and that of a very correct Translation tho possibly not in every little thing perfect Mr. Fox if we remember right tells us a story of two Maids in Lincolnshire that in Qu. Maries time parted with a considerable part of their estate for a few leaves of the Bible How good is God to us that we for a few shillings can have the whole Revelation of the Divine Will Considering which we offer it to the consideration of any thinking English man or Woman what he or she will answer for his ignorance in the Holy Scriptures or for the ignorance of his or her Children if having so much means as we have to learn to read any shall neglect the learning of their Children to Read it or themselves in case their Parents have neglected them or being able to Read shall neglect the practice of it Exercising himself in the Law of the Lord day and night and living up to the rule of it The English Bible is come to us at the price of the blood of one Martyr and the unwearied labour of a multitude of Holy and Learned men succeeding one another for more then Sixty years before we had the Translation so perfect as it is now in all hands Poor Coristians in Popish Countries either have not this Pot of spiritual food or must cry out Death is in the pot Our English Translators in their Preface observe that of late the Church of Rome would seem to bear something of a motherly affection to her Children and allow them the Scripture in the Mother Tongue but it is indeed a gift not worthy of its name They must first get a License in Writing before they use them and to get that they must approve themselves to their Confessors to be such as are if not frozen in the dreggs yet sowred with the leaven of their superstition Yet this seemed too much to Clement the Eighth who therefore frustrated the grant of Pius the fourth They will allow none to be read but the Doway Bibles and the Remish Testaments the corruptions of which have been sufficiently manifested by many learned men nor will they trust their people with these without the License of their own Bishops and Inquisitors This is the liberty they boast of given to any of their Religion to Read the Scriptures in English What it is worth let any man judge In the mean time those who are not affected with the mercy of God to us in this particular must declare themselves neither to have any just value for God in the mighty workings of his Providence to bring this about nor yet for the blood of Holy Mr. Tindall who died in his Testimony to this truth that no people ought to be deprived of so great a good nor for the labours and pains of those many Servants of God who travelled in this great work and thought no labour in it too much nor indeed for their own souls to the Salvation of which if the Holy Scripture in our own Language doth not highly contribute we must lay the blame upon our selves But altho we have the Bible in a Language we understand yet we may see reason to cry out as Bernard does with reference to the Song of Solomon Here is an excellent Nut but who shall crack it Heavenly Bread but who shall break it For though the Papists and such as have ill will to the good of souls make too great an improvement of the difficulties in Holy Writ in making them an argument against the peoples having them in a Language which they can understand for Augustine said true when he said there are Fords in them wherein Lambs may wade as well as depths in which Elephants may swim and what others observe is as true that things necessary to be believed or done in order to Salvation lye plain and obvious in Holy Writ yet it is as true that there is much of Holy Writ of which the generality of people must say as the Eunuch How can I understand except some man should guide me Acts 8. 31. besides the seeming contradictions that are betwixt the Holy Penmen of those Sacred Books and indeed it is hard to say what Book of Scripture is so plain that every one who runneth can read it with understanding such a vast difference there is betwixt the capacities of those who yet have the same honest hearts This hath made wise and learned men not onely see a need of larger Commentaries but also of shorter Notes Annotations and Paraphrases c. Nor is this a late discovery It is upward of three hundred years since Lyra wrote his short Notes upon the whole Bible what Vatablus and Erasmus tho all of them Papists have done since is sufficiently known to say nothing of many others of that Religion Amongst the Reformed Churches there hath been a learned Piscator in Germany Junius and Tremellius elsewhere who did the same thing but all these wrote their Notes in
they gave publick testimony that they heard this person speak such words and did in their own and in all the peoples names desire and demand justice to be executed upon him that by this sacrifice God might be appeased and his judgments turned away from the people upon whom they would certainly fall if he were unpunished and let all the congregation stone him d The same punishment which was before appointed for those who cursed their parents whereas it deserved a far more grievous death Thus God in this life mixeth mercy with judgment and punisheth men less than their iniquities deserve 15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel saying Whosoever curseth e i. e. Speaketh of him reproachfully and with contempt They therefore are greatly mistaken that understand this of the heathen Gods whom their worshippers are forbidden to reproach or curse But Moses is not here giving laws to Heathens but to the Israelites nor would he concern himself so much to vindicate the honour of Idols nor doth this agree either with the design of the holy Scriptures which is to beget a contempt and detestation of all Idols and Idolatry or with the practise of the holy Prophets who used oft to vilify them See 1 â—…ing 18. 27. Ier. 10. 11. his God shall bear his sin f i. e. The punishment of it shall not go unpunished Some say he was to be beaten with stripes other say with death which is described ver 16. 16 And †Or. â—…e that 〈◊〉 he that blasphemeth the Name of the LORD g This some make a distinct sin from 〈◊〉 his God mentioned ver 15. but the difference they make seems arbitrary and without evidence from reason or the use of the words And therefore this may be a repetition of the same sin in other words which is common And as this law is laid down in more general terms ver 15. so both the sin and the punishment are more particularly expressed ver 16. Or the first part of ver 16. may be an application of the former rule to the present case And as for him that blasphemeth c. or is blaspheming c. in the present tense which is fitly used concerning words just now uttered and scarce yet out of their ears he shall c. And so the following words as well the stranger c. may be a repetition and amplificatioâ—… of the former law he shall surely be put to death and all the congregation h To shew their zeal for God and to beget in them the greater dread and abhorrency of blasphemy shall certainly stone him as well the stranger as he that is born in the land when he †Or 〈◊〉 blasphemeth the name of the LORD shall be put to death 17 * Exod. 21. 12. Num. 35. 31. Deut. 10. 21. And he that †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a 〈◊〉 killeth any man i This law is repeated here either to justifie this sentence of putting blasphemers to death from the same severity executed for a less crime or to prevent the mischievous effects of mens striving or contending together which as here it caused blasphemy so it might in others lead to murder shall surely be put to death 18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good †Heb. sâ—…l for sâ—…l beast for beast 19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour as * Exod. 21. 24. Deut. 19. 21. Mat. 5. 38. he hath done so shall it be done unto him 20 Breach for breach eye for eye tooth for tooth as he hath caused a blemish in a man so shall it be done to him again 21 * Exod. 21. 33 34. And he that killeth a beast he shall restore it and he that killeth a man he shall be put to death 22 Ye shall have * Exod. 12. 49. one manner of law k To wit in matters of common right but not as to Church priviledges as well for the stranger as for one of your own countrey for I am the LORD your God 23 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp and stone him with stones and the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses CHAP. XXV 1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai a i. e. Near mount Sinai So the Hebrew particle beth is sometimes used as Gen. 37. 13. Ios. 5. 13. Iudg. 8. 5. 2 Chron. 33. 20. compared with 2 King 21. 18. So there is no need to disturb the order of the Iâ—…story in this place saying 2 Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them When ye come into the land b So as to be settled in it for the time of the wars was not to be accounted nor the time before Ioshua's distribution of the land among them Ios. 14. 7 10. which I give you then shall the land †Heb. rest keep * Exod. 23. 11. See ch 26. 34. a sabbath c i. e. Enjoy rest and freedom from plowing tilling c. unto the LORD d i. e. In obedience and unto the honour of God This was instituted partly for the assertion of Gods soveraign right to the land in which the Israelites were but tenants at Gods will partly for the trial and exercise of their obedience partly for the demonstration of his providence aswell in the general towards men as more especially towards his own people of which see below ver 20 21 22. partly to wean them from inordinate love and pursuit of or trust to worldly advantages and to inure them to depend upon God alone and upon Gods blessing for their subsistence partly to put them in mind of that blessed and eternal rest provided for all good men wherein they should be perfectly freed from all worldly labours and troubles and wholly devoted to the service and enjoyment of God See on Exod. 23. 11. and lastly that by their own straits in that year they might learn more compassion to the poor who were under the same straits every year 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof 4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land a sabbath for the LORD thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard 5 * â—… King 19. 29. That which groweth of its own accord e From the grains that fell out of the ears the last reaping time of thy harvest thou shalt not reap f i. e. As thy own peculiarly but onely so as others may reap it with thee for present food neither gather the grapes †Heb. of thy separation of thy vine undressed g Heb. the grapes of thy separation i. e. The Grapes which thou hast separated or set apart to the honour of God and to the ends and uses appointed by God
Joab fell to the ground on his face and bowed himself and ‡ Heb. blessed thanked the king and Joab said To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight my lord O king in that the king hath fulfilled the request of ‖ Or thy his servant y i. e. Restored Absalom at my request Whereby Ioab thought to establish himself for ever and that he should be both the Fathers and the Sons favourite Quest. Whether David did well in granting this request Ans. Although there be some circumstances which in part extenuate David's fault herein as Amnon's high provocation of Absalom Absalom's being out of the reach of David's Justice where also he could and would have kept himself if David had not promised him impunity the extream danger of Absalom's infection by Heathenish principles and practises the safety of David's Kingdom which seemed to depend upon the Establishment of the Succession and that upon Absalom to whom the hearts of the people were so universally and vehemently inclined if the matter was really so and not pretended or magnified by the art of this subtil Woman yet it seems most probable that David was faulty herein because this action was directly contrary to the express Laws of God which strictly command the Supreme Magistrate to execute Justice upon all wilful Murtherers without any reservation Gen. 9. 6. Numb 35. 30 31. And David had no power to dispence with Gods Laws nor to spare any whom God commanded him to destroy for the Laws of God did bind the Kings and Rulers as well as the people of Israel to observe and obey them as is most evident from Deut. 17. 18 19. and from Ios. 1. 8. and many other places And indeed we may read David's sin in the Glass of those tremendous Judgments of God which befel him by means of his indulgence to Absalom For although Gods Providences be in themselves no Rule to Judge of the good or evil of Mens actions yet where they comply with Gods word and accomplish his threatnings as here they did they are to be taken for the tokens of Gods displeasure 23 So Joab arose and went to Geshur and brought Absalom to Jerusalem 24 And the king said Let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face z Lest whilst he shewed some mercy to Absalom he should seem to approve of his sin and thereby wound his own conscience and lose his honour and encourage him and others to such like attempts and that by this means Absalom might be drawn to a more thorough humiliation and true repentance So Absalom returned to his own house and saw not the kings face 25 ¶ ‡ Heb. and as Absalom there was not a beautiful man in all Israel to praise greatly But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty a This is here noted as the occasion of his pride and insolency and of the peoples affections to him and consequently of the following Rebellion from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him 26 And when he polled his head for it was at every years end that he polled it because the hair was heavy on him therefore he polled it he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels b Whereas ordinarily the hair of a Manss head which grows in a years space comes not to half so much But some Mens hair grows much faster and is much heavier than others But others understand this not of the weight but of the price of his hair which was sold by him that Polled it at that rate after the kings ‡ Heb. stone weight 27 And unto Absalom there were born three sons c All which died not long after they were born as may be gathered from chap. 18. 18. where it is said that Absalom had no son and one daughter whose name was Tamar d So called from her Aunt Chap. 13. 1. she was a woman of a fair countenance 28 ¶ So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem and saw not the kings face 29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab to have sent him to the king e That by his mediation he might be admitted into the Kings favour and presence but he would not come to him and when he sent again the second time he would not come f Partly because perceiving David's affections to be cold to Absalom he would not venture his own Interest for him especially in desiring that which he feared he should be denied partly lest by interceeding further for Absalom he should revive the remembrance of his former Murther and meet with the reproach of one Murtherers interceeding for another and partly because by converse with Absalom he observed his temper to be such that if once he were fully restored to the Kings favour he would not onely eclipse and oppose Ioab's interest and power with the King but also attempt high things not without danger to the King and Kingdom as it happened 30 Therefore he said unto his servants See Joabs field is ‡ Heb. near my place near mine and he hath barley there go and set it on fire g That Ioab may be forced to come to me to complain of and demand reparations for this injury and Absaloms servants set the field on fire 31 Then Joab arose and came to Absalom unto his house and said unto him Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire 32 And Absalom answered Joab Behold I sent unto thee saying Come hither that I may send thee to the king to say Wherefore am I come from Geshur It had been good for me to have been there still h Rather than here because my estrangement from him now when I am so near to him is both more grievous and more shameful to me But the truth of the business was this Absalom saw that his Father had accomplished his design in bringing him thither having satisfied both his own Natural affection and his peoples desire of Absalom's return from banishment but that he could not without restitution into the Kings presence and favour compass his design i. e. confirm and improve that interest which he saw he had in the peoples hearts now therefore let me see the kings face and if there be any iniquity in me let him kill me i For it is better for me to die than to want the sight and favour of my dear Father Thus he insinuates himself into his Fathers affections by pretending such Respect and Love to him It seems that by this time Absalom having so far recovered his Fathers favour as to be recalled he began to grow upon him and take so much confidence as to stand upon his own justification as if what he had done had been no iniquity at least not such as to deserve death For so much this speech intimates 33 So Joab
for chariot and we will fight against them in the plain and surely we shall be stronger than they And he hearkned unto their voice and did so 26 And it came to pass at the return of the year that Benhadad numbred the Syrians and went up to Aphek l Not that in Iudah of which Iosh. 13. 4. and 15. 53. but that in Asher of which Iosh. 19. 30. Iudg. 1. 31. nigh unto which was the great Plain of Galilee And this seems to be one of those Cities which Benhadad's Father had taken from Israel ver 34. Here also the Syrians might Retreat if they should be worsted ‡ Heb. to the War with Israel to fight against Israel 27 And the children of Israel were numbred and ‖ Or were Victualled were all present m i. e. All the Forces of the Israelites were here gathered together to oppose the Syrians so if those had been Conquered all had been lost and went against them n Being perswaded and encouraged so to do partly to prevent the Mischiefs of a Siege in Samaria and the waste of all the rest of their Country and partly by the remembrance of their former Success and an expectation of the same Assistance from God again and the children of Israel pitched before them o Probably upon some Hilly Ground where they might secure themselves and watch for Advantage against their Enemies which may be the reason why the Syrians â—…rst not Assault them before the Seventh Day ver 29. like two little flocks of kids p i. e. Few and Weak and Heartless being also for conveniency of Fighting and that they might seem to be more than they were divided into Two Bodies but the Syrians filled the country 28 ¶ And there came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and said Thus â—…aith the LORD Because the Syrians have said q Which he knew either by common Report strengthned by their present choice of a Plain Ground for the Battel or rather by Revelation from God who discovered their secret Counsels 2 King 6. 12. The LORD is God of the hills but he is not God of the valleys therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand and ye shall know that I am the LORD r To wit The Universal Lord of all Places and Persons and Things 29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days and so it was that in the seventh day the battel was joyned and the children of Israel â—…low of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day 30 But the rest fled to Aphek in the city and the wall s Or the walls the Singular Number for the Plural than which nothing more frequent of the City or of some great Castle or Fort in or near the City in which they were now Fortifying themselves or of some part of the City where they lay Which might possibly happen through Natural Causes but most probably was Effected by the Mighty Power of God then sending some sudden Earthquake or violent Storm of Wind which threw down the Wall or Walls upon them or doing this by the Ministry of Angels Which cannot be incredible to any Man except to him that denies the Truth of all the Miracles Recorded in the Old and New Testament which being Attested many of them by Iews and Heathens it is the height of Folly and Impudence to deny For if ever Miracle was to be Wrought now seems to have been the proper time and season for it when the Blasphemous Syrians denied the Soveraign and Infinite Power of God and thereby in some fort obliged him for his own Honour to give a Proof of it and to shew That he was the God of the Plains as well as of the Mountains and that he could as effectually Destroy them in their strongest Holds as in the open Fields and make the very Walls to whose strength they trusted for their Defence to be the Instruments of their Ruine But it may be further observed that it is not said That all these were killed by the fall of this Wall but onely that the wall fell upon them Killing some and Wounding others as is usual in those Cases Nor is it necessary that the Wall should fall upon every Individual Person but it is sufficient to justifie this Phrase if it fell upon the main Body of them for the Words in the Hebrew run thus the Wall fell upon 27000 not of the men that are left as we render it but which were left of that great Army fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left and Benhadad fled and came into the city t Either 1. Out of the Fields as the rest of his Army did Which is distinctly and particularly noted of him because he was the most Eminent Person in it and the Head of it Compare the Title of Psal. 18. Or 2. Aâ—… and from the noise and report of that Terrible Fall of the Wall or Walls which possily might be in the outside or Suburbs of the City from whence he â—…led further into the City ‖ Or from chamber to chamber ‡ Heb. unto a chamber within a chamber into an inner chamber u Or a chamber within a chamber where he supposed he might lye hid till he had an opportunity of making an Escape or of obtaining Mercy 31 ¶ And his servants said unto him Behold now we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings x More merciful than others because that Religion which they had professed taught them Humanity and obliged them to shew Mercy let us I pray thee put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads y As a testimony of our sorrow for undertaking this War and that we have justly forfeited our Lives for it which we submit to their mercy 〈◊〉 and go out to the king of Israel peradventure he will save thy life 32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the king of Israel and said Thy servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live And he said Is he yet alive he is my brother z I do not onely freely Pardon him but Honour and Love him as my Brother 33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him and did hastily catch it a Or they took that Word for a good token and made haste and snatched it i. e. that Word from him i. e. from his mouth they repeated the word again to try whether the King would own it or it onely drop't casually from him or made haste to know whether it was from him i. e. Whether he spoke this from his heart or onely in dissimulation or design for it seemed too good news to be true and they said Thy brother Benhadad b Understand liveth for that he enquired after ver 32. Then he said
us in the mitigation of thy Judgments and hast given us such deliverances as this m So full so sudden and unexpected and amazing not onely to our enemies but also to our selves 14 Should we again break thy commandments n Was this a fit and just requital of all thy kindnesses or was this thy end and design in these actions or wilst thou take this well from our hands and joyn in affinity with the people of these abominations I wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us so that there should be no remnant nor escaping o Can we reasonably expect any thing from thee less than utter ruine 15 O LORD God of Israel thou art righteous p A just and holy God who dost hate and wilst infallibly punish sin and sinners Or thou art merciful as appears from hence that notwithstanding all our sins thou hast not utterly destroyed us but left a remnant of us The Hebrew word here rendred righteous is oft used for merciful as is well known to all the learned for we remain yet escaped q Or though we remain c. i. e. Though thou hast yet spared us in part yet thou art righteous and therefore wilt certainly punish and destroy us according to our deserts if we do not repent of and reform this great wickedness as it is this day behold we are before thee in our trespasses r We are here in thy presence and so are all our sins we are arraigning our selves before thy Tribunal acknowledging our selves to be vile offenders and thee to be just if thou destroy us for we cannot stand before thee s To wit in Judgment as that word is oft used as Psal. 130. 3. Compare Psal. 1. 5. we must needs fall and perish at thy presence as the phrase is Psal. 9. 3. because of this t Because of this our great guilt and the aggravations of it CHAP. X. 1 NOw when Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down before the house of God there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children a Awakened by the words and example of this holy Priest and great Potentate So inexpressible is the good which is done by the good example and the evil which is done by the bad example of a great Person or of a Minister The fame of his great passion of grief and of his many and publick expressions thereof in the Court before the Temple being in an instant dispersed over all the City brought a great company together for the people †〈…〉 wept very sore b Being greatly affected with Ezra's prayer and with the common sin 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed c He saith we either 1. Because he was guilty in this matter Or rather 2. In the name of the people and their several Families and his own amongst the rest For this mans name is not in the following Catalogue but there we have his Father Iehiel and his Fathers Brethren five other Sons of his Grandfather Elam v. 26. It was therefore an evidence of his great Courage and good Conscience that he durst so freely and fully discharge his duty whereby he shewed that he honoured God more than his nearest and dearest Relations against our God and have taken d To wit into conjugal society with our selves strange wives of the people of the land yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing e In case of our repentance and reformation Therefore let us not sorrow like persons without hope nor sit down in despair but let us fall upon action and amend our errours and then trust to Gods mercy 3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to put away all the wives f Which though it may seem harsh yet is not unjust if it be considered 1. That Marriages made between some prohibited Persons as suppose between a Father and his Daughter a Brother and a Sister are not only unlawful but void Marriages and ipso facto null by the political laws of civil Nations And therefore these Marriages with Idolatrous and Heathen Women being expresly and severely forbidden by God might well be disannulled And it was one of good Theodosius his laws that those actions which were done against law should be accounted not only unlawful but null 2. That there were many peculiar laws given to the Jews concerning the Marrying and putting away of Wives as hath been observed before in their proper places and therefore it is not strange if there be something more in this case then is now usual with us 3. Supposing the matrimonial tye had continued yet they might be excluded from co-habitation with them as a just punishment upon them for the willful breach of a known and positive law of God and such as are born of them g This may seem harder than the former but many things may be said 1. Whatsoever evil befall either them or their Children they had all reason to accept it as the just and deserved fruit of their own sin 2. That Children may and sometimes do suffer at least temporal evils for their Parents sins or upon occasion of them is most evident both by the Scripture instances and by the laws and usages of Nations in some cases 3. This may seem to have been a necessary part of severity partly as a proper punishment of the Parents sin herein and to deter others more effectually from the like practices partly to prevent the corruption of their other Children by the conversation and society of this ungodly and Idolatrous brood and partly lest such Children being continually present with them and stealing into their affections might at last prevail with them to take their ejected Wives again 4. These Children were only cast out of the Families and Commonwealth of Israel but were not utterly forsaken and ruined but due care was probably taken by Authority that they should have some provision made for them some care taken about their Education in the Jewish Religion c. according to the counsel of my lord h Either 1. As thou counsellest and desirest us to do Or 2. Let us do it in such manner as thou shalt think fit and agreeable to the Law as it follows for it requires great caution as being a matter of no small difficulty and of those that tremble at the * 〈◊〉 â—… 2 3. commandment of our God i And of other serious and religious persons who may with thee consider and regulate the business and let it be done according to the law k This is meant either 1. Of the matter of the business let that be done which the Law requires let them be put away Or 2. Of the manner of it which must be
but a poor weak creature which thou canst crush with the least touch of thy finger without these violent and unsupportable pains and miseries and that I have not been so fierce and boisterous in my carriage as to need or deserve these extraordinary calamities that thou settest a watch over me l That thou shouldest guard and restrain me with such heavy and unexampled miseries lest I should break into rebellion against thee or into cruelty towards men 13. * Ch. 9. 27 28. When I say my Bed shall comfort me my Couch shall ease my complaint m By giving me sweet and quiet sleep which may take off the sense of my torments for that while 14. Then thou scarest me with dreams n With sad and dreadful dreams arising either from that melancholy humour which is now so fixed in me and predominant over me or from the Devils malice who by thy permission disturbs me in this manner So that I am afraid to go to sleep and my remedy proves as bad as my disease and terrifiest me through visions o The same thing with dreams for there were not only day-visions which were offered to mens sight when they were awake but also night-visions which were presented to mens Fancy in their sleep and dreams See Gen. 28. 12. 41. 1 2. Dan. 2. 1 31. 4 5 10. 15. So that my Soul chooseth p Not simply and in it self but comparatively rather than such a wretched life strangling q The most violent so it be but a certain and sudden death and death rather †Heb. than my 〈◊〉 than my life r Heb. than my bones i. e. than my body formerly the Soul 's dear and desired companion or than to be in the body which commonly consists of skin and flesh and bones but in Iob was in a manner nothing but a bundle of bones for his skin was every where broken and his flesh was quite consumed as he oft complains and his bones also were not free from pain and torment for as Satan's Commission reached to Iob's bones Iob 2. 5. so doubtless his Malice and wicked Design would engage him to execute it to the utmost 16 * Ch. 10. 1. I loath it s To wit my life last mentioned I would not live alway t In this World if I might no not in prosperity for even such a life is but vanity much less in this extremity of misery Or Let me not live for ever lingring in this miserable manner as if thou wouldest not suffer me to die but hadst a design to perpetuate my torments Or let me not live out mine age or the full time of my life which by the course of nature I might do for so the Hebrew word Olam is oft used but cut me off and that speedily * Ch. 10. 20. 14. â—… Psal. 39. 13. let me alone u i. e. Withdraw thy hand from me either 1. thy supporting hand which preserves my life and suffer me to die Or rather 2. thy correcting hand as this same phrase is used v. 19. for my days are vanity x Either 1. my life is in it self and in its best estate a most vain unsatisfying uncertain thing do not add this evil to it to make it miserable Or 2. My life is a vain decaying and perishing thing it will of it self quickly vanish and depart and doth not need to be forced from me by such exquisite torments 17 * Psal 8. 4. 144. 3. Heb. 26. What is man that thou should'st magnifie him y What is there in that poor mean contemptible Creature called Man miserable man as this word signifies which can induce or incline thee to take any notice of him to shew him such respect or to make such account of him Man is not worthy of thy Favour and he is below thy Anger It is too great a condescention to thee and too great an honour for man that thou wiltst contend with him and draw forth all thy forces against him as if he were a fit match for thee whereas men use to neglect and slight mean Adversaries and will not do them the honour to fight with them Comp. 1 Sam. 24. 14. Therefore do not O Lord thus dishonour thy self nor magnifie me I acknowledge that even thy corrections are mercies and honours but Lord let me be no more so honoured and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him z i. e. Have any regard to him so far as to afflict him which though it be grievous in it self especially when it is aggravated as mine is yet unto thy people it is a great mercy and blessing as being highly necessary and useful to humble them and purge them from sin and prepare them for glory as on the contrary those wicked men whom thou doest despise and hate and design to destroy thou doest forbear to punish or afflict them 18. And that thou shouldest visit him a To wit punish or chasten him as the Word is oft used as visiting is oft used as Exod. 20. 5. and 32. 34. and 34. 7. every morning b i. e. Every day But he mentions the morning either because that is the beginning of the day and so is put synecdochically for the whole day as the evening v. 4. is put for the whole night Or he speaks of God after the manner of men who rest and sleep in the night but in the morning rise and go about their business and visit or inspect those persons and things which they have a respect for or care of and try him c i. e. Afflict him which is oft called trying because it doth indeed try a man's faith and patience and perseverance But this and the former Verse may possibly be otherwise understood not of afflictions but of mercies Having declared his loathing of life and his passionate desire of death and urged it with this consideration that the days of his life were meer vanity he now pursues it with this expostulation What is man that vain foolish Creature that thou shouldst magnifie or regard or visit him to wit with thy mercy and blessings of which those words are commonly used i. e. that thou shouldst so far honour and regard him as by thy visitation to preserve his Spirit or hold his Soul in life and try him which God doth not only by afflictions but also by prosperity and outward blessings which commonly detect a mans hypocrisie and discover that corruption which before lay hid in his heart Therefore O Lord do not thus magnifie and visit me with thy mercy but take away my life every moment 19. How long wilt thou not depart from me d How long will it be ere thou withdraw thy afflicting hand from me e i. e. for a little time or that I may have a breathing time A proverbial expression like that Spanish Proverb I 〈◊〉 not time or liberty to spit out my spittle Or
them and keeping them from innumerable Dangers from which they are utterly unable to keep themselves But this though it sets forth God's Praise yet how it stills the Enemy and Avenger seems not clear Or rather 2. Metaphorically so called babes not so much in age and years as in disposition and condition weak and foolish and contemptible and harmless Persons who are very frequently called Babes or Children as 2. Chron. 13. 7. Prov. 1. 4. Eccles. 10. 16. Isa. 3. 4. Mat. 18. 3. â—…ph 4. 14. c. For such are very unfit to grapple with an Enemy and therefore when such Persons conquer the most powerful and malicious Enemies it must needs exceedingly confound and silence them and mightily advance the Glory of God as indeed it did when such mean and obscure Persons as the Apostles and Ministers and Disciples of Christ were did maintain and propagate the Gospel in spight of all the Wiâ—… and Power and Rage of their Enemies See 1. Cor. 1. 25 27 28 29. And of such Babes as these Christ himself expounds this place Mat 21. 16. Of which more God willing upon that place hast thou †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordained strength g Or thou hast sounded or confirmed or established or firmly setled or fitted or peâ—…fected as it is rendered by the LXX and vulgar Latin here and by St. Matthew Ch. 21. 16. i. e. perfectly or firmly setled Strength By which he seems to understand either 1. The Celebration or Praise of his Strength or Power by comparing this with Mat. 21. 16. where it is rendered Praise So it is onely a Metonymy of the Adjunct which is most frequent in Scripture and all Authors And so the word Strength seems to be taken Psal. 29. 1. and 96. 7. Or 2. A strong and mighty Kingdom the Abstract being put for the Concrete than which nothing is more frequent even the Kingdom of Christ or his Gospel which is oft called the Arm or Power of God as Psal. 110. 2. Isa. 53. 1. 1. Cor. 1. 18 24. And this Kingdom being an everlasting and invincible and all-conquering Kingdom Dan. 2. 44. it is no wonder it is here called Strength And this Gospel or Kingdom is here said to be founded or established not by the Hands or valiant Actions of Men of Might as other Kingdoms are but meerly by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Babes c. i. e. by the Words and Discourses of Christ's Apostles and Disciples Which is justly observed and celebrated here as a wonderful Work of God because of thine enemies that thou mightest †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 still h i. e. Silence and Confound and Conquer either by Convincing and Converting them or by destroying them the enemy i The Enemies of God and of his People the Devil the head of them whose Kingdom and Power is abolished by this means and all Men who fight under his Banner against God and Christ and his Members and the avenger k Which Title most truly and fitly agrees first â—…o the Devil who being senteâ—…d by God to eternal Flames and Conquered and Tormented by Christ maketh it his great business to revenge himself which because he cannot do upon God and Christ he indeavours to do it upon their Servants and Children and next to all these Men who are his Vassals and espouse his Quarrel who also are provoked and conceive though falsly that they are injured by the Gospel and by the Prâ—…achers Professors and Prâ—…ctisers of it and therefore seek to revenge themselves oâ—… them Whereof we have an eminent Instance â—…evel 11. 10. Compare Heb. 11. 37. 3. When I consider thy heavens l Thine by Creation as it follows and the work of thy fingers m i. e. of thy hand as it is expressed Psal. 102. 25. A part being here put for the whole God's hand and finger being indifferently used to note his Power as Exod. 8. 19. Lâ—…k 11. 20. c. Though some conceive that by this Phrase he intended to signify both with what facility God made this glorious Work even with a touch of his Finger and with what curiouâ—… and exquisite Artifice he framed it the Fingers being much used in such Works the moon and the stars n Either the Son is included under this general Title or he omitted it because he made this Psalm by Night when the Sun did not fall within his Contemplation which thou hast ordained o Or established or directed or disposed or ordered i. e. placed in that excellent and unalterable Order and directed to all their several Courses or Motions 4. * Job 7. 17 Psal. 144. 4. Heb. 2. â—… What p i. e. How mean and inconsiderable a thing is Man if compared with thy glorious Majesty who art so infinite in Power and Wisdom as thou hast shewed in the Frame of the Heavens c. is man q Heb. infirm or miserable man By which it is apparent that he speaks of Man not according to the staâ—…e of his Creation but as fallen into a state of Sin and Misery and Mortality that thou art mindful of him r i. e. Carest for him and conferrest such high Favours upon him and the son of man s Heb. the son of Adam that great Apostate from and Rebel against God the finful Son of a sinful Father his Son bâ—… likeness of Disposition and Manners no less than by Procreation All which tends to magnify the following Mercy that thou visitest him t Not in anger as that Word is sometimes used but with thy Grace and Mercy as it is taken Gen. 21. 1. Exod. 4. 31. Psal. 65. 9. and 106. 4. and 144 3. 5. For thou hast made him a little lower than †Heb the Gods Psal. 82. 6. 138. 1. the angels u Thou hast in and through Christ merciâ—…ully and wonderfully restored Man to his primitive and happy Estate in which he was but one remove below the Angels from which he was faâ—…len by Sin and hast crowned him x i. e. Man fallen and lost Man who is indeed actually crowned and restored to the Glory and Dominion here following not in his own person but in Christ his Head and Representative who received this Crown and Dominion not so much for himself who did not need it as for Man's good and in his stead which also he will in due time communicate unto all his Members And so the two differing Expositions of this place concerning Mankind and concerning Christ may be reconciled For he speaks of that happy and honourable Estate by God's Favour conferred first upon Christ of whom therefore this place is rightly Expounded Heb. 2. 6 7 8. and then by his hands upon Mankind even upon all that believe in him And so this whole pâ—…ce compared with that may be thus Paâ—…aphrased What is Man that thou shouldest mind or visit him by thy Son whom thou hast sent into the World Who that he might restore Man to that
to all generations 12. * Psal 65. 4. c. 94. 14. 144. 15. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance u Seeing the Lord is so great and glorious in Wisdom and Power and Goodness as hath been hitherto said as they must needs be very miserable who are Strangers or Enemies to him so thrice Happy is that people of Israel who though they be despised by the Gentiles are chosen by this Almighty God to be his peculiar Portion and Friends and Servants 13. * 2 Chr. 16. 9. Job 28. 24. Psal. 11. 4. The LORD looketh from heaven he beholdeth all the sons of men x Although he hath a special Relation to Israel yet he hath a general Care and Inspection over all Mankind all whose Hearts and Ways he discerns and observes 14. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth 15. He fashioneth y Or fashioned or made Or formeth For this may relate Either 1. To the work of Creation So he proves what he said v. 13 14. that God beheld all men because he made them yea even their Hearts the most secret piece of them Or 2. To the works of his Providence Having said that God sees and observes all Men he now addes that he Rules and Governs them yea even their Hearts which are most Masterless and unmanageable and yet he frameth and disposeth and inclineth them this way or that according to the Counsel of his Will See Exod. 34. 24. Psal. 105. 25. their hearts alike z Or equally one as well as another Whether they be Iews or Gentiles Bond or Free Princes or Peasants all are alike subject to his Jurisdiction he considereth all their works a Both outward and inward all the workings of their Minds and Affections and all their Indeavours and Actions 16. There is no king b He instanceth in these as the most potent and uncontroll able persons in the World and most Confident of themselves and least sensible of their Dependence upon God By which he strongly proves his general Proposition of God's powerful Providence over all Men. saved by the multitude of an host c But only by God's Providence who disposeth of Victory and Success as he pleaseth and that frequently to the weakest and most foolish side Eccles. 9. 11. a mighty man is not delivered by much strength 17. * Psal. 147. 10. Prov. â—…1 31. An horse d Though he be strong Iob 39. 19. c. and fit for Battel Prov. 21. 31. Or for flight if need requires And so this is put for all Warlike provisions of which Horses were and are a very Considerable part is †Heb. a Lye a vain thing e Heb. a Lye because it promiseth that help and safety which it cannot give for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength 18. * Job 36. â—… Psal. 34. 15 1 pet 3. 12. Behold the eye of the LORD f Whosoever therefore would have Safety and Deliverance must seek and expect it only from the watchful Eye and Almighty hand and mercy of God is upon them that fear him g These are the chief Object of his Care and Favour upon them that hope in his mercy h That place their Hope and Trust and Happiness not in any Creature but only in God and in his Mercy and Blessings The Conjunction and Order of these two qualifications of the Person whom God careth for is observable here they must be such as fear God and so make Conscience of keeping his Commands Eccles. 12. 13. and then they may and must hope in Or relye upon his Mercy for their Safety and Happiness 19. To deliver their soul i i. e. Their Life when he sees it to be expedient for them sometimes it is better for them to dye than to Live as both good and bad Men have declared and when it is so it is known to God but not to us And therefore the constant Accomplishment of this and the like promises in a literal Sence is not to be expected nor simply desired but with Submission to God's wise and gracious Will from death and to keep them alive * Job 5. â—… Psa. 37. 19. in famin 20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD he is our help k The help of us Israelites to whom he hath made many Promises and glorious Discoveries of his Goodness and our shield 21. For l Or Therefore for this seems to be an Inference Either from the foregoing or from the following Sentence our heart shall rejoyce in him because we have trusted in his holy name 22. Let thy mercy O LORD be upon us according as we hope in thee PSAL. XXXIV A Psalm of David when he changed a A Psalm made upon that occasion though not at that time his behaviour b Or his Habit or Posture or his Reason as this word is taken 1 Sam. 25. 33. Psal. 119. 66. Prov. 11. 22. When he Counterfeited madness Wherein whether he sinned or not is matter of Dispute but this is undoubted that God's Favour and his Deliverance at that time was very Remarkable and deserved this Solemn acknowledgment before ‖ Or Achish 1 Sam. 21. 11 13. Abimelech c Called Achish 1 Sam. 21. 10. But Abimelech seems to have been the common Name of the Kings of the Philistins Gen. 20. 2. and 26. 1. as Pharao was of the Egyptians and Caesar of the Romans who drove him away and he departed 1. I Will bless the LORD at all times d I will never forget to bless God for this miraculous Deliverance his praise shall continually be in my mouth 2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD e Shall glory in this that I have so powerful and so gracious a Lord and Master the humble f Or the Meek i. e. The Godly oft called in Scripture by that Title and particularly my Friends and Favourers in Israel whom he thus calls in Opposition to his proud and furious Adversaries in Saul's Court and Camp shall hear thereof and be glad g Both for their Love to me and to the publick good of Israel which they know that I design and seek above all things and for the Comfort and Benefit of my example to them in like Straits and Difficulties 3. O magnifie the LORD with me h Joyn your Praises with mine O all ye humble Ones and let us exalt his name together i Not in place for David was now banished from the place of God's publick Worship but in Affection and Work Let our Souls meet and let our Praises meet in the Ears of the all-hearing God Or alike i. e. With equal Zeal and Fervency let none be willing to be out stripped by another 4. I sought the LORD and he heard me and delivered me
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. 〈◊〉
he was extolled d i. e. Praised by me To wit for answering my Prayers with my tongue 18 If * Prov. 28. 9. 〈◊〉 1. 15. 〈◊〉 9. 31. 〈◊〉 .. 4. 3. I †〈◊〉 see regard e Heb. If I have or had seen or looked upon to wit with approbation and affection as Iob 31. 26. Hab. 1. 13. Men look upon what they like and turn away their Face from what they loath or hate iniquity f Any sin whatsoever and especially Idolatry which is oft expressed by this Word to which the Israelites were very prone and to which they had most powerful Temptations from the Examples and Counsels and Promises and Threats of the Idolaters in whose Land and Power they had been And so this is a Purgation of themselves from that Crime somewhat like that Psal. 44. 20 21. and in general from those gross and Reigning sins whereof they had been guilty formerly in my heart g If my Heart was false to God and did cleave to Idols or to any Wickedness although I might for some prudential Reasons forbear the gross and outward Acts. Compare Psal. 44. 17 18. If I had been guilty of that Hypocrisie wherewith mine Enemies charged me and had been a secret Favourer of Wickedness when I pretended great Piety Or If I did not Cry unto God with my Heart but onely howled for Corn and Wine c. and whilst I cryed to God with my Tongue my Heart was set upon sin or I desired onely that which I resolved in mine Heart to spend upon my Lusts. the LORD will not hear me h Or Would not have heard me as divers learned Interpreters translate it the Future being put Potentially as is usual among the Hebrews For God heareth not sinners Ioh. 9. 31. nor Hypocrites Iob 27. 8 9. Prov. 15. 29. 19 But verily God hath heard me i Which is a publick Vindication and a divine Testimony of my Integrity against all my false Accusers he hath attended to the voyce of my prayer 20 Blessed be God which hath not turned away k Or rejected or removed to wit from his sight and Audience but hath received and granted it my prayer nor his mercy l Though he had now ascribed his own Innocency and sincere Piety yet he imputeth not God's hearing of his Prayers to that but solely unto God's Grace and Mercy from me PSAL. LXVII To the chief musician on Neginoth a Psalm or Song This Psalm contains a Prayer for the Church of Israel as also for the Gentile-World whose Conversion he Prophetically describes 1 GOd be merciful unto us a Thy People of Israel and bless us and * Psal. 4. 6. caus his face to shine †Heb. with 〈◊〉 upon us b As thou hast hid thy Face and Favour from us so now do thou manifest it to us For the Phrase see Numb 6. 25 26. Psal. 31. 16. Selah 2 That thy way may be known upon earth c Nor do we desire this Mercy onely for our Comfort but also for the Advancement of thy Glory and the Propagation of the true Religion among all Nations who by the Contemplation of thy Gracious and wonderful Works to and for us will be induced to Love and serve thee and to list themselves among thy People By God's way he understands Either 1. That way wherein God Walks or the manner of his dealing with his People how Gracious and bountiful a Master thou art to all thy Servants Or rather 2. That way wherein God requires Men to walk the way of Gods Precepts the way of Truth or the true Religion as the way or ways of the Lord are frequently taken Gen. 18. 19. Iudg. 2. 22. Psal. 18. 21. and 119. 1. Act. 18. 25. 26 c. the same which in the next Clause is called his Saving Health Heb. Salvation and both together signifie the way of Salvation which the Psalmist desires may be known among all Nations which was expected by the Antient and ungodly Iews at the coming of the Messias who is called the way Ioh. 14. 6. and God's Salvation Luk. 2. 30. And so the Sence of the place is this deal so graciously with thy People Israel that thereby the Gentile-World may at last be allured to joyn themselves with them and to embrace their Religion and Messias according to that famous Prophecy Zech. 8. 23. In those days ten Men out of all Nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Iew saying We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you thy saving health among all nations 3 Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee d O hasten that time when all the Gentiles shall forsake their dumb Idols and serve and Praise thee the Living God as they will have abundant cause to do 4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy e For thy Transcendent Mercy to them in rescuing them from the Vanities and damnable Errors of their Fathers and in bringing them to the knowledge of the true God and of eternal Life for thou shalt judg f i. e. Rule and govern them as it is explained in the next Clause and as this Phrase is used the people righteously g Which is the great Commendation of any Government and the greatest Argument and Encouragement to the Gentiles to put themselves under it the rather Because they had found the Misery of Living under the unrighteous and Tyrannical Government of the Devil and of their Idolatrous and heathenish Rulers and †Heb. Lead govern h Heb. lead To wit gently as a Shepherd doth his Sheep and not rule them with Rigour as other Lords had done the nations upon earth Selah 5 Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee 6 * Psal. 85. 12. Then shall the earth yield her increase i When the People of the Earth shall be Converted to the Worship and Service of the true God God will take away his Curse from the Earth and cause it to yield them abundance of all sorts of Fruits Under which one Blessing Promised under the Law to them that obey God all other Blessings both Temporal and Spiritual are Comprehended as is very usual in the Old Testament and God even our own God k He who is Israel's God in a peculiar manner by that everlasting Covenant which he hath made with us shall bless us 7 God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him PSAL. LXVIII To the chief musician a Psalm or Song of David The occasion of this Psalm seems to have been David's Translation of the Ark to Zion which was managed with great Solemnity and Devoâ—…ion and Celebrated with some Psalms and this among the rest For the first Words are the very same which Moses appointed for such occasions Namb. 10. 35. and the following Verses pursue the same Matter with
a Recompence for their Injuries done to him whereas they most deservedly and fitly belong to the Enemies and Murderers of Christ. 22 * Rom. 11. 9 10. Let o These and the following Words which are expressed in the form of Imprecations are thought by divers to be onely Predictions and that the Imperatives are put for the Futures as sometimes they are And accordingly they translate the Words thus Their Table shall become a Sâ—…are c. But if they be Imprecations here was sufficient Cause for them And besides it is apparent that they were not the Dictates of humane Passion but of Divine inspiration and proceeded from a just Zeal for God's Glory as hath been observed before their table p i. e. Their Food and all their Provisions for Nâ—…cessity or Delight Either For Body or Soul for the Curses here following are Spiritual and Eternal as well as Temporal And so this may Comprehend their Sacrifices and other legal Ordinances and the Word of God all which became to the Iâ—…ws through their own default a great occasion of stumbling at Christ. And this Punishment in their 〈◊〉 exactly Answers to their sin in giving Christ Gall for his Meat v. 21. become a snare before them q Heb. Before them i. e. Their Table or Meat which is set before them which is the usual Expression in this Case as Gen. 1â—… 8. 2 Kings 6. 22. become a Snare i. e. The occasion or Instrument of their Destruction It is a Metaphor taken from Birds or Fishes that are Commonly 〈◊〉 and taken with their â—…aits and that which should have been for their welfare let it become a trap r Heb. And as for their great Peace which the plural Number seems to import all that Tranquility and Prosperity which they do or may enjoy let it be a Trap. Or And their Peace-offerings which Sacrifices may be here mentioned because the offerers did partake of them and Feast upon them and so this agrees with the Table expressed in the former Clause a Trap. And so they were to the unbelieving Iews whose false Conceit of the Everlastingness of the Mosaâ—…cal Dispensation was one Cause of their Rejection of Christ. Or thus And for Recompences i. e. An abundant Compensation of all their Injuries and for a Trap. For thus it is rendred by divers both Antient and Modern Interpreters and which iâ—… more Considerable by the Apostle Rom. 11. 9. 23 Let their eyes s Not the Eyes of their Bodies for so this was not accomplished in David's nor in Christ's Enemies but of their Minds that they may not discern God's Truth not their own Duty nor the way of Peace and Salvation Punish them in their own kind As they that shut their Eyes and would not see so do thou Judicially blind them This was threatned and inflicted upon the Iews Isa. 6. 10. Ioh. 12. 39 40. be darkned that they see not and make their loins continually to shake t This also belongs to the Loyns of their Minds or Souls of which we Read Luk. 12. 35. 1 Pet. 1. 13. The Loyns of the Body are the Seat of strength and the great Instrument of bodily Motions and Actions Which being applied to the Mind the Sence may be Either 1. Take away their Courage and Alaâ—…rity and give them up to Puâ—…illanimity and Terror and Despair Or rather 2. Take away their Strength and Ability for spiritual Actions In the former Branch he wisheth that they may not â—…e able to see or chuse their way and here that they may not be able to Walk in it nor to execute the good Counsels which others may give them As on the other side when God giâ—…s Men strength they are able not onely to Walk out to 〈◊〉 in the ways of God Psal. 119. 32. Cant. 1. 4. Iâ—… 40. 31. 24 Pour out thine indignation upon them u In such other ways and Judgments as thou shalt think â—…it and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them 25 * Act. 1. 20. Let †Heb. their Palace their habitation x Heb. their Palace as this Word signifies Gen. 25. 16. Numb 31. 10. Cant. 8. 9. Either their Temple in which they place their Glory and Safety Or rather 2. And more generally their strongest and most Magnificent Buildings and Houses in which they dwelt as it follows in the next Clause which explains this be desolate and †Heb. 〈◊〉 there not be a dweller let none y Either 1. None of their Posterity Destroy them both Root and Branch Or 2. None at all Let the places be accounted Execrable and Dreadful dwell in their tents 26 For they persecute * â—…sa 53. 4. him whom thou hast smitten z Which is an Act of barbarous Cruelty and inhumane Malice and they talk a Reproaching them with and insulting and Triumphing in their Calamities to the grief of †Heb thy wounded those whom thou hast wounded 27 Add ‖ Or Punishment of iniquity iniquity to their iniquity b Give them up to their own vain Minds and vile Lusts and to a Reprobate Sence and take off all the Restraints of thy Grace and Providence and expose them to the Temptations of the World and of the Devil that so they may grow worse and worse and at last may fill up the Measure of their sins as is said Mat. 23. 32. Compare Rom. 1. 28 29. Or Add Punishment to their Punishment as this Word is oft taken Send one Judgment upon them after another without ceasing and let them not come into thy righteousness c Let them never partake of thy Righteousness i. e. Either 1. Of thy Faithfulness in making good thy Promises to them Or 2. Of thy Mercy and Goodness Or rather 3. Of thy Righteousness Properly so called of that everlasting Righteousness which the Messiah shall bring into the World Dan. 9. 24. which is called the Righteousness of God Rom. 1 17. Phil. 3. 9. c. Which is said to be witnessed by the Law and the Prophets Rom. 3. 21. by and for which God doth justifie or Pardon sinners and accept them in Christ as Righteous Persons For this was the Righteousness which the Iews Rejected to their own Ruin Rom. 10. 3. according to this Prediction Thus as the first Branch of the Verse maketh or supposeth them Guilty of many Sins so this excludes them from the onely Remedy the Remission of their sins And that justifying rather then sanctifying Righteousness is here meant seems most Probable from the Phrase which seems to be a judicial Phrase as we Read of Coming or Entring into Iudgment Iob 22. 4. and 34. 23. and into Condemnation Iob. 5. 24. opposite unto which is this Phrase of Coming into Iustification Or which is one into thy Righteousness 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living d Or Of Life Either 1. Of this Life Out of the number of Living
like sparks of Fire of the bow the shield and the sword h Both offensive and defensive Weapons so as they could neither hurt God's People nor save themselves from Ruin and the battel i The force and fury of the Battle and all the Power of the Army which was put in Battel-Array Selah 4 Thou k O God To whom he directeth his Speech here as also v. 6 7 8. art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey l Either 1. Than the greatest Kings and Empires of the Earth which in Prophetical Writings are oft Compared to Mountains as Psal. 46. 2 3. Isa. 41. 15. Ier. 51. 25. Hab. 3. 6. And they are called Mountains of prey because then they generally were Established by Tyranny and maintained by preying upon their own Subjects or other inferior Kingdoms Or 2. Which amounts to the same thing than the most powerful Enemies of thy People upon whom they used and now desired and expected to prey Such Persons being oft expressed by the name of Mountains as Psal. 144. 5. â—…eth 4. 7. c. 5 The stout hearted are spoiled m Of all that Glory and Advantage which they either had already gotten or further expected from the Success of their present expedition which they promised to themselves They became a prey to those upon whom they hoped to prey they have slept their sleep n Even a perpetual sleep as Ier. 51. 39. 57. or the 〈◊〉 of Death Psal. 13. 3. called their sleep Emphatically as being peculâ—…ar to them and such like Men and not that sleep which is common to the good and bad Their Death he seems to call 〈◊〉 Because they were slain in the Night when they had Composed themselves to rest and sleep and so passed insensibly from one sleep to another For it is thought by many that this Psalm was Composed upon the occasion of that prodigious slaughter of the Assyrians in Iudah 2 Kings 19. 35. and none of the men of might have found their hands o They had no more strength in or use of their hands against the destroying Angel than they who have no hands 6 At thy rebuke O God of Jacob both the chariot and horse p The men who Rode upon and â—…ought from Chariots and Horses who fight with most Advantage and usually have most Courage and much more unable were their Footmen to resist or avoid the stroke are cast into a dead sleep 7 Thou even thou art to be feared and who may stand in thy sight q To wit to Contend with thee Standing is here opposed to flight or falling before the Enemy See Iâ—…sh 7. 12. Dan. 8. 4. when once thou art angry 8 * Psal. 46. 6 Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven r Thou didst execute Judgment upon thine Enemies by an Angel sent from Heaven which is said to be heard Either because that was accompanied with terrible Thunders and Earthquakes which was not unusual in the descent of an Angel as Mat. 28. 2. and elsewhere Or because the same of it was quickly spread abroad in the Land and in the World the earth feared and was still s The effect of this Terrible Judgement was that the rest of the World were afraid to invade or disturb the Land and People of Israel and chose rather to sit still in their own Territories 9 When God arose to judgment t When God who for a season had sat still began to bestir and shew himself against his Enemies Or After God had risen c. Or Because God did arise c. to save all the meek of the earth u To save all the godly Persons who are oft called Meek ones as hath been noted again and again in Israel for whose sakes God wrought this great Deliverance which reached to all the People of the Land Selah 10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee x The blasphemous Speeches and furious Attempts of thine Enemies shall serve thy Glory and cause thy People and others to Praise and magnifie thee for that admirable Wisdom and Power and Faithfulness and Goodness which thou shalt discover upon that occasion the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain y Thou shalt prevent and disappoint the succeeding malicious Designs of thine Enemies who will meditate Revenge for those shameful and Terrible overthrows Or the râ—…der of wrath thou shalt gird thy self with i. e. Put it on as an Ornament which the Girdle was thou shalt adorn thy self with it as a Conqueror doth with the spoils of his Enemies 11 Vow z Vow a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Either at this time for this wonderful Deliverance Or hereafter in all your Future straits and Troubles let this Experience encourage you to make such Vows to God with Confidence of Success and pay a But when God hath accepted your Vows and given you the desired Deliverance forget not to pay your Vows unto the LORD your God let all that be round about him b Either 1. All the Tribes of Israel who have the Benefit of this Mercy Or rather 2. All the neighbouring Nations on every side to whom the same of this mighty work of God shall come I advise them for the Future if they love themselves to cease from all Hostilities against God or his People and to submit themselves to the God of Israel bring presents †Heb. to the fear Gen. 31. 42. 53 unto him that ought to be feared c Whom though they do not love yet they see and feel that they have great reason to Fear and to seek his Favour 12 He shall cut off d As men do their Grapes in time of Vintage as the Hebrew Verb implies to wit suddenly violently and irresistibly This is all which they shall get by opposing him and therefore it is their Wisdom to bring Presents to him the spirit e Either 1. Their Courage Or rather 2. Their Breath and Life as he did in the Assyrian Army of princes he is terrible to the Kings of the earth PSAL. LXXVII The ARGUMENT This Psalm was Composed upon the occasion of some sore and long Calamity of God's People Either the Babylonish Captivity or some other To the chief musician †Heb. upon Psal. 62. to Jeduthun a Psalm ‖ Or for Asaph of Asaph a Either that Asaph who lived and Prophecied in David's time Or one of his Successors long after him called as was usual by his Progenitors name 1 I Cried unto God with my voyce even unto God with my voyce and he gave ear unto me b This Verse seems to contain the sum of the whole Psalm consisting of two parts to wit his earnest Cry to God in his deep distress and God's gracious return to his Prayers by supporting him under them and giving him assurance of a good issue out of them of both which he speaks more distinctly and particularly of
7 For they have devoured Jacob l The posterity of Iacob whom thou didst love and with whom and his Seed thou madest a sure and everlasting Covenant whereby thou didst ingage thy self to be an enemy to their enemies Exod. 23. 22. Besides thou haâ—…est cruelty especially when the wicked devour those who are more righteous than themselves Habak 1. 13. and laid waste his dwelling place 8 * Isa. 64. 9 O remember not against us ‖ Or the iniquities of them that were before us former iniquities m The sins committed by our Forefathers and by us who have filled up the measure of their sins for which we confess thou hast most righteously brought this desolating judgment upon us let thy tender mercies n Upon which all our confidence is fixed for merit and righteousness we have none See Dan. 9 7 9. speedily prevent us o Prevent our utter extirpation which we have deserved and have great reason to expect for we are brought very low p Past the hopes of all humane help and therefore the glory or our deliverance will be wholly thine 9 Help us O God of our salvation q From whom we have oft received and from whom alone we now expect salvation for the glory of thy name r Which is now obscured by the insolency and blasphemy of thine enemies who ascribe this Conquest to their Idols and triumph over thee no less than over thy people as one unable to deliver them out of their hands See Dan. 3. 15. and deliver us and †Heb. attone or expiate purge away our sins for thy names sake 10 * Psal. 42. 10. and 115. 2. Wherefore should the heathen say Where is their God! s He whom they served and of whom they boasted He is lost and gone or grown impotent or idle Let him be known among the heathen t By the expectation of his judgments upon them according to Psal. 9. 16. in our sight u That we may live to see it and praise thy name for it by the †Heb. vengeance revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed 11 Let * the sighing of the prisoner u Of thy poor people now in prison or at least in captivity come Psal. 102. 20. before thee according to the greatness of †Heb. thine arm thy power †Heb. reserve the children of death preserve thou those that are appointed to die x Heb. the children of death i. e. Which were either designed to death or in manifest danger of it as being wholly in the power of their cruel and barbarous enemies 12 And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom y i. e. Either 1. Abundantly as this Phrase notes Isa. 65. 6 7. Ier. 32. 18. Luke 6. 38. Or 2. Sensibly so as it may come home to them and fall heavily upon them in their own persons there reproach wherewith they have reproached thee z As impotent or unfaithful or unmerciful to his own people So they intimate that this dedesire did not proceed from a revengeful mind but from a due sence of God's favour O Lord. 13 * Psal. 9â—… 7. So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever we will shew forth thy praise †Heb. to generation and generation to all generations PSAL. LXXX The ARGUMENT This Psalm was Composed either 1. Upon the same ocasion with the former to wit the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans as most conceive Which yet seems not probable because here is no mention of the Temple nor of Jerusalem as there is in the foregoing Psalm nor of the Tribe of Judah which was most concerned in that desolation but of Joseph Verse 1. and of the Tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh which were carried captive long before that time nor do the expressions of this Psalm import such a desolating judgment as those of the former do Or 2. Upon occasion of the captivity of the ten Tribes as some others think But why then is Benjamin named which is none of that number nor went into captivity with them but was joyned with Judah Or 3. Upon occasion of some other calamity or calamities which befel the Tribes of Israel after their division into two Kingdoms and before the captivity and destruction of either of them In which time all â—…he evils mentioned in this Psalm did befal them sometimes in one Tribe or part and sometimes in another as is manifest from their History To the chief musician upon Shoshannim-Eduth a It seems to be the name of a Musical Instrument though many separate the latter part of the word from the former and expound Eduth a testimony or witness between God and his people of his relation to them and of their dependence upon him a Psalm ‖ Or for Asaph of Asaph 1 GIve ear O shepherd of Israel b Thou who hast undertaken to seed and govern thy people of Israel as a shepherd doth his flock now perform thine Office and rescue thy â—…ock from those grievous Wolves which devour and destroy them thou that leadest c Or didst lead formerly though now thou hast forsaken them Ioseph d i. e. The Children of Ioseph or of Israel as he now said this Clause being but a repetition of the former in other words Compare Psal. 77. 15. And the name of Ioseph the most eminent of the Patriarchs both for his dignity and piety and the right of primogeniture transferred upon him from Reuben 1 Chron. 5. 1. is elsewhere put for all the ten Tribes as Ezek. 37. 16 19. Amos 5. 6 15. and 6. 6. Zech. 10. 6. And for all the Tribes as Psal. 81. 5. Obad. v. 18. like a flock thou that dwellest between the cherubims e Which were the Mercy-seat above the Ark. By which title he prudently and piously minds the ten Tribes of their revolt from God and of the vanity of their superstitious Addresses to their Calves at Daâ—… and Bethel and of the necessity of their returning to the true worship of God before the Ark at Ierusalem if they desired or expected any relief from him And by this title it seems more than probable that this Psalm was not made upon occasion of the Babylonish Captivity in and after which time there was no Ark nor Cherubims nor do I remember that David or any Prophets did then apply themselves to God by that Title See Dan. 9. shine forth f Out of the clouds wherein thou seemest to hide thy self Shew forth thy power and goodness to and for thy poor oppressed people in the face of thine and their Enemies 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh g i. e. Before all the Tribes of Israel for whom he mentions onely these three Tribes either 1. Because of their special relation to Ioseph here named Vers. 1. Ephraim and Manasseh being his Sons and
strongest and most vigorous old Age. Or their excellency or pride that old age which is their glory and in which men do commonly glory labour and sorrow f Filled with troubles and griefs from the infirmities of age the approach of Death and the contingences of humane life for it g Either our age or our strength is soon cut off h It doth not now decline by many degrees and slow steps as it doth in our young and flourishing age but decayeth apace and suddenly fleeth away and we flee away i We do not now go to Death as we do from our very Birth nor run but flee swiftly away like a Bird as this word signifies 11 Who knoweth k Few or none sufficiently apprehend it or stedfastly believe it or duly consider it or are rightly affected with it For all these things are comprehended under this word knoweth the power of thine anger l The greatness and force and dreadful effects of thine anger conceived against the Sons of men and in particular against thine own people for their miscarriages even according to thy fear m i. e. According to the fear of thee as my fear is put for the fear of me Mal. 1. 6. and his knowledge for the knowledge of him Isa. 53. 11. According to that fear or dread which sinful men have of a just and holy God These fears of the Deity are not vain Bugbears and the effects of ignorance and folly or Superstition as Heathens and Atheists have sometimes said but are just and built upon solid grounds and justified by the terrible effects of thy wrath upon mankind so is thy wrath n It bears full proportion to it nay indeed doth far exceed it It cannot be said of Gods wrath which is said of Death that the fear of it is worse than the thing it self But this Verse is by many both antient and later Interpreters rendred otherwise and that very agreeably to the Hebrew Text who knoweth the power of thine anger and thy wrath according to thy fear i. e. either 1. according to the fear of thee or so as thou art to be feared or answerably to thy terrible displeasure against sin and sinners Or 2. so as to fear and dread thee in such manner and measure as sinful Creatures ought to fear the infinite and offended Majesty of God their Creator and Judge and Soveraign and thereby to be moved to humble himself before thee and fervently to seek thy face and favour which is the onely true wisdom for which he prayeth in the next Verse 12 * Psal. 39. 4. So teach us o By thy spirit and grace as thou hast already taught us by thy word Or Teach us rightly as this word is used Numb 27. 7. and 2 Kings 7. 9. to number c. as it follows to number our days p To consider the shortness and miseries of this life and the certainty and speediness of Death and the causes and consequences thereof that we may †Heb. cause to come apply our hearts unto wisdom q That we may heartily devote our selves to the study and practice of true wisdom which is nothing else but piety or the fear of God And why so Not that the Israelites might thereby procure a revocation of that peremptory sentence of death passed upon all that Generation nor that other men might hereby prevent their death both which he very well knew to be impossible but that men might arm and prepare themselves for death and for their great account after death and might make sure of the happiness of the future life Of which this Text is a plain and pregnant proof 13 Return O LORD r To us in mercy for thou seemest to have forsaken us and cast us off how long s Understand wilt thou be angry or will it be ere thou return to us and let it repent thee concerning thy servants t i. e. Of thy severe proceedings against us and change thy course and carriage to us 14 O satisfie us early u Speedily or seasonably before we be utterly consumed with thy mercy that we may rejoyce and be glad all our days 15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us and the years wherein we have seen evil x Our afflictions have been sharp and long let not our prosperity be small and short 16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children y Let that great and glorious work of giving thy people a compleat deliverance which thou hast long since designed and promised be at last accomplished and manifested unto us and in the sight of the World 17 And let the beauty of the LORD z i. e. His favourable countenance and gracious influence and glorious presence our God be upon us and establish thou the work of our hands upon us a Or in us Do not onely work for us but in us And because the glorious work of thy hands is hindered by the evil works of our hands be thou pleased by thy holy spirit to direct or establish for this Hebrew word signifies both the works of our hands that we may cease to do evil and learn to do well and turn and constantly cleave unto thee and not revolt and draw back from thee as we have frequently done to our own undoing yea the work of our hands establish thou it PSAL. XCI The Penman of this Psalm is uncertain The occasion of it seems to have been that great Pestilence recorded 2 Sam. 24. 1 HE that * Psal. 27. 4 5 31. 20. dwelleth in the secret place a Or hiding place He that makes God his habitation and refuge as he is called below v. 9. resorting to him and relying upon him in his dangers and difficulties of the most High shall †Heb. lodge abide under the shadow of the Almighty b He shall not be disappointed of his hope but shall find a quiet and safe repose under the Divine protection A shadow in Scripture phrase commonly signifies protection See Gen. 19. 8. Iudg. 9. 15. Psal. 17. 8. c. 2 I will say of the LORD He is my refuge c Upon that ground I will confidently commit my self and all my affairs to God and my fortress my God in him will I trust 3 Surely * Psal. 124. â—… he shall deliver thee d O thou believing pious Soul who after my example shale make God thy refuge thou shalt partake of the same priviledge which I enjoy from the snare of the fowler and from the noisom Pestilence e From the Pestilence which like a Fowlers snare taketh men suddenly and unexpectedly and holdeth them fast and commonly delivers them up to Death 4 * Psal. 57. 1. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth f Whereby he is obliged to
enemies but to their children who yet by the Law of God were not to suffer for their parents sins Deut. 24. 16. 1. HOld not thy peace a Do not neglect me but take notice of my extreme danger and misery and deliver me which thou canst do by the speaking of one word O God of my praise b The Author and matter of all my praises who hast given me continual occasion to praise thee whom I have used to praise and will praise whilst I live do not therefore now give me occasion to turn my praises into lamentations 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 mouth of the deceitful c Of those who add hypocrisie and perfidiousness to their malice †〈◊〉 have oâ—… themâ—… are opened d They speak freely boldly and publickly without any fear or shame against me they have spoken against me e Or to or with me as this particle commonly signifies with a lying tongue f Either 1. with calumnies or false and malicious reports Or 2. with deep dissimulation and professions of friendship and kindness 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred g Which though covered with specious pretences proceeded from deep malice and hatred and were designed to work my destruction and fought against me * 〈◊〉 69. 4. without a cause h Without any just provocation given them by me 4. For my love they are my adversaries i They require my love and good will with enmity and mischief as it is explained v. 5. but I give my self unto prayer k Heb. but I prayer i. e. I am a man of prayer or I betake my self to prayer Thus I peace is put for I am for peace as we render it Psal. 120. 7. and thy bread for the men of thy bread or that eat thy bread Obad. v. 7. The sence is whilst they reproach and curse me I pray either 1. for them as he did Psal. 35. 13. or 2. for my self I did not render unto them evil for evil but quietly committed my self and my cause to God by prayer desiring him to plead my cause against them and I had no other refuge 5. And * 〈◊〉 35. 12. 〈◊〉 20. they have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love 6. Set thou a wicked man l Heb. the wicked Which may be understood either 1. of some wicked Tyrant which may rule him with rigour and cruelty Or 2. of Satan who is mentioned in the next clause Let him be delivered over to Satan to be acted and ruled by him at his pleasure over him m Either 1. all mine enemies for the Singular number is sometimes used in like manner Or rather 2. one particular enemy who was worse than any of the rest more implacable and inexcusable whom he thought not fit to express by name nor was it in the least necessary to do so because he was speaking to God who knew his thoughts and whom he meant and let * 〈◊〉 3. 1. ‖ 〈◊〉 adver Satan stand at his right hand n Either 1. to molest and vex him and hinder him in all his affairs for the right hand is the great instrument of action Or rather 2. to accuse him for this was the place and posture of accusers in the Jewish Courts And as for his condemnation which is the consequence of this accusation that follows in the next verse 7. When he shall be judged o When he shall be called to an account and his cause examined before thy Tribunal let him †Heb. go out guilty or wicked be condemned and * Prov. 28. 9. let his prayer become sin p i. e. Be turned into sin or be imputed to him as his sin or be as unavailable with God for his relief as his sins When he makes supplication to his Judge as Iob speaks Iob 9. 15. for pity and pardon let him be the more provoked and enraged by it 8. Let his days q The days of his life Let him die an untimely death be few and * Act. 1. 20. let another take his ‖ Or charge office r Made void by his death He also implies that his enemy was a man of power and reputation 9. Let his children be fatherless s Whilst they are but children and so unable to provide for themselves and his wife a widow t Either made a widow by his death or constantly a widow all persons abhorring her who was related to so vile a miscreant 10. Let his children be continually vagabonds u Having no certain place of abode Which is a grievous curse in it self Gen. 4. 12 14. Isa. 16. 2. and beg x This increaseth their misery let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places y Into which they are fled for fear and shame as not daring to shew their faces amongst men 11. Let the extortioner z Or usurer or creditor catch a Heb. Ensnare which is an Emphatical expression i. e. take away not only by oppression and violence but also by cheats and cunning artifices whereby such persons entangle and so ruine their debtors all that he hath and let the stranger b Who hath no right to his goods and will use no pity nor measure in spoiling him spoil his labour c All the fruits of his labours 12. Let there be none to * Psal. 34. 10. extend mercy unto him neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children d Let him and his be unpitied and hated as the publick enemies of mankind 13. * Job 18. 19. Let his posterity be cut off and in the generation following e Heb. in another generation either in the third generation or in the second or that which next followed the generation of his fathers So in this clause he limits the time of that destruction which he imprecates or foretells in the former let their name be blotted out 14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembred f Against him or punished in him as God hath threatned to deal with great delinquents Exod. 20. 5. with the LORD and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out 15. Let them g The sins of his parents last mentioned be before the LORD h In Gods sight and memory to provoke God to punish him let them not be covered or pardoned continually that he may * Job 18. 17. Psal. 34. 16. cut off the memory of them from the earth 16. Because that he remembred not i His duty to God and his obligation to me for my former kindness expressed v. 4 5. to shew mercy but persecuted the poor and needy man k My self who was desolate and miserable whose condition required pity and not additions of cruelty that he might even sâ—…ay the broken in heart
more solid knowledge and constant performance of thy precepts quicken me p Do thou preserve and maintain both my natural and spiritual life in thy righteousness q According to thy justice or faithfulness which obligeth thee to make good thy promises VAU 41 Let thy mercies come also unto me r Let promised mercies be performed to me O LORD even thy salvation according to thy * Ver. 49. word 42 ‖ Or so shall I answer him that reproveth me in a thing So shall I have wherewithal to answer him that reproacheth me s That chaâ—…geth me with folly for my piety and trust in thy promises for I trust in thy word t Or because I trust c. This was the matter of their reproach 43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth t Do not deal so with me that I shall be altogether ashamed to mention thy word which I have so often affirmed to be a word of truth and infallible certainty of which I have often made my boast for I have hoped in thy judgments u Either in thy word and promises or in thy judicial administrations and government of the world which as it is matter of terrour to the wicked so it is matter of comfort and hope to me 44 So shall I keep thy law continually x So shall I be obliged and encouraged to the constant and perpetual study and observation of thy Laws for ever and ever 45 And I will walk †Heb. at large at liberty y Or I shall walk at large as it is in the margent I shall be delivered from all my present straits both of the outward and inward man and enjoy great freedom and comfort in thy ways for I seek thy precepts 46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings z Who commonly entertain all godly discourses with scorn and contempt and will not be ashamed 47 And I will delight my self in thy commandments a Whereas other Princes place their delight in the glories and vanities of this world and the study and practice of Religion is generally irksom and loathsom to them thy Law shall be my chief delight and recreation which I have loved 48 * Gen. 14. 2â—… 23. Exod. 6. 8. My hands also will I lift up b To lay hold upon them to receive and embrace thy precepts and promises by faith and love and chearfully and vigorously to put them in practice for as the hanging down of the hands is a gesture of sloth and listlesness as 2 Chron. 15. 7. and elsewhere so the lifting up of the hands is the posture of a man entring upon action as Gen. 41. 44. 2 Sam. 20. 21. unto thy commandments which I have loved and I will meditate in thy statutes c My deepest thoughts as well as my hands shall be exercised in them ZAIN 49 Remember the word d Thy promises unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope e By thy command requiring it of me and by thy grace working it in me 50 This f To wit thy word as is evident both from the foregoing and following words is my comfort in my affliction for thy word hath quickned me g Hath preserved my life in manifold dangers and hath revived and cheared my spirit 51 The proud have had me greatly in derision h For my godliness and trust in thy word as the following words imply yet have I not declined from thy law 52 I remembred thy judgments of old i Thy former and ancient dispensations to the children of men in punishing the ungodly and protecting and delivering thy faithful servants whose experience is my encouragement O LORD and have comforted my self 53 Horrour k A mixed passion made up of indignation at their persons as sinful and abhorrency of their sins and dread and sorrow at the consideration of the judgments of God coming upon them hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law l For the dishonour which they bring to God the scandal and mischief to others and their own certain ruine 54 Thy statutes have been my songs m The matter of my songs my delight and recreation in the house of my pilgrimage n Either 1. in this present world which I do not owne for my home wherein I am a stranger and pilgrim as all my fathers were Psal. 39. 13. Comp. Gen. 47. 9. Or 2. in mine exile and in the wildernesses and other places where I have been oft forced to wander when I was banished from all my friends and from the place of thy Worship and had no other support or comfort but the remembrance of thy statutes 55 I have remembred thy Name o Thy holy Nature and Attributes thy blessed Word and thy wonderful Works all which come under the title of Gods Name O LORD in the night p When darkness causeth fear in others I took pleasure in remembring thee and when others abandon all business and wholly give themselves up to rest and sleep my thoughts and affection were working towards thee and have kept thy law q This was the fruit of my serious remembrance of thee 56 This r This comfortable and profitable remembrance and contemplation of thy name and statutes of which he spoke v. 54 55. I had because I kept thy precepts s Which if I had wilfully and wickedly broken the remembrance of these things would have been sad and frightful to me as now it is comfortable because I kept them CHETH 57 * 〈◊〉 142. 5. Thou art my portion t Whereas other men place their portion and happiness in worldly things I have chosen thee for my portion and chief treasure as he said Psal. 16. 5. 73. 26. and thou hast an all-sufficient and an excellent portion for me O LORD I have said u I have not onely purposed it in my own heart but have professed and owne it before others and I do not repent of it that I would keep thy words 58 I intreated thy †〈◊〉 face favour x Thy gracious presence and merciful assistance as it follows with my whole heart be merciful unto me according to thy word 59 I thought on my ways y I seriously considered both my former counsels and courses that I might be humbled for my past errours and might now amend them and my duty in all my future actions and turned my feet unto thy testimonies z And finding that my feet had too often swerved from thy rule I turned them to it And although the ways of sinful pleasure and advantage were presented to my mind yet I rejected them and turned my self wholly to thy ways 60 I made haste and delayed not a Being fully convinced of the necessity and excellency of obedience I presently resolved upon it and
immediately put it in execution to keep thy commandments 61 The ‖ 〈◊〉 bands of the wicked have robbed me b Or made a prey of me done me many injuries for my respect to thy Law but I have not forgotten thy law 62 At midnight I will rise c Out of my bed to praise thee in a solemn manner not being contented with those short ejaculations which he might have used lying in his bed to give * 〈◊〉 164. thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments d i. e. Laws which are so useful to direct and comfort me 63 I am * 〈◊〉 79. a companion of all them that fear thee e Not excepting the poorest and meanest whose society other Princes disdain and of them that keep thy precepts 64 The earth O LORD is full of thy mercy f Thou dost satisfie the just desires and necessities of all men and all creatures with the fruits of thy goodness teach me thy statutes g The generality of other men chiefly desire the blessings of this life but Lord give me thy spiritual blessings the saving knowledge love and practice of thy Law TETH 65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant O LORD according unto thy word 66 Teach me ‖ 〈◊〉 goodness 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 So good judgment h Whereby I may rightly discern between truth and falshood good or evil between the mind of God and my own or others inventions that so I may be kept from those mistakes and errours in which many are involved that I may truly judge what thy Law requires or permits and what it forbids Heb. the goodness of taste an experimental sence and relish of Divine things Comp. Psal. 34. 9. and knowledge i A spiritual and experimental knowledge And judgment or taste and knowledge may by an useful figure called Hendiadys be put for judicious or solid or practical knowledge for I have believed thy commandments k I have believed the Divine authority of them and the truth and certainty of those promises and threatnings which thou hast annexed to them 67 * Ver. 71. and 75. Before I was afflicted I went astray l As men generally do in their prosperity See Deut. 32. 15. Psal. 73. 4 5 6 c. Prov. 1. 32. Ier. 22. 21. but now have I kept thy word 68 Thou art good m Gracious and bountiful in thy nature and dost good n To all men both good and bad Mat. 5. 45. and in all things yea even when thou afflictest teach me thy statutes o Which is the good that I desire above all things 69 The proud have †Heb. sewed a lye upon me forged a lie p A slander charging me with hypocrisie towards God and rebellion against my Prince against me but I will keep thy precepts q My practice shall confute their calumnies with my whole heart 70 Their heart is as fat as grease r The sence is either 1. they are stupid and insensible and past feeling not affected either with the terrours or comforts of Gods word So the like phrase is used Isa. 6. 10. comp with Iob. 12. 40. or 2. they prosper exceedingly and are even glutted with the wealth and comforts of this life but I delight in thy law s But I do not envy them their jollity and I have as much delight in Gods Law as they have in worldly things 71 It is good t Necessary and greatly beneficial for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes t He repeats what in effect he said before v. 67. partly to intimate the certainty and importance of this truth and partly because it is a great Paradox to worldly men who generally esteem afflictions to be evil yea the worst of evils 72 * Psal. 19. 10. Prov. 8. 11. The law of thy mouth is better unto me u Not onely thy promises but even thy precepts which are so unpleasant and hard to ungodly men to me they are more desirable and more needful and profitable because they do not onely give me abundant satisfaction and comfort in this life but also they conduct me with safety and delight unto that eternal and most blessed life where gold and silver bear no price than thousands of gold and silver IOD 73 * Job 10. 8. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments x I am thy creature and therefore obliged to serve and obey thee with all my might which that I may do aright I beg thy instruction or assistance Or thou hast made me once make me a second time and renew thy decayed image in me that I may know and serve thee better and that as I was made by thee so I may be guided by thy grace to serve and glorifie my Creator 74 * Ver. 79. They that fear thee will be glad y Partly for my sake of whose innocency and piety they are convinced and therefore sympathize with me and partly for their own sakes both for the encouragement they have by my example to trust in God and for the manifold benefits both spiritual and temporal which they expect from my government when they see me z To wit alive and in safety notwithstanding all the force and malice of mine enemies and advanced to the Kingdom because I have hoped in thy word a In thy promise and have not been disappointed of my hope which is a great confirmation of their faith and hope in God that they shall obtain all the good things which God hath promised them 75 I know b By the convictions of my own conscience and by experience O LORD that thy judgments c i. e. Thy corrections as the next clause explains this are †Heb. righteousness Ps. 19. 8. right and that thou in faithfulness d In pursuance of thy promises and in order to my good that by my afflictions thou mightest purge me from those sins which might provoke thy wrath against me and prepare me for a better administration and more lasting and comfortable enjoyment of my Kingdom hast afflicted me 76 Let I pray thee thy merciful kindness be †Heb. to comfort me for my comfort according to thy word e Yet in judgment remember mercy and give me that comfort and assistance in and that deliverance out of my troubles which thou hast promised me unto thy servant 77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live f That I may be preserved from that violent and untimely death which mine enemies design to bring upon me for thy law is my delight g I humbly beg and expect thy protection because I am thy faithful servant 78 Let the proud be ashamed for they dealt perversly with me h Heb. they have perverted me either by their calumnies whereby they have put
false and perverse constructions upon all my words and actions or by endeavouring to overthrow and destroy me or to turn me out of the way of thy precepts without a cause but I will meditate in thy precepts i All their wicked attempts against me shall never drive me from the study and love and practice of thy precepts 79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me k Either 1. turn their eyes to me as a spectacle of Gods wonderful mercy or rather 2. turn their hearts and affections to me which have been alienated from me either by the artifices and calumnies of my adversaries or by my sore and long distresses which made them prone to think that either I had deceived them with false pretences or that God for my sins had utterly forsaken me Which doubtless was a very grievous burden to David who had a far greater esteem and affection for such persons than for all other men and desired above all things to stand right in their opinions and those that have known l i. e. Loved and practised them as words of knowledge are oft used thy testimonies 80 Let my heart be †Heb. persect sound m Heb. persect or entire that I may love and obey them sincerely constantly and universally in thy statutes that I be not ashamed n To wit for my sins which are the onely just causes of shame and for the disappointment of my hopes following upon them CAPH 81 * Psal. 84. 2. My soul fainteth o With longing desire and earnest expectation and hope deferred and hitherto disappointed for thy salvation but I hope in thy word 82 * Ver. 123. Mine eyes fail p With looking hither and thither and to thee for help for thy word saying When wilt thou comfort me 83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke q Hung up in a smoaking chimney My natural moisture is dried and burnt up I am withered and deformed and despised and my case grows worse and worse every day yet do I not forget thy statutes 84 How many are the days r Either 1. the days of my life as the word days is commonly used Gen. 6. 3. Iob 7. 1 6. Psal. 39. 5 6. I have but a little while to live in the world give me some respite before I die and help me speedily otherwise it will be too late or rather 2. the days of my misery as the next clause implies and as days are taken Psal. 37. 13. 116. 2. and elsewhere How long Lord shall my miseries last for ever of thy servant when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me 85 * Psal. 35. 7. The proud have digged pits for me s Have sought to destroy me by deceit and treachery as well as by violence which t Either 1. which men have no respect to thy Law which forbids such things Or rather 2. which thing to wit to dig pits for me an innocent and just man is not agreeable to thy Law but directly contrary to it are not after thy law 86 All thy commandments are †Heb. faithfulness faithful u They are in themselves most just and true and they require justice and faithfulness from men promising many blessings to those that perform it and severely forbid all fraud and falseness threatning grievous punishments to those that use it and such promises and threatnings are true and shall certainly be executed they persecute me wrongfully help thou me 87 * Ver. 109. and 143. They had almost consumed me upon earth x As to my present life and all my happiness upon earth whereby he implies that his immortal Soul and eternal happiness in Heaven of which he speaks Psal. 16. 11. 17. 15. and elsewhere was safe and out of their reach but I forsook not thy precepts 88 Quicken me after thy loving kindness so shall I keep y Heb. and I will keep I will testifie my gratitude to thee by my obedience the testimony of thy mouth LAMED 89 * Psal. 89. 2. For ever O LORD * Ver. 152. 160. thy word is setled in heaven z Although many things happen upon earth which seem contrary to thy word and at which men take occasion to question the truth of thy word yet in Heaven it is sure and certainly true In heaven either 1. with thee in thy heavenly habitation or in thy breast as thy nature is unchangeable so thy word is infallible Or rather 2. in the heavenly bodies which are not subject to those changes and decays which are in this lower world but constantly continue the same in their substance and order and courses and this by virtue of that Word of God by which they were made and established in this manner and therefore Gods word delivered to his people upon earth which is of the same nature must needs be of equal certainty and stability This sence best suits with the following verses and with other Scriptures wherein the certainty of Gods word is set forth by comparing it with the stability of the Heaven and the Earth as Mat. 5. 18. and elsewhere 90 Thy faithfulness is †Heb. to generation and generation unto all generations a Every age gives fresh proofs of the truth of thy Word thou hast established the earth and it ‖ Heb. standeth abideth b In that place and state in which thou didst establish it See Eccles. 1. 4. 91 They c The Heaven and the Earth last mentioned †Heb. stand continue this day according to thine ordinances d As thou hast appointed and by virtue of thine appointment for all are thy servants e All things are subject to thy power and pleasure and none can resist thy will or word 92 Unless thy law had been my delights I should then f At the very instant I could not have outlived one stroke of thine afflicting hand have perished in mine affliction 93 I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickned me g Revived and cheared me when my heart was ready to sink and die within me 94 I am thine h By Creation and Redemption and manifold obligations as also by my own choice and designation I have devoted my self to thy service and committed my self to thy care save me for I have sought thy precepts 95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me but I will consider thy testimonies i As my best comforters and counsellers and defenders against all the assaults and designs of mine enemies 96 I have seen an end of all perfection k I have observed by my experience that the greatest and most perfect accomplishments and enjoyments in this world the greatest glory and riches and power and wisdom are too narrow and short-lived to make men happy but thy commandment l Thy word one part of it being
1 Cor 11. 10. Or rather 2. before Kings and Princes by comparing this with v. 4. All Kings provoked by my example shall praise thee and with Psal. 119. 46. I will speak of thy teâ—…monies before kings And these are most commonly called Gods in Scripture as Exod. 21. 6. 23. 9 28. comp with Deut. 19. 17. Besides David mentions this as something singular and extraordinary and designed by him whereas the doing of this before the Angels is common to all and is unavoidably necessary will I sing praise unto thee 2 I will worship towards thy holy temple b Where the Ark was He saith towards it because he was not permitted to enter into it and praise thy Name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy Name c For thou hast glorified thy word or promise or thy faithfulness in fulfilâ—…ing thy promises to me more than any other of thy glorious perfections by which thou arâ—… known Not that one of Gods Attributes is really and in it self more great or glorious than another or can be made so but because one may be more celebrated and admiâ—…ed by men than another as here Gods gracious promise made â—…o David and the wonderful accomplishment thereof in spight of all those difficulties which stood in the way and which seemed to men to be insuperable was at this time more observed and admired than any other of his Attributes or actions But here we must remember that amongst the rest of the promises made to David one was that the Messias should come out of his loyns and that those parts of the promised mercies which David had actually received were pledges to assure him that he should receive the rest in due â—…ime and especially that great and eminent word of promise concerning the Messâ—…s which might well be said to be magnified above all Gods name 3 In the day when I â—…ried thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul d This last clause limits and explains the former how God answered him so speedily not by giving him the thing which he desired in that very instant but by giving him inward support and patience to waâ—…t Gods time and to â—…ear all his troubles chearfully in the mean time which was a singular mercy and indeed greater than the actual donâ—… of any temporal blessing 4 All the kings of the earth e Either 1. all neighbouring Kings or 2. the gâ—…rality of Kings and Princes upon earth And so this is a Prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles Which seems to be coâ—…firmed by the next verse which expresseth their extraordinary joy and aâ—… eâ—…inent advancement of Gods glory which agrees much better to this great occasion than to that of Davids exaltation to the Throne wherein the other Kings of the earth were not much concerned shall praise thee O LORD when they hear the words of thy mouth f Either 1. thy promises declared unto them by me or 2. the Gospel preached among them 5 Yea they shall sing in the ways of the LORD g Or of or for or because of the ways of the Lord i. e. his wonderful counsel and gracious providences towards themselves and others for great is h Or great shall be At that time the worship and glory of God shall not be confined to one small land as now it is but shall be extended to all the parts of the world the glory of the LORD 6 * Psal. 113. 5 6. Isaâ—… 57. 15. Though the LORD be high yet †Heb. he seeth hath he * Jam. 4. 6. 1 Pet. 5. 5. respect unto the lowly i Unto such as are mean and obscure in the world to me a poor contemptible shepherd whom he hath preferred before great Princes and to such as are little in their own eyes ‖ Or and. but the proud he knoweth afar off k But as for the great men of the world who are lifted up in pride he looks upon them as they do upon others with sâ—…orn and contempt and at a great distance as disdaining to admit them into his presence But the words may be and by divers Interpreters are rendred otherwise And he who is high or the loâ—…ty one from afar i. e. from his high and holy place even the highest Heavens where he dwells notwithstanding that distance doth know them or will owne them So this is the repetition of the former sentence as is very usual in this Book And this seems best to suit as with the â—…oregoing so also with the following words and thus all will be understood of one and the same sort of persons 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble l i. e. Be encompassed with dangers thou wilt revive me m Thou wilt chear my spirit and preserve my life thou shalt stretch forth thine hand n Put forth thy Almighty power against the wrath of mine enemies o To oppose and restrain their rage and to save me from them as it follows and thy right hand shall save me 8 * Psal. 57. 2. Phil. 1. 6. The LORD will perfect that which ‖ Or for me concerneth me p Will finish that great work of my deliverance and advancement which he hath undertaken and carried on hitherto thy mercy O LORD endureth for ever q It is not inconstant and changeable as mens affections are but everlasting And this may be either a proof of the foregoing assertion the Lord will perfect c. or an argument to enforce the following petition therefore forsake not c. forsake not r Or leave not or do not desist from or give over the works of thine own hands s The work of my salvation which is thus far advanced not by any humane help but by thine own extraordinary power and providence and therefore it is not for thine honour to desert it at last This he calls works in regard of the many and various parts and actions which concurred to this work PSAL. CXXXIX To the chief Musician A Psalm of David This Psalm is esteemed by the Hebrews the most excellent in the whole Book The matter of it is noble and sublime and so is the style The occasion of it seems to have been those heavy censures and reproaches wherewith David was loaded by his enemies who branded him for a notorious 〈◊〉 and impâ—… that pretended Religion onely for the covering and promoting his own ambitious and wicked designs against his lawful King whose liâ—…e and Crown he â—…ought to take away Against these he comforteth himself with the consideration of Gods Omniscience to whom he appeals as the onely proper Judge of the integrity of his heart 1 O LORD thou hast searched me and known me a i. e. Known me exactly as men do those things which they diâ—…gently search out 2 Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising b
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
in all thy ways and therefore a Lover of Uprightness and of all upright Men dost weigh i. e. examine the path of the just the Course of his Actions and which is implied dost approve of them and therefore direct them to an happy issue But the Words are otherwise rendred by some late Learned Interpreters to this purpose Thou dost level or make plain as this very Word signifies Psal 78. 50. the path of the just exactly Heb. with evenness or evenly so as to make it very even Thus the first Clause declares that it was even or plain and this sheweth whence or by whom it is made such even by God 8 Yea * Chap. 6â—… â—… in the way of thy judgments O LORD have we waited for thee r And as we thy People have loved and served thee when thou hast made our way plain and easie for us so we have not forsaken thee but waited upon thee when thou hast made it rugged and troublesom by thy Judgments He speaks of the same Just men v. 7 8 9. though it be with a change of the Numbers and Persons which is usual in Prophetical Writings the just v. 7. we v. 8. I v. 9. the desire of our soul is to thy Name and to the remembrance of thee s Heb. to thy name and thy memory which by a known Figure called Hendiaduo may be put for the remembrance of thy Name And the Name of God is here as it is in many other places put for God himself as he hath made himself known by his Word and Works And so the sence of this Clause is Our Affections are not alienated from thee by thy Judgments but we still continue to desire thy Presence and Favour and we support and comfort our selves with the remembrance of what thou art and what thou hast done and what thou hast promised to be and do to thy People 9 * Câ—…nt 3. 1. With my soul t Sincerely and most affectionately as Psal. 63. 1. and elsewhere have I u The Prophet speaks this in the name of all God's People by comparing this with the foregoing Verse desired thee in the night x Either 1. figuratively in the time of Affliction which is oft called night or darkness or rather 2. properly as appears from the next Clause wherein early or in the morning is opposed to it When others are sleeping my Thoughts and Desires are working towards God yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee y By fervent Prayer for thy Loving-kindness early z Betimes in the morning as the Word signifies for when thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness a And good reason it is that we should thus desire and seek thee in the way of thy Judgments because this is the very design of thy Judgments that men should thereby be awakened to learn and return to their Duty and this is a common effect of them that those who have been careless in Prosperity are made wiser and better by Afflictions The inhabitants of the world seem to be here taken not in opposition to God's People as if not they onely but even the wicked World would do thus but in a general Notion so as to include yea principally to design God's People as may be gathered both from the former part of this and the foregoing Verse in which he describes their pious Carriage under Affliction as also from the two following Verses in which he speaks of the wicked whom he seems to oppose to these inhabitants of the world because these learn Righteousness whilst those wicked men remain incorrigible both under Mercies and Judgments v. 10 11. 10 * Eccl. 8. 11. Let favour be shewed to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness b This is the Carriage of thy People but the Course of Wicked men is directly contrary in all conditions For if thou dost spare them when thou punishest thine own People they will not accept of that gracious Invitation to Repentance nor walk worthy of so great a Mercy in the land of uprightness c Even in God's Church and among his People where Righteousness is professed and taught and by many practised and where Unrighteousness is discountenanced and punished all which things are Aggravations of his Sin will he deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the LORD d Although God gives such plain and clear Discoveries of his Majesty and Glory not onely in his Word but also in his Works and especially in this glorious Work of his Patience and Mercy to Wicked men yet they wilfully shut their Eyes at it and will not acknowledge it 11 LORD when thy hand is lifted up they * Job 34. 27. Psal. 28. 5. Chap. 5. 12. will not see e And they are guilty of the same obstinate Blindness when thou dost smite and punish them which is commonly signified by lifting up the hand as Ezek. 44. 12. Micah 5. 9. Compare also 2 Sam. 20. 21. 1 Kings 11. 26. Or as others render it When thine hand is high or exalied i. e. When thy Works are most evident and most glorious when thou appearest most gloriously for the defence of thy People and for the punishment of thine and their Enemies they will not see but they shall see f The same Word is repeated in another sence They shall feel and know that by sad and costly Experience which they would not learn by other and easier ways Seeing is oft put for feeling in which sence Men are said to see affliction Lam. 3. 1. and to see death Psal. 89. 48. and the like and be ashamed for their envy ‖ Or towards thy people at the people g Or at or towards thy people the Pronoun thy being repeated out of the following Clause as it is in many other places of Scripture as hath been before noted Their Envy and Hatred against God's People blinded their Minds that they neither could nor would see that God was on their side though the Tokens of it were most manifest and undeniable Which was the Case of Pharach and the Egyptians who were not sensible that the Lord fought for Israel against the Egyptians as they said Exod. 14. 25. till it was too late yea the fire of thine enemies h Not efficiently but objectively Such Fire or Wrath as thou usest to pour forth upon thine implacable Enemies As my wrong Gen. 16. 5. is not the Wrong done by me but to me and my violence Ier. 51. 35. is the violence done to me as we translate it not by me shall devour them 12 LORD thou wilt ordain peace for us i As thou wilt destroy thine and our Enemies so thou wilt bless us thy People with Peace and Prosperity for thou also hast wrought all our works k Either 1. all the Good Works done by us which are the Effects of thy
locusts n As Locusts especially when they are sent and Armed by commission from God come with great force and run hither and thither devouring all the Fruits of the Earth wheresoever they find them shall he run upon them 5. The LORD is exalted o Will get great Glory by the marvellous Destruction of so proud and potent an Army and by the Defence of his People for he dwellleth on high p For he is and will appear to be Superior to his Enemies both in Place and Power He dwelleth in the Heaven whence He can easily and irresistably pour down Judgments upon his Enemies Although these words may be and by some are joyned with those that follow thus For he that dwelleth on high hath filled c. he hath filled Zion q He will fill Ierusalem with judgment and righteousness r Either 1. with a glorious Instance of his just Judgment against the Assyrians Or 2. with the Execution of Justice by good Hezekiah as before it was filled with impiety and injustice under Ahaz The City shall not onely be delivered from that wicked Enemy but shall also be established and blessed with true Religion and Righteousness which was a great addition to that Mercy 6. And †Heb. the strength of salvations of wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times wisdom and knowledg s To govern thy self and thy People well shall be the stability of thy times t Of thy Reign times being oft put for things done in those times as 1 Chron. 12. 32. Psal. 31. 15. 37. 18. c. He turneth his speech to Hezekiah The Sence is Thy Throne shall be established upon the sure Foundations of Wisdome and Justice and strength of salvation u Thy saving Strength or thy strong or mighty Salvation the fear of the LORD is his treasure x And although thou shalt have great Treasures of Gold and Silver c. yet thy chief Treasure and Delight is and shall be in promoting the Fear and Worship of God which shall be a great honour and safeguard to thy self and people He saith his treasure for thy treasure by a sudden Change of the Person usual in these Books 7. Behold y That the Mercy here promised might be duly magnified he makes a lively Representation of their great danger and distress in which it found them their ‖ Or messengers valiant ones z Or their heralds or messengers as the Hebrew Doctors expound the word Either 1. those whom the King of Assyria sent to Ierusalem 2 Kings 18. 17. Or rather those whom Hezekiah sent to Treat with the Assyrian Commissioners 2 Kings 18. 18. as the next Clause sheweth shall cry without a Through grief and fear the embassadours of peace b Whom he shall send to beg Peace of the Assyrian shall weep bitterly c Because they cannot obtain their desires 8. * Judg. 5. 6. The high-ways lie wast the wayfaring man ceaseth d Because the Assyrian Souldiers possessed and filled the Land he hath broken the covenant e Sennacherib broke his Faith given to Hezekiah of departing for a Sum of Money 2 Kings 18. 14. 17. he hath despised the cities f The defenced Cities of Iudah which he contemned and easily took 2 Kings 18. 13. he regardeth no man g Either to spare them or to fear them or to keep Faith with them He neither feareth God nor Reverenceth Man 9. The earth mourneth h Being desolate and neglected and languisheth Lebanon is ashamed and ‖ Or withered away hewn down i By the Assyrians Or as the Word signifies and is here rendred by others withereth or languisheth because its Trees are now used by the Iews for their Buildings as they have been And because they are spoiled and destroyed by the Assyrians * Chap. 35. 2. Sharon k A pleasant and fruitful Place as appears from 1 Chron. 27. 29. Cant. 2. 1. Isa. 35. 2. is like a wilderness and Bashan and Carmel l Two places eminent for Fertility and especially for good Pastures Deut. 32. 14. 1 Sam. 25. 2. which are here Synecdochically puâ—… for all such places ‖ Or yell Jer. 51. 38. shake off their fruits m Are spoiled of their Fruits Or as it is rendred in the Margent and by some others yell or roar as this Word is rendred Ier. 51. 38. 10. Now will I rise n In this extremity I will appear on the behalf of my People and Land saith the LORD now will I be exalted now will I lift up my self 11. * Psal. 7. 1â—… Ye shall conceive chaff ye shall bring forth stubble o In stead of Solid Corn. Your great hopes and designs O ye Assyrians shall be utterly disappointed your breath as fire shall devour you p Your Rage against my People shall bring Ruine upon your selves 12. And the people shall be as the burnings of lime q Shall be burnt as easily and effectually as Chalk is burned to make Lime as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire 13. Hear ye that are far off what I have done and ye that are near acknowledge my might r My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall be so evident that People both far and near shall be forced to acknowledge it 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid s This is spoken not of the Assyrians as some would have it but of the Iews as appears both from the Words themselves and from the following Verses The Prophet having foretold the Deliverance of God's People and the Destruction of their Enemies ver 10. 11 12. for the greater Illustration of that wonderful Mercy here returns to the Description and gives a lively representation of the dismal and frightful Condition in which the Iews especially such of them as were ungodly and unbelieving were before this Deliverance came Although the Godly Iews were in some measure supported by the sense of God's Favour and by God's Promises delivered to them by Isaiah yet the generality of the People were filled with Horrors and expectation of utter Destruction fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings t How shall we be able to abide the Presence and endure or avoid the Wrath of that God who is a consuming Fire who is now about to destroy us utterly by the Assyrians and will afterward burn us with unquenchable Fire Foâ—… seeing it is sufficiently evident from both Old and New-Testament as hath been formerly observed and proved That the Iews except the Sadducees did generally believe the rewards and punishments of the future Life and these Temporal Judgments as they did frequently cut Men off from this Life so they transmitted them into that future and endless Life It is not strange if their guilty
me concerning the Divinity of your Idols and hear what I have said and am now about to say again in that matter ye that are escaped of the nations e The remnant of the Gentiles which shall survive those great and many destructions which I am bringing upon the heathen Nations for their abominable Idolatries and other wickedness Let these dreadful judgments upon others and Gods singular mercy in sparing you awaken you to a more impartial and serious consideration of this point and cast off those Idols which have now discovered their own vanity and inability to help those who serve them and trust in them * Chap. 44. 9 17 18. c. they have no knowledge f They hereby discover their deep ignorance and stupiâ—…ity that set up g In an high place where it may be seen and worshipped the wood of their graven Image and pray unto a god that cannot save 21. Tell ye and bring them near yea let them take counsel together h To maintain the cause of their Idols * Chap. 41 22. 43. 9. 44. 7. 46. 10. 48. 14. who hath declared this i This great work of which I have spoken concerning Babylons destruction and the redemption of Gods people from ancient time who hath told it from that time have not I the LORD and * Ver. 5 14 18 there is no God else beside me a just God and a Saviour k Whereas the Gods of the Heathens are neither Just nor Saviours to their people but wicked and the Authors and abetters of all sorts of wickedness and so far from being either able or willing to save their worshippers that they are the chief occasion of their utter destruction there is none beside me 22. Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth l Upon these considerations I advise all people upon earth from one end to the other to cast away their Idols and to turn their eyes and hearts to me expecting Salvation from me and from me onely and their labour shall not be in vain for they shall be saved the imperative being put for the future as Gen. 42. 18. and oft elsewhere And this is not onely an exhortation to the Gentiles to turn from Idols to God but a Prediction that they shall turn to him and look upon Christ who shall be the Authour of Salvation to all that obey him whether Iews or Gentiles which is confirmed by the following verse for I am God and there is none else 23. I have sworn by my self m Which is the highest and most solemn oath that is possible Heb. 6. 13. and therefore signifies that the matter here sworn is of an extraordinary importance the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness n It is not a vain word rashly uttered and afterwards never remembred nor observed but what I sincerely speak and will most faithfully and infallibly perform and shall not * Chap. 55. 11 return o To wit unto me voyd or without effect as this phrase is more fully delivered Isa. 55. 11. It is a metaphor from Ambassadours who sometimes return to their Princes without any success in their business that unto me every * Rom. 14. 11. Phil. 2. 10. knee shall bow every tongue shall swear p Not onely the Iews but a people of all Nations shall worship me and submit to my laws which is signified by an outward act the bowing of the knee which is a posture of reverence and subjection and by one eminent part of Gods worship which is swearing by his name 24. ‖ Or surely he shall say of me In the LORD is all righteousness strength Surely shall one say q Or shall he say each or every one of those whom he now said that they should bow their knees to God and swear by him ver 23. Or it shall be said such active verbs being oft used impersonally In the LORD r By or from God alone or the Messiah who is the true Iehovah as well as man have I †Heb. righteousnesses righteousness s To justifie me from all things from which I could not be justified by the Law of Moses as is said Act. 13. 39. This plainly points us to the Messiah whose very name is the Lord our Righteousness Ier. 23. 6. and whos 's great business it was to bring in everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9. 24. and who is made unto us of God Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. and strength t Support and assistance to bear all my burdens and overcome all my enemies and perform all my duties The sence is The Gentiles shall expect and obtain from Christ both Justification or forgiveness of sins by his blood and Sanctification by his Spirit even to him shall men come u The Gentiles shall come to God and Christ either 1. By constraint or necessity to be judged by him at the last day Or 2. willingly by prayer to seek and by faith to receive Righteousness and Strength from him Which seems better to agree with the foregoing clause which speaks of true believers onely Coming to Christ is put for believing on him Mat. 11. 28. Iohn 5. 10. and 6. 35 36 37. and elsewhere and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed x Or but as this particle is oft rendred all that are c. But all his implacable enemies shall be brought to shame and punishment 25. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel Or at y All Israelites indeed whether Iews or Gentiles all Believers who are frequently called Gods Israel in Scripture as Psal. 24. 6. Rom. 9. 6. and 11. 26. Gal. 6. 16. * be justified z Acquitted both from real guilt before God and from all false aspersions before the world for this justification of the true Israel is opposed to their enemies being ashamed ver 24. which seems to design their publick shame and condition before God and men and shall glory ‖ Shall not onely receive him but shall rejoyce and triumph in him as their God and portion CHAP. XLVI 1. BEl a The chief Idols of the Babylonians Ier. 50. 2. and 51. 44. called by proâ—…ane Historians Iupiter Belus boweth down b As the Babylonians used to bow down to him to worship him so now he boweth down and submits himself to the victorious Persians Nebo c Another of the famous Idols which used to deliver Oracles as his name signifies stoopeth their Idols were upon the beasts d Were taken and broken and the materials of them which were Gold and Silver and Brass as both Scripture and other Authors witness were carried upon Beasts into Persia. and upon the cattel ‖ Or your luggage was born your carriages e O ye Persians to whom he suddenly turneth his speech as is usual were heavy laden f
Gentiles to receive thee as the true Messiah and Saviour of the World and the Holy One of Israel and he shall choose thee d And although thou shalt be rejected by thine own People and refused by their Builders or Rulers as was Prophesied Psal. 118. 22. and for a time and in some respects forsaken by God himself Mat. 27. 46. yet God will return to thee and chuse thee again and manifest unto the World that thou and thou onely art the Person whom God hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind and whom in spight of all opposition he will make the head-stone of the Corner For the Phrase see on Isa. 48. 10. But these words are well rendred by others who will chuse or hath chosen thee the conjunction and being put for the pronoun relative as Isa. 44. 14. and in many other places as hath been observed before 8. Thus saith the LORD e God the Father unto Christ. * 2 Cor. 6. 2. in an acceptable time f Heb. In a time of good will in that time when I shall have and in a special manner manifest my good will to the Sons of men in the day of my Grace and of mans Salvation as this Phrase is explained in the next clause in the time of the Gospel which is in the time of Gods good Will towards men as the Host of Heaven declared at the Birth of Christ Luk. 2. 14. In the dayes of thy flesh when thou didst offer up Prayers and Suplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save thee from death as we read Heb. 5. 7. which text is a good comment upon this place have I heard thee g Though not so as to deliver thee from death and from the sence of my wrath yet so as to keep thee from sinking under these burdens and so as thou shouldest not be holden under the Pains or Power of Death Act. 2. 24 and so as to Crown thee with Glory and Honoâ—…r and a blessed success of all thy labours and sufferings and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee i Upon earth till thy work be finished and unto that eternal Kingdom and Glory which is prepared for thee and give thee for a covenant k To be the Mediator and Surety of that Covenant which is made between me and them as Christ is called Heb. 7. 22. and 8. 6. to renew and confirm the Covenant which the Messiah is said to do Dan. 9. 27. by his own blood by which God and men are reconciled and united one to the other And therefore he may well be called the Covenant by a known Metonymy which is very usual in such cases as upon the same account Circumcision the sign of the Covenant is called Gods Covenant Gen. 17. 10. and the Paschal Lamb is called the Passover Exod. 12. 11. and the Sacramental Cup is called the New Testament Luk. 22. 20. and the Communion of the Blood of Christ 1 Cor. 10. 16. of the people l Indefinitely of all my People not onely Iews but also the Gentiles as may be gathered from the context and by comparing this place with Isa. 42. 6. Where the same Phrase is used From both which places it is most manifest that the Messiah is designed and not Isaiah to whom this and divers other Phrases here used cannot be ascribed without great force ‖ Or raise uâ—… to establish the earth m To compose and settle the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof by making peace between God and men and between Iews and Gentiles and by establishing Truth and Righteousness and Holiness upon Earth and by subduing those Lusts and Passions which are the great disturbers of Humane Society which was the design of God in sending and of Christ in coming into the World to cause to inherit the desolate heritages n That desolate Places may be repaired and repossessed That Christ may possess the Heathen according to Psal. 2. 8. who were in a spiritual sence in a most desolate and forlorn condition h In the time of grace and of the Gospel which I have appointed for the working out of mans Salvation by thee 9. That thou mayest say o To wit with power and effect as when God said Let there be Light c. * Chap. 42. 7. to the prisoners p To the Gentiles who are fast bound by the cords of their sins and taken Captive by the Devil at his will as this same Phrase is understood Isa. 42. 7. Go forth q Come forth to the light receive Divine illumination and consolation to them that are in darkness Shew your selves they shall feed in the wayes and their pastures shall be in all high places r They shall have abundant provision in all places yea even in those which commonly are barren and unfruitful and such are both common roads and high grounds 10. They shall not * Rev. 7. 1â—… hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat nor Sun smite them s They shall be supplied with all good and necessary things and kept from all evil occurrents for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them t God who hath magnified his mercy to them will conduct them with safety and comfort even by the springs of water shall he guide them 11. And I will make all my Mountains a way and my high wayes shall be exalted u I will remove all hinderances and prepare the way for them by levelling high grounds and raising low grounds of which see on Isa. 40. 3 4. 12. Behold these shall come from farr x My People shall be called and gathered even from the most remote parts of the earth He speaks here and in many other places of the Conversion of the Gentiles with allusion to that work of gathering and bringing back the Iews from all parts where they were dispersed into their own Land and loe these from the North and from the West y From the several parts of the world which are here synecdochically expressed as they are in many other places and these from the land of Sinim z Either of the Sinites as they are called Gen. 1â—… 17. who dwelt about the Wilderness of Sin which was Southward from Iudea Or of Sin a famous City of Egypt called the strength of Egypt which may be synecdochically put for all Egypt and that for all southern parts And so he here mentions the several quarters of the World where the generality of the Iews were dispersed the North which is every where named as the chief place of their banishment and dispersion as Ier. 16. 15. and 31. 8. and elsewhere the West the western Countries and Islands and the South 13. Sing O Heavens and be joyful O Earth and break forth into singing O Mountains for the Lord hath comforted his People a God hath now sent that
most pleasant food of Gospel-enjoyments 3 Incline your ear and come unto me hear k Hearken attentively and obediently to my counsel hearing being oft put for obeying as Deut. 18. 15. 1 Sam. 15. 22 23. Psal. 95. 7. c. and your soul shall live l To wit comfortably and happily which only is worthy of the name of Life and I will make an everlasting covenant with you m That everlasting Covenant of Grace and Peace which I made with Abraham and his Seed the Israelites I am ready to make it with every one of you thirsting Gentiles even the * 2 Sam. 7. 8. 2 Chr. 6. 42. Ps. 89. 24. 28 29 33 37. Act. 13. 34. sure mercies of David n Even that Covenant which was made first with Abraham and then with David concerning the exhibition of those glorious and sure Mercies or Blessings which God hath promised to his People one and the chief of which Mercies was the giving of Christ to die for their sins and to rise again for their justification This Exposition may receive light and strength by comparing this place with Act. 13. 33 34. He mentions David rather than Abraham either 1. Because these Promises and especially that great promise which is the foundation of all the rest concerning Christ and his eternal Kingdom were far more frequently and expresly fully made revealed to David than they were to Abraham Or 2. Because David was a more evident and illustrious type of Christ than Abraham was as being raised from a mean condition to the highest honour being made a great and most victorious and righteous King and the first King of that Throne upon which the Messiah was to fit Or 3. Because the name of David is not here put personally for the King of that Name but patronimically for the Messiah who was to be Davids Son and Successor and who is therefore called David in the prophetical Scriptures as Ier. 30. 9. Ezek. 34. 23 24. 37. 24 25. Hos. 3. 5. as Rehoboam upon the same account is called David 1 Kin. 12. 16. And this is the more probable because the next verse which hath a manifest Relation to this verse is confessedly understood of Christ. 4 Behold I have given him p The David last mentioned even Christ the Son and Successor of David as is plain and certain from the titles and works ascribed to him in this and in the following Verse But of this see the last note upon the former verse for a witness q To be a Prophet or Teacher to declare the counsel and will of God concerning the duty and Salvation of Men to bear witness unto the truth as Christ himself affirmeth Ioh. 18. 37. to confirm Gods Promises Rom. 15. 8. and amongst others those which respect the calling and reconciliation of the Gentiles to be a witness for both parties of that Covenant made between God and Men. to the people r Not only to my People of Israel but to all People Gentiles no less than Jews as is evident from the following verse and from Isa. 49. 6. and divers other places a leader and commander s A soveraign Prince to give them Laws and exact their Obedience and in case of their Obedience to give them Protection and Rewards to the people o I have already appointed and will in due time actually give 5 Behold thou l Thou O Messiah of whom he now spake v. 4. and to whom he suddenly turneth his speech as is very common in the Prophets shalt call m To wit unto thy self and to the knowledg of thy self as appears from the following words and by thee unto acquaintance and fellowship with God a nation that thou ‖ Or knewest not knowest not n Or rather didst not know to wit with that special knowledg which implies approbation and tender Care and Affection as words of knowledg are most frequently used in Scripture the Gentiles to whom in former times thou didst not make known thy Law and Covenant and the way of Salvation Act. 14. 16. 17. 30. and nations that knew not thee o That had but little knowledge of God and no knowledg of the Messiah shall run unto thee p Upon thy call shall speedily and readily come to thee to receive Instructions from thee and to follow thee whithersoever thou shalt lead them because of the LORD thy God q Because the Lord shall by many evident and unquestionable tokens manifest himself to be thy God and thee to be his Son and faithful servant and for the holy One of Israel for he hath glorified thee r Because the God of Israel who is the only true God will highly honour thee by his singular presence with thee by his almighty Power accompanying thy Word and making it wonderfully effectual for the conversion of an innumerable company both of Jews and Gentiles and by confirming thy Word with illustrious signs and miracles and particularly by thy Resurrection and glorious Ascension These and other like considerations were the motives which convinced the Gentiles that Christ was the true Messiah and the Religion which he taught was the true Religion 6 * Ps. 32. 6. Seek ye the LORD s Having discoursed of the Office and Work of Christ and shewed that he should call People and Nations to himself and to God he now endeavours to persuade the People to hearken to his Call and to seek the Lord i. e. To labour to get the knowledge of Gods Will and to obtain his Grace and Favour neither of which things were to be done but in and through Christ. And this Invitation or exhortation is general like that v. 1. reaching to all Nations both Jews and Gentiles implying that both of them had lost him and his Favour and were gone astray from him Seek him ye Gentiles whom he now inviteth so to do and will assist in finding him And seeing the Gentiles seek him earnestly let their example provoke you Jews to imitate them therein and take heed that you do not reject him whom they will receive and own while he may be found t In this day of Grace whilest he offereth Mercy and Reconciliation to you which he will not always do Compare Prov. 1. 24 c. Luk. 19. 44. 2 Cor. 6. 2. call ye upon him while he is near u Near to you by his gracious presence and offers in his Ordinances ready and desirous to receive you to Mercy upon the following conditions 7 Let the wicked man x Any wicked man either Jew or Gentile forsake his way y His evil or wicked way as is evident from the foregoing word and as it is more fully expressed Ier. 18. 11. 25. 5. which is called his way because it is natural and customary and dear to him and in opposition to Gods good way his sinful course or manner of Life Let him cease to do