Wherein men will or shall be silent either through grief as Iob 2. 12 13. or by sickness or weakness or because God denies a man ability to utter his mind and a time to speak 8 A time to love q When God will stir up the affection of Love or give occasion for the exercise or discovery of it to others and a time to hate a time of war and a time of peace 9 * Ch. 1. 3. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth r Seeing then all actions and events in the world are out of mans power and no man can at any time do or enjoy any thing at his pleasure but only what and when God pleaseth as hath been now shewed in many particulars and it it as true and certain in all others hence it follows that all mens labours of themselves and without Gods help and blessing are unprofitable and utterly insufficient to make them happy 10 I have seen s I have diligently observed and considered upon this occasion the travel t Or the occupation or business mens various employments and the differing successes of them which God hath given to the sons of men u Either 1. Which God hath imposed upon Men as their duty and therefore Men must labour although it brings them no profit as was now said Or 2. Which God hath inflicted upon Mankind as a just punishment for their sins to which therefore Men ought quietly to submit to be exercised in it x That hereby they might have constant matter of exercise for their diligence and patience and submission to Gods Will and Providence and for all other Graces Or that they might be afflicted or humbled therewith as the same Phrase is rendred by divers Eccl. 1. 13. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time y This seems to be added as an Apology for Gods Providence notwithstanding all the contrary events and confusions which are in the world He i. e. God expressed in the last clause of the verse hath made or doth make or do by his Providence in the government of the world every thing which he doth either immediately or by the ministry of Men or other Creatures for God worketh in and with all his Creatures in all their actions as is agreed by Divines and Philosophers beautiful decently and conveniently so that all things considered it could not have been done better in his time in the time which he had appointed or which he saw most proper and fit for it or in its time or season when it was most fit to be done Many events seem to mens shallow and perverse judgments at least for a time to be very irregular and unbecoming as when wicked men prosper in their impious and unrighteous Enterprizes and good men are sorely oppressed and afflicted and that for righteousness sake but when men shall come throughly to understand God's works and the whole frame and contexture of them and to see the end of them they will then say that all things were done most wisely and most seasonably whereof we have eminent instances in Ioseph and David and Mordecai and the Iews of his time also he hath set the world in their heart z i. e. In the Hearts of men as the following words shew where Man is expressed The sense is either 1. Although all God's works are beautiful yet men do not discern the beauty of them because the World is in their Hearts their minds are so busied and distracted with the thoughts and cares and love and business of this World that they have neither leisure nor Heart seriously to study God's works But this inordinate love of the present World comes from Man's own corruption and not from God and therefore it seems harsh to impute it to God and improbable that Solomon would have phrased it thus that God hath set or put the World i. e. Worldly Lusts in mens Hearts Or 2. As God's works are beautiful in themselves so men are capable of discerning the beauty of them because God hath set the World in mens Hearts he hath exposed the World and all his dispensations in the World unto the view of mens minds both because he hath wrought his works so evidently and publickly that men might easily observe them and because he hath given men reason whereby they may discover the Wisdom and Beauty of all God's Works if they diligently apply themselves to the study of them so that * Ch. 8. 17. no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end a So this is another reason why men do not discern the beauty of God's works because they do not see the whole frame or course of them from the beginning to the end but onely some small parcels or fragments of them the eminent works of God being oft begun in one Age and finished in another Or yet so that c. Or except that as this Phrase properly signifies and is elsewhere used no Man can find out c. Thus it is an exception to the next foregoing clause and the sense is It is true God hath put the World into mens Hearts or made them capable of observing all events and dispensations of God in the World but this is to be understood with a limitation because there are some more mysterious works of God which no Man can fully understand because he cannot search them out through or from the beginning to the end 12 I know b By clear reason and my own long and certain experience that there is no good c No other satisfaction or felicity which a Man can enjoy in them d In Creatures or Worldly enjoyments but for a man to rejoyce and to do good e Either 1. to himself as it is fully expressed Psal. 49. 18. Or 2 to others to employ them in acts of Charity and liberality towards others Or 3. towards God to use them and to live in the fear of God which is necessary to the happiness of this as well as of the other life in his life 13 And also that every man should eat and drink f i. e. Hath power or an Heart to use what God hath given him as it is expressed Ch. 6. 2. and †Heb. see Job 7. 7. Ps. 34. 12. enjoy the good of all his labour it is the gift of God g Of which see the Notes on Ch. 2. 24. 14 I know that whatsoever God doth it shall be for ever h All God's counsels or decrees are eternal and unchangeable and his providence works effectually so as men cannot resist or hinder it nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it i Men can neither do any thing besides or against God's Counsel and Providence nor hinder any work or act of it and God doth it that men should fear before him k Not that men should make this
as that word is elsewhere used of Seraiah Ezra 7. 1. who was the High-Priest 2 Kin. 25. 18. 1 Chr. 6. 14. and he was a ready Scribe in the Law of Moses Ezra 7. 6 and endowed with a more than ordinary measure of Gods Spirit as is evident from this Book and was himself an Eye-witness of all these Transactions In his time also there lived divers other holy men of God as Daniel and Nehemiah and Mordecai and Zorobabel and Joshuah Which makes that probable which the Iews report that these Prophets and other holy and learned men did review the Canonical Books of the Old Testament and added here and there some few passages in the historical Books and digested them into that order in which now we have them in our Hebrew Bibles This being a work most suitable to the Prudence and Piety and sacred Function of these Persons and to the present Estate of the Iewish Nation who had been long in Captivity in Babylon where it was to be feared that many of them were ignorant or corrupt in the Principles of Religion and who were yet in a broken condition and likely to be exposed to farther calamities and dispersions which also might be signified to some of them and to that care which the wise and gracious God hath ever used for the guidance of his Church according to their several occasions and necessities CHAP. I. 1 NOw in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia a To wit of his Empire or Reign in Babylon For he had now been King of Persia for many Years that the word of the LORD * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 22 〈◊〉 25. 12. 〈◊〉 10. by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus b i. e. Put into him a Mind and Will to this work king of Persia that he †〈…〉 made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia The LORD God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth c To wit in those parts of the World all that vast Empire formerly under the Assyrians and Babylonians The Gift of which he ascribes to the great God either by virtue of those common notions which were in the Minds of the Heathens who though they worshipped Idols yet many of them did acknowledge a true and supream God Or by that clear and express Prophecy of Isaiah concerning him Isa. 44. 28. 45. 1 13. so long before he was born which Prophecy the Jews had doubtless shewed him which also carried a great evidence with it especially to him who was so highly graâ—…ified and incouraged by it or by a special Illumination which God vouchsafed to him as he did to Nebuchadnezzar and Darius and some others of the Heathen Princes and he hath * 〈◊〉 44. 28. â—…â—…5 13. charged me d Either by his Prophets Isaiah formerly or Daniel now or by an inward suggestion to his Mind to build him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah 3 Who is there among you of all his people d To wit of Israel A material clause by vertue of which they justly refused the help of those Aliens who pretended to join with them in the building ch 4. 2 3. his God be with him e Let his God help him as I also shall do and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the LORD God of Israel he is the God which is in Jerusalem f Or only in Ierusalem as it is in the Hebrew So it notes the place where he allows and requires them to build it 4 And whosoever remaineth g Who when his Brethren were gone up was desirous to go with them but forced to tarry there for want of necessaries for his Journey in any place where he sojourneth let the men of his place †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…im 〈◊〉 help him h I require my Officers to take care that they may be supplied either by the voluntary Contributions of the People or by a moderate Tax to be laid either only upon those Jews who were resolved to stay or upon the Gentiles also which the Persian Monarchs being absolute had a power to do and which was the more reasonable because the King himself submitted to it and bore a great part of the burden and because it was for the House of that great God to whom they all owed their present Peace and great felicity with silver and with gold i Which upon this occasion I give you leave to transport and with goods and with beasts besides the free-will-offering for the house of his God that is in Jerusalem 5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin i And with them some of other Tribes as appears from 1 Chr. 9. 3. but these only are named because they were most considerable for number and quality and the priests and the Levites with all them whose spirit God had raised to go up k To whom God had given that pious Disposition and that Fortitude and Resolution which it required to break through their difficulties which were great and many such as their present penury the length and hazards and costliness of the journey their settlements in comfortable Habitations their dispersion in several and distant places which hindred the Conjunction of their Counsels and Actions the multitude of their Enemies the actual possession of their Country by others the great backwardness of many of their own Brethren to go with them and many other discouragements to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem 6 And all they that were about them ‖ That is helped them strengthened their hands l Either because they had embraced or at least favoured the Jewish Religion concerning which they were instructed by the Israelites that had now for a long time dwelt among them or rather that they might hereby gratifie the Kings humour and purchase his favour for they perceived him to be hearty and forward in the work with vessels of silver with gold with goods and with beasts and with precious things besides all that was willingly offered 7 Also Cyrus the King brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD * 2 Kin. 24. 13. 2 Chr. 36. 7. which Nebuchad-nezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem m Obj. These are said to have been cut in pieces 2 Kin. 24. 13. how then are they here returned Ans. That Hebrew word used 2 Kin. 24. 13. signifies not so properly to cut in pieces as to cut off as from the use of the word Deut. 25. 12. 2. Sam. 4. 12. 2 Kin. 18. 16. Ier. 9. 26. And these vessels when they were taken away from the Temple might very well be said to be cut off from it because they had for so long time been so constantly and as it were inseparably united to
being fitly supplied out of the former branch of the Verse as is very usual in Scripture He would not use his power against me but for me by enabling me to plead my Cause and giving Sentence according to that Clemency and Benignity which according to his gracious Covenant he useth towards his Children Or He would put or sit his heart this very Verb of putting or setting being elsewhere used in this defective manner for putting or setting the Heart as Iob. 7. 17. Isa. 41. 10. as it is fully expressed Isa. 57. 1. Ezek. 40. 4. 44. 5. upon the Preposition Beth in being sometimes used for al upon as Neh. 2. 12. Isa. 21. 13. me to wit to hear me and all my reasons meekly and to judge favourably and to help and deliver me as that and the like Phrases commonly signifie in Scripture use 7. There n At that Throne of Grace as it is called Heb. 4. 16. where God lays aside his Majesty and Power and judgeth according to his wonted Grace and Clemency the Righteous o Such as I do and dare avow my self to be to wit in sincerity though not in perfection might dispute with him p Humbly and modestly propounding the grounds of their confidence and the Evidences of their Righteousness so q Upon such a fair and equal hearing should I be delivered for ever from my judge r Either 1. From the severe Censures of all corrupt and partial Judges such as you my Friends are Or rather 2. From the damnatory sentence of God for he is not only pleading before him but also with him He would give sentence for me and against himself This and some such Expressions of Iob cannot be excused from Irreverence towards God and too great a confidence in himself for which therefore God sharply reproves him hereafter and Iob abhorreth himself 8. * Chap. 9. 12. Behold I go forward s i. e. Towards the East which in Scripture is accounted the forepart of the world as the Hebrew name of it signifies because of the light of the Sun which ariseth there and draweth the Eyes of men towards it but he is not there t To wit so as I would have him as a Judge to hear and determine my cause of which he is here speaking For otherwise he knew and believed that God was essentially present in all places and backward u i. e. Towards the West So also the North is called the Left-hand and the South the Right-hand v. 9. because so they all are to a man who looks towards the East He names all the several parts of the World to shew his eager desire and restless endeavours to find out God and to present himself before him but I cannot perceive him 9. On the Left hand where he doth work x To wit in a special and peculiar manner more than in other parts of the World for so indeed God did work in those parts which were Northward from Iob because there Mankind among whom God delights to be and to work were most numerous and most ingenious to discern Gods works There also was the Seat of the Assyrian Empire which was eminent in Iob's time and afterwards of the other successive Empires In and by all which God did many great and glorious works But this Hebrew word is by others and that very properly and fitly rendred when or whilest he worketh to wit in an eminent manner So this is added to aggravate Iob's unhappiness We may certainly find any man when and where he is working But I saith he search for God even when and where he is working and yet cannot find him out but I cannot behold him he hideth himself y To wit from me He withdraweth his favour and will not afford me his presence and audience on the Right hand that I cannot see him z Either 1. I cannot discern his Counsels and Ways and the Reasons of his severe dealings with me Or rather 2. He doth not appear to me as a Judge to examine my Cause and Arguments but condemns me without hearing me 10. But a Though I cannot see him yet my comfort is that he seeth me and my heart and all my Actions Or For as this particle commonly signifies So this Verse contains a reason why he so vehemently desired that he might plead his cause with or before God he knoweth †Heb. the way that is with 〈◊〉 the way that I take b He cannot be deceived nor blinded either by the artifices of bold Accusers or Advocates or by his own misapprehensions or passions but he exactly knows the way that is with me i. e. the disposition of my heart and the whole course or manner of my Life when he hath tried me c If he would examine me throughly which above all things I desire I shall come forth as Gold d Which cometh out of the Furnace pure from all dross I would appear upon a fair hearing that I am free though not from all sin as he had confessed before yet from that hypocrisie and those gross enormities wherewith my friends charge me 11. My Foot hath held e his steps f i. e. Made a free and fixed choice and taken fast hold of them been firmly and strongly settled and resolved to continue in them as the word signifies his way have I kept and not declined g Either 1. Actively the steps or ways in which God himself walks the paths of Holiness Justice Mercy c. wherein he walked with or after God as the Phrase is Gen. 5. 24. 2 Kings 23. 3. following his Example Or 2. Passively the steps or paths which God hath appointed men to walk in as Ch. 21. 14. 12. Neither have I gone back h i. e. Not turned aside to any crooked or sinful path or course of Life human Infirmity excepted Heb. I have hid or laid it up as men do their best Treasures or what they most love and value The Phrase notes an high estimation of it an hearty affection to it and a diligent care to preserve it from the Commandment of his Lips †Heb. I have hid or laid up I have esteemed i the word of his Mouth more than ‖ Or my appointed portion my necessary food k Or my appointed food or my dayly portion i. e. that food or provision which is necessary for the support of my Life as this word is used Gen. 47. 22. Prov. 30. 8. 31. 15. which is more prized and desired than all the riches in the world 13. But he is in one mind l i. e. Notwithstanding all these Evidences of my sincere Piety and all my Prayers to him he still continues in the same mind and course of afflicting me Or But he is i. e. if he be against one or against any man as that word is oft used as he now setteth himself against me Or But he is one the
Those Metals which did lie hid in the secret parts of the Earth he discovers to himself and others 12. But where shall Wisdom l Heb. that Wisdom for here is an article which seems to be emphatical The sense is I confess that man hath one kind of Wisdom in a great Measure to wit to discover the works of Nature and to perform the operations of art but as for that sublime and eminent Wisdom which consists in the exact knowledge of all Gods Counsels and Ways and of the several manners and reasons of his governing the world and dealing with good and bad men this is far above mâ—…ns reach and is the Prerogative of God alone be found and where is the place of Understanding m There is no vein for that upon Earth as there is for Gold or Silver 13. Man knoweth not the price thereof n Man knoweth neither where to purchase it nor how much it is worth nor what to offer in exchange for it neither is it found in the Land of the Living o Amongst mortal men that live upon Earth but only amongst those blessed Spirits that dwell above 14. * 〈◊〉 2â—… 〈◊〉 11. 33 3â—… The depth p To wit of the Earth because the Sea here follows as a differing place This is a very common figure whereby Speech is ascribed to dumb and senseless Creatures The meaning is this is not to be found in any part of the Land or Sea yea though a man should dig or dive never so deep to find it nor to be learned from any Creatures For though these discover the Being and Power and in part the Wisdom of God yet they do not instruct us in the methods and grounds of Gods providential dispensations to good and evil men these are secrets of Wisdom reserved for God himself saith It is not in me and the Sea saith It is not with me 15. †Heb. 〈◊〉 gold 〈◊〉 not be giâ—… 〈◊〉 it It * â—…rov 3. 13 1â—… 8. 11 19. 16. 16. cannot be gotten for Gold q The choicest Gold laid up in Treasures as the word signifies neither shall Silver be weighed r To wit in the ballance for in those times Money was paid by weight noâ—… by tale See Gen. 23. 16. Ier. 32. 9 10. for the price thereof 16. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir s Which was the best sort of gold See on 1 King 9. 28. Iob 22. 24. with the pretious Onyx t Or Sardonyx See on Exod. 28. 20. or the Saphire 17. The gold and the crystal u Or Amber which in those parts was of very great price Or the Diamond The Hebrew word is not elsewhere used and it hath in it the signification of purity or clearness or brightness cannot equal it and the exchange of it shall not be for ‖ Or vessels of 〈◊〉 gold jewels x Or vessels wherein there is not only the excellency of the materials but the curiosity of art which renders the other much more valuable of fine gold 18. No mention shall be made y They are of no value nor worthy to be named the same day with this nor fit to be mentioned as a price or recompence wherewith to purchase this of ‖ Or 〈◊〉 coral or of pearls for the price z Or the attraction or acquisition or rather the Extraction or drawing forth For Iob useth the word of art which was proper in the taking of Pearls as the following word rendred by our Translators Rubies is understood by divers both Hebrew and Christian Interpreters and amongst others by the late eminently learned Bochart who proveth it by divers Arguments Now these Pearls are and were taken by men that dived to the bottom of the Sea and drew them out thence which is the very word which both Arabick and Latine Authors use in the case as indeed the same word is used of all Fisher-men who are said to draw forth with their Hook or Net or otherwise Fishes or any other thing for which they are fishing Moreover this diving as it produced great profit so it was not without some danger and difficulty for if they heedlesly put their fingers into the gaping shell within which the Pearl was it speedily closed upon them and put them to exquisite pain to the loss of their finger and sometimes of their Life Which is a fit representation of the state of those persons who search after the knowledge of Gods Counsels and ways and the grounds of them who as when they modestly enquire into them and truly discover them they have infinite advantage and satisfaction therein so if they prie into them too boldly searching into those things which God hath concealed and rashly judging of them above what they know which Iob judged to be his Friends case they expose themselves to manifold snares and dangers And this extraction or drawing forth is aptly used concerning this Wisdom which lying very deep and remote from the reach of ordinary men is not be obtained without diligent search and consideration And so the place may be thus translated the extraction or drawing forth of Wisdom is above that to wit the extraction of Pearls of Wisdom is above rubies 19. The topaz a Of which see Exod. 28. 17. 39. 10. of Ethiopia b Or of Arabia for Cush signifies both Ethiopia and Arabia and the Topaz was found in the Red-Sea which lay between both and so might be ascribed to either shall not equal it neither shall it be valued with pure gold 20. * Ver. 1â—… Whence then cometh wisdom and where is the place of understanding c Where this pretious Treasure lies and whence a man may fetch it 21. Seeing it is hid from the Eyes of all living d Of all men that live upon the Earth and kept close from the fowls of ‖ Or heaven the air e Though they flie high and can see far and well yet they cannot discern this Men of the most raised understandings cannot discover it It is to be found no where in this visible World neither in the upper nor lower parts of it 22. * Ver. 1â—… Destruction and death f Either 1. Men that are dead and thereby freed from the encumbrance of their bodies which depress their minds and have more raised thoughts than men that live here Or 2. The Grave the place of the dead to which these things are here ascribed as they are to the depths and to the Sea v. 14. by a Figure called Prosopopaeia If a man should search for this Wisdom either amongst living men or amongst the dead he could not find it yea though he should and might enquire of all men that formerly lived in the World some of whom were persons of prodigious Wit and Learning and of vast Experience as having lived nigh a Thousand Years and made it their great business in
that time to search out the depths of this divine Wisdom in the administration of the World say we have heard the fame thereof g We know it only by slight and uncertain rumours but not fully and perfectly with our ears 23. God h i. e. God alone as appears by the denial of it to all other things understandeth the way thereof i Either the way how it is to be obtained Or rather the methods or courses which it takes in the management of all affairs in the World together with its grounds and end 〈◊〉 them and he knoweth the place thereof k Where it dwells which is only in his own Breast and Mind and in the best of men but in part and only as far as it pleaseth him to afford it 24. For he looketh to the ends of the Earth and seeth under the whole heaven l He and he only knows it because his Providence and that only is infinite and universal reaching to all places and times and things past present and to come whereas the most acute and knowing men have narrow understandings and see but very few things and small parcels of the works of God and therefore are very unfit to pass a judgment upon them because the Wisdom and Justice and Beauty of Gods works is not clearly nor fully seen till all the parts of them be laid together 25. To make the weight for the winds m Which of themselves are most light and without any weight and inconstant and such as no Creature can order or govern them But God manageth them all by weight appointing to every Wind that blows its season its proportion its bounds and limits when and where and how much and how long each Wind shall blow and for what ends whether for Mercy as to refresh men in hot seasons with its gentle gales to cherish the fruits of the Earth to waft Ships on the Sea to their desired Havens c. or whether for Judgment as to corrupt the air and thereby the Bodies of men and Fruits of the Earth to blow down Houses upon their Inhabitants as he was pleased to deal with my poor unhappy Children He only doth all these things and he only knows why he doth them He instanceth but in some few of Gods works and those which seem to be most trivial and casual and uncertain that thereby he might more strongly imply and prove that God doth the same in other things which are more considerable and are managed by more constant causes and certain methods that he doth all things in the most exact order and weight and measure and he weigheth n But it seems a very improper speech to weigh things by measure and therefore this word may more fitly be otherwise rendred he examineth or disposeth or fitteth or directeth for so this verb is elsewhere used as 1 Sam. 2. 3. Psal 75. 3. Prov. 16. 2. 21. 2. the waters o To wit the Rain-waters as appears from the next Verse which God layeth up in his Store-houses or bottles the Clouds and thence draws them forth and sends them down upon the Earth in such times and proportions as he thinks fit and as may serve his several designs and ends by measure p For liquid things are examined by measure as other things are by weight and here is both weight and measure to signifie with what exact and perfect Wisdom God doth govern the World 26. When he made q Which was either from eternity or at the first Creation when he settled that course and order which should afterwards be continued Or when he maketh But our Translation seems best to suit with the then in the next Verse where the sense is compleated a decree for the rain r An appointment and as it were a Statute Law that it should fall upon the Earth and that in such times and places and proportions and manner as he should think fit either for correction or for mercy as Elihu speaks Iob 37. 13. and a way s Or path how it should get out of the thick Cloud in which it was shut up and as it were imprisoned or a course which should for the future be observed as to the time and measure and ends and other circumstances belonging to it for the lightning of the thunder 27. Then t Either from eternity when he decreed what he would do or when he first created them did he see it u i. e. Wisdom which is the subject matter of the present discourse This God saw not abroad but within himself he looked or reflected upon it in his own mind as the rule by which he would proceed in the Creation and Government of all things managing them in such ways and methods as were most agreeable to his own most wise and unsearchable Counsels which no humane or created Wit can reach or pierce into Or he saw it so as to declare it as it follows so as to make it visible and manifest in some measure to his Creatures Or he saw it i. e. he enjoyed it seeing being oft put for enjoying as Psal. 27. 13. 34. 12. Eccles. 3. 13. 2. 1. Compare Prov. 8. 22. and ‖ Or number it declare it x i. e. He made it evident he discovered his deep Wisdom which lay hid before in his own breast or he laid the foundation of that discovery of it which then was or afterward should be made to Angels and Men as the Heavens did in themselves declare the glory of God Psal. 19. 1. before there was such a Creature as man to take notice of it because the object was visible in itself and not made so by the Eye which afterwards beheld it Or did number it i. e. shewed it as it were by number not only in gross but as it were by retail in all the several works which he made he prepared it y i. e. He had it in readiness for the doing of all his works as if he had been for a long time preparing materials for them So it is a speech of God after the manner of men Or he disposed it i. e. used or employed it in his works Or he settled or established it i. e. he firmly purposed to do such and such things in such manner as he thought meet and he established the order which he first made in the World that it should continue in after ages Or he directed it and directed and ordered all things by it yea and searched it out z Not properly for so searching implies Ignorance and that a man is at a loss and requires time and industry all which is repugnant to the Divine Perfections but figuratively as such expressions are oft used concerning God i e. He did and doth all things with that absolute and perfect Wisdom and he knoweth all his own Counsels and Actionâ—… and the reasons of them so exactly and perfectly as if he had bestowed
and the chief time for its adoration or the moon walking †Heb. bright in brightness n When it shines most clearly or when it is at the full for then especially did the Idolaters worship it 27. And my heart hath been secretly o In my inward thoughts or affections whilest I made open profession of my adherence to God and to the true religion enticed p Or seduced or deceivea by its plausible and glorious appearance which might easily cheat a credulous and inconsiderate person to believe that there was something of a Divinity in them and so induce him to worship it This emphatical expression seems to be used with design to teach the World this necessary and useful truth that no mistake or errour of mind would excuse the practice of Idolatry or q Heb. and which seems more proper here because the secret errour of the Mind without some such visible action and evidence as here follows had not been punishable by the Judges †Heb. 〈◊〉 hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my mouth hath kissed my hand r In token of Worship whereof this was a sign whether given to men as Gen. 41. 40. Psalm 2. 12. or to Idols 1 Kings 19. 18. Hos. 13. 2. And when the Idols were out of the reach of Idolaters that they could not kiss them they used to kiss their hands and as it were to throw kisses at them of which we have many examples in Heathen Writers Of which see my Latine Synopsis on this place 28. This also s No less then the other forementioned sins Adultery Oppression c. were an iniquity to be punished by the judge t i. e. By the civil Magistrate who being advanced and protected by God is obliged to maintain and vindicate his Honour and consequently to punish Idolatry And this did not cease to be his duty although the Magistrates of the world in Iob's time were so far from this that they themselves also were Idolaters Yet considering that both Iob and his Friends who lived in his time and neighbourhood were most probably the Posterity or Kindred of Abraham and his Family and by him or his instructed in the knowledge of the true God and were also men of great Power and Authority in their places it seems most likely that they did restrain and punish Idolatry in their several Jurisdictions or at least in their own large and numerous Families where the Masters anciently had power of Life and Death without controll for I should have denied the God u Not directly for nothing is more evident than this that divers of the wiser Heathens who did worship the Sun and Moon did yet acknowledge and adore the soveraign and supream God over and above all but by consequence and construction because this was to rob God of his Prerogative by giving to the â—…reature that religious honour or worship which is peculiar to God that is above x Who is above the Sun and Moon not only in place his glorious Mansion and Palace being far above all visible Heavens but also in power and dignity or adorable excellency 29. * 〈◊〉 17. If I rejoyced at the destruction of him that hated me y I was so far from malice and revenging my self of mine Enemy which is the common and allowed practise of ungodly men that I did not so much as desâ—…re or delight in his ruine when it was brought upon him by other hands Compare Exod 23. 4. Prov. 24. â—…7 18. Whence we may judge whether the great Duty of loving and forgiving our Enemies be a peculiar Precept of Christianity or whether it be a natural and moral Duty and a part and act of that Charity which now is and ever was the Duty of one man to another in all ages or lift up my self z Heb. stirred up my self to rejoyce and insult over his misery when evil found him 30. * 〈◊〉 5. 4 Roâ—… 12. 14 Neither have I suffered †Heb. my Palate my mouth a Heb. my palate which being one of the Instruments of Speech is put for another or for all the rest The sense is If any secret passion or desire of his hurt did arise in me I forthwith suppressed it and did not suffer it to grow and break forth into an Imprecation of hurt to him to sin by wishing a curse to his soul 31. If the men of my tabernacle b i. e. My Domesticks and familiar Friends who were much conversant with me in my House and were Witnesses of my carriage to others and of their carriages to me and therefore best able to judge in the case said not Oh that we had of his flesh c Either 1. of Iob's flesh which is thought to be an expression either 1. of their servent love to him caused by his great tenderness and kindness to them But his meek and gentle carriage to his Servants he had expressed before in plain terms v. 13. and therefore it is not likely he would repeat it at least in such an obscure and ambiguous phrase as is no where used in this sense and is used in a contrary sense Chap. 19. 22. Or 2 of their hatred and rage against him for the excessive trouble he put upon them in the entertainment of strangers which follows v. 32. But it is very improbable either that so just and merciful a man as Iob would put intolerable burdens upon his Servants or that some extraordinary trouble brought upon them by hospitality would inflame them to such an height of rage as this phrase implies against so excellent and amiable a Master Or 2. of the flesh and other provisions made by Ioâ—… for strangers He feeds them liberally but scarce alloweth us time to satisfie our selves therewith which also is very unlikely Or rather 3. of the flesh of Iob's enemy of whom he last spoke v. 29 30. And so this is an amplification and further confirmation of 〈◊〉 charitable disposition and 〈◊〉 to his Enemy although his cause was so jâ—…st and the 〈◊〉 of his Enemies was so notorious and unreasonable that all who were daily 〈◊〉 with him and were Witnesses of his and their mutual carriages did condâ—… and abhor them for it and were so conâ—… and 〈◊〉 in Iâ—…'s quarrel that â—…hey protâ—… they could 〈◊〉 their very 〈◊〉 and could not be satisfied without it And yet notwithstanding all these Provocaâ—…ions of others he restrained both them and himself from executing vengeance upon them as David afterwards did in a like case 1 Sam. 24. 5 2 Sam. 1â—… â—… 10. we cannot be satisfied d To wit without caâ—…ing his flesh 32. * 〈◊〉 12. 13. 〈◊〉 13. 2. 〈◊〉 4. 9. The stranger e Or 〈◊〉 as it follows did not lodge in the street f But in my house according to the Laws of Hospitality and the usage of those times when there were no publick Inâ—…s provided for the conveniency
to Honour and preserve the Lords anointed 5. Hold up my goings in thy paths u As by thy Word and Grace thou hast hitherto kept me from the Paths of evil men and led me into thy Paths so I pray thee enable me by the same means to persevere in thy ways and in mine abhorrency of wicked Courses that my footsteps †Heb. be not moved slip not x That I may not fall into that sin of revenging my self upon Saul to which I may be more and more tempted nor into any other sin whereby thou mayst be provoked or men may be offended and Religion disgraced 6. I have called upon thee y It hath been and still is and shall be my constant Course to apply my self to thee for assistance and for deliverance for thou wilt hear me O God z For though thou mayst delay for a season I am well assured that thou wilst hear and answer me incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech 7. * Psal. 31. 21. shew thy marvellous loving kindness a To wit in preserving and delivering me which if thou dost I must ever acknowledge it to be an Act of kindness or free Grace or undeserved Bounty yea and of marvellous kindness because of my extream and pressing Dangers out of which nothing but a wonder of Gods mercy and power can save me O thou ‖ Or that savest them which trust in thee from those that rise up against thy right 〈◊〉 that savest by thy right hand b i. e. By thy great Power them which put their trust in thee c Or in it i. e. In thy right Hand as was now expressed Or because of as the Hebrewâ—… prefix Mem oft signifies as Psal. 12. 6. and elsewhere those that exalt themselves as this word signifies Iob. 20. 27. and 27. 7. Psal. 59. 1 not only against me but against thee who hast engaged and declared thy self for me So this Prayer is like that Psal. 66. 7. Let not the Rebellioâ—…s exalt themselves But this place is otherwise translated in the Margent of our Bibles with which divers others both Antient and latter Interpreters agree and that more agreeably to the Order of the words in the Hebrew text O thou that savest or usest to save them which trust in thee or as the Hebrew word may be properly rendred without any Supplement Believers from those that rise up against thy right Hand i. e. Either against thy mighty Power which thou hast already shewed in my wonderful Preservation Or against thy Counsel which is called Gods hand Act. 4. 28. and revealed Will concerning my advancement to the Kingdom which divers of these men did knowingly oppose as may be gathered from 2 Sam. 3. 9 10. Or against the man which word is oft understood whereof examples have been given and more we shall have in this Book of thy right Hand as David is called Psal. 80. 17. According to this Translation his Prayer is inforced with a double motive to wit his trust is in God and his Enemies opposition against God from those that rise up against them d Which God hath marvellously fenced on every side and men use their utmost Care and Diligence to keep e. 8. * Deu. 32. 10. Zech. â—… â—… Keep me as the apple of the eye e hide me under the shadow of thy wings f As an Hen doth her Chickens 9. From the wicked g Or Because of the wicked †Heb. 〈◊〉 wast me that oppress me from †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against 〈◊〉 soâ—…l my deadly enemies h Heb. from those who are mine Enemies in or for or against my which Pronoun is easily supplied out of the â—…oregoing Word where it is expressed Soul or Life i. e. Whom nothing but my Blood and Life will satisfie who compass me about i Which shews both their extream Malice and his great Danger 10. * Psal. 119. â—… They are inclosed in their own fat k They live in great Splendour and Prosperity whilst I am exercised with many and â—…ore Troubles The like Phrase we have Iob. 15. 27. Psal. 73. 7. with their mouth they speak proudly l Not only against us whom they scorn but even against God himself whom they despise boasting of their own Power and what great things they will certainly effect against me 11. They have now compassed us in our steps m i. e. In all our ways We go from place to place to Rocks and Caves and Woods but wheresoever we go they are at hand and ready to surround us Of which see an example 1 Sam. 23. 26. they have set their eyes n To wit upon or against us i. e. They have discovered us and keep their eyes fixed upon us that we may not escape or as designing to shoot at us bowing down to the earth o i. e. Couching and casting themselves down upon the Earth that they may not be discovered and so may watch the fittest opportunity to surprize us Which Sence is favoured by the next Verse and by comparing Psal. 10 10. Oth. To cast us down to the Earth 12. †Heb. 〈◊〉 â—…ness of him that is of every one of them is as a â—…on that 〈◊〉 to raven Like a lyon that is greedy of his prey p When he is hungry and therefore cruel and as it were a young lyon †Heb. 〈◊〉 lurking in secret places q See Psal. 7. 2. and 10. 8 9 10. 13. Arise O LORD †Heb. 〈◊〉 his face disappoint him r Heb. Prevent his face i. e. Go forth against him and meet and Face him in Battle as Enemies use to do Or Prevent the Execution of his mischievous Designs against me stop him in his attempt and give him the first blow cast him down deliver my soul from the wicked ‖ Or by â—…oy sword which is thy sword s Or thy hand as it follows v. 14. i. e. Thy instrument to execute Vengeance upon thine Enemies or to chastise and exercise thy People For which reason the Assyâ—…ian is called God's Rod. Isa. 10. 5. as being ordained for Correction 〈◊〉 1. 12. The Sence is do not punish me by this Rod let me fall into thy hands and not into the hands of wicked men 2 Sam. 24. 14. Or by which Preposition is understood Psal. 2. 12. and oft elsewhere thy Sword i. e. by thy Power 14. ‖ Or from me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hand From men which are thy hand t Wherewith thou dost Correct me O LORD from men of the world u i. e. Who prosper in and set their Hearts upon this vain and Transitory World and neither have nor chuse or desire any other Portion or Felicity as it follows * Luk. 16. 25. which have their portion in this life and whose belly x i. e. Mind or Appetite as that word is used Iob 20. 20. Prov. 20. 30.
of them gathered together unto their Fathers or People as iâ—… is expressed Gen. 15. 15. Numb 20. 24. 2 Kings 22. 20. Comp. Heb. 12. 23. with sinners u Profligate and Oâ—…stinate sinners as the following Words describe them such being oft called sinners by way of Eminency as 1 Saâ—… 15. 18. Psal. 1. 1. and 104. 35. Isa. 1. 28. and 33. 14. nor my life with †Heb. men of Blood bloody men 10. In whose hands is mischief x Who not only imagine Mischief in their Hearts but persist in it and execuâ—…e it with their Hands and their right hand y Which should be stretched out to execute Justice and punish Offenders is †Heb. 〈◊〉 with full of bribes 11. But as for me I will walk in mine Integrity redeem me and be merciful unto me 12. My foot standeth in * Psal. 27. 11. an even place z Heb. in Râ—…ctitude or in a Right or Streight or Plain or evâ—…n Place Which may be understood Either 1. Civilly or in regard of his outward Condition So this is opposed to the slippery places in which wicked men are said to be Psal. 35. 6. and 73. 18. Ier. 23. 12. and the Sence is I stand upon a sure and solid Foundation where I fear no fall nor to be overthrown by the assaults of mine Enemies being under the Protection of God's promise and his Almighty and watchful Providence Or 2. Morally or in regard of his Conversation So the Sence is I do and will persist or continue which is oft signified by standing as Psal. 1. 1. in my plain and righteous and streight Course of Life not using those Frauds and wicked Arts and perverse and crooked Paths which mine Enemies chuse and walk in or whereof they do falsly accuse me And so this is the same thing for Substance with his walking in his Integrity expressed in the foregoing Verse as also v. 1. I will not only privately acknowledge but publickly and in the Assemblies of thy People celebrate thy Praises both for thy Grace inabling and inclining to chuse and Love and persevere in the ways of Holiness and Righteousness and for thy Protection hitherto afforded to me in the midst of all my Dangers and Troubles and for that well-grounded assurance which thou hast given me of thy Favour and of my future Deliverance in the congregations will I bless the LORD PSAL. XXVII The ARGUMENT It is apparent from the Body of this Psalm that David was not yet fully delivered from the Trouble which his Enemies gave him both by their Slaunders and other ways But whether it belong to that History which is recorded 2 Sam. 21. 15 16 17. as the Jews conceive whom some others follow is wholly uncertain and not necessary for us to know A Psalm of David 1. THe LORD is * Mic. â—… â—… my light a i. e. My Counsellor in all my Difficulties and my Comforter and Deliverer in all my Distresses and my salvation whom shall I fear * Psal. 118. 6. the LORD is the strength of my life b i. e. The supporter and preserver of my Life of whom shall I be afraid 2. When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes †Heb. 〈◊〉 against 〈◊〉 came upon me to â—…at up my flesh c Greedy to devour me at one Morsel Comp. Iob. 19. 22 and 31. 31. they stumbled and fell 3. * Psal. 3. 6. Though an host should encamp against me my heart shall not fear though war should rise against me in this d In that which I have now said that God is my light c. v. 1. and in the Experience of his Favour and Protection v. 2. will I be confident 4. One thing have I desired of the LORD e Though I am exercised with many Troubles there is but one thing that I am very solicitous for or 〈◊〉 of and that is not Victory and Triumphs over all mine Enemies assured Peace and Settlement in my Throne the Wealth and Pleasure and Glory of enlarging or Ruling my Empire Or iâ—… I have any desire to any of those things it is chiefly for 〈◊〉 sake of that which â—…ere follows that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my Life f That I may not be diâ—… in 〈◊〉 driven from the Sanctuary and worship of 〈◊〉 as I have been but may have Opportunity of constant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon God to behold ‖ Or 〈◊〉 â—…light Psal. 63. 2. 90. 17. the beauty of the LORD g That there I may Exercise and Deâ—… my self in the Contemplâ—…tion of thy amiable and gloâ—… 〈◊〉 and of thy 〈◊〉 Wisdom Holiness Justice 〈◊〉 Grace and Mercy and other Perfections which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a great measure from the World are clearly 〈◊〉 in thy Church and Ordinances and to enquire h Or diligently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God's face and Favour Or his Mind and Will and my own Duty Or the Lords beauty last mentioned which is discovered more or less as men are diligent or negliâ—…ent in seeking or enquiring into it in his temple i i. e. In his 〈◊〉 which he here and elsewhere calls his Temple because it was the same thing for Substance and because his Thoughts and Affections did constantly and eagerly run out upon the Temple and since he was not permitted to build the thing he would at least take occasion to solace himself with the Name and thereby to enter his Protest of his earnest desire to build it if God had seen it fit 5. For †〈…〉 * 〈◊〉 â—…1 2â—… â—… 91. 1. in the time of trouble he shall hide me k Or hath hid me Or useth to hide me Justly do I prize the House and Service of God so highly both because I have such vast Obligations to him for his former Protection and Favours and because all my Hope and Confidence and security depends upon him in his pavilion in the secret of his tabernacle l In his Tabernacle into which mine Enemies cannot come and a secret place in it where if they come they cannot find me Or as it were for the Note of â—…imilitude is oft understood in the secret of his Tabernacle i. e. In as safe a place as the Holy of Holies which is called Gods secret Ezek. 7. 22 where none might come but the High-Priest and he but one day in a year He alludes to the antient Custom of Offenders who used to flee to the Tabernacle or Altar where they esteemed themselves safe 1 Kings 2. 28. shall he hide me he shall set me up upon a rock m A place high and inaccessable strong and impregnable 6. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies n He will advance me above them and give me a compleat Victory over them round about me therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy o Or
a Let his Excellency discovered in his works be the Matter of your joy and praise O ye righteous for * â—…sal 147. 1. praise is comely for the upright b It well becomes them to Exercise themselves in this work of praising and blessing of God Partly because they have such singular and abundant Obligations and Occasions to do so and Partly because they will praise God worthily and Heartily and with due Reverence and Thankfulness as God requires and deserves to be praised whereas ungodly men do indeed disparage and 〈◊〉 the Holy Name of God while they 〈◊〉 to praâ—… and therefore God rejects their Praâ—…s and Prayers See 〈◊〉 5â—… 16. and 109. 7. Prov. 28. 9. 2. Praise the LORD with harp sing unto him with the psaltery and * Psal 92. 3. an instrument of ten strings c He mentions these Instruments because they were used in the publick Worship and Praises of God in the Tabernacle 3. * Psal. 96. 1. 〈◊〉 1. 149. 1. 〈◊〉 â—…2 10. Sing unto him a new song d Either 1. Newly Composed As God gives you 〈◊〉 occasions so do not you content your selves with the olâ—… Songs or Psalms made by the holy Men of God but make New ones suited to the occasions But neither had all the Rigâ—…ous to whom he speaks v. 1. the Gift of Composing Songs nor was it of any Necessity or Importance that they should make new Songs to praise God at least for the Works here mentioned when there were so many made by David and other Holy Prophets for the use of God's Church and People when they had any such occasion Or 2. Renewed or repeated or sung again in which Sence Iob saith his Gâ—…y was Nâ—…w or fresh in him Iâ—…b 29 20. i. e. Renewed or continued from Day to Day and the Command of Love is called New Iob. 13. 34. because it was renewed and re-inforced by Christ. So this Song is here called Nâ—…w not so much from the Matter as from the singing of it because it was sung afresh or again play skilfully with a loud noise 4. For the word of the LORD is right e All God's Counsels and Commands either contained in the Scriptures Or given forth in his Providence for the Government of the World are wise and Just and Good without deceit or defect and all his works are done in truth f i. e. All his works of Providence agree with his Word and are no other then the accomplishment of his Promises or Threatnings or other Declarations of his Mind and Will in his Word although sometimes for a season they may seem contrary to it 5. * Psal. 4â—… 7. He loveth righteousness and judgment g i. e. Just judgment by a Figure called Hendyadis as Ier. 22. 3. Or Iustice relates to the Sentence and Iudgment to the Execution of it He not onely doth Justice to all men as was implied v. 6. but which is more he Loves it and Delights in it * Psal 119. 64. the earth is full of the ‖ Or mercy goodness of the LORD h He not onely doth no man wrong but he is very kind and merciful to all Men in the World to whom he gives many Favours and Invitations to his Love and Service See Mat. 5. 45. Act. 14 17. Rom. 1. 20 21. 6. * Gen. 1. 6 7. Heb. 11. 3. 2. Pet. 3. 5. By the word of the LORD i Either 1. By the Hypostatical word Christ who is oft called God's Word even by the Chaldee Paraphrast as also Iohn 1. v. 1 2 3. where he is said to be that â—…rd by whom all things were made So that which is here spoken more darkly and doubtedly according to that state of the Church is more clearly declared in the New Testament Or 2. By his Will or Command as this very Phrase is here used v. 4. and as it seems to be explained v. 9. And so it hath a great Emphasis in it that God made this admirable structure of the Heavens and all its glorious Stars not with great pains and time and help of many Artists and Instruments as men do far meaner Works but with one single Word which is much to the Glory of the Creator were the heavens made and all the host of them k The Angels Or the Stars See on Gen. 2. 1. * Job 26. 13. by the breath of his mouth l Either 1. By the Holy Ghost so called Iob 33. 4. And so here are all the Persons of the Trinity Iâ—…hovah the Father and the Word and the Spirit to each of which this Work of Creation is elsewhere ascribed as was noted on Gen. 1. 26. Or 2. By his Word as it was expressed in the last Clause which is so called Isa. 11. 4. 2. Tâ—…s 2. 8. 7. * Gen. 1. â—… 〈◊〉 26. 1â—… 〈◊〉 â—…8 8. He gathereth m Or gathered For he speaks of the first Creation when this was done Gen. 1. the waters of the sea together * Psal. 78. 1â—… as an heap o Either in the Clouds or in the Bowels of the Earth Whence he can draw them forth when he sees fit he layeth up the depths in store houses o Either in the Clouds or in the Bowels of the Earth Whence he can draw them forth when he sees fit n By which Expression he brings to our Minds this great work of God that the Sea which is lighter and higher than Earth is yet Confined within its Bounds that it might not overâ—…ow the Earth 8. Let all the earth p All the people of the Earth as the next Clause expounds this not only Iews but Gentiles who equally enjoy the Benefit of this great and glorious work of God fear the LORD let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him 9. For * Psal. 148. 5. he spake and it q The work here mentioned v. 6 7. Or stood forth as a Servant at his Masters Command Or was or did exist was done he commanded and it stood fast r. 10. * Isa. 19. 3. The LORD †Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bringeth the counsel of the heathen s Or of the Nations though Nations combine themselves and their Counsels together yet he defeats them when he pleaseth Thus he passeth from the work of Creation to the works of Providence and from the Instances of his Power in Sensless and unreasonable Creatures to manifest his power in over-ruling the Thoughts and Wills and Actions of all Men whether single or united to nought he maketh the devices of the people of none effect 11. * Prov. 19. 2â—… Isa. 46. 10. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever t All his Purposes and Designs and especially those which concern his choseh people of whom he speaks in the next Verse are always successful and irresistible the thoughts of his heart †Heb. to Generation and Generation
of men both good and bad and that by which he preserveth and manageth his Church and People 1 IT is a * Psal. 147. 1. good thing b It is a good work and a just debt to God to give thanks unto the LORD and to sing praises unto thy name O most High 2 To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness †Heb. in the nights every night c To adore and celebrate thy goodness and truth continually and especially at those two solemn times of Morning and Evening which on every day and especially upon the Sabbath day were devoted to the worship and service of God 3 Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery ‖ Or upon the solemn sound with the harp upon the harp †Heb. Higgaion with a solemn sound 4 For thou LORD hast made me glad through thy work I will triumph in the works of thy hands d Which thou didst create by thine Almighty power and dost still govern with infinite wisdom one instance whereof we have in the following Verses 5 * Psal. 40. 5. O LORD how great are thy works and * Rom. 11. 34. thy thoughts e Thy counsels and methods in the government of the World and of thy Church are very deep 6 * Psal. 94. 8. A brutish man f Who cannot or doth not seriously consider things whose mind is corrupted by his sensual and brutish appetites who is led by sence and not by reason and faith knoweth not neither doth a fool understand this g The depth of Gods counsels and works mentioned v. 5. or that particular work of God â—…escribed v. 7. 7 * Job 12. 6. Jer. 12. 1 2. Mal. 3. 15. When the wicked spring as †Heb. herbs Psal. 104. 14. the grass and when all the the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they shall be destroyed for ever h Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occasion of their utter and eternal ruine 8 But thou LORD art most High for evermore i So this Verse is added by way of opposition to the former They shall perish but thou shalt endure as is said in a like comparison Psal. 102. 26. they flourish for a season but thou rulest for ever to judge and punish them Or For as this Hebrew Particle is not seldom used whereof instances have been formerly given thou Lord art c. So this Verse gives a reason of the former as well as the first branch of it why God suffers the wicked to flourish so long because he is not like man of short and uncertain continuance here to whom a little time is long and tedious who therefore impatiently expects the time of vengeance and fears lest the offender should escape it whereas God is unchangeable and everlasting and therefore long-suffering without any inconvenience and the longest time of the prosperity of the wicked is but short and inconsiderable in his Eyes a thousand years being in his sight but as yesterday when it is past Psal. 90. 4. and they can never escape out of his hands as also of the latter branch of the Verse why the wicked shall be destroyed for ever because God lives and reigns for ever to execute that just sentence of everlasting punishment which he hath pronounced against them 9 For lo k He represents their destruction as present and as certain which the repetition of the words implies thine enemies O LORD for lo thine enemies shall perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered 10 But my horn shalt thou exalt l But as for me and other righteous persons of whom he saith the same thing v. 12. we shall be advanced to the height of honour and true and lasting felicity like the horn of an unicorn m Of which see on Deut. 33. 17. I shall be anointed n I shall have great cause of rejoicing and testifying my joy by anointing my self as the manner was in Feasts and all joyful solemnities with fresh oil o Sweet and uncorrupted 11 Mine eye also shall see my desire p To wit in the ruine of thine and mine incorrigible Enemies on mine enemies and mine ears shall hear q What I do not see my self I shall understand by the certain reports of others my desire of the wicked that rise up against me 12 * Hos. 14. 5. The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree r Which is constantly green and flourishing and fruitful Cant. 7. 8. and growing even when it is pressed down and so is a fit Emblem of a just mans person and condition See Revel 7. 9. he shall grow like a cedar s Which spreads it self wide and grows very high and strong and is very durable and in some sort incorruptible in Lebanon 13 Those that be planted t Whom God by his gracious providence and holy spirit hath planted or fixed there in the house of the LORD u i. e. In its Courts which are a part of the House and oft come under that name in Scripture And by this House he means the Church of God whereof all just persons are real and living members shall flourish in the courts x Which he mentions rather than the House because he speaks not here of the Priests but of all just men who were permitted to come no further than into the Courts of our God 14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age y When their natural strength decayeth it shall be renewed their last days shall be their best days wherein as they shall grow in grace so they shall increase in comfort and blessedness they shall be fat and †Heb. green flourishing 15 To shew that the LORD is upright z This glorious work of God in compensating the short prosperity of the wicked with everlasting punishments and of exchanging the momentany afflictions of the just with eternal glory and happiness doth clearly demonstrate that God is just and blameless in all the dispensations of his Providence in the World he is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him PSAL. XCIII This Psalm contains an assertion or declaration of Gods soveraign and universal dominion in and over the whole world Which is here set forth partly for the comfort of Gods Church and People against all the assaults of their numerous and potent Adversaries and partly to give an intimation and assurance of the accomplishment of that great Promise of the Kingdom of the Messias which was not to be confined to the Israelites but to be extended to all the Nations of the Earth which though wonderful in our Eyes the Supream and Almighty Ruler of the World could easily effect This and the six following Psalms according to the opinion of the Hebrew Doctors belong to the times of the Messias 1 * Psal. 96. 1â—… 97. 1.
sorrows of death b Dangerous and deadly calamities as bitter as death Or the cords of death compassed me and the pains of hell c Or of the grave or of death either killing pains or such agonies and horrors as dying persons use to feel within themselves ‖ Heb. found me gat hold upon me d Heb. found me i. e. surprised me Having been long pursuing me at last they overtook me and seized upon me and I gave up my self for lost I found trouble and sorrow 4 Then called I upon the Name of the LORD O LORD I beseech thee deliver my soul. 5 Gracious is the LORD e This he mentions either 1. as that which he found by experience in answer to his prayers or 2. as the argument by which he encouraged himself to pray and righteous f Therefore he will maintain me and my just cause against my unrighteous oppressors and perform his promises and save those who faithfully serve him and put their trust in him yea our God is merciful 6 The LORD preserveth the simple g Sincere and plain-hearted persons who dare not use those frauds and crasty and wicked artifices in saving themselves or destroying their enemies but wait upon God with honest hearts in his way and for his time of deliverance Which was the case of David who though he had the prospect and promise of the Kingdom yet would not make haste to it by indirect courses as by cutting off Saul when he had great provocation and fair opportunity to do it of which see 1 Sam. 24. 26. Such persons he calls simple or foolish as this word is commonly rendred not because they are really so but because the world esteems them so I was brought low and he helped me 7 Return unto thy rest h Unto that tranquillity of mind and cheerful confidence in Gods promises and providence which thou didst once enjoy O my soul for * Psal. 13. 6. the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee 8 * 〈◊〉 56. 13. For thou hast delivered my soul i My self from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling k To wit into mischief and the pit of destruction 9 I will walk before the LORD l Or I shall walk c. This is either 1. the Psalmists promise to God in requital of the favour last mentioned I will therefore please God as this phrase is used Gen. 5. 24. comp with Heb. 11. 5. Gen. 17. 1. I will devote my self to the worship and service of God Or 2. his thankful acknowledgment of Gods further favour Though I be now banished from the place of thy presence and worship yet I assure my self that I shall be restored to it and shall spend my days in thy house and service which is the one thing that I desired above all other things Psal. 27. 4. in the land of the living m Amongst living men in this world See on Psal. 27. 13. 10 * Cor. 4. 13. I believed n To wit Gods promise of deliverance and of the Kingdom made to me by Samuel which I was confident he would perform in spight of discouragements and difficulties therefore have I spoken o So these words are translated as by others so by the Apostle 2 Cor. 4. 13. I have spoken either 1. what I have now said v. 9. or 2. what I have uttered to others concerning Gods promises made to me Which I was not ashamed nor afraid to publish when I had occasion because I was fully perswaded that God would make them good I was greatly afflicted p Or when I was c. or although I was c. such particles being very frequently understood The sence is And this I did even in the midst of many and sore afflictions 11 I said q Yet once I confess I spake very unadvisedly in my haste r Through hastiness and precipitation of my mind for want of due consideration as the same phrase is used Psal. 31. 22. Or in my terror or amazement when I was discomposed and distracted with the greatness of my troubles * 〈◊〉 3. 4. All men are liars s The sence is either 1. All men yea even my former friends and companions prove deceitful and perfidious all humane help faileth me so that my case is desperate if God do not help me Or 2. All men Gods own Prophets not excepted are liable to mistakes by the condition of their nature as they are men and therefore may easily deceive others and this might be the case of Samuel in his promise of the Kingdom to me Thus he questions the truth of Gods promises yet so as he doth not strike directly at God but onely reflects upon the instrument 12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits towards me t Yet notwithstanding all my dangers and my distrust of God too God hath conferred so many and great blessings upon me that I can never make sufficient returns to him for them 13 I will take the cup of salvation u I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving to God as this phrase seems to be explained below v. 17. where the latter clause of the verse is the same with that which here follows The phrase is taken from the common practice of the Jews in their Thank-offerings in which a Feast was made of the remainders of the Sacrifices and the Offerers together with the Priests did eat and drink before the Lord and amongst other Rites the Master of the Feast took a cup of wine into his hand and solemnly blessed God for it and for the mercy which was then acknowledged and then gave it to all the guests who drunk successively of it See 1 Chron. 16. 2 3. To which custom it is supposed that our blessed Saviour alludes in the institution of the Cup which also is called the Cup of blessing 1 Cor. 10. 16. which is in effect the same with the Cup of salvation This Metaphor of a Cup is used both of afflictions as Psal. 11. 6. 75. 9. and of comforts as Psal. 23. 5. Ier. 16. 8. and call upon the Name of the Lord x Or publish or preach in or of the name of the Lord i. e. his gracious nature and the great things which he hath done for me For he speaks of praise rather than of prayer as appears both from the former clause and by comparing v. 17. 14 I will pay my vows y The praises and sacrifices which I vowed to God in the time of my distress unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people z That they who heard my vows or understood them by the report of others might be witnesses of my payment of them and not be scandalized by my unfaithfulness in that matter 15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death a He sets an high price upon it he will
Princes and Rulers are the builders whose office it was to erect and support and improve the building and to use their wisdom and power in chusing fit materials for the several parts and purposes of the building and in the rejection of what was unprofitable and inconvenient And these Master-builders rejected David as an obscure and treacherous and rebellious person fit to be not only laid aside and thrown away but also to be crushed to pieces And so their successors rejected Christ as an enemy to Moses a friend to sinners and a blasphemer against God and therefore deserving death and damnation is become the head stone of the corner f The chief stone in the whole building by which the several parts of the building are upheld and firmly united and kept together Thus David united all the Tribes and Families of Israel who had been miserably distracted and divided by the Civil Wars between the Houses of Saul and David And thus Christ united Jews and Gentiles together as is observed Eph. 2. 14 c. And although David alludeth to himself and his own condition yet it is not to be doubted but that having the Prophetical spirit by which he foresaw the coming of Christ and his ill usage from the Jews of which he speaks very particularly Psal. 22. and elsewhere and having his thoughts much taken up with Christ and the events of his Kingdom of which he speaks in divers of his Psalms he had his eye principally fixed upon him in these and the following expressions And therefore this place is justly expounded of Christ in the New Testament as Mark 12. 10. Acts 4. 11. Rom. 9. 32. Eph. 2. 20. 1 Pet. 4. 6. compared with Isa. 28. 16. And to him indeed the words agree much more properly and fully than to David 23 †〈◊〉 This is 〈◊〉 the LORD This g This strange event the Feminine gender being put for the Neuter as it is in other places of Scripture is the LORD 's doing h Peculiarly an effect of his Omnipotent wisdom done not only without the help of man but against all the artifices and forces of men it is marvellous in our eyes 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made i Either created or exalted and glorified as this word is used 1 Sam. 12. 6. or sanctified by his glorious presence and work and by his appointment as a time or season never to be forgotten but to be observed with great thankfulness and rejoycing as it follows we will rejoyce and be glad in it 25 Save now I beseech thee k Or we beseech thee for the Hebrew words may be rendred either way These seem to be the words of the Levites to whom he spake v. 19. or of the people using these joyful acclamations or prayers to God for the preservation of their King and Kingdom This also is interpreted of and was applied to Christ even by the Jews themselves Mark 11. 9. Ioh. 12. 13. O LORD O LORD I beseech thee send now prosperity 26 * Mat 21. 9. 23. 39. Mark 11. 9. Luke 19. 38. See Zech. 4. 7. Blessed be he l We earnestly pray that God would bless his person and government and all his enterprises that cometh m To wit Unto us from whom he was long banished or unto the Throne or from his Father into the World the Messias who is known by the name of him that cometh or was to come as Mat. 11. 3. 21. 9. Luke 7. 20. 13. 35. Ioh. 12. 13. and of whom this very word is used Gen. 49. 10. Isa. 35. 4. He who is about to come or will certainly come in the Name of the LORD n By command and commission from him and for his service and glory we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD o We who are the Lords Ministers attending upon him in his house and appointed to bless in his Name Numb 6. 23. Deut. 10. 8. do pray for and in Gods Name pronounce his blessing upon thee So these are the words of the Priests 27 †Heb. The LORD is God and hath shewed c. Psal. 18. 31. God is the LORD p God hath proved himself to be the Lord Jehovah by the accomplishment of his promises See the Notes on Exod. 6. 3. Or as it is in the margent the Lord or Iehovah is God as it was said upon another solemn occasion and appearance of God 1 Kings 18. 39. or is the mighty God as this Name of God signifies and as he shewed himself to be by this his mighty and wonderful work which hath shewed us light q Who hath caused light to shine out of darkness who hath scattered our thick and dark clouds and put us into a state of peace and comfort and safety and happiness all which are frequently signified by light in the holy Scripture Or who hath discovered and will in due time send the Messias who is called the light of the Gentiles or of the world or of men Isa. 42. 6. Ioh. 1. 4. 8. 12. 12. 35 46. and by whom he will more clearly and fully reveal his whole mind and will to us and tell us all things as the Jews expected Ioh. 4. 25. who also will enlighten our dark minds by his Spirit bind the sacrifice with cords even unto the horns of the altar r These words as well as those which go before them in this verse and those which follow after them v. 28. may be the words of David unto the Priests who had now blessed him in Gods Name v. 26. And this blessing of God which you wish me God hath already given me and therefore in way of gratitude I will offer Sacrifices to him which do you O ye Priests according to your Office bind to the horns of the Altar of which see Exod. 27. 2. Which horns are supposed by divers learned men to be made for this very use that the beasts should be bound and killed there And this may seem probable from Exod. 29. 11 12. and Levit. 4. 7 c. where we read that the beasts were to be killed by the door of the Tabernacle which was very near the Altar of Burnt offerings and then immediately part of their blood was to be put upon the horns of the Altar and the rest poured out at the bottom of it Although these words may be thus rendred Bind and bring one pregnant word being put for two as above v. 5. and in many other places of Scripture the sacrifice with cords unto the horns of the Altar that it may be killed beside it and its blood put upon the horns after the manner So they may be Davids words to his servants to go and bring one of his beasts to be offered to God in his Name 28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee thou art my God and I will exalt thee 29 O give thanks unto the
LORD for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever PSAL. CXIX The Author of this Psalm was David which I know none that deny and of which there is no just reason to doubt The scope and design of it is manifest to commend the serious and diligent study and the stedfast belief and the constant practice of Gods Word as incomparably the best counsellor and comforter in the world and as the onely way to true blessedness And this he confirmeth by his own example which he proposeth to them for their imitation and he declareth the great and frequent experience which he had of its admirable sweetness and manifold benefits in all conditions and especially in the times of his distresses And because it was an hard thing rightly to understand this Word in all its parts and harder to put it in practice he therefore intermixeth many prayers to God for his help therein thereby directing and encouraging others to take the same course And because this Psalm was very large and the matter of it of greatest importance the Psalmist thought fit to divide it into two and twenty several parts according to the number of the Hebrew Letters that so he might both prevent tediousness and fix it in the memory It is further observable that the Word of God is here diversly called by the names of Law Statutes Precepts or Commandments Iudgments Ordinances Righteousness Testimonies Way and Word By which variety he designed to express the nature and the great perfection and manifold parts and uses of Gods Word Which is called his Word as proceeding from his mouth and revealed by him to us his way as prescribed by him for us to walk in his Law as binding us to obedience his Statutes as declaring his Authority and Power of giving us Laws his Precepts as declaring and directing our duty his Ordinances as ordained and appointed by him his Righteousness as exactly agreeable to Gods righteous Nature and Will his Iudgments as proceeding from the great Judge of the World and being his Judicial Sentence to which all men must submit and his Testimonies as it contains the witnesses of Gods mind and will and of mans duty And there are very few of these 176 verses contained in this Psalm in which one or other of these Titles is not found ALEPH. 1 BLessed are the ‖ Or perfect or sincere undefiled a Or the perfect or sincere as this word properly and most frequently signifies such whose hearts and course of life agrees with their profession in the way b Either 1. in their way or course of life which in Scripture is oft called a mans way or 2. in the way of the Lord as it seems to be explained by the next clause who walk in the law of the LORD c Who order their lives according to the rule of Gods Law or Word 2 Blessed are they that keep d In mind and heart that carefully and diligently observe his testimonies e His precepts For the reason of this and the other Titles of Gods Word see the Argument or Preface to this Psalm and that †Heb. they will seek him So Gr. seek him f To wit the Lord expressed v. 1. that seek his presence and favour and acquaintance with the whole heart g Sincerely industriously and servently above all other things This is opposed to hypocrifie and sloth and lukewarmness in Religion 3 They also do no iniquity r Or are not workers of iniquity i. e. do not knowingly and resolvedly and industriously and customarily continue in sinful courses So this phrase is understood Ioh 31. 3. 34. 8. Psal. 5. 5. 6. 8. 125. 5. Prov. 10. 29. Luke 13. 27. otherwise there is not a just man upon earth that sinneth not Eccles. 7. 20. they walk s This is their constant practice and the general course of their lives which is commonly signified by walking as Psal. 1. 1. and every where in his ways t In the paths which God hath prescribed to them 4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently u Not is it strange that thy people do so exactly and diligently observe and practise thy precepts because they are commanded so to do by thee their Soveraign Lord. 5 O that x My desires answer thy commands my ways were directed y Or established to wit by thy Grace and holy Spirit for the direction of Gods word he had already to keep thy statutes 6 Then shall I not be * Ver. 80. ashamed z Either of my actions or of my profession of Religion or of my hope and confidence in thy favour When sinners shall be ashamed both here Rom. 6. 21. and hereafter Dan. 12. 2. I having the conscience of mine own integrity shall lift up my head with courage and boldness both before men when they either accuse or persecute me and before God in the day of judgment as it is said 1 Ioh. 4. 17. when I have respect a A due and true respect which implies high valuation hearty affection diligent study and common practice unto all thy commandments b So as not to be partial in my obedience not to allow my self in the practice of any known fin or in the neglect of any known duty 7 I will * Ver. 171. praise thee c i. e. Worship thee one eminent duty of Gods worship being put for all as is frequent in Scripture with uprightness of heart d Or with a right mind or heart in a right manner so as may be acceptable to thee and beneficial to my self when I shall have learned †Heb. judgments of thy righteousness thy righteous judgments e When by thy good Spirit I shall be more fully instructed in the meaning of thy Word which is the onely rule of thy Worship for want of a sound knowledge whereof many persons run into superstitious or erroneous practices 8 I will keep thy statutes f It is my full purpose to do so whatsoever it cost me O forsake me not utterly g Not totally and finally for then I shall fall into the foulest sins and greatest mischief Not that he was contented to be forsaken in the least degree but this he more especially deprecates as he had great reason to do BETH 9 Wherewithal shall a young man h Or any man But he names the young man because such are commonly void of wisdom and experience heady and wilful and impatient of admonition full of violent passions and strong lusts and exposed to many and great temptations cleanse his way i Reform his life or purge himself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit by taking heed thereto according to thy word k By a diligent and circumspect watch over himself and the examination and regulation of all his actions by the rules of thy Word 10 With my whole heart have I
demean my self in all the varieties of my condition and in all my affairs and actions so as is most agreeable to thy precepts so shall I talk of thy wondrous works a Even the wonders of the Law mentioned before v. 18. 28 My soul †Heb. droppeth melteth b Like wax before the fire it hath no strength nor consistency left in it but consumeth or pineth away for heaviness c Through grief partly for my extreme danger and misery and principally for my sins and thy wrath and terrors following upon them strengthen thou me d That so I may bear my burdens patiently and cheerfully and vanquish all my temptations according unto thy word 29 Remove from me the way of lying e Or of falshood either 1. the practice of lying and dissembling and cheating which is so rise in Sauls Court and in the Courts of most Princes but Lord let it not be so in my Court or rather 2. every false way of doctrine or worship for to this way he opposeth Gods Law in the next clause And he justly prayeth to God to keep him from Apostasie Heresie Idolatry and Superstition because his own corrupt nature of it self and without Gods grace was prone to these errours and not onely Heathens but many Israelites did frequently fall into them and grant me thy law graciously f Vouchsafe unto me an accurate knowledge and firm belief of thy Word and that I may constantly attend and adhere to it and govern my self by it in all things 30 I have chosen the way of truth g To wit thy Word or Law for my portion and the rule of my worship and whole life thy judgments have I laid before me h Or set before me as the Phrase is fully expressed Psal. 16. 8. as a delightful object or as a mark to aim at or as a rule to direct me 31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies i I have resolutely persisted in the practice of thy precepts in spight of all temptations reproaches persecutions and discouragements to which I was exposed in and for so doing O LORD put me not to shame k Either 1. by giving me over to Apostasie or transgression which will bring shame Or rather 2. by the disappointment of my hopes and confidence in those promises of the blessings of this life as well as of the next which thou hast made to the obedient of which I have made my boast 32 I will run the way of thy commandments l I will obey thy precepts with all readiness fervency and diligence when thou shalt enlarge my heart m Either 1. when thou shalt bring me out of my present straits or distresses This indeed is called enlarging as Psal. 4. 2. 18. 36. but never to my remembrance the enlarging of the heart Or rather 2. when thou shalt replenish my heart with more wisdom and love to and delight in thee and thy Law for this enlargement of heart in Scripture is ascribed to wisdom 1 Kings 4. 29. and love 2 Cor. 6. 11. and joy Isa. 60. 5. When thou shalt knock off those fetters of remaining corruption and give me a more noble and generous disposition towards thee and stablish me with thy free Spirit as it is expressed Psal. 51. 12. Thus David both ownes his duty and asserts the absolute necessity of Gods grace to the performance of it HE. 33 Teach me O LORD the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it unto the end n Or that I may keep it c. That I may persevere for Apostasie proceeds from the want of a good understanding 34 Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law yea I shall observe it with my whole heart 35 Make me to go o By directing my mind into the right way by inclining my will and strengthening my resolution in the path of thy commandments for therein do I delight p Forsake not him who delighteth in thee and in thy service and as thou hast wrought in me to will work in me also to do 36 * Psal. 141. 4. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies q To the love and practice of them and not to covetousness r Not to the inordinate love and desire of riches Which particular lust he mentions partly because this lust is most spreading and universal and there is scarce any man who doth not desire riches either for the love of riches or upon pretence of necessity or for the service of pride or luxury or some other lust partly because this lust is most opposite to Gods testimonies and doth most commonly hinder men from receiving Gods word and from profiting by it See Mat. 13. 22. Luke 16. 14. and partly because this lust is most pernicious as being the root of all evil 1 Tim. 6. 20. and is most mischievous in Princes and Governors such as David was and therefore in a special manner forbidden to them Exod. 18. 21. 37 †Heb. make to pass Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity s The vain things and lusts of this present evil world such as riches honours pleasures from beholding them to wit with admiration and inordinate affection for such a sight of the eyes doth usually affect the heart and stir up mens lusts and passions Of which see Numb 15. 39. Iob 31. 1. Prov. 4. 25. 23. 5 6. Mat. 5. 28. and quicken thou me in thy * Ver. 27. way t As I desire that I may be dull and dead in affections to worldly vanities so Lord make me lively and vigorous and servent in thy work and service 38 Stablish thy word u Confirm and perform thy promises as concerning the Kingdom so also for the giving of gracious assistances directions and comforts to those that fear thee of which number I am one unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear 39 Turn away my reproach x Either 1. for the shameful disappointment of my hopes and confident boastings concerning the truth and certainty of thy promises or 2. for my manifold failings and particularly for that shameful matter about Uriah and Bathsheba or 3. for my instability in or Apostasie from thy ways which in respect of mine own weakness and folly I have great cause to fear which I fear for thy judgments are good y This may be a reason either 1. why he prayed and hoped that God would turn away reproach from him because Gods word and statutes were good and therefore it was not fit for any to suffer reproach in and for his diligent observation of them or 2. why he feared reproach because he had and feared he might hereafter transgress those judgments or statutes of God which were and he very well knew to be good i. e. just and holy and excellent and therefore it was a shameful thing to violate them 40 Behold I have longed after thy precepts z After a
42. 8. which is the fountain of the promises and his blessing Psal. 133. 3. which is the fruit of his promises and deliverances 44. 4. which are the things promised And therefore it is not strange if the promises be sometimes called Commandments are truth 152 †Heb. I knew of old from thy precepts So Gr. ver 89. Psal. 111. 7. 8. Concerning thy testimonies I have known of old q By my own long experience ever since I arrived at any knowledge in those matters that thou hast founded them for ever r That thou hast established them upon sure and everlasting foundations RESH 153 Consider mine affliction and deliver me for I do not forget thy law 154 * Psal. 35. 1. Mich. 7. 9. Plead my cause and deliver me quicken me according to thy word 155 Salvation is far from the wicked for they seek not thy statutes s And therefore on the contrary I trust that thou wilt save me because I do seek them My wicked enemies shall certainly be destroyed by which means I shall be delivered 156 ‖ Or many Great are thy tender mercies O LORD quicken me according to thy judgments t According to the manner of thy administrations towards thy people as v. 149. 157 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies yet do I not decline from thy testimonies u Though they tempt me to do so and persecute me because I will not do it 158 I beheld the transgressors x I observed and considered their ungodly courses and was grieved because they kept not thy word 159 Consider how * Ver. 132. I love thy precepts y Which was the cause of my grief for their violation of them quicken me O LORD according to thy loving kindness 160 †Heb. The beginning of thy word is true Thy word is true from the beginning z Either from the beginning of the world or ever since thou hast revealed thy mind by thy word to the sons of men all thy words have been found to be true and certain and so they will be to the end of the world as is implied in the next clause Or as it is in the margent the beginning or as others render it the summ as this very word is used Exod. 30. 12. Numb 26. 2. 31. 26. to wit the whole of it there is not the least part of it which is not so of thy word is true and * Ver. 89. every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever SCHIN 161 Princes a Who had power to do it and who ought to have used their authority to protect me whom they knew to be innocent and injured have persecuted me without a cause but my heart standeth in awe of thy word b But I feared thine offence and displeasure more than their wrath 162 I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil 163 I hate and abhor lying c Or falshood either 1. in my speech and actions all hypo crisie and deceit which is the common practice of mine enemies and of all godless Politicians or 2. in doctrine and worship as this word seems to be used v. 29. because both there and here it is opposed to Gods Law but thy law do I love 164 * Ver. 62. Seven times d Many times that definite number being oft taken indefinitely as Levit. 26. 28. and elsewhere a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments 165 Great peace e Either outward prosperity and happiness which God in his Law and expresly promised to good men or at least inward peace satisfaction and tranquillity of mind arising from the sence of Gods love to them and watchful care over them in all the concerns of this life and of the next have they f Heb. is to them or shall be to them for the Verb being not expressed it may be understood either way Although they may meet with some disturbance yet their end shall be peace as is said Psal. 37. 37. which love thy law and †Heb. they shall have no stumbling block Prov. 22. 5. nothing shall offend them g Heb. they shall have no stumbling block to wit such at which they shall stumble and fall into mischief and utter ruine as ungodly men have before whom God doth oft lay stumbling blocks or occasions of sin and destruction as it is affirmed by God himself Ier. 6. 21. Ezek. 3. 20. Rom. 9. 33. out of Isa. 8. 14. 166 * Gen. 49. 18. LORD I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments h Thus performing the condition which thou hast required I justly and confidently hope for thy mercy promised 167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies and I love them exceedingly i I have not onely obeyed thy commands which an hypocrite may sometimes and in part do for worldly ends but I have done it with my very soul and from an hearty love to them 168 I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies for k Or because This is added either 1. as the reason or motive of his obedience which was the consideration of Gods Omniscience and his desire to approve himself and his ways to God or 2. as a proof and evidence of it Whereas this and all his former professions of his piety were charged by his enemies with deep hypocrisie and might seem to savour of pride and vain-glory here in the close of them he makes a solemn appeal to that God who knew his heart and all his ways and whether these things were not true and real which if they were not he tacitly imprecates Gods judgment upon himself all my ways * Or were are before thee TAU 169 Let my cry come near before thee l Which at present thou seemest to shut out as the Church complained Lam. 3. 8. O LORD give me understanding m Whereby I may both know and perform my duty in all particulars according to thy word 170 Let my supplication come before thee deliver me according to thy word 171 * Ver. 7. My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes 172 My tongue shall speak n Heb. shall pour forth freely and abundantly like a fountain of thy word o In praise of it for its righteousness as it here follows its truth and purity and other excellencies for all thy commandments p Even those which to men of corrupted minds seem harsh and unjust are righteousness 173 Let thine hand help me for * Josh. 24. 22. Prop. 1. 29. I have chosen thy precepts q For my guide and companion and chief joy and treasure 174 I have longed for thy salvation r Either 1. for deliverance from my present straits and calamities that I may serve thee with more freedom and may glorifie thy Name in a more solemn and publick manner or 2. that thou wouldest
of Kings is the chief of Kings and a Servant of Servants is the vilest of Servants and a Song of Songs is a most excellent Song saith the preacher d Upon deep consideration and long experience and by Divine inspiration This Verse contains the general Proposition which he intends particularly to demonstrate in the whole following Book vanity of vanities †Heb. this all * Rom 8. 20. all is vanity f Not in themselves for so they are God's Creatures and therefore good and really useful in their kinds but in reference to men and to that happiness which men seek and confidently expect to find in them So they are unquestionably vain because they are not what they seem to be and perform not what they promise content and satisfaction but instead of that are commonly the causes or occasions of innumerable cares and fears and sorrows and mischiefs and because they are altogether unsuitable to the noble Mind or Soul of Man both in nature or quality and in duration as being unstable and perishing things And this vanity of them is here repeated again and again partly because it was most deeply fixed and perpetually present in Solomon's Thoughts partly to shew the unquestionable certainty and vast importance of this truth and partly that he might more throughly awaken the dull and stupid minds of men to the consideration of it and might wean mens Hearts from those things upon which he knew they excessively doted e All worldly things and all mens designs and studies and works about them 3 * Ch. 2. 22. 3. 9. What profit g Or as others render it What remainder What real and abiding benefit hath a Man by it None at all All is unprofitable as to the attainment of that happiness which Solomon here is and all men in the World are enquiring after hath a man of all his labour h Heb. his toilsom labour both of Body and Mind in the pursuit of Riches or Pleasures or other earthly things which he taketh under the Sun i In all sublunary or worldly matters which are usually transacted in the Day time or by the light of the Sun By this restriction he implies that that profit and happiness which in vain is sought for in this lower World is really and onely to be found in Heavenly places and things 4 One generation passeth away and another generation cometh * Ps. 104. 5. 119. 9. but the earth †Heb. standeth abideth for ever l i. e. Through all successive Generations of men and therefore Man in this respect is more mutable and miserable than the very Earth upon which he stands and which together with all the glories and comforts which he enjoyed in it he leaveth behind him to be possessed by others k Men continue but for one and that a short Age and then they leave all their possessions to the succeding Age and therefore they cannot be happy here because happiness must needs be unchangeable and eternal or else the perpetual fear and certain knowledge of the approaching loss of all these things will rob a Man of all solid contentment in them 5 The sun also ariseth and the sun goeth down and †Heb. panteth hasteth to his place where he arose m The Sun is in perpetual motion somtimes arising and somtimes setting and then arising again and so constantly repeating its courses in all succeeding Days and Years and Ages and the like he observes concerning the Winds and Rivers as he observes v. 6 7. And the design of these similitudes seems to be either 1. that by representing the constant changes and restless motions of these particular things he might intimate that it is so with all other earthly things and therefore no Man can expect satisfaction from them Or 2. that by comparing the Sun and Wind and Rivers as v. 4. he compared the Earth with Man he might shew that Man considered as mortal is in a more unhappy condition than these things because when the Earth abides Man goes and when the Sun sets he riseth again and so the Wind and Rivers return to their former place and state but Man when once he dies he never returns again to this life of which comparison see Iob 14. 7 12. Or 3. to shew the vanity of all worldly things and that Man's mind can never be satisfied with them because there is nothing in the World but a constant repetition of the same things which is so irksome a thing that the consideration thereof hath made some Persons weary of their lives and there is no new thing under the Sun as is added in the foot of the account v. 9. which seems to me to be given us as a Key to understand the meaning of the foregoing passages And this is manifest and certain from experience that the things of this World are so narrow and the mind of Man so vast that there must be somthing new to satisfie the Mind and even delightful things by too frequent repetition or long continuance are so far from yielding satisfaction that they grow tedious and troublesom 6 The wind goeth toward the south and turneth about unto the north n The Wind also somtimes blows from one quarter of the World and somtimes from another all of them being Synechdochically comprehended under these two eminent quarters But because this word the Wind is not expressed in the Hebrew but is onely borrowed or understood from the latter clause of the Verse this first clause is by other judicious Interpreters understood of the Sun of whom he last spake the words being thus rendred according to the Hebrew He the Sun goeth towards the South which he doth one half of the Year and turneth about unto the North which he doth the other half And so here is the whole motion of the Sun towards the four quarters of the World particularly described his daily motion from East to West and back again v. 5. and his Yearly motion from North to South between the Signs of Cancer and Capricorn it whirleth about continually and the wind returneth again according to his circuits o This clause is by all understood of the Wind which is fitly mentioned immediately after the Sun because it hath its rise from the Sun who is therefore called the Father of Winds and the Winds do usually rise with the Sun and are laid when he sets But then it is rendred thus and that very agreeably to the Hebrew the Wind goeth continually whirling or compassing about and he returneth again to his circuits being somtimes in one and somtimes in another quarter and successively returning to the same quarters in which he had formerly been 7 * Job 38. 10. Psa. 104 8. 9. All the rivers run into the sea yet the sea is not full p To wit to the brink or so as to overflow the Earth which might be expected from such vast accessions
to it Whereby also he intimates the emptiness and dissatisfaction of mens minds notwithstanding all the abundance of Creature comforts †Heb. unto the place that the Rivers go thither they return to go unto the place from whence the rivers come q Either 1. unto the Sea from whence they are supposed to return into their proper Channels and then as it is expressed thither i. e. into the Sea they return again Or 2. unto their Springs or Fountains to which the Waters return by secret passages of the Earth as is manifest from the Caspian Sea and reasonably supposed in other places Or rather 3. unto the Earth in general from whence they come or flow into the Sea and to which they return again by the reflux of the Sea For he seems to speak of the visible and constant motion of the Waters both to the Sea and from it and then to it again in a perpetual reciprocation which agrees best with the former similitudes v. 5 6. thither they return again 8 All things r Not onely the Sun and Winds and Rivers which I have mentioned but all other Creatures are full of labour s Both subjectively as they are in continual restlesness and change never abiding in the same state or place and efficiently as they cause great and sore labour to men in getting and keeping and enjoying of them yea even in the study of them as is noted hereafter man cannot utter it t The labour is inexpressibly and unconceivably great the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with hearing u As there are many things in the World troublesome and vexatious to mens senses and minds so even those things which are comfortable and acceptable to them are not satisfactory but men are constantly desiring some longer continuance or fuller enjoyment of them or variety in them and they never say It is enough I desire no more The Eye and Ear are here synedochically put for all the senses because these are most Spiritual and refined most curious and inquisitive most capable of receiving satisfaction because they are exercised with more ease and pleasure than the other senses whose satisfactions are oft attended with greater weariness and manifold dangers and inconveniences 9 * Ch. 3. 15. †Heb. what is it that hath been the 〈◊〉 that shall 〈◊〉 So Gr. The thing that hath been it is that which shall be and that which is done is that which shall be done and x There is nothing in the World but a continued and tiresom repetition of the same things the Nature and course of the beings and affairs of the World and the tempers of mens minds are generally the same that they ever were and shall ever be and therefore because no Man ever yet received satisfaction from any worldly things it is a vain and foolish thing for any Person hereafter to expect it there is no new thing y To wit in the nature of things which might give us hopes of attaining that satisfaction which things have not hitherto afforded For otherwise this doth not restrain the God of Nature who hath frequently done and still can do new and miraculous works and who can and doth discover to particular Persons new inventions when it pleaseth him under the sun 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said see this is new z For the proof hereof I appeal to the consciences and experiences of all men it hath been already of old time a The same things have been said and done before though possibly we did not know it which was before us 11 There is no remembrance of former things b This seems to be added to prevent this Objection There are many new inventions and enjoyments unknown to former Ages To this he answers This Objection is grounded onely upon our ignorance of ancient times and things which is very great and which if we did exactly know or remember we should easily find Parallels to all present occurrences in former Ages neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after c This clause tends both to illustrate and confirm the former The sense is There are many thousands of remarkable speeches and actions done in this and the following Ages which neither are nor ever will be put into the publick Records or Histories and consequently they must unavoidably be forgotten and lost unto succeeding Ages and therefore it is just and reasonable to believe the same concerning former Ages seeing the same causes are most likely to produce the same effects 12 I the preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem d This Verse is a Preface to the following Discourse that by the consideration of the quality of the Speaker they might be induced to give more attention and respect to his words Having asserted the vanity of all things in the general he now comes to prove his assertion in all those particulars wherein men commonly seek and with greatest probability expect to find true happiness He begins with secular Wisdom And to shew how competent a judge he was of this matter he lays down his Character that he was the Preacher which implies eminent knowledge and ability to teach others or the Convert who had learnt by dear bought experience what he now taught them and a King who therefore had all imaginable opportunities and advantages for the attainment of happiness and particularly for the getting of Wisdom by consulting all sorts of Books and Men by trying all manner of experiments and many other ways and no ordinary King but King over Israel God's own and onely beloved People a wise and an happy People Deut. 4. 6 7. 33. 29. whose King he was by God's special and gracious appointment and furnished by God with singular Wisdom for the discharge of that great trust and whose Royal Palace and abode was in Ierusalem where were the House of God and the most wise and learned of the Priests attending upon it and the Seats of Justice and the Colledges or Assemblies of the wisest Men of their Nation of which see 2 Kings 22. 14. 1 Chron. 25. 8 c. Psal. 122. 5. All which helps concurring together in him which very rarely do in any other men makes the argument drawn from his experience more convincing and undeniable 13 And I gave my heart e Which Phrase notes his serious and fixed purpose his great industry and alacrity in it to seek and search out f To seek diligently and accurately by wisdom g Wisely or by the help of that Wisdom wherewith God had endowed me concerning all things that are done under heaven h Concerning all the works of God and Men in this lower World the works of Nature and their causes effects properties and operations the works of Divine Providence and God's counsels and ends in them the work and depths
of humane policy in the conduct of Personal and Domestical and Publick Affairs this sore travel i This difficult and toilsom work of searching out these things hath God given to the sons of man k God hath inflicted this as a just punishment upon Man for his eating of the Tree of Knowledge that instead of that sweet and perfect knowledge which God had freely infused into Man at his first Creation he should now grope after some small parcels or fragments of it and those too not to be gotteâ—… without the sweat of his brows and brains ‖ Or to afflict thâ—…n to be exercised therewith l To employ themselves in the painful study of these things which now is both their duty and their punishment Or as it is rendred in the margent and by many others to afflict them in or by it to chastise their former curiosity and to give them matter of continual humiliation and vexation And therefore knowledge is so far from making men happy that it exposeth them to trouble and infelicity 14 I have seen m i. e. Diligently observed and in great measure understood all the works that are done under the sun and behold n For it was a great surprise to me and therefore may seem strange to you all is vanity and vexation of spirit o And not only unsatisfying but also troublesom and an affliction or breaking to a mans spirit or mind Or as others both ancient and modern Translators render it a feeding upon wind as these very words save only that there is the verb from which this noun seems most probably deduced are rendred Hos. 12. 1. where also it signifies a fruitless or lost labour and a disappointment of their hopes and desires of satisfaction And so this is arepetition of the same thing in other words according to the manner of these Books 15 * 〈◊〉 13. That which is crooked cannot be made streight p All our knowledg serves only to discover our diseases and miseries but is oâ—…t it self utterly insufficient to heal or remove them it cannot rectify those confusions and disorders which are either in our own Hearts and Lives or in the men and things of the world and †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which is wanting q To wit in our knowledg and in order to mans compleat satisfaction and felicity cannot be numbred r We know little of what we should or might know or did know in the state of Innocency or shall know in the future Life 16 I communed with mine own heart s I considered within my self in what condition I was and what degrees of knowledg I had gained and whether it was not my ignorance that made me unable to rectifie those errours and supply those wants and wiser Men could do it though I could not saying Lo I am come to great estate t Heb. I am grown great to wit in Wisdom Or I have magnified or greatly enlarged and have gotten u Heb. have added As I had a large stock of Wisdom insused into me by God 1 King 3. 12. 4. 29. so I have greatly improved it by Conversation and Study and Experience * 〈◊〉 4. 30. 〈◊〉 7 23. more wisdom than all they that have been before me x Whether Governours or Priests or private Persons Which was no vain boast but a known and confessed truth and profession hereof was necessary to demonstrate his assertion in Jerusalem y Which was then the most eminent place in the World for Wisdom and Knowledg yea my heart †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had great experience z Heb. had seen much which intimates that his Knowledg was clear and certain and experimental as that is which we have from our own eye-sight of wisdom and knowledg a Two words signifying the same thing as may be gathered from v. 18. and from the promiscuous use of them in this Book and in the Proverbs and elsewhere and implying all manner of knowledge divine or humane speculative or practical political or philosophical 17 * 〈◊〉 2. 12. 〈◊〉 23. 25. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly b That I might throughly understand the nature and difference of Truth and Errour of Virtue and Vice all things being best understood by contraries and might discern if there were any opinion or practice amongst Men which would give him full satisfaction I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit c Or feeding upon wind as v. 14. 18 For in much wisdom is much ‖ Or indignation grief d Or indignation or displeasure within himself and against his present condition and he that encreaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow e Which he doth many ways partly because he gets his knowledg with hard and wearisom labour both of Mind and Body with the consumption of his Spirits and shortning and imbitterment of his Life partly because he is oft deceived with knowledg falsly so called and oft mistakes Errours for Truths and is perplexed with manifold doubts from which ignorant Men are wholly free partly because he foresees and consequently feels the terrour of many miseries which are or are likely to come to pass which are unobserved by less knowing persons and which possibly never happen partly because he hath the clearer prospect into and quicker sense of his own Ignorance and Infirmities and Disorders and withal how vain and ineffectual all his knowledg is for the prevention or removal of them and partly because his Knowledg is very imperfect and unsatisfying yet increasing his thirst after more Knowledg and consequently after more dissatisfaction because instead of that just Honour and Delight and Advantage which he expects from it he meets with nothing but Envy and Opposition and contempt because his Knowledg quickly fades and dies with him and then leaves him in no better and possibly in a much worse condition than the meanest and most unlearned man in the World CHAP. II. 1 I Said in mine heart a Being disappointed of my hopes from Knowledg I resolved in my own Mind to try another course Go to now I will prove thee b O my Soul I will try whether I cannot make thee happy with mirth c By allowing to my self the free enjoyment of the present and sensible Delights of humane Life therefore enjoy pleasure d Take thy fill of pleasure and expect satisfaction thence and behold this also is vanity e Is vain and unable to make men happy because sensible pleasures are mean and unsutable to the noble and heaven-born Soul of Man and if excessively used apter to cloy and glut men than to satisfie them and are frequently mixed with and most commonly end in bitterness as being the great instruments and occasions of sin and of all its fatal consequences 2 I said of laughter f Of excessive Mirth which
to be found in pleasures So this is added as a reason why he gave over the thoughts of Pleasures and directed them to another object and why he so confidently asserted their vanity from his own particular Experience because he had made the best of them and it was a vain thing for any private man to expect that from them which could not be found by a King and such a King who had so much Wisdom to invent and such vast Riches to pursue and enjoy all imaginable delights and who had made it his design and business to search this to the bottom that cometh after the king o That succeeds me in this enquiry ‖ Or in those things which have been already done even that which hath been already done p As by others in former times so especially by my self They can make no new discoveries as to this point 13 Then I saw q Or Yet I saw For this is added to prevent an Objection or mistake †Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly c. that wisdom excelleth folly r Although Wisdom is not sufficient to make men truly and perfectly happy yet it is of a far greater use and excellency than vain Pleasures or any other follies as far as light excelleth darkness s i. e. Vastly and unspeakable Light is very pleasant and comfortable and withal of great necessity and singular use to discover the differences of persons and things to prevent mistakes and dangers and to direct all a mans paths in the right way whereas Darkness is in itself doleful and leads men into innumerable Confusions and Errours and Miseries 14 * Pro. 17. 24. Ch. 8. 1. The wise mans eyes are in his head t In their proper place and therefore they can see which they could not do if they were out of his head He hath the use of his Eyes and Reason and sees his way and orders all his affairs with discretion and foresees and so avoids many dangers and mischiefs but the fool walketh in darkness u Manageth his affairs ignorantly rashly and foolishly whereby he sheweth that his Eyes are not in his head but in his heels or as it is expressed Prov. 17. 24. in the ends of the earth and x Or Yet notwithstanding this excellency of Wisdom above folly for our conduct in the matters of this Life yet at last they both come to one end I my self perceived also that * Ps. 49. 10. Ch. 9. 2 3. one event happeneth unto them all y Both are subject to the same calamities and to death itself which utterly takes away all difference between them 15 Then said I in my heart As it happeneth to the fool so it †Heb. happen 〈◊〉 to me 〈◊〉 to me happeneth even to me and why was I then more wise z What benefit have I by my Wisdom Or To what purpose did I desire and take so much pains for Wisdom Then I said in my heart That this also is vanity 16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever a Their Name and Memory though it may flourish for a season among some men yet it will not last for ever but will in a little time be worn out as we see in most of the wise men of 〈◊〉 ages whose very Names together with all their Monuments are utterly lost as hath been oft observed and bewailed by learned Writers in several Ages seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten and how dieth the wise man as the fool b He must die as certainly as the fool and after death be as little remembred and honoured 17 Therefore I hated life c My Life though accompanied with so much Honour and Pleasure and Wisdom was a burden to me and I was apt to wish either that I had never been born or that I might speedily die because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me d All humane designs and works are so far from yielding me that satisfaction which I expected that the consideration of them encreaseth my discontent for all is vanity and vexation of spirit 18 Yea I hated all my labour which I had †Heb. laboured taken under the sun e All these Riches and Buildings and other fruits of my labour were the matter of my Repentance and aggravations of my Misery because * Ps. 49. 10. I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me f Because I must and that everlastingly part with them and leave them all behind me 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool g Who will undo all that I have done and turn the effects of my Wisdom into instruments of his Folly and occasions of ruine Some think he had such an Opinion of Rehoboam yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured and wherein I have shewed my self wise under the sun This is also vanity 20 Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair h I gave my self up to despondency and despair of ever reaping that satisfaction which I promised to my self of all the labour which I took under the sun 21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom and in knowledg and in equity i Who useth great Industry and Prudence and Justice too in the management of his affairs and therefore might as confidently expect Gods blessing and the comfort of his labours as any other man yet to a man that hath not laboured therein k So as I have done who hath spent his days in sloth and folly shall he †Heb. giâ—…t .. leave it for his portion This also is vanity and a great evil l A great disorder in itself and a great disgrace to this World and a great torment to a considering mind 22 * Ch. 1. 3. 3. 9. For what hath man m What comfort or benefit remains to any man after this short and frail Life is once ended Or what advantage hath he by all his labours above him who never laboured and yet enjoyeth all the fruits of his labours of all his labour and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured under the sun 23 For all his days are * Job 14. 1. sorrows n Or Though all his days were sorrows i. e. full of sorrows For this seems added to aggravate the evil mentioned in the foregoing verse Though he took great and unwearied pains all his days yet after death he hath no more benefit by it than another man hath and his travel grief o The toils of his Body are or were accompanied with the vexations of his Mind yea his heart taketh not rest in the night p Either because his mind is distracted and his â—…leep broken
for thou dost not enquire †Heb. out of Wisdom wisely concerning this e This Question sheweth thy great folly in contending with thy Creator and the Soveraign Lord and Governour of all things in opposing thy shallow wit to his unsearchable Wisdom and thy Will to his Will 11 Wisdom ‖ Or As good as an Inheritance yea better too is good f i. e. Very good the Positive being put for the Superlative as it is frequently in the Hebrew Text. When Wisdom and Riches meet in one man it is an happy conjunction for Wisdom without Riches is commonly contemned Eccles. 9. 16. and wants opportunities and instruments of discovering itself and of doing that good in the world which it is both able and willing to do and Riches without Wisdom are like a Sword in a mad Mans Hand an occasion of much sin and mischief both to himself and others with an inheritance and by it there is profit g By Wisdom joined with Riches there comes great benefit Heb. and it is an excellency or priviledge or advantage to them that see the sun h i. e. To mortal men not only to a Mans self but to many others who live with him in this world Whereby also he intimates that Riches bear no price and have no use in the other world 12 For wisdom is a †Heb. shadow defence i Heb. is a shadow which in Scripture use notes both Protection and Refreshment And thus â—…ar Wisdom and Money agree and money is a defence but the excellency of knowledg is that wisdom giveth life to them that have it k But herein Knowledg or Wisdom which commonly signifie the same thing excels Riches that whereas Riches frequently expose Men to death or destruction true Wisdom doth oft times preserve a man from temporal and always from eternal Ruine 13 Consider the work l Not of Creation but of Providence his wife and just and powerful Government of all Events in the World which is proposed as the last and best Remedy against all murmurings and sinful disquietments of mind under the sense of the great and many disorders which happen in the World as is implied v. 10. against which Wisdom is prescribed as one Remedy â—… 11 12. and now here is another of God for * Ch. 1. 15. See Job 14. 4. who can make ‖ Or him so Gr. that streight which he hath made crooked m No Man can withstand or correct or alter any of Gods works and therefore all self-tormenting frettings and discontents at the injuries of men or calamities of times are not only sinful but also vain and fruitless This reason implies that there is an Hand or Work of God in all mens actions either effecting them if they be good or permitting them if they be bad and ordering and over-ruling them whether they be good or bad And God is here said to make things crooked as he is said to make the hearts of sinners fat or hard Isa. 6. 10. and elsewhere not positively but privatively because he denies or withdraws from men that Wisdom or Grace which should make them streight 14 In the day of prosperity be joiful n Enjoy Gods favours with chearfulness and thankfulness but in the day of Adversity consider o To wit Gods work which is easily understood out of the foregoing verse Consider that it is Gods hand and therefore submit to iâ—… humble thy self under his hand be sensible of it and duly affected with it Consider also why God sends it for what sins and with what design This is a proper season for serious consideration whereas Prosperity relaxeth the mind and calls it forth to outward things But this clause may be and is by some rendred thus and look for a day of adversity In Prosperity rejoice with trembling and so as to expect a change God also hath †Heb. 〈◊〉 set the â—…ne over against the other p God hath wisely ordained these vicissitudes that Prosperity and Adversity should succeed one another in the course of mens Lives to the end that man should find nothing after him q Either 1. After man himself or as it may be rendred after it i. e. after his present condition whether it be prosperous or affâ—…ctive So the sense is That no man might be able to foresee or find out what shall certainly befall him afterwards and therefore might live in a constant dependance upon God and might neither despair in trouble nor be secure or presumptuous in prosperity because of the frequent and sudden changes from one to the other Or 2. After God That no man might come after God and review his works and find any fault in them or pretend that he could have managed things better because this mixture of Prosperity and Adversity is most convenient both for the Glory of Gods Wisdom and Justice and Goodness and for the benefit of Mankind who have an absolute need of thâ—… vicissitude leâ—…t they should be either corrupted and ruined by perpetual Prosperity as many have been or overwhelmed with uninterrupted Adversity 15 All things r have I seen in the days of my vanity s Since I have come into this vain and transitory Life * Ch. 8. 14. there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness t Either 1. Notwithstanding his Righteousness whom his Righteousness doth not deliver in common calamities Ezek. 21. 3. 4. 33. 12. Or 2. For his Righteousness which exposeth him to the Envy and Hatred and Rage of Persecutors or wicked men In is somtimes used for for but it is not so taken in the next clause which answers to this and therefore the former seems to be the truer interpretation and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness u Notwithstanding all his wickedness whereby he provokes and deserves the justice both of God and Men who yet for many wise and just reasons is permitted to live long unpunished and secure All sorts of events both such as have been already mentioned and such as I am about to declare 16 Be not righteous overmuch x This Verse and the next have a manifest reference to v. 15. being two inferences drawn from the two clauses of the observation there recorded And this verse was delivered by Solomon either 1. In the name and person of an ungodly man who taketh occasion to dissuade men from the practice of Righteousness and true Wisdom because of the danger which attends it and is expressed in the middle of the former and the end of this verse Therefore saith he it is not good to be more nice than wise take heed of Strictness Zeal and forwardness in Religion And then the next verse contains an Antidote to this poisonous suggestion yea rather â—…aith he be not wicked or foolish overmuch for that will not preserve thee as thou maist imagine from the
anger against the obstinate and implacable enemies of his Son and Gospel like a man of war he shall cry yea roar u As a Lyon doth upon his prey and as Souldiers do when they begin the battle he shall ‖ Or behave himself mightily prevail against his enemies 14. I have long time held my peace x I have for many ages suffered the Devil and his Servants Tyrants and Idolaters and Persecuters to prevail in the world to afflict my people and to hinder the entertainment of my Doctrine and Worship in the World I have been still and refrained my self now will I cry like a travailing woman y Now I will bring forth and accomplish that glorious work which I have long conceived in my mind I will destroy and †Heb. swallow or sup up devour at once x. z I will suddenly and utterly destroy the incorrigible enemies of my Truth and of my Sons Kingdom He alludes to those wild Beasts which open their mouths wide and devour all their prey at one morsel or at one time 15. I will make wast mountains and hills a Not dry and barren ones for these were wast already but such as are clothed with Grass and Herbs as the following words imply Which is to be understood Metaphorically of Gods destroying his most lofty and flourishing enemies who are oft compared in Scripture unto Mountains and Hills and dry up all their herbs and I will make the rivers islands and I will dry up the pools b I will remove all impediments out of the way which is expressed in the Prophetical dialect by drying up Euphrates that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared Revel 16. 12. He seems to allude to that which God did in drying up first the Red Sea and then Iordan to give his people passage into Canaan And this exposition is confirmed by the following verse 16. And I will bring the blind c The Gentiles who were blind and were called so above ver 7. and in many other places of Scripture and were so accounted by the Iews by a way that they know not d By the way of truth which hitherto hath been hidden from them until by my Word and Spirit I revealed it to them I will lead them in paths that they have not known I will make darkness light before them and crooked things †Heb. unto straightness straight e I will take away all hinderances and give them all advantages and conveniences for their Journey I will direct them in the right way I will enlighten their dark minds and rectifie their perverse wills and affections These things will I do unto them and not forsake them f Until I have brought them with safety and comfort to the end of their journey 17. They shall be * Psal. 97. 7. Chap. 1. 29. 44. 11. 45. 16 turned back they shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images g This may be understood either 1. Of the Converted Gentiles who shall be turned back from their former sinful course and shall sincerely grieve and be ashamed that they did trust c. as the word may be rendred that they should ever be guilty of such wickedness and madness to Worship and Trust in Idols Or rather 2. Of those Gentiles who when their Brethren embraced the true God and Christ persisted obstinately in their Idolaâ—…rous courses who shall be confounded and destroyed For this phrase of being turned back is generally used in Scripture in a bad sence or of them who are overthrown or put to flight in battel as Psal. 9. 3. 35. 4. 70. 2 3. c. And the like I may say of being ashamed or confounded or put to shame especially where this Phrase is joyned with the other as it is in the two places of the Psalmes last quoted that say to the molten images Ye are our gods 18. Hear ye deaf and look ye blind that ye may see h O you whosoever you are whether Iews or Gentiles which shall resist this clear light and obstinately continue in your former errours attend diligently to my words and consider these mighty works of God 19. * Chap. 43. â—… Who is blind but my servant i But no People under Heaven are so blind as the Iews who call themselves my Servants and People who will not receive their Messiah though he be recommended to them with such evident and illustrious Signs and Miraculous works as force belief from the most unbelieving and obstinate Gentiles or deaf as my messenger k My Messengers the Singular number being put for the plural as it is commonly in Scripture that I sent who is blind as he that is prefect l The Priests and other Teachers whom I appointed to instruct my People in the right way and blind as the LORDS servant m As the most eminent Teachers and Rulers of the Iews whom he calleth Perfect either because it was their duty to know and teach the way and truth of God perfectly or rather Sarcastically because they pretended to great perfection and proudly called themselves Rabbies and Masters as our Saviour observed and despised the People as cursed and not knowing the Law Ioh. 7. 49. and dirided Christ for calling them blind Ioh. 9. 40. m Which title as it was given to the Iewish People in the first clause of the verse So here it seems to be given to the Priests because they were called and obliged to be the Lords Servants in a special and eminent manner 20 Seeing many things * Rom. 2. 2â—… but thou observest noâ—… opening the ears but he heareth not n Thou doâ—…t not seriously and impartially consider the plain word and the wonderful Works of God of which thiâ—…e ears and eyâ—…s have been witnesses which are abundantly sufficient for the Conviction of any considering man 21 The LORD is well pleased o To wit with you Or as this word is most commonly used hath a good will to you or to this People which may be understood out of the following verse as is very usual in sacred Scripture The meaning seems to be this Although thou art a wicked people that rebellest against the clearest light and therefore God might justly destroy thee suddenly yet he is very unwilling to do it and will patiently wait for thy repentance that he may be gracious unto thee * Chap. 59. 16. for his righteousness sake p Not for thy sake for thou deservest no such thing from him but for the glory of his own faithfulness in fulfilling that Promise and Covenant which he made with thy pious Progenitors for themselves and for their Seed he will magnifie the Law and make Or him it honourable q He will maintain the honour of his law and therefore is not forward to destroy you who profess Gods Law and the true Religion
borders q The utmost parts or Walls The Church is here evidently compared to a Building whose Foundation Pavement Gates and Windows were named before of pleasant stones 13 And all thy children shall be * Ch. 11. 9. Jer. 31. 34. Joh. 6. 45. 1 Cor. 2. 16. 1 Thes. 4. 9. 1 Joh. 2. 20. taught of the LORD r Not only outwardly by his word which was made known to all the Jews under the Old Testament but inwardly by his Spirit which is poured forth under the New Testament both upon a far greater number of persons and in a far higher measure and with much more efficacy and success than it was under the Old and great shall be the peace s 1. Inward Peace of Mind or Conscience arising from the clear discoveries of Gods Love and Reconciliation to us and wrought by the spirit of adoption which is more abundantly given to Believers under the Gospel whereas the spirit of bondage was more common and prevalent under the Law 2. Outward Peace Safety and Happiness which is more fully promised in the following verses and which God when he sees fit will confer upon his Church of thy children 14 In righteousness t Either 1. As the means of thy Establishment This Kingdom shall not be set up and settled by fraud or Tyranny as other Kingdoms frequently are but by Justice Or rather 2. As the effect of the establishment Thine affairs shall be managed with Righteousness which is the Glory and Felicity of any society and not with oppression as it follows Justice shall be freely and impartially executed shalt thou be established thou shalt be far from oppression u Either by thine own Governours or by forreign Powers for thou shalt not fear x Thou shalt neither have any just cause of fear nor be given up to the torment of fear without cause and from terrour for it shall not come near thee 15 Behold they shall surely gather together y It is true there will not want some that shall combine and make an attempt against thee but not by me z As they do this without any such commission from me as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had Isa. 10. 6 7. Ier. 25. 9. so they shall not have my help in it without which all their endeavours will be vain and unsuccessful whosoever shall gather together a To battle as is manifest from the following words of which kind of gathering this word is used Psal. 140. 2. and elsewhere against thee b Heb. with thee But to fight with a man is all one with fighting against him shall fall for thy sake c For that Respect and Love which I bear to thee Or before thee as this particle is sometimes used so as thine Eyes shall behold it 16 Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work and I have created the waster d Both the Smith that maketh all warlike Instruments and the Souldier that useth them are my Creatures and totally at my Command and therefore they cannot hurt you without my leave to destroy e To destroy only whom and when I please 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper f And as they cannot do any thing against thee without my leave so I assure thee I will not suffer them to do it and if any Smith shall make any weapons to be employed against thee he shall not succeed in it and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn g And I will deliver thee not only from the fury of War but also from the strife of Tongues from all the threatnings and boasts and reproaches of thine Enemies and from all the claims and pretences which they have of any right and power over thee So thine Enemies shall neither prevail against thee by violence nor by pretences of Justice This is the heritage h This blessed condition described in this Chapter is the portion allotted to them by me of the servants of the LORD and their righteousness i Either 1. The Reward or Fruit of their Righteousness as Righteousness is used Psal. 112. 3 9. Or 2. Their Right or the righteous Administration of all their concerns whereby they are preserved from all manner of oppressions as Righteousness was used v. 14. is of me k I give it and I will continue it to them and who then can take it away from them saith the LORD CHAP. LV. 1 HO * Joh 4. 14. 7. 37. Rev. 21. 6. 22. 17. every one a Not only Jews but Gentiles The Prophet having largely discoursed of Christ ch 53. and of the Church of Christ ch 54. doth here invite all persons to come to Christ and to his Church that thirsteth b For the Grace of God and the blessings of the Gospel This thirst implies a vehement and active and restless Desire after it not to be satisfied with any thing short of it come ye to the waters c Which are mentioned either 1. As the place where they were to buy the following commodities it being usual to convey provisions to Cities by Rivers Or rather 2. As the commodity to be bought the Graces and comforts of Gods Spirit which are frequently compared to Waters as Isa. 12. 3. 35. 6 7. Ioh. 7. 37 38. and elsewhere and which are designed by all these Metaphorical Expressions of Waters Wine Milk and Bread and he that hath no money d Even those who are most poor in the World and those who are most worthless and wicked if they do but thirst may be welcome come ye buy e i. e. Procure or receive that which is freely offered to you if you do but come for it and are willing to take it Thus buying is used Pro. 23. 23. Rev. 3. 18. Nor can this be understood of buying properly because here is no price paid and eat yea come buy wine and milk f Which are Synecdochically put for all sorts of provisions which also are to be understood of Spiritual and Gospel-Blessings as is evident from the following words without money and without price 2 Wherefore do ye †Heb. weigh spend money e All your time and strength and cost in seeking it for that which is not bread f For those vain or foolish things which can never nourish or satisfie you such as worldly goods or your own Inventions Superstitions and Idolatries and your labour for that which satisfieth not hearken diligently unto me g Unto my Doctrine and Counsel and eat ye that which is good h That which is truly and solidly and everlastingly good and not such things which though they be called and seem to be good yet really are evil and most pernicious to men and let your soul delight itself in fatness i In this fat and
confess give thanks unto thee O LORD among the heathen q Or among the Gentiles or Nations i. e. Either 1. In the great Congregations consisting of the Israelites of all Tribes of whom this very word is used Ios. 3. 17. and 4. 1. Ezek. 2. 3. and elsewhere as hath been noted before Or 2. In the Presence of those Gentiles who resorted to Ierusalem in great numbers or before others of them who are either subject to me or Consederate with me as I have occasion of speaking or writing to any of them But this was but an uncertain and inconsiderable Business And therefore David is here transported beyond himself even to his seed for ever as it is expressed v. 50. and speaks this in special Relation to Christ who was to be his seed and of whom he was an Eminent Type and by whom alone this was done to any purpose And therefore this is justly applied to him and to his Preaching to and calling of the Gentiles Rom. 15. 9. and sing praises unto thy name 50. Great deliverance giveth he to his king r To the King whom God himself chose and anointed or constituted and sheweth mercy to his anointed to David and to his seed s To all his Posterity and especially to the Messâ—…as who is called David's seed Act. 13. 23. Rom. 1. 3. and his Soâ—… Psal. 89. 27. and 110. 1 Comp. with Mat. 22. 42. and the Seed by way of Eminency Gal. 3. 16. and Gods anointed and King Psal. 2. 2. * 2 Sam 7. 13. for evermore PSAL. XIX The ARGUMENT The design of this Psalm is to adore and magnifie the name of God for the discovery of his Wisdom and Power and Goodness both by his great and glorious Works of Creation and Providence and especially by his Word and the holy Scripture which he prefers before the former To the chief musician a Psalm of David 1. THe * Gen. 1. 5. heavens a These visible Heavens so vast and spacious richly adorned with Stars so various and admirable in their Course or Station so useful and powerful in their Influences declare b Not properly but Objectively as the Earth and Trees and Stars are said to speak Iob. 12. 8. and 38. 7. Isa. 55. 12. they demonstrate or make it evident and undeniable to all men of Sence or Reason They are as a most legible Book wherein even he that runs may Read it the glory of God c i. â—… His glorious being or Existence his eternal Power and God-head as it is particularly expressed Rom. 1. 20. his infinite Wisdom and Goodness All which are so visible in them that it is Ridiculous to deny or doubt of them as it is esteemed Ridiculous to think of far meaner works of Art as an House or a Book c. That they were made without an Artist or without an Hand and the firmament d Or the Expansion i. â—… All this vast space extended from the Earth to the highest Heavens with all it 's goodly Furniture the same thing which he called Heavens sheweth his handy work e The Excellency of the work discovers who was the Author of it that it did not come by chance nor spring of it self but was made by the Lord God Almighty 2. Day unto day f Or rather after as the Hebrew Lamed oft signifies as Exod. 16. 1. and 29. 38. 2 Chron. 30. 21. Psal. 96. 2. Day For the day doth not utter this to the Day but to us upon the Day The Sence is Either 1. That orderly and constant and useful Succession of Days and Nights one after another declare this But of the Course of the Sun the effect whereof this Succession is he speaks v. 5. Or rather 2. Every Day and Night renews or repeats these Documents and Demonstrations of God's Glory He that neglects them one day may learn them the next day uttereth g Or poureth forth to wit constantly and abundantly and forcibly as a Fountain doth Waters as this Hebrew Verb signifies speech h Or the Word or Discourse To wit Concerning God It hath as it were a Tongue to speak the Praises of it's Maker i. e. It gives men occasion to Magnifie and adore him and night unto night sheweth knowledge i i. e. Gives us a clear and certain Knowledge or Discovery of God their Authors 3. There is no speech nor language ‖ Or without these their voice is heard †Heb. without their voyce â—…eard where their voyce is not heard k Or understood as this Verb oft signifies as Gen. 11 7. and 42. 23. 2 Kings 18. 26. 1 Cor. 14 2. for the hearing of it would have been insignificant without the understanding of it in which the force of the Argument lyes The Sence is there are divers Nations in the World which have several Languages so that one cannot Discourse with or be understood by another But the Heavens are such an universal and admirable Teacher that they can speak to all People under them and be clearly understood by all No Nation or People saith that wise and learned Heathen Tâ—…lly Iâ—… so barbarous and sottish as when they look up to the Heavens not to perceive that there is a God or to imagine that those things are the Effect of blind Chance which are made with such wonderful Art and Wisdom that it requires extraordinary Art to understand their excellent Orders and Course But this Verse is by divers Learned men otherwise Translated not without an elegant Gradation as some observe They have no Speech nor Word nor is any Voyce or sound heard in or from them Then follows the next Verse by way of Opposition yet their line c. Or thus They have no Speech nor Words which is supposed to be here said by way of Prolepsis to soften and explain his former Expressions of the Heavens declaring and speaking yet or but without them their Voyce is heard or understood 4. * Rom. 10. 18. ‖ Or their ralâ—… Or direction Their line l Either 1. their admirable structure made exactly and as it were by line see Ioâ—… 3â—… 5. Zech. 1. 16. Or 2. Tâ—…eir lines the singular number being put for the plural for the line answereth to the Words in the next Clause And by line or lines he may understand their writing as this very Word is taken Isa. 28. 10. which is made up of several lines And this Expression may seem to be very fit and Proper because the Heavens do not teach men audibly or by speaking to their Ears but visibly by propounding things to their Eyes which is done in lines or writings is gone out m i. e. Is spread abroad or drawn sorth through all the earth n So as to be seen and Read by all the Inhabitants of the Earth and their words o i. e. Their magnificent Structure and their exquisite Order and most regular Course by
which they declare their Author no less than if they used many Words or long Discourses to that purpose or no less than men disover their Minds by their Words See more concerning this Verse upon Rom 10. 18. where it is applied to the Preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles in the several parts of the World to the end of the world in them hath he set a tabernacle p Which is a moveable Habitation and therefore fitly applied to the Sun which is here described to be in constant and perpetual Motion v. 5 6. for the sun q Which being the most Illustrious and useful of all the Heavenly Bodies is here particularly mentioned 5. Which is as a bridegroom r Gloriously adorned with Lights as with a beautiful Garment and smiling upon the lower World with a pleasant Countenance coming out of his chamber s In which he is Poetically supposed to have rested all Night and thence to break forth as it were on a sudden as both Sacred and profane Poets represent the Matter and * Eccles. 1. 5. rejoyceth as a strong man t Who being Conscious and Confident of his own strength and promising to himself Victory and the Glory which attends it sets upon his work with great Pleasure to run a race 6. His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it u His Course is constant from East to West and thence to the East again and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof x There is no part of the Earth which doth not one time or other feel the Comfort and Benefit of it's Light and Heat 7. The ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 law of the LORD y i. e. The Doctrine delivered by God to his Church whether by Moses or by other Prophets and holyâ—…men of God after him for the Title of Law is given not only to the Ten Commandements or the moral Law as it is Rom. 2. 23 25 27 31. but also to the whole Word of God as Psal. 1. 2. and 119. 70 c. Ier. 8. 8. Mal. 2. 6. to the Psalms as Ioh. 10. 34. and 15. 25. Comp. with Psal. 82. 6. and 35. 19. and to the Writings of the Prophets 1 Cor. 14. 21. Comp. with Isa. 28. 11. yea even to the Gospel it self as Isa. 2. 3. and 42 4. and 51. 4. 7. Rom. 3. 27. Gal. 2. 21. And in this general Sence it must be here understood because the Effects here following do not flow from one but from all the Parts of it Precepts and Counsels and Threatnings and Promises and God's gracious Covenant made with man therein revealed Having discoursed hitherto of the Glory of God's shining forth in and Demonstrated by the visible Heavens and the Heavenly Bodies he now proceeds to another Demonstration of God's Glory which he Compares with and prefers before the former Which he doth partly to prevent that Excessive admiration of the splendour and beauty of the Sun and Stars by the Contemplation whereof the Hearkens were brought to adore them an Error which the Israelites were not free from the Danger of Deut. 4. 19. partly to make the Israelites sensible of their singular Obligations to God who besides that common Light and Influence of the Heavenly Bodies had given them a peculiar and a more necessary and beneficial Light and partly to awaken and provoke the Gentiles into whose hands these Psalms might come to the study and love of God's Law by representing those excellent Advantages which they no less than the Iews might obtain by it is perfect z Without fault or defect fully and compleatly discovering both the Nature and Will of God and the whole Duty and business of man whom and how he is to Worship and Serve what he is to believe and Practise and whatsoever is necessary to his present and eternal Happiness Wherein there seems to be a secret Reflection upon the former and natural discovery of God by his works of Creation as that which is defective and insufficient for the great and Glorious ends here following which although it did declare so much of God's being and Nature as left all men without excuse Rom. 1. 20. yet did not fully nor clearly manifest the Mind and Will of God nor direct and bring men to eternal Salvation ‖ 〈◊〉 â—…oring 〈◊〉 4 15. 〈◊〉 converting a To wit from the Errors of Mind and Conversation in which men without this Light do generally wander and Perish unto God from whom all men are naturally revoâ—…ted Or 〈◊〉 â—…r 〈◊〉 as this Word is used Ruth 4. 15. 〈◊〉 2â—… â—… 〈◊〉 1. 1â—… 16. Heb. restoring or bringing back the 〈◊〉 which was drooping and even going out of the Body through grievous 〈◊〉 of the outward Man and Terrors of the Mind and Conâ—…ience the soul the testimony of the LORD f i. e. His law so called because it is a Witness between God and Man what God requires of Man and what upon the performance of that Condition he will do for Man is * Psal. 1â—…9 14â—… sure g Heb. faithful or true which is most Excellent and Proper and necessary in a Witness It will not mis-lead or deceive any man that trusteth to it or followeth it But will certainly and infallibly bring him to Happiness making wise h Unto Salvation as is expressed 2 Tim. 3. 15. Which is the only true Wisdom the simple i This is added Either 1. By way of Commendation or as a qualification of the Person whom God's word will make wise he must be humble and foolish and little in â—…is own Eyeâ—… and willing to be taught See Mat. 11. 25. 1 Cor. 1. 2â—… 〈◊〉 For God resisteth the proud and scornful and will not give this Wisdom to them or rather 2. By way of Contempt which seems most agreeable both to the use of the Words Prov. 1. 4. and 9. 6. and 14. 15. and 2â—… 3. and to the Scope of the place which is to set forth the Excellency and Eâ—…ficacy of God's Law in the general without any Restriction to this or that sort of Men. So it may note the weak and foolish even Persons of the lowest Capacities and such are apt to mistake and are easily â—…educed as the Word implies And yet these if they will hearken to the Instructions of God's word shall become Wise when those who proâ—…ss themselves Wise shall by leaning to their own understanding and despising or neglecting the Directions of God's word become and prove themselves to be â—…ools Rom. 1. 22. But this is not spoken exclusively as if no men of better Abilities were thus made Wise but by way of Amplification to shew the Usefulness of God's Word to men of all sorts and sizes 8. The statutes k Another word signifying the same thing with Law and Testimonies of the LORD are right l Both in themselves as being free from Crookedness