very cold and for the other four it was Winter Vers 8 Neither do they which go by say c. As they use to do to harvest men Ruth 2. 3 Joh. Christianity is no enemy to curtesie yet in some cases saith not God speed PSAL. CXXX VErs 1 Out of the depths have I cryed unto thee i. e. Ex portis ipsis desperationis from the very bosom and bottom of despair caused through deepest sense of sin and fear of wrath One deep calleth to another the depth of misery to the depth of mercy Basill and Beza interpret it Ex intimis cordis penetralibus from the bottom of my heart with all earnestness and humility Hee that is in the low pits and caves of the earth seeth the stars in the firmament so hee who is most low and lowly seeth most of God and is in best case to call upon him As spices smell best when beaten and as frankincense maximè fragrat cum flagrat is most odoriferous when cast into the fire so do Gods afflicted pray best when at the greatest under Isa 19.22 26.16 27.6 Luther when hee was buffeted by the Devill at Coburgh and in great affliction Joh. Manâ loc com 43. said to those about him Venite in contemptum diaboli Psalmum de profundis quatuor vocibus cantemus come let us sing that Psalm Out of the depths c. in derision of the Devill And surely this Psalm is a treasury of great comfort to all in distress reckoned therefore of old amongst the seven Penitentiââ and is therefore sacrilegiously by the Papists taken away from the living and applyed only to the dead for no other reason I think saith Beza but because it beginneth with Out of the Depths have I cryed a poor ground for Purgatory or for praying for the souls that are there as Bellarmine makes it Vers 2 Lord hear my voice Precum exauditie identidem est precanda Audience must be begged again and again and if hee once prepare our heart t is sure that hee will cause his ear to hear Psal 10.17 as when wee bid our Children ask this or that of us it is because wee mean to give it them Vers 3 If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities This and the next verse contains saith one the summe of all the Scriptures Twice hee here nameth the Lord as desirous to take hold of him with both his hands Extremity of Justice hee depreâââh hee would not bee dealt with in rigour and rage Extrema fateor commeritus sum Deus Quid enim aliud dixers It is confessed I have deserved the extremity of thy fury but yet let mee talk with thee as Jer. 12.1 or reason the case O Lord who shall stand Stand in Judgement as Psal 1.5 and not fall under the weight of thy just wrath which burneth as low as Hell it self How can any one escape the damnation of Hell which is the just hire of the least sin Rom. 6.23 and the best mans life is fuller of sins than the Firmament is oâ stars or the furnace of sparks Hence that of an Ancient Vâ homiuââ vitâ quantumvis laudabili si reââ miscericordiâ judicetur Woe to the best man alive should hee bee strictly dealt withall Surely if his faults were but written in his forehead it would make him pull ãâã hat over his eyes Vers 4 But there is forgiveness with thee This holds head above water that we have to do with a forgiving God Neb. 9.31 none like him for that Mic. 7.18 For hee doth it naturally Exod. 34.6 abundantly Isa 55.7 constantly as here there is still is forgiveness and propitiation with God so Job 1.27 the Lamb of God doth take away the sins of the World t is a perpetuall act and should be as a perpetuall picture in our hearts That thou mayest bee feared i. e. Sought unto and served It is a speech like that Psal 65.2 O thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come If there were not forgiveness with God no man would worship him from his heart but flye from his as from a Tyrant But a promise of pardon from a faithfull God maketh men to put themselves into the hands of justice in hope of mercy Mr. Perkins expoundeth the words thus In mercy thou pardonest the sins of some that thou mightest have some on earth to worship thee Vers 5 I wait for the Lord I wait and wait viz. for deliverance out of misery vers 1. being assured of pardoning mercy Feri Domine feri à peccatis enim absolutââ ãâã said Luther strike Lord while thou wilt so long as my sins are forgiveâ I can bee of good comfort I can wait or want for a need And ãâ¦ã viz. Of promise that ground of hope unfailable Rom. 5.5 of ãâã unfeigââed 1 Tim. 1.5 Vers 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord Or Watcheth for the Lord Heb My soul to the Lord an eclipticall concise speech importing strong affection as doth also the following reduplication Prae custodibus ad mane prae custodibus ad manâ I say more than they Or More than they that watch for the morning wait for the morning wherein they may sleep which by night they might not do Vers 7 Let Israel hope in the Lord Hope and yet fear as vers 4. with a filiall fear fear and yet hope Plenteous Redemption Are our sins great with God there is mercy matchless mercy Are our sins many with God is plenteous redemption multa redemptiâ hee will multiply pardons as wee multiply sins Isa 55.7 Vers 8 And hee shall redeem Israel By the value and vertue of Christs death by his merit and spirit 1 Cor. 6.11 PSAL. CXXXI VErs 1 Lord my heart is not haughty Though anointed and appointed by thee to the Kingdome yet I have not ambitiously aspired unto it by seeking Souls death as his pick thanks perswaded him nor do I now being possessed of it proudly domineer as is the manner of most Potentates and tyrannize over my poor subjects but with all modesty and humility not minding high things I do condescend to them of low estate Rom. 12.16 Now Bucholc in alto positum non altum sapere difficile est omnino inusitatum sed quanto inusitatius tanto gloriosius It is both hard and happy not to bee puffed up with prosperity and preferment Vespasian is said to have been the only one that was made better by being made Emperour Nor mine eyes lofty Pride sitteth and sheweth it self in the eyes as soon as in any part Ut speculum oculus est artis ita oculus est naturae speculum Neither do I exercise my self in great matters Heb. I walk not manes intra metas I keep within my circle within the compass of my calling not troubling my self and others by my ambitious projects and practices as Cleân did Alchibiades Cesar Borgia and others Ambitionists Or in things too high for mee Heb. Wonderfull high and hidden things that pass nay
it It is said that Severianus whom this Emperour injuriously put to death wished of God at Adrianus quamvis mortem obire percupiat tamen non possit that Adrian might desire to die and not be able or find opportunity There is an Epistle of his extant saith the Historian wherein is set forth what a misery it is to desire to die Dio Cass in Adrian and yet to be denied it This was the case of those Popelings Rev. 9.6 And in particular of Roger Bishop of Salisbury in King Stevens time who through long and strait imprisonment was brought to that evil passe ât vivere notuerit mori nescierit live he would not and yet die he could not This is a very typicall-hell and a fore-taste of eternall torment Verse 22. Which rejoyce exceedingly Joy till they skip again so Broughton rendreth it Strange that any should be so glad of death that last enemy that slaughter-man of nature and harbinger of hell to the ungodly but this the divel hideth from them till he hath them where he would have and whence there is no redemption What was it else that moved Augustus at his death to call for a Plâudite or that made Julian the Apostate to die so confidently and many now-adayes that have little reason for it to be so prodigall of their lives and seemingly fond of death Is it not because they are fearfully blinded by the god of this present world who holdeth his black hand before their eyes 2. Cor. 4.4 left they should see the evill consequents of death and be saved which because they do not what do they else but rejoyce exceedingly or with exultation as the word here signifieth in their wofull bondage and goe dancing to hell in their bolts not so much as desiring deliverance A man that is to be hanged next day may dream overnight he shall be set free nay that he shall bee a King and rejoyce therein accordingly but the end of such joy is heavinesse Verse 23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid i.e. Why is the light of life continued to him who is in a maze or labyrinth of miseries whereof he can see no cause and whereout he can descry no issue no hope at all appeareth of ever either mending or ending Therefore Vale lumen amicum as he in Saint Hierome said sweet light adieu Quin morere ut merita es as shee in the Poet Be thine owne deaths-man Seneca counts it a mercy to a man in misery that he may by laying hands on himself set out his life when he will and this he calls valour and man-hood But we have no so learned Christ neither may we leave our station till called for by our Captaine but must stand to our arms and as good Souldiers of Jesus Christ suffer hardship 2 Tim. 2.4 His word to us is the same as the Kings was to his Sonne the Black-Prince Speed either vanquish or dye and as she in the story said to her son when shee gave him his Target See that thou either bring this back with thee or else be thou brought back dead upon it out of the battel ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It troubled Job that he could not see his way and that God had hedged him in viz. with a thorn-hedge of afflictions Lam. 3.7 9. Hos 2.6 so that he could find no way out But what if he could not nor any man alive yet the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations 2 Pet. 2.9 He hath his way in the whirlewind and his judgements are a great deepe Psal 36.6 Sometimes secret they are but ever just Surely it had beene more meete for Job to have said unto God That which I see not teach thou mee c. yea Job 34.31 in the way of thy judgments O Lord have I waited for thee the desire of my soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee Isa 26.8 Verse 24. For my sighing cometh before I eat It cometh unsent for as evill weather useth to do and most unseasonably surprizeth me at my repast I mingle my meat with my tears with every bit of bread I have a morsell of sorrowes â and I mingle my drink with weeping Psal 102.9 though indeed Jobs was not so much a showre of teares as a storm of sighs and a volly of roarings betokening extremity of griefe such as was beyond tears and vented it selfe as the noise of many waters for my roarings saith he are poured out like water I am as hungry as a Lion roaring on his prey and as violent as the Torrents ranging the fields and yet I neither have leisure nor lift to eat my bread as loth to prolong such a troublesome life but that I must or be guilty of self-murther Mr Fox reports of Mr. John Glover that not long after his conversion upon a mistake of the sense of that text Heb. 6.5 6. he was strongly conceited that he had fallen into the unpardonable sinne and must necessarily therefore be damned and in that intolerable grief of mind although he neither had not could have any joy of his meat yet was he compelled to eate against his appetite to the end to deferre the time of his damnation so long as he might Acts Mon. 1552. Now who can tell how neere Jobs case might come to this fith the divell was both Author and Actor in a great part of both these Tragicomedies Verse 25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me Heb. I feared a fear and it came upon me Had Job been wicked this had been no wander Prov. 10.24 Job 15.21 Or had his fear been sinfull it had been lâsse pity Prov. 29.25 John 11.48 for why should he by a painfull ãâ¦ã suffer before he needed and send for his crosses before they came A good man should ãâã all and so consequently fearfull in nothing ââil 4.6 he should hope the best and beate bravely ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Demosthenes whatever God sendeth The Epicunts held that a good man might be cheerfull under whatsoever miseries 1. Ex prateritarum voluptatum recordatione Cic. de finib lib. 2. In consideration of honesty and integrity 2. In consideration of those pleasuâes and to ãâã that formerly he had enjoyed and now cheared up himself with Of neither of these was Job to seek But whereas it might be said unto him Is it fit for thee who hast hitherto been so happy now to take on so heavily because thus and thus afflicted Truly saith he I was never so happy as you took me for because considering how moveable and mutable all outward things are I alwayes feared lest I should out live my prosperity that which now also is unhappily befallen me Sylla had been happy si eundem vincândi ãâ¦ã fâcisset saith One that iâ if he had made an end of conquering and of living together but that he did not In him and many
on this Text Men that is broken crackt-creatures Morbis mortique obnoxii woful weights sorry and sickly Caitives This to know savingly is the beginning of true Humility saith Augustine here PSAL. X. VErs 1. Why standest then afar off O Lord As if thou-hadst forgotten what thou hadst promised thy people in the former Psalm which the Greek and Latine Versions make to be one and the same with this as having no title and tending almost to the same purpose Hence the difference in Numbers which holdeth almost to the end of the Psalter viz. to Psal 148. Why hidest thou thy self in time of trouble So God seemeth to do when he helpeth not presently neither doth any thing more trouble the Saints in affliction than the want of Gods gracious presence This maketh them thus to expostulate and lament after the Lord not quarrel as those Hypocrites did Isa 58.3 or revile as Caligula did his Jupiter taking up that Verse in Homer ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or with him little better in the holy History who said Behold this evil is of the Lord and what should I wait for the Lord any longer 2 King 6.33 The good Soul knows that God waiteth to be gracious and as he seldom cometh at our time so at his own which is ever the best time he never faileth Vers 2. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost The wicked in his pride doth persecute c. Heb. hotly pursueth and that out of his pride the true cause of Persecution whatever else is pretended And this is fitly here alledged and urged as an Argument to move God to make hast See Deut. 32.27 The Saints fare the better for the insolencies and outrages of their enemies whose ruine is thereby accelerated and somewhat God will do the sooner for his people lest the enemy exalt himself Psal 140.8 and say Our hand is high the Lord hath not done this Let them be taken in the devieâs c. As all Persecutors are sure to be In which regard Tertullian well adviseth Scapula Si nobis non parcis tibi parce si non tibi Carthagini If thou wilt not spare us Christians yet spare thy self or if not thy self yet thy City Carthage which else will smart and smoke for thy cruelty Vers 3. For the wicked boasteth of his hearts desire Though the Soul of the wicked desire evil Prov. 21.10 yet he glorieth in it as did that Thrasonical Lamech Gen. 4. and that Pyrgopolynices Nebuchadnezzar Isa 10.9 10 11 12. See Psal 5 Phil. 3.19 This the just and jealous God cannot bear as neither that which followeth He blesseth the Covetous Vt sapientem providum as a wise man and good Husband So they in Malachy who said And now we count the proud happy c. Felix scelus virtus vocatur Whom the Lord abhorreth smiting his hands with indignation at his dishonest gain Ezek. 22.13 like as Balac did at Balaam Senecaâ with whom he was deeply displeased Numb 24.10 Vers 4. The wicked through the pride of his countendnce That is of his heart appearing in his countenance as a master-pock in his fore-head For Pride buddeth Ezek. 7.10 the pride of Israel testifieth to his face Hos 5.5 the thoughts are oft seen in the countenance and the heart is printed upon the face Isa 3.9 'T is a hard thing saith one to have a brazen face and a broken heart Will not seek He thinks it not necessary or worth the while and his practice is agreeable that is nought all over Pride in the Soul is like a great swelling in the body which besides that it is a dangerous Symptom unfits it for any good service and is apt to putrifie and to break and to run with loath some and soul matter So doth Pride disable the Soul from doing duty and at last breaketh forth into odious deeds abominable to God and men It is observed that the ground whereon the Peacock useth to sit is by that occasion made exceeding barren so where pride roosteth and reigneth no good groweth God is not in all his thoughts God is neither in his head as here nor in his heart Psal 14.1 nor in his words Psal 12.4 nor in his ways Tit. 1.16 he is wholly without God in the world Ephes 2. he studies Atheism and all his thoughts are There is no God so this Text may be read he would fain so perswade himself Vers 5. His ways are always grievous As he Pleaseth not God so he is contrary and vexatious to men Via ejus semper terrent so Aben-Ezra The Psalmist here noteth him for such an one as the Cyclops are set forth to have been by the Poets Thy Judgements are far above out of his sight He looketh not so high but reckoneth that quae supra nos nihil ad nos If he read them at any time he regardeth them as little as he doth the story of forein Wars wherein he is not concerned As for all his enemies he puffeth at them He holdeth himself man good enough to make his party good with them and that he can overthrow them all with a puffe He defieth them and domintereth over them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysost as the Greek renders it Vers 6. He hath said in his heart I shall not be moved So said a better man once Psal 30.6 but he was quickly confuted If a beleever conclude by the force of his faith that he shall never be moved from that good estate in which Christ hath set him this is the triumph of trust and not the vain vaunt of presumption For I shall never be in adversity The Chaldee hath it Quoniam non sum in malo and understandeth it of the evil of sin as Exod. 32.22 and then the sense is because the wicked man suffereth not the punishment of sin therefore he conceiteth that he is innocent and without sin See Hos 12.8 with the Note Vers 7. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit Such cursing men are cursed men and for such slippery and deceitful persons the Lord is the avenger of all such 1 Thess 4.8 Vnder his tongue is mischief that is in his heart which is by Nature placed beneath the Tongue making its use of it for much mischief Matth. 12.34 Jam. 3.8 The word Toch here rendred fraud signifieth properly the middle of any thing Quoniam fraus in modio cordis est saith R. David because fraud is in the middle of the heart and there-hence sent into the mouth Vers 8. He sitteth in the lurking-places c. A description of an High-way-robber saith Diodate under which name are meant all violent and fraudulent men and their actions Vers 9. He lieth in wait secretly as a Lion in his den See Job 38.40 with the Note When hee draweth him into his Net that is into his bonds debts morgages saith Chrysostome When a poor man is once gotten into these Nets wicked Oppressors do not only rob but ravish them coyning their mony
greatnesse before Absolens disturbed mee and drove mee out though he could not but be sensible of such a losse we know what miserable moans Cicere made when fent into banishment how impatient Cato and many others were in like case so that they became their own deathsmen but after Thee Lord and the enjoyment of thy publick ordinances from which I am now alasse hunted and hindred After that Gods holy Spirit hath once touched a soul it will never be quier untill it stands pointed God-ward Vers 2. My Soul thirsteth for God More than ever it did once for the waâer of the Well of Bethelem and that because he is the living God the fountain of living waters that only can cooll and quench my desires Jer. 2.13 17.13 so as I shall never thirst again Joh. 4.14 whereas of all things else we may say Quo plus sunt pota plus sitiuntur aqua The Rabbines note here Ovid. Kimchi Aben-Ezra that David saith not so hungreth but so thirsteth my soul because men are more impatient of thirst than of hunger they can go diverse dayes without meat Curt ex Diodoro but not without drink Alexander lost a great part of his army marching through the Wildernesse of the Susitans by want of water When shall I come and appear before God Heb. And see the face of God viz. in his Tabernacle Eheu igitur quando tandem mibi miserrimo dabitur ut te in aede tua conspiciam These earnest pantings inquietations and unsatisfiable desires after God and his ordinances are sure signes of true grace But woe to our worship-scorners c. Vers 3. My tears have been my meat day and night Hunters say the Hart sheddeth tears or something like tears when he is pursued and not able to escape Hereunto David might allude Sure it is that as Hinds by calving so men by weeping cast out their sorrowes Job 39.3 Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor And Act. and Mon. 1457. Affert solatium lugentibus suspiriorum societ as saith Basil sighs are an ease of sorrow Of Mr. Bradford the Martyr it is reported that in the midst of dinner he used oft to muse having his hat over his eyes from whence came commonly plenty of tears dropping on his trencher ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The better any are So Psal 80.5 the more inclined to weeping as David than Jonathan 1 Sam. 20. Here we have him telling us that his tears were his meat or his bread as Gregory readeth it and he giveth this reason that like as the more bread wee eat the dryer we are and the more thirsty so the more tears of godly sorrow we let fall the more we thirst after that living fountain springing from above Davids greatest grief was that he was banished from the Sanctuary and next to that the reproachfull blasphemy of his enemies hitting him in the teeth with his God as if not able or not willing to relieve him now in his necessity and bitterly upbraiding him with his hopes as altogether vain Whiles they continually say unto mee Where is thy God Violenti certe impetus saith Vatablus here these were violent shocks indeed and such as wherewith Davids faith might have been utterly overthrown had it not been the better rooted and withall upheld by the speciall power of the Spirit of grace Other of Gods suffering Saints have met with the like measure At Orleance in France as the bloody Papists murthered the Protestants they cryed out where is now your God what is become of all your prayers and Psalms now Let your God that you called upon save you if he can Mr. Clarks Gen. Martyrol P. 316. Others sang in scorn Judge and revenge my cause O Lord Others Have mercy on us Lord c. The Queen Mother of Scotland having received aid from France forced the Protestants for a while to retire to the High-Lands whereupon she scoffingly said where is now John Knox his God My God is now stronger than his yea even in Fife but her braggs lasted not long for within a few dayes Mr. Knox his life by Mr. Clark six hundred Protestants beat above four thousand French and Scots c. Gods Servants fare the better for the insolencies of their enemies who when they say where is now their God might as well say betwixt the space of the new and old Moon where is now the Moon when as it is never nearer the Sun than at that time Vers 4. When I remember these things viz. My present pressures compared with my former happiness Cic. de Fin. 1. 2. Sen. deben 1.4 c. 22. Miserum sanè est fuisse felicem The Epicures held but I beleeve they did not beleeve themselves therein that a man might be cheerful amidst the most exquisite torments Ex prâteritarum upluptatum recordatione by the remembrance of his former pleasures and delights David found this here but a slight and sorry comfort though he better knew how than any of them to make the best of it and his delights had been farre more solid and cordial I pour out my soul See Job 30.16 with the Note For I had gone with a multitude Heb. A thick croud or throng of good peole frequââting the publick Ordinances and David in the head of them One rendreth it In umbra vel umbrella sicut mos est Orientalium ambulare umbrellis contra ardorem solis accommodatis I went with them to the house of God Lente Itabam I went with a gentle pace Gressââ grallatorio He speaketh saith Vatablus of the order observed by the faithful when they went to the Sanctuary viz. in comely equipage singing praise to God Kimchi in ãâã Radiâ and confessing his goodness Vers 5. Why art thou âast down O my soul Here David seemeth to be Homo divisus in duas partes saith Vatablus a man divided into two parts as indee devery new man is two men and what is to be seen in the Shulamite but as it were the company of two Armies Cant. 6.13 David chideth David out of his dumps So did Alice Benden the Martyr rehearsing these very words when she had been kept in the Bishops prison all alone nine weeks with bread and water and received comfort by them in the midst of her miseries Act. Monâ 1797. And why art thou disquieted in me A good mans work lieth most within doors he hath more ado with himself than with all the world besides he prayeth oft with that Ancient Libera me Domine à malo homine meip so Deliver me Lord from that naughty man my self How oft do we punish our selves by our passions as the Lion that beateth himself with his own tail Grief is like Lead to the soul heavie and cold sinking it downward taking off the wheels of it and disabling it for duty like as a Limb that is out of joynt can do nothing without deformity and pain Keep up thy spirit therefore and watch against
they be yet they must not look to be yokelesse lawlesse awlesse but to serve God with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 As it is written in the book of Moses Moses then was the Pen-man of the Pentateuch and not Ezra as some have said grounding upon that Apocryphal Esdras Verse 19. And the children of the captivity So the returned captives are called First to keep still afoot the remembrance of their late misery lest they should despise the chastening of the Lord Heb. 12.5 Secondly to inmind them of that signal mercy of their returne to their owne Countrey Hence doth the Evangelist Matthew so oft mention their transportation to Babylon and rings it in the eares of his ungrateful Countrey-men Mat. 1.11 12 17. Kept the Passeover In remembrance that the punishing Angel passed over their Ancestours in Egypt Exod. 12. and for confirmation of their faith in Christ the true Paschal Lamb. Hast thou escaped a danger offer a Passeover Hath Christ delivered thee from the wrath to come keep the Feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth 1 Cor. 5.8 Vpon the fourteenth day of the first moneth See Exod. 12.2 with the Note Verse 20. Were purified together Misery had framed them to unanimity See 2 Chron. 29.34 All of them were pure Ritually at least if not really And killed the Passeover i. e. The Paschal Lamb whereof see Exod. 12. with the Notes For all the children See the Note one verse 19. And for themselves For they also were sinners and needed a Saviour Heb. 7.27 That Popish Postiller was utterly out when from Exod. 30.31 32. he will needs inferre that Priests when once anointed with the holy oile were thenceforth Angels Spirits not having humane flesh or infirmities Verse 21. And the children of Israel The whole community of what Tribe soever And all such as had separated themselves Who were the better to like because not Prosperity-proselytes such as came in not a few in Solomons time but the Jewes were very careful how they received them as Josephus relateth From the filthinesse of the heathen Who had filled the Land from one end to the other with their uncleannesses Ezra 9.11 Great sins do greatly pollute To seek the Lord God of Israel To seek not his omnipresence for that none need to do sith he is not farre from any one of us Acts 17. but his gracious presence And such a seeker is every good soul Psal 24.6 This is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face that is Jacob. Did eate Edebant id est credebant for even Christ their Passeover was sacrificed for them 1 Cor. 5.7 Verse 22. And kept the feast of unleavened bread See 1 Cor. 7.8 and Exod. 12.35 with the Notes Seven dayes This began on the fifteenth day and lasted till the one and twentieth day Num. 28.16 17. Exod. 34.25 With joy See the Note on verse 16. For the Lord had made them joyful Given them cause of joy and an heart enlarged accordingly a mind right set for the purpose Saint James his word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã chap. 5.13 shewes that all true mirth is from the rectitude of a mans minde which God onely giveth And turned the heart of the King c. It is He alone that gives favour that frameth mens opinions and affections that maketh a good mans enemies to be at peace with him To strengthen their hands As verse 8. And this did more ennoble him then all his warlike atchievements CHAP. VII Verse 1. Now after these things AFter that Zerubbabel had done his devoir in building the Altar and Temple Ezra according to the notation of his name began his and became a singular helper of the afflicted Church of God as appeareth in this Chapter and those that follow In the reigne of Artaxerxes sc Longimanus Esters sonne and the same that thirteene years after sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem Nehem. 2. whilest Ezra was yet alive Nehem. 8.1 Ezra the sonne of Seraiah That is the grand-sonne for Seraiah was slaine when Jerusalem was last taken 2 Kings 25.18 21. Verse 2. The sonne of Shallum See 1 Chron. 6.7 8 9 10. Of those two books of Chronicles this same Ezra is held to be the Pen-man and it is not improbable Verse 3. The sonne of Meraioth Here 's a great heap six of Ezra's ancestours likely for brevity sake being overskipped Verse 4. The sonne of Zeraiah c. These might be as one saith of Jesse the father of David Viri boni honesti minùs tamen clari good men but obscure Verse 5. The sonne of Aaron the chief Priest Ezra then was ex genere pontificio as those Acts 4.5 non tamen pontifex The title of chief Priest is never given unto him Verse 6. This Ezra went up from Babylon Together with many others who were moved thereunto by his example and authority He was as one saith of Tiberius imperio magnus exemplo major Paterc Great men are Looking-glasses according to which most men dresse themselves let them look to it therefore and shine as Lamps And he was a ready Scribe Or a nimble Text-man his office was to write out copies of the Law and to interpret it He wrote say some the Hebrew Bible out in Chaldee letters the same that we now call Hebrew the ancient Hebrew characters remained with the Samaritans for the use of his Countrey-men returned out of Chaldea He first ordained say others the Vowels Accents and Masoreth A great Scholar he was and excellently well seene in Scripture-learning to which all other skill is but straminea candela a rush-candle a small light that serveth but to light men into utter darknesse Be wise be learned saith the Psalmist but withall Serve the Lord with feare Kisse the Sonne c. Psal 2. Balt. Exner. Otherwise ye may be as learned as Varro that general Scholar as Albertus magnus quem nihil penitùs fugit omnia perfectè novit who knew whatsoever was knowable Bonosius as one saith of him or as Tostatus otherwise called Abulensis qui omnium scientiarum doctrinarumque arca fuit emporium saith he that writeth his life who was a living library and yet ye may perish everlastingly The Jewes called their learned men Scribes as the Persians did theirs Magi the French Druides the Indians Brachmanni c. But he that is not a Scribe instructed and instructing others to the Kingdome of heaven Matth. 13.52 shall hear Where is the wise Where is the Scribe Where is the disputer of this world Sapientes sapientèr in infernum descendent 1 Cor. 1.20 Aug. Which the Lord God of Israel had given The Moral Law with his owne immediate mouth so that he might say with Joseph Gen. 45.12 Behold your eyes see that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you the other Lawes he ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediatour i. e. of Moses Gal. 3.19 Hence Josephus calleth the Jewish politie a Theocratie and
Origen wrought much upon Alexander Severus the Emperour by his sound doctrine and holy conversation but especially his mother Mammaea who became a great friend to the persecuted Christians Verse 16. And all the silver and gold that thou canst finde And gold-thirsty Babylon was not without great store of both could the owners but finde in their hearts to part with it to so pious an use Some did and the rather because the King and his Councel began to them With the free-will offering of the people Gods select people of whom Moses singeth Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee O people Deut. 33.29 Verse 17. That thou mayest buy speedily Illicò God is himself a pure act and hateth dulnesse in duty What thou doest do quickly said Christ even to the very Traytour that did seek and suck his blood Verse 18. And whatsoever shall seeme good to thee c. The King knew them to be faithful and wise stewards such as Hanani was Nehem. 7.2 and therefore leaveth much of the money to be bestowed as they pleased Verse 19. The vessels also c. How naturally seemeth this King to care for the service of God! and what pity is it that he should so oft call Him Your God and Thy God and not owne him for his So hard a thing it is to relinquish that vaine conversation that people have received by tradition from their fathers I will never forsake the Religion that I have received from my fore-fathers said Tully And the Monarch of Morocco told the English Embassadour that he had lately read Saint Pauls Epistles and liked them so well that were he now to chuse his Religion he would before any other embrace Christianity But every one ought said he to die in his owne Religion and the leaving of the faith wherein he was borne was the onely thing that he disliked in that Apostle Verse 20. And whatsoever more c. What could this King say more to seale up his good affection to the work in hand Shall not this liberal Heathen rise up in judgement and condemne such hold-fasts amongst us such miserly money-hoarders as have no quick-silver no currant money for God or any good uses but are the richer the harder as Dives Verse 21. Let it be done speedily Without shucking and hucking without delayes and consults I even I will have it so saith the great King dispute not therefore but dispatch Quod ego volo pro canone sit as Constantius the Emperour said to Paulinus Lucifer and other dissenting Bishops Verse 22. Vnto an hundred talents of silver This was no small summe How chargeable was the service of God heretofore to what it is now and yet how heavily do men come off when to expend though but a very small summe that way Ad quid perditio haec To what end is this waste is the common cry in this case Surely Pagans and Papagans who lavish money out of the bag without measure dotantque Deos alienos as some read that text Psal 16.3 shall have an easier judgement then such pinch-penny professours Verse 23. For why should there be wrath Heb. Boyling or foaming anger great indignation as it is rendered and made the utmost degree of the divine displeasure Deut. 29.28 Of all things God cannot endure to be slighted and to have his service neglected this blinde nature saw and was therefore sedulous herein to prevent wrath Aristotle hath this divine precept ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Make Religion thy first and chief care Arist polit l. 7. c. 8. that thou mayest prosper c. Let our worship-scorners look to it do they provoke the Lord to wrath are they stronger then He will they bring Gods vengeance upon us all Against the Realme the King and his sonnes For God is higher then the highest and will raine downe indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil or that neglecteth to do good for not-serving of God Rom. 2.8 9. not-sacrificing is a sin Mal. 3.18 Eccles 9.2 And sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgements to it both personal and publike as the loadstone doth iron or Turpentine fire Verse 24. And also we certifie you that touching any of the Priests These he taketh special order for that they be freed from publike payments and the like care was taken by our Ancestours for the Ministers of the Church of England as appeareth by Magna Charta chap. 14. Their maintenance is of the Law of Nature Gen. 47.22 Jezabel provided for her Priests Idolatrous Micah for his Levite the Papists for their shavelings granting them many and great immunities and being so free to them that there was need of a Statute of Mortmain providing that men should give no more to the Church But tempora mutantur c. Verse 25. And thou Ezra Qui monet ut facias c. After the wisdome of God that is in thine hand That is in thine heart and life Sapientia est vel codicibus cordibus Ezra had both these being a thorough wise man All such as know the Lawes of thy God Else how shall they see them duly executed How shall they be as so many living Lawes walking Statutes How shall they teach in the Cities of Judah as Jehosaphats Judges did 2 Chron. 17.7 9. and as it followeth here And teach ye them that know them not How can the people performe their duty which they are ignorant of Verse 26. And whosoever will not do the Law of thy God In the first place and then the Kings Law as it is subordinate and subservient to Gods Obediemus Atridis honesta mandanâibus non alitèr In Iphigenia saith He in Euripides If the King command honest things we will obey him otherwise not Let judgement be speedily executed upon him Let this be noted against those that hold that Magistrates have nothing to do with men in matters of Religion Artaxerxes here interposeth and Ezra blesseth God for it See Dan. 3.29 Deut. 13.6 Rom. 13.4 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Verse 27. Blessed be the Lord God Deo gratias is ever in a good mans mouth The Jewes at this day are bound to say an hundred Benedictions every day and more as occasion requires Leo Modena Verse 28. And hath exercised mercy unto me sc By making use of my service for the promoting of his Any employment about God is an high preferment and so to be esteemed yea it is a mercy and sealeth up farther mercie CHAP. VIII Verse 1. These are now the chief of their fathers THe chieftaines of those that went up with Ezra beside those that went up at first with Zerubbabel Verse 2. Of the sonnes of Phineas The sonne of Eleazar the sonne of Aaron that renowned Zelot with whom and his seed after him God gave a Covenant of peace even the Covenant of an everlasting Priesthood Num. 25.12 13. Daniel Not the Prophet Daniel Gods darling Dan. 9.23 but another of the same name
and prayer we can seek of God direction and protection as here we shall speed of both And for our little ones These should be a main part of our care to lay up prayers for them to commend them to Gods safe-keeping forasmuch as puerilitas est periculorum pelagus Little ones are liable to a thousand deaths and dangers And for all our substance Our stock and our store all the goods that we have got and gathered together Our English word Riches answereth to the Hebrew Recush Vers 22. For I was ashamed Heb I blusht and was abasht I knew not how to put on the face to do it neither could I bring my mind to crave a convoy though it might have been of great use to us lest the name of God should thereby be dishonoured and his excellencies questioned It is the ingenuity of Saints to study Gods ends more then their own and to be far more troubled when any thing crosseth him then when themselves are crossed or disappointed Propter te Domine propter te is the good mans Motto Choice and excellent spirits are all for God whatever becometh of themselves Vers 22. Because we had spoken to the King saying They had spoken good of Gods Name and amply set forth his power providence goodnesse and other Attributes being no whit ashamed so to do before Kings as Psal 119.46 so did Chrysostome Basil Latimer Lambert John Colet Dean of Pauls and Founder of the Free-school there He for the bold and faithful discharge of his duty in a Sermon before Hen. the eighth at the siege of Tournay was called to his trial by the Kings Counsellours but the issue proved happy for he gave so great content to the King M. Clark in his Life that he taking a cup of Wine said Deane I drink to you let every one take whom he will for his Confessour you shall be my Doctour Holy Ezra found no lesse favour with this might Monarch whom he had well informed in the manifold excellencies of God as appeareth by this and sundry other preceding passages The hand of our God is upon all them c. To hide them in the hollow of it till the indignation be overpast to hold them by their right hand and so to guide them by his Counsel that he may afterwards take them to his glory Psal 73.23 24. But his power and his wrath Id est His powerful wrath his anger armed with power for vanae sine viribus irae Psal 90.11 Jam. 4 10. But who knoweth the power of thine anger saith Moses even according to thy fear so is thy wrath Let him fear thee never so much he is sure to feel thee more if once he fall into thy fingers into that mighty hand of thine as St. James stileth it before which ten thousand Kings cannot stand Let God-forsakers therefore do as those Elders of Israel did 2 Kings 10.3 4 5. Is against all them that forsake him Such are all they 1. That forsake not their sins Job 20.17 Isa 55.7 2. That know not God Isa 1.3 4. Eph. 4.18 3. That trust to idols or creature-comforts arm of flesh 1 Kings 9.9 Josh 24.20 Jer. 2.13 4. Church-forsakers and Apostates Heb. 10.25 38. God hath against all these and will consume them after that he hath done them good Josh 24.20 Psal 73.27 1 Chron. 28.9 Jon. 2.8 Jer. 17.13 Deut. 31.16 2 Chron. 12.5 and 15.2 and 24.20 Verse 23. So we fasted They put their holy resolution into execution purpose without practise is like Rachel beautiful but barren And besought our God for this And they had it 2 Sam. 1.22 Verse 31. For fasting and prayer are like Jonathans bow and Sauls sword that never turned back or returned empty God is a liberal Rewarder of all such as in this sort diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 2 Chron. 15.2 He will turn their fasting into feasting their prayers into praises Ezek 36.37 Zech. 8.19 They shall have out their prayers either in mony or monies-worth either in the very thing they desired or at least strength to stay themselves upon God with good assurance that his grace shall be sufficient for them and that he will be their shield and their exceeding great reward Verse 24. Then I separated twelve I singled them and set them apart for this great trust vide cui fidas Sherebiah Hoshabiah Heb. With Sherebiah Hoshabiah men of known integrity Vers 18.19 and ten of their brethren with them four and twenty in all a complete company of faithful Trustees Verse 25. And weighed unto them Heb. I scaled it out unto them Cyrus taled it out to Zerubbabel Chap. 1.8 9 c. And his Lords Called Mighty Princes Chap. 7.28 see Isa 10.8 And all Israel there present Heb. There found at that time or that had found in their purses found in their hearts Verse 26. Six hundred and fifty talents of silver That is 243750 pounds sterling An hundred talents That is 37500 pounds sterling Verse 27. Of a thousand drammes 312 pounds and 10 shillings The Hebrew or rather Chaldee word here rendred a Dramme seemes to be taken from the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And two vessels of fine Copper Ex orichalco praestante Of some choyce mixt mettle Auro contrâ non caro Verse 28. Ye are holy to the Lord Heb. Ye are holinesse unto the Lord and must sanctifie the holy God in righteousness Esa 5.16 The vessels are holy also Id est set apart to sacred uses and therefore to be kept carefully used respectively The Turks spare and keep better then ordinary Grand Sign Serag those very Asses of theirs that have been used for carriage to Mecha where their Mahomet lyeth buried Neither will they put paper to any base use because that both the Name of God and the Mahometan Law are written upon the like Verse 29. Watch ye with utmost care and solicitude as the word signifieth How much more should we watch and trebble watch as Luk. 12.37 38 43. to keep our vessels bodies in sanctification and honour Not in the lust of concupiscence c especially since Aug. Adversus majora vigilantibus quaedam in cautis minutiora surrepant and Satan worketh strongest on the fancy when the soul is sleepy or a little drowsy Watch ye therefore and keep This lesson had need to be often rung in our ears Verse 30. So took the Priests and the Levites The great charge committed to them and laid upon them did not weaken but waken their heroik spirits Tu non crede malis sed contrà audentior ito Verse 31. And of such as lay in wait by the way Enemies they had not a few when was it otherwise but some that purposely way-laid them M Clarks Lives but were defeated by a gracious providence So were the Manichees who lay in wait for Austin and those that pursued Jewel about the beginning of Q. Maries Raign as he was going from Oxford to London Both
exorcism to conjure down our rebellious wills and as cords or chains to hamper our treacherous hearts that they backslide not like back sliding heifers Moist bodies as water must be put into close Vessels so must mans heart be bound together by strongest helps and resolutions Neither cast we any new snare hereby upon ourselves 1 Cor. 7.35 but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt we owe to God Such was that of Jacob Gen. 28.20 and 31.13 of David Psal 119.106 Of the Nazarites Num. 6.2 3. Rechabites Jer. 35.6 This shewes a very earnest desire to obey it sharpneth also our prayers and dishearteneth the Devil who seeing us thus peremptory and resolute will despair and depart Then Ezra rose up from before the House of God Where God had promised to hear prayers for Christs sake whereof that house was a type See ver 1. And went into the chamber of Johanan As a fit meeting-place where they might consider consult and give counsel Over the Counsel-chamber at Venice is written Let nothing be done here against the Weal-publike A Professour of the Turks Law proclaimeth before they advise or attempt ought That nothing be done against Religion Over the Town hall in Zant are set these two Verses in letters of gold Hic locus odit amat punit conservat honorat Nequitiam pacem crimina jura bonos Think the same we must needs of this holy Conclave or Council-chamber where the Sanhedrin was present and Ezra President He did eat no bread nor drink no water Though fasting and faint with much mourning yet no food would down with him till he had gone thorough-stitch with the work It was his meat and drink to do the will of his Heavenly Father So it was good Jobs chap. 23.12 and our Saviours Matth. 21.17 23. It was then when disappointed of a breakfast at the barren Fig-tree and coming hungry into the City he went not into a Victualling-house nor into a Friends house to refresh himself but into Gods House where he continued teaching the people all that day For he mourned because of the transgression It was not then a natural abstinence arising from sicknesse nor a civil for healths sake or for some other wordly respect but a Religious fast which is usually to be held out a whole day usque dum Stellae in Coelo appareant as an old Canon hath it till the Stars appear in the sky yet so as that nature be chastised not disabled for duty Verse 7. And they made proclamation Heb. They caused a voyce to passe viz. by an Herald or Cryer That they should gather themselves together And so the guilty might be brought to their answer in that general assembly Verse 8. And that whosoever would not come c. Lawes if they be not penal and compulsory will soon be slighted by lawlesse awelesse persons Howbeit Flies must not be killed upon mens browes with beetles peccadillo's must not be punished as haynous crimes Draco made it capital to be idle to steal pot hearbs c. Of his Lawes Aristotle saith that they were not worthy remembrance but onely for their over-great severity Ezra's Laws were more mild All his substance shall be forfeited This to men of their mettle was a forcible motive When some have a losse in their riches it is as it were raked out of their bellies a piece of their very heart goes with it Job 20.15 and they are filled with unmedicinable sorrowes Eccles 5. And himself separated from the Congregation Banished the Land or at least cast out of the Church Wo be to those that separate themselves Jude 19. Cainites you may call them Gen. 4.16 Our Church-forsakers Worship-scorners that last brood of Beelzebub Verse 9. Within three dayes They durst not outstand their time because their estates were at stake Why is there not the like care taken and speed used to make peace with God sith for ought we know 't is now or never to day or not at all Is it nothing to lose an immortal soul why then cry we Cras Domine why stand we trifling and baffling from day to day till it be all-too-late Remember the foolish Virgins and be wiser It was the ninth Moneth Which was the Moneth of May saith Diodate counting September for the first after the manner of the Persians Esth 2.16 and this great rain being out of the accustomed season was somwhat prodigious seemed to portend Gods wrath as 1 Sam. 12.17 Others make it to be in December the deep of Winter which though it be an ordinary time of raine whence in Greek also it hath its name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in Latine Hyems yet these showers were extraordinary more like spouts then showers and thence the peoples fear much increased by their guilt for as no body is without its shadow so is no sin without its fear quia nec sine conscientia sui Tertul. because it cannot shake off conscience Verse 10. We have trespassed We have disloyally or rather sacrilegiously trespassed by transgressing the Covenant Other mens sins are rebellions against God but the Saints sinnes are treacheries Let the Philistins bind Sampson it will be nothing so grievous to him as that his brethren should do it Mens offences are much increased by their obligations To increase the trespasse of Israel To adde to the heap which thereby is grown as high as Heaven chap. 9.6 and calls hard for fire from thence Psal 11.6 to revenge the quarel of the Covenant Draw water therefore before the Lord as those did 1 Sam. 7.6 Yea poure out your hearts before him God is a refuge for us Psal 62.7 Verse 11 Now therefore make confession This is the souls vomit which is the hardest kind of Physick Vomitus sordiuÌ animae Naz. but healthsomest This the Devil knowes viz. that there is no way to purge the sick soul but upwards by casting out the vicious humour wherewith it is clogged and therefore he holds the lips close that the heart may not disburden it self by so wholesome evacuation Confession must follow upon conviction as here and be followed by reformation And do his pleasure and separate c. For they that confesse and forsake not their sins are onely dog-sick When they have disgorged their stomacks and got a little ease they will be as bad as before Wicked people make account of confession as drunkards do of vomiting that they may adde drunkennesse to thirst But the man that shall have mercy must both confesse and forsake Prov. 28.13 Open a veyn and let out his bad blood Verse 12. Then all the Congregation answered and said with a loud voyce But not with a true heart Heb. 10.22 For within a few years they returned to their vomit again As thou hast said so must we do These were good words and not unlike those of Laelius in Lucan spoken to Caesar Jussa sequi tà m velle mihi quà m posse necesse est But many of
expecteth that he shall have his prayers granted The Septuagint render it so be it or so it is The Apostle reckoneth it for a great losse when people either say not Amen to publike prayers or not heartily and affectionately as here 1 Cor. 14.16 Else When thou shalt blesse with the spirit how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen The Turks also when their Priest hath said his Letany such as it is make answer in manner of a shout Homin that is Amen With lifting up their hands And withall their hearts unto God in the Heavens Lam. 3.41 This Nazianzen judgeth to be optimum opus manuum the best work of the hands sc in Coelos eas extendere ad precesque expandere to stretch them towards Heaven and to hold them out in prayer This way David ennobled his tongue therefore called his glory and so men may their hands And they bowed their heads In token of the lowlinesse of their hearts These outward gestures as they issue from the fervency of a good heart so they reflect upon the affections and do further inflame them Onely note that these bodily exercises are not alwayes or absolutely necessary in Divine worship God looks chiefly at the heart and hateth all outside-service and heartlesse devotion Isa 1. and 66.3 and such as is that of the Jews at this day Their holinesse saith One is the outward work it self being a brainlesse head and soul-lesse body And the like may be said of the Papist and of the common Protestant whose body is prostrate but his soul bolt-upright within him Verse 7. Also Jeshua and Bani c. caused the people to understand the Law As the audience was great so great was the company of Preachers Psal 68.11 The people were too many to be taught by one therefore they made sundry Companies and Congregations and had several Teachers as had likewise those primitive Christians Act. 1. and 3. when once they grew numerous And the people stood in their places Heb. And the people upon their stand They kept their stations according to their divisions not shuffling or shifting from Preacher to Preacher but abiding and attending with utmost intention and retention Verse 8. Explanatè Junius So they read in the Book in the Law of God distinctly Expositè clarè vel cum expositione They read aloud and so treatably and plainely that all might know what they read Some stumble over the chapter so fast that few are the better And gave the sense Viz. by comparing place with place and interpreting one Scripture by another See the like done by St. Paul at Damascus Act. 9.22 he layd one Text to another ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Artificers do the several pieces of their work that they may perfectly agree the one with the other Causing the people to understand the reading Dabant intelligentiam per scripturam ipsam so Tremellius rendreth it Of the Law it may be said Et latet lâcet The Prophets are as so many expositours and explainers thereof they do excellently unfold and draw out that arras which was folded together before they give us Moses unveiled Search the Scriptures therefore and compare them Parallel texts like glasses set one against another do cast a mutual light like the Sun the Scriptures shew other things and themselves too Verse 9. Mr. Clarks Lives Part. 2. pag. 31. And Nehemiah which is the Tirshata Or Governour See Ezra 2.63 He had Jovianus the Emperours wished happinesse which was that he might govern wise men and that wise men might govern him And Ezra the Priest and Scribe See ver 3. And the Levites that taught the people That numerus nominum id est hominum mentioned ver 7. Men most happy in such melting hearers We now-adayes prevail as little as Bede did when he preached to an heap of stones This day is holy unto the Lord your God Your mourning therefore now is as much out of season as Sampson's Wives weeping was at her wedding All Gods worships were to be celebrated with joy Deut. 12.7 and sacrifices offered in mourning were abomination Hos 9.4 See Mal. 2.13 with the Note Mourn not nor weep Sc. Under sense of sin and fear of wrath This they were called to at another time Esay 22.12 Jam. 4 9 10. but every thing is beautiful in its season Eccles 3.3 For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law For like cause as Josiah did 2 King 22.11 19. His tender heart was troubled and terrified by the menaces of Gods mouth uttered against his and the peoples sins Hence some inferre that it was the Decalogue together with the malediction that was now read and applied and that made them weep so fast Get thee Gods Law saith holy Bradford as a glasse to look in so shall you see your face foul-arrayed and so shameful mangy pockey and scabbed that you cannot but be sorry at the contemplation thereof especially if you look to the tag tied to Gods Law which is such Serm. of Rep. pag. 20.26 27. as cannot but make us cast our currish tayles betwixt our legges if we beleeve it But oh faithlesse hard hearts O Jezebels guests rocked and laid asleep in her bed c. Verse 10. Then he said unto them Go your way A friendly dismission We must so reproove or admonish others as that we ever preserve in them an opinion of our good will unto them for this is that sugar that sweetneth all such tarter pilles Go your way eat c One being asked whether a good man might not feed upon sweet and delicate meat eat the fat and drink the sweet even the choysest Wines and chiefest viands answered Yes except God made bees onely for fools God freely permitteth to his best children the use of his best creatures even to an honest affluence on Thanksgiving-dayes especially provided that they feed with fear and keep within the bounds of sobriety And send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared That is to the poore the fatherlesse and the widdowes Deut. 16.14 Who have not their set meales nor certain dishes but as hard fare for their holy-day chear as Christs Disciples had once for their Sabbath-dayes dinner Matth. 12.1 For this day is holy unto the Lord An holy convocation Lev. 23.24 a day of blowing Trumpets a feast-day See Zach. 8.19 with the Note A more liberal use of the creature dilateth and exhilarateth the heart and so disposeth it to thankfulnesse Jam. 5.13 Psal 92.2 3. Eat that thy soul may blesse me Gen. 27.19 The idolatrous Israëlites sat down to eat and drink and then rose up to play Gods people should much more rejoyce in the Lord when refreshed by the creatures speaking good of his Name and serving him with cheerfulnesse in the abundance of all things Deut. 28.47 Neither be ye sorry No not for your sins now least it prove a sinful sorrow See ver 9. For the joy of the Lord
distance and disproportion Thus Angels As for Saints All thy works praise thee O God saith David that is they give matter and occasion but thy Saints blesse thee Psal 145.10 How they do this see Rev. 5.11 12. Verse 7. Thou art the Lord the God Heb. That Lord with an emphasis with an accent and besides thee there is none other See verse 6. This is proved by his free favours to Israel and patient bearing with their evil manners in the wildernesse there being not any God like unto our God for pardoning of sinne and passing by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage Mic. 7.18 And didst chuse Abram God first chose him for his love and then loved him for his choice And broughtst him out of Vr of the Chaldees Pulling him as a brand out of that fire where till then he had lived and might else have died an Idolater Josh 24.2 And gavest him the name of Abraham See the Note on Gen. 17.5 Verse 8. And foundest his heart faithful He must needs finde it so who had made it so Otherwise Abraham as well as any other might well say Bern. Horreo quicquid de meo est ut meus sim The natural heart is deceitful and desperately wicked c. a bundle of sinne folly is bound up c. a treasury of sinne an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart c. a raging Sea of sinne Esay 57.20 a world of wickednesse James 3.6 If any good be in it 't is but as a drop of rose-water in a bowle of poyson where falling it is presently corrupted And madest a Covenant with him To be his God and the God of his seed This was divini mellis alveare the bee-hive of heavenly honey this was more then to be made Monarch of the whole world See Gen. 17.20 21. To give the land of the Canaanites c. Who had filled that good land from one end to the other with their uncleannesses Ezra 9.11 and were therefore worthily rooted out of it So Josephus reporteth that in his time these Jewes were grown so wicked that if the Romanes had not destroy'd them without doubt either the earth would have swallowed them up or fire from heaven have consumed them Bede saith of the ancient Britaines immediately before their destruction by the Saxons that they were come to a very great height of wickednesse so as to shame the counsel of the poore because the Lord was his refuge Psal 14.6 And hast performed thy words Of many promisers it may be said as Tertullian of the Peacock all in changeable colours as oft changed as moved Sertorius paid his promises with fair words Antiochus was sirnamed Doson because he oft said I will give you this or that but never did God is none such For thou art righteous That is faithful for there is a twofold justice of God 1. Of Equity 2. Of Fidelity See 1 John 1.9 Rev. 10.1 Where Christ is said to have a rainbow on his head to shew that he is faithful and constant in his promises Verse 9 And didst see the affliction The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous as well as his eares open to their prayers he knoweth their soul in adversity de remedio prospicit he is solicitous of their safety And heardest their cry by the red sea Though mixed with much murmuring Exod. 14.10 So he heard that pitiful poor prayer of David Psal 31.22 I said in mine haste I am cut off from thine eyes Neverthelesse thou heardst the voice of my supplications when I I cryed unto thee God heareth the young Ravens Psal 147.9 though they have but an hoarse and harsh note make no melody to move pity and cry but by implication onely and not directly unto him Verse 10. And shewedst signes and wonders upon Pharaoh That sturdy Rebel whom neither Ministery nor misery nor miracle nor mercy could possibly mollifie This was worse then any or all those ten plagues sent upon him whereof see Exod. 3.19 with the Note For thou knewest that they dealt proudly c. This the just and jealous God could not away with Exod. 18.11 His work in Heaven is said that Heathen to cast downe the lofty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Aesop Chiloni and to lift up the lowly So didst thou get thee a name i. e. A great fame of thy power and justice to the conversion of some as Jethro Exod. 18.1 and conviction of others as Deut. 32.31 Josh 2.10 1 Sam. 4.8 Verse 11. And thou didst divide the Sea before them That which threatened to swallow them preserved them For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him Psal 32.6 As a stone into the mighty waters As lead Exod. 15.10 So shall Rome that spiritual Egypt once sinke into the bottome of the Sea as a milstone thrust into it by a mighty Angel with a most impetuous force Rev. 18.21 Verse 12. Moreover thou leddest them by day c. This pillar of a cloud was miraculously moved with such variation as God thought fit for the guiding of their journeyes much better then did or could Vibilia that Heathen-fiction And in the night by a pillar of fire Though they did not usually journey in the night yet sometimes they did and then this pillar of fire was their guide God is with his at all assayes and is all in all unto them Psal 121.4 See Esay 4.5 6. Verse 13. Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai A place of many bushes and briers The Law there delivered pricketh and pierceth the consciences of evil-doers Thither God came with ten thousands of his Saints as Moses who climbed up that hill and alone saw it saith Deut. 33.2 And spakest with them from heaven He came down upon Sinai and yet spake from heaven See a like text John 3.13 There he spake also with us Hos 12.4 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh from heaven see that ye shift him not off much lesse turn away from him Heb. 12.25 And gavest them right judgements c. All these high praises are farre below the worth and excellency of Gods holy Lawes They were given in the wildernesse because saith Philo they are to be learnt in a wildernesse seeing there we cannot be hindered by the multitude But this is no way solid as one hath well observed Good Statutes and Commmandments Good they are in respect 1. Of the Author 2. Of the Matter 3. Of the Effect for they make those good that observe them This is true of the Moral Law as for the Judicial it was fitted to the Jewes and best for them but Carolostadius did ill to seek to force it as needful for all Christian Common-wealths Encyclop Solon being asked whether he had given the best Lawes to the Athenians answered the best for them the best that
they could suffer So here Verse 14. And madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath Not then first known to the Church but of old observed even from the beginning Gen. 2.3 about 2544. years before it was made known in such a solemne sort at Sinai as having been much neglected and forgotten during the Egyptian servitude So it was by the German Churches till God awakened them by the losse of Prague that first blow given them and that upon the Sabbath day which they kept no otherwise then if it had been Dies daemoniacus and not dominicus as their countrey-man Alsted complaineth and as if it had been called Sabbath from Sabbos a name of Bacchus as Plutarch dreamed And commandedst them precepts See the Note on verse 13. Verse 15. And gavest them bread from heaven Pluviam escatilem petrum aquatilem as Tertullian phraseth it God rained down Angels food and set the flint a broach and this he did for their hunger for their thirst fitting his favours ad cardinem desiderii according to their need and request Besides that their bread was sacramental whereof they communicated every day Their drink also was sacramental that this ancient Church might give no warrant of a dry Communion for they did all eate of the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink the same that we do at the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 10.3 4. And promisedst them that they should go in c. And the like promise he hath made of heaven to all his people Let us therefore fear c. Heb. 4.1 Let us therefore cleanse our selves c. 2 Cor. 6.1 Let us haste away in our affections Col. 3.2 Which thou hast sworne So he hath to give us heaven because he knowes how backward we are to beleeve him without such a pawne that by two immutable things Gods Word and Gods Oath which maketh his Word not more true but yet more credible we might have strong consolation Heb. 6.18 and more abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1.11 Verse 16. But they and our fathers Gods mercies have been hitherto mentioned that their sinnes might thereby be aggravated For good turnes aggravate unkindnesses and mens sinnes are much increased by their obligations It is charged upon Solomon as a foul fault that he departed from the Lord who had appeared unto him twice 1 Kings 11.9 Dealt proudly Pride is the Master-pock of the soul and the root of rebellion against God Psal 119.21 And hardened their necks As unruly beasts that will not bear the yoke lawlesse and awlesse persons that refuse to be reformed hate to be healed And hearkened not to thy Commandments But rather to the Devils whistle calling them off from better practises Verse 17. And refused to obey Heb To hearken They not onely not hearkened but refused to hear reasons why they should as having made their conclusion and being as good as ever they meant to be This is to adde rebellion to sinne this is that stubbornnesse that Ahaz is taxed of and branded for 2 Chron. 28.25 Neither were mindful of the wonders These soone grew stale to them as the Psalmist proves by their wicked practises Psal 106.13 And truly who that looketh upon our lives would ever think that God had done any wonders for us of this Nation either by sea or land either against fire-works or water-works formerly or against a viperous brood amongst our selves here alate Num. 14.4 And in their rebellion appointed a Captaine They once talked in their mad mood of doing such a thing and therefore they are here said to have done it Like as Josh 24.9 it is said that Balac arose and fought with Israel and yet the story saith no such matter But if he did not yet because he thought and talked of such a matter it was a done thing before the Lord But thou art a God ready to pardon Heb. A God of pardons One that hast set up a pardon-office where pardons for penitents lie ready sealed that the sinner may not be to seek that he may not perish in his sinnes while the plaister is in providing It is our comfort that we have to do with a forgiving sinne-pardoning God that doth it naturally Exod. 34.6 plentifully Is 55.7 constantly Ps 130.4 This should be as a perpetual picture in our hearts Gracious Doing all for us gratis ex mero motu out of his free and unexcited love And merciful All-bowels whereby he is inclined to succour them that are in misery notwithstanding their sinnes See his Non-obstante Psal 106.8 Long-suffering Heb. Long of anger that is Long ere he will be angry not hasty of spirit as Prov. 14.17 29. but wondrous patient amidst a world of provocations And of great kindnesse Exceeding propense to communicate good The Hebrew word signifies a large quantity either continued that is magnitude or greatnesse Psal 48.2 Or discrete that is multitude Psal 3.1 2. And forsookest them not That is not utterly as David prayeth Psal 119.8 and after him Solomon 1 Kings 8.57 When God forsaketh a people or person woe be to them Hos 9.12 What a terrible text is that Ezek. 22.20 I will gather you in mine anger and my fury and I will leave you there and that other Jer. 16.13 I will cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not where I will not shew you favour This last was worse then all the rest This the Prophet well knew and therefore cryed out Lord leave us not Jer. 17.17 Extingui lucem ne patiare tuam Or if thou desert us for a time yet do not disinherit us for ever If thy dereliction of us be penal Mâs Gerundin yet let it not be Perpetual Verse 18. Yea when they had made them a Golden Calf An ounce whereof the Jews say is still to this day in all the punishments that befall them though some of their Rabbines have the face to excuse this grosse Idolatry of their fore-fathers See Act. 7.41 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Piscat Vitulificarunt And said this is thy God Exod. 32.4 These be thy Gods It was the Serpents Grammar that first taught men to decline God in the plurall number Ye shall be as Gods Gen. 3. That brought thee out of the Land of Egypt Some of them then did mean to worship the true God in this false manner hence Exod. 32.5 there is proclaimed a feast not to the Golden Calf but to Jehovah Here then falls to the ground the Papists plea for their image-worship And had wrought great provocations Or Blasphemies 2 King 19.3 Idolatry is no better Hierome as oft as he meeteth with this Hebrew word in the book of Psalmes and that is five severall times he translateth it to balspheme Verse 19. Yet thou in thy manifold mercies Nothing else could have kept him from turning them off and saying to them as once Jephta did Judg. 11. Behold ye have
or of Instructions upon conviction And therein was found written Perquà m durum est so it might seeme to Ammonites and Moabites sed ita lex scripta est Ulpian p. The Law was perpetual and indispensable a signe of great wrath That the Ammonite and the Moabite Lots by-blowes and the Churches constant enemies Into the Congregation of God i. e. Assemblies of Gods people whether sacred or civil unlesse proselyted Ver. 2. Because they met not the children of Israel A bare omission of observance subjected them to divine vengeance As God requiteth the least courtesie done to his people be it but a cup of cold water so he repayeth the least discourtesie or but neglect of them to whom the glorious Angels are ministring spirits and may not think themselves too good to serve them Heb. 1. ult But hired Baalam against them With the rewards of divination Num. 22.7 the wages of wickednesse Jude 11.2 Pet. 2.15 which he greedily ran after and not so much as roving at God made the world his standing-mark till he had got a sword in his guts Howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing So he did the Popes curse to Queen Elizabeth Tom. 1 Epist and before her to Luther Quò magis illi furunt eò ampliùs procedo saith He in a certain Epistle the more they rage and ban me the more I proceed and prosper The Pope excommunicated him Scultet Annal. the Emperour proscribed him c. Omnium animi tum erant arrecti quid illa Caesaris pontificis fulmina essent effectura All mens minds were then set an end and stood on tip-toes as it were to see what would be the issue saith mine Author A wonderful work of our God surely and worthy to be chronicled Luther is conveyed out of the way by the Elector of Saxony for ten moneths till he would be hid no longer Mean-while Pope Leo dieth the Emperour Charles the fifth is first called into Spain to suppresse seditions there and afterwards is so busied in his wars with the French King that he hath no leisure to look after Luther After this when the French King was beaten by the Emperour and carried prisoner into Spain he was released and sent home again upon condition that the Emperour and He should root out the Lutheran Heresie as they called it But our God broke their designes and turned this curse also into a blessing For the French King returning home and conceiving that the conditions that he had yeelded unto to get off were unequal entereth into a League with the Pope and the State of Venice against the Emperour The Pope that he might cover his false dealing with the Emperour sends abroad his Bull and therein calleth knave first The Emperour on the otherside complaineth of the Popes malice and double-dealing exhorteth him to peace and concludeth that it were fitter for them to unite against the Lutherans And when he could prevaile nothing by writing he abolisheth his authority throughout all Spain sends his armies against him under the Duke of Burbon claps him up prisoner in Saint Angelo proclaimes open war against the French c. So that Religion got ground and all things fell out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel Phil. 1.12 Let them curse thy Church Lord but do thou blesse when they arise let them ever be ashamed but let thy servants rejoyce Psal 10 â 28. and speed the better for their ill wishes So be it Verse 3. Now it came to passe when they had heard the Law And were transformed into the same image therewith by the Spirit of grace who had made their flinty hearts to become fleshy c. We use to say As hard-hearted as a Jew But they that relent not repent not at the hearing of the Word are worse then these Jewes and it may be feared that the Lord hath a purpose to destroy them The Law of the Lord when but read only is perfect converting the soul Psal 19.7 but woe to the irreformable 2 Corinth 4.4 And they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude Vulgus promiscuum the rabble of strangers wherewith this people were haunted and pestered from the very first Exod. 12.38 Num. 11.4 These moved with miracles removed with them out of Egypt but for a mischief to them for they drew them into sinne then as those here did also and were therefore worthily put away as the Law required Verse 4. And before this Before the Commandment came as a Lamp and the Law a Light as Prov. 6.23 causing a Reformation As Toads and Serpents grow in dark and dirty sellars so do sinful disorders in ignorant places and persons Eliashib the Priest The High-Priest but such an one as from whom profanenesse went forth into all the land Jer. 23.15 The sinnes of Teachers are Teachers of sins Having the oversight of the chamber i. e. Of all the chambers of the Temple by vertue of his office and therefore thought belike he might do what he listed with them now in Nehemiah's absence without controul Was allied unto Tobiah A bitter enemy to Gods people but sly and subtile seeking to insinuate by alliances and letters of perswasion such as Cardinal Sadolet wrote to the Genevenses in Calvins absence and Cardinal Lorraine to the Protestant Princes of Germany that he and his brethren the Guises those sworn swordmen of the Devil would embrace the reformed Religion Verse 5. And he had prepared for him a great chamber Called chambers verse 9. for he had laid many chambers into one saith Junius by taking down the partitions and furnishing the same for his friend and ally Tobiah Verse 6. But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem And thence it was that things grew so farre out of order So when Moses was gone into the Mount the people set up the golden Calf they turned aside quickly saith God Exod. 32.8 So were the Corinthians and Galatians so sooââ as Saint Pauls back was but turned upon them Gal. 1.6 Levitate prorsus desultoriâ And so were these Jewes notwithstanding their better purposes promises Covenants yea and beginnings of Reformation See chap. 10.30 And after certaine dayes Heb. At the end of dayes that is at a years end as Vatablus and Genebrard expound it No longer then a year was Nehemiah away from his Government to shew his dutiful respect to his Master the King of Persia and to negotiate for his Nation but all things were out of frame so well had the Devil and his instruments bestirred them But Junius rendereth the text exactis aliquot annis certaine years being past and Lyra thus at the end of his dayes or of his life when he now waxed old he had a desire to go and reforme things amisse at Jerusalem and to die and lay his bones there So likewise Funccius the eighth year after his returne to Artaxerxes which was also the last year of his reigne And indeed one would wonder how in
the better relish their deliverance as Sampson did his honey-combe which he found by turning aside to see the lion he had escaped Every man was to consider his own share in the publick safety as the people did at Solomons Coronation and to be particularly thankful This would fortifie his faith feed his hope nourish his joy further his obedience Verse 29. Then Esther the Queen c. See chap. 2.15 Mordecai had written thus before now for more authority-sake and to shew her forwardnesse to further so good a work Esther joyneth with him not for a name or out of an humour of foolish forth-put ting but out of an holy zeal for God and a godly jealousie over her people lest they should hereafter slight or slack this service And indeed the Jewes Chronicle called by them Sedar olam Rabbah telleth us that this letter of Esther was not written Anna sequent conâigit quod icriptuâ est Esth 9.29 Sed. Ol. c. 29. till a yeare after Mordecai's first letter when those dayes of Purim haply began to be neglected and intermitted She might therefore well say as Saint Peter did afterwards This second Epistle beloved I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure mindes by way of remembrance 2 ep 3.1 True grace in the best heart is like unto a dull sea-coalefire which if it be not sometimes righted up will of it self go out though there be fuel enough about it This good Queen was no lesse active in her generation then before had been Miriam Deborah Bathsheba c. and after her were Serena the Empresse Sophia Queen of Bohemia a Hussite Queen Katherine Parre the Doctoresse as her husband merrily called her somtimes and that matchlesse Queen Elizabeth whose Sunny dayes are not to be passed over sleightly saith one without one touch upon that string which so many yeares sounded so sweetly in our eares without one sigh breathed forth in her sacred memory Oh what an happy time of life had that famous light of our Church Mr. William Perkins who was borne in the first yeare of her reign and died in her last yeare And Mordecai the Jew These two joyned together to adde the more force to the Ordinance Wrote with all authority Heb. with all strength viz. of spirit and of speech of affection and expression To confirme the second letter Lest for fear of the friends of such as they had slain the Jewes should be slack in observing this feast of lots Verse 30. And be sent letters to all the Jewes Tremellius readeth it Which letters Mordecai sent to all the Jewes scil as Monitours and Remembrancers To the hundred twenty and seven Provinces Among and above the rest to Judea which was one of that number With words of peace and truth i.e. premising words of prosperity and settlement saith Tremellius or promising them peaceable enjoyment of the true Religion liberty of conscience rightly so called Or praying that they may follow peace with all men and holinesse without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 Or he sent letters full of courtesie and truth that is of unfeined courtesie as Vatablus senseth it For there is a cut-throat courtesie such as was that of Joab to Amasa of Judas to our Saviour of Julian the Apostate to Basil when he wrote unto him but not with words of peace and truth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Verse 31. To confirme these dayes of Purim That they might by no manner of means be neglected but that renewing their resolutions and their reasons for the same they might remain constant and firme and peremptory in well-doing cleaving to God with full purpose of heart and sitting close unto the Lord without distraction 1 Cor. 7.35 And as they had decreed for themselves Heb. for thâin soules for the soule is the man and the greatest thing in the least compasse is a good minde in a mans body The matters of the fastings and their cry Heb. the words of fasting c. that is the vowes they then uttered when they fasted and cried that if God would hear and help them they would not faile to praise him in all best manner Now therefore sith the vowes of god were upon them they should by keeping these dayes offer unto him thanksgiving Aben-Ezra and pay their vowes unto the most High Some think that the fasting and crying here mentioned referreth to those in Zechary chap. 7.5 in remembrance of the desolation of Jerusalem that as they fasted then so they should feast now God having fulfilled his promise there made of turning their fasting into feasting and added Therefore love the truth and peace chap. 8.19 confer Mordecai's words of peace and truth supra verse 30. Verse 32. And the decree of Esther confirmed c. Dux foemina facti Money was coined in the yeare eighty eight in honour of Queen Elizabeth with that Posie inscribed The like may be here said of Queen Esther yea we may adde that in the Gospel spoken concerning another Where ever this history shall be read in all the world this that she hath done shall be spoken of to her eternal commendation And it was written in the book Tremellius rendreth it thus When therefore the Edict of Esther had confirmed these things it was written in this book Lyra and others thus She requested the wise men of that age that they would reckon this History for holy Writ If it be meant of any other publike record which the Jewes then had it is lost as are likewise some other pieces which never were any part of the holy Scriptures for God by his Providence ever took care and course that no one haire of that sacred head should fall to the ground That unsound conceit of Pellican here is by no meanes to be admitted viz. That this latter part of the chapter from verse 25. to the end came from the pen of some other man not guided by the Spirit of God and that because here is no mention made of praising God at this feast or stirring up one another to trust in him For we know that all Scripture is of divine inspiration and it is to be presumed that those things were done at such solemnities though it be not recorded in each particular CHAP. X. Verse 1. And the King Ahashuerus laid a tribute c AN extraordinary tribute to maintain warre against the Grecians who uniting together were then grown potent and formidable To enable himself therefore the better against them Xerxes gathered money the sinews of warre but lost the affections of his subjects the joynts of peace He became hereby ill beloved of all sorts and far a lesse King by striving to be more then he was And hence haply one letter of his name is lost here for the Masurites tell us Drus in loâ that in the ancient Copies he is written not Ahashuerus but Ahasres without a Vau. And upon the Isles of the sea Judea was an Isle Isa 20.6 but not
in him to suspect ãâ¦ã whilest he intended their good and turned his ãâ¦ã That his children were godly is put ãâ¦ã whether they had sinned But how then doth it follow And cursed God in their hearts And not blessed God so Calvin rendreth it not done him right So Sanctim and therefore wrong they have not high and honourable conceptions of him answerable to his excellent greatnesse but by base and bald thoughts cast him as it were into a dishonourable mould and not given him the glory due to his Name that holy and reverend Name Psal 111.9 Great and dreadful among the Heathen Mal. 1.14 In the Hebrew it is And blessed God for cursed by an Euphemismus or Antiphrasis as when an harlot is called Kedesha a holy woman by contraries So aurisacra i. e. execranda fames The Hebrews so abhorred blasphemy against God as they would not have the sound of it to be joyned to the Name of God whom they commonly call Baruc-hu the blessed One. So they would not take the name of Leven that prohibited ware into their mouths all the time of the feast of the Passeover Elias Thisâ So in their common talk they call a Sow dabhar achar an other thing because they were forbidden to eat swines flesh Thus did Job continually Heb. all the dayes that is in the renewed seasons he was not weary of well-doing but stedfast and unmoveable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord alwaies renewing his repentance and faith in Christ figured by those sacrifices for the Ceremonial Law was their Gospel Verse 6. Now there was a day Haply that day wherein Jobs children were feasting their last The Rabbines say the first day of the year and some say the sabbath day But who told them so this is to intrude into things which they have not seen Col. 2.18 and where of there is neither proof nor profit Certain it is that as God hath before all beginnings decreed all things so he hath set and assigned the times or seasons which he hath put in his own power Act. 1.7 when every thing shall come to passe as himself hath appointed Now then saith Beza the time being come which he prefixed for the actual accomplishing of that he had decreed concerning Job he revealed the same to Satan being before altogether ignorant thereof as whom he had appointed to be the chief instrument in executing this his will and purpose The children of God i.e. the Elect Angels called Sons of God here and elsewhere not because they are so by eternal generation as Christ alone nor by adoption and regeneration as the Saints John 1.12 but by Creation as Adam is called the Son of God Luke 3. ult and Resemblance for they are made in Gods image and are like him as his children both in their substance which is incorporeal and in their excellent properties which are Life and Immortality Blessednesse and Glory wherein we shall one day be their comperes Luke 20.36 Came to present themselves This is spoken in a low language for our better apprehension by allusion to the custome of earthly Princes and their attendants and officers coming to give an account or receive directions The Angels are never absent from God Luke 1.19 but yet employed by him in governing the world Ezek 1. and guarding the Saints Heb. 1.14 This the heathens hammered at for both Plutarch and Proculus the Platonist say that the Angels doe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã travel betwixt heaven and earth carrying the commands of God to men and the desires of men to God Jussa divina ferentes ad homines hominem voââ ad deos And Satan came also among them That old man-slayer envying Jobs holinesse and happinesse as much as the good Angels rejoyced in it and promoted it for he was seen of Angels of both sorts would needs make one among those Sons of God not without Gods over ruling power although he regarded not so much Gods authority as wanted an opportunity and license to do mischief In reference to this history George Marsh Martyr in a certain letter of his writeth thus to his friend the servants of God cannot at any time come and stand before God that is lead a godly life and walk innocently but Satan comes also among them that is the daily accuseth findeth fault ãâã persecuteth and troubleth the godly c. Yet unlesse God do permit him he can do nothing at all not so much as enter into a filthy hog But we are more of price then many hogs before God Acts and Mon. fol. 14 23. Before the Lord Or By or Near the Lord. But can Satan come into the presence of God Mr. Caryl Surely no otherwise saith a grave Divine then a blind man can come into the Sun he cometh into the Sun and the Sun shineth upon him but he sees not the Sun Satan comes so into the presence of God that ãâ¦ã of God he is never so in the presence of God as to see God Verse 7. And the Lord said unto Satan either by forming and creating a voice in the air as Matth. 3.17 Job 12.28 or by an inward word after an unspeakable manner manifesting his wil as he willed to Satan The School men have great disputes about the speech of spirits but this they agree in that the intention of one spirit is as plain an expression of his mind by another spirit when he hath a will that the other should understand it as the voice of one man is to another Whence comest thou This the Lord asketh not as if he were ignorant for he knows all things and that from eternity neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open before his eyes Heb. 4.13 yea in him all things subsist Colââ 1.17 So that there can be no motion of the creature without his privity God therefore thus interrogateth Satan that he might shew himself to be his Judg and that he might exact a confession out of his own mouth Then Satan answered the Lord the word signifieth to speak in witnesse-bearing Exod. 20 16 From going to and fro in the earth He saith not from instigating men to all manner of wickednesse from ranging up and down as a roaring Lion to devour soules from sinning that sin against the Holy Ghost every moment c. All this he cunningly dissembleth and saith in effect as once Gehezi did Thy servant was no where or for no hurt to any when as he is never but doing mischief as Pliny saith of the Scorpion that there is not one minute wherein it doth not put forth the sting Is not the hand of Joab in this businesse So is not Satan in all the sins of the wicked and in most of the troubles of the godly Heâ quà m furit Satan impellis secures homines ad horrenda flagitia c. saith Luther O how doth Satan range and rage that he may glut himself
sick and have help about thee of friends food physick clean linnen and the like In loc to shew thy self patient poor Job had none of all this Nay the Lord Christ had not whereon to rest his head Sin autem omni curâ solatio es destitutus saith he But say thou be destitute of all cure and comfort forced to lie without doors and upon the hard ground say thou be in such a condition that thou canst neither stand nor go nor sit nor lie nor eat either for want of meat or want of stomack comfort thy self with this and the like examples of the Saints Ye have heard of the patience of Job and what end the Lord made James 5.11 He raiseth the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among Princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory 1 Sam. 2.8 Againe let no man trust to his present prosperity Job who heretofore spake not to his subjects but from his throne was now seated upon a dung-hill and his hands accustomed to bear the Scepter were employed to wipe the matter which distilled from his sores as the French Paraphrast hath it Verse 9. Then said his wife Was this Dinah Jacobs onely daughter so the Jew-Doctors say and that Job had a fair daughter by her whom Potipher married and that of her came Asenaz whom Joseph married They tell us also but who told them all this that she was hitherto spared when all Jobs outward comforts were taken away for Jacob her fathers sake Moreover the Septuagint here help her to scold adding a whole verse of female passion I must now saith she go wander and have no place to rest in c. Job said nothing all this while not because he was either insensible or sullen but because it was God that did it Psalm 39.2 and he had well deserved it Mic. 7.9 I will bear thinks he the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Yet my soul be silent to Jehovah c. Psal 12.1 Satan therefore who waited for his cursing of God as a dog waiteth for a bone but was defeated cunningly setteth his wife awork by her venemous words to make him speak at least and by her unseemly and sinful counsel to draw him to do wickedly Some think saith Chrysostome that the divel in the shape of Jobs wife spake thus unto him and surely their words agree He will curse thee to thy face saith he Curse God and die saith shee Chrysostome himself thinketh that the divel if he spake not in her yet spake by her as he did once to Eve by the Serpent and that he borrowed her mouth using her as a strong Engine to a wall of adamant as the choicest arrow in his quiver to wound Jobs righteous soule and as a scaling-ladder whereby to get up into this impregnable tower as Gregory hath it Per costam tanquam ser scalam ad cor Adami ascendit Greg. Moral l. 3. c. 3. He had tried this course before with Adam and had singular successe Gen. 3.6 he had by his rib as by a ladder gotten up to his heart yea with his rib broken his head as one phraseth it darting in death at the windowes of his ears This he assayed upon Job but without effect his ears were waxed up his heart fixed c. although he could not but be vexed that his wife should do it especially since hereby his servants and friends would be encouraged to do the like O wives saith one the sweetest poyson the most desired evil c. Sir Thomas Moore was wont to say that men commit faults often women only twice that they neither speak well nor do well This may be true of bad wives such as Jezebel who stirred up Ahab of himself forward enough to do wickedly with both hands earnestly 1 King 21.25 This in Jobs wise might be a particular failing though a foul one Women are the weaker vessels and naturally more passionate they must have their allowance as light gold hath Shee in the text had no small trials and he is a perfect man that offendeth not with his tongue Dost thou still retain thine integrity Cuibono as he said what gettest thou by it Is not this thy fear thy confidence the uprightnesse of thy wayes and thy hope Lo Eliphaz who should have had more grace and government of his tongue then Jobs wife scoffeth religious Job as some sense that text chap 4.6 rendring the words thus Is not thy fear or religion become thy folly Where is now thine uprightnesse and hope of reward It is an ancient and an ordinary slurre and slander cast upon the waies of God as if they were unprofitable as if God were an austere man an illiberall Lord as if there were no gain in godlinesse nothing to be got by it but knocks crosses losses c. whereas God is a rewarder of all those that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 He recompenseth the losses of his people as the King of Poland did his noble servant Zelislaus to whom having lost his hand in his warrs he sent a golden hand instead thereof He rewardeth the sufferings of his Saints as Caius the Emperour did Agrippa who had suffered imprisonment for wishing him Emperour The History saith that when he came afterwards to the Empire the first thing he did was to preferre Agrippa and gave him a chaine of gold as heavy as the chaine of iron that was upon him in prison The divel could have told this peevish woman that Job did not serve God for nought chap 1.9 See Mal. 1.10 and 3.14 with the Notes Curse God and die What cursed counsel was this and from her who should have administred conjugal help to him How well might Job have turned her off with Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me These were the divels words and not the womans saith Chrysostome it was her tongue but the divel tuned it saith Origen Curse God and die for he will not endure thee to live having once so set thy mouth against heaven but will quickly set thee packing by a visible vengeance or Curse God and then dye by thine own hands having first spit thy venome in his face for having handled thee so hardly after so good service done him Hacket did thus at the gallows Anno 1591. threatning to set fire on heaven Camd. Eli. 403 to pluck God out of his Throne if he would not shew some miracle out of the clouds to convert those infidels that brought him to execution and to deliver him from his enemies having the rope about his neck he life his eyes to heaven and grinning said Dost thou repay me this for a Kingdome bestow'd I come to revenge it c. O wretch I By the way observe that Satan is a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as Hegesias the Philosopher was called a perswader of people that death is an end at least an ease of
sparrow-hawkes are extreme greedy Malesuada fames putteth them upon it These Harpies seize upon his very harvest ad majorem cruciatum miseriam pulling the meat out of his mouth as it were and not suffering him to roast that which he took in hunting Prov. 12 27. Hee shall meete with greatest disappointment and come to that poverty which he so studiously shunned singing that doleful ditty En queis consevimus agros ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã See this threatned Lev. 26.16 Deut. 28.33 Isa 1.6 Micah 6.15 And taketh it even out of the thornes Creeping through the midst of the thornes and bushes wherewith it is fenced and hedged in to steale it away Hunger wee say breakes through stone walls the Rabbines sense it thus Hee that comes out of the thornes Scutatus that is every base fellow carrieth away the store of this rich oppressor The armed man carrieth it away so the Vulgar after the Septuagint Mr. Broughton reades it thus The hungry shall eat up his harvest which he had gotten through the thornes that is not without a great deal of care and much pains in stubbing up the thornes that he might not sow amongst them And the robber swalloweth up their substance Or the thirsty shall drink up their substance as gold-thirsty Babel did Hezekiahs treasure for his coming so neare the garb and guise of the wicked in his ostentation The thirsty shall swill up their wealth so Broughton rendreth it ââso that neither their esculenta nor poculenta shall escape the spoiler but there shall be a clean riddance of all the enemy shall play at sweep-stake ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he shall soop up all as the Hebrew hath it and as Eliphaz would have Job consider that the Chaldees and Sabees had done his substance Verse 6. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust It cometh not by fate or blind fortune it haps not as it may that men suffer Philistines indeed wil say haply It is a chance 1 Sam 6.9 a common occurrence that had a time to come in and must have a time to go in but every Naomi will in such case conclude The hand of the Lord is gone out against mee Ruth 1.13 and carry her sailes accordingly verse 20 21. and every good soule will cry out I will bear the indignation of the Lord who is the efficient cause of all my miseries because I have sinned against him which is the meritorious cause The word here rendred affliction signifieth also iniquity and well it may sith they are tyed together with chaines of adamant as that Heathen said Flugitism ãâã sunt sicut ãâã silum saith another Man weaves a spiders web of sin out of his own bowâââ saith a Third and then he is intangled in the same web the troubles which ensnare and wrap about him are twisted with his own fingers Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no ginne is for him Am. 3 6â ãâ¦ã Of the black-birds dung is made the bird-lime whereby he ãâã so out of the dung of mens sins are made the lime-twigs of their punishments Verse 7. Yet man is borne unto trouble Which is the naturall fruit of his sinne and a piece of the curse hee hath in him a ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a common seminary of all sinne and this hee brings into the world with him what wonder then though troubles come trouping in upon him on every side as if he were born for no other end but to suffer and that as naturally as fire ascendeth Sure it is that sinne doth as naturally and ordinarily draw and suck judgements to it as the loadstone doth iron or Turpentine fire Some read the words thus Man is borne to sin and so consequently to trouble for sinne usually endeth tragically and troublesomely Hence the same word both here and that in the former verse signifie both sinne and sorrow and man by reason of his birth-blot hath a birth-right to them both he is even born to them The divel when he speaketh lies speaketh of his owne Joh. 8.44 And we when either we do evil we work de nostro sicundum hominem of our own and according to men 1 Cor. 3.3 Or when we suffer evill wee suffer nothing but what is humane and incident to men 1 Cor. 10.13 Thy very heathen could say as much witnesse that of Xenophon ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã It behooveth him that is no more then a man to expect all sorts of troubles and that of Demosthenes it is fit for men to hope the best but bravely to beare the worst as that which is common to all mankind and that of Isocrates O ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Hee that remembreth that he is a man will not be discontented at whatsoever trouble befalleth him and that of Herodotus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Every man is miserable For this it was likely that God to keep Ezekiel lowly in the abundance of revelations calleth him so oft Son of man And when the French King Joh. Manl. loc com 175. Homo sum humanum nihil à me alicnum puto being prisoner to Charles the fifth saw written upon the wall that Emperours motto plus ultra further yet and underwrote Hodie mihi cras tibi I am now thy prisoner thou mayst hereafter be mine the Emperour came after him and subscribed I confesse I am a man and may soon suffer any thing incident to mankind As the sparkes fly upward Heb. The sonnes of the quick or live coale lift up to fly The vulgar hath it as the birds fly upward the Septuagint As the young vultures fly upwards Sparkes and birds fly upward naturally and by a principle of their owne they need not be taught it so here Birds though they have more of the earth then of the other three elements Gen. 2.19 yet are light which is a wonder and delight in high-flying and this is innate to them so is it to man as man to be in trouble Job 14.1 Some of the Hebrews by sparkes or sons of the quick coale here understand the divels and make this to be the sense like as sin is connatural to men so doth God stirre up the divels to whom it is as natural to flutter up and down here for the punishment of such as sinne Sed hoc friget saith Mercer but this is not likely to be the meaning Verse 8. Surely I would seek unto God Not let flie at him as thou hast done cursing thy birth-day and wishing thy self out of the world Assure thy self this that thou takest is not the way to get off with comfort but rather to return by repentance unto him that smiteth thee and to seeke the Lord of Hostes Isa 9.12 sith else his anger will not turn away but his hand will be stretched out still as the Prophet there hath it for is it fit that he should lay downe the bucklers first or that we should stand upon termes and
form'd to a pitcht battel against him and this was truly terrible for who saith Moses knoweth the power of his wrath sith the apprehension and approach of it was so terrible to an upright-hearted Job to an heroicall Luther upon whom Gods terrors were so heavy for a time In epist ad Melanc ut nec calor nec sanguis nec sensus nec vox superesset that neither heat nor blood nor sense nor voice remained but his body seemed dead as Justus Jonas an eye-witnesse reporteth agreeable whereunto is that memorable speech of Luther Nihil est tentatio vel universi mundi totius inferri in unum conflata c. The temptation and terrour of all the world nay of all hell put together is nothing to that wherein God setteth himself in battle-array against a poore soule In which case that is excellent counsel that one giveth in these words When thy sins and Gods wrath meeting in thy conscience make thee deadly sick as Isai 33. then powre forth thy soul in confession and as it will ease thee as vomiting useth to do so also it will move God to pity and to give thee cordials and comforts to restore thee Verse 5. Doth the wilde ass bray when he hath grasse q. d. Sure they doe not As if these creatures wilde or tame want necessary food you give them leave to fill the aire with their out-cryes yea you supply their wants but for me ye will do neither such is your tendernesse and love toward me Nay ye condemne me for that which is naturally common to all creatures Ye must needs think I am not without aylement that make such great lamentations unlesse ye conceit that I am fallen below the stirrup of reason nay of sense It is easie for you who want neither grasse nor fodder or mixt meat as the word signifieth who lie at rack and manger as it were and have all that heart can wish or need require it is easie I say for you to rest contented and to forbeare complaints But why am I so severely censured for impatient who am stript of all and have nothing left me praeter coelum coenum as he said but only aire to breath in and a dung-hill to sit on not to speak of my inward troubles c. Verse 6. Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt Or can that which is unsavory for want of salt be eaten Hunger will downe with unsavory or unpleasant food though salt or sawce be wanting but when meat is putrified for want of salt and full or maggots it will hardly be eaten unlesse it be in extreme famine it is as if he should say a man doth with no good will feed upon unsavory or loathsome meats how then can I use such moderation as you desire I should my evils being extreme sweetned with no kind of comfort nor seasoned with any thing that is any way toothsome or wholesome that I speake not of your tastelesse and insulse speeches which are no small vexation to me Verse 7. The things that my soul refused to touch c. I suffer such torments even in my very soule as the very thought of them would heretofore have affrighted me Thus Mr. Dioâate Others take soule here for the appetite and so make this the sense Those things which I exceedingly loathed and would once have thought scorn to have touched are now my sorrowful meat I am forced with an heavy heart to feed upon them for want of better and they go down the worse because you vex me with your hard words who have little need of such choke-peares and will not allow me the liberty of a needfull lamentation which yet I must needsly take lest heart should breake and say as before chap. 3. though with some more respect to God the object of my present prayer Verse 8. O that â might have my request How heartily begs Job for death as a medicine of all his maladies and miseries as that which would bring him mâlârum ademptioâem âââorum adeptiânem freedome from all evil fruition of all good By the force of his faith he lookes upon death as the best physician that would cure him of all infirmities inward and outward and of all at once and for ever Job might likely be of the same mind that Chaâcer was who took for his English motto Farewell Physick and for his Latine one Mors arumnarum requies death will be a sweet rest from all my labours the same âo a believer death is that mount Ararat was to Noah where his ark rested after long tossing or as Michel was to David a meanes to shift him out of the way when Saul sent to slay him or as the fall of the house was to Samson an end of all his sorrowes and sufferings hence it is that he rejoyceth under hope and with stretcht out neck looks and longs for deaths coming as dearly as ever Siseâa's mother did out of a window for the coming of her son laden with spoiles from the battel As when death is come indeed he welcometh it as Jael did the fame Sisena but much in one heartily with Turn in my Lord turn in to mee Judg. 4.18 and further bespeaketh it as Jacob did his brother Esau at their interview Surely I have seen thy face as the face of God who hath made thee to meet me with kisses in stead of frowns and hath sent thee to guard me safe home to my fathers house And that God would grant me the thing that I long for Or have long looked for Heb. my hope or my expectation as that which will put a period to my miseries and possesse me of heavens happinesse as that which will be a postern to let out temporall life but a street-door to let in eternal Verse 9. That ât would please God to destroy me That is to dispatch me out of this world and fend me to a beâter A dissolution would be far more acceptable to Job then that restitution which Eliphâz seemed to promise him chap. 5.24 It s as if Job should say Take you the world amongst you sith you like it so well I have move then enough of it I am neither fond of life nor afraid of death but the cleane contrary I had rather die then dine and crave no greater favour then to have more weight laid upon me that I may die out of hand Feri Domine feri ânam à peceatis ãâ¦ã Luther once said strike Lord strike deepe for thou hast pardoned my sins and wilt save my soule That he would let loose his hand That now seemeth tied or hound behind him Manus ligata videâuâ quando parcit saith Vatablus God had chained up Satan and strictly charged him not to take away Jobs life but this is it that Job would fain have done Mortality he would account no small mercy he desired nothing more then to be dissolved and to be with Christ he might do it because he knew that his
of this and especially in this book which shewes that we are very apt to forget it A point this is easie to be known but very hard to be believed every man assents to it but few live it and improve it to reformation Mine eyes shâll no more sâe good sc in this world for in the world to come hee was confident of the beatificall vision chap. 19.27 Hezekiah hath a like expression when sentenced to die I said in the cutting off of my dayes I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living that is in this life present Psal 27.13 and 52 5. and 142.5 Isa 53.8 called also the light of the living John 9.4 Psal 56.13 I shill behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world Isa 38.11 And this both sick Job and sick Hezekiah tell the Lord and both of them begin alike with O remember Isa 38.3 God forgetteth not his people and their condition howbeit he requireth and expecteth that they should be his Remembrancers for their own and others good Isa 62.6 7. See the Margin Verse 8. Thâ eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more In death we shall neither see nor be seen but be soon both out of sight and out of mind too It is storied of Richard the third that he caused the dead corps of his two smothered Nephews to be closed in lead and so put in a coffin full of holes and hooked at the ends with two hookes of iron and so to be cast into a place called the Black-deeps Speed 935. at the Thames mouth whereby they should never rise up nor be any more seen Such a place is the grave till the last day for then the sea shall give up the dead which are in it and death ad he grave shall render up the dead that are in them Rev. 20.13 then shall Adam see all his nephews at once c. Thine eyes are upon me and I am not Thou even lookest me to death like as elsewhere God is said to frown men to destruction Psalm 80.16 and Psalm 104.29 they are not able to endure his flaming eyes sparkling out wrath against them What mad men therefore are they that speak and act against Him who can so easily do them to death If God but set his eyes upon them for evil as he oft threatneth to do Amos 9.4 Job 16.9 they are undone Verse 9. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away A cloud is nothing else but a vapour thickened in the middle Region of the aire by the cold encompassing and driving it together psalm 18.19 vessels they are as thin as the liquor that is in them but some are waterlesse the former are soon emptied and dissolved the later as soon scattered by the wind and vanish away See the Note on verse 7. So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more sc to live and converse here with men as ver 10. Or he shall come up no more sc without a miracle as Lazarus and some others long since dead rose againe he cannot return to me said David of his deceased child 2 Sam. 12.23 God could send some from the dead to warn the living but that is not now to be expected as Abraham told the rich man Luk. 16. Those spirits of dead men that so oft appeared in times of Popery requiring their friends to sing Masses and Dirges for them and that drew this verse from Theodorus Gaza sunt aliquid manes lethum non omnia finit were either delusions or else divels in the shape of men That Job doubted of the Resurrection or denied it as Rabbi Solomon and some other both Hebrew and Greek writers conclude from this text is a manifest injury done to this good man and a force offered to the text as appeareth by that which next followeth Verse 10. He shall return no more to his house Either to dispatch businesses or to enjoy comforts he hath utterly done with the affaires of this world Melanchthon telleth of an aunt of his who having buried her husband and sitting sorrowfully by the fires side saw as she thought her husband coming into the roome and talking to her familiarly about the payment of certaine debts and other businesses belonging to the house and when he had thus talked with her a long time he bid her give him her hand she at first refused but was at length perswaded to do it he taking her by the hand so burnt it that it was as black as a coal and so he departed Was not this the divel Neither shall his place know him any more His place of habitation or his place of honour and ruledome these shall no more acknowledge him and welcome him back as they used to do after a journey Death is the conclusion of all worldly comforts and relations Hence wicked people are so loth to depart because there is struck by death an everlasting parting-blow betwixt them and their present comforts without hope of better spes fortuna valete said one great man at his death Cardinall Burbon would not part with his part in Paris for his part in paradise Fie said another rick Cardinall will not death be hired will mony do nothing Never did Adam go more unwillingly out of paradise the Jebusites out of the strong-hold of Zion the unjust steward out of his office or the divels out of the demoniack then gracelesse people do out of their earthly tabernacles because they know they shall return no more and having hopes in this life only they must needs look upon themselves as most miserable Verse 11. Therefore I will not refraine my mouth Heb. I will not prohibite my month sc from speaking I will bite in my grief no longer but sith death the certaine end of all outward troubles is not farre from mee I will by my further complaints presse the Lord to hasten it and not suppresse my sorrowes but give them a vent I will speake in the anguish of my spirit Heb. In the straitnesse or distresse of my spirit which is almost suffocated with grief I will complaine in the bitternesse my soul his greatest troubles were inward and if by godly sorrow for his sinnes he had powred forth his soule in an humble confession as some understand him here he had taken a right course but thus boisterously to break out into complaints savoureth of humane infirmity and sheweth quantae sint hominis vires sibi à Deo derelicti what a poor creature man is when God leaveth him to himself Mercer and subjecteth him to his judgments Verse 12. Am I a sea or a whale Can I bear all troubles as the sea receives all waters and the whale beares all tempests This as is well observed was too bold a speech to God from a creature for when his hand is on our backs our hands should be upon our mouths as Psalm 39.9 I was dumb or as others read it I should
here to trees which are said to turn themselves and their roots after a sort to take in the smel of the water and thereby refreshed to bud and bring forth boughs like a plant This is check to those that live under the droppings of the ordinances and yet are like the Cypress-treâ which the more it is watered proves the lesse fruitful and being once out down it never springs again whence the Romans who believed not a resurrection were wont to place a Cypresse-tree at the threshold of the house of death as Pliny and Serâiâs tell us Serv. in Virg. l. 4. Plin. lib. 16. cap. 32. Verse 10. But man dieth and wasteth away Heb. strong and lusty man Homo quantumvis rooustus Vat. dieth and wasteth away or is cut off sc worse then a tree for he growes no more or is discomfited vanquished as Exod. 17.13 and 32.18 sc by death and so carried clean out of this world Yea man giveth up the ghost Homo vulgaris plebeius All of all sorts must die whether noble or ignoble as Rabbi Abraham here observeth Job is very much in this discourse about death and surely as Nazianzen wisheth of hell so could I of death Vtinam ubique de morte dissereretur oh that it were more in mens minds and mouths then it is And where is he q. d. No where above ground or if he be putrefit teterrimè olet he putrifies and stinks filthily and as his life is taken away so is his glory yea being once out of sight he growes by little and little out of mind too little thought of less spoken of many times not so much as his name mentioned or remembred in the next generation Eccles 1.11 There is no remembrance of former things or men neither shall there be any remembrance c. So Eccles 2.16 and 8.10 and 9.5 Hence the state of the dead is called the land of forgetfulnesse Psalm 88.12 And Psalm 31.12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind Heathens also say the same Hor. lib. 4. Carm. 7. Cum somel occideris de te splendida Minos Fecerit arbitria Non Torquate genus non te facundia non te Restituet pietas Verse 11. As the water fall from the sea He sets forth the same truth by an elegant similitude drawn from the drying up of waters Look how these after some exundation of the sea or some great river are separated and left upon the reflux thereof behind the rest upon the land which cannot return for then they must ascend which is impossible to nature nor continue but do utterly dry up Sanctius Abbot and evaporate So c. verse 12. Others read it thus As when the waters from the feafail the flood decaieth and dryeth up so when mans life is taken away it returns no more while this world lasteth God hath made in the bowels of the earth certain secret wayes passages and veins through which water conveigheth it self from the sea to all parts and hath its saltnesse taken away in the passage Thence are our springs and from them our rivers but in hot countryes and dry seasons springs are dry and rivers want water exceedingly as at this time they do March 7. 1653. So when natural moisture decayeth in man he faileth and dieth the radical humor that supplement and oyl of life is dried up and can be no more renewed till the last day when yet it shall not be restored to the same state and moisture but instead of natural rise spiritual 1 Cor. 15. Verse 12. So man lieth down sc in the dust of death or in the bed of the grave his dormitory till the last day Vt somnus mortis sic lectus imago sepulchri And riseth not scil To live again among men so Psalm 78. Man is compared to a wind which when it is past returneth not again If it be objected that we read of three in the old Testament and five in the new raised from death to life besides those many that arose and came out of the graves after Christs resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many Matth. 27.52 53. It is answered 1. These few raised by Gods extraordinary power do not infringe the truth of what the Scripture here and elsewhere affirmeth of all mankind according to the ordinary course of nature 2. Even those men also afterwards died again and vanished no more to return or appear again in this world Till the heavens be no more i. e. Never say some interpreters to wit vi suâ by his own strength and to a better condition in the land of the living so the word until is used 2 Sam. 6.13 Matth. 5.26 and 1.25 ut piè credimus How sound and clear Job was in the point of the Resurrection we shall see chap. 19. and because he falls upon it in the words next following here some understand these words thus They shall not rise till the general resurrections when these heavens shall be changed and renewed Psalm 102.25 26. Isaiah 65.17 2 Peter 3.7.10 11. Rev. 21.1 They shall not awake Out of the sleep of death nor be raised viz. by the sound of the last trump till the last day But raised they shall be and sleep no more viz. when the heavens shall be no more And till that time the bodies of the Saints are laid in the grave as in a bed of down or of spices to mellow and ripen this is matter of joy and triumph Isa 26.19 Dan. 12.2 when they were to lose all so Heb. 11.35 The wicked also sleep in the grave Dan. 12.2 but shall awake to everlasting shame and contempt ib. their sick sleep shall have a woful waking for they shall be raised by vertue of Christs judiciary power and by the curse of the law to look upon him whom they have pierced and to hear from him that dreadful discedite Depart ye cursed c. Verse 13. O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave As in a sweet and safe repository sanctuary Sepulchrum est quasi scrinium vel capsa in quam reponitur corpus my soul mean-while living and raigning with thee in heaven expecting a glorious Resurrection and saying How long Lord Holy and True The fable or fancy of Psychopannychia hath been long since hissed out though lately revived by some Libertines that last brood of Beelzebub our Mortalists especially who say that the body and soul die together But what saith the Apostle Rom. 8.10 If Christ be in you the body is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse Now that Job thus woos death and petitions for the grave it is manifest that he saw some good in it and that he promised himself by it Malorum ademptionem bonorum adeptionem freedom from evil and fulnesse of good we should learn to familiarize death to our selves and put the grave under the fairest and easiest apprehensions think we hear God
old age upon his son Rehoboam upon Ephraim Hos 13.1 see the Note there upon out Edward 2 and Henry 6. Some render it He hath loosed my Bow string in reference to chap. 29.20 So that I cannot now shoot at those that slight me Job was disarmed and disabled to do as he desired as Philip King of France was in the battle between him and Edw. Dan. Hist f 237 3. King of England at the instant whereof there fell such a piercing showr of rain as dissolved the strings of his Archers and made their Bowe unuseful And afflicted me When a tree is felled each man pulleth off a branch saith the Great Proverb When a dog is worried every Curr will fall on him and have a fling at him When a Deer is wounded the whole Herd will set against him and thrust him out of their company So when God hath afflicted Job every base beggerly fellow sate heavy upon his skirts This was an addition to his affliction They have also let loose the Bridle upon me Those Insolents having pulled their heads out of the halter lay the raines in the neck and run riot yea Effraenare in ââinâecti sunt Jun. they run at tilt against me as it were beyond all reason and measure without fear shame or manners For Vpon me some read Before me q.d. Now they dare do any thing even in my presence who formerly stood in aw of me Verse 12. Vpon the right hand rise the youth Brought on readeth The Springals The Hebrew hath it The blossom or the young birds the youngsters Vix puberes Such as are scarce out of the shel the boyes scoffed and abused Job The lawless rout riding without raines took a licentious boldnesse to despise and despite him because he was ever most severe against their unruly practises They push away my feet They trip up my heeles as we phrase it and lay me along Vide admirandam humanae sortis varietatem faith Brentius here i.e. See the strange turnes of humane condition Job was wont to have the chief Seats in the Temple and Salutations in the Market-place now he cannot have a room my where to stand in but every paltry boy is pushing him down May it not be said of Job as it was of that Emperour that he was fortunae pila lusus But he saw God in all And they raise up against me the waie of their destruction Allegoria âastrânsi Job borroweth this expression from the Camp as he doth many more from other things whensoever he speaketh of his great afflictions and the contempt that was cast upon him Vpon me they tread the paths of their unhappinesse so Beza that is they make a path in which they may practise that their malapert boldnesse in doing mischiefe They beat their paths by running up and downe therein to undo me so Vatablus They cast upon me the causes of their waâ so Broughton Verse 13. They marre my path That is all my studies and endeavours they obstruct all passages whereby I might hope for help as if they were resolved upon my ruine They set forward my calamity See Zach. 1.15 see the Note there Or they count it profitable to them to vex me So great is there malice against me And though it do them no good yet if they may do me hurt they have enough They have no helper Neither need they any to animate them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or egg them on to mischief who of themselves are over forward though but small and young as Vajezatha Hamans youngest son was See the Note on Esth 9.9 Verse 14. They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters Quasi irruptione latâ in vedunt me As Souldiers when they have made a breach in a wall come tumbling in upon the Town and sack and ransack it yea raze it and harrasse it so have these dealt with me They rolled themselves upon me Labouring wholly to suppresse me Gen. 43.28 Taking occasion by this my downfal which they ought rather to have lamented and pitied they unmercifully fell upon me as if themselves had lived out of the reach of Gods rod. Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me I am horribly afraid of thy judgements as David expresseth it and this was it that pointed and put a sting into all other sufferings for a wounded conscience who can bear If the shoulder be galled the burden wil be very tedious and irksom Be not thou a terror unto me Lord saith Jâââ and then I care not much what else soever befalleth me But why were these terrours so troublesome They pursue my soul as the wind Brentius rendreth ãâ¦ã my liberality or They take away from me all the chearfulnesse ãâ¦ã of my mind whereby heretofore I suffered so many calamities and shrank not for the joy of the Lord was my strength and therâ nothing ãâã amisse to me Thou hath strengthned ãâã with strength in my soul Ps al. 38.3 and uphold me with thy noble spirit Psal 5â 12 The Chaldee hath it Kingly Spirit and it is the same word in the Original that is here rendred Animaem meam nobilem incâtam Vat. My soul It is my Princess or my Nobility for so the soul is the more noble part David calleth it his Glory Psal 16.9 and his Darling Psal 22.21 Some of the Jew-Doctors make it the same with welfare in the words following but that 's not likely And my welfare passeth away as a cloud i.e. Totally as before irresistibly like the wind Job aboundeth with similitudes âârorum vim simiââ a vent illustrat satutem à se abcunt in similitudine nubis Merl. which do notably illustrate He would say I am utterly deprived of all means of avoiding this misery Verse 16. And now my soul is powred out upon me Now that I am under these inward terrors I am become strengthlesse even weak as water my soul doth melt away for grief as Psal 42.4 and I am as an hollow tree wherein there is not any heart of Oak I am utterly dispirited The dares of affliction have taken hold upon me And so hard hold that I despair of ever getting loose whiles alive Verse 17. My bones are pierced in me in the night season Sleep is the Nurse of Natura and the sweet parenthesis of mens griefs and cares But Job had so many aches and ailements in his body over and above the terrours and troubles of his mind that rest he could take none at all in the night season when all creatures are wont to be at quiet For why the very marrow of his bones raged through intolerable paine as if it had been run through with a Tuck Nay niââe And my sinewes or My Pulses take no rest Heb. Sleep not My sinewes or arteries are rackt with the Cramp and my pulses by the force of a Feaver beat excessively Vatabl. and pant without intermission Qui tamen minui deberent quiâ calââ retrabitur in
common meeting place as Isai 14.13 the house of constitution or assignation to all living as the Hebrew here hath it that is to all men who are by an excellency called every creature Mark 16.15 as being the best living creatures upon earth Verse 24 Howbeit he will out stretch not his hand to the grave He will not dig up the dead as the Papists dealt by Bucer and others to afflict them any more Quid facere poterunt Occident Nunquid resuscitabunt ut iterum occidant What can they do said Luther concerning his enemies who threatned him Will they kill me but what then Will they raise me up to life again that they may kill me again No Charles the Fifth Emperour when he might have done that and was moved to do it would not Mors requies aerumnarum Dead men are at rest was Chaucers Motto There in the grave the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary be at rest chap. 3.17 Thus Job speaketh going no further then the afflictions of the body as being for his own part fearlesse of eternal punishment But as for the wicked when they dye out of bodily misery it is but as the mans flying from a Lion and a more savage Bear meeteth him or going from it into the house this house mentioned in verse 23. and that more venemous Serpent the Divel who hath the power of death Heb. 2.14 there biteth him Amos 5.19 Though they cry in his destruction i.e. Whiles God is crushing or killing of them Or Is there any cry in his destruction It was never yet known that dead men made moane what ever the Popish Legenders tell us of one that cryed out I am dead I am judged I am damned which gave occasion to Bruno to found the Carthusian Order Verse 25. Did I not weep for him that was in trouble Rursum per pathos excandescit Here Job wondreth Mercer and is much moved again at his unpitied condition sith himself was so pitiful to the afflicted He could safely say with Cyprian Cum singulis pectus meum copulo moeroris funeris pendera luctuosa participo cum plangentibus plango cum destentibus desteo He had teares ready for the afflicted and wept with those that weep not for a Complement as the Brasilians who Vt flerent oculos erudière suos Nor out of melch-heartednesse Ovid. as Gordian the Emperour who would weep for the beating of a boy at School But out of hearty compassion and commiseration as good Nehemiah chap. 2.2 and those Christian Hebrewes chap. 10.33 34. Now for as much as the merciful have the promises of mercy made unto them Matth. 5.7 James 2.13 And all men say Ab alio expectes alteri quod feceris Job marvelleth at others hard heartednesse toward him and expostulateth the unkindnesse Was not my soul grieved for the poor Into whose case good Job put himself and so became mendicorum maximus as Salvian saith of Christ Ad Eccles Carbol l. 4 because he shareth with his Saints in all their necessities he drew out not only his sheaf but his soul to the hungry Isai 58.7 10 and satisfied the afflicted soul this was right Contristata est anima mea super egenum Some render it Restagnavis lachrymis anima mea My soul stood with tears like a standing pool Others ustulatur ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã My soul burneth which is agreeable to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11.29 Who is weak and I am not weak Who is offended and I burn not Verse 26 When I looked for good According to that general rule and the common course of Gods proceedings With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again Matth. 7.2 With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful Psal 18.16 Middah cenegedh middah say the Hebrewes Men shall have measure for measure like for like Hence Job expected to have all things at will but it fell out somewhat otherwise and this puzled him he could not unriddle these cross occurrences He could almost find in his heart to think that he was therefore so little pitied by others because he had been so pitiful to others When I waited for light then came darknesse Things grew every day worse and worse with me mending like sowre Ale in Summer as we say Thus it fates many times with Gods best servants these children of light walk in darknesse neverthelesse let them trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon their God in the faile of all outward comforts Isai â0 10 Habak 3.17 18. This is the tryumph of faith which tells the soul that things must go backward before they can come forward and when matters are at worst they will mend Verse 27 My bowels boyled and rested not Being tossed and tumbled with continual boyling and bubbling Ollae more insonuerunt Merc. rumbling and making a rattle as the word signifieth whether through passion or compassion With most compassionate sympathy saith one learned Paraphrast did my bowels yearn over the afflicted so that I could have no quiet in my self for grieving and taking thought for them I was seldome or never without sorrow for some one or others affliction The dayes of affliction prevented me Prevision should have hindred this prevention Evils fore seen come no whit the sooner but far the easier It is a labour well lost if they befall us not well spent if they do whereas coming on the sudden they find weak minds secure make them miserable leave them desperate Expect them therefore and prepare for them Darts foreseen are dintless Verse 28 I went mourning without the Sun Ater ambulo sed non ob Solem I am not Sun-burnt but heart burnt black and discoloured without because parched and dryed up within by the force of my disease and my griefe wherewith I am pained pined and even perished I stood up and cryed in the Congregation Which was not very handsome but I could not hold Rise I did and roar I must amidst the preass of people whatever they should think of me So Mordecai went out into the midst of the City and cryed with a loud and a bitter cry and came even before the Kings gate c. Esth 4.1 2. In extreme heavinesse men care not to keep decorums Verse 29. I am a brother to Dragons c. i.e. I utter a very lamentable voice or rather noise like Dragons which sucking the Elephants blood till he fall down dead upon them and quell them with his huge bulk make an horrible howling Plin. Solin so horrible and hideous say some that they amaze yea kill those that hear it And a companion to Owles I give forth rude and confused cryes as if I howled with Owles or grunted with Ostriches We use to say of such that they roar like Beares and bellow like Bulls filling the air with their Out-cryes Young Ostriches cast off by their Dams Job 39.14 Lam. 4.3 make pittiful moan so do the young Ravens for
him For although he were put on by his domesticks who seeing their Master despitefully used would have torn those his enemies in pieces yet he was not moved thereby but contained and kept them in from such violence Beza thus paraphraseth this text And yet I protest that I wanted not setters on even amongst mine own houshold servants who still perswaded me to requite those injuries which I received with most bitter revenge nay their minds were so incensed that they cryed out That they should never be satisfied on them no not though they had eaten them up quick Oh that we had of his flesh So barbarous and bruitish is revenge See Psal 27.2 Erasmus telleth of a Frier Augustine of Antwerp that he openly in the Pulpit wished that Luther were there that he might bite out his throat with his teeth Epist lib. 16. ad obtrectat I can hardly forbear with these nailes of mine to be thy death said Frier Brusierd to Bilney the Martyr At the town of Barre in France the Italians in hatred of Lutheranisâe Acts Mon. fol 914. Ibid. 1951. brake forth into such fury that they ript up a living child took out his Liver being as yet red hot and eat it as meat Christiern King of Denmark pulled the dead body of his Enemy Steven the Swedish General out of the grave Val. Max christian 138. inusitataqus rabie dentibus adpetiit and like a mad dog tore it with his teeth The Jewes in Trajans time having one Andrew for their Captain cut in pieces about Cyrent many Greeks and Romans eating their flesh besmearing themselves with their blood and clothing themselves with their skins The like they did also about Cyprus and in Egypt Xiphil in Dist. to the slaughtering of above four hundred thousand people Tacitus noteth of the Jewes in general that they are very kind among themselves but contra oâuts alies hostile adium against all others they bear hostile hatred Home homini ãâã We cannot be satisfied But with his heart blood It is as easie to quench the fire of Aetna Planeè inexplebile est vindictae desiderium Mercer as the thoughts fired by revenge See Psal 124.3 14.4 Verse 32. The stranger did not lodge in the street Job was so far from liking and commending those enraged stomacks of his servants that he would not suffer strangers to lodge abroad in the night season Gregory noteth here that he speaketh first of his pacifick disposition toward his enemies and then of his hospitality because saith he the heart must first be freed from malice and wrath and then charity is to be exercised that we might be accepted Abraham neither set up an Altar to God nor shewed himself forward to entertain strangers till Lot and he were reconciled Hospitality is commended to our practise both by the Prophet Isaiah chap. 58.7 by St. Paul Rom. 12.13 Heb. 13.2 and by St. Peter 1 Epist 4.9 Of Cranmer Tremellius testifieth that he was home ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nec minù ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã humane and hospitable Epist 57. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã after the example of Abraham and Lot whom Synesius therefore calleth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God-entertainers Julian the Apostate reckoneth the hospitality of the Primitive Christians Chrys in Joan. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Hinc tot olim Xenodochia among those three things that caused their Religion to be so generally embraced Of the Waldenses also those ancient Protestants in Germany it is reported that they could travel from Colen to Millain in Italy and every night lodge with Hosts of their own profession who would bid them heartily welcome But I opened my doors to the Traveller I bid the weary wayfaring man welcome to my house Jupiter ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã dicebatur Ad viam vel versus viam and kept a good table for such Mensares sacra est per quam Deus honoratur praeses amicitiae hospitii Job was known to be a good house-keeper and was much resorted to he set open his gate in the high-way so Beza after Mercer rendreth this text It was his will That that part of his house which bounded upon the high-way-side should alwayes lye open to harbour Passengers Verse 33. If I covered my transgression as Adam A transgressour then Job yieldeth himself the lives of the best alive are fuller of sins than the firmament is of stars or the furnace of sparks But he did not Adam-like or after the manner of men cover or conceale them extenuate or excuse them denying them as Cain did Gen. 4.9 and Gehezi 2 King 5.25 and Ananias Act. 5.8 or at least dealing with them as the unjust Steward did who for an hundred set down fifty Adam went about to hide his sin alledging non causam pro causa that for the cause of his flight that was not the true cause thereof viz. the voice of God his fear thereupon his nakedness c. thus sin and shifting came into the world together Secondly when that would not do but that he was driven from that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã then he seeks to excuse it by accusing God and transferring the blame upon him for giving him a woman to tempt him Gen. 3.12 The like hereunto do they that plead Predestination or Constellations or natural inclination c. that put God to his proofs as they did Jer. 2.35 Job was none such but made it his daily practise to acknowledge his iniquities against himself Psal 32.5 and with utmost aggravation from all the circumstances laying open how many transgressions were wrapt up in each sin as it is Levit. 16.21 lest as Samuel once said to Jesse Are here all thy sons so God should say to Job Are these all thy sins and there being but one only covered that one should prove destructive to his soul as that bastard Abimelech did to all his brethren But now that he freely and fully confesseth his offences he is sure to find mercy Prov. 28.18 No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness many are for their supposed goodness By hiding âinâ iniquity in my bosom As silly men think to do 1 From God who is all-eye and every man before God is all-window so that he needs not a window in his bosom as the Heathen Momus wisht for God to look in at Job 34.22 2 From the world which yet they cannot alwayes do for God that descryeth will also discover all sooner or later else how should that be fulfilled The name of the wicked ãâã Broughton rendreth it By hiding mine iniquity of self-love So Kimchi also readeth it Tremellius to the same sense Ex dilectione mei And surely it is this sinful self-love that closeth up mens lips and keepeth them from pouring out their souls as water before the Lord. Some deal with their souls as others do with their bodies when their beauty is decayed they desire to hide it from themselves
with his honesty But it is also as true that to neglect altogether what others think and say of us Cic. non solùm arrogantis est sed dissoluti is the part not of a proud only but of a forlorn person saith the Oratour Verse 8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity Strange if he should for the wicked is abomination to the righteous Prov. 29. ult Lord gather not my soul with sinners nor my life with bloody men saith David Psal 26.9 Lord send me not to hell among the wicked said a certain good woman upon her death-bed for thou knowest I never liked their company here on earth But how proveth Elihu this Charge against Job who was ever a terrour to graceless Belialists Forsooth he gathereth it from a certain speech of his if he could tell what or when it was uttered Verse 9. For he hath said It profiteth a man not Did Job ever say so or think so Where and when He said indeed and truly that in this life it is oft seen that bad men prosper and good men suffer But must it needs follow therefore that it is a course of no profit to walk with God Knoweth not Elihu that there is nothing that may not be taken with either hand and that it is a spiritual unmannerliness to take it with the left Indeed it is not amiss to admonish good men what absurdities may be gathered out of their words and 't is fit that they should prevent it as much as may be Elihu also was the more to be born with and that made Job let him go on likely without a reply because he pleaded for God and the glory of his justice which Job had somewhat wronged as cannot be denied whiles he gave too much way to his grief and other passions and now beginneth to be sensible of his out-bursts But truly if he should have said as here he is taxed and yet David and Jeremy said little less he would have gone in company with those workers of iniquity Isai 58.3 Mal. 3.14 15. and have lifted at the very foundation of all true Religion Heb. 11.6 and thence it was that Elihu was so hot But men must take heed of drawing odious consequences out of other mens speeches and of forcing them to go two miles when they would go but one Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood c. Prov. 30.33 That he should delight himself with God Or When he runneth with God Tremellius ãâã Ezek. 1.14 When he shall be willing to walk with God as Gen. 5.22 The Tigurines render the whole verse thus Dixit enim vir non faciet paria si cum Deo cursu contendat Sure it is nâc volentis nâc volantis as a Noble man gave it for his Motto It is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth no though he could run as fast as a bird can flye but in God that sheweth mercy Verse 16. Therefore hearken unto me ye men of understanding Heb. Ye men of heart Egregiè cordati Viri Cor est sedes sapicutiâ Mentemque habere quâis bonam Et esse corculis datum est Having recited Jobs evil speeches he truneth away from him as it were in great displeasure and directeth his speech to others See the like done by Jacob Genes 49.4 We should abhor that which is evil and shew our detestation thereof Far be it from God that he should do wickednesse c. scil By punishing any without a cause and this he double-denyeth for better assurance Cause enough there may be found in the very best as well by reason of their actual abominations their omissions commissions and failings in the manner as of their birth-blot which ever abideth with them while they are here and is a seed-plot of all sin How then can God wrong any one Surely it is inconsistent with Gods 1. Nature here 2. Actions v. 11. 3. Will v. 12. And although he might to shew his Soveraignty punish men for his pleasure Rom. 9.20 yet far be it from us to imagine that he will abuse his might and power to do any thing unjust or unbeseeming his goodnesse Verse 11. For the work of a man shall he render unto him This is both his Covenant and his custome so far is he from doing wrong to any that every man shall be sure to reap as he sowes to drink as he brewes to receive according to that he hath done in the flesh whether good or evil 2 Cor. 5.10 And albeit this is not done forthwith yet we may write upon it and reckon that nondum omnium dierum soles occiderunt as sure as the night followeth the day a day of account will come and God will render unto each man reward or punishment according to his works And cause every man to find according to his wayes According to the course of his life and not according to this or that particular action A Doeg may set his foot as far within the Sanctuary as a David and a David may in some particular out-sin a fire brand of hell But the wayes of a man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Prov. 5.21 He considereth the bent frame and tendency of the heart and proceeds accordingly Verse 12. Yea surely God will not do wickedly This must be laid down for a certain truth and is therefore so reiterated Job had said as much to this purpose as Elihu could do but then he had seemingly dashed all againe with his inconsiderate complaints and murmurings This Elihu could not bear but again and again celebrateth the rithteousnesse of God and when he hath said his utmost seemeth to say as Cicero once did of Crassus and Antonius the Roman Orators Cic. de Orat. l. 3 That if any man think he had said too much in commendation of them he must needs be such an one as either knew them not or was not able to judge of their worth As for Job whom he here confuteth he seemes to say of him as Calvin somewhere doth of Luther That as he excelled with great vertues so he was not without his great failings Atque utinam recognoscendis suis vitiis plus operae dedisset and I would saith he Calv. ep Bulling that he had spent lesse time in declaiming against others and more in recognizing his own faults Neither will the Almighty pervert judgment For shall not the Judge of all the earth do right See the Note on chap. 7.3 Verse 13. Who hath given him a charge over all the earth scil To govern it Is not he the Maker and Monarch of all men Who is his Superiour and to whom shall he give account and who shall expostulate with him about injustice Or for fear of whom should he warp or writh The Emperor cannot do right saith One Theophil Inst because he hath none to over-awe him or question
recruit as far as God seeth fit Multadies variâsquo Labor mutabilis avi Rettulit in melius multos alterna revisens Lusit in solido rursus fortuna locavit Virg. Aen. l. 11 The best way is to hang loose to these things below not trusting in uncertain riches but in the living God 1 Tim. 6.17 who will be our exceeding great reward and give to his Sufferers an hundred fold here and eternal life hereafter Mat. 19.29 Optandâ nimirùm est jactura quae lucro majore pensatur saith Agricola It is doubtlesse a lovely losse that is made up with so much gaine Well might Saint Paul say Godlinesse is profitable to all things as having the Promise of both lives 1 Tim. 4 6 Well might Saint Peter call it The Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.2 For as God brings light out of darknesse comfort out of sorrow riches out of poverty c. so doth Godlinesse Let a man with Job bear his losses patiently and pray for his enemies that wrong and rob him and he shall be sure to have his own againe and more either in money or moneys worth either in the same or a better thing contented Godlinesse shall be great gaine to him 1 Tim. 6.6 Besides heavens happinesse which shall make a plentiful amends for all The Rabbins would perswade us That God miraculously brought back again to Job the self-same cattle that the Sabaeans and others had taken from him and doubled them Indeed his children say they therefore were not doubled unto him because they perished by their owââault and folly as one of his friends also told him But of all this nothing certain can be affirmed and they do better who say That his children being dead in Gods favour perished not but went to heaven they were not lost but laid up so that before God Job had the number of his children doubled for they are ours still whom we have sent to heaven before us and Christ at his coming shall restore them unto us 1 Thessal 4.14 In confidence whereof faithful Abraham calleth his deceased Sarah his dead That I may bury my dead out of my sight Gen. 23.4 and so she is called eight several times in that one Chapter as Paraeus hath observed Verse 11 Then came there unto him all his brethren Then when God had begun to restore him As his adversity had scattered his friends so his prosperity brought them together again This is the worlds usage Dum fueris foelix multos numerabis amicos Tempora si fuerint nubila solus eris Summer-birds there are not a few Samaritans who would own the Jewes whiles they flourished but otherwise disavow them as they did to Antiochus Epiphanes Rich Job had many friends Prov. 14.20 Qui tamen persistebant amicitia sicut lepus juxta tympanum as the Proverb is All this good Job passeth by and forgetting all unkindnesses magnificently treateth them as Isaac in like case had done Abimelech and his train Gen. 26.30 And did eat bread with him in his house It 's likely they came with their cost to make Job a Feast of comfort such as were usual in those dayes Jer. 16.7 Ezek 24.17 But whether they did or not they were welcome to Job who now never upbraids them with their forsaking of him in his distresse which yet was then a great grief to him but friendly re-embraceth them and courteously entertaineth them This is contrary to the practice of many fierce and implacable spirits in these dayes whose wrath like that of the Athenians is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã long-lasting and although themselves are mortal yet their hearts are immortal And they bimoaned him They condoled with him and shook their heads as the word signifieth not by way of deriding him as once they had done chap. 16. but of sorrow for their former deserting him and assurance that they would henceforth better stick to him in what estate soever And comforted him over all the evil c. So they should have done long before A friend is made for the day of adversity but better late then never Nunquam sane serò si seriò See here saith Brentius the change of affaires and the right hand of the Most High and learn the fear of God for as he frowneth or favoureth any man so will the world do Every man also gave him a piece of money Or a Lamb to stock him againe Beza rendreth it Some one of his Cattle and paraphraseth thus Yea every one of them gave him either a sheep or an Ox or a Camel and also an Ear-ring of gold partly as a pledge of their good will and friendship renewed toward him and partly in consideration and recompence of that losse which he had before by the will and fore-appointment of God sustained Honoraria obtulerunt saith Junius they brought him these presents as Pledges of their love and observance for so were great men wont to be saluted with some gift Sen. Epist 17. 1 Sam. 10.27 2 Chron. 17.5 And the same custome was among the Persians and Parthians whose Kings might not be met without some token of congratulation and Symbol of Honour And every one an Ear-ring of gold Inaurem auream an Ear-pendant of gold at the Receipt whereof Job might well say as the Poet did Theog ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã To thee this is a small matter but to me a great Verse 12. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job According to Bildads Prophecy chap. 8.7 And S. James his useful observation Chap. 5.11 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy If he afflict any of his it is in very faithfulnesse that he may be true to their souls it is also in great mercy Deut. 8.16 that he may do them good in the latter end and this they themselves also shall both see and say by that time he hath brought both ends together Psal 119.71 Be ye therefore patient stablish your hearts James 5.7 Patient Job had all doubled to him Joseph of a Slave became his Masters Master Valentinian lost his Tribuneship for Christ but was afterwards made Emperor Queen Elizabeth of a prisoner became a great Princesse But if God deny his suffering servants Temporals and give them in Spirituals they have no Cause to complaine One way or other they shall be sure to have it Great is the gain of Godlinesse For he had fourteen thousand sheep c Cattle only are instanced Pecuma à pecâde ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã pecudes posteà opes significant Melancth Dios because therein especially consisted the wealth of that Countrey but other good things also doubtlesse were doubled unto him as his family possessions grounds houses and especially Wisdom to make a good use of all for commonly Stultitiam patiuntur opes and what 's more contemptible then a rich fool a golden beast as Caligula called his father in
Law Syllanus Verse 13. He had also seven sons and three daughters Whose perfections sweetned the sorrow which the losse of the other had caused him Sic uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus Virg. Ten children he had in heaven and ten on earth See the Note above on vers 10. The Lord well knew that wealth would be nothing so comfortable to Job unlesse he had children to leave it to Gen. 15.2 His wife therefore returning to her duty from which she had swerved became fruitful at an age well advanced for we read not of any other that he had Ver. 14. And he called the name of the first Jemimah That is Day-bright from her orient and glistering beauty q.d. fair as they day Cant. 6.10 the Church is said Diurnâ to look forth as the Morning fair as the Moon And the name of the second Kezia That is Cassia a kind of Spice whereof there are three sorts saith Dioscorides but all very sweet and send forth a most pleasant smell like that of the Rose This second daughter therefore seemes to be so named from the sweetnesse of her breath or perhaps of her whole body proceeding from the goodnesse of her constitution as it is reported of Alexander the Great So sweet smelling Smyrna the best of all the seven Churches of Asia Revel 3. And the name of the third Keren-happuch That is the Horn of beauty better then that which is borrowed and of abundance as whose cheeks Nature had painted with a most pleasing Vermillion far beyond any artificial tincture which she had no need of Vtpote omnes aliarum fucos veneres superans Some intepret it the horn of conversion and think That Job herein would expresse and memorize the strange turn and alteration of his condition as Joseph did Gen. 41.51 52. Vatab. But the Chaldee Paraphrast the Jew-Doctors and most of our Expositors are for the former Interpretation favoured also by the words following Verse 15. And in all the Land there were no women found so ãâã c. ãâã though but a ãâã fragile and one of the gifts of Gods left hand Prov. 3.16 ãâã is it the Flower of vertue as Chrysippus called it one of the greatest excellencies of Nature and singular degree of Gods Image in man as Another Platâ And although vertue is Proprio contenta theatro yet to others Gratior est pulchro veniens in corpore virtus That Vertue hath a better grace That shineth from a beauteous face Such probably were Jobs Daughters not fair and foolish as those Daughters of Jerusalem Isai 3. but adorned with all variety of Moral vertues as a clear Skye is with Stars as a Princely Diadem with Jewels Hence their good father so affected them that he Gave them inheritââââs among their brethren Making them coheires with them in his estate which as it was an extraordinary expression of his love to his daughters so it importeth as some think a desire in him to have his daughters live still with him amongst the rest of his family either for that he was loath to part with them Val. Max. Christian pag. 308 the like whereof is reported of Charles the Great who being asked Why he did not bestow his daughters in marriage answered That he could not be at all without their company or else as fearing lest they should be defiled with Idolaters which peradventure out of Jobs family were ordinary in that Countrey Verse 16. Fliny tels of one Xenophilus who lived 10â years without sickness Lib. 7 cap 5. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years c. And this was not the least part of his happinesse Length of dayes is a piece of Wisdoms wages Prov. 3.16 And what a mercy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or a good old age is hath been before noted See chap. 5.26 For a short braid of adversity Job had an hundred and forty years health and prosperity Like as Joseph for his thirteen years of slavery and imprisonment had fourscore years liberty prosperity and preferment Who would not serve thee O King of Nations And saw his sons Who doubtless were good and towardly though nothing is said of them agreeable to their education and answerable to Jobs former children chap. 1. And his sons sons To his great joyes increase Even four generations Joseph saw but three Gen. 50.23 If God deny this happiness to any of his yet he hath promised them a Name in his house better then of Sons and Nephews Isai 56.5 Verse 17 So Job died being old and full of dayes How long he lived we know not The Rabbins say above two hundred years which was longer then either Abraham or Isaac lived of both whom it is likewise said that they were saturi dierum sated with this earthly life and desirous of life eternal To those old men that would yet live longer we may say Cur non ât satur vitae conviva recedis Lucret. It is enough Lord said Elias I desire to be dissolved said Paul Go forth my soul go forth to God said Hilarion What make I here said Monica Job is now as willing to dye as ever he was to dine he is satisfied with dayes saith the text not as a meat loathed but as a dish though well liked that he had fed his full of Laus Deo in Aeternum A COMMENTARY OR EXPOSITION Upon the Book of PSALMS THe Book of Psalms So Christ calleth it Luke 20.42 the Hebrew word signifieth Hymns or Praises because the greater part of these Psalms serve to set forth the praise of God This title seemeth to be taken from Psal 145. called Davids Hymn or Psalm of Praise so highly prized by the ancient Hebrews that they pronounce him an Heir of Heaven who shall three times a day devoutly repeat it Athanas Chrysost The Greeks call this Book the Psalter and deservedly give it many high commendations as that it is the Souls Anatomy the Laws Epitomy the Gospels Index the Garden of the Scriptures a sweet Field and Rosary of Promises Precepts Predictions Praises Soliloquies c. the very Heart and Soul of God the Tongue and Pen of David a man after Gods own heart one murmur of whose Michtam or Maschil one touch of whose heavenly Harp is farre above all the buskind Raptures garish Phantasms splendid Vanities Pageants and Landskips of prophaner wits farre better worthy to be written in letters of Gold than Pindars seventh Ode in the Temple at Rhodes though Politian judged otherwise like a Wretch as he was and farre more fit to have been laid up as a rare and precious Jewel in that Persian Casket embroydered with Gold and Pearl than Homers Iliads for which it was reserved by great Alexander But that Cock on the Dunghil never knew the worth of this peerless Pearl as did our good King Alured who himself translated the Psalter into his own Saxon Tongue Turk His and as the Emperour Andronicus who caused this
cadent damnabunâur at the Great Assizes they shall bee cast and condemned Revel 6.17 For the great day of his Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear 1 Pet. 4.18 Surely no where but in Hell their own place Acts 1.25 not before God for he is a consuming fire Heb. 12. ult and they chaff or stubble fully dried See Isa 33.14 Not before Christ for he shall come in flaming fire rendring vengeance c. 2 Thess 1.7 not in Heaven for it 's an undefiled inheritance neither may any dirty Dogge trample on that golden pavement Revel 22.15 Not any longer on Earth defiled by their iniquities and therefore to bee purged by the fire of the last Day for the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 R. David Kimchi by Judgement here understandeth the day of the wicked mans death and indeed his Deaths-day is his Doomesday when he must take a fearful farewell and breath out his Soul and hope together with the breath of the same dying groan Job 27.8 11.20 Hinc illae Lachrymae hence that loth-to-depart though some set a good face upon it when to dye as Sir Thomas Moore who dyed for the Popes Supremacy with a light jest in his mouth Vespasian likewise dyed with a jest and Augustus in a Complement This was but the Hypocrisie of mirth for Death is the King of terror to a Natural man See Heb. 2.15 1 Sam. 15.32 28.20 Saul at the message of death swooned quite away and fell all along Quantus quantus erat as Peter Martyr phraseth it yea good Hezekiah wept when sentenced to death and the approach of it was to him Mar mar bitter bitterness Isa 38.3.17 he must have his faith at his fingers ends as one saith that will dye actively But all men have not faith 2 Thess 3.2 and those few that have are not always assured that their hearts shall live for ever as Psal 22.26 and that Death the Devils Serjeant to drag wicked men to Hell shall be to them the Lords Gentleman-usher to conduct them to Heaven as Mr. Brightman expresseth it Nor Sinners in the Congregation of the righteous They shall never set foot within heavens Threshold within that general Assembly that sacred Panegyris ample Amphitheatre the Congregation-house of crowned Saints and glorious Angels Tertullian saith of Pompies Theatre which was the greatest ornament of old Rome that it was Arx omnium turpitudinum a receptacle of all kind of Ribaldry and Roguery Not so Heaven There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lye Rev. 21.27 Augustin The Irish air will sooner brook a Toad or a Snake than Heaven a Sinner Mali in area nobiscum esse possunt in horreo non possunt Chaff may be with Gods good Corn on the floor but in the Garner it shall not For Christ will throughly purge his floor and gather his Wheat into the Garner but will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire Mat. 3.12 Vers 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous Or acknowledgeth approveth administreth and ordereth all things to their eternal Salvation as may appear by the opposition wherein there is a Rhetorical Aposiopesis Gods knowledge of men and their ways is not meerly Intuitive but Approbative of the good and Vindictive of the evil ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã His Providence which is the carrying on of his Decree is that helm which turns about the wholeship of the Universe with singular skill and justice Dominus diligit dirigit viam id est vitam omne institutum justorum See Psal 37.18 142.4 Nahum 1.7 Prov. 2.8 with the notes there God knows the righteous by name Exod. 33.17 knows them for his own looks upon them and their whole course with singular delight and complacency they are his Hephzibah Isa 62.4 the dearly beloved of his Soul Jer. 12.7 Verba notitiae apud Hebraos secum trahunt affectum But the way of the ungodly shall perish Their practices and persons shall perish together be done away be lost for ever And why because the Lord knoweth them not unless it be for black Sheep as we say or rather for reprobate Goats Mat. 25. Hence their Souls are flung out as out of the middle of a sling when the Souls of the Saints are bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord their God 1 Sam. 25.29 PSAL. II. Vers 1 VVHy do the Heathen rage Why or for what The Psalm beginneth abruptly with an angry interrogation q.d. What are they mad to attempt such things as whereof they can neither give any good reason nor expect any good effect The Lord Christ of whom David was both a Father and a Figure as here appeareth shall surely reign maugre all the rage and resistance of his enemies who may seem to be ambitious of their own destruction and are therefore in this Psalm schooled and counselled to desist Nothing is more irrational than irreligion Why do the Heathen tumultuously rage or hurtle together Fremunt ferociunt When the Philistines heard that David was made King in Hebron they came up to seek him and to unking him 2 Sam. 5.17 so the Heathen and People that is Gentiles and Jews would have dealt by Christ Acts 4.25 26. The Devil ever since hee was cast out of Heaven tumultuateth and keepeth ado so do unruly spirits acted and agitated by him Dan. 6.15 Then those men kept a stir with the King against Daniel it is the same Hebrew word that is here and possibly Daniels spirit might think of Davids terms John 11.33 Jesus troubled himself but after another manner than these his enemies his passions were without mud as clear water in a Chrystal Glass what was an act of power in Christ is an act of weakness if not of wickedness in others ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Acts 4.25 The Apostles Greek word for this in the text denoteth rage pride and fierceness as of Horses that Neigh and rush into the Battel And the people imagine Heb. meditate or mutter a vain thing an empty design that shall come to noting Niteris incassum Christi submergere puppem Fluctuat at nunquam mergitur illaratis Dipt may the Churches Ship be but not drown'd Christ will not fail her enemies to confound Some think that by this muttering people are meant such as act not open outrages against Christ but yet in words murmur and mutiny whispering Treason Vers 2. The Kings of the earth set themselves Or stand up as if they would do the deed and bear down all before them The many had acted their part vers 1. and now the mighties shew themselves but go off again with shame enough The Spanish Frier used to say there were but few Princes in Hell and why because there were but few in all It was a
Father for the setting up of his Sons Scepter contra gentes point blank opposite to that decree of theirs vers 3. This Ordinance or Decree of his Christ is still declaring in his Church by the Ministers of the Gospel whose Office it is to set forth Christ to the world in all his Offices and Efficacies and to bring as many as may be to the obedience of the faith Thou art my Son David was so by Adoption and Acceptation Psal 89.26 27. But Christ I By eternal generation Prov. 8. Heb. 1.5 2 By hypostatical union and so God had one only Son as Abraham had his Isaac though otherwise he were the Father of many Nations This day have I begotten thee Understand it either of the day of Eternity or else of the fulness of time wherein God brought his first begotten Son into the world and afterwards mightily declared him to be the Son of God by the Resurrection from the dead Rom. 1.3 Acts 13.33 whence he is called the first begotten of the dead Col. 1.18 Rev. 1.5 Vers 8. Ask of me and I will give thee All things were conveyed to Christ by asking Shall we think to have any thing without asking Or are we not worthily miserable that will not make our selves happy by asking Now through Christs Passion and Intercession it is but ask and have Open thy mouth and I will fill it If at any time we ask and miss it is for most part because we ask amiss ãâã 4.2 The Heathen for thine inheritance The Kingdom of Grace the object whereof are all Nations Christ hath by Donation from his Father for his Natural Kingdom he hath as God coaequal with his Father from all eternity Vers 9. Thou shalt roughly rule them Ainsw Thou shalt break them c. sc those that will not bend thou shalt thus break Christs gracious Government of his obedient people though not so fully expressed here yet is to be necessarily understood and in the last words of the Psalm it is plainly held forth Blessed are all they that trust in him Thou shalt dash them in peeces or scatter them abroad being already broken as a Potters vessel i.e. without any hope of repair and recovery It is a fearful thing to fall into the punishing hands of the living God Heb. 10. He that will not be warned in hearing shall be crusht to peeces in feeling said that Martyr Aut faciendum aut patiendum God will be obeyed either actively or passively Look to it Vers 10. Be wise now therefore O yee Kings Redeem your own sorrows by trembling at Gods Judgements whiles they hang in the threatnings this is an high point of heavenly wisdom Ergo Dei tandem verbo subsoribite reges Ne rapiant Stygiae vos Acherontis aqua These Kings were not without wit and learning Julian the Apostate for instance who said unto the King Christ Apostato but they wanted godly wisdom and are therefore here called upon to behave themselves prudently and to play the wise men For as wicked men are fools in print so on the contrary in our old English Books a righteous man is printed a right wise man and righteousness right-wiseness For it is the only true both Wisdom Psal 111.10 Prov. 1.7 and Honour for the righteous are Princes in all Lands Psal 45.16 yea they are Kings Compare Mat. 13.17 with Luke 10.25 Many righteous saith the one many Kings saith the other Evangelist Be instructed yee Judges Be nurtured yee Sages submit to Christs Discipline acknowledge his Prophetical Office here his Priestly vers 11. his Kingly v. 12. Estote ligati so Aben-Ezra rendreth it Be yee bound in opposition to that evil decree of theirs vers 3. Let us break their bonds c. And this they are advised to do forth-with while it is called to day Now therefore before God the Father vex you God the Son bruise you with his Iron mace Vers 11. Serve the Lord with fear Timore non servili sed amicali with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 Say to Christ as the people did to Joshua chap. 1.16 and as the Rulers and Elders of Israel did to John 2 King 10.5 We are thy servants and will do all that thou shalt bid us And rejoyce before him with trembling A strange mixture of contrary passions for base fear hath torment 1 Joh. 4.18 but such as is usual with Gods Servants whose task it is to work out their salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 Agreeable whereunto is that of Bernard Laetisimus sed non securi gandentes in Domino sed caventes à recidivo Those good women went from Christs Sepulcher with fear and great joy We should come to him in his Ordinances like affected Vers 12. Kiss the Son That Son of God vers 7. Bar is an Hebrew word also see Prov. 31.2 as R. Abraham confesseth though other Rabbins deny it and therefore render this text Osculamini purè Kiss purely and Osculamini eum qui selectus est Osculo homagii as Samuel kissed Saul 1 Sam. 10. ãâã Gen. 41 40. Euseb Mortuus est Moses ad os Jehova Maimonides ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Kiss him who is selected or set apart Christ is Gods elect Isa 42.1 Mat. 12.14 Him men must kiss with a kiss of adoration and subjection with a kiss of faith and love 1 Pet. 5.14 Kiss his holy Wounds as Constantine did the Eye of Paphnutius that was bored out in Maximinus the Tyrants time so shall hee kiss us with the kisses of his mouth Cant. 1.1 and with his kisses suck out the sting of death and take away our souls with a kiss as the Rabbins from Deut. 34.5 say he did Moses his soul The ancient Patriarks saluted Christ afar off and were interchangeably saluted by him Heb. 11.13 for they saw by faith him who is invisible vers 27. O get a Patriarks eye study Moses his Opticks for here the Northern Proverb is found true Unkent unkist Men know not the Son of God and therefore love him not kiss him not unless it be Osculo Iscariotico as the Traitor kissed him See a lofty and lively description of him Heb. 1.2 3. Lest he be angry For meek though he be as a Lamb and will not break the bruised Reed yet so angry he can be that the Kings and great ones shall be glad to flee from the wrath of this Lamb Rev. 6. who hath feet like burning brass and eyes like flaming fire Rev. 1. Plato saith of the King of Bees that although he hath no sting yet he ruleth and governeth his Common-wealth with great severity and justice So doth the Lord Christ and every good Soul is ready to say as the Poet did Ut mala nulla feram nisi nudam Caesaris iram Nuda parùm nobis Caesaris ira mali est Ovid. And yee perish form the way Or in the way that is in medio stadio before yee come to your Journies end to the full
special favour A man may have together with them animam triticeam as that rich fool had Animas etiam incarnavimus as a Father complaineth These outward things are got within men and have stolen away their warmest and liveliest affections from God Not so in the Saints They must have God or else they dye The people mourned and put on black when they heard that God would not go with them himself but send an Angel with them Exod. 33.2 3. And when great gifts were sent to Luther he sent them back again with this brave speech I will not be put off with these poor things I look for better Let God bestow himself upon me and it sufficeth As with Manna there fell a dew so to a good Soul together with Corn and Wine be it more or less there is a secret influence of God which the carnal heart is not acquainted with A fly cannot make that of a Flower that a Bee can do The treacherous Shechemites had plenty of Corn and Wine Judg. 9.27 but having not the grace of God withall they were soon after destroyed by Abimelech Vers 8. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep Heb. In peace together will I lye down and sleep that is saith the Syriack interpreter Non solum cubabo sed etiam Dormiam I will not only lye down but also sleep which many cannot do for fears and cares those Gnats that keep them waking The Arabick hath it I sleep as securely in adversity as those can that are in prosperity Others thus I wil lay me down together with the joy before spoken of and confidence in God this shall be my Bed-fellow and then I am sure to rest sweetly and safely For Thou Lord only makest thou settest me in safety thou givest to thy beloved sleep Psal 127.2 that is extraordinary quiet refreshing sleep as the learned note upon the Aleph quiescent in ãâã which is not usual PSAL. V. TO the chief Musician See on Psal 4. title Vpon Nehiloth Upon Wind-instruments Pneumatica tribulata The Rabbins say that this Psalm was made and appointed to be sung concerning Doeg and Ahitophel Vers 1. Give ear to my words O Lord David knew him to be a Prayer-hearing God Psal 65.2 and that his ears were always open as the doors of the Roman Aediles were to hear complaints and requests hence this prayer Consider my meditation i. e. the conception of my soul uttered with a low voyce Murmur meuns Hieron but with most vehement affection All this Mussitationeââ meam the Hebrew word importeth Vers 2. Hearken unto the voyce of my cry He thrice repeats the same request to shew the greatness of his grief and the necessity of help from Heaven Let mind and mouth spirit and speech go together in prayer and then its right the voyce of the Heart is simply necessary Moses cried to God at the red Sea though he said nothing The voyce of the lips is of great use also 1. For preventing of distraction 2. For exciting devotion My King And therefore help O King as she said 2 King 5.24 And my God who art in covenant with me both offensive and defensive For unto thee will I pray Thou art the proper object of Prayer as being Omnipresent Omniscient Omnipotent and a God in covenant with thy people Vers 3. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã My voyce shalt thou hear in the morning That fittest season usually for Prayer or any other serious business The very Heathens chose the morning chiefly for Sacrifice as Nestor in Homer the Argonauts in Apollonius The Persian Magi sang Hymns to their Gods at break of day and worshipped the rising Sun The Pinarii and Potitii certain Idolatrous Priests sacrificed every morning and Evening to Hercules upon the great Altar at Rome The Jews counted and called it an Abomination of desolation if at any time the Morning and Evening Sacrifice to the Lord were intermitted So should Christians if they offer not unto him twice a day at least viz. Morning and Evening prayers and praises Mass and Meat hinder no mans thrift say the very Papists A whet is no let a bait by the way hindreth not the journey so neither doth prayer in a morning hinder a mans business be it never so hasty or weighty but furthereth it rather Cardinal Wolsie though hee were Lord Chancellour His Life and Death by his Gentle Ush pag. 18. when he came in a morning out of his privie Chamber would not go abroad till he had heard two Masses nor go to bed at night with any part of his service unsaid no not so much as one Collect. Mahometans what occasion soever they have by profit or pleasure pray constantly five times a day Christians have a charge to continue instant in prayer and to let all business wait upon it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Rom. 12.12 with Act. 6.4 David knew that if prayer stand still the trade of godliness standeth still He therefore will be up and at it betimes and rather break his sleep than leave such a duty undone In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up Or look out spy like a Watch-man Gnarach Or dinavit aciem disposuit Tsaphah Speculando expectavit Two Military words the Prophet here maketh use of hee would not only pray but marshal up his prayers put them in array And when he had done he would be as a Spy upon a Tower to see whether he prevailed whether he got the day Some men pray of course or as a task but never look after their prayers or mark what answer This is very great folly and oscitancy Who sends forth a Ship and waits not for the return thereof Who shoots an Arrow or casts a Boul and looks not where it lights Prayer is the Souls Arrow Angle Seed Dove Messenger c. And they that take not notice how they speed deal as scofling Pilat did who scornfully asked Christ What 's truth but stay'd not for the answer If God shall hearken what David speaketh David must likewise hearken what God will speak He must look up to God if God shall look out of himself to David sith he humbleth himself to behold things done in Heaven Psalm 113.6 by a wonderful condescension how much more then to look upon man that is a Worm and the Son of man that is a Worm Job 25.6 Tantus tantillum Vers 4. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness As the Kings of the Earth have saith R. Solomon Alexander the Great promising a Crown of one hundred and eighty pound to those of his Guests that drank most caused one and forty to kill themselves with drinking for that Crown King Charls the Ninth of France gave one Albertus Tudius an Hucksters Son six hundred thousand Crowns Camera Med. Hâstor to teach him to swear with a grace But God perfectly hateth wickedness and wicked persons There were more
better of us but as there were many Marii in one Caesar so are there many Doegs and Absoloms in the best of us all As in water face answereth to face so doth the heart of a man to a man They flatter with their tongue The Apostle Rom. 3.13 rendreth it With their tongues they have used deceit And it is remarkable that in the Anatomy of a Natural man there he stands more on the Organs of Speech Tongue Lips Mouth Throat than on all the rest of the Members Vers 10. Destroy thou them O God Heb. Condemn them as guilty They were Gods enemies no less than Davids Tom. 8. in Enarr âujus precationis and implacable incorrigible and hence hee so prayeth against them Est Prophetia non malediction saith Austin Let them fall by their own counsel As it befel Ahitophel Haman the Powder-Traitors Or let them fall from their own counsels i.e. not be able to effect their evil designs but defeated frustrated Cast them out c. Let those who were once a terrour now be a scorn for they are even ripe for ruine as having added rebellion to their sin Job 34.37 For they have rebelled against thee And so are more thine enemies than mine which maketh me so earnest against them being swallowed up with a zeal of thy glory Vers 11. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoyce Joy is the just mans portion contra Hos 9.1 Isa 65.13 14. and according to the measure of his faith so is his joy 1 Pet. 1.8 Let them ever shout or shrill out set up their Note as a Peacock doth which hath his name in Hebrew from this root Because thou defendest them Heb. Velut pie tabernaculum R. David Thou over-coverest them with thy sure defence for upon all the glory shall be a defence And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain Isa 4.5 6. The Ram-skins covering the Ark from the violence of wind and weather figured out Christs protecting his people Let them also that love thy name As all the Virgins do who have smelt Christs name as an Oyntment poured out Cant. 1.3 See the Note there Be joyful in thee Heb. exult and leap for joy as if they were dancing Levalto's Thus Dr. Taylor the Martyr fetcht a frisk and danced when he was near unto the place where he should be burnt Rabbi Zabdi Ben Levi repeated this verse when he was at point of death Mid. Tillin in Psal 5 Another that in Psal 32. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee A Third that in Psal 84. One day in thy Courts is better c. A Fourth that in Psal 31. O how great is thy goodness c. Vers 12. For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous yea the righteous man shall abound with blessings Prov. 28. 20. yea God will bless all them that bless him Gen. 12.3 or that but give him a cup of cold water Mat. 10. With favour Or goodwill Qua praecedit nostram bonam voluntatèm saith Augustin Wilt thou compass him Or encircle him as with a Crown and so make them higher than the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 whose Crowns cannot keep their heads from aking but fill them with cares which made one King cry out Val. Max O vilis pannus c. and another spake this to his Crown Nobilis es fateor rutilisque onerata lapillis Innumeris curis sed comitata venis Quod benè si nossent omnes expendere neme Nemo foret qui te tollere wellet humo As with a shield A piked-shield such as doth circuire tres partes hominis compass about three parts of a man saith R. Salomon on this Text. Shields and Bucklers ' besides other Bosses for ornament had one great Boss in the middle with a sharp pike in it for use to pierce and wound the adversary See Job 15.26 God will be all in all to his People Crown Shield c. they may therefore well enough rejoyce shout leap as in the former verse PSAL. VI. TO the chief Musician on Neginoth See Psal 4. Title Upon Sheminith or upon the eight i.e. Intentissimo sono clarissimo voce Vatab. to be sung aloud An Eight is the highest Note in Musick See 1 Chron. 15.21 Others say that hereby is meant the Base and Tenor as fittest for a Mourner Vers 1. O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger In this and some other Psalms David begins so heavenly ends so merrily that one might think they had been composed by two men of a contrary humour as Moulin observeth De L' amont Divin Every new man is two men Rom. 7. The Shulamite hath in her as it were the company of two Armies Cant. 6.13 The Lord also chequereth his Providences white and black hee speckleth his work represented by those speckled Horses Zach. 1.8 Mercies and Crosses are inter-woven Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure Chastened David desires to be as Jer. 10.24 1 Cor. 11.32 Heb. 12.7 8. But in Mercy and in measure 1 Cor. 10.13 Fury is not in me saith God however it may sometimes seem to be Isa 27.4 Of furious people the Philosopher giveth this Character that they are angry ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã against those whom they should not 2 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for matters they should not 3 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã more than they should be But none of all these can be affirmed of God Anger is not in him secundum affectum but seemeth so to be secundum effectum when he chideth and smiteth as angry people use to do when there is no other remedy 2 Chron. 36.16 his anger is in Scripture put 1 For his threatnings Hos 11.9 Jon. 3.10 2. For his punishments Mat. 3.7 Rom. 2.8 But as God therefore threatneth that he may not punish Amo. 4.12 so in the midst of Judgement he remembreth Mercy and it soon repenteth him concerning his people Vers 2. Have mercy upon me O Lord As the woman in story appealed from Philip to Philip so doth David fly from Gods anger to Gods grace for he had none else in Heaven or Earth to repair to Psal 73.25 he seekes here to escape him by closing with God and to get off by getting within him For I am weak or crushed gnashed extreamly dejected with sickness of body and trouble of mind Basil expounds it of his soul sins into which he fell of infirmity and for which hee was threatned with Judgements by the Prophet Nathan O Lord heal me On both sides heal my soul for I have sinned against thee Psal 41.4 heal my body which is full of dolours and diseases Psal 107.18.20 for thou art Jehovah the Phisician Exod. 15.26 Heal mine estate which is very calamitous by reason of mine enemies who wish my death and would gladly revel in my ruines See Hos
6.2 Isa 30.26 For my bones are vexed viz. by reason of my leanness and long lying For albeit the bones of themselves are insensible and ake not yet the membranes and tunicles do that compass the bones Vers 3. My soul is also sore vexed This was worse than all the rest A light load to a raw shoulder is very grievous A little water in a leaden vessel is heavie so is a little outward grief to a laden soul Hence Job so complaineth and Jeremy prayeth be not thou a terrour unto me O Lord and then I much matter not what becomes of me But thou O Lord how long soil Wilt thou stand off and not hast to my help This is plena affectus Reticentia Vatab. an emphatical and affectionate Aposiopesis such as is ordinary with those that are in pain and durance Vers 4. Return O Lord deliver my soul He calleth hard upon Jehovah which sweet name of God he hath now five times in these four first Verses made use of as one that knew and could improve the full import of it Here David beggs of him to return not by change of place for God filleth all places being Entèr praesentèr Deus hic ubique potentèr But Miserationis serenitate by a beam of his mercy and by a dispensation of his gracious providence altering his condition for the better Deut. 30.9 Act. 15.16 O save me for thy mercies sake Quà m pulcherrimè ista supplicatio propriis proficicuis sermonibus explicatur saith Cassiodore concerning this text i.e. How finely and fitly is this request set forth David pleadeth not Merit but humbly craveth Mercy The Heart that peice of proud flesh must be brought to such a temper and tameness as to crouch to God for the crums that fall from his table Vers 5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee Some Heathens were of opinion that when a man dyed all dyed with him neither was there any further sense of weal or woe for ever ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ethic. 1.3 c. 9 Socrates doubted but Aristotle affirmed it to be so for ought he knew Eusebius and Augustine make mention of certain Arabian Hereticks who held that the Soul dyed with the Body and so remained dead till the last day and then they revived with the resurrection of the body This was long since exploded for a foul errour contrary to that which the Scripture holdeth forth in many places All that David would say here is that dead men remember not that is they mention not Gods worthy Acts to the quickning of others their praises cannot provoke other men to beleeve in God or serve him as in their life-time they might therefore David would fain live to do more good A certain Martyr going to suffer said he was sorry that he was going to a place where hee should do God no more work Seven Epist 3. but be receiving wages only Domine si adhuc populo tuo sim necessarius non recuso laborem said a dying Saint Lord if I may be yet useful to thy people I should be very well content it might be so See Isa 38.18.19 David and Hezekiah prayed hard that they might not yet dye lest Religion and the true Worship of God which they had begun to vindicate and establish should by their decease fall to the ground through the wickedness of their survivers and successors In the grave who shall give thee thanks scil Palani cum aliis saith Aben-Ezra openly and exemplarily in the company of others Some render it In Hell who shall consess to thee Hereby is shewed the fear of Gods Children saith Diodate anguished by the feeling of his Wrath least they should dye out of his grace unreconciled and by that means be excluded and debarred from their desired aime to be everlastingly instruments of his glory But it is better to take Sheol here for the place and state of the dead after their dissolution though Dilrio will needs have it to be always in Scripture meant of Hell which if it be so then why should Job so earnestly desire to be hid in it chap. 14.13 That was a singular example of Paul the Hermite Adag Sacr. in 2 Sam. 22. Digress 2. Hier. in Vit. Paul who though dead seemed to be serving God and affected those that beheld him For he was found saith Hierom dead kneeling upon his knees holding up his hands lifting up his eyes so that the very dead corps seemed yet by a kind of religious gesture to pray unto God Vers 6. I am weary with my groaning I have laboured therein even unto lassitude There must be some proportion between our sin and our sorrow A storm of sighes at least if not a shower of tears some sorrow is above tears some constitutions are dry and will not yeeld tears and in such case dry sorrow may be as available as wet Shee that touched the heth of Christs Garment only was as welcome to him as Thomas who put his fingers into the print of the nails All the night make I my bed to swim So one hours sin brought many nights pain Transit voluptas maniâ dolo Nocet empâ dolore voluptas Bishop Pilkiton on Nehem 1.4 Did we but fore-think what sin will cost us we durst not but be innocent But now adays saith a reverend Writer weep a man may not for disfiguring his face fasting is thought Hypocrisie and shame and when his panch is full then as Priests with their drunken Now is said Mattens and belched out Eruct avit cor meum verbum with good devotion as they thought so hee blusters out a few blustering words and thinks it repentance sufficient c. Another descants thus upon the text As in Sicilia there is Fons Solis the Fountain of the Sun out of which at Mid-day when the Sun is nearest floweth cold water at Mid-night D. Playfere Psal 6.6 when the Sun is further off floweth hot water So the Patriarch Davids head is full of water and his eyes a fountain of tears who when he enjoyed his health as the warm Sun-shine was cold in confessing his sins But being now visited with sickness his reins chastising him in the night season he is so sore troubled and withall so hot and so fervent that every night he washeth his bed Simson in Loâ and watereth nay even melteth his Couch with tears c. A third makes this good Note upon these words The place of Davids sin his Bed is the place of his repentance and so it should be yea when we behold the place where wee have offended we should be prickt in heart and there again crave him pardon As Adam sinned in the Garden and Christ sweat bloudy tears in the Garden sanctify by tears every place which we have polluted by sin and let us seek Christ Jesus in our Bed with the Spouse in the Canticles who saith In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loved Cant. 3.1
I Water my Couch with my tears By Couch some understand that whereon David lay in the day time for ease and refreshing the same perhaps which David arose off when he beheld Bathsheba washing her self where began his misery 2 Sam. 11.2 Others take it for his Pallet his under-bed which he also watered by the abundance of his penitent tears Ainsworth rendreth it I water or melt my bed-stead These are all excessive figurative speeches to set forth the greatness of his grief and the multitude of his tears Weeping becomes not a King saith Euripides But King David was of another mind and so was he who said Faciles motus mons generoscapit Ovid. Tears instead of Gems were the ornaments of Davids bed saith Chrysostom Vers 7. Mine eye is consumed Heb. gnawn moth eatân That eye of his that had looked and lusted after his Neighbours Wife is now dimmed and darkned with grief and indignation he had wept himself almost blinde Prideaux his Introduct to Hist p. 289. as it is storied of Faustus the Son of King Vortiger by his own Daughter that he wept himself stark blinde for the abominable incest of his Parents It waxeth old or is sunk in my head Doth not do its office but is become like an old dusty window that lets in little light An heavie affliction to those whose eyes have been loop-holes of Lust and windows of wickedness the remembrance whereof is a thorn to their blinde eyes and puts them to grievous pain especially when their enemies shall have got it by the end as Davids had his ill pranks and spared not to lay it in his dish Vers 8. Depart from me all yee workers of iniquity What a strange change is here all on the sudden well might Luther say Oratio est birudo animae Prayer is the Leech of the Soul that sucks out the venom and swelling thereof Prayer saith another is an Exorist with God and an Exorcist against sin and misery The Prophet I saiah calleth it a Charm chap. 26.16 because it lays our Soul-distempers and like Davids Harp drives away the evil spirit that is upon us Pray therefore when out of order though not so fit to pray fall upon the duty by Davids example here and that will further fit thee for the duty Thy leaden lumpish heart cast into this holy fire will heat and melt Quoties me oratio quem poeè disperantem susceperat reddidit expultantem prâsumentem de venia saith Bernard How oft hath prayer found me despairing almost but left me triumphing and well assured of pardon The same in effect saith David here Depart from me c. What a word is that to his insulting enemies Avoyd come out vanish These bee words used to Devils and doggs but good enough for a Doeg or a Shimei And the Son of David shall say the same to his enemies when he comes to Judgement For the Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping Tears then have a voyce as well as Bloud hath and God hath an Ear for them And as Musick upon the waters soundeth further and more harmoniously than upon the Land so do prayers joyned with tears R. Obad. Gaon in Psal 6. Portae Lachrymarum ne sint clausae let not the wounds of godly sorrow be ever so healed up in us but that they may bleed afresh upon every just occasion Vers 9. The Lord hath heard my supplication And thereby sealed up sweetest love to my Soul as Ahashuerus afterwards did to his Hester by granting her request But how knew David and how may another man in like sort know that God hath heard his prayer though as yet no visible return appeareth I answer This he may know 1 By a cast of Gods pleased countenance 2 By the testimony of his own Conscience Phil. 4.6 7. and by the assurance of faith which faith to a man as the Angel once did to Cornelius Thy prayers are heard and answered Of Luther we read that having been once wrastling hard with God by prayer for the prosperous proceeding of the Reformation in Germany about which there was a general meeting of the States at that time he came leaping out of his Closet with Vicimus Vicimus in his mouth that is we have prevailed we have got the day God sometimes answereth his people before they pray sometimes whiles they are praying as here and sometimes after they have prayed but sooner or later they shall be sure of it The Lord will receive my prayer He hath and therefore he will This is the Language of faith this is the triumph of trust Vers 10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed When they see all their hopes of my death and downfall disappointed Let them return Retrocedant in terram cadant saith the Arabick Interpreter let them go backward and fall to the earth Some make this a Prayer some a Prophecy it comes all to one And be ashamed suddenly Let them be double ashamed or debosht and that in a moment These sudden and still revenges are very terrible God usually premonisheth before he punisheth but not always Now as blessings the more unexpected the more welcome so Judgments the more suddain the more grievous PSAL. VII SHiggaion of David i.e. Davids delight or solace say some his mixt Song or Synodee say others Which he sang unto the Lord He could sing away care and punish his Reproachers with a merry contempt as knowing his own innocency the property whereof is to throw off slanders as Paul did the Viper yea in an holy scorning it laughs at them as the wilde Asse doth at the Horse and his Rider Concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite which some take to be some Cousen and Courtier of Sauls who had falsly accused good David far from any such thought Psal 131.1 of affecting the Kingdom and seeking Sauls life See 1 Sam. 24.10 But I rather understand with the Chaldee Paraphrast Sauls self who was of Kish and of Jemini 1 Sam. 9.1 and that by a disguise of name he is called Cush the Benjamite that is an Aethiopian because of his obstinate impenitency according to Jer. 13.23 So Am. 9.7 Rebellious Israel is to God as Aethiopia Professors shall be as deep in Hell and deeper than Turks and Infidels because of their dissembled sanctity which is double iniquity Wrath shall bee upon the Jew first Rom. 2. and when the foul sinner goes to Hell what shall become of the fair Professor may such be asked as are both in one In the Aethiopian is nothing white but his teeth so in an Hypocrite c. Vers 1. O Lord my God in thee do I put my trust Or I betake me to thee for safety David found it always best to run to the old Rock Isa 26.4 and to cry O Lord my God pleading the Covenant This no wicked man can do but being beaten out of earthly comforts he is as a naked man in a storm and an unarm'd man in the field
or as a ship tossed in the Sea without an Anchor which presently dasheth on the Rocks or falleth upon the Quick-sands Saul for instance who being in distress and forsaken of God ran first to the Witch and then to the Swords point Save me from all them that persecute me Where the Prince is a Persecutor as in the Primitive times and here in the Marian days many will be very active against Gods people O sancta simplicitas said John Husse Martyr when at the stake he observed a plain Country-fellow busier than the rest in fetching Faggots Vers 2. Lest he tear my Soul like a Lion i. e. put me to a cruel and tormentful death exercising against me both cruelty and also craft by taking me at such a time as there is none to deliver me Vers 3. O Lord my God See on Vers 1. If I have done this i.e. This treachery and treason whereof Saul doth causelesly suspect me and wherewith his pick-thank Partisans unjustly charge me As for Sedition saith Latimer for ought that I know methinks I should not need Christ if I might so say But where malice beareth mastery Serm. 3. before K. Ed. 6. the doing of any thing or of nothing is alike dangerous If there be iniquity in my hands Heb. in the palms of my hands where it may bee concealed If I have secretly acted against my Soveraign Vers 4. If I have rewarded evil c. If I have broke the conditions of our reconciliation or betrayed my trust Yea I have delivered him that c. This was true Christianity to overcome evil with good Matth. 5.44 c. Rom. 12.17 c. O quam hoc non est emnium O how few can skill of this Elisha made the Syrians a Feast who came to make him a Grave David spared Saul and delivered him not without the hazard of his own life Bradford conducted Bourn from the Pulpit at Pauls Cross where hee had cried up Popery at the coming in of Queen Mary safe to his Lodging A certain Gentleman said unto him Ah Bradford Bradford thou savest him that will help to burn thee I give thee his life if it were not for thee I would run him thorow with my sword And it proved as the Gentleman had Prophesied There he sits I mean my Lord of Bath Mr. Bourn said Bradford in his third Examination before Stephen Gardiner which desired me himself for the Passion of Christ I would speak to the people Upon whose words I coming into the Pulpit I had like to have been slain with a Dagger which was hurled at him I think for it touched my sleeve He then prayed me I would not leave him and I promised that as long as I lived I would take hurt before him that day And so went I out of the Pulpit and intreated with the people and at length brought him my self into an house Besides this in the afternoon I preached in Bow Church and there going up into the Pulpit one willed me not to reprove the people For quoth hee you shall never come down alive if you do it And yet in that Sermon I did reprove their Fact and called it Sedition at least twenty times For all which my doing I have received this recompence Prison for a year and half and more and Death now which you my Lord of Bath among the rest go about Acts and Mon. fol. 146â Let all men bee judge where Conscience is Thus Master Bradford like another David in his own defence Vers 5. Let the enemy persecute my Soul and take it Thus he cleareth himself by an holy imprecation The Spanish Bible hath for Shiggaion Davidis in the Title Purgatio Davidis as the same Hebrew word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth both Sin and Purification from sin Psal 51. taking God to witness of his innocency and good Conscience and wishing evil to himself if it were otherwise This he did from a good cause in a good manner and for a good end And not as many prophane ones do now adays who taxed though never so truly with some evil they have done seek to justifie themselves by appealing to God and calling for his Curse upon them if guilty who therefore striketh such impudent imprecatours immediately as Anne Averies and others See Mr. Clarks Mirrour And tread down my life Heb. My lives so usually called saith an Interpreter for the many faculties and operations that are in life the many years degrees estates thereof And lay mine honour in the dust Selah Let him brand me for a most treacherous ignominious wretch and let me lye buried in a bog of indeleble infamy Vers 6. Arise O Lord in thine anger Here David repeateth and re-inforceth his Suit filling his mouth with Arguments for that purpose such as he well knew would be of avail Lift up thy self c. Wherein they deal proudly be thou above them to controle and over-top them And awake for me Sometimes God seemeth to be asleep we must awake him to forget we must in-mind him to have lost his mercy we must finde it for him Where is thy zeal and thy strength c. Isa 53. To the Judgment that thou hast commanded That is promised viz. that thou wilt command deliverances out of Zion Or which thou hast commanded to men in case of wrong done to releeve the oppressed and wilt noâ thou for me great Judge much more do it Vers 7. So shall the Congregation of the people compass thee about As people love to flock to Assizes or such places of Judicature where Sentence is passed upon Great ones that have offended Or thus then shall the publick sincere Service of God be set up and people shall fly to it as the Doves do to their windows For their sakes therefore return thou on high Seat thy self upon thy Tribunal and do justice q. d. Thou hast seemed to come down from the Bench as it were and to have no care of Judgement but go up once again and declare thy power Reverteid est ostende manum tuam esse altam return that is shew that thou hast an high hand saith R. Solomon Vers 8. The Lord shall judge the people The Aethiopian Judges leave the chief Seat ever empty as acknowledging that God is the chief Judge According to my righteousness viz. In this particular Crime whereof I am accused great is the confidence of a good Conscience toward God Such only can abide by the everlasting burnings Vers 9. O let the wickedness c. Put a stop to their rage and rancour But establish the just The overthrow of the one will be a strengthening to the other as it was betwixt the House of Saul and David 2 Sam. 3.1 But who are just The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins i. e. The thoughts and affections or lusts of people Gogitarlonum cupiditatum Junius and accordingly esteemeth of them for Mens cujusque is est quisque and God judgeth of a man according
shall be sure to have out their prayers either in mony or in monies-worth as they say Vers 18. To judge the fatherlesse c. the Vulgar hath it to judge for the fatherless and for the oppressed It is one thing saith Austin to judge the fatherless and another thing to judge for him this later is to pass sentence on his side which God the righteous Judge will be sure to do without writhing or warping for hee hath all that is required of a Judge originally and eminently viz. Wisdome Justice Courage Constancy and Power That the man of the earth may no more oppresse or terrifie daunt with terrour as Phil. 1.28 See the Note there Why should one man be terrible to another sith wee are all mortales è terra worms of the earth clods of clay and shall shortly return to the dust whence wee were taken unde superbit homo I even I am hee that comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die and of the Son of man that shall bee made as grasse And forgettest the Lord thy Maker and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the Oppressor as if hee were ready to destroy and where is the fury of the Oppressor Isa 51.12 13. Some observe that the close of this Psalm is much like that of the former How they have been taken by the Greek Fathers especially for one entire Psalm See the Note on Vers 1. PSAL. XI VErs 1. In the Lord put I my trust This was that which David had and held wherewith to answer him that reproached him and it was an excellent good one that hee trusted in Gods Word Psal 119.42 When it was that he gave this answer In the Lord put I my trust whether when Sauls courtiers See the like Neh. 6.10 Luk. 13.31 under pretence of friendship counselled him to quit the Court for fear of Saul which hee was very loth to do or else when he was with Samuel at Naioth 1 Sam. 19.18 c. where his carnall friends might advise him as Peter did his Master Mat. 16.22 with a Fuge fuge David cito citius citissime is uncertain But this is certain that all the troops of ungodliness aime and act vigorously to cast down the castle of confidence we have in God This therefore we must be sure to secure as the Serpent doth his Head the Souldier his Shield Ephes 6.16 This is the victory whereby we overcome the World with its Allurements or Affrightments even our faith 1 Joh. 5.4 The beleever walketh about as a Conquerour and he alone is the man whom the Heathen Poet elegantly describeth Justum tenacem propositi virum Non sivium ard or prava jubentium Horat. Carm. lib. 3. Od 7 Non vult us instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida c. Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum ferient ruinae The Poet instanceth in Hercules and Bacchus but had he known of David Moses Micaiah Nehemiah Daniel and his three friends c. he would rather have pitched upon them or some others of those Worthies of whom the world was not worthy Heb. 11. Flee as a Bird to your mountain Get you gone you and your followers the Hebrew word Flee is plural or flee to your mountain O bird see you not the Fowlers snare and will you not away with all speed Thus they sought to fright him as Birds are fearful Isa 16.2 and to make him flee from his place as a Bird fleeth from her Nest Prov. 27.8 But he was never without his Cordial the same that releeved him at the sack of Ziglag where in the fail of all other comforts he incouraged himself in the Lord his God 1 Sam. 30.6 he knew that as birds flying so will the Lord of Hosts defend his people defending also he will deliver them and passing over he will preserve them Isa 31.5 This though it were not written in Davids days yet he had the good assurance of it in his soul Vers 2. For loe the wicked bend their bow scil to shoot at you a silly Bird you were best therefore to be packing Nam ecce inquitis impii apposuerunt pedem arcui Beza and not to stay till you come tumbling down as a Bird fetcht off with a bolt This hath ever been the guise of the Churches enemies and is still to terrifie her if they could and affright her out of her faith and true religion Nebuchadnezzar for instance Antiochus that little Antichrist the primitive Persecutors and still the Papists with their cruel Inquisition and otherwise But what saith the Apostle In nothing be terrified by your adversaries Phil. 1.28 Be not afraid with any amazement 1 Pet. 3.6 Nos quidem neque expavescimus neque pertimescimus ea quae ab ignorantibus patimur Ad Scapulam saith Tertullian We fear not what any of you can do to us do your worst Contemptus est à me Romanin favor furor said Luther I care not for Romes frowns or fair hooks This the blinde World counteth and calleth silliness or stubbornness but they know not the force of faith nor the privie armour of proof that the Saints have about their hearts They make ready their Arrow upon the string not in the quiver as the Vulgar reads it That they may privily shoot Heb. to shoot in the darkness so that although the Saints hide themselves in Caves and dark corners yet they are ferreted out thence by their Persecutors as David was by Saul often And this some hold to bee the meaning of that place Psal 74.20 The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty that is we can hideour selves no where but the Persecutors find us out Vers 3. If the foundations be destroyed If all things be turned topsie turvie in the State and no regard had to right or wrong Sed vi geritur res ut in regno Cyclopico If Saul not withstanding mine alliance to him and innocency toward him his many fair promises to me and those hazards and hardships I have suffered for his sake will needs go on to hunt me up and down as a Partridge in the mountains and to seek mine utter undoing what can I do to help it how can it bee but the most righteous must have his share of sufferings See Psal 82.5 VVhat can the righteous do More than glorifie God by suffering his Will and patiently wait for better times comforting himself as in the next verse in this confidence that God is in Heaven c. Some render it What hath the righteous done The wicked will say that he hath undone all and that David with his complices are the causes of all the publick calamities and confusions So the Primitive Persecutors charged the Christians and Papists do still the Protestants Christianos ad leones Tertul. to be the troublers of the State the Seeds-men of sedition the disturbers of the Churches
peace c. when as indeed themselves are flagella Reip. flabella seditionis the only traitors and troublers of Israel with Athaliah they cry out Treason Treason when themselves are the greatest Traitors and Incendiaries of Christendom We may confidently say with the Psalmist The foundations are destroyed but what hath the righteous done Some render the words thus But those purposes or counsels of Saul and his flatterers vers 2. shall be destroyed Saul shall be frustrated of his hope therefore I will not flee into the mountains But what hath the righteous done That is I have done nothing unrighteously against Saul therefore I will not fly c. Vers 4. The Lord is in his holy Temple i. e. in Heaven and there-hence hee both can and will do much for the releef of his poor oppressed Ubi deficit auxilium humanum incipââ divinum Philo. though the righteous can do little for themselves he also knows and will clear their innocency for he sits between the Cherubims whence he is wont to send help Psal 20.3 and hath his Throne in Heaven whence he is wont to strike terrour into the enemies Psal 18.8 c. The Lords Throne is in Heaven This is the same with the former serving to set forth Gods Sufficiency as the following words do his Efficiency Dei solium est nostrum asylum those props of Davids faith answerable to Jachin and Boaz those two brasen Pillars in Salomons Temple His eyes behold his eye-lids try the children of men The eye of God is taken in Scripture saith one either for his knowledge or for his judgement his eye in this Text pointeth out his knowledge his eye-lids his critical descant It is a manner of speech saith another taken from those mens actions who being desirous to look upon a thing more intently do wink with their eyes or close up one of them that they may see the better with the other Vers 5. The Lord trieth the righteous or approveth as Jam. 1.12 he justifieth and accepteth him as appeareth by the opposition here The vulgar rendreth it thus Deus interrogat justum impium sc quiae per interrogatoria veritas dignoseâtur The Lord interrogateth the just and the wicked scil that so he may sift out the truth of things But neither doth the Hebrew word so signifie nor doth God need any such help His soul hateth i.e. he can in no wise away with and this is spoken of God after the manner of men for fury hatred and the like affections are not in him If it could be said of Trajan the Emperour that hee neither feared nor hated any man how much more of God And if of the Tribunal at Zant much better of Gods Throne Hic locus odit amat punit conservat honorat Nequitiam pacem crimina jura bonos Vers 6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares His soul hateth them and as revenge is the next effect of hatred he will exercise horrible Judgements upon them Go on they may in their wicked ways for a time and haply think to out-run Wrath but it shall easily overtake them and inevitably for the first thing that God shall rain upon them is Snares to catch and hold them fast that they may surely suffer the rest that follow Take him and lead him away safely saith Judas concerning Jesus to the Souldiers Mark 14.44 And the same in effect saith God to his Judgements concerning the wicked on whom for that purpose he raineth Snares i.e. he suddenly surpriseth them as by unexpected foul weather Fire and Brimstone Hell from Heaven as once upon Sodom and her Sisters figuring the vengeance of eternal fire Jude 7. Rev. 20.10 Perdic seâ ãâã disperdit c cruciat ita ut nunquam perimar Camero where the Sacrifice is salted with fire Mark 9.49 that is burneth but consumeth not Fire being of a burning but Salt of a preserving nature Tophet is of a most tormenting temper the fuel thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of fire doth kindle it Isa 30.33 Utinam ubique de Gehenna differeretur saith a Father O that men would think and talk much of Hell O that they would take a turn in it and taking a view of that formidable fire fed with a river of Brimstone and blown by the breath of the Almighty they would hasten out of their Natural condition as Lot did out of Sodome sith there is the smell of the fire and brimstone already upon them And an horrible tempest Ventus procellosissimus a most terrible blasting Whirlwind such as the Greeks call Prester whereof see Plin. Lib. 2. c. 48. and the Evangelist calleth Euroclydon Act. 27.14 The mariners mischief This shall be the portion of their cup Vel portio part is eorum id est ipsissima eorum portio duplicatur idem sensus duobus verbis saith R. David He seemeth to allude to the custom at Feasts where each had his Cup his demensum or measure of meat and drink Wicked ones shall drink up the cup of Gods Wrath worse than that cup of boyling Lead powred down the drunken Turks throat by the command of the Bashaw though it be brim-full and have eternity to the bottom Psal 75.8 Vers 7. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness Sc. as a reflection of himself as a peece of his own image This is better than eyes opened limbs restored Psal 146.8 His countenance Heb. Countenances or their faces in mystery of the Holy Trinity Doth behold the upright With singular delight and complacency Vide Vicars in Loc. PSAL. XII VErs 1. Help Lord 'T was high time to call to Heaven for help when Saul cried Go kill me up the Priests of Jehovah the occasion as it is thought of making this Psalm and therein committed the Sin against the Holy Ghost as some grave Divines are of opinion 1 Sam. 22.17 David after many sad thoughts about that slaughter and the occasion of it Doegs malicious information together with the paucity of his fast Friends and the multitude of his sworn Enemies at Court breaks forth abruptly into these words Help Lord help at a dead lift The Arabick version hath it Deliver me by main force as with Weapons of War for the Lord is a Man of War Exod. 15.3 For the godly man ceaseth Heb. The merciful man who having obtained mercy from thee would shew me mercy and defend mine innocency such as these are banished the Court which is now possessed by Parasites and Sycophants For the faithful fail Veraces the true and trusty ones such as a man may safely confide in these are rare Birds See Mic. 7.1 2 3 c. with the Notes there When the Son of Man cometh shall be finde faith in this sence also in the earth Luke 18. Hard and scarce When Varus was slain Augustus complained that now he had none left that would deal plainly and faithfully with him Lewis the Eleventh of France would
c. See the Note on Job 35.6 7 8. Vers 3. Best to the Saints The family of faith were by a speciality the object of Davids bounty Socrates seeing a certain man giving alms to all hee met were they good or bad said male pere as qui ex Gratiis cum sint Virgines facias scorta David the better to perswade with God to preserve him safe to the Kingdome promiseth two things first that he will cherish and countenance the godly party secondly that he will cashier and cast out all kind of Idolatry and maintain to his utmost the sincere service of God vers 4. And to the excellent Or Noble glorious wonderfull magnificent The Saints are Princes in all lands Psal 45.16 of an excellent Spirit Prov. 17.27 More excellent than their Neighbours dwell they wheresoever Prov. 12.26 They are stiled the glory Isa 4.5 a Crown of glory Isa 62.3 a royall Diadem ibid. a Kingdome of Priests Exod. 19.6 higher than the Kings of the earth Psal 89.27 greater than the four famous Monarchies Dan. 7.18 worthies of whom the World is not worthy Heb. 11.38 fitter to be set as stars in Heaven And surely as stars though seen sometimes in a puddle or stinking ditch though they reflect there yet have they their situation in Heaven So the Saints though here in a low condition yet are they fixed in the Region of happinesse In whom is all my delight Heb. Cheptsibam So the Church is called Gods Cheptsibah Isa 62.5 Next to communion with God the communion of Saints is most delectable It is the very being bound up in the bundle of life which was the blessing of Abigail upon David Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat saith Senecae the very sight of a good man morally good delighteth what then of a Saint Ezra 10.3 This the Heathen Persecutors knew and therefore banished and confined the Christians to Isles and Mines where they could not one come at another as Cyprian observeth Vers 4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied Many sorrows shall be to those wicked Idolaters Vide Plutarch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Psal 32.10 some of their own Creating by their superstitions and will-worships others from a jealous and just God others from the Devill who acteth and agitateth them beateth and whippeth them as at this day he doth the poor Indians who worship Devills in most terrible figure beleeving that they are permitted of God to punish or spare them at their pleasure And some they shall besure of from mee whenever I come to the Kingdome Some after the Chaldee read it their Idols are multiplied The old Heathens had thirty thousand in Hesiods dayes In China there are said to be at this day no fewer than an hundred thousand Idols which they use to whip if they come not at a call to help them Before a sick man they put the Devills picture that hee may learn to know him in another World It is storied of one King of England that he bestowed as much upon a Crosse as the revenues of his Kingdome came to in a year and take him for his friend That hasten after another God Or that endow another God Superstition is not only painfull but chargeable Idolaters lavish out of the bag and spare for no cost witnesse the Papists vowed presents and memories as they call them hanged up in honour of their he-Saints and she-Saints the Lady of Loretto especially But it was the Serpents grammar that first taught men to decline God in the plurall number Eritis sicut Dii as Damianus observeth from Gen. 3.5 and hence that innumerable rabble The Jesuites boast of their Ignatii Apotheosis and Cardinall Bembus is not ashamed to say of his St. Francis quod in deorum numerum ab Ecclesia Romana sit relatus Hist Venet Is not this abominable Idolatry 1 Pet. 4.3 Their drink offerings of blood Many Heathens sacrifised to their Idols that is to Devils with mans blood Euseb de praep Evangil against all laws of humanity and piety Thus they sacrifised to Bellâna the Sister of Mars as also with blood let out of their own armes The Priests of Baal who perhaps was Mars cut and launced themselves 1 King 18. So do the Mahometan Priests at this day as the Papists whip themselves c. the old Idolaters offered their Children in sacrifice to Moloch or Saturn David abhorreth the thought of such inhumanities Neque deos illegitimos nec illegitiâââ colans saith he I 'le have no such doings Nor take up their names into my lips But spit them out of my mouth with utmost detestation ãâã ad ãâã according to the law Exod. 23.13 It repented Austin that ever hee had used the word Fortune that Heathen Goddesse And Ab sit ut de ore Christianâ sonet Jupiter omnipatens c. saith Hierâme Let no Christian mouth say Jupiter omnipotent or swear Mehercule Mecaster The Primitive Christians would not call their dayes of the week dies Martis Mercurii c. as Trismegist had named them but the first second third c day of the week All occasions or semblances of Idolatry should be shunned it is not safe being at Satans Messe though our spoon bee never so long saith One. See Hof 3.16 17. Zach. 13.2 Deut. 12.2 Vers 5. The Lord is the Portion of mine inheritance Therefore I have neither need nor mind to run a madding after dumb Idols for hee is Good originall universall all-sufficient and satisfactory proportionable and fitting to my soul so that having Him I am abundantly provided for And of my cup A phrase taken from those shares that every one had assigned unto him at feasts Gen. 43.34 1 Sam. 1.4 9.23 q. d. Thou art my meat and my drink Lord and I am very well content with my condition bee it better or worse That which gives quiet in any portion is first The favour and presence of God secondly that t is from the hand of a Father thirdly that it comes to us in the covenant of grace fourthly that t is the purchase of Christs blood fifthly that t is an answer of prayers and a blessing from above on honest indeavours Thou maintainest my lot Upholdest mee in a good condition who should otherwise soon lose and forgoe it were it in mine own keeping And here the Psalmist useth four severall words all to the same sense ad corroborandum saith R. David Vers 6. The lines are fallen In allusion to those lines wherewith they measured Land when they parted it See Deut. 32.9 Psal 105.11 78.55 Act. 26.18 Epes 1.11 David having God for his portion could say with Jacob I have all things Gen. 33.11 Paul also saith the same Phil. 4.18 and further telleth us that having nothing he set possessed all things for why he had got the divine art of contentation vers 12. and so could bee either on the top of Jacobs Ladder or at the bottome hee could sing either Placentia or Lachrymae abound or be
too c. Gregory the Great trembled whensoever he read those words of Abraham to the rich Glutton who thought this life to be his saginary or boares-frank Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things Luke 16. Yee have lived in pleasure upon earth Jam. 5.5 no fit place for such a purpose God did not turn you out of one Paradise that you should here provide your selves of another earth is a place of banishment and bondage Of the wickeds prosperity here see Job 21.7 8. with the Notes And whose belly thon fillest with thy bid treasures That is with Gold and other precious things digged out of the earth saith Aben-Ezra Opimis rebus saith Junius with abundance of outward blessings and benefits saith another which are called Gods hidden treasures not because they are not seen but because they are not so well perceived and used of the ungodly as were meet or because the reason of their present plenty of all things is hidden from them and yet it appears not but shall bee made manifest that these fatting ware are but fitting for the slaughter They are full of Children which they send forth as a flock Job 21.11 See the Note there Or their Children are full carne porcinâ saith the Arabick here or of wordly wealth and mountaines of mony left them by those faithfull drudges their rich but wretched Parents and progenitours whose only care was to heap up hoards of wealth for their posterity Vers 15. As for mee I neither envy nor covet these mens happinesse but partly have and partly hope for a farre better I will behold thy face in Righteousnesse which none can do but the pure in heart Mat. 5. and those that keep close to God in a constant communion being justified and sanctified persons I shall be satisfied Better than those muck-worms and their Children are When I awake sc Out of the dust of death at the Resurrection With thy likenesse With the visible sign of thy glory in Heaven 1. Job 3.2 PSAL. XVIII TO the chief Musician Some render it Adtriumphandum and well they may for this is old Davids ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or triumphant song after so many victories and deliverances and it is twice recorded in Scripture with very little variation See 2 Sam. 22. for the great worth and weightinesse of the matter that wee may the more observe it and bee the better versed in it This here recorded seemeth to bee the Review of it and thence those small additions and alterations that are found here and there but not of any great moment A Psalm of David Who having now gotten some breathing while from his troubles gave not himself to Idlenesse or worldly pleasures as the Romans used to do after that they had once ridden in triumph but calling to mind Gods great mercies towards him composed this sweet Psalmodie to his glory The Servant of the Lord So hee stiled himself before Psal 36. when hee first entred upon the Kingdome and now here again when being to lay it down together with his life hee breatheth out his holy soul to God in this divine ditty Sic ubi fata vocant c. This hee did after that as a faithfull servant of the Lord hee had done all the wills of God Act. 13.22 had served out his full time Verse 36. and dwelt in Gods house to length of dayes Psal 23.6 Who spake unto the Lord the words of this song God lets out his mercies to us for this rent of our praises and is content wee have the benefit of them so hee may have the glory The Hebrews give this Note here Every man for whom there is wrought a miracle of mercy and hee thereupon uttereth a song hath his sins forgiven him This is better yet than that of the Papists who promise pardon of sin to those that shall hear two Masses a day Wee who have received so many mercies should compass God about with songs of deliverances and not only servire Deo sed adulari as Tertullian hath it From the hand of all his enemies Heb From the Palm of other enemies as less considerable but from the hand or clutch-fist of Saul And from the hand of Saul his greatest enemy and of longest continuance So Christ is said to save his people from their sins by a specialty Mat. 1.21 because these do us the most mischief Vers 1. I will love thee O Lord my strength Heb. I will love thee dearly and entirely Ex intimis visceribus from the very heart root from the bottom of my bowels with like intention of affection as a tender-hearted Mother doth her dearest Babe that is her own bowels her self of the second edition Neither did David herein super-erogate for God requireth to be loved with all the heart minde soul strength Modus sig siââ modo Beââ as one that is best worthy good without measure that hath loved us without measure and therefore is without measure by us to be beloved Not that we are bound to love God in quantum est diligibilis so much as he is lovely or love-worthy for so God only can love himself but Nihil supra aequè aut contra Nothing must we love above God or so much as God much less against God we must be able to say affectionately with David Psal 73.25 26. Whom have I in heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee And as Bernard Amo te Domine plus quam mea meos me I love thee Lord more than my goods my friends my self A Christian begins with loving God for himself but he ends in loving himself and all other both persons and things in and for God His friend he loveth in the Lord his foes for the Lord but God he loveth absolutely and for himself affecting not only an union with him but even an unity his heart being turned as it were into a very lump of love as was Maries Luke 7.47 Histories tell of a certain Woman that came to Vespasian the Emperour professing that she was in love with him he commanded that a liberal reward should be given her for the same and when his Steward asked him under what Item he should put that gift in his Book of Account Vespasiano adamato said the Emperour Item To her that loved Vespasian God saith the Apostle is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love c. Heb. 6. I love them that love me saith Christ Prov. 8. and his love is not like the Winter Sun which hath light but not heat c. he is the strength of his people their Rock Fortress c. Vers 2. The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress c. i.e. He is all in all for my preservation Ten words say the Hebrews he here heapeth up in reference to Ten signal Victories or rather because his thankful heart was so enlarged that hee could never satisfie himself in saying what God had been to
Ark of the Covenant hitherto transportative into the place of its rest Psal 132.14 Certain it is that the Saints those living Temples of the Lord are here called upon to lift up their hearts in the use of holy ordinances yea therein to bee abundantly lifted up through faith with a joyfull and assured wel-come of the King of Glory who will thereupon come in to them by the ravishing operation of his love benefits and graces Vers 8. Who is this King of glory The gates are brought in as asking this question saith R. David This is the Angells admiration at the comming in of Christs humanity into Heaven saith Diodate Rather it is the question of the faithfull concerning the person of their King whom they hereby resist not but for their further confirmation desire to bee better informed of Him and his never-enough adored excellencies The Lord strong Jehovah the Essentiator the Eternall God the most mighty and puissant Warriour who if hee do but arise only his enemies are scattered and all that hate him flie before him Psal 68.1 Vers 9. Lift up your heads c. See Vers 7. And learn that in matters of moment wee must be more than ordinary earnest and importunate with our selves and others Vers 10. Who is this King of glory The best are acutè obtusi in the mystery of Christ crucified and must therefore by study and inquiry grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 3.18 praying for that Spirit of wisdome and revelation for the acknowledgement of him Ephes 1.17 The Lord of Hoasts Hee who hath all Creatures at his beck and check the Lord of Sabaoth Rom. 9.29 Jam. 5.4 where the word signifying hoasts or armes is used untranslated because well understood both by Jews and Gentiles as is also Hosanna Hallelujah Amen PSAL. XXV A Psalm of David An excellent Psalm the second of those seven called by the Ancients penitentiall and such as may well serve us for a pattern of our daily prayers Beza as wherein David beggeth three things answerable to those two last petitions in the Lords prayer first Pardon of sin secondly Guidance of Gods good Spirit thirdly Defence against his enemies It appeareth that this Psalm was made by David when hee was well in years vers 7. after his sin in the matter of Vriah that great iniquity as hee calleth it vers 11. saith Vatablus and some gather from vers 19. that hee framed this Psalm when Absolom was up in armes against him vers 19. compared with Psal 3.1 See also vers 15. 22. It may seem therefore that when hee came to Mahanaim a Sam. 17.24 27. where God shewed him marvellous loving kindnesse in a strong City Psal 31.21 and where-hence hee was at the peoples request to succour them or to cause them to bee helped viz by his hearty prayers for Gods assistance 2 Sam. 18.3 he composed this Psalm with more than ordinary artifice viz. in order of Alphabet as hee hath done also some few others both for the excellencie of the matter and likewise for help of memory for which cause also St. Matthew summeth up the genealogie of Christ into three fourteenes all helps being but little enough Nazianzen and Sedulius have done the like the former in his holy Alphabet ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. and the latter in his Hymn A Solis ortus cardine Beatus auâtor saeculi c. Vers 1. Vnto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul i. e. Praeparo cor meum Ad te orand non ad Idola saith R. Solomon My heart maketh its faithfull addresses to thee and not any other with strength of desire and delight with earnest expectation and hope of relief See Jer. 22.27 Deut. 24.15 Psal 86.5 Cyprian saith that in the primitive times the Minister was wont to prepare the peoples minds to pray Cyp. de orat by prefacing Sursum corda Lift up your hearts The Jews at this day write upon the walls of their Synagogues these words Tephillah belo cavannah ceguph belo neshamah That is Buxtorf abbreviar A prayer without the intention of the affection is like a body without a soul and yet their devotion is a meer out-side saith One a brainlesse head and a soulelesse body Spec. Euâ Antiquum obtinent Isa 29.13 This people draweth nigh to mee with their lipps but their heart is farre from mee A carnall man can as little lift up his heart in prayer as a moul can flye A David finds it an hard task sith the best heart is lumpish and naturally beareth downward as the poise of a clock as the lead of a net Let us therefore lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset it and pray God to draw us up to himself as the load-stone doth the Iron c. Vers 2. O my God I trust in thee I pray in faith which is as the fire and my prayer as the flame that ariseth out of it Faith is the foundation of prayer and prayer is the fervency of faith Now David knew that the hand of faith never knocketh at the gate of grace in vain Let mee not bee ashamed Shame is the Daughter of disappointment This David deprecateth Quaeque repulsa gravis see Job 6.20 Let not mine enemies triumph over mee By saying that I pray to no purpose as Rabshakeh did Isa 35.6 I say saith Hezekiah I have words of my lipps prayer prayer but alasse what 's that more than empty words an aiery nothing Counsel and strength are for the battel Thus Hee Vers 3. Yea let none that wait on thee bee ashamed Be nosed and twitted with my disappointments as they are sure to be if I be repulsed by thee and worsted by mine enemies all thy praying people shall have it cast in their teeth and laid in their dish Let them bee ashamed which transgresse without cause Let shame bee sent to the right owner even to those that deal disloyally unprovoked on my part And so it was for Achitophel hanged himself Absoâom was trussed up by the hand of God and dispatcht by Joab the people that conspired with him partly perished by the sword and partly fled home much ashamed of their enterprize Oh the power of prayer what may not the Saints have for asking Vers 4. Shew mee thy wayes O Lord q. d However other men walk towards mee yet my desire is to keep touch with thee for which purpose I humbly beg thy best direction See Exod. 33.13 Isa 2.3 Teach mee thy paths Assues ac me inure mee to thy paths Sicut parvulus ad ambulandum assuetus saith Kimchi as a little one is taught to find his feet Vers 5. Lead mee in thy Truth and teach mee i. e. Assiduè doce urge David was a great proficient in Gods School and yet he would learn more so sweet is divine knowledge Four times together here prayeth David to bee further instructed See Moses in like
sins of thy poor penitents The high Heaven covereth as well tall Mountaines as small molehills The vast Ocean swalloweth up huge Rocks as well as little pibbles St. Paul was for the first table a Blasphemer and for the second table a Persecuter and injurious but I obtained mercy saith Hee and why that the grace of our Lord might appear to bee exceeding abundant even to an over flow 1 Tim. 1.13 14. and that the glory of free grace might be so much the more manifested Rom. 5.20 The more desperate was my disease the greater is the glory of my Physician who hath fully cured mee said Austin once to one who upbraided him with his former loose living Vers 12. What man is hee that feareth the Lord This question implieth first a paucity of such as Hos 14. ult secondly the felicity of such as out of a reverentiall fear of God sue to him for pardon of sin and seek to bee made his servants Vatah. Utitur exclamatione Mol. O quanta est felicitas istius viri O the heaped up happinesse of such a rare man David admireth it here and well hee may for hee hath close communion with God and sweet communication of Christs secrets as followeth Him shall hee teach in the way that hee shall chuse i.e. That the good man shall pitch upon God will direct him in all dealings to make a good choice and will give good successe This is not in a mans own power to do Jer. 10.23 But the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and hee delighteth in his way Psal 37.23 Hee was a pillar of fire and cloud to the Israelites Exod. 14.19 and carefully chose out their way for them not the nearest alway but yet the safest Vers 13. His soul shall dwell at ease Heb. shall lodge in good Conquiescet quemadmodum de nocte quieâ ci solet even then when his body happily is tossing on his sick bed and at great unrest One being asked how hee did answered My body is weak my soul is well Hee shall be freed from the Devill of discontent and have a blessed self-sufficiency such and better than hee had whom Horace describeth Ephod 2. Beatus ille qui procul negotiis c. such as good Jacob had when hee said I have enough my Brother c. Tremel Godlinesse only hath such a contentednesse 1 Tim. 6.6 And his seed shall inherit the earth Gods love dieth not with the Parents but reviveth in their posterity 2 Sam. 7.12 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theocrâ It would bee a great stay of mind to us if God should say of our Children as once David did of Mephibosheth and afterwards of Chimham I will take care of them and see them well provided for Hee doth upon the matter say as much and more to every Beleever Vers 14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him It is neither learning nor labour that can give insight into Gods secrets those Arcana imperii Mat. 13.12 the Mysteries of the Kingdome of Heaven the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2. ult these things come by revelation rather than discourse of reason and must therefore bee obtained by prayer Those that diligently seek him shall bee of his cabi net counsel shall know his soul-secrets and bee admitted into a gracious familiarity and friendship Joh. 15.15 Henceforth I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you And he will shew them his Covenant As having no greater secret to impart to them than by shewing them the Covenant of Grace his good pleasure and purpose of their eternal Salvation to make them know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that they may be filled with all the fulness of God Ephes 3.19 The Jews bragged much of Gods Covenant but here they are given to understand that only such as fear God are Covenanters Acts 13.16 Men of Israel and yee that fear God give audience Vers 15. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord I look him full in the face and confidently expect deliverance This he speaketh saith one in reference to the Army that he had sent out to meet Absolom 2 Sam. 18.1 nothing doubting of getting the day For he shall pluck my feet out of the net Of evil concupiscence saith Aben-Ezra rather of my foes those crafty and cruel Fowlers Vers 16. Turn thee unto me Heb. Face about towards me And have mercy upon me There being no such mercy as to have thy favour This is a voluminous mercy For I am desolate and afflicted As all Creatures flag and hang the head when the Sun is eclipsed Misery is an object of Mercy as it was to the compassionate Samaritan Vers 17. The troubles of my heart are enlarged Whereby my heart is sorely straitned so that I can hardly breath Oh hide not thine ear at my breathing at my cry R. Obad. Cor vix capax tribulationum mearum Vat. Lam. 3.56 En patet in curas area lata meas all afflictions enter into mine heart as by a wide gate Out of my distresses Where with I am pent up and pinched as afterwards Paul was pricked with the messenger of Satan Vers 18. Lóok upon mine affliction and my pain My griefs under which I groan and labour my concupiscence saith Aben-Ezra against which I strive but prevail not And forgive all my Sin Heb. Lift up take away lay them on the true Scape-goat on that Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the World Joh. 1.29 Vers 19. Consider mine enemies for they are many This was to David half a promise and a whole reason that he should be helped sith it was come to an extremity If God but look out of the pillar of Cloud upon the Egyptian Army it is enough for their utter confusion Exod. 14.24 And they hate me with cruel hatred Of their craft he had complained vers 15. now of their cruelty These are never sundred in the Churches enemies as the Asp they say never goeth without his mate See Esai 34.16 Vers 20. O keep my Soul The repetition of the self-same Petition argueth earnestness and is not always battologie Let me not be ashamed rendred scornful and scandalous Vers 21. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me Integrity of Conscience and uprightness of conversation For I wait on thee viz. For the accomplishment of thy promise That with the upright thou wilt shew thy self upright Psal 18.11 Vers 22. R. David Redeem Israel c. In vita vel post mortem means Either whiles I live or after my death This is every good mans care and prayer None is in case to pray for the Church that hath not first made his own peace with God PSAL. XXVI VErs 1. Judge me O Lord i.e. Judge betwixt me and mine enemies not betwixt me and thee as R.
ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã comliness The Protestants at Lions in France called their publick meeting-place Paradise And the place where thine honour dwelleth i.e. Where thou thy self dwellest or thine Ark which is called Gods glory 1 Sam. 4.21 Psal 78.61 yea Gods self Psal 132.5 and Gods face Psal 105.4 Vers 9. Gather not my soul with sinners I have loved thy House which sinners never delighted in therefore gather not my soul with sinners so the Syriack senseth it Let me not dye the death of Sinners for I never cared for their company so the Rabbines See the Note on vers 5. Let me not share with them in punishment for I could never abide their practice Balaam would dye the death of the righteous but he liked not of their life Euchrites would be Craesus vivens Socrates mortuus Sir Walter Rawleigh would live a Papist there being no Religion like that for Licentious liberty and lasciviousness but dye a Protestant We have some that would gladly dance with the Devil all day and then sup with Christ at night live all their lives long in Dalilaes lap and then go to Abrahams bosome when they dye But this cannot be as David well understood and therefore both eschewed the life of a wicked person and deprecated his death Gather not or take not away c. The righteous is taken away Heb. gathered Isa 57.1 as men gather Flowers and candy them preserve them with such to be gathered David would hold it an happiness but not with sinners with sanguinaries for such are gathered but as house-dust to be cast out of doors Vers 10. In whose hands is mischief Wicked contrivance Here we have the true portracture of a corrupt Courtier such as Sauls were Vers 11. But as for me I will walk Whatever others do their example shall be no rule to me to deviate See my Righteous mans recompence D. 1. Redeem me c. For I am likely to suffer deeply for my singularity Vers 12. My foot standeth in an even place i.e. Mine affections are in an equal tenour A good man is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the scales of his minde neither rise up toward the beam through their own lightness or their over-weening opinion of prosperity nor are too much depressed with any load of sorrow but hanging equal and unmoved between both give him liberty in all occurrences to enjoy himself I will bless the Lord For performance of promises chiefly in that great Panegyris Heb. 12. PSAL. XXVII Vers 1. The Lord is my light That is my comfort and direction he that dissolveth all my clouds of serrours within and troubles without To these all hee opposeth Gods All-sufficiency as making for him and as being All in all unto him Light Salvation Strength of Life what not and there-hence his full assurance and such a masculine magnanimity as feareth not the power of men and Devils be they who they will and do what they can Animo magno nihil est magnum When a man can out of this consideration God is my light inthings of the minde and my Salvation in things of the body as Aben-Ezra expoundeth it contemn and reckon all things else as matters of small moment it shews he hath in truth apprehended God and this is true holy magnanimity The Lord is the strength of my life He that keeps life and soul together saith Aben-Ezra as the Spirits do soul and body and therefore Quis potest me interimere saith Kimchi who can do me to death Of whom shall I be afraid Faith fortifieth the heart against distrustful fears which it quelleth and killeth In a fright it runneth to the heart as the bloud doth and releeveth it setting it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã out of the Gunshot of Creature-annoyances Expertus loquor for Vers 2. When the wicked even mine enemies came upon me Made impression upon me with utmost violence and open mouth as if they would have devoured me Cannibal-like or as a Lion doth a sheep inhumanissimè ferarumque more saith Junius barbarously and beastly They stumbled and fell Irritis conaitibus corruerunt they utterly lost their design as did those Amalekites who had sacked Ziglah 1 Sam. 30. and Saul often If a man stumble and fall not he gets ground but if after much blundering hee kiss the ground hefalleth with a force Davids enemies did so Corruerunt conciderunt they were irreparably ruined Vers 3. Though an Host should encamp against me See Psal 3.6 with the Note We should propound the worst to our selves the best will bring with it as wee say especially if we finde our faith to be in heart and vigour as here Davids was Though War shouldrise against me War is a complexive evil and is therefore called so by a specialty Isa 45.7 I make peace and create evil that is War Sin Satan and War have all one name saith a learned Divine evil is the best of them the best of sin is deformity of Satan enmity of war misery In this will I be confident In this In what In this one ensuing Petition saith Aben-Ezra or in this that I have said before The Lord is my light and my Salvation in this confident gloriation of mine which is such as an unbeleever is a perfect stranger unto Vers 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord One thing above the rest Every of Gods suppliants hath some one special request that he mainly insisteth on Ut cultu Del libeto legitimouti possit Jun. and King Davids was the liberty of Gods Sanctuary and enjoyment of his publick Ordinances Hoc primus petit hoc postremus omittit This was dearer to him than Wife Children Goods all This Sute he knew to be honest and therefore he began it and being so he is resolved never to give it over but to prosecute it to the utmost and to persevere in prayer which is a great vertue Rom. 12.12 till he had prevailed That will I seek after As Gods constant Remembrancer who loveth to be importuned and as it were jogged by his praying people Herein David shewed himself a true Israelite a Prince of God and as Nazianzen stileth Basil the Great ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a man of desires flowing from the Spirit He knew well that a faint Suter doth but beg a denial That I may dwell in the House of the Lord i.e. In the place where was the Ark with the Prophets Priests Levites Asaph and his brethren c. with whom David desired to be taken up in the service of God free from Secular cares and delights at times convenient Pyrrhus told Cyneas that when he had finished his Wars once he would then sit still and be merry The Roman Generals when they had once triumphed over their enemies might take their ease and pleasure for ever after But good David resolves to improve his rest when ever God shall grant it him to perpetual piety That I may dwell saith he or sit in the house of Jehovah
insidiatores meos such as Saul and Doeg were who looked upon David with an evill eye and watched for his halting It was the wisdome of the Lacedemonians alwaies to send two Ambassadors together which disagreed among themselves Aristoc Polit. lib. 2. cap. 7 that so they might mutually eye one anothers actions The wicked will bee eying and prying into the practises of good people who must therefore watch and pray Vers 12. Deliver mee not over unto the will of mine enemies Heb. Unto the soul for the wicked are carried on against the godly with all their soul as it were For false witnesses Such as whereof Sauls court was full viz. his Aiones Negones who fed his humour by traducing and denigrating innocent David And such as breath out cruelty As Saul breathed out threatning against the Disciples Act. 9. So did Davids spit-fires Vers 13. I had fainted unlesse I had beleeved Saved hee was then by his Faith which drank to him as it were in a cup of Nepenthes and fetcht him again when ready to swoon and sink See Psal 119.92 The word rendred Unlesse here Lule habeâ puncta stipra infra is as the Masorites note one of the fifteen Scripture-words that were extraordinarily pointed by the men of the great Synagogue The reason whereof given by Kimchi and others as if David doubted of his salvation is not satisfactory nor sound To see the goodnesse of the Lord That is to taste one sense usually put for another the soul also hath her senses and these must bee habitually exercised to discern good and evill Heb. 5. ult In the Land of the living That is here on earth Psal 316.9 Isa 38. ââ where men live and I my self have not only a portion of life with them but a promise of many good things besides To blame therefore was good David when hee said in his haste All men are lyars Prophets and all who had promised him the Kingdome Psal 116.10 But the best have their passions which they daily outgrow and adde to their faith patience 2 Pet. 1.5 6. And albeit as Calvin here noteth every ones case is not like Davids who had particular promises concerning this life beyond many other faithfull persons yet because according to every mans faith it shall bee unto him let us all likewise trust in God as wee are all hereupon exhorted in the next words Vers 14. Wait on the Lord Expecta expecta See how earnest good David is with himself and others for hee knew mens dullnesse and the difficulty of the duty Religious men find it more easie to bear evill than to wait till the promised good bee enjoyed Heb. 10.36 the spoyling of their goods required patience but this more than ordinary Let our distance from God our dependance upon him and our undone condition without him bee but considered and wee shall bee the willinger to wait yea to want and go without some things that we are but too much set upon Bee of good courage Be confirmed hold fast play the man as the Seventy have it and the Apostle useth the same word 1 Cor. 16.13 and let not the big words of thine enemies make thee to cast away thy confidence which hath so great recompence of reward And hee shall strengthen thy heart Or let thine heart be confirmed chear up hold out faith and patience Wait I say on the Lord i. e. De die in diem expecta wait still do it from one day to another God is a free agent neither is it fit for us to send for him by a Post Many of his promises bear a long date but they are sure and infallible Wait therefore and why See Habakkuk 2.3 with the Note PSAL. XXVIII Vers 1. Unto thee will I cry O Lord my Rock That thou mayest grant mee what I begged so earnestly of thee in the former Psalm especially vers 4. One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will seek after c. For this Psalm is of the same subject with that and seemeth to have been made much about the same time viz. after that David had twice spared Sauls life 1 Sam. 24.4 5 6 c. 26.12 21. Only here he expresseth himself not as if hee had been a private person and in daily danger of his life but as destined and designed to the Kingdome by Almighty God to whom therefore hee prayeth for himself and the people and against their inplacable enemies with so great confidence as that he presently praiseth him for his request obtained vers 6. Bee not silent to mee Cease not as deaf from mee If God seem to be deaf to us wee must cry the louder that having prepared our hearts by such a seeming silence hee may cause his ears to hear Psal 10.17 which he will not fail to do when once wee set up our note and make bitter moan Lest if thou bee silent c. Here are his reasons to help his hope to bee heard God is well pleased that wee argue it out with him in prayer Like them that go down into the Pit Or dirty dungeon that is the grave or as Kimchi lest I bee as the wicked that go down to Hell The Righteous perisheth Isa 57.1 that is the World looks upon them as lost Vers 2. When I lift up my hand An ordinary gesture in prayer expressing faith for they held out their open hands as craving beggars with the Palmes upward 1 King 8.22 and helping fervency whilst hands and heart went up together to God in the heavens Tertul. Lam. 3.40 Preces fundimns colum ãâã misericordiââ ãâã c. Toward thy holy Onaâââ Called Debbir because there-hence God spake and gave answer Toward this aâype of Chrift the Word essentiall David lifteth up his hands that it might bee as a Ladder whereby his prayer might get up to Heaven Hered Clio. The Devill also who delighteth to be Gods ape but for mans mischief gave or and câat ãâã and elswhere but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã doubtfull and lying as to Croesus Pyrrbus others But the eternity of Israel cannot lye 1 Sam. 15. every word of God is pure hee is a shield to them that put their trust in him Prov. 30.5 Vers 3. Draw mee not away with the wicked Who seek to draw mee away from my setled purpose of attending upon thee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Cor. 7.35 and are therefore likely to be drawn away by thee to Execution as Malefactors are drawn hanged and quartered there wanteth but a hurdle a horse and a halter said Belknapp to do mee right as Sisera was drawn by God to the River Kishon to be ruined Sen. Judg. 4.7 Ducunt volentem fata nolentem trahunt Which speak peace to their Neighbours but mischief is in their hearts Saul and his Courtiers are here noted Pers Astutam vapido servantes pectore vulpem The Florentine Secretary Machiavell was not born of many years after but the Devill was
waters in the clouds which are many and of great force as appeared in the generall deluge and doth still appear by that infinite inundation of rain that followeth upon the thunder claps Some render it The Lord or the voice of the Lord is above many waters i. e. above the loud roaring of many waters which is even drowned by the thunder Vers 4. The voice of the Lord is powerfull So that it shaketh heaven and earth Heb. 12.26 Validum est vehemens tonitru Vat. Beza Cogitent ergo Principes quantum infra Deum subsidant c. Let those that think themselves some great businesse consider Gods infinite power putting forth it self in thunders and tempests and they will soon bee crest-faln The voice of the Lord is full of Majesty Heb. In Majesty it is magnificall and immutable though some fools have attempted to imitate it as a certain King of Egypt and Caligula the Emperour by certain Engines and devices Vers 5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the Cedars i. e. The thunder and those things that either go before it or follow it as lightenings thunderbolts storm tempest c. breaking and turning up by the roots huge trees The Lord breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon Which are the tallest thickest and most durable of any place in the habitable World What a shame is it then that our hard hearts break not yeeld not though thunder-struck with the dreadfull menaces of Gods mouth Corripimur sed non corrigimur c. A fearfull case Let the tall Cedars see to it Nam per Cedros intellig it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quicquid est eximium in mundo Where is that hammer of the Nations Nebuchadnezzar that terrour of the World Tamerlan c Are they not broken in pieces as a Potters Vessell Vers 6. Hee maketh them also to skip like a Calf Young living Creatures are full of motion God by his thunder and earthquake thereupon for so the Hebrews understand it maketh not only those huge trees the splinters of them to flie up into the air but also the Mountaines whereupon they grow to skip and jump out of their places and aloft from their center Lebanon and Sirion c. Or Hermon two known Mountaines Vers 7. The voice of the Lord divideth Heb. cutteth out the flames of fire i. e. The lightening which the thunder is said to strike or cut out Deut. 3. because it causeth them to shoot and glide it immediately followeth one flash and goeth before another dispersing and darting them hither and thither Vers 8. The voice of the Lord shaketh the Wildernesse i. e. The beasts abiding in the Wildernesses the most savage creatures those that lye in woods and are most fearlesse of men are put to pain by thunder and made to travell with trembling The Lord shaketh the wildernesse of Kadesh Thorough which the Israelites passed into Canaan Num. 13.27 the beasts whereof were cruel Deut. 8.25 32. Animalia quantumvis horrifica Jun. 10. Beza paraphraseth Arabum tesqua succutit it shaketh the Cottages of the Arabians Vers 9. The voice of the Lord maketh the Hindes to calve Which they naturally do not without a great deal of difficulty Job 39.4 5 6. See the Note there And discovereth the Forrests By driving the beasts into their dennes baring the Forrests of their leaves and fruits turning up trees by the roots and so making a clear prospect thorough woods and groves as one phraseth it And in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory Heb. Every one or every whit of it saith Glory Every godly man observing his dreadfull thunder Moller and other his stupendious works saith Glory bee to God on high Some conceive that this Psalm was appointed by David to be sung in the Temple in time of thunder which is not unlikely There are that make God to be the Nominative case to the Verb speaketh and render it thus And in his Temple or Palace doth bee utter all his glory Tremel As if the Psalmist should say Much of his glory God uttereth in his thunder but all in his Temple For whatsoever there he speaketh with his mouth he fulfilleth it with his hand Psal 115.3 119.91 33.9 Isa 44.26 See a like collation of Gods works and word with a praelation of this above those Psal 19 1-7 Psal 111.7 Vers 10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood Hee reigned in that generall deluge in Noahs dayes Gen. 6. 7. and doth still over those horrible inundations that follow upon thunder and strong-tempests ruling that raging Element and governing all by his providence and soveraign power Yea the Lord sitteth King for ever And over all therefore all even the Mightiest should give him glory as Vers 1. Vers 11. The Lord will give strength unto his people To bear up their hearts in time of thunder or other terrible occurrences The Lord will blesse his people with peace Pace omnimoda With peace internall In tempore to nitru Aben Ezra externall eternall for godlinesse hath the promises of both lives of prosperity safety and welfare both of soul and body PSAL. XXX A Psalm and song i.e. An holy hymn first framed in meeter then sung with mens voices At the dedication of the house of David Either when it was new built 2 Sam. 5.11 confer Deut. 20.5 Neb. 12.27 saying as He once Jamq meos dedotibi Princeps jure Penates Tu mibi jus dederas posse vocare meos God so loveth his people that their walls are ever in his sight Ifa 49.16 they should therefore have holinesse to the Lord written upon them Zach. 14. sanctified they should be by the word and prayer 1 Tim. 4.5 Or else after he had defiled it by his Adultery with Bathsbeba and Absolom had much more defiled it by his abominable incest and other villanies See 2 Sam. 20.3 Vers I. I will extoll thee O Lord for thou hast lifted mee up De puteo peccati canoso saith Kimchi out of the miry pit of fin or out of the ditch of deadly danger say others Therefore I will extol thee that is I will have high and honourable conceptions of thee I will also do mine utmoft both by words and deeds that thou mayest be acknowledged by others to bee as thou art the great and mighty Monarch of the whole World And hast not made my foes to rejoyce over mee Befides all former victories Absolom and Sheba were lately slain Vers 2. I cryed unto thee In some great sicknesse say some that befell him about the time that he built his house of Cedar 2 Sam. 5. that he might not be overjoyed and take a surfeit Or rather when by my sons rifing up against mee I was likely to have lost my state and Kingdome An dt hou hast healed mee That is helped mee as Jon. 2.6 thou hast restored and re-established mee in my Kingdome Kimchi senseth it thus Thou hast delivered my soul from Hell though in this World
of Hell as it were and doth therefore set up as loud a cry after God as once Micah did after his mawmets Judg. 18. and farre greater cause he had And to the Lord I made supplication He knew that the same hand alone must cure him that had wounded him neither was Gods favour recoverable but by humble confession and hearty prayer Some think to glide away their groans with games and their cares with cards to bury their terrours and themselves in wine and sleep They run to their musick with Saul to building of Cities with Cain when cast out of Gods presence c. sed haret lateri lethalis arundo but as the wounded Deer that hath the deadly arrow sticking in his side well he may frisk up and down for a time but still he bleedeth and will ere long fall down dead so it is with such as feek not comfort in God alone as make not supplication to Him for Him as return not to God who hath smitten them nor seek the Lord of Hoasts Isa 9.13 Vers 9. What profit is there in my blood c i.e. In my life say some q. d. To what purpose have I lived sith Religion is not yet settled In my death say others Diolat and better a violent death especially and out of thy favour Now all beleevers have ever abhorred such a kind of death before they were reconciled to God and had a true feeling of his grace Shall the dust praise thee c See Psal 6.6 with the Note Vers 10. Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me When faith hath once said to God what it hath to fay it will wait for a good answer relying on his mercy and expecting relief from the Lord as here David doth looking in the mean whiles through the anger of his corrections to the sweetneffe of his loving countenance as by a Rain-bow we see the beautifull image of the Suns light in the midst of a dark and waterish cloud Vers 11. Thou hast turned from mee my mourning c. Sustulisti luctum latitiam attulisti See the Note on vers 5. Ver. 12. To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee i.e. That my tongue oyled from an heart enlarged may exalt thee according to my bounden duty and thine abundant desert A good tongue that watcheth all opportunities to glorifie God and edifie others is certainly a mans great glory but an evill tongue is his foul shame Basil expoundeth glory by ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the spirit or soul The Chaldee Paraphrast Laudabunt to honor abiles mundi The glorious ones of the World shall praise thee O Lord my God I will give thanks unto thee for ever Epiphonematica pathetica conclusio Davidi ex summis calamitatibus erepto familiaris He concludeth as he began ingaging his heart to everlasting thankfullnesse and therein becoming a worthy pattern to all posterity PSAL. XXXI A Psalm of David made say Vatablus and others at that time when Saul pursued David in the Wildernesse of Maon 1 Sam. 23.24 But by many circumstances and passages of this Psalm it appeareth more probable that it was as the former composed when Absolom was up 2 Sam. 15.10 c. See vers 11 12 22. of this Psalm with 2 Sam. 17.24 27. 19.33 Joseph Autiq. lib. 7. cap 9. Vers 1. In thee O Lord do I put my trust Hic Psalmus varia mixtus magna affectnum vicissitudine insignis est This Psalm is strangely mixt and made up of many and diverse passions and petitions according to the change of times and estate In the time of affliction he prayeth in the time of consolation he praiseth the Lord Ercles 7.15 In these three first verses is little said but what had been before said and is already opened Let mee never be ashamed i.e. Repulsed worsted defeated In thy Righteousnesse And not according to mine own Righteousnesse saith Kimchi or according to thy faithfullnesse Vers 2. ãâ¦ã This repetition of his petition is no vain babbling as Mat. 6.9 but an effect and an evidence of greatest earnestneffe as Mat. â6 44 For an house of defence Where the enemy can as little hurt mee as when I was in the Hold 1 Sam. 22.4 Vers 3. For thou art my Rock and my fortresse Such places David had been forced to fly to but stil he trusted in God Lead mee and guide mee Duc me deduc me A Metaphor from Captaines and Generalls who lead on their armies with greatest art and industry Vatab. Vers 4. Pull mee out of the net That noted net as the Hebrew hath it Nam Zâ denet at rem notam omnibus saith Kimchi David was not caught in it but the enemies presumed he would be so selling the hide before the beast was taken as did likewife the proud Spaniards when coming against England in eighty eight they triumphed before the victory and sang Tu qua Romanas suevisti temnere leges Hispano disces subdere collajugo But blessed be God the net brake and wee escaped Psal 124.7 For thou art my strength As a tree is strongest at the root and a branch or bough next the trunck or stock and the further it groweth out from thence the smaller and weaker it groweth too So the nearer the Creature is to God the stronger and on the contrary Vers 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit So did our Saviour so did St. Stephen and diverse of the dying Martyrs with these very words most apt and apposite surely for such a purpose But what a wretch was that Huberââ who dyed with these words in his mouth I yeeld my goods to the King my body to the grave and my soul to the Devill Thou hast redeemed And so hast best right unto mee O Lord God of truth I know whom I have trusted Vers 6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities i.e. Idols or ought else besides the living God who giveth us all things richly to injoy 1 Tim. 6.17 See Jon. 2.8 with the Note Vanitates vanitatis Vatablus rendreth it and telleth us that some understand it of Astrology R. David doth so in this Note of his upon the Text Astrologos in cantatores in fuga mea non consului sed in Domino prophetis ejus confisus sum I have not consulted Astrologers and Soothsayers in my trouble but have trusted to the Lord and his Prophets Vers 7. I will be glad and rejoyce In the midst of trouble faith will find matter of joy as extracting abundance of comfort in most desperate distresses from the precious promises and former experiences Thou hast known my soul in adversity God knows our souls best Psal 1.6 and wee know him best in adversity Isa 63.16 the Church thought she should know him in the midst of all his austerities Vers 8. Thou hast not shut mee up c. i.e. Not given mee into their power See Psal 27.12 Thou hast set my feet in a large room So that
In a strong City In Mahanaim 2 Sam. 17.27 where it is likely he made this and some other Psalms Vers 22. For I said in my haste I am cut off c. A frightful and sinful saying doubtless full of diffidence and despair See the like Psal 116.11 Job 9.16 Judg. 13.22 Psal 77.3 Joh. 2.4 Thus he spake when he tremblingly fled and was posting away Nevertheless thou heardest the voyce of my supplication A pitiful poor one though it were and full of infirmity God considereth whereof we are made he taketh not advantages against his suppliants it would be wide with them if he should Vers 23. O love the Lord Let not your hasty discontent beget in you hard thoughts of God or heavie thoughts against your selves as it hath done in me but love him trust him and he will do you right And plentifully rewardeth Heb. repaieth abundantly or with surplussage in seipso vel in semine suo It may be rendred Upon the remainder and understood of the proud mans posterity wherein God will be sure to bemeet with him Vers 24. Be of good courage c. Bear up be stout and stedfast in the faith under trials See Psal 27.14 with the Note Thus good courage cometh not but from the true love of God Vers 23. PSAL. XXXII A Psalm of David Maschil i.e. Giving instruction or making prudent for David here out of his own experience turneth Teacher vers 7. and the lesson that he layeth before his Disciples is the Doctrin of Justification by Faith that ground of true blessedness Rom. 4.6 7. Docet igitur hic Psalmus verè preciosus pracipuum proprium fidei Christiana caput saith Beza This most precious Psalm instructeth us in the chief and principal point of Christian Religion and it differeth herein from the first Psalm that there are set forth the effects of Blessedness but here the cause Quonââdò etians est Paulus cum Jacobo conciliandus saith he Vers 1. Blessed is be whose transgression is forgiven The heavy burthen of whose trespasses is taken off as the word importeth and he is loosed cased and lightned Sin is an intollerable burden Isa 1.3 such as presseth down Heb. 12.1.2 burden it is to God Am. 2.13 to Christ it was when it made him sweat water and bloud to the Angels when it brake their backs and sunk them into Hell to men under whom the very earth groaneth the Axeltree thereof is even ready to crack c. it could not bear Corah and his company it spewed out the Canaanites c. O then the heaped up happiness of a justified person disburdened of his transgressions The word here rendred transgression signifieth Treachery and wickedness with a witness Aben-Ezra faith David hereby intends his Sin with Bathsheba and surely this Psalm and the one and fiftieth may seem to have been made upon the same occasion they are tuned so near together Whose sin is covered As excrements and ordure are covered that they may not be an eye-sore or annoyance to any Sin is an odious thing the Devils duivell or vomit the corruption of a dead soul the filthiness of flesh and spirit Get a cover for it therefore sc Christs righteousness called a propitiation or coverture and raiment Rev. 3.18 Vt sic veletur ne in judicio reveletur that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear Vers 2. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Let no man think this triplication of the same thing needlesse or superfluous sith the poor soul afflicted with sense of sin and fear of wrath is not easily perswaded of pardon but when faith would lay hold on the promise Satan rappeth her on the fingers as it were and seeks to beat her off Besides by such an emphaticall repetition and heap of words to one purpose the great grace of God in pardoning mens sin is plainly and plentifully declared and celebrated it being a mercy that no words how wide soever can sufficiently set forth By the word iniquity some understand originall sin that peccatum peccans as the Schooles call it that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã common cause and impure seminary of all actuall disobediences Neither this nor any of the fruites of it doth the Lord impute reckon count or think to the pardoned finner 2 Cor. 5.19 Cui non cogitat peccatum so some render it To whom he thinketh no sin that is he reputeth or imputeth it not for a sin he putteth it not into the reckoning Isa 43.25 48.9 11. the Bill or Bond is cancelled Col. 2.14 and there remaineth no action Christ is our suerty Heb. 7.22 Now the suerty and debtour are in law reputed as one person Christ is made sin for us that is in our stead or place that wee might be made the righteousnesse of God in him 2 Cor. 5. ult And in whose spirit there is no guile Sed sincere sine dolo à suis peccatis resipiscit ad Dei misericordiam se recipit The justified are also sanctified 1 Cor. 6.11 they hide not their sins as Adam thy neither excuse nor extenuate what evills they have done but think and speak the worst of their sins they lay load upon themselves they hate Hy pocrisie and detest dissimulation it is a question whether they do more desire to be good or abhorre to seem only to be so B sil as he commendeth that sentence of Plato that seeming sanctity is double iniquity so hee justly condemneth that saying of Euripides I had rather seem to bee good than be so indeed That maxim of Machiavel is the same for sense that vertue it self should not be sought after but only the appearance because the credit is an help the use a cumber The pardoned finner is sanctified throughout washed not only from his sin the guilt and filth of it but his swinish nature also the love and liking of it he hath no mind to return to his vomit or wallowing in the mire saith R. Solomon here he saith not Resipiscam denuo peccabo vel peccabo resipiscam as R. David senseth it I will repent and then sin again or sin again and then repent This he knoweth to be incompatible with faith unfeigned and hope unfailable 1 Tim. 1.5 1 Joh. 3.3 Vers 3. When I kept silence i.e. Whilest I through guile of spirit for this leaven of Hypocrisie is more or lesse in the best hearts though it sway not there concealed my sin and kept the Devills counsel contenting my self with his anodines and false plaisters That old man slayer knoweth well that as sin is the soules sicknesse so confession is the soules ãâã and that there is no way to purge the sick soul but upwards He therefore holdeth the lips close that the heart may not disburden it self David by his perswasion kept silence for a while but that he found was to his ruthe and if he had held so it might have been to his ruine Men in pain of conscience will
is grievously angry with them and will surely and severely punish them and theirs after them To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth And so to crosse them in the thing that they most coveted viz. to renown themselves amongst men God writeth them in the earth in opposition to those whose names are written in Heaven Luk. 10. because they forsook the Lord the fountain of living waters Jer. 17.13 Vers 17. The Righteous cry c. This is often inculcated for our better assurance because we are apt to doubt if delayed See vers 6. Vers 18. The Lord is nigh unto them c. More nigh than the bark is to the Tree for he is with them and in them continually pouring the oyl of his grace into these broken vessells quorum corda pecc at a corum non amplius retinent sed ut vas fractum effundunt faith Aben-Ezra here whose hearts retain not their sins any longer but poure them out as water before the Lord. And saveth such as bee of a contrite spirit Such as are ground to pouder as it were with sense of sin and fear of wrath yet not without good hope of mercy These God delivereth out of their dangers and in fine bringeth them to eternall blessednesse Vers 19. Many are the troubles c. Dei sunt nuntii these are Gods messengers faith Kimchi and they seldome come single See Jam. 1.2 with the Note Sent they are also to the Wicked Psal 32.10 but on another errand and for another end The Righteous per angust a ad augustum per spinas ad rosas per motum ad quietem per procell as ad portum per crucem ad coelum contendunt through many tribulations they enter into Gods Kingdome Not so the Wicked their crosses are but a typicall Hell But the Lord delivereth him out of them all No Country hath more venemous Creatures none more Antidotes than Egypt so godlinesse hath many troubles and as many helps against trouble Vers 20. He keepeth all his bones Which are very many Perhaps saith Aben-Ezra here David had been scourged by the Philistines but his bones were not broken nor were our Saviours Joh. 19.36 Vers 21. Evill shall slay the Wicked For lack of such deliverance as vers 19. malum jugulat au thorem mali Their malice shall prove their mischief The Arabick hath it but not right mors impii pessima Aben-Ezra better senseth it thus One affliction killeth the Wicked when out of many God delivereth the Righteous Vers 22. The Lord redeemeth the soules of his servants Though to themselves and others they may seem helplesse and hopelesse yet they shall not perish in ãâã fins and for their sins as do the Wicked PSAL. XXXV VErs 1. Plead my cause O Lord We may safely pray the same when oppressed with calumnies and false accusations as now David was by Sauls Sycophants or as others think when he was in great heavinesse and even heart-sick after that Amnon had defiled Tamar and Absolom had slain Amnon his disaffected subjects such as Shimei insulted over him and said it was just upon him for the matter of Uriah and other miscarriages which they wrongfully charged him with See a promise in this case Isa 49.21 Fight against them c. Or devoure them that devoure mee for in Niphal only it signifieth to fight Vers 2. Take hold of shield and buckler Jehovab is a man of war Exod. 15.5 and so he is here stirred up to harness himself Not that he needeth weapons defensive as here or offensive as vers 3. for he can destroy his enemies sole nutu ac flatu with a nod or a blast But this is spoken after the manner of men and for our better apprehension of Gods readinesse to relieve his distressed ones Vers 3. Draw out also the spear viz. That thy contending and appearing for mee may appear to be sufficient and glorious And stop the way Heb. And stop viz. the doores as Gen. 19.6 10. 2 King 6.32 lest the malecontents come in and kill mee Or shut mee up from my persecutors that they find mee not like as afterwards God hid Jeremy and Baruch when sought for to the slaughter Say unto my soul I am thy salvation Facito ut haec animula te sibi test antem audiat c. Inwardly perswade my heart to firm affiance in thee amidst all mine afflictions Vers 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame Here David beginneth his imprecations which yet non maledicens dixit sed vaticinantis more praedixit saith Theodoret he doth not utter as cursing but as prophesying rather If we shall at any time take upon us thus to imprecate as we may in some cases we must see to it first that our cause be good Secondly that we do it not out of private revenge but meerly for the glory of God Thirdly ut ne voculam quidem nisinobis praeunte Dei non carnis spiritu effundamus that we utter not a syllable this way but by the guidance of Gods good Spirit Vers 5. Let them be as chaffe Facti sint à corde suâ fugitivi Let them flye before their own consciences restlesse and uncertain whither to turn themselves And let the Angel of the Lord chase them It may be understood both of the evill Angels and of the good ready at Gods command to do execution upon his enemies Chaffe driven before the wind may rest against a wall but where shall they rest who are chased by an Angel where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear 1 Pet. 4.18 Surely no where Vers 6. Let their way be dark and slippery Heb. Darknesse and slipperinesse If a man have neither light nor firm footing and a feirce enemy at his heeles See Jer. 23 1â what shift can he make for himself The word rendred slippery is of a double form like that libbi secharchar my heart panteth or beateth about throbbeth Psal 38.10 to increase the signification The soul of a wicked man is as in a sling 1 Sam. 25.29 violently tossed about Vers 7. For without cause have they hid for mee c. The Wicked are so acted and agitated by the Devill their task-master that though they have no cause to work mischief to the Saints yet they must do it the old enmity Gen. 3. still worketh But this rendreth their destruction certiorem celeriorem more sure and more swift Vers 8. Let destruction come upon him at unawars i.e. Upon the whole rabble of them as if they were all but one man Or else he striketh at some chieftain amongst them Let his destruction be as suddain as signal Vers 9. And my soul shall be joyfull in the Lord This was that he aimed at in his foregoing imprecations viz. the glory and praise of God and not his own reaking his teen upon his enemies Vers 10. All my bones shall say Lord who is like unto thee Not my soul only but my body also shall joyn in this joyfull
eye hath seen it as Aben-Ezra observeth So doth Keep not silence To that they opened their mouth wide against me Ibid. Vers 23. Stir up thy self and awake This is the same in effect with the beginning of the Psalm to shew his ardour and intention of affection Vers 24. According to thy righteousness i.e. for the honour of thy Justice wherein else thou art likely to suffer And let them not rejoyce over me For I quarter Armes as I may so say with thee Lord and my disgrace will reflect upon thee Vers 25. Ah so would we haveât Heb. Ah ah our soul that is our desire we are voti compotes We have swallowed him up As Swine do swill or ravenous beasts their prey Vers 26. Let them be ashamed c. They shall so and this prayer against the Churches enemies shall still speak effectually Vers 27. Let them shout for joy c. He concludeth with hearty prayer for the Church as he doth in divers other Psalms That favour my righteous cause Though perhaps they dare do no more than inwardly favour it and by their prayers to God promote it Let them say continually c. Let them have continual cause to praise God for this sweet property that he delighteth in his peoples prosperity and afflicteth them not from his heart nor grieveth the Children of men but for their greatest good Lam. 3.35 Vers 28. And my tongue c. I do solemnly promise that thy praises shall never dye on my hand c. PSAL. XXXVI A Psalm of David the Servant of the Lord See Psal 18. title Then hee had well-nigh finished his Ruledom here he is about to begin it and therefore assumeth this title Serum est nomen officii Servant is a name of Office or Duty Tertullian faith of Augustus we may better of David Gratius ei fuit nomen pietatis quam potestatis he took more pleasure in names of duty than of dignity so those heavenly Courtiers rejoyce rather to be stiled Angels that is Messengers and Ministring Spirits than Thrones Principalities Powers c. Vers 1. Hieron Vulgata The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart Some say t is libbi for libbo Jod for Van and render it within or in the midst of his own heart and so make it the same in sense with Psal 14.1 but these make too bold with the text David that zealous Servant of God was fully perswaded of and deeply affected with the profligate wickedness of some graceless persons such as were Saul and his bloud-sucking Sycophants that they were stark Atheists and had not the least spark of common goodness left in them that they had neither the fear of God nor shame of the World to reign them in from any outrage This is mine opinion of them saith David I am strongly so conceited and I will give you my grounds I speak as to wise men judge yee what I say Vers 2. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes This is the first proof of the foregoing charge and the fountain of all the following exorbitancies See the like 2 Tim. 3.2 there self-love brings all out of order here self-flattery Sibi palpum obtrudit he stroketh himself on the head and saith I shall have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of mine heart to adde drunkenness to thirst and rebellion to sin Deut. 29.19 Thus he sootheth and smootheth up himself neither shall any one perswade him but that his penny is as good silver as the best of them all Thus he calleth evil good and good evil and proudly bolstering of himself in his sinful practices he maketh a bridge of his own shadow and so falleth into the ditch of destruction Vntil his iniquity be found to be hateful Till God by his Judgements uncase him and men out of utter hatred of his execrable practices tell him his own to his teeth Thus Stephen Gardiner being charged of cruelty by Mr. Bradford answered in open Court I for my part have been challenged for being too gentle often times which thing Bonner confirmed and so did almost all the audience that he had ever been too mild and moderate But Doctor Taylour told him another tale Act. Mon. 1461. Ibid. 1380. when he said to him How dare you for shame look me or any Christian man in the face seeing you have forsaken the truth denied our Saviour Christ done contrary to your Oath c. So Bonner They report me said he to the Lord Mayor to seek bloud and call me Bloudy Bonner whereas God knows I never sought any mans bloud in all my life To whom Mr. Smith the Martyr answered Why my Lord Ibid. 1537. do you put on this fair visor before my Lord Mayor to make him beleeve that you seek not my bloud to cloak your Murthers through my stoutness as you call it Have you not had my brother Tomkins before you whose hand when you had burnt most cruelly you burnt his whole body and not only of him but of a great many of Christs Members c So upon the Martyrdom of Master Philpot a certain unknown good woman in a Letter to Bonner wrote thus Indeed you are called the common Cut-throat and general slaughterssave to all the Bishops of England and therefore it is wisdom for me and all other simple sheep of the Lord to keep us out of your butcherly stall as long as we can especially since you have such store already that you are not able to drink all their bloud lest you should break your belly and therefore you let them lye still and dye for hunger Ibid. 1672. c. And soon after you have broken a Pot indeed Mr. Philpot but the precious Word contained therein is so notably therewithall shed abroad that the sweet savour thereof hath wonderfully well refreshed all the true Household or Congregation of Christ that they cannot abide any more the stinking savour of your filthy ware that came from the dunghil of Rome though your Lordships Judasses set them to sale every where to fill up your Baggs c. Thus these bloud-suckers stunk above ground and it is probable that the Saints shall look upon such in the next World throughout all eternity with execrable and everlasting detestation Vers 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit That is saith Calvin he hath something to say to excuse and justifie himself to the hardening of his heart and hastening of his destruction as there is no Wool so coarse but will take some colour But God will one day wash off his varnish with rivers of Brimstone hee can skill of none other Language but that of Hell the words of his mouth are desiderium dolus there is no truth and as little trust to be put in any thing that he speaketh And why there is no fear of God before his eyes See a like Text Rom. 3.13 14 15. He hath left off to be wise and to do good That
be desolate for a reward a poor reward but such as sin payeth to her servants the wages of sin is death Sin payeth all her servants in black mony See Psal 35.21 The ward here rendred reward signifieth an heel It is as if the Prophet should say Let one desolation tread upon the heels of another âill they be utterly undone Vers 16. Let all those that seek thee rejoyce viz. When they hear of my deliverance The Saints have both their joyes and griefs in common with their fellow-members as being in the body Heb. 13.3 both in the body of Christ and in the body of sleth and frailty Vers 17. But I am poor and needy A stark begger neither will I hide from my Lord as once Josephs Brethren said to him when they came for com mine extream indigency my necessitous condition I am one that gets my living by begging Yee the Lord thinketh upon met Hee is the poor mans King as hath been said and Christ is ãâ¦ã as Augustine hath it that is he gives with the Father and at same time prayes with the suter who must therefore needs speed Thou art my help and my deliverer make no tarrying Deliver mee speedily lest I perish utterly God saith One is sometimes troubled with too much help but never with too little we are sometimes too soon but he is never too late PSAL. XLI A Psalm of David Of the same sense with the four former Psalmes saith Kimchi Vers 1. Blessed is his that considereth the poor Heb. That wise by ãâã concerning the poor The poor weakling whose health is impaired whose wealth is wasted Austin rendreth it Qui praeoccupat vocem ãâã He that prevenreth the request of the poor begger wisely considering his case and not staying till he ââave which possibly out of modesty hee may hee Ioth to do The most interpret it of a charitable Judgement passed upon the poor afflicted not holding him therefore hated of God because heavily afflicted as Jobs friends did At vobis ãâã sit qui de me quantumvis calamitoso rectius judicatis so Beza here paraphraseth Well may you fare my friends who censiââe better of mee though full of misery and deal more kindly with mee The word Masâhil signifieth both a prudent Judgement and a desire to do all good offices Faith One. It signifieth to give comfort and instruction to the weak faith Another wisely weighing his case and ready to draw out not his sheaâ only but his soul to the hungry Isa 58.10 This is a blessed man presupposing him to be a Beleever and so to do it from a right Principle viz. Charity out of a pure heart of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned 1 Tim. 1.5 The Lord will deliver him i.e. The poor weakling and the other also that dealeth so mercifully with him both shall be delivere according to that of our Saviour Matth. 10.41 Delivered I say he shall be in due time supported in the mean while a good use and a good Issue he shall be sure of Kimchi Some make it Davids prayer The Lord deliver him c. Others the mercifull mans prayer for the poor-afflicted Vers 2. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive Life in any sense is a singular mercy Why is a living man sorrow full Lam. 3.39 if he be alive though afflicted he hath cause to be thankfull how much more if alive to Righteousness The Arabick here interpreteth it dabit ãâã filios in quibus post mortems vivat he will give him Children in whom he may live after his death And he shall be blessed upon the earth With wealth and other accommodations so that the World shall look upon him as every way blessed And thou wilt not deliver him into the hands of his enemies Heb. Do not thou deliver him This maketh Kimchi conclude that all this is but oratio visitantis consolatoria the prayer of him that visiteth the sick man for his comfort Vers 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing Whether through sicknesse of body as Isa 38.2 or sorrow of heart for in such case also men cast themselves upon their beds 1 Kin. 21.4 This God and not the Physicians will do for the sick man die septimo on the seventh day saith R. Solomon when he is at sickest Thou wilt make all his bed Heb. Thou wilt turn thou wilt stirre up Poâhers under him that he may lye at ease and this by the hand of those poor whom he had considered Or Thou wilt turn all his bed That is his whole body from sicknesse to health as Kabvenaki senseth it Vers 4. I said Lord be mercifull unto mee heal Heal mee in mercy and begin at the inside first Heal my soul of sin and then my body of sicknesse Heal me every whit These to the end are the sick mans words saith Kimchi And this is the Character of the Lords poor man to whom the foresaid comforts do belong saith Another For I have sinned against thee He cryeth peccavi not perit Sanat ionom in capite orditur he beginneth at the right end Vers 5. Mine enemies speak evill of mee Notwithstanding my pitty and devotion that 's no target against persecution Davids integrity and the severity of his discipline displeased these yokelesse Balialists they were sick of his strict government and longed for a new King who would favour their wicked practices such as was absolom whom they shortly after set up David they could not name because be did Justice and Judgement to all the people These âbertines were of the Eâââ ãâã loquaces ingeniesi in prafect ãâ¦ã eulpam infamiam non effugiat such as loved to speak evill of dignities and could not give their governours how blamelesse soever a good word When shall be dye and his name perish Nothing lesse would satisfie their malice than utter extermination But David recovereth and his name surviveth when they lie wrapt up in the sheet of shame Vers 6. And if he come to see mee That is Achitaphel or some such hollow-hearted Holophanta Plaut Ore pro mea sinitate orant sed cordequaerunt malum Midrash Tillin He speaketh vanity Pretending that he is very sorry to see mee so ill at ease and letting fall some Crocodiles tears perhaps Has heart gathereth iniquity to it self As Toads and Serpents gather venom to vomit at you When be goeth abroad be telleth it Boasting to his treacherous Brotherhood of his base behaviour Vers 7. All thas hate mee whisper together against mee Heb. Mussitant they mutter as Charmers use to do These whisperers are dangerous fellows Rom. 1.29 like the wind that creepeth in by chinks in a wall or cracks in a window A vente percolato inimice reconciliato libera nos Demine saith the Italian Against mee do they devise Cogitant quasi coagitant Vers 8. An evill disease say they âleaveth fast unto him Heb. A thing of Belial Omnes impietates quas perpetravit R.
the Pen-man It seemeth to be of the same time and occasion with Psal 76. Vers 1. Great is the Lord Greater Job 33.12 Greatest of all Psal 95.3 Greatnesse it self Psal 345.3 A degree he is above the superlative And greatly to be praised No mean praises can be meet for so great a Majesty It must be modus sine modo Bern. In the City of our God i. e. Lib. 3. de usu part In the Church for others will not cannot do it to divine acceptation Galen amazed at the wonderfull frame of mans body sang an hymn to the Maker thereof but yet he lived and dyed a Pagan Vers 2. Pulcher surculo Beautifull for situation A beautifull Nymph so R. Solomon Or beautifull for the branch that droppeth balsam saith Moller that is for the Ark there seated Or for the tract and climat as Josh 12.23 situat on the Northside of Jerusalem as Isa 14.13 in a cold drie and clear air as Job 37.22 Sanantur illi qui illic infirms conveniuât saith Kimchi they which come thither weak are made well The joy of the whole earth Not only of the whole Land because thither three times a year the Tribes went up the Tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord Psal 122.4 nor only of the East whereof Jerusalem was held and call'd the Queen Vrbium totius Orient is clarissima saith Pliny see Lam. 1.1 but also of the whole earth Sumen totius orbis as one calleth it and Rabshakeh himself in that more ingenuous than Strato confesseth Judaa to be a Land of Corn and Wine of bread and Vineyards Isa 36.17 Hence it is called the excellency of Jacob Psal 47.4 the goodness of the Lord for Wheat and for Wine and for Oyl and for the young of the flock and of the Herd for all which men should come and sing in the height of Zion Jer. 31.12 but especially for spirituall blessings that their souls might be as watered gardens and they not sorrow any more at all ib. but come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads Isa 35.10 for the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men therehence appearing Tit. 2.11 Isa 2.3 4. If Plutarch could say of Rome in Numa's time that the Neighbour Villages sucking in the air of that City breathed Righteousnesss how much better might the same be said of this City of the great King where God himself was resiant and his sincere service was established Psal 132.13 Vers 3. God is known in her Palaces for a refuge As the City was an ornament to the whole Country so was God to the City as being a common refuge to both and as having his holy Temple there not a professed Sanctuary for impiety as Flââus âpitefully stiled it but farre better deserving than Nama's new Temple in Rome did to be called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Sacrary of Faith and Peace where the true God was truly worshiped and found to be a very present help in trouble the beât bulwark Vers 4. For ãâã the Kings were assembled The Princes of the Philistines 2 Sam. 5. Or Sennacheribs Princes which were all Kings Isa 10.8 Oecolampadins upon Isa 13.19 saith that there were twenty and two Kingdomes in Assâria these all came with combined forces to lay Jernsaiem desolate but could not effect it They passed by together They could do this City dear to God and secured by him the Athenians boasted that they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã beloved of God the Hierâsâlymitans were surely so no more harm than as if they had been so many wayfaring men that had passed by it with their staves in their hands Vers 5. They saw it and so they marvelled None of them could say as Casar Veni vidi vici but the contrary they no sooner saw this Heaven-guarded City but their hearts mis-gave them and they were ready to say as that Duke of Saxeny did who intending to make war upon the Bishop of Magdeburg and understanding that he made no great preparation for defence of himself and his territories but sought help from Heaven by fasting and prayer Insaniat alius said he God blesse mee from such a madnesse as to meddle with a man who confideth in God and committeth himself wholly to his protection They were troubled and hasted away Heb. they fled with an basty or head-long flight being smitten with a suddain terrour such as was that of the Egyptians when their Charret wheels were taken off of the Poilistines when for haste they left their Gods behind them 2 Sam. 5. of the Syrians 2 King 7. when they left all and ran for their lives of the Assyrians when the Angel had slain an hundred eighty five thousand in their camp c. Vers 6. Fear took hold upon them there By So in the former verse and There in this the shamefull flight of these enemies is lively deciphered and as it were pointed at with the finger So Psal 14.5 There were they in great fear for God is in the Generation of the Righteous And pain as of a Woman in Travel Their grief was no less than their fear and it came upon them Certâ cito subito suddainly sorely irresistably inevitably Vers 7. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish i. e. Of the Ocean or of the Mediterranean Sea Isa 2.16 23.1 6 10 14. The meaning is like as thou O God with thine East-wind that Euroclydon especially which Pliny calleth Navigantium Pestem the Mariners mischief art wont to dash and drown the tallest ships at thy pleasure so thou both canst and wilt deal by thy Churches enemies To whom therefore this Text should be as those knuckles of a mans hand were to Belshazzer to write them their destiny or as Daniel was to him to read it unto them Vers 8. As we have heard viz. by the relation of our Fore-Fathers Psal 44.1 or rather by the promises contained in the Holy Scriptures which now we see verified and exemplified in our signall deliverances Hierusalems constane protection then is here affevered and assured per comparationem promissionis experientie simul similitèr eam contestantium See the like Job 42.5 with the Note In the City of our God The Church is the City of the living God Heb. 12.22 a City that breedeth men yea Conquerours as Herodotus saith of Ecbatana the Metropolis of the Medes and as Pindarus of another place ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Herod Clioâ Nemeis Od. â God will establish it for ever There shall be a Church till the Worlds end maugre all her enemies Vers 9 We have thought upon thy loving kindnesse Heb. We have silently mused or minded as being amazed or rather amated thereat not able to speak for a while we were so transported when we met in thy Temple for the purpose to praise thee as for thy loving kindnesse towards us so for thy power and Justice exercised on
the Adriatick Sea being asked by Alexander the Great what they most feared answered ne supra se coelum corruat lest the Skie should fall upon them Galen writeth of a certain Melancholick fellow who hearing that Atlas supported Heaven with his shoulders was therefore sore afraid lest he should faint under the burthen and therefore carried his arm before him to save his head Heraclides out of Anacreon telleth of one Artemon a timorous man who kept home as much as might be having ever a couple of servants to hold a brazen buckler over his head lest any thing should fall upon him from above And if he were at any time necessitated to go abroad he was carried in a horse-litter that touched the ground almost Piut. in Periclâ and was thereupon called Periphoretus For thou hast scattered the bones i. e. The strength the strong troops saith the Chaldee they want decent burial as Jer. 22. saith the Syriack Thou hast put them to shame viz. The poor afflicted Psal 14.5 because God hath despised them i. e. Subjected them to the contempt of the wicked Vers 6. O that the salvation Heb. Salvations Indicat plenam satutem saith Kimchi PSAL. LIV. MAschil Instructing us saith One to draw neer to God as dangers draw neerer to us When the Ziphims Which signifieth Flourishing Erant autem Ziphaei ex stirpe Caleb 1. Chron. 2. ââ Nabal sed degeneres they might have flourishing estates but they had withered souls else they would never have sought twice over to have betrayed good David into the hand of Saul 1 Sam 23. 26. Came and said to Saul If a Ruler hearken to lyes all his servants are wicked Prov. 29.12 See the Note there Doth not David hide himself with us viz. In the wood and wildernesse neer unto our City But what if he did should they therefore discover him and so pull the vengeance of God upon themselves and their City George Eagles alius Trudge-over the World hid himself in a corn-field Act. Mon. was descryed by Ralph Lurdain for mony and burnt at Chelmsford where afterward the same Lurdain was hanged for stealing an horse and confest it was just in God upon him for bewraying that innocent man Vers 1. Save mee O God by thy name i. e By thy self and especially by thy goodness whereby thou art nominatissimus in Ecclesia well known in thy Church as a main peece of thy name Exod. 34.6 7. Vers 2. Hear my prayer O God He runs to God by most earnest prayer for our instance and instruction in like case for we must prepare for the like trialls nec de cruce disputandum est otiose velut in umbra c. Ver. 3. For strangers are risen up against mee He meaneth not foreiners Nothi spurii but home-dwellers Saul Doeg Ziphims c. strangers to Religion reason common humanity Jews outwardly but not inwardly Heathens upon the matter Psal 59.5 Rev. 11.2 Am. 9.7 The Pope shewed himself no better in delivering up for mony Zemes the great Turks Brother who fled to him for safeguard of his life wrongfully sought after Oppressours seek after my soul i.e. My life at least my soul also they would destroy if it lay in their power as the Papists delivered up John Hus to the Devil when they burnt him and would not allow Hierom of Prague a Confessour though he requested it So the Monster of Millain that made his enemy first curse Christ in hope of life and then stabbed him to death saying Now go soul and body to the Devill So hee that for spite procuring a man to bee hanged Bodio derep and seeing him penitent said I am afraid the rogue will go to Heaven They have not set God before them This was the root of all their out-rages they made no reckoning of God prâut est judex vindex mali as he is a severe Judge and a sharp revenger of sin and wickednesse Vers 4. Behold God is mine helper And that mine enemies might have seen had they set God before them The Dutch have a proverb where God hath a mind to destroy a man he first putteth out his eyes The Lord is with them that uphold my soul That favour my righteous cause and wish my wel-fare as doth Jonathan and the rest that fear God who although they be but few and feeble in comparison yet they have God with them and for them non interfuit modo sed etiam praefuit and how many do you reckon him for as Antigonus once said David was invironed and in great danger to be surprized but God rescued him by an invasion of the Philistines 1 Sam. 23.27 28. The Lord knoweth how to deliver his 2 Pet. 2. R. Moses expoundeth it God is loco omnium super omnes in stead of all and above all Vers 5. He shall reward evill unto mine enemies Or Mine observers that watch mee a mischief I shall escape out of trouble and they shall come in my stead Prov. 11.8 Cut them off in thy truth i.e. According as thou hast pronounced against such as seek and suck innocent blood Vers 6. I will freely sacrifise unto thee Or Liberally not with an ill will and pinchingly The Arabick rendreth it Laudabo te obediens Praise is the best sacrifice and obedience is the best praise I will praise thy name O Lord for it is good Thy name is good and it is a good thing to praise it for thereby men do thee right help thee to thine own secure to themselves former favours and procure future Vers 7. For he hath delivered mee i. e. He surely will this is the language of faith this is the triumph of Trust And mine eye hath seen my desire upon mine enemies This was not an evill eye of envy or private revenge such as was that of him who when he saw a pit full of mansblood cryed out O formo sum spectaculum O brave sight or that of Antichrist who hath oft glutted his eyes with many such goodly bloody sights as when he caused the Massacre of Paris to be painted in his Palace Thuan. and had the Admirals head sent him for a present But as admiring Gods justice on his enemies and love toward his people he was well pleased with such a providence and beheld it with comfort The Arabick rendreth it Oculus meus requievit Tremellius Mine eye beholdeth mine enemies I dare now boldly look them in the face being strengthened with thy might c. PSAL. LV. A Psalm of David Whether made upon occasion of his flight from Keilah 1 Sam. 23. or from Absolom 2 Sam. 15 16. Idemest argumentum idem usus hujus Psalmi atque superioris saith Beza this and the former Psalm are of the same argument and for the same use It is most probable that this Psalm was written when Absolom was up and Hushâi related unto Zadock the troubled state of the City 2 Sam. 17.15 with
2 Cor. 1.10 Vers 4. Turn us O God of our salvation Turn us and we shall be turned do as thou ever hast done for thou art Jehovah thou changest not but art yesterday today and the same for ever And cause thine anger c. I abefacta iram tuam erga nos Vers 5. Wilt thou he angry with us for ever Dilato Christo two vel tuo adventu Such expostulations mixt with faith are Vis Deo grata as saith Tertullian such as God is well pleased with Vers 6. With thou not revive us again Who for present are all amort as it were free among the dead free of that company That thy people may rejoyce in thee A joyless life is a lifeless life Mortis habet vices quae trahitur vita gemitibus Vers 7. shew us thy mercy O Lord Thy fatherly mercy ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And grant us thy salvation Thy Christ and our Jesus Luke 2.30 Vers 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak I will not repine but listen what answer God giveth to my prayer and patiently wait a good issue of my troubles For he will speak peace unto his people viz. by his Promises and by his Providences And to his Saints For all Gods people are righteous ones Isa 60.21 justified and sanctified 1 Cor. 6.11 But let ãâã them turn again do folly i.e. to the ways of the world and of ãâã real son lest they smart for their rashness and God ãâ¦ã to their words again Vers 9. Surely his salvation is nigh them c. Though they be so ãâ¦ã with tears that they cannot see it and so discouraged that they have even done looking for it Luke ââ 7 â That glory may dwell in our Land The Fathers hath by salvation and glory dwelling with man understand Christ Job 1.26 Vers 10. Jam fides pax honor pudorque Priscuâ neglectââ redire virtus Audet apparetque beata pleno Copia cornu Horat. Iren. Aug. Mercy and ãâã are met together ãâã his Mercy is ever âââââded by ãâã conjunction his people there is a ãâ¦ã and ãâã ââââtion of Graces 2 Pet. â â and this is an effect of Christ Kingdom in mâââ ãâã Rom. 14.17 Righteousness and peace have killed each other Have friendly saluted in allusion to the manner of the Eastern Nations See Isa 12.17 Psal 119.169 Vers 11. Truth shall spring out of the earth i. e. Heaven and ãâã shall be ãâã both of truth and righteousness Many understand all concerning Christ See Jââ 3.13 Others concerning extraordinary plenty of all good things Vers 12. Yea the Lord shall give that which is good Yea hâst of all viz. his holy Spirit Luke 11.13 with Matthew 7.11 with a largess of outward comforts Vers 13. Righteousness shall go before him Men shall walk before God in holinels and righteousness all the days of their lives Luke 1.75 they shall not rest in outward blessings vers 12. or be satisfied with such low things but be led up thereby to the care of higher And shall set us in the way of his steps So that we shall go an upper and ââââfore a better way Prov. 15.24 having our feat where other mens heads are and so departing from Hell beneath which ãâã gapeth for the unrighteous PSAL. LXXXVI A Prayer Left for a form for a help to devotion as was also Psal 1â2 Title Vers 1. Bow down thine ãâã O Lord As the careful Physician doth to his feeble Patient so Basil glosseth here For I am poor and needy Having nothing to live on but what my friends privily send me or what I can get by boot-haling from the Lords enemies 1 Sam. 30.26 Vers 2. Preserve my soul for I am holy Or a ãâã a Saint merciful such an one as upon whose heart the tender mercies of the Almighty ãâã forth abundantly do leave a compassionate frame David had the Divine Nature transfused into him he was holy as God is holy and merciful as God is merciful in quality though not in equality but all of free grace and this he pleadâââ for his own safety Save thy servant Serva servum tuum thy devoted servant and not thy beneficiary only Vers 3. Be merciful unto me Lest any should by the former ãâã I ãâ¦ã suspect him to be a merit-monger he beggeth mercy with instancy and constancy of request Vers 4. Rejoyce the soul of thy servant True and solid joy entreth ãâã by the door of servent prayer Pray that your joy may be fell I lift up my soul In prayer Psal 25.1 and confident ãâã of an ãâã carrying return thereof ãâ¦ã 24. ââ Vers 5. For thou Lord are good ãâã Lord I am âell ãâ¦ã are Heaven said God by prayer And plenteous in mercy Both to ãâã sin and to give good Hos 14. â Vers 6. Give ear O Lord c. The hearing of our sutes is earnestly to be sought and reckoned among our chiefest ãâã Vers 7. In the day of my trouble c. Gods Petitioners must pray and beleeve and beleeve and pray ãâ¦ã David had said verse â God is man in mercy to all that call upon him Here he ãâã and conâââth ãâ¦ã in the day of my trouble will call upon him therefore he will answer mee Vers 8. Among the Gods Whether deputed or reputed There is none like unto thee Either in essence or in operation See ãâã 15.11 Vers 9. As Nations whom thou hast ãâã come c. I were ãâã they should Rev. 4. ult 't is to be hoped they shall Isa 11. 43. not by âhange of ârace but ãâã responâing their irreligions and yeelding unto Christ the ãâã of faith Some understand this Text of that generall Assembly at the ãâã Vers 10. For thou are grâââ Great is the Lord without quantity good without quality everlasting without time omni present without place containing all things without extent within all things and contained of nothing without all things and sustained of nothing c. Now the least ãâã of this knowledge is worth all the gleams of human wisdome And doest wondrous things The Schools have laid down a threefold way of knowing God First Negation of Imperfections Secondly Affirmation of Perfections Thirdly Causation of great works Vers 11. Teach mee thy way David knew much of God and yet he desireth to be taught more delivering himself up to Gods discipline and saying as once Solon did ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Unite my heart to fear thy name i. e. To serve thee with simplicity and godly ãâã 2 Cor. ââ cleavââ to thee with full purpose of heart Act. 11.23 and attending upon thee without distraction 1 Cor. 7.35 As thou aâ God alone verse 10. so let my heart be towaâd thee alone Behold I find it divided disjoynted and so disabled for duty for anima disper sa fit minor Oh do thou unite it I beseech thee giving mee that one heart thou hast promised until we all come unto that oneness of the faith and of the
see He saith formeth because there are many formes or species in the eye continually and as the optick vertue in thy eye seeth all and is seen of none so doth God much more All Davids wayes were in Gods sight all Gods lawes in Davids sight Psal 119.168 Vers 10. He that chastiseth the Heathen shall not he correct Qui totis gentibus non parcit vos non redarguet He that punisheth prophane Nations that know him not shall he spare you Amos 3.2 Shall not tribulation and anguish be upon the Jew first Rom. 2.9 The Chaldee thus paraphraseth He that gave a law to his people shall he not punish them when they transgresse it He that teacheth man knowledge Shall not be know is to be supplied to make sense The Psalmist seemeth so displeased at mens doubting or denying of this that he could not perfect his sentence through passion of mind Some causes indeed do give that which themselves have not as the lifelesse heaven inliveneth the dull whetstone sharpeneth But here it is far otherwise and woe be to such as act not accordingly Isa 29.15 Vers 11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity Or worse that they are ever weaving spiders webs or else hatching Cockatrice eggs Isa 59.5 This sentence St. Paul allegeth against the Worlds wizzards 1 Cor. 3.20 who the wiser they were the vainer they were Rom. 1.21 As Austin writing to a man of great paris saith Ornari abste Diabolus quarit the Devill would fain bee tricked up by thee Vers 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest c. And thereby effectest that his vain thoughts lodge not within him Jer. 4.14 but that the wicked forsake his wayes and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return to thee c. Isa 55.7 Feri Domine feri said Luther strike whiles thou pleasest Lord only to thy correction adde instruction Vt quod noceat doceat See my Love-tokens And teachest him out of thy law Lashing him but withall lessoning him ut resipiscat serviat tibi corde perfecto saith Kimchi here that he may repent and serve thee with an upright heart for which purpose affliction sanctified is of singular use Crux voluntat is Dei schola morum disciplina felicitatis meditatorium gau dii Spiritus sancti officina breviter bonorum omnium thesaurus saith Brentius on Job 33.16 Vers 13. That thou mayest give him rest Here usually but hereafter certainly Mors arumnarum requies was Chaucers Motto those that dye in the Lord shall rest from their labours Mean-while they are chastened of the Lord that they may not be condemned with the World 1 Cor. 11.32 Vntill the pit be digged for the wicked Untill the cold grave hold his body and hot Hell hold his soul Vers 14. For the Lord will not cast off his people Though he cast them into the furnace of affliction The wicked he bringeth into misery and there leaveth them to come off as they can Ezek. 22.20 29.5 Not so the Saints Zach. 13.9 Isa 43.2 Heb. 13.5 Nor for sake his inheritance Because His. Senecai Patriam quivis ama ãâã quia pulchram sed quia suam All love their own Vers 15. But judgement shall return unto Righteousness All shall be set to rights and every one have his due according to Rom. 2.6 7 8 9 10. if not sooner yet at the day of judgement without fail Some give this sense severity shall be changed into mercy the rigour of the law to the clemency of the Gospel Others thus judgement shall return to Righteousness that is to its own place licet defertur judicium non aufertur And all the upright in heart shall follow it viz. In their affections they are carried out after it earnestly desiring that dear day when God will unriddle his providences and clear up his proceedings with the sons of men Some read shall follow him that is God being brought home to him by their afflictions they shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth Not so every loose ungirt Christian or profligate professor Vers 16. Who will rise up for mee q.d. But a very few fast friends find I at Court Jonathan excepted Some there are that will sprinkle mee with Court-holy-water as they say give glozing speeches but 't is little that they will do and yet lesse that they will suffer for mee Faithfull friends saith One are gone on pilgrimage and their return is uncertain Vers 17. Except the Lord had been my help He loveth to help at a pinch he usually reserveth his hand for a dead lift See 2 Tim. 4.16 17. My soul had almost dwelt in silence i.e. In the dark cloisters of death The Greek and Latin Translators render it In Hell Vers 18. when I said my foot slippeth I stand on a precipice and shall be down Hypotyposis est Thy mercy O Lord held mee I have subsisted meerly by a miracle of thy mercy by a prop of thine extraordinary pitty and patience Vers 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within mee My perplexed intricated insnarled intertwined as the branches of a tree cogitations and ploddings upon my daily sufferings when I know not what to think or which way to take to Thy comforts delight my soul The Beleever is never without his cordiall he hath comforts that the World wots not of The good Lantgrave of Hessen being held prisoner for a long time together by Charles the fift Emperour said that he could never have held it out so but that he felt the divine consolations of the Martyrs August Martyr etiam in catena gaudet c. saith Austin Crux inunct a est saith Bernard Godlinesse hath many crosses and as many comforts like as Egypt hath many venemous Creatures but withall many Antidotes against them Vers 20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee Shall Tyrants and Oppressours who do exercise regiment without righteousness intitle thee to their wicked proceedings and go unpunished See Isa 36.10 with 37.36 the Throne or Tribunal is called The holy place Eccles 8.10 wo then to those that pollute it Which frameth mischief by a Law As did the Primitive Persecutors with their bloudy Edicts against Christians and the Popish Bishops or whose Laws that of Politian was verified Inventum Actiae dicuntur jura Draconis Vers est fama nimis nil nisivir us habent Some render it Praeter vel contra legem beside or against Law Vers 21. They gather together Heb. Run by troops as Theeves do Against the soul Which they would gladly destroy if it lay in their power This the Popish persecutors oft attempted but God hath better provided Mat. 10.28 Vers 22. But the Lord is my defence Heb. My high place where I am set out of their reach Vers 23. And he shall bring upon them c. See Psal 7.15 16. PSAL. XCV VErs 1. O come let us sing unto the Lord It is thought by this beginning that this Psalm was not
they were first written And the people which shall be created Created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2.10 Isa 51.16 his regenerated people For God planteth the heavens and layeth the foundations of the earth that be may say to Zion Thou art my people Vers 19. For he hath looked down from the height c. This is no small condescention sith he abaseth himself to look upon things in heaven Psal 113.6 From heaven did the Lord behold the earth That is his poor despised servants that are in themselves no better than the earth they tread on Vers 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner Those prisoners of hope held so long captive in Babylon the cruelty whereof is graphically described Jer. 51.34 Vers 21. To declare the Name of the Lord in Zion This shall bee the business of the converted Gentiles to make up one Catholick Church with the Christian Jews and to bear a part in setting forth Gods worthy prayses See vers 18. Vers 22. When the people are gathered together sc to the Lord Christ For to Shilââ shall be the gathering of the people Gen. 49.10 And the Kingdoms to serve the Lord As they did under Constantine the Great Valentinian Theodosius which three Emperors called themselves Vasalles Christi as Socrates reporteth the Vassals of Christ And the like may be said of other Christian Kings and Princes since who have yeelded professed subjection to the Gospel and cast their Crowns at Christs feet Vers 23. He weaâned my strength in the way This is the complaint of the poor captives yet undelivered In via hoc est in vita quia bic sumus viatores in coelo comprehensores here wee are but on our way to heaven and wee meet with many discouragements He shortned my dayes viz. According to my account For otherwise in respect of God our dayes are numbred Stat sua cuique dies Vers 24. Take me not away in the midst of my dayes Heb. Make me not to ascend Serus in coelum redeam Fain I would live to see those golden dayes of Redemption Abraham desired to see the day of Christ Job 8. Simeon did and then sang out his soul All the Saints after the Captivity looked hard for the consolation of Israel Thy years are throughout all generations And that 's the comfort of thy poor Covenanters who are sure to participate of all thy goods Vers 25. Of old thou hast laid the foundation c. Here is a clear proof of Christs eternity Heb. 1.10 because he was before the creation of the world and shall continue after the consummation thereof vers 26 27. So the Saints a parte pest 1 Job 2.17 The world passeth away and the lusts thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Vers 26. They shall perish i.e. They shall change form and state being dissolved by the last fire 2 Pet. 3.7 10. But thou shalt endâre Heb. Stand and with thee thy Church Mat. 22.32 Yea all of them shall wax old as a garment Which weareth in the wearing so do the visible heavens and the earth what ever some write de constantia naturae Isaiah saith It rotteth as a book that is vener andae rubiginiâ and wasteth away as smoak chap. 65.17 and 66.22 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tucetu Arab. At a vesture shalt thou change them The Greek hath roul them confer Isa 34 4. Vers 27. But thou art the same Therefore immutable because Eternall ut nihil tibi possit accedere vel decidere Vers 28. The children of thy servants shall continue By vertue of the Covenant and that union with thee which is the ground of communion If it could be said of Cesar that he held nothing to he his own that he did not communicate to his friends how much more of Christ Propterea bene semper sperandum etiamsi ãâã ruant the Church is immortal and immutable PSAL. CIII A Psalm of David Which he wrote when carried out of himself as far as heaven saith Beza and therefore calleth not upon his own soul onely but upon all creatures from the highest Angel to the lowest worm to set forth Gods praises Vers 1. Bless the Lord O my soul Agedum animulâ mi intima mea visera A good mans work lyeth most within doors he is more taken up with his own heart than with all the world besides neither can he ever be along so long as he hath God and his own soul to converse with Davids Harp was not ofâner out of tune than his heart which here he is setting right that he may the better make melody to the Lord. Musick is sweet but the setting of the strings in tune is unpleasing so is it harsh to set out hearts in order which yet must be done and throughly done as here And all that is within me All my faculties and senses The whole soul and body must be set a work in this service the judgement to set a right estimate upon mercies the memory to recognize and retain them Dent. 6 11 12. and 8.14 the Will which is the proper seat of thankfulness the affections love desire joy confidence all must bee actuated that our praises may be cordial vocal vital In peace-offerings God called for the sat and inwards Vers 2. Bless the Lord O my soul David found some dulness and drowsiness hence he so oft puts the thorn to the breast hence he so impeââously instigateth his soul as One shere phraseth it And forget not all his benefits Forgetfulness is a grave look to it Eaten bread is soon forgotten with us as it is with children ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Pinâu neither perisheth any thing so soon with many as a good turn Alphonsus King of Arragon professed that hee wondred not so much at his Courtiers ingratitude to him who had raised many of them from mean to great estates which they little remembred as at his own to God Vers 3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities David not only taketh upon him with an holy imperiousness laying Gods charge upon his soul to be thankful but intending to shew himself good cause why to be so he worthily beginneth with remission of fin as a complexive mercy and such as comprehendeth all the rest He had a Crown of pure gold set upon his head Psal 21. But here hee blesseth God for a better Crown vers 4. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness c. And how was this Crown set on his head but by forgiving all his iniquities Who healeth all thy diseases Corporal and spiritual Quod saniâas in corpore id sanctitas in corde Jehovah Rophe or the Lord the Physician as he is called Exod. 15.26 cureth His people on both fides maketh them whole every whit See Isa 19.22 Mat. 8.17 He bore out diseases Vers 4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction From hell saith the Chaldee from a thousand deaths and dangers every day All this Christ our kind kinsman doth for us dying
119.4 5. If they cannot open the door yet if they give a pluck at the bolt or a lift at the latch there is comfort Vers 19. The Lord hath prepared Or fixed founded firmed established Here God is further praised for his most excellent Majesty which appeareth first From the loftiness of his Throne secondly From the largeness of his Dominion Vers 20. Bless the Lord ye his Angels In stirring up the Angels to praise God he awakeneth himself and for this purpose Incipit à superioribus finit in infimis saith Kimcbi here he calleth in the help of all the creatures from the highest to the lowest and after all concludeth as he began with a saying to himself That excel in strength Heb. Giants for strength such as can prevail and do great exploits yet is all their strength derivative they have it from God who it Hagibbor the Mighty One Deut. 10.17 and hence the Angel Gabriel hath his name God is my strength Labour we to be like unto the Angels strengthened with all might c. Col. 1.11 walking about the world as Conquerors able to do all things through Christ who strengthneth us Philip. 4.13 That do his Commandements viz. Cheerfully speedily universally humbly constantly Let us do accordingly else we mock God when we pray Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Vers 21. Bless ye the Lord all his hosts That is all his creatures which are fitly called Gods hosts First For their number Secondly For their order thirdly for their obedience Yee Ministers of his Whether in State or Church Kings are Gods Ministers Rom. 13.4 6. So are Angels Heb. 1.14 like as Ministers are Angels Rev. 2.1 they have exchanged names their office is Angel-like to wait upon God to stand before him to serve in his presence and to bless his Name Vers 22. Bless the Lord all his works Whether living or liveless For all thy works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints bless thee Psal 145.10 Benedicite ter ad mysterium Triadis saith an Interpreter Bless the Lord O my soul Whatever others do let me be doing at it as Josh 24.14 15. PSAL. CIV Vers 1. Bless the Lord O my soul This was much in Davids mouth as Deo gratias was in Austines See Psal 103.1 and 22. after which this Psalm is fitly set There he blesseth God for his benefits to himself and the whole Church here for his works of Creation and Government common to the whole world ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Greek and Latine Translations prefix this title David de generation Mandi Continet opera Bereshith saith Kimchi It is of the same subject with the first Chapter of Genesis the first five dayes works are here after a sort considered and celebrated as a mirror wherein Gods Majesty may be clearly discerned This Psalm is by some called Davids Physicks Thou art very great Non molis dimensionâ sed virtutis rerum gestarum gloria Thou hast made thee a great Name by thy works of wonder Thou are cloathed with Honour and Majesty i.e. With thy creatures which are as a garment both to hide thee in one respect and to hold thee forth in another to bee seen Vers 2. Who coverest thy self with light That lovely creature that first shone out of darknes and is chief among all things sensible as coming nearest to the unapproachable glory of God like as the robe royal is next unto the King Herod upon a let day came forth arrayed in royal apparel in cloath of silver saith Josephus which being beaten upon by the Sun-beams dazled the eyes of the people and drew from them that blasphemous acclamation Act. 12.21 God when he made the world shewed himself in all his royalty neither can we ascribe too much unto him Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain The whole expanse or firmament is as a Canopy over Gods Throne or rather as a Curtain or Skreen betwixt us and the Divine Majesty the fight whereof we cannot bear Vers 3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters God as he hath founded the solid earth upon the fluid waters Psal 24.2 So the highest heaven upon those waters above the firmament Gen. 1.7 Psal 18.11 This notably sets forth the wisdome and power of this Almighty Architect sith Artists say In solido extruendum the foundation of a building should be hard and rocky and experience sealeth to it Who maketh the clouds c. These are his Charriot royal drawn or rather driven by the winds as his Charriot-horses Vers 4. Who maketh his Angels spirits Immaterial substances fit to attend upon the Father of spirits and with speed to move suddenly and invisibly into most remote parts His Ministers a flaming fire Seraphims they are called for their burning zeal like so many heavenly Salamanders as also for their irrestible power the Angel that destroyed Sennacheribs Army is held to have done it by burning them within although it appeared not outwardly as some have been burnt by lightning Vers 5. Who laid the foundations of the earth Heb. He hath founded the earth upon her bases See Psal 24.2 Job 38.4 6. with the Notes That is should not be removed for ever Neither can it be by reason of its own weightiness whereby it remaineth unmoveable in the center of the universe Say it should move any way it must move towards heaven and so ascend which is utterly against the nature of heavy bodies Vers 6. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment Operueras Thou hadst at first covered it till thou for mans sake hadst made a distinction for else such a garment would this have been to the earth as the shirt made for the murthering of Agamemnon where he had no issue out The waters stood above the mountains As the garment in the proper use of it is above the body and so they would still did not God for our sakes set them their bounds and borders Vers 7. At thy rebuke they fled At thy word of command and angry countenance overawing that raging and ranging creature So Christ rebuked the winds and waves They hasted away They ran away headlong as for life Vers 8. They go up by the mountains They run any way in post hasle breaking through thick and thin and no where resting till imbodied in the Abysse their elemental place and station This is check to our dulness and disobedience If a man had been present saith One when God thus commanded the seas to retreat from the earth hee might have seen both a terrible and a joyful spectacle Vers 9. Thou hast set a bound c. A certain compass and course an argument of Gods singular and sweet power and providence See Job 38.10 11. with the Notes Vers 10. He sondeth the springs into the vallies God doth this he by certain issues or venâs sendeth forth the waters of the Sea which here and there break out in springs leaving their saltness behind them that
for in God we live move and have our being Act. 17. A frown of Augustus Cesar Camden proved to be the death of Cornelius Gallus Sir Christopher Hatton Lord Chancellor of England dyed Sept. 20.1591 of a flux of his urine and grief of mind conceived upon some angry words given him by Q. Elizabeth Thou takest away their breath Heb. Thou gatherest it callest for it again viz. their vital vigour Vers 30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit Virtutem vivificam They are created Others of the same kind are and so the face of the earth is renued whiles another generation springeth up This is matter of praise to their maker Vers 31. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever Or Let glory be to the Lord for ever so For his great works of Creation and Conservation The Lord shall rejoyce in his words As he did at the Creation when he saw all to bee good and very good so still is doth God good as it were to see the poor creatures feed and men to give him the honour of all Vers 32. He looketh an the earth and it trembleth This must be considered that God may be as well feared as loved and praised He toucheth the hills and they smoak It s therefore ill falling into his hands who can do such terrible things with his looks and touches Vers 33. I will sing unto the Lord Though others be slack to do God this right to help him to his own to give him the glory due to his Name yet I will do it and do it constantly so long as I have a breath to draw Vers 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet Or Let it be sweet unto him let him kindly accept it though it be mean and worthless through Christs odours powred thereinto I will be glad in the Lord Withdrawing my heart from other vile and vain delights or at least vexed at mine own dulness for being no more affected with such inexplicable ravishments Vers 35. Let the sinners be consumed c. Such sinners against their own souls as when they know God or might know him by his wonderful works glorifie him not as God neither are thankful Rom 1.21 but pollute and abuse his good creatures to his dishonor fighting against him with those lives that he hath given them Bless the Lord O my soul The worse others are the better be thou kindling thy self from their coldness c. PSAL. CV VErs 1. O give thanks unto Lord Some tell us that this and the two following Psalms were the great Hallelujah sung as solemn times in their assemblies But others say better that the great Hallelujah as the Hebrews called it began at Psal 113. and held on till Psal 119. which they at the Passover began to sing after that cup of wine they called Poculum bymni sen laudationis Call upon his Name Call upon the Lord whe is worthy to be praysed Psal 18.3 See the Note there Our life must be divided betwixt praises and prayers Vers 2. Sing unto him sing Both with mouth and with musical instruments Talk ye Or meditate ye Let your heart indite a good matter and your tongue be as the pen of a ready writer Psal 45.1 Vers 3. Glory ye in his holy Name Of his power and goodness See 1 Cor. 1.31 Alsted with Jer. 9.23 Non est gloriosier populus sub caelo quam Judaicus saith One there iâ not a more vain-glorious people under heaven than the Jews But we are the circumcision which worship in spirit and glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh Philip. 3.3 Let the heart of them rejoyce c. All others are forbidden to rejoyce Hos 9.1 and bidden to weep and howl Jam. 5.1 Vers 4. Seek the Lord and his strength That is his Ark at the remove where of to Jerusalem this Psalm was sung 1 Chron. 16.7 8. c. Called it is Gods strength and Gods face here yea even God himself Psal 132.5 It s as if he should say Frequent holy Assemblies as ever you desire to draw nigh to God and to have your faith in him confirmed Vers 5. Remember the marvellous works c. Deeply and diligently ponder both the works and words of God comparing the one with the other that ye may the better conceive of both Vers 6. O yee seed of Abraham c. Do thus or else your pedigree will profit you no more than it did Dives in the flames that Abraham called him Son An empty title yeeldeth but an empty comfort Vers 7. For he is the Lord Jehovah the Essentiator the promise-keeper therefore praise him He is also in Covenant with us and will we not do him this right His judgement are in all the earth His executions upon the Egyptians and Philistims are far and near notified and discoursed Vers 8. He hath remembred his Covenant I Chron. 16.15 it is Bee ye mindful alwayes of his Covenant God ever remembreth though we many times forget it and out selves The word which be commanded The conditions of the Covenant Vers 9. which Covenant be made with Abraham c. Whom hee found an Idolater Josh 24.2 he justified the ungodly Rom. 4.5 And his Oath That by two immutable things c. Heb. 6. Vers 10. And confirmed the same c. So God sealeth and sweareth to us again and again in every Sacrament that all doubts of his love may be taken away and out hearts lifted up as Jebosaphats 2 Chron. 17.6 in the way of the Lord. Vers 11. Vnto thee will I give the land of Canaan That pleasantest of all lands Eââk 20.6 a type and pledge of heaven to the faithful Vers 12. When they were but a few men in member Seventy souls at their going down into Egypt which yet say the Hebrews truly were more worth than the Seventy Nations of the whole world besides Howbâât God chose them not for their worth or number but loved them meerly because he loved them Deut. 7.7,8 Vers 13. When they went from one Nation to another There were seven several Nations in that Land wherein they sojourned flitting from place to place and having no setled habitation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 1 Cor. 4.11 From one Kingdome Forced by Famine or other necessity See Gen 10.12 and 20.1 2 c. and 26.1 c. Vers 14. He suffered no man c. So as utterly to oppress them for otherwise they had their ill usages such as was the taking away of Sarah casting out of Isaac the rape of Dinah c. Strangers meet many times with hard measure Yea be reproved Kings Gen. 12.17 and 20.3 Kings and Queens must not think themselves to good to nurse Gods little ones yea to do them homage licking up the dust under their feet Isa 49.23 Vers 15. Touch not mine anointed c. This God speaketh not of Kings but to Kings concerning his people who have an unction from the Father being sanctified and set apart for his
present wheresoever present The Heavens have a large place but they have one part here and another there Not so the Lord hee is not commensurable by the place but every where all-present But the Earth hath hee given Or let out as to his Tenants at will for he hath not made them absolute owners to do therein what they will and to live as they list Yee have lived in pleasure on the Earth and been wanton Jam. 5.5 A heavy charge Calvin tells of a loose fellow that used in his cups to alledge this text Vers 17 The dead praise not Therefore bee active for God while wee are upon Earth where for this hee give thus life and livelihood See Psal 6.6 Vers 18 But wee will blesse the Lord For if hee lose his praise in us hee will lose it altogether and so all things will come to nothing quod abfitâ PSAL. CXVI VErs â I love the Lord Heb. I love because the Lord hath heard c. Vox abrupta ecliptica an abrupt concise ecliptical expression betokening an inexpressible unconceiveable passion or rather pang of love such as intercepteth his voice for a time Saâââbeo Tremel till recollecting himself and recovering his speech hee becometh able to tell us not only that hee loveth or is well satisfied but also why he loveth and is all on a light flame as it were viz. Because hee hath heard my voice Though but an inarticulate incondite voice Lam. 3.56 Thou hast heard my voice hide not thine ear at my breathing at my cry And my supplications My prayers for grace when better formed and methodized Vers 2 because hee hath inclined his ear As loth to lose any part of my prayer though never so weakly uttered therefore hee shall have my custome Psal 65.2 O thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come As long as I live Heb. in my dayes that is say some whilst I have a day to live Others sense it thus In the time of my affliction confer Psal 137.7 Lam. 1.21 which by the word dayes hee noteth to bee of long continuance Vers 3 The sorrows of death compassed mee See Psal 18.4 5. Pictura poetica ingentium periculorum Sorrows or pangs and those deadly ones and these compassed mee as a bird in a snare or a beast in a grin The pains of Hell or the griefs of the grave gat hold Heb. Found mee as Num. 32.23 I found trouble and sorrow Straits inextricable cause sorrows inexplicable The word signifieth such sorrow as venteth it self by sighing Isa 35.10 51.11 Vers 4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord That strong Tower whereto the Righteous run and are safe Prov 18.10 Others have other refuges the witch or Endor the god of Ekron the arm of flesh c. O Lord I beseech thee Ana blandiontis deprecantis particula The Psalmist here hath a sweet way of insinuating Sic Nâì Philem. 20. Rev. 1.7 and getting within the Lord which oh that wee could skill of Deliver my soul q.d. It is my soul Lord my precious soul that is sought after oh deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the power of the dog Psal 18.20 Vers 5 Gracious is the Lord c. Gracious God is said to bee and mercifull that wee despair not Righteous also that wee presume not Or faithfull in performing his promises as 1 Joh. 1.9 and this was Davids comfort amidst his sorrows Vers 6 The Lord preserveth the simple Heb. The perswasible opposed to the scorner Prov. 19.25 the plain-hearted opposed to the guilefull 2 Cor. 1.12 11.3 Rom. 16.19 the destitute of humane help that committeth himself to God and patiently resteth on him for support and succour Psal 102.1 17. I was brought low Or drawn dry I was at a great under at a low ebbe I was exhausted or emptied as a pond strengthlesse succourlesse clean gone in a manner And hee helped mee The knowledge that David had of Gods goodnesse was experimentall See the like Rom. 8.2 A Carnal man knoweth Gods excellencies and will revealed in his word only as wee know far Countries by Maps but an experienced Christian as one that hath himself been long there 1 Cor. 2.14 15 16. Vers 7 Return unto thy rest O my soul The Psalmist had been at a great deal of unrest and much off the hooks as wee sayâ Now having prayed for prayer hath vim pacativam a pacifying property hee calleth his soul to rest and rocketh it asleep in a spirituall security Oh learn this holy art Acquaint thy self with God acquiesce in him and bee at peace so shall good bee done unto thee Job 22.21 Siâ Sabbathum Christi Luth. For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Of Sertorius it is said that hee performed his promises with words only And of the Emperour Pertinax that he was magis blandus quam beneficus rather kind spoken than beneficiall to any Hinc dictus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Noâ so the Almighty Vers 8. For thou hast delivered my Soul c. The better to excite himself to true thankfullnesse hee entreth into a particular enumeration of Gods benefits It is not enough that wee acknowledge what God hath done for us in the lump and by whole-sale See Exod. 18.8 how Moses brancheth out Gods benefits So must we rolling them as Sugar and making our utmost of them Vers 9. I will walk before the Lord Indefinenter aâbulabo I will not onely take a turn or two with God go three or four steps with him c. but walk constantly and in all duties before him with him after him Hypocrites do not walk with God but halt with him they follow him as a Dog doth his Master till hee comes by a carrion they will launch no further out into the main than they may be sure to return at pleasure safe again to the shore In the land i.e. here in this world called also the light of the living Psal 56.13 and 52.5 Job 28.13 Vers 10. I beleeved therefore have I spoken Fundamentum et fulcrum vera spei est fides viva Hope is the daughter of faith but such as is a staff to her aged mother and will produce a bold and wise profession of the truth before men as also earnest prayer to God It is as the Cork upon the Net though the lead on the one side sink it down yet the Cork on the other keeps it up Some translate the words thus I beleeved when I said I am greatly afflicted I beleeved when I said in my haste all men are Lyars q. d. Though I have had my offs and my ons though I have passed through several frames of heart and tempers of soul in my tryals yet I beleeved still I never let go my hold my gripe of God in any perturbation Vers 11. I said in my haste in my heat trepidation concussion out-burst Saints may have such as being but men subject to like passions and as
Manl. lecâ com 78. that for three choice books hee gave thirty thousand silverlings or florens Now what were all his books to the Bible To blame then was that Anabaptist who said in Melancthous hearing that hee would not give two pence for all the Bibles in the World Vers 73 Thy hands have made and fashioned mee Plasmaverunt which Bazil interpreteth of the body curiously wrought by God Psal 139. as Made Formaverunt Firmaverunt of the soul q. d. Thou art my Maker I would thou shouldest bee my Master A body hast thou fitted mee Heb. 10.5 a reasonable soul also hast thou given mee capable of salvation I am an understanding creature still neither have I lost my passive capacity of thy renewing grace Give mee understanding And thereunto adde sincere affection v. 80. that these may run parallel in my heart and mutually transââse life and vigour into one another Vers 74 They that fear thee will bee glad c. As hoping that they shall also in like sort bee delivered and advanced Because I have hoped in thy word And have not been disappointed The Vulgar rendreth it super speravi I have over-hoped and Aben-Ezra glosseth I have hoped in all thy decree even that of afflicting mee as in the next verse Vers 75 I know O Lord that thy Judgements are right That is that I suffer deservedly To thee O Lord belongeth Righteousness c. Dan. 9. And thâ thou in faithfulnesse hast afflicted mee That thou mayest be true to my soul and not suffer mee to run on to my utter ruine Or in faithfullnesse that is in measure as 1 Cor. 10.13 Vers 76 Let I pray thee thy mercifull kindnesse That I faint not neither sink under the heaviest burden of these light afflictions According to thy word to thy servant To thy servants in generall and therefore I trust to mee who am bold to thrust in among the rest and to put my name in the Writ Vers 77 Let thy tender mercies come unto mee c. Hee repeateth the same thing in other words and re-enforceth his request showing that hee could not live without divine comforts For thy Law is my delight Thou hast my heart and good will which sheweth that I am thy workmanship in a spirituall sense also Ephes 2.10 Oh look upon the wounds of thine hands and forget not the work of thine hands as Queen Elizabeth prayed Vers 78 Let the proud bee ashamed Theodoret thinks that David here prayeth not against but for his enemies quandoquidem confusio ignominia salutem procreat But that 's not likely For they dealt perversely with mee Writhing my words and deeds to a wrong sense Or they would pervert mee But I will meditate in thy Precepts Or I will speak of them and so stop their mouths and save my self from them Vers 79 Let those that fear thee These are fitly opposed to those proud ones as Mal. 3.13.16 Turn unto mee From whom they have shrunk in mine affliction And those that have known thy Testimonies Deum cognoscere colere to know and serve God is the whole duty of a man saith Lactantius Vers 80 Let my heart bee sound For the main though I have many failings Pray wee against Hypocrisie That I bee not ashamed As all dissemblers once shall bee Vers 81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation Saying as those good souls Jer. 8.20 The Harvest is past the Summer isended and wee are not saved Physitians let their patients blood sometimes etium ad ãâã deliquiâm till they swoon again Howbeit they have a care still to maintain nature so doth God the fainting spirits of his people by cordialls Isa 57.16 But I hope in thy Word Vivere spâ vidi qui moriturâ ãâã Vers 82 Mine eyes said God sometimes deferreth to help till meââhave left looking Luk. 18.8 when the son of man commeth shall hee find faith hardly This hee doth to commend his favours to us and to set a price on them Saying When wilt thou comfort mee This is a Prosâpopaia as if Davids eyes said thus whilst they earnestly expected comfort Vers 83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke Shrivelled wrinkled withered dryed up My body by long suffering is but a bag of bones and that black and sooty confer Psal 32.3 102.3 My soul in danger of being bereft of all spirituall moisture Yet dâ I not forget thy Statutes Nay I do the rather remember them and fetch relief from them Vers 84 How many are the dayes of thy Servant i.e. Mine evil dayes Prov. 15.15 All the dayes of the afflicted are evill See Psal 37.12 and these soon seem many to us When wilt thou execute Judgement c. This is the voice of those Martyrs Rev. 6. who are thereupon willed to have patience till the number of their Brethren is fulfilled Vers 85 The proud have digged pits for mee The pride cruelty and craftiness of wicked Persecutors are fore-tokens of their utter destruction The Greek rendreth it they have told mee tales Prov. 16.27 An ungodly man diggeth up evill Which are not after thy Law Neither they nor their pits But what care they for thee or thy law and shall they thus escape by iniquity Psal 56.7 Vers 86. All thy Commandements are faithfull Heb. Faithfullness that is they are true sure equall infallible They have persecuted mee wrongfully For asserting thy truths and adhering thereunto Help thou mee The more eagerly men molest us the more earnestly should wee implore the divine help Vers 87 They had almost consumed mee upon earth In Heaven I shall bee out of their reach But this is their hour and the power of darknesse Luk. 22.53 But I forsook not thy Precepts No trouble must pull us from the love of the truth You may pull my tongue out of my head but not my faith out of my heart said that Martyr The Saints chuse affliction father than sin Vers 88 Quicken mee after thy loving kindnesse David under long affliction had his damps and dulnesses as the best faith if long tryed will flag and hang the wing Hee therefore rouseth up himself and wrestleth with God for quickening grace which hee promiseth to improve and not to receive the grace of God in vain so shall I keep the Testimony of thy mouth Vers 89 For ever O Lord thy word It is eternall and perpetuall neither can it bee vacated or abolished by the injurie of time or indeavours of tyrants The Bible was imprinted at the new Jerusalem by the finger of Jehovah and shall outlive the dayes of Heaven run parallel with the life of God with the line of eternity The Saints also and Angels in Heaven live by the same law as wee do here and we pray to bee conformed unto them Vers 90 Thy faithfullnesse is unto all generations Hee singleth out Gods word of promise and sheweth it to bee immutable and unmoveable as the earth is in the middle of Heaven by the word of Gods power See
are unto thee Afflictions to the Saints are tanquam scalae alae to mount them to God Leave not my soul destitute Ne exinanias make not bare my soul viz. of thy protection Vers 9 Keep mee from the snare c. See Psal 140.5 Vers 10 Let the wicked fall Metaphora a piscibus saith Tremellius as fishes in casting-nets Isa 19.8 Whilest that I withall escape The Righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked commeth in his stead Prov. 11.8 It appeareth at length that simple honesty is the best policie and wicked polity the greatest simplicity and most self-destructive PSAL. CXLII WHen hee was in the cave scil Of Engedi 1 Sam. 24. Loquitur in spelââca sed prophetat in Christo saith Hilary Vers 1 I cryed unto the Lord with my voice scil Of my heart and more with my mind than mouth for if hee had been heard hee had been taken by the enemy Thus Moses cryed but uttered nothing Exod. 14.15 Egit vocis silentio ut corde clamaret Aug. Thus Christ cryed Heb. 5.7 Vers 2 I poured out my complaint Heb. My mâssiââtion I shewed before him Plainly and plentifully how my danger increased to a very Crisis as one expresseth it Vers 3 When my spirit was over-whelmed within mee Or covered over with grief as the Greek expoundeth it Then thou knewest my path scil That I neither fretted nor fainted Or thou knewest how to make a way to escape 1 Cor. 10.13 The Lord knoweth how to deliver his 2 Pet. 2.9 Vers 4 I looked on my right hand Not a man would appear for mee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã misery is friendless for most part See a Tim. 4.16 Nulla fideâ ãâ¦ã delegit ãâã Vers 5 I cryed unto thee O Lord I ran to thee as my last refuge in the fail of all outward comforts Zeph. 3.12 they are ãâã afflicted poor people and being so they trust in the Name of the Lord. Vers 6 ãâ¦ã Vat. 6 For I am brought very low Exhausted and ãâã dry ãâ¦ã and disabled to help my self any way Vers 7 Bring my ãâã of prison ãâã Out of ãâ¦ã less straitened than if in prison The Righteous shall compass mee about Heb. Shall Crown mee that is shall incircle mee as wondring at thy goodness in my deliverance or they shall set the Crown on mine head as the Saints do likewise upon Christs head Cant. 3.12 to whom this Psalm may bee fitly applyed all along as abovesaid PSAL. CXLIII VErs 1 Hear my prayer O Lord Hee prayeth once and again for audience De âugâ ab Absolom R. O. ãâã and would have God to hear him with both ears Thus hee prayed saith the Greek title of this Psalm when his son Absoloâ was up in arms against him and it may seem so by the next words Vers 2 And enter not into Judgement with thy Servant This is ãâ¦ã siqua usquaâ in sacris literis extat saith Beza an excellent sentence as any is in all the Bible saying the same that St. Paul doth Rom. 3.24 that Justification is by faith alone and not by works David would not bee dealt with in strictness of justice Lord go not to law with mee so some render it Go not into the Judgement-hall so the Chaldee All St. Pauls care was that when hee was sought for by Gods Justice hee might bee found in Christ not having his own righteousness which is of the law c. Phil. 3.9 The best Lamb should bee slaughtered except the Ram had been sacrificed that Isaac might bee saved Woe to the life of man saith an Ancient though never so commendable if it should have Judgement without mercy if there bee not an ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to moderate that ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the severity of utmost right We read of a certain Dutch Divine who being to dye was full of fears and doubts And when some said to him you have been so active and faithfull why should you fear Oh said he the Judgement of man and the Judgement of God are different Sordeâ in conspectâ Judicis c. Vers 3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul Quasi rabiferali percitus hee hath raged unreasonably The utmost of a danger is to bee related before the Lord in prayer and to bee acknowledged after wee are delivered out of it by way of thankfulness Vers 4 Therefore is my spirit over-whelmed God 's dearest Children have their passions against that stoicall apathie A sheep bitten by a Dog is no lesse sensible of the pain thereof than a Swine is though hee make not such an out-cry Vers 5 I remember the dayes of old Wherein I was delivered from the Lion and the bear yea from the hand of all mine enemies and from the hand of Saul Psal 18. title More than this Sacula antiquitus praeterita recolo I run over and ruminate all the ancient monuments of thy mercy to the Patriarches and others sith all that is written was written for our instruction that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope Rom. 15.4 See Psal 77.4 6. Vers 6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee As a poor beggar for an alms Beggery here is not the easiest and poorest trade but the hardest and richest of all other My soul thirsteth after thee And is therefore a fit subject for thy Spirit of Grace and comfort to bee poured upon Isa 44.3 55.1 Vers 7 Hear mee speedily A very patheticall prayer uttered in many words to like purpose as the manner is in extreme danger My spirit faileth I am ready to sink and to swoon This David knew God hath a great care that the Spirit fail not before him and the souls which he hath madâ Isa 57.16 When Bezoard-stone is beaten wee see that none of it bee lost not so when ordinary spices so here for ordinary spirits God cares not much what becometh of them as hee doth of the choice spirits of his people Vers 8 Cause mee to hear in the morning Manâ id est nature assoon as may be or at least as is meet make mee to hear of joy and gladness speak comfort to my conscience and help to my afflicted condition Vers 9 Deliver mee O Lord from mine enemies Deliverance from enemieâ is a fruit of our friendship with God Vers 10 Teach mee to do thy will Orat nunc pro salute ãâ¦ã saith Kimchi Now hee prayeth for his souls health and wold bee as well a clivered from his corruptions within as from his enemies without Lord save mee from that noughty man my self said an Ancient Thy Spirit is good The fruit of it is in all goodness and righteousness and truth Ephes 5.9 and it is the Spirit only that quickeneth Job 6. â3 by purging out the dross that is in us 1 Pet. 1.22 setting us to work Ezek. 36.27 helping our infirmities Rom. 8.26 stirring us up to holy duties partly by immediate motions and partly by the ministry of the word made effectuall 1
Pet. 1.2 2 Thes 2.13 And lastly sanctifying the offering up both of our selves and of our services to God as the Altar sanctifieth the gift Rom. 15.16 Cyrill gathereth from this Text that the good Spirit is God Per viam planam aequam because none is good but God Into the land of uprightness Or On âeven ground as Isa 26.7 10. Psal 26.12 ãâã the right land i. e. Heaven Vers 11 Quicken mee O Lord Who am no better than a living carcass a walking sepulcher of my self Bring my soul out of trouble I can bring it in but thou only canst bring it out Vers 12 Cut off mine enemies Because not so much mine as thine and those also implacable and irrecoverable Elsewhere hee saith Slay them not lest my people forget See the Note there For I am thy Servant See Psal 116.16 with the Note PSAL. CXLIV A Psalm of David The Greek addeth Against Goliah And the Chaldee for the hurtfull sword vers 10. hath Goliahs sword Blessed bee the Lord my strength See Psal 18.1 and observe how this Psalm suiteth with that Which teacheth my hands Used to the hook and harp and not to the sword and spear but God hath apted and abled them to feats of armes and war-like exploits It is God that giveth skill and success saith Solomon Prov. 8. wisdome and ability saith Daniel chap. 2. And as in the spirituall warfare so here our weapons are mighty through God 2 Cor. 10.4 who promiseth that no weapon formed against his people shall prosper Isa 54.17 Vers Genebr 2 My goodness and my fortress See Psal 18.2 with the Notes His epithet is elogiis eblanditur Deum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thucyd saith an Interpreter Who subdueth my people under mee This is the work of God and not of King-craft to make men good subjects who are naturally discontented at the present government bee it never so good and apt to rebell Vers 3 Lord what is man What am I that thou shouldest do all this for mee or what is the strongest man alive when such a Giant as Goliah so suddenly and easily is slain by mee That thou makest account of him Tantus tantillos tales saith a Father Vers 4 Man is like to vanity See Psal 39.6 62.9 Adam Abelo compar est Adam is Abels mate His dayes are as a shadow Which is a meer privation and hath no subsistence at all Vers ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 5 Bow thy Heavens O Lord Come to my help suddainly and seasonably as it were out of an Engine Touch the Mountains These high and haughty enemies of mine do thou but lightly routh them and it shall suffice they shall soon burn and bee turned into smoke as the mountains that are thunder-struck Vers 6 Cast forth lightening and scatter them All this was done according to Davids desire Psal 18.13 14. God sometimes answereth his suitors ad cardinem desâdâriâ and saith unto them Bee it unto you even as yee will This is a wonderfull condescension Vers 7 Sââd thine hand from above Heb. Hands both hands all thy whole power for I need it Vers 8 Whose mouth speaketh vanity They keep touch no further than will serve their own turns And ãâ¦ã No though they give their hands upon it that they will keep ãâã Multis annis ãâã traâsaââis Nulla fides est in pactis Vers 9 I will sing a new song Upon the receipt of any new mercy like as in a lottery at every new prize drawn the trumpet soundeth Vers 10 It is hee that giveth salvation or victory to kings Ferdinand Balth. Exâââ Val. Max. Christian p. 516. King of Arragon sending his son against the Florentines thus bespake him Victoria mihi crede non hominum disciââââis aut industria camparatus sed Dei O. M. ãâ¦ã arbitrio Deââ igitur inprimis cole in cum confide a qua tum victorias ãâ¦ã quaeque provenire dubiâ procul est c. Beleeve mee son victories are not gotten by art or industry but given of God Who delivereth David his servant All Kings are Gods servants for the common good of mankinde saith Plutarch but David by a specialty Plut. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã From the hurtfull sword Of Goliah saith the Chaldee and of all his other enemies for as it was said of Queen Elizabeth hee swam to the Crown thorough a Sea of sorrows and might rather marvell that hee was than muse that hee should not bee were it not that Gods holy hand had protected him beyond expectation Vers 11 Rid mee and deliver mee Hee repeateth his former petition vers 7.8 for an utter riddance of those ill members that stood in the way of Israels welfare and broke off Davids new song or Psalmody vers 9. Vers 12 That our sons may bee as plants c. As young plants fair and flourishing That our Daughters may bee as corner stones c. Tall and trim comely of person and costly-arrayed resembling the polished-pillars at Palace-gates Tremellius rendreth the last words of this verse ãâã structura Templi may bee the building of the Temple that is may bee such living stones as may bee used to the building and polishing of Gods Church that wee may altogether grow up to an holy Temple in the Lord Ephes 2.21 4 12 13. For indeed what can better preserve Jacob from confusion or his face from waxing pale than to see his Children the work of Gods hands framed and fitted for Gods building This maketh religious parents to âanctifie Gods name as here even to sanctifie the holy one and with singular incouragement from the God of Israel Isa 29.22 23. Vers 13 That our garners Heb. Our coââers i. e. that every corner of our houses may bee filled with precious and pleasant riches That our sheep Faetosae multiparae mille cuplantes myriadificantes Vers 14 Nor going out viz. To incounter the enemy or to bee led into captivity No complaining No out cries but Harvest-homes Vers 15 Happy is the people That hath such a confluence of outward comforts In Hezekiahs dayes only it was so say the Rabbines peace plenty and posterity The Syriack rendreth it question-wise Is not the people happy that is in such a case No not except they have God to boot as if they have they are happy howsoever Deut. 33.29 ââ vita carnis anima est ita beatitude hominis Deus saith Austin PSAL. CXLVI DAvids Psalm of praise Heb. Davids praise or hymn well worthy saith learned Beza to bee made use of by all men for a rule and pattern of praising God Perfectum illiâs rationalis culms exemplum Beza Kimchi R. Arama It is one of those Psalms that are artificially made up after the order of the Alphabet and so highly prized by the Rabbines that they doubt not to promise Heaven to him who shall thrice every day pray over this Psalm corde ore opere Vers 1 I will extoll thee O God my King
i. e. O Christ the King of Kings whose Vasall I profess my self as did afterwards also those three most Christian Emperours Constantine Valentinian and Theodosius Vers 2. Every day will I bless thee No day shall pass mee without a morning and evening sacrifice besides what is more upon all emergent occasions The Jews have above an hindred Benedictions which they are tyed to say over every day and one among the rest for the benefit of Evacuation it I were a Nightingall saith Epictetus a Heathen I would do as a Nightingall In Encher but since I am a man what shall I do I will praise my Maker and never cease to do it I exhort also all men to do the like Vers 3 Great is the Lord See his greatness set forth by Moses Deut. 10.17 And greatly to bee praised viz. According to his excellent greatnesse Psal 150.2 which yet cannot bee And his greatness is unsearchable Tantum recedit quantam capitur saith Nazianzen Hee is above all name all notion all parallel in nature we can see but his back-parts and live wee need see no more that wee may live Vers 4 One Generation shall praise thy works to another God 's praises are many and mans life short and one Generation succeedeth another let them relate Gods wonderfull works one to another and so perpetuate his praises to all posterity Vers 5 I will speak of the glorious honour Or I will meditate of the glory of the honour of thy magnificence I will discourse of those high and honourable conceptions that I have of thee which yet words how wide soever are too weak to utter such is thy transcendent excellencie and surpassing glory And of thy wondrous works Wherein thou art in some sort to bee seen as the beams of the Sun are made visible by reflection and letters being refracted and broken in a pair of spectacles are made legible to a dim eye Vers 6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts Those that will not talk of thy bounty shall bee made to say O the severity of God! Vers 7 They shall abundantly utter Eruct abunt as a fountain casteth out waters plentifully and constantly so shall those that are like-minded to mee abundantly and artificially even with songs set forth thy goodness and faithfulness saying and singing Vers Beza 8 The Lord is gracious c. See Psal 86.5 15. 103.8 Slow to anger and of great mercy De quo penc possiâ ambâgi sit ne ad irascendum tardâor an ad parcendum promptior Vers 9 The Lord is good to all And of this hee hath not left himself without witness Act. 14.17 And his tender mercies are over all his works Holding the whole Creation together which else by reason of the curse for mans sin hurling confusion over the World would long since have been shattered and dissipated Vers 10 All thy works shall praise thee i. e. Minister matter of thy praise And thy Saints shall bless thee viz. Upon that account If it were not for a few Saints on earth God should lose his glory here in great part Vers 11 They shall speak of the glory That Kingdome of the Saints of the most high which is far beyond the Grandeur and splendour of all the four great Monarchies as is to bee seen Dan. 7.27 Vers 12 To make known to the sons of men This is the end why the Church is collected and the Gospell preached God aimeth at his own glory in all as well hee may sith hee hath none higher than himself to whom to have respect Vers 13 Thy Kingdome is an everlasting Kingdome It cannot bee over-turned that 's comfortable to all Christs subjects as other flourishing Kingdomes are which have their times and their turns their rise and their ruine Alexanders Kingdome continued but twelve years only and fell with him so did Tamberlains greatness Vers 14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall None of his subjects can fall below his helping-hand his sweet supportance And raiseth up all those that are bowed down Either with the burden of sin or misery in any kind Camden Alphonsus King of Arragon is famous for helping with his own hand one of his subjects out of a ditch Of Queen Elizabeth it is recorded to her eternall praise that shee hated no less than did Mithridates such as sought to crush vertue forsaken of fortune Christ bruiseth not the broken reed but upholdeth it hee quencheth not the smoking wick but cherisheth it Vers 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee Heb. Look up with hope to this great house-keeper of the World The Elephant is said to turn up the first sprig towards Heaven when hee comes to feed The young Ravens cry to God for food Psal 147. at least by implication Their men Suitable to their severall appetites Vers 16 Thou openest thy hand With Kingly munificence And satisfiest the desire Or Of thy good pleasure thou satiatest Vers 17 The Lord is righteous in all his wayes This wee must hold for an undoubted truth though wee see not alwayes the reason of his proceedings Sinfull men dare to reprehend oft-times what they do not comprehend Vers 18. The Lord is nigh unto all those c. Hee is ever at hand to hear and help his faithfull suters and suppliants these have the royalty of his ear free access sure success To all that call upon him in truth That draw neer with a true heart in full assurance of faith having their hearts sprinkled from an evill conscience and their bodies washed with pure water Heb. 10.22 Vers 19 Hee will fulfill the desire c Or The will the pleasure Beneplacitum Hence that bold request of Luther Fiat voluntas mea Let my will bee done But then hee addeth Mea Domine quiatua my will because thine and no otherwise They that do the will of God shall have their own will of God See 1 Joh. 3.22 The King can deny you nothing Vers 20 The Lord preserveth all them that love him See Psal 91.14 15 16. with the Notes But all the wicked That love not God but their base lusts Vers 21 My mouth shall speak c. This he had oft before promised but ingageth again that hee may not start back And let all flesh But especially men good men for high words beseem not a fool But it well becommeth the Saints to bee thankfull Tertull. nec servire Deo solum sed adulari as an Ancient speaketh PSAL. CXLVI VErs 1 Praise the Lord O my soul See Psal 103.1 Vers 2 While I live I will praise the Lord George Carpenter the Bavarian Martyr being desired by some godly brethren that when hee was burning in the fire hee would give them some sign of his constancy answered Let this bee a sure sign unto you of my faith and perseverance in the truth quod usque dum os aperire aut certe hiscere licebit that so long as I am able to
Spirits at ãâã battel with their reboated Now for the fruit of prayer together with the many Psalms sung by that religious army in their severall stations whereof I have been an ear-witness Vers 8 To bind their Kings with chains Restraining their vices and bringing them to the obedience of faith See Isa 45.14 This is doubtless a desiteable servitude or rather freedome this is not as chains and fetters but as girdles and garters to gird up their loins and to expedite their course the better Vers 9 To execute upon them the Judgement written The Jews thought they might kill any Idolaters and now to kill a Christian is counted by them a meritorious work The wicked are apt to exceed their commission Zech. 1.15 So may the Saints David was too cruel to the Ammonites 2 Sam. 11. Theodosius to the Thessalonians Here therefore they are limited to the word written This honour have all his Saints As having obtained like precious faith 2 Pet. 1.1 PSAL. CL. VErs 1 Praise yee the Lord See Psal 148.1 Praise God in his Sanctuary It is probable saith Beza that hâc Psalmâ mirifici ardoris plenâ by this Psalm which is so full of wonderfull ardour the holy singers of the Sanctuary did mutually stir up one another to praise the Lord. It hath been noted before that here wee have in six verses twelve Hallelujahs Some by Sanctuary understand Heaven Others the hearts of beleevers Praise him in the firmament of his power Or for the firmament wherein appeareth his power Psal 19.1 Or for the Church and the firmament of faith Vers 2 Praise him for his mighty acts Those wonderfull effects of his creative and providentiall omnipotencie Praise him according to his excellent greatnesse Or Greatness of greatness which yet can never be done but must be indeavoured Propound the highest pitch and best patterns Vers 3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet With all your might and members with utmost joy and jollity in the Lord. Lord I am a musicall instrument saith Nazianzen Orat. de Basilio for thee to touch that I may sound forth thy glory and praise Vers 4 Praise him with the Timbrel and dance Or Pipe But these are antient things as it is said in another case Justin Maâtyr musices usum reprehendit qu. 107. ad Orthodox Sic Theodoret lib. de sacrific 1 Chron. 4.22 and now out of date When the use of these musicall instruments crept into the Christian Churches which was not till alate neither great abuses crept in with it the preaching of the word was changed into songs Anthems little understood by those that sang them and that grave and simple Psalmodie or singing of Psalms so much used of old and by this blessed Reformation restored to the Church was justled out or rather turned in turpissimum lenâcââium as one justly complaineth such as Nebuchadnezzar made before his golden image Dan. 2. When Aristotle was asked what he thought of musick he answered ãâ¦ã nec citharââ ãâã thinking it an unprofitable Art to men that was no more delightfull to God Plato told the Musicians who pressed into his company that Philosophers could do well enough without them There is no doubt a lawfull use of musick and great power it hath to move mens minds one way or another 2 King 3.15 1 Sam. 16.23 But in Gods publick-worship it is dangerous to do any thing without his speciall warrant though we intend never so well in so doing as wee see in Vzza Temple-musick was part of the Jewish pedagogie of the leviticall-worship and therefore cannot bee retained without injury to Christ Vers ââ Pison 5 Praise him upon the loud Cymbals These were saith Cicero instrumenta areâ ãâ¦ã in matris ãâã sacris usurpata bells some render it The Apostle speaketh of a tinkling Cymbal And a grave Divine complaineth that God cannot please some hearers D. Sâough ââ 2 Tim. â1 13 ãâ¦ã unless hee speak tinkling and tickling words Vers 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord Or Let every breath praise the Lord. Tââ Dei ãâ¦ã saith a Father We have all as much reason to praise God as we have need to draw breath our breath should bee like the smoak of the Tabernacle or those pillars of incense therehence ascending ãâã rendreth it ãâ¦ã Let the very whole soul of us praise the Lord ãâã the Lord The Psalmist had made an end and ãâ¦ã hath ãâ¦ã When ãâ¦ã said ãâã utmost for Gods praise ãâã must rest ãâ¦ã