Davids Harp Strung and Tuned

The Prayer out of the ninety Psalm.

O Lord, [Ver. 1] whose being is eternal, and beginning without beginning, who alone art what thou art, and wilt be the same forever; we mutable creatures of a short life, [unspec 2] and full of miseries, adore thy eternity, and humbly beseech thy Majesty, that thou wouldst be to us, who acknowledge thee to be God alone, and fly unto thee alone for help, that thou wouldst be unto us, what thou hast been to thy people in all Generations, our Sanctuary, our dwelling place, our refuge in this needful time of trouble.

Man, of all thy creatures here below, is most glorious; but his glory thou turnest to shame: Thou madest him little lower than the Angels, to crown him with glory and worship; [unspec 3] but before he can attain that Crown, that honor, Thou turnest him to destruction: Thou hast said it, and by the power of this Decree, from dust he was taken, and to dust must he return. Say his days were a thousand years, to which yet no man hath attained, yet were they as nothing, [unspec 4] compared with eternity, they were in thy sight but as yesterday; a time that is past, and comes not again; but what speak I of a day? it is far shorter, it is but as a watch in the night, a time of three hours continuance, involved in darkness, clouded with ignorance, discomfortable with miseries in his youth, [unspec 5] in his strength, in his old age: Thou carriest us away as with a flood, a violent torrent, whose streams quickly arise, and quickly fall; all our happiness is but as a sleep, or as a dream in sleep, we dream ourselves to be happy men, but when we awake, we find nothing. In the morning of our age, we are like grass, by thy light and heat of thy favor, is it were the Sa ••• dme, we come up, and grow, and increase to a perfect stature; [unspec 6] but when the evening of our life, whether hastened by diseases, or brought on by time, doth approach, cut down we are by thy hand, and instantly we wither.

This is our condition, this our misery; a consumption we have brought upon ourselves, and it proceeds from thine anger, in it we are consumed, [unspec 7] and by thy wrath we are troubled; for we have provoked thee by our iniquity • , which, though unknown to us, yet are known to thee; these, [unspec 8] Thou hast let before thin • eyes, yea, and the most secret of our sins, past or present, in the light of thy countenance. Hence it is, That our days are passed away in thy wrath, [unspec 9] and we spend our years as a Tale that is told; which being brought to an end, vanisheth, and no more words made of it.

Many of our forefathers indeed were of a long life, but our days are contracted, threescore and ten with us is a long time; [unspec 10] and if any among us be so vigorous, that he attain to fourscore, yet his strength then is accompanied with labor, and attended with much sorrow, and at the end of that length, soon cut off, and we fly away. This effect and experience we daily have of thy wrath and displeasure, and yet what man is there amongst us that regards it? [unspec 11] nor the labor, nor sorrow, nor brevity, nor fugacity of our lives is sufficient to make us wise. Some few there be that lay it to heart, and by it escape the wrath to come; but the greatest part of men pass their days without a due consideration of thy fear, and therefore thy wrath unexpectedly overtakes them to their eternal ruin.

Teach us therefore, O Lord, so to number our days, [unspec 12] that we may apply our hearts to wisdom; being taught by thee, let us cast up the account of our lives to be short and fading, that the total is labor and sorrow; make us wise to falvation upon this account, and laying to heart, that these ou • eries have overtaken us by thy wrath, and thy wrath provoked by our sin; make us so to fear thy wrath here, that we be no object of thy wrath hereafter.

O Lord, in mercy return to us, receive us once more to thy former favor: [unspec 13] How long Lord, how long shall thy fury smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? shall thy jealousle burn like fire forever? Let it repent thee concerning thy servants; and let not thy Spirit always strive with man, for he is but flesh, weak and sinful flesh, who must perish at thy wrathful indignation; [unspec 14] adert therefore thy just anger from us, and satisfy our fainting and hungry souls with thy marcy; early do it, defer us not, lest we pine to nothing, make the bones which thou hast broken to rejoice; and in our joy, let us magnify thy Name, and be glad all the days of our life. Many are the days that we have suffered under thy hand, [unspec 15] make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us: Many are the years in which we have seen evil, return as good according to the number of those years; it is thy own proper work to have pity and mercy, let this thy work appear unto thy servants, and manifest thy glory unto their children; be a guide to us, and a leader to our posterity, [unspec 16] that all that we and they take in hand, may succeed prosperously, and be blessed with a happy issue.

No action of our's can be beautiful, except the beauty of the Lord our God be upon it; idle we may not be, for God blesseth not the idle; work we may, [unspec 17] but except it be by thy direction, it will not please; bring we may our work to an end, but except thou bless it, it will never be established: We therefore humbly beseech thee to put thy beauty upon us, and all we undertake; let us take our directions from thy Word, and make thy glory our end in all we do, so we may expect success, prosperity, and establishment; so much happiness in what we do here, that it may be a way to promote us to eternal happiness in the life to come; which we beg of thee to bestow upon us, for the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

PSAL. XCI. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

T HE full intent and purpose of this Psalm, is to encourage and exhort the godly in all extremities, pressures, troubles, temptations, afflictions, assaults, inward, or outward; in a word, in all dangers to put their trust and confidence in God, and to rely upon his protection.

Two parts of the Psalm.

• 1. A general Proposition, in which is given an assurance of help and protection to every godly man, ver. 1. Who so dwelleth, &c.
• 2. The proof of this by three witnesses.
  • 1. Of the just man, in whose person David speaks, ver. 2. I will say to the Lord, &c.
  • 2. Of the Prophet, ver. 3. Surely he shall deliver thee, &c. which he amplifies by an enumeration of the dangers, God's assistance, and the Angels protection, from ver. 3. to 14.
  • 3. Of God himself, whom he brings in speaking to the same purpose, from ver. 14. to the last verse.

The first part or verse, is a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or an universal Proposition, in which is contained a comfortable and excellent promise made by the Holy Ghost, of security, viz. That God's help shall never be wanting to those who truly put their hope and trust in him: He that dwells in though secret place of the most High, shall abide or lodge under the shadow of the Almighty. [Ver. 1]

• 1. He; be he who he will, rich or poor, King or people, God is no Respecter of persons.
• 2. That dwells; for that he must be sure to do so constantly, daily, firmly, rest and acquiesce in God, persevere in the faith of his promise, and carry that about him, as the Snail doth his shell, for else he cannot be assured by this promise.
• 3. In the secret place; for his aid and defense is not as some strong Hold or Castle, which is visible; 'tis a secret and invisible Fortress, known only to a faithful soul; in that he may repose his hope, as a means and secondary defense; but he dwells, relies, rests in that help of God, which is secret, and is not seen, except to the eye of faith.
• 4. Of the most High; And upon this he relies, because he is the most High; Above he is, and sees all, nothing is hid from him; and again, above he is, sits in the highest Throne, and rules all; all things are under his feet, he can therefore deliver his from all troubles and dangers.

Yea, and he will do it; for this faithful man, he that relies and trusts in him, shall never be frustrated of his hope, protected he shall be, he shall be safe.

• 1. He dwelt, therefore he shall abide, he shall lodge quietly, securely; pernoctabit, Ithlonan.
• 2. He dwells in the secret place, therefore he shall abide under the shadow, in refrigerio, in the cool, the favor, the cover from the heat.
• 3. He dwelt in the secret place of the most High, therefore he shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, i. e. of the All-powerful God, of the God of Heaven; of that God, whose Name is Shaddai, All-sufficient; by which Name, he made his promise to Abraham, Gen. 17.1.

This Proposition being most certainly true, in the next place the Psalmist explains it, and that no man doubt of it, descends to prove it by three witnesses: First, of a just man; secondly, of the Prophet; thirdly, of God himself.

1. First, He brings in the just man thus speaking in his own person, I will say unto the Lord, He is my Refuge, my Fortress, my God, in him will I trust: [Ver. 2] Is it so? Shall he that dwells in the secret of the most High, abide under the shadow of the Almighty? therefore I will say in the person of all just men, to the Lord that hath no Superior, that hath no Peer; to that Lord, to whose command all things are subject, and who can be commanded by none; I will say to him:

• 1. Thou art my Refuge: If pursued, I will fly to thee, as a Sanctuary.
• 2. Thou art my Fortress: If set upon, I will take myself to thee, as a strong Tower.
• 3. Thou art my God: If assaulted by men or Devils, Thou the most High, Thou Almighty, a God able to defend me, and therefore I will hope in thee; I will dwell, trust, rely upon thee, and this thy promise, in every temptation and danger.

2. Next to assert the truth of this, he brings in the attestation of the Prophet for being moved by the Holy Ghost, he saith as much, Surely he shall deliver thee; and then falls upon the particulars, from which the godly man shall be delivered, set down in many Metaphors.

• 1. He shall deliver thee from the snare of the Fowler; from the deceits of evil men or Devils.
• 2. From the noisesome pestilence; all danger to which we are incident, by plague, [Ver. 3] war, famine.

Again, when thou art little in thy own eyes, as it were, but a Chicken:

• 1. He shall cover thee, as the Hen doth her young Birds, with his feathers, [unspec 4] and under his wings shalt thou trust; secured from the Kite, the rain, the storm, and heat of the Sun.
• 2. When thou art grown up, and able to encounter an enemy in the field, he shall help thee to a shield and a buckler, and that shall be his Truth, [Ver. 5] his Veracity, thy faith in it; and which is yet more, Thou shalt not be afraid.
  • 1. For the terror by night; any hidden, secret temptation, danger, treachery, detraction, conspiracy.
  • 2. Nor for the arrow that flies by day; any open persecution, calamity, proud assault, invasion.
  • 3. Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; [Ver. 6] the machinations of wicked men hatched in the dark.
  • 4. Nor for the destruction that walks at noon-day; the bold Threats and Decrees of Tyrants and Persecutors.

Moller observes rightly, that the promises of deliverance here made, do not belong to one or other kind of evil, but to all kind of calamities, open or secret, and so may be appliable to any; some of which steal upon us, as in the night secretly; other overwhelm us, as in the day, openly: But the promise is general, as Bellarmine well observes, whether the danger come by day or night, those that trust in God are armed with his shield of Truth against it. For if God be with us, who can be against us? Rom. 8.

The Prophet goes on, and confirms the godly in their security, by the dissimilitude, or unlike condition of wicked men; when thou shalt be safe, [Ver. 7] they shall fall.

• 1. A thousand shall fall at thy side, on thy left hand, overcome by adversity.
• 2. Ten thousand on thy right hand, flattered into sin by prosperity: But not the night fear, nor the arrow by day, shall not come nigh thee.
• 3. And which is another cause of comfort & pleasure; Only with thy eyes shalt thou behold, [Ver. 8] and see the reward of the wicked; which sometimes falls out in this life, as the Israelites saw the Egyptians dead upon the Sea-shore; Moses and Aaron, Dathan and Abiram swallowed up quick, &c. But shall be fully fulfilled at the last judgment, Mat. 23.

Of which security, [Ver. 9] comfort, content, the Prophet in the next verse gives the Reason, the danger shall not come nigh thee; when they fall, thou shalt see it, and consider it with content; Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my Refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; Thou trustest in him, as I do, and therefore shalt have the like protection, deliverance, comfort, that I by his promise have: Farther yet,

There shall no evil befall thee, [Ver. 10] neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling: The meaning of which, is not, as if the godly man should be free either from the evil of sin, or punishment; for while they carry about them this body of flesh, they are subject to both: But evil from sin may well be said not to befall them, because it humbles them, makes them more cautelous, causes them to love God the more, to adhere to him the faster, and sue forth a Pardon and Petition for grace to resist; and so though evil in itself, yet is not a destructive evil to them: Again, the evil of punishment is to them a fatherly correction to mend and better them, not to ruin them; and in this sense we may justify the Prophet in his words, There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling: Be it sin or punishment, all shall work together for the best for those that love God, and then not properly evil.

Well, I am (the just man may say) secure, that no evil shall befall me, but I desire to know, how I shall know that I may be kept so, that I fall not among Thieves? [Ver. 11] This Objection the Prophet prevents, saying, in effect, Fear not:

• 1. That the good man is protected by Angels; many Angels have a care of one poor man.
• 2. That they are commanded by God to do it; for are not they ministering Spirits sent by God to that end? Hebr. 1.
• 3. That it is a particular administration, a charge given, De te, the poorest, the meanest Saint.
• 4. That they are to keep, to look to, defend thee, and what is thine; Thou hast an invisible Guard.
• 5. But then mark the limitation and restriction, it is, in all thy ways, in the walk of thy Vocation to which God hath called thee; either walk in them, or the Angels have no charge to keep thee.
• 6. Lastly, In all thy ways, not in one, but all; for the ways of men are many, and in all he needs the custody of Angels.
  • 1. The Law is a way, and the way of the Law is manifold.
  • 2. Our works and operations are manifold, which are our way too.
  • 3. Our life is a way, and there be many parts and conditions of our life, various ages, manifold states; and in all these ways we need a Guardian, for we may slip in every Law, in every operation, in every age, in every state of life.

Which that it be not done, God hath given his Angels charge over us to keep us; to keep us only, nay, which is more:

• 1. They shall bear thee, as kind Mothers and Nurses do their Children.
• 2. They shall bear thee in their hands; the will, the understanding, wisdom and power are, as it were, the Angels hands, with all these they will bear us.
• 3. That thou dash not thy foot; that is, thy affections, which carry the soul to good or bad.
• 4. Against a stone; which are all difficulties and obstacles, which as stones the Devil casts in out way to hinder us; that we be not scandalized at these, we have the help of Angels.

And which is yet more, under their custody, we shall tread underfoot Satan, and all his Complices; him, a roaring Lyon, an old Serpent, a fierce Dragon, and all his Associates, Tyrants, Persecutors, all Heretics and Hypocrites; for such is the promise, Thou shalt tread upon the Lyon and Adder, the young Lyon and Dragon shalt thou trample under feet. [Ver. 13]

3. In the mouth of two or thrte witnesses shall every word stand, saith God; and here we find the Law strictly observed: To be proved it was, that all who truly trust in God, were to be protected by God; of which one witness, was the just man, ver. 2. Another, the testimony of the Spirit by the Prophet, from ver. 3. to this verse. To which a third, we have here even God himself; for in these three last verses, the Prophet brings in God himself testifying this great and comfortable Truth with his own mouth, and adding much to what was formerly said: But yet upon these three conditions presupposed in the protected. 1. His love. 2. His acknowledgment of God's Name. 3. He shall call upon me with vehemency, with an earnest desire.

• 1. Because he hath set his love upon me, Chasak, pleased me, loved me, [Ver. 14] adhered close to me, hoped in me, trusted to me with a filial love and adherence.
• 2. Because he hath known my Name, acknowledged my Power, Wisdom, Goodness, these are the causes and the conditions presupposed in the protected.
• 3. He shall call upon me; Invocation necessary also.

Therefore I will deliver him, I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I will honor him; which Bellarmine supposeth to belong to this life.

I will glorify him, or set him on high; and the second, I will deliver him; with long life I will satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

• 1. I will deliver him, by the shield, by my Angels, by other ways, mediately, or immediately, yet so, that it be remembered that I do it; [Ver. 14] for these shall not deliver without me.
• 2. I will answer him; answer his desires, answer his prayers, so they be cries. [unspec 15]
• 3. I will be with him in trouble; join myself close to him, go into prison with him, as it were, suffer with him, and think myself pursued, when he is persecuted; give him comfort even then: Martyrs non eripuit; sed nec deseruit; They sung in prison.
• 4. I will h •• our him: For the names of those who suffered for his sake, are honorable; right dear in the sight of the Lord, is the death of all his Saints.

These Promises may belong to this life, to the other, those which follow. [Ver. 15]

• 1. I will deliver him: For the just by death, and by death only, are freed from the present, and all future miseries: Blessed are the dead, for they rest from their labors.
• 2. I will glorify him: As if it were not enough to deliver him; such a thing in this life may fall out, as it happened to Joseph, Job, David, Daniel: But the true glory no question must be, When the righteous shall shine like the Sun, be set upon their Thrones, and judge the twelve Tribes of Israel.
• 3. With long life will I satisfy him, i. e. with eternal felicity, [Ver. 16] with a continuance in bliss, which shall be eternal, for without eternity, even the length of days cannot satisfy; as appears by old men, who yet have complained of a short life.
• 4. And that the Prophet speaks of this eternal felicity, is more than probable, because he adds, I will show him my salvation; Salutare meum; My Christ, his Jesus, or salutem meam, my salvation; that is, I will bring to pass, that when through his whole life I have given him sufficient evidences of my fatherly affection, I will at last translate him to a place, where he shall no longer live by faith, but shall see, and experimentally feel what he hath believed; I will make all manifest, and show it unto him. Happy he shall be in the enjoyment of the Beatifical Vision, which nor ignorance, nor trouble, nor labor, nor sorrow, nor death itself, nor fear of it shall interrupt.

PSAL. XCII. A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath-day. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

THE Title of this Psalm shows to what end it was to be composed, viz. To be a part of the Jewish Liturgy, and on the Sabbath-day to be sung to the honor and praise of God, whom, on that day especially, they were to magnify for his goodness and faithfulness in creating, and by his especial Providence governing the World; of which Providence, the Prophet gives two especial instances; the sudden fall of the wicked, the prosperity and security of the godly; the parts then of this Psalm,

Are two:

• 1. First, A general Proposition, Thesis, Axiom, or Maxim, ver. 1. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, &c. which is explained, ver. 2. & 3. and applied, ver. 4.
• 2. A particular Narration of such works, in which the goodness and faithfulness of God doth especially consist, viz. The Creation and Government of the World, ver. 4, 5. And of the last he gives two instances.
  • 1. One in wicked men: 1. Of their sottishness and stupidity, 6. 2. Then of their sudden extirpation, ver. 7, 8, 9.
  • 2. Another in the godly, whose prosperity is great, from ver. 10. to 14. and security certain, ver. 15.

He begins with a Maxim. It is good, i. e. just, profitable, pleasant, and commendable, to give thanks to the Lord. 2. And to sing praises, with heart, [Vers. 1] tongue, and with Musical Instruments, to thy glorious Name, O thou most High.

2. And both parts he explains. 1. That we give thanks at all times, Morning and Evening, in Prosperity and Adversity, and in our praises especially to remember his loving-kindness, [Vers. 2] and his faithfulness. These must be the matter of our thanksgiving. It is good to show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, verse. 2.

3. It is good also, to add to our voices, Instruments of Music, to that end, To sing praises to thy Name and glory, upon an Instrument of ten strings, and upon the Psaltery, [Vers. 3] upon the Harp with a solemn sound, verse. 3. As it was then usual in the Temple.

4. [Vers. 4] And thus the Maxim being proposed, and explained, he applies it to himself, and shows his own practice, and the reason of it. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work, I will triumph in the works of thy hands, verse. 4.

• 1. Thou hast made me glad. He was first delighted and affected with God's work.
• 2. And then he exults and triumphs in it. The heart must be first truly affected with the work of God, before a man shall take any true content or delight in it. He must see God and his goodness in the Creature, before he shall take any delight or content in the Creature: He must discern God's faithfulness in his works and ways, before he shall take any content, and exult in his works and ways. And this content and delight, is also a work of the Spirit. Tuexhilarasti. Thou hast made me glad.

2. Mention he had made of the work and works of God, and now he farther opens what they are. First, The Creation of the Universe. Secondly, His especial Providence in ordering the things of this world, particularly about man.

• 1. First he begins with the work of Creation, upon which he enters with an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , [Vers. 5] not without less than an admiration. O Lord, how great are thy works? and thy thoughts are very deep. As if he said, I cannot be satisfied in the contemplation of them. Expleri mentem nequit, ardescit{que} tuendo. There is such a depth in them, that I cannot attain to it, nor comprehend it.
• 2. And he ends it, not without an indignation, that the wise men of the world, [Vers. 6] who yet in his judgment, for their disregard of it, are but fools, should not consider it. In the Creature they look after nothing, but profit, and pleasure, in which regard they are but fools, for this brutish man knows not, how great are his works, this fool understands not, how deep are his cogitations.

2. And that he may illustrate their folly the more, from the work of Creation, he comes to God's work of Governance of the world, and shows, that as they who would be, and are reputed wise, are mistaken in the one, so also they are mistaken in the other. For they think the ungodly, and such as flourish in power and wealth, happy, and that the righteous men sometimes oppressed, are unhappy, and upon these two instances he insists to the end of the Psalm.

First, He instances in the ungodly. When the wicked spring up, rise on a sudden (for such a time there is) as the grass, that grows insensibly, and in a night, [Vers. 7] and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, become very conspicuous, exalted in pride, and power, and abound in wealth. Who would not now take them for happy men? No, saith our Prophet, it is not so. He that governs the world, hath another end in it.

• 1. This their felicity, is the greatest infelicity. It is, that they may perish, be destroyed.
• 2. That they may perish forever. Remember Dives.
• 3. And this their destruction is from God, that sits in the Throne, and is immutable in his decrees and ways. They flourish, and are aloft, but it is but for a Moment: But thou, Lord, [Vers. 8] art most high for evermore. And thou wilt execute thy decree upon them.
• 4. Which the Prophet fully opens in the next verse, [Vers. 9] which the Epizeuxis makes more Emphatical. For lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, thine enemies shall perish, and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
  • 1. Behold, they were green, they flourished, but the change shall be sudden.
  • 2. They were enemies, thy enemies, workers of iniquity: therefore cursed with a curse.
  • 3. They shall perish, they shall be scattered, they rose, they flourished as grass, and they shall be scattered as dry grass, which the wind blows from the face of the earth.

His second Instance is in the Godly, whose happy condition he demonstrates. First, in Hypothesi, or in himself, verse. 10, 11. And in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . In all others, that be true members of the Mystical Church of Christ, from verse. 12. to the end.

• 1. He instanceth in himself, that his condition is not like the ungodly. [Vers. 10] He shot not up, as the fading grass, but his strength and power should be as an Unicorn.
  • 1. But my horn shalt thou exalt as the horn of an Unicorn, which hath one, lofty, and strong horn; that is, my power and glory, and felicity, shall still mount higher.
  • 2. And I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Anointed to be King over Israel by Samuel with a horn of Oil, by God with the gracious sweet Oil of his Spirit.
  • 3. And that which adds to my flourishing estate. My eye shall see my desire on my enemies, and my ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. Which he lived to see and hear in the ruin of Saul and his house.
• 2. And that which the Prophet said of himself, he transfers now to all just and righteous men, whom he compares to the Palm, and Cedar.

• 1. The righteous shall flourish like a Palm tree. Of which the Poet, [Vers. 11]
  Nititur in pondus palma, & consurgit in altum
  Quo magis & premitur, hoc mage tollit onus. So a good Christian.
• 2. He shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon. Cedar wood is not consumed by worms or time: Nor the Church by antiquity, [Vers. 12] nor persecution. The Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it: nor any true member of it.

Of which the reason is, because these Palms and Cedars, [Vers. 13] these righteous men, are planted, set by faith, watered by the Word and Sacraments, rooted by Charity in the Church, which is the house of the Lord, and therefore they shall flourish, be green and vigorous in the Courts of our God. Every plant that our heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted out, as are all those wild Olives, that grow out of the Pale of the Church, or those that are in it, but were never truly engraffed into it, but the true plants shall flourish.

• 2. Nay, which is yet more, they shall be full of Sap, and loaden with fruit. [Vers. 14]
  • 1. They shall bring forth fruit in their old age. It shall be contrary to them, as to other trees: Those grow fruitless, and bear not, when they grow old: These are then most loaden with the fruits of grace.
  • 2. They shall be fat and flourishing: Other trees, when old, are zere and dry; These then are fat in juice, and flourish in good works. 'It is conceived, that in the end of the last days, the estate of Christ's Church shall most flourish.
• 3. And the reason of this their vigor, of the continuance of this their radical and vital moisture to their old age, is, that they bring forth fruit, which is specified in the last verse. Ut annuncient: That they might show forth God's faithfulness, praise him for that, as it is at the second verse.
  • 1. [Vers. 15] That they might show, that the Lord is upright. Just and righteous in himself.
  • 2. That he is a Rock. A sure, stable foundation to trust to.
  • 3. And that there is no unrighteousness in him. No injustice, though for a time he suffer the wicked to flourish, and the just to be under the Cross. For in his good time, he will show his Justice, in rewarding the just, and punishing the unjust.

PSAL. XCIII. A Doxology. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

'TIS the purpose of the Prophet to comfort the Church opposed by Tyrants and Persecutors, and yet she shall not utterly fail. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against her, because Christ sits in his Church as King. The Sum of it is,

• 1. The magnificence and power of Christ our eternal King, verse. 1, 2.
• 2. That he defends his Church in the day of a storm, verse. 3, 4.
• 3. That his Laws are holy, and his Church also, verse. 5.

The Prophet in the first verse describes our King,

• 1. From his Office. He reigns. He is the great and chief Monarch; He is no idle Spectator of things below, but wisely, and justly, and powerfully he administers all things.
• 2. He is a glorious King. For he is clothed with Majesty.
• 3. He is a potent King. The Lord is clothed with strength.
• 4. He is a warlike King. For he hath girded himself, [Vers. 1] buckled his sword upon his armor, for offense of his enemies, for defense of his Kingdom.

Then for his Kingdom.

• 1. It is first Universal. The World.
• 2. It is fixed, firm, and stable. The World is also stablished, and cannot be moved. [Vers. 2]
• 3. It is an everlasting Kingdom, from everlasting to everlasting. Thy Throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting. Aeternus Rex, aeternum Regnum.

2. But in this his Kingdom, there be those who raise tumults, commotions, and rebellions. These he compares to swelling waters, and foaming waves.

• 1. The floods, i. e. Tyrants, Persecutors, &c. have lifted up, O Lord, [Vers. 3] the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their waves. The Church dwells in the Sea, and the waves of tyranny, ambition, malice, beat furiously upon it.
• 2. Well, be it so: yet the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea than the mighty waves of the Sea. He wonderfully and strangely hath shown his might, [Vers. 4] in getting himself the Victory over all Persecutors, and propagating and enlarging his Kingdom over all the earth, in despite of his enemies.

3. And as his Kingdom is immovable, so are also the Laws by which it is governed; fixed, and unalterable also. Thy Testimonies are very sure. The Gospel is an eternal Gospel, the Doctrine thereof holy, and inviolable, by which God, [Vers. 5] testatus est, hath witnessed his good-will to man, and what he will have done by all his loving Subjects: which is, that they be a Holy people.

2. For Holiness becomes thy House forever. The Temple, the Priests, the people, must be a Holy Nation: forever correspondent to the Holiness of his Law and Testimonies. Be ye Holy, for I am Holy. Holiness becomes thy House, O Lord, forever.

PSAL. CXIV. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

I N this Psalm our Prophet prays, complains, inveighs against wicked men, Oppressors of the innocent; reproves their Atheism, and informs them of God's Omniscience: Comforts the godly, and encourages the just to put their trust in God; assuring them that God will reward the wicked, and defend the righteous. In this Psalm then,

The parts are,

• 1. A Petition for vengeance upon the wicked, verse. 1, 2.
• 2. A pitiful complaint, with the causes of it, which were two.
  • 1. The delay of God's judgments on them, verse. 3, 4.
  • 2. Their insolence, oppression of the poor, blasphemy against God, to 7.
• 3. A sharp reprehension of their blasphemy and Atheism, and the refutation of it, from verse. 8. to 12.
• 4. A consolation to all good men, that God will reward the wicked, and defend the righteous, from verse. 12. to the end. Which is confirmed
  • 1. From God's faithfulness, who hath promised, and will perform it, verse. 14.
  • 2. From David's own experience, from verse. 16. to 20.
  • 3. From God's hatred of injustice, tyranny, oppression, verse. 20, 21.
    • 1. Which will cause him to be a Rock and defense to his people, verse. 22.
    • 2. A severe Revenger to the Oppressors, verse. 23.

1. He begins with a Petition, that God would take vengeance of the Oppressors of his people, which that he might the easier persuade, he makes choice of an Attribute, and to show the ardour of his prayer, ingeminates it, which is peculiar to God, for mihi vindicta, ego retribuam. O Lord God, [Vers. 1] to whom vengeance belongs, to whom vengeance belongs: As if he had said, Thou art the most powerful Lord, a God of power and justice, and hast vengeance into thy own hand. Therefore now

• 1. Shew thyself, appear, shine forth, evidently and apparently show thy justice, verse. 1.
• 2. Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth: Do thy Office of Judicature, [Vers. 2] ascend thy Throne, and Tribunal, as Judges use to do, when they give judgment.
• 3. Render a reward to the proud. For the proud humble not themselves to thee, they repent not, pronounce therefore the sentence of condemnation against them.

2. And now the Prophet begins to Complain, that by the delay of God's vengeance, wicked men were hardened in their impiety, and gloried in their villainy.

• 1. How long? how long? This thy forbearance seems tedious to us, especially since the wicked grow worse and worse by it, and insult over us the more.
• 2. For they triumph of their strength, they glory in their prosperity, [Vers. 3] and in their wickedness.
• 3. They utter and speak hard things, boldly, rashly, [Vers. 4] proudly they threaten ruin to thy Church, they breath nothing but blood, and eversion of Kingdoms, and Cities, freely, and without fear they talk of nothing else, but what they have done, and what they will do.
• 4. They are workers of iniquity, and they boast themselves. 'It is not sufficient for them to do ill, but they boast of it. Of their strength they boast, of their power they boast, of their success they boast, as if nothing were able to withstand their counsel, their sword, their wisdom.

Now to what end do they make use of all these? (for of that I must complain also) the consequence is lamentable, the event sad, the effects are lamentable, for in their fury and injustice,

• 1. [Vers. 5] They break in pieces thy people, O Lord. The people elect, separate, dedicated to thee.
• 2. They afflict thine heritage. The people, that thou hast chosen for thy possession.
• 3. [Vers. 6] They slay the widow, destitute of the comfort of an Husband. 2. And the stranger, a man far from his Friends and Country. 3. And murder the fatherless, all which thou hast taken into thy protection, and commanded that they be not wronged, Exod. 22. Deut. 24. Yet such is their fury, that they spare not Sex, nor age, nor any condition of men.

Nay, it were yet tolerable, if their rage would stay here, it were but against Man, but they add one wickedness to another; to their injustice and cruelty, they add impiety, and blasphemy. And of that I complain next.

Yet they say, [Vers. 7] The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. What tell you us of the Lord, what do you talk to us of the God of Jacob, that God of revenge, tush, he hath nor eyes, nor ears, or if he hath, he is far removed, and cares not for these things below, he shall nor see, nor hear, nor understand, nor consider, nor examine, what we do in this world. This is their impiety, this their b asphemy. This the true cause of all their injustice, tyranny, cruelty, oppression.

Now our Prophet sets himself seriously to reprehend and confute this; By an Apostrophe he turns to them, and calls them fools, and proves by a manifest Argument, that they are fools, demonstrating that God is nor deaf, nor blind, as they presumed and conceived, from the cause to the effect: and urgeth them Emphatically 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

• 1. [Vers. 8] Understand, ye brutish among the people. Oh ye fools, when will ye be wise? what will you be brutish always? will you never have common sense in your heads?
• 2. [Vers. 9] He planted the ear, caused you to hear, and shall not he then hear?
• 3. He formed the eye with all the tunicles, and put into it a visive faculty, by which you see, and shall not he see? Nil dat quod non habet. To say the contrary, is as if you should affirm, the fountain that sends forth the stream, had no water in it, or the Sun that enlightens the world, had no light, or the fire that warms, had no heat. Are these affirmations fit for wise men? Neither is it, that the God of Jacob doth nor hear, nor see.
• Farther yet. [Vers. 10] 4. He chastiseth the heathen, as Sodom, Gomorrah, &c. or he chastises them by the checks of their own conscience, the Synderesis being set in their souls to that purpose, their thoughts accusing them, or excusing; and shall not he then correct you, who go under the name of his people? and yet so impiously blaspheme?
• 5. He that teacheth man knowledge, hath endued him with a reasonable soul, and made him capable of all Arts and Sciences, is he stupid? is he without understanding? Shall not he know? Nay, nay, say or think what you will, it is not so; so far he is from being deaf, that he cannot hear your words, or blind, that he cannot see your actions, that he looks into your hearts, and knows your thoughts, counsels, and judgeth them all vain. [Vers. 11] The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are but vanity. With which 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 he concludes his reprehension.

4. And so from them, he comes to the Good man, and shows his happiness, whom he labors to comfort in his extremities, whom he pronounceth Blessed. Blessed is the man; and his blessing lies in these things.

• 1. In his sufferings; because when he is punished, he is but chastised, and his chastisements are from the Lord. Blessed is the man, whom thou chastenest. [Vers. 12]
• 2. In his teaching; that when he is chastised, he is but taught obedience to the Law of God, taught by book, taught out of thy Law, which because he hath not well kept, therefore he is whipt, and by it taught to heed it, to love it, to affect the observation better hereafter.
• 3. In consideration of the end; that he sret not, [Vers. 13] but bear more moderately the insultations, and injuries of the wicked, for the end, why God chastiseth, and teacheth thee out of his Law, is, That he may give thee rest, a quiet and even soul from the days of adversity, and that thou shouldst expect with patience, Domc., so long, till the pit be digged up for the ungodly. Such a day there is, and the day will come, Hell as ready to receive the sinner, as a Grave digged up for a dead body: Expect it therefore with a quiet mind. [Vers. 14]
• 4. And the reason is, That though God for a time seem to be angry, and suffer his people to be afflicted, yet he will not utterly neglect, and forsake them. For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
• 5. A day of judgment, and execution of justice, shall come, when judgment shall return unto righteousness. [Vers. 15] When the Church is in affliction, these two seem to be separated and divorced, but they shall meet again, and kiss each other. The justice of God which seems to be only potential and habitual, and, as it were, asleep, while his chosen do suffer, and wicked men oppress them, shall then be apparent, and actual; so that the justice of God in the defense and deliverance of his Church, and the judgment of God in the condemnation of the wicked, shall be conspicuous. 2. In which the just shall so fully acquiesce, that all those who are upright in heart, shall follow it. Applaud, acknowledge it.

A second confirmation of the comfort he gave to the Church in affliction, is fetched from his own experience, from the 16. to the 20. verse.

Object. Yea, but this time of judgment may be long, in the mean while, 'tis necessary to have some helper and help against the persecutions and injuries of cruel men. Who will arise for me, [Vers. 16] and labor to protect me in so great a concourse of devils, or mischievous men? who will stand up for me, and defend me against the workers of iniquity?

Resp. Even he that then stood up for me. No man, but God alone, [Vers. 17] he did it, and unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. I had been inter silentes, laid in the grave among the dead, saith David, verse. 17.

• 2. If I said, and complained to him, that I was in any danger, [Vers. 18] My foot slips, I was tempted, and ready to fall, Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up, in mercy he lent me his hand, and sustained me.
• 3. [Vers. 19] In the multitude of the thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.
  • 1. The thoughts within me, were sorrows of heart, and many they were, occasioned from within, from without, a multitude of them: and yet I did not only patiently undergo them, but found comfort in them.
  • 2. Thy comforts delight my soul, as were the troubles in the flesh, so were comforts in my soul, which did mitigate the sorrow of my heart, which did arise from that which grieved the outward man; so that the sad thoughts of my heart were turned into matter of joy, 2 Cor. 7.4. I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

Can then the sorrowful thoughts of the heart? can tribulations and afflictions delight any soul? Yes, they may the soul of a pious and righteous man, while he considers, That

• 1. Either by them he is purged from the impurity of sin, that cleaves so close to him.
• 2. Or that he is by them proved and tried by God, whether he will cleave fast to him.
• 3. Or that God doth this to make him conformable in his sufferings, to his head Christ Jesus.
• 4. Or that, his reward in heaven for his patience, shall be the greater. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 2 Cor. 4.17. In the multitude of the greatest sorrows, these are God's comforts, and they may delight a soul.

3. His third Reason to comfort the Church in affliction, is drawn from the Nature of God, to whom all iniquity, especially committed by those in the seats of justice, is hateful, of which because those, who are in high places are most guilty, for they most oppress his people, therefore he will be sure to take the severest revenge on them. And with this also he comforts the people of God under the Cross.

• 1. [Vers. 20] Shall the Throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee? Thou art a just God, and wilt thou have anything to do, any society with those that sit upon Thrones, and Seats of justice, and execute injustice? which they hope to bear out by their power.
• 2. Which frame mischief by a Law? i. e. Frame wicked Laws, or under the color of Law and Justice, oppress the innocent? Summum jus, summa injuria, and injuries may and are too often done ex pravâ interpretation legis. With those who do injustice by the sword of justice, God will have no fellowship.
• 3. [Vers. 21] And yet there is a third pretence of wicked men to color their proceedings against innocent men. The first was their Throne. 2. The second was the Law. And the third is their Council, and consultations in them. These they call to that end. Coeunt turmatim. Jagheddu, Congregabuntur, Convenient. They meet by Troops as Thieves, they Assemble, they Convene in Synods, they gather themselves together, and that to a most wicked end.
  • 1. Against the soul of the Righteous. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Septuag. To hunt.
  • 2. To Condemne the Innocent Blood. Their Laws are Dracc 's Laws.

Now what shall the poor Innocent do in such a case? How shall he be comforted? Help he must expect none from man, from man it cannot come, it must come from Heaven, and therefore let him say with David, Let my enemies rage as they list, [Vers. 22] and exercise all cruelties toward me, under a pretence of zeal, piety, and legal justice.

• 1. But the Lord is my defense, that their treachery and plots shall not hurt me.
• 2. My God is the Rock of my refuge, on whom my hope shall safely rely.
• 3. I am fully assured, for I have his Word and his promise engaged for it.
  • 1. That he shall bring upon them their own iniquity; that is, [Vers. 23] that the iniquity of the wicked man, shall return upon his own head; As thy Sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women, saith Samuel to Agag, 1 Sam. 15.33. Judges 1.7.
  • 2. And shall cut them off in their own wickedness, in malitia eorum: not so much for their sin, as the malice of it.
  • 3. Which, for assurance of it, he repeats, and explains who it is that shall do it. Yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off; the Lord, whose providence they derided, our God, the God of Jacob, whom they contemned, verse. 7.

PSAL. XCV. A Psalm to be sung at all times, in all places, by all men. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

F OR it contains an invitation to praise God with internal and external worship; and therefore is fitly chosen by the Church to be sung in the beginning of our Liturgy, to excite all men present to serve God infear, and rejoice with reverence.

Two parts of this Psalm.

• 1. An Exhortation to praise God, to adore, worship, kneel, ver. 1, 2, 6.
• 2. Reasons to persuade to it.
  • 1. God's mercies, ver. 3, 4, 5, 7.
  • 2. His judgments in punishing his own people Israel for their neglect of this duty, from ver. 8. to 11.

1. David begins this Psalm with an earnest invitation, including himself, crying:

• 1. O come, let us; come along with me, though a King, he thought not himself exempted. [Ver. 1]
• 2. And the Assembly being come together, he acquaints them what they came for.
  • 1. To sing to the Lord, heartily, merrily, joyfully; Exaltemus.
    • 1. Let us make a joyful noise; make a Jubilee of it, Jubilemus. [unspec 2]
    • 2. Openly, and with a loud voice; Let us make a joyful noise with Psalms.
    • 3. Reverently, as being in his eye, his presence.
    • 4. Gratefully; Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.
  • 2. To worship, to bow down, to kneel, ver. 6. Adoration, humble Adoration, outward worship, that of the body, as well as inward, that of the soul is his due; and that for these reasons. [Ver. 6]

2. For God calls for nothing from us, which there is not great reason, but that we yield him; serve him then we ought with heart and body, out of many respects.

• 1. Because he is the Rock of our salvation, whether temporal or spiritual, [Ver. 1] so long as we rely on him as a Rock, safe we are from the tyranny of men, from the wrath of God, from the power of the Devil, death, hell.
• 2. Because he is a great God, and a great King, above all gods. Jehovah, [Ver. 5] a God whose Name is, I am, an incommunicable name to any other; for his Essence is from himself, and immutable, all other derivative and mutable; and the great Jehovah, great in Power, Majesty, Glory, and greater than all other Nuncupative gods, Idols, Kings, for he is above them all, above all gods.
• 3. The whole orb of the earth is under his power and dominion; [Ver. 4] In his hands are the deep places of the earth, the strength of the hills is his also. The globe of the earth in all its extensions is subject to him.
• 4. And no marvel, for he is the Creator of both, which is another Argument: The Sea is his, and he made it, [Ver. 5] and his hands formed the dry land. [Ver. 6]
• 5. He is our Maker, the Creator and Lord of man also.
• 6. Our Lord God in particular; for he hath called us to be his inheritance: For we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Now all these laid together, and well weighed, being wonderful expressions of his mercy and loving-kindness, are of strength enough to persuade us heartily, reverently, openly to sing to, and praise him, to adore, bow down, and kneel before him.

2. In which if we obstinately and stubbornly fail, we have a fair warning given us what is like to follow, by the example of the Israelites, purposed here by the Prophet, That if mercy will not win upon us, then judgment may: Lege Historiam, ne fiat Historia, Numb. 14. Exod. 17. The sum is this:

• 1. God gave them a day, and he gives it you, 'tis the hodie of your life.
• 2. In this day he speaks, he utters his voice; outwardly he speaks by his Word, [unspec 7] inwardly by his Spirit.
• 3. This you are bound to hear, to obey it.
• 4. And 'tis your own fault if you hear it not, for you may hear it if you will, to that purpose he hath given you a day: T day if you will hear his voice.
• 5. [unspec 8] Say you hear it not, the cause is, the hardness of your hearts, and take heed of it; Harden not your hearts.

For then it will be with you, as it was with the Israelites.

• 1. As in the day of temptation in the Wilderness, at Meribah and Massah.
• 2. [unspec 9] When your Fathers, the Israelites, that then lived, tempted me, and proved me. They asked whether God was among them or no? They questioned my power, whether I was able to give them bread, and water, and flesh?
• 3. And they found that I was able to do it, They saw my works; for I brought them water out of the Rock, and gave them bread from Heaven, and flesh also.

But these were not the sole temptations and provocations I found from them, their stubbornness was of a long continuance, and often repeated, for it lasted forty years, so long as they were journeying through the Wilderness: Forty years long was I grieved with this Generation, [unspec 10] which very much aggravates their rebellion; and this drew God to pass this Censure and Verdict upon them.

• 1. His Censure was, that they were an obstinate, stubborn and perverse people; A people that did always err in their hearts, that were lead with their own desires, and run a head their own way, which caused them to err; the way of God they would not go in, they knew it not; that is, they approved, they liked it not,; they thought themselves wiser than God, and knew better how to make provision for themselves, than God could; They have not known my ways.
• 2. [unspec 11] His Verdict upon them; Unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my rest; i. e. literally into the land of Canaan that I promised them; the Oath is extant, Exod. 14. As I live, saith the Lord, your carcasses shall fall in the Wilderness; and in the Wilderness they did fall, everyone, except Caleb and Joshua; a fearful example against stubbornness and disobedience, and to that end produced and amplified by the Prophet; and the Apostle, Hebr. 4. by it warns the Hebrews, that they be not incredulous, hard-hearted, obstinate, lest a worse thing happen to them, lest they be excluded the rest of the celestial Canaan, of which the earthly was but a Type.

PSAL. XCVI. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

ALthough this Psalm was composed by David at the bringing back of the Ark, yet with one voice all Christian Expositors acknowledge it a Prophesy of Christ's Kingdom and Church to be enlarged by the access of all Nations, and of his coming to judgment.

Two parts of the Psalm.

• 1. A general Exhortation both to Jews and Gentiles to praise God.
• 2. A Prophesy of Christ's Kingdom, described by the Greatness, ver. 4, 5. the Honor and Majesty, verse 6. of the Majesty of the King, verse 6, 7, 8.
• 2. The amplitude of it, ver. 10.
• 3. His judicature in it, from ver. 10. to the end.

1. The first three verses contain a general Exhortation to set forth God's praises for the benefits exhibited to the whole earth by Christ.

• 1. First, That the praise be full, he thrice repeats, Cantate; O sing, sing, sing to the honor of the Trinity, [Ver. 1] saith Bellarmine, obscurely insinuated in the Old, but plainly to be preached in the New Testament.
• 2. [Ver. 2] Shew forth, Benedicite, i. e. Cantando laudate, or gratias agite.
• 3. [Ver. 3] Declare, Hashern. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , carry good news, a fit word for the Gospel, [Ver. 1] which is Evangelium, glad-tidings.

2. The Song that was to be sung, was to be a new Song; Sing unto the Lord a new Song; New, for a new benefit; New, to be sung by a new people.

3. It was to be sung by the whole Earth; by new men, and all men, all the World over; for God was not now to be known in Judea only, but to all Nations. [Ver. 2]

4. It must be continually sung, from day today, without cessation, or intermission; for as one day succeeds another, so should there be a continual succession in this praise.

After he expresseth the benefit or matter that all the earth is to praise him for, which in one word, is the Redemption of the World by his Son.

1. Shew forth his salvation, which he hath conferred on Mankind by Christ. [Ver. 2]

• 2. [Ver. 3] Declare his glory among the Heathen, his wonders among all people: His glory and wonders, which is the self-same with salvation, which was a glorious work, and full of wonders; and this now was to be Evangelized, as before to the Jews by the Prophets, so now to all people by the Apostles.

2. And that his Exhortation might seem more reasonable, he presents God as a King, and sets down the Greatness, the Amplitude, and Equity of his Kingdom.

• 1. Sing to the Lord all the Earth, for he is Lord of the whole Earth.
  • 1. [unspec 4] The Lord is great; great in power, great in wisdom, great in goodness, great in mercy, great in dominion and riches, great every way, that anything can be great.
  • 2. He is greatly to be praised, or worthy of all praise, for his innumerable benefits he bestows, spiritual, temporal, his Creation, Redemption, Preservation of the world. What can be found praise worthy in any King, may be found superlatively in him.
  • 3. He is to be feared above all gods. For he can cast body and soul into hell. They, though called gods, can do nor good, nor hurt. The devils that set them up, do believe him to be above them, and tremble, Jam. 2. Sing to him then, and not to them, for the Supremacy is his. He is Super omnes Deos. God's did I call them, alas, they are nothing less, they are all of them Elilim. Deiculi, petite gods, or Deastri, ridiculous gods: or Elilim, Vanities, Idols, no gods. If they be God's, show their works, produce the heavens they made, or the earth they framed, whereas, our God made the heavens, and all things that •• e in it, and under it; [Ver. 5] He then to be feared, and not they.

In which 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Prophet doth elegantly deride the heathenish gods, and the heathen for fearing such gods. 1. For the multitude of them. For they were many: which is contrary to the nature of God, who must be but one, in reason there can be but one Supreme. 2. For their division, one of the Ammonites, another of the Moabites, one of the Philistines, many of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, according to the number of the Cities, were there gods, three hundred Jupiter's, thirty thousand of these Deities. 3. They were Elilim, petite gods, Moloch had the rule of the Sun, Astarte of the Moon, Ceres over Corn, Pluto his dominion in heaven, Neptune in the Sea, &c. Their power was not universal, as the power of God ought to be. 4. For their Vanity, they could not help. If Baal be a god, let him plead for himself, Judge. 6. Bell boweth down, Nebo stoops, &c. they could not deliver the burden, they themselves are gone into captivity, Isa. 46.1, 2. For an Idol is nothing in nothing in the world, 1 Cor. 8.

4. Lastly, in the opposition, which lively shows the difference betwixt God and Idols. It was man that first made them gods, and made Idols for them. They then are at best but works of men's hands. But our God is Factor, a Maker, a Creator. He made the Heavens, those great and beautiful bodies, and all that is contained in and under those Orbs. He then is terrible, he to be feared, and not those diminutive, those vain, those unprofitable gods of the Nations, and their Idols.

2. And so having removed out of his way all the gods of the Nations, he returns to the description of our God and King. He said he was great; greatly to be praised, to be feared above all gods; and now he adds that which makes farther for his honor. For he presents God under the person of a mighty King, in whose Palace, all things, that may set forth his Majesty, are presented to the eye of the Subject and Strangers. Honor, Majesty, Strength, Beauty. So saith our Prophet.

God is indeed invisible, but his Honor and Majesty, his Strength and Beauty may easily be seen in his ordering, governing, and preserving the whole world, and his Church, both which may not be unfitly called His Sanctuary, and the last His Holy Palace.

3. God he hath proved to be an universal King, and now he persuades all his Subjects, that is, all kindreds of the people, or the Families of the Nations to return unto their King his tribute, his due, their debt, to wit, his due honor and worship, which he comprehends in these words, Give, bring an offering, [Vers. 7] worship, fear, proclaim him to be King.

• 1. Give unto the Lord, and again, Give unto the Lord Glory and Strength. Give freely to him, and solely attribute to him the glory of your being and well-being, that he made and redeemed you, and that by the strength of his right-hand, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he hath plucked you out of the hands of your enemies; This was the glorious Work of Mercy and Power. Sing for this with the Angels, Glory be to God on high.
• 2. Give unto the Lord the honor due to his Name. Remember 'tis a debt, [Vers. 8] and a debt in equity must be paid. And the honor due to his Name, is, To acknowledge him to be Holy, True, Just, Powerful, The Lord, the faithful God, good, merciful, longsuffering, &c. all that was proclaimed before him, Exod. 34.5, 6, 7. Defraud not his Name of the least Honor.
• 3. Bring an offering, and come into his Courts. Appear not before the Lord empty, as the Jews were commanded, to which out Prophet alludes: They had their Sacrifices, and we also have our spiritual Sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, to bring, 1 Pet. 2.5. And these are the Sacrifices of a contrite heart, Confession of sin, Mortification, Prayer, Fasting, Alms. Bring these when ye come into his Courts, into his presence, and into his House of Prayer.
• 4. [Vers. 9] O worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness. They that come into the presence of a King, presently fall on their knees, in token of their submission and homage, when you come into the presence of your King, do the like: Adore. 2. And remember to do it in the Beauty of Holiness, which if refer'd to the material Temple, consider that it is by relation a Holy place, and should not then be profaned; a Beautiful place, and should not then be defaced, but kept beautiful. But if to be refer'd to the Spiritual Temple, the Temple of the Holy Ghost, that also is to be beautified with Holiness. A holy life, holy virtues.
• 5. Fear before him all the earth. Join fear to your Worship, for a man may be too bold and saucy in the presence of this King. Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice with reverence. There is a fear that ariseth out of the apprehension of greatness and excellency in the person, together with our dependence on, and our subjection to him, which both in body and mind makes us step back, and keep a distance: And this kind of fear causeth and produceth all Acts of Reverence and Adoration; and this is it which the Prophet here calls for.
• 6. [Vers. 10] Say among the Heathen, The Lord reigns: Or as some point it, Say, The Lord reigns among the Heathen. Be, as it were, Heralds, and proclaim as with sound of Trumpet, God is King. Christus Regnat. Vive le Roy. Hosannah.

Now here the Prophet begins to set forth the Amplitude of Christ's Kingdom.

• 1. Before it was confined to Judea, but now it is enlarged. All Nations are become his Subjects, he reigns among the Heathen.
• 2. The stability of it. The world shall be established, that it shall not be moved, the Laws of this Kingdom not to be altered, as were those given to and by Moses, but fixed, and to last forever. The Gospel is to be an eternal Gospel, a standing Law.
• 3. The equity to be observed in it. He shall judge the people righteously, for he shall give to those who observe his Laws, great rewards, but to such as contemn them, break them, and say, Nolumus hunc regnare, a condign punishment.

4. The Prophet having described the King, and the state of his Kingdom, exulting in spirit at it, [Vers. 11, 12.] as if he had seen him coming to sit upon the Throne, he calls, not the Gentiles only, whom it did very nearly concern, but all creatures to rejoice with him: heaven, earth, the Sea, the fields, the trees, the woods. Although there be that by heaven understand the Angels, by the earth, men, by the Sea, troublesome and restless spirits, by the trees, fields, and woods, the Gentiles who were to believe. But this needs not, because such Prosopopeia's are frequent in Scripture. The meaning is, that as the Salvation was Universal, so he would have the joy for it to be Universal; To the words then,

He incites all Creatures to rejoice for Christ's coming, both for the first, and the second; for the first, in which he consecrated all things; for the second, at which he will free all things from corruption, Rom. 8. from verse. 19. to 22.

• 1. For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth. Which first part of the verse, the Fathers refer to his first coming, [Vers. 13] when he was incarnate, and came to Redeem the world by his Death: And was to the end to judge; that is, to Rule and Govern the world by his Word, Ordinances, and Spirit.
• 2. And again, He shall come to judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his Truth: Which coming, though terrible to the wicked, yet will be joyful and comfortable to the righteous. For saith our Savior, Lift up your heads, for your Redemption draws near. And to comfort them, and terrify the wicked: He tells them,

That he will judge in equity, that is, justice, and in Truth, according to his Word and Promise.

He will accept no man's person, but render to every man according to his works.

PSAL. CXVII. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

IN this Psalm David sets forth God's power and glory, and being moved by the Spirit of Prophesy, foretells the downfall of Idolaters, and the happy estate of those who serve God with an honest heart.

Three parts there are of this Psalm.

• 1. A Prophetical description of Christ's power and glory, especially at the day of judgment, from verse. 1. to 7.
• 2. A manifest difference put betwixt Idolaters, and the people of God. Confusion he imprecates to the first, verse. 7. And gives notice of the joy of the second, with the reasons, verse. 8, 9.
• 3. He exhorts those that love God, to a good life, encouraging them upon God's favor, verse. 10. And upon the joy that is like to follow it, verse. 11. for which he stirs, them up to rejoice, and to be thankful, verse. 12.

He begins with a Solemn Acclamation, The Lord reigneth: being the self-same that he commanded to be proclaimed in the former Psalm, verse. 10. As if he had said, By the coming of Christ, the Empire of Death, [Vers. 1] the Power of the Devil, all Oracles are silenced, and all Idols destroyed. Jehovah is become the Supreme King, and all other Kings and Powers, become his Vassals and Servants; A benefit so great, that he moves the world to be glad of it: Let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the Isles, that is, the inhabitants of both, be glad thereof. All men wheresoever, and whatsoever, for if they be oppressed by Tyrants, yet the Lord they serve is Mightier, the Kingdom is his, all Power in heaven and earth given into his hands, and he can repress and bring into order the proudest Tyrants. He hath this name written on his thigh, King of Kings, and Lord of Lord's, Rev. 19.16.

• 2. And 'tis most certain, that he will make use of his Scepter for the good of his Subjects, and for the confusion and ruin of their and his enemies, which is often done in this life, but if defer'd, for some reasons best known unto him, yet it shall be certainly done at the last day, when his appearance will be very terrible, yet comfortable to His.

For,

• 1. Clouds and darkness shall be round about him, [Vers. 2] as it was when he gave the Law in Sinai.
• 2. Righteousness and Judgment the habitation, the Basis of his Throne.
  • 1. Righteousness, justly to pass sentence in the defense of his people. And so comfortable to them.
  • 2. Judgment, to be poured out upon his enemies. And so a terrible day to them.
• 3. A fire goeth before him, and burns up his enemies round about. [Vers. 3] His lightnings enlightened the world, the earth saw it, and trembled. [unspec 4] The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, [unspec 5] at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. In which three verses are set down the terror of that day, as it is described, Mat. 24 29, &c. 2 Pet. 2.10, &c. Psal. 18.7, &c. Which fire yet shall not hurt the godly, it shall burn up only his enemies, as is here said.
• 4. And at this day, the heavens declare his righteousness, when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Arch-angel, and the Trump of God, 1 Thess. 4. 2. And all people his glory, appearing in the clouds of heaven, with all the Angels about him, when every knee of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, shall bow unto him, Phil. 2.

2. Upon the consideration of Christ's Sovereignty, and his glorious appearance at the last day, our Prophet imprecates, and exhorts.

• 1. He imprecates that confusion and a curse may fall upon all Idolaters. Confounded be all they that serve carved Images; [Vers. 7] and boast themselves of Idols. Which is indeed their shame.
• 2. He exhorts. Adore him all ye gods; ye that excel in power on earth, ye Angels that excel in power in heaven, adore, worship, invocate, submit to this King. For this was, and ought to be the practice of God's people.
  • 1. [Vers. 8] Zion heard of it, heard that the Lord reigned, that he would come to judge the quick and dead, that Idolaters should be confounded, that Christ only was to be adored, and rejoiced at it, and was very well pleased with the News, and desired it should be so.
  • 2. [Vers. 9] The daughters of Judah, that is, the people of God rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O Lord; did exult, because thou, O Lord; doest judge all men with a just judgment.
  • 3. But that which did most of all excite and heighten their joy, was, the exaltation of Christ to the Throne, that the Lord of God's people, was now to be the Supreme Lord. Glad they were, because, Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth, high above all Kings, and earthly Monarchs, that thou art exalted far above all gods, i. e. far above all Angels, who are called gods by participation; and far above all Devils, who are worshipped as gods by an error of judgment.

3. At the eighth verse he made mention of the Church, and called them Zion, he spoke of the people of God under the name of the daughters of Judah, and he saith, they did exult, and rejoice at it. But that no man footh up himself with this Title, for there be many who lay claim to Zion, that belongs not to Zion, and seem to rejoice, that Christ is King, who wish in their hearts it were otherwise; [Vers. 10] The Prophet sets down an infallible Character by which the Elect may be known, viz. The Love of God; and the infallible consequent of it: The Hatred of evil; to which he exhorts, Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.

• 1. O you that make God your choice, and Christ your King, not feinedly, but truly; not with the lips alone, but with the heart; that fear and worship God, not according to the external work, but according to the Spirit of the Law:
• 2. See that ye hate evil; 'tis not sufficient to fly it, to decline from it, but you must detest and hate it, which without the work of the heart, will never be done. For the heart is the fountain of all actions, good or bad, from it before God they have their denomination and acceptance. As out of the heart proceeds the love of the chief good, so out of the heart again proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, &c. Mat. 15.

And that we lend the easier ear to this counsel, the Prophet proposeth two great rewards to those that love the Lord, and hate evil.

• 1. Enemies they have in this life, that hate them, that seek to oppress th • m, against these God promiseth protection, from these deliverance.
  • 1. [Vers. 10] He preserveth the souls of his Saints, often their lives, but always their souls, which is a benefit beyond the other. The Accuser of the brethren shall not hurt them.
  • 2. He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked, sometime out of their hand, that they fall not into it, and sometime out of their hand, when they are in it. Ovis erepta lupo. Now this is their first reward.
• 2. [Vers. 11] A second reward there is in the next verse. That in their miseries they shall be filled with content, and find comfort, when they little expected it: but then they must be righteous, and upright in heart.
  • 1. Light is sown for the righteous; or as the old Translator reads out of the Septuagint. Light is risen up to the righteous. The diversity as Moller and Bellarmine • , arose out of the nearness of the two Hebrew words, Zarahh, and Zarach; Zarahh signifying Seminare, and Zarach, oriri. By the first the Metaphor is more hard, by the second the more easy and sweet, but the sense will be the same.
    • 1. By light then here is understood God's favor, the light of understanding, truth, goodness, with the effect of it, or that which ariseth from it, comfort, content of soul, tranquility, peace of conscience.
    • 2. Now this is sown, as seed, it often times lies hid under the clods, but at last it shows itself. 2. Or as light is obscured by some cloud, which at length breaks forth, or riseth to some height, as the Sun in the morning. The sense then is this. Such a time there is, when the just man may say, Wisd. 5. 6. The light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the Sun of righteousness rose not upon us. The favor of God hath seemed to us to be hid, and buried, as it were, in disfavour. But this, saith our Prophet, shall not be always, the favor of God is sowed, and it will spring up again; The light of comfort, of peace of conscience, though it be clouded and darkened, yet it will break forth, and rise again.
  • 2. Again, There shall be gladness for the upright in heart. For uprightness doth direct, and establish the heart, whence there ariseth an ineffable joy in the conscience, when a man is a Witness to himself, that his will is conformable to God's Will, and all those things, and only those things please him, which please his God. Which is the second reward or fruit that he reaps, who loves God, and hates evil.

3. And out of these premises the Prophet draws his inference and conclusion, which he forms into an advice. [Vers. 12] Since light and joy doth arise to those who are upright in heart, and that joy is from God. Then

• 1. You that are just, rejoice not in the vanities of this world, as do the unjust, but rejoice in the Lord, who gives you this justice, and rewards it with this joy.
• 2. Then again be thankful for it. Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. It is his holiness, his righteousness, not your own that you carry in your hearts, and so often as this comes to your remembrance, bless and thank him for it.

PSAL. XCVIII. Propheticus, & 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

THIS Psalm is an evident Prophecy of Christ's coming to save, to judge the world, and therefore the Church hath well subjoined it to the Magnificat, for what is here foretold by David, is there chanted forth plainly, suppose then David to be the voice, and Mary the echo, and thus you may easily see the return.

• 1. O sing unto the Lord a new Song, saith David; My soul doth magnify the Lord, saith Mary.
• 2. David the voice saith, He hath done marvelous things. He hath magnified, saith the echo.
• 3. With his own right-hand, and with his holy arm, hath he gotten himself the victory, saith David. He hath shown strength with his arm, and scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, saith Mary.
• 4. The Lord hath made known his salvation, his righteousness hath he openly shown, &c. saith David. His mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations, &c. saith Mary.
• 5. He hath remembered his Mercy and Truth toward the house of Israel, saith David the voice. He remembering his Mercy, hath holpen his Servant Israel, saith Mary the echo.

An Egg then cannot be more like an Egg, than this Hymn is like the Magnificat, and both sung for the same end, viz. To praise God for the Salvation of the world by Christ.

Two parts of the Psalm.

• 1. An exhortation to sing to the Lord, and the reasons of it, verse. 1, 2, 3.
• 2. A new invitation to praise him, and that it be universal, from verse. 4. to 9.

1. He begins with a very fervent and earnest exhortation, it hath an O. before it.

• 1. O sing. Cantate, not canite: 2. A Song; a Hymn it would be. 3. To the Lord, not men. [Vers. 1]
• 2. A new Song; because a new occasion is given for a Song; it is not for your Creation, or Preservation, you are now to sing, but for your Redemption. Nova, res, novum Canticum. No common, no ordinary Song will now serve turn, but as God's Mercy in this Work was extraordinary, so our thanks ought to be more than ordinary.

And that men may yield to this motion, and put it in practice the more readily, and cheerfully, the Prophet subjoins his reasons.

• 1. For he hath done marvelous things, he hath opened his greatness and goodness in this great work of Redemption especially. In this work there be marvelous things indeed, He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, he was born of the Virgin Mary, he cured the blind, healed the lame, raised the dead, &c. And which is yet more marvelous, though he were the Lord of life, yet died, raised himself, ascended into heaven, sent down the Holy Ghost, and by unlearned men, converted the world. Domuit orbem non ferro sed ligno. A marvelous thing, that men should believe in a Crucified God.
• 2. His right-hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. It was his own work, he had no Coadjutors in it. And it was a work of his right-hand, and of his arm; that is, of his Son, who in Scripture is called the arm of God. 2. Of his holy arm, for the work was not done by Swords and Warlike Weapons, but by his Holiness, manifested by his Humility, Patience, Obedience, Submission to the Will of God, and a Holy life, and an undeserved death. 3. He hath gotten himself the victory, to himself first, then to all his, over Sin, Death, Hell.
• 3. The Lord hath made known his Salvation. First, by himself to the Jews, after, by his Apostles to all Nations. His Salvation; that is, [Vers. 2] A Salvation of his people from their sins, which had been of no use, had he not in mercy made it known.
• 4. His righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight of the heathen.
  • 1. His righteousness, by which he makes us just, by remission of sin, and imputation of his justice, by which we are alone justified at the Bar of God.
  • 2. This he hath openly shown, plainly revealed in his Gospel.
  • 3. In the sight of the heathen, for it is now made known to them, as well as the Jews.
• 5. [Vers. 3] He hath remembered his Mercy and Truth toward the House of Israel.
  • 1. To the House of Israel, for to them were the Prophecyes given, and with them the promise made, which yet concerned us Gentiles.
  • 2. His Mercy in promising. For it was out of mere mercy and grace, and not any merit of man's, that he should promise, That the seed of the woman should break the Serpents head.
  • 3. And he remembered it, when he performed it, by sending Salvation by his Son. Then he remembered his Truth, and performed the Oath which he sware to our forefathers, by visiting and Redeeming his people.
  • 4. For all the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation of our God. The Nations have heard the Apostles, and their Successors, they have believed the Gospel, and so by a heart purified by Faith, and experiment of Grace, they have actually seen the Salvation of our God. By the eye of faith they embrace it, love it, and labor by a holy life to be partakers of it.

2. Upon these reasons he persuades us, to sing unto the Lord a new Song, that Salvation was by him alone wrought for us. 2. Proclaimed, and made known to us. 3. That he had performed his Covenant, and applied it, making all the ends of the earth partakers of it: And now he returns to exhort us to do that with which he began; and as if he could never sufficiently express his desires, he runs descant upon it, Praise him with a loud voice, sing with your tongues, exult with your hearts, take in the help of all Instruments, and call to all creatures to accompany you, and complete your mirth. This is the Sum of the following verses.

• 1. [Vers. 4] Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the whole earth. Jubilate, keep a Jubilce for it; Cantate, Chant it out aloud. Exultate, Fetch, as it were, a leap for it. And Psallite, Sing praise all the ways you can. 2. And let all the earth do it, because all the earth is partaker of the Savior, and Salvation.
• 2. [Vers. 5] Sing unto the Lord with a harp, with the harp, and the voice of a Psalm, [Vers. 6] with Trumpets, and sound of a Cornet. With Vocal, with Cordal, with Pneumatical Music. All ways we can, are too little to express our joy.
• 3. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our King. You are in conspectu ejus, his eyes sees, and his ear hears what you do, let it be done heartily.
• 4. [Vers. 7] And to make the Music the fuller, as if the senseless creatures had ears and hands to give an applause at the relation, and feet to dance at it, he calls to them to join with him in the mirth.
  • Let the Sea roar, [Vers. 7] and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.
  • Let the floods clap their hands, [Vers. 8] let the hills rejoice together. It is a Prosopopeia, frequently used in Scripture: as afore, Psal. 96.11, 12.
• 5. And let it be heartily and sincerely done. For it is before the Lord; in his eye, in his sight, in his presence, who can judge with what affection anything is done.

And for this he gives a reason, [Vers. 9] with which he concludes. For he cometh to judge the earth; which may be referred to his first, or second coming.

• 1. If to the first, then the sense is, Let all creatures rejoice, because he comes to judge, that is, to govern and order with just and excellent Laws, the whole Orb of the world, not only by the invisible Majesty of his Divinity, but being made into the similitude of man, and in form now found a true man.
• 2. If to the last, his second coming, then let all creatures rejoice, because he shall root out sinners from the earth, and make new heavens, and a new earth. The whole creature shall be delivered from corruption, under which it greans and travails in pain together until now, and shall be restored into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Rom. 8.21, 22.

3. Now both these shall be done with that rectitude of judgment, that there be nothing crooked, nothing oblique, nothing savouring of iniquity in it.

PSAL. XCIX. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

THE Subject matter of this Psalm, is the self-same with the former, for it sets forth the Glory of Christ's Kingdom, the Majesty, Power and Justice of the King, and exhorts all by the example of his former servants, to exalt, call on him, and praise him.

Two parts of this Psalm.

• 1. A Description of Christ's Kingdom.
  • 1. From the Majesty and Terror of it, against his enemies, ver. 1, 2, 3.
  • 2. From the Equity of it in execution of judgment and justice, ver. 4.
  • 3. From the King 's Patience and Clemency in giving Audience to his servants, 6, 7, 8.
• 2. A Demand of praise and honor of all that acknowledge him for their King, begun at the third verse, repeated at the fifth, [unspec 97] and continued in the last. [unspec 99]

This is the third time he begins his Hymus with this solemn Acclamation, The Lord reigneth, Jehovah is King: And then, as is usual in Music, Rests, and pauseth, as it seems to me; after, as if he had recovered breath, [Ver. 1] he sings with full voice.

1. The Terror, Power, Glory, and Majesty of it.

• 1. He bids a defiance, as it were, to all his enemies; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , irascantur, commoveantur, fremant populi; let the people be angry, fret, and be unquiet, as Psal. 2.1. Let the earth, that is, the Tyrants of the earth, be movd at it, yet let them know, that all their endeavors are but vain: For, 1. He sits between the Cherubims; the Cherubims were over the Ark, by which was signified the presence of God with his people, and they covered the Propiatory and Ark with their wings: The sense then is, God is always present with his people, to them, and therefore no fear, though the earth be moved. [Ver. 2]
• 2. The Lord is great in Zion, of great power, and high above all people, in Majesty, Power, Wisdom; no fear then for this also, though the earth be moved.
• 3. His Name is great and terrible: Great, [Ver. 3] and therefore terrible to his enemies; for it is holy, and therefore venerable. In a word, his Regal Majesty, and Regal Sanctity is such, that he is a most potent, and a most just King, and therefore no fear yet, though the earth be moved; rather let them give the praise and honor due unto his Name.

2. Our Prophet describes the Kingdom of Christ, from the justice and equity which is administered in it, and thereby moves his not to fear, though the earth be moved. [Ver. 4]

• 1. The Kings strength; Hoz. heb. strength, honor, dignity, authority, holiness, &c. loveth judgment, judgeth righteously out of the love he bears to justice, not constrained by fear, passion or necessity.
• 2. And this he shows by the following Apostrophe, in which he thus speaks to the King.
  • 1. Thou dost establish equity; Confirm and establish just and equal Laws.
  • 2. Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob: In thy Kingdom thou executest these Laws also justly, by punishing sin, and rewarding good works, of which there be examples in both Testaments; for though for a time he suffered the godly to be afflicted, and the ungodly to be exalted, yet he at last frees his servants, and crowns their patience; but he falls in fury on the wicked, and damns them; he punisheth sometimes in this life, always in the life to come.

Upon which the Prophet collects, That God is to be adoted, to which he earnestly exhorts: Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his Foot-stool, for he is holy.

• 1. Exalt ye, by praising his Majesty with the heart, [Ver. 5] and magnifying him with your voice.
• 2. And worship at his footstool; not his footstool, as some read it, that have a months mind to have Images worshipped. In which expression David had an eye to the Ark of the Covenant, for so I find it called, 1 Chron. 28.2. Lam. 2.1. Toward which the Jews were bound to bow. And his intention is, that all our approaches and applications to the Lord our God, be with the greatest reverence and submission of mind and body that may be. All is too little.
• 3. For he is Holy, or, it is holy; for the skillful in the Hebrew confess it may be read in either gender. Holy, the Jews called whatsoever was eminent, excellent, perfect, chaste, entire, sincere. God then is holy, because he is so in himself, and his house, his Priests, his Day, &c. The Ark his footstool, is Holy in relation to him; when then we approach to him, or any place where he ordinarily shows his presence, Holy and Reverent actions and gestures are required of us. Take heed to thy feet; Profane not what is holy.

3. The third way by which the Prophet sets out the excellency of Christ's Kingdom, and the Clemency and Mercifulness of our King, is in that he is ready to hear Petitioners, and receive Petitions, and of an inclinable nature to grant them also, for which he brings examples of three illustrious men, all eminent in their generations; Moses a Prince, Aaron a Priest, and Samuel a Judge in Israel, who all fell down and worship'd at his footstool, called upon, and were heard in their intercessions.

• 1. [Vers. 6] Moses and Aaron among his Priests. The Hebrew word here used, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , always signifies not a Priest, but a Prince and chief Ruler, as 2 Sam. 8.18. 1 Chron. 18.17. and so it may have reference to Moses, a chief Prince, but in the proper sense to Aaron, for he was the chief Priest.
• 2. And Samuel no Priest, but a Levite, yet chief Judge among those called on his name.
• 3. They called upon the Lord for themselves and the people, and he answered them. Of Moses the story is extant, Exod. 32.31. Of Aaron, Numb. 16. 46, 47, 48. Of Samuel, 1 Sam. 7.5, 9, 10.
• 4. [Vers. 7] He spake unto them, that is, to Moses, Exod. 33.8, 9, 11. and unto Aaron, Numb. 12. from 5. to 8. But unto Samuel we read not that he spake in the cloudy Pillar.

And now he aptly adds the reason why God so readily heard these three, it was because they were his servants, and obeyed the commands of their King. For as Christ saith, He that loves me, will keep my Commandments. He then that will be heard in his prayers, ought to hear God in his Commands. So did they.

• 1. They kept his Testimonies, those Precepts that were common to all others.
• 2. And the Ordinances he gave them, as Public persons, who were to rule in Church and State.

And that this was a great mercy and favor to them and the people, the Prophet acknowledgeth by his Apostrophe to God in the next verse.

• 1. Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God. Which the Story confirms. [Vers. 8]
• 2. Thou wast a God that forgavest them; that is, the people for whom Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel prayed. For as Moller observes in Hebrew, the Relative is often put without an Antecedent.
• 3. Though thou takest vengeance on their inventions. The Calf was broken, Exod. 32. and the false gods put away, 1 Sam. 7. Though their sin was remitted, yet a temporal and corporal punishment followed them, Numb. 14.23, 30. & Numb. 20.12.

2. The Prophet concludes the Psalm Carmine Ambaebaeo, with the repetition of the fifth verse, only what he calls there God's footstool, he here calls Mount Zion. And in the verse is contained the full scope and intent of the whole, which is, That we exalt our King, and adore him.

• 1. Exalt the Lord our God; not that we can do it, [Vers. 9] or make him higher, but we must contribute what we can to his exaltation, which is then done, when we gratefully acknowledge his Power in defense of his Church, and his Clemency in hearing our prayers, and the Intercessions of his servants for us.
• 2. Worship at his Holy Hill; which literally is to be understood of Zion, the place which he had chosen for his worship, where now the Tabernacle was, and after the Temple was built. But concerns us also that live in the Catholic Church, to serve him in unity, meeting together in such holy places which are set apart for his worship.
• 3. For the Lord our God is holy; which is the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or reason, why Zion was Holy, and many other persons and things in relation to him. A consideration very necessary, as Musoulus well observes, for this profane age.

PSAL. C. A Psalm of Praise. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

THE Title shows the Scope, that it was composed for a form to praise God, yea and in the public Congregation, and therefore is well chosen to be a part of our Liturgy.

There be two parts of this Psalm.

• 1. An Exhortation to praise God, verse. 1, 2, 4. And the manner how to be done.
• 2. The reasons that persuade to it, verse. 3, 5.

1. In his Exhortation to praise God, required it is,

• 1. That the praise be Universal, none exempted from it. All ye lands, or all the earth. [Vers. 1]
• 2. [unspec 2] That it be hearty, full, and performed with a cheerful soul. Make a joyful noise; that it be done in gladness, and singing.
• 3. That it be not partial and restrained, but complete, the Copia verborum in which the Exhortation is offered, shows it. Jubilate, colite, scitote, [Vers. 2] venite, laudate, benedicite.
• 4. That it be sincere, and not feigned; done as in his eye, and presence. [Vers. 3]
• 5. That it ought to be well grounded, arise from knowledge. Know ye that. [Vers. 4]
• 6. But thanksgiving be a part of it.
• 7. That it be, as oft as occasion is offered, Public. Enter into his Courts with Thanksgiving.

2. The Duty being set down; reasons the Prophet sets down also to persuade to it, drawn from the Nature of God. 2. The benefits he bestows on us.

• 1. First from his Essence. Know ye, if you know not so much already, that the Lord he is God. [Vers. 3] Other gods there be talked on, but none True but he. And therefore none to be served but he.
• 2. And this he shows himself to be by his work of Nature and Grace upon you.
  • 1. By his work of Nature, for he is your Maker. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Parents are said to get chilcren, but that ability is from God. He makes the barren to bear, and to be a joyful Mother of children. Thou hast fashioned me in my mothers womb. What saith Elkanah? Am I in the place of God? when his Wife was displeased she had no child.
  • 2. By his work of Grace. For we were out of the fold, but he called us into it, and ever since accounted of us as his people of his pasture. He governs us, feeds us.

And that we be yet the more cheerful and ready to perform this duty, in the last verse he puts us in mind of three Attributes of God; His Mercy, his Goodness, his Truth; for which he is worthy to be praised by us, because we the better for them; for because he is good, he hath mercy upon us; and because he is merciful, he promiseth us aid and assistance; and because he is faithful and true, he will perform it.

• 1. [Vers. 5] For the Lord is good. O how good to those that are true of heart! He is reconciled to us, pardons our sin, justifies us, adopts us for his children, and that freely, without any merit of ours.
• 2. His Mercy is everlasting. He is the Father of Mercies, and begets Mercies, as oft as we bring forth sins. It is the Mercy of the Lord, that we are not consumed.
• 3. And his Truth endureth to all generations. For he never made promise, but either he hath or will perform it. God is not as man, that he should lie.

PSAL. CI. A Psalm of David. Didascalicus.

DAUID being Anointed by Samuel to be King, or as most conceive, newly made King, promiseth and vows to God to reign in Righteousness and Holiness. In a word, he would so govern Himself, his Palace, the Church, the State, that all wicked doers being taken away, and all good men countenanc'd by him, God should be honor'd, and justice, peace, temperance, piety flourish.

Two parts of the Psalm.

• 1. The Syllabus, or brief of the Psalm: with the Dedication of it, verse. 1.
• 2. The full Explication of what he means by Mercy and Judgment, and how practiced
  • 1. Toward himself. For he shows what his life shall be, from verse. 2. to 5.
  • 2. Toward ungodly men, verse. 4, 5, 7, 8. and the end of it, verse. 8.
  • 3. Toward all good men, verse. 6. These should be his Counselors and Servants.

1. He Summarily sets down what he will treat of in this Psalm, viz. Mercy and Judgment, the two great virtues of a King. I will sing of mercy and judgment. [Ver. 1]

• 1. Mercy, in countenancing, giving audience, judging for, and rewarding the good.
• 2. Judgment, in discountenancing, punishing, and being a terror to evil works, and workers.

And that he would do this really, not talk and seem to profess a great love to Mercy and Judgment, as Princes use to do, when they mean no such matter. He makes a Solemn Vow to God to perform it. Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. From thee proceed these gifts, to thy honor they shall be refer'd, and by me, as in thy sight, impartially executed. This I Vow and Promise to thee.

2. And first I will begin with the reformation of myself, and my own house, that I may be an example to my whole Kingdom.

• 1. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. 1. Via, is Vita, and my life shall be perfect, pro statu viatoris. The way I shall choose, shall be the way of perfection. 2. And then I will walk wisely in it; I will be wise as a Serpent, and as innocent as a Dove; for, for want of wisdom, even in a perfect way, a man may be mistaken. It is good to be zealous in a good matter, and in a good manner. We see in a good matter, zeal, where there wants prudence, commits foul errors.
• 2. When wilt thou come unto me? Which some read with an interrogative point? and then it is an Ejaculation, When, O Lord, wilt thou perform thy promise to me? for as yet it is supposed by some, that he was not King: Or else, When wilt thou come unto me with thy assistance of grace? Others tead it, without the interrogative, and couple this clause to the former words, thus, I will behave myself wisely, when thou comest unto me, intimating that he was not able to do what he professed, without the aid and help of God's grace. But yet signifying thus much, that if God would come unto him to illuminate him, to teach him, to inflame him, to move, and enable him, he then would behave himself wisely in a perfect way.
• 3. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
  • 1. I will walk, it should be his delight, his constant course, as men take in their Garden-walks.
  • 2. I will walk in my house; Not abroad only carrying himself modestly, but within doors, in his private Closet. Or else he would have a care of his Family.
  • 3. I will walk in my house with a perfect heart. My heart, which is the fountain of life and death, I will keep with all diligence. That shall be sincere, upright, innocent; though I may slip in my walk, yet it shall be far against my will. I will always walk with a perfect heart:

Affirmatively he hath shown what he would do; and in the next verses, Negatively he declares what he would not do; he had manifested the innocence of his heart, and now he shows what should be the innocence of his eyes, and hands.

• 1. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. [Ver. 3] Death climbs up the windows, saith Jeremy. Eve saw the forbidden fruit pleasant to the eye. A chan saw the Wedge of Gold, and goodly Babylonish garment. Ut vidi, ut perii. So innocent he would be in judging his Subjects, and distributing honors, that nothing of Belial, as the Hebrew hath it, should come in his sight, that might pervert his judgment. Oportet judicem non solum manus, sed oculos habere continentes.
• 2. I hate the work of them that turn aside. I hate it; for so he must, that means to leave it; for when there is not a hatred of evil, the temptation will work too strongly.
• 3. It shall not cleave to me. No part of it, God willing, shall cleave to his fingers.

2. Declared he hath, what he would be in himself, and now he sets forth what he would be toward others, both bad and good. And first as touching naught and evil men.

• 1. A froward heart, that is, a man of a perverse, froward, and crooked heart, shall depart from me. [Ver. 4]
• 2. I will not know, that is, approve, uphold, countenance, love a wicked person.

Of which froward, malicious, and wicked people, he gives three instances in the following verses, Detractors, proud, and fraudulent men. Such he would not endure. [Ver. 5]

• 1. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: from the Court, from my friendship, from his government, from life itself, if the flender deserves it.
• 2. Him that hath a high look, is proud. For pride is showed in the look and eye.
• 3. And a proud heart. Heb. Latus cord, a heart so extended with ambition and coverousness, that it cannot be satisfied with riches and honors. Him I will not suffer. He shall not eat with me.

These shall not be about me, nor find any countenance from me, such I will punish, and not favor. Others there are whom I will prefer and honor, faithful and honest men: For he shows now how he would carry himself to honest men.

• 1. My eye shall be upon the faithful in the Land, [Ver. 6] that they may dwell with me, be my Servants, sit at my Table, and be my Counselors.
• 2. He that walks in a perfect way, that serves God, shall serve me. For certainly, he that will not ferve God sincerely, will never faithfully serve man.

And so having opposed by way of Antithesis to the fifth verse, what kind of men should be of his Court and Counsel. He proceeds in his Negative, and adds, whom he would not entertain; before not slanderers, no proud men, not ambitious, [Ver. 7] nor covetous. But now,

• 1. No fraudulent persons. He that works deceit, shall not dwell in my house. Enter they might, but upon discovery, stay they should not, dwell they should not there.
• 2. Nor Liars. He that telleth lies, shall not tarry in my sight. He shall not find grace in my eyes.

And in Conclusion, that he need not instance in more, he shows his dislike to all evil doers, and his zeal to purge the City of God from scandalous persons.

• 1. With such he would make quick work. I will early, that is, speedily, and maturely do it, before the evil be too fast rooted.
• 2. [Ver. 8] I will destroy all the wicked of the Land. All of them shall go one and the same way, who are worthy of death, and whose life may endanger innocent persons.
• 3. His end in this severity was. That I may cut off all wicked doers from the City of the Lord, i. e. That to the Church, which is a holy and a peaceable City, I may restore Holiness, Piety, and Peace; and to the society of men that live within it, tranquility, and administration of justice, all disturbers of Peace and Piety, being utterly unrooted, which under Saul's government bore too great a sway.

PSAL. CII. The Title of this Psalm, is, A Prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before God. It is by the Church chosen for one of the Penitentials.

I T seems to me to be composed by the Prophet to be a form of prayer to be used by the faithful Jews in the time of their Captivity at Babylon. For in it is expressed the sad condition they were then in, in the person of an afflicted man, the present state of Religion, under the desolation of the Temple, which the Prophet laments; and yet again comforts himself and his people, upon the consideration of God's Eternity and Immutability, and that therefore he will perform his promise, have mercy on Zion, build again the Temple, restore them again to their own Land, in which they should quietly and happily dwell.

This, no question, is the literal sense of the Psalm, but it cannot be doubted, but the Prophet had a farther intent in it. For the faithful among the Jews knew, that the Restitution of Solomon's Templ • , was but a Type of that Temple, which the Messiah would build up of living stones, and inhabit by his Spirit. This then they prayed for, and for the erection of it, when they prayed for the re-edification of the other, as appears by very many passages in this Psalm.

Two General parts there are of this Psalm.

• 1. A description of the Calamity of the Church under the person of an afflicted man, from verse. 1. to 12.
• 2. The comfort yet she took in these Calamities, and the ground of it, from verse. 12. to 28.

1. The whole is formed into a prayer, which is proposed in the two first verses, and an earnest motion made for audience.

• 1. [Ver. 1] Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.
• 2. [unspec 2] Hide not thy face from me in the day, when I am in trouble, incline thine ear to me, in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

2. And he presseth his prayer by way of complaint, showing many ways, what a heavy case he was in.

• 1. [Ver. 3] By a consumption of his strength. 1. My days are consumed as smoke, which though it swells into the air in a great thick body, yet it is suddenly dispersed, and vanisheth. 2. And my bones, which are, as it were, [unspec 4] the pillars of this house, my body, are burnt and dried up, as it were an hearth, or the stones of the hearth, which the fire by continuance burns out. 3. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; that either cut down, withers to hay; or standing, is burnt up by the scorching heat of the Sun. 4. To this pass I am come, that I can take no sustenance, I forget to eat my bread.
• 2. [unspec 5] From his continual weeping and pining away. By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
• 3. [unspec 6] From his Solitude. He was deserted of his friends. Clausa fides miseris. I am become like a Pelican in the Wilderness, I am become like an Owl in the Desert. [unspec 7] Solitary Birds.
• 4. From his continual watchings. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone on the house top. As Moller observes this kind of bird, impatientissime viduitatem ferunt. [unspec 8]
• 5. From the reproach of them, who had been his friends, but were now his enemies, for a wicked man thinks himself reproached by a good man's honest conversation, Wisd. 5. Mine enemies reproach me all the day long, and they are mad against me, are sworn against me: have conspited by an Oath to undo me.
• 6. [unspec 9] And that which made them so mad and swe • r, was my repentance, which I testified by ashes on my head, and tears in my eyes. I have caten ashes like bread, my daily food; and mingled my drink with weeping, I drank tears with my wine: that is, I was fed with bitterness, and sustained with tears, which they derided.

And now behold the reason why every true penitent is thus humbled, it is not for want, nor yet for want of wit, but it is out of a true sense of God's anger, which he hopes to pacify by his sorrow and humiliation.

• 1. [Ver. 10] Because of thine indignation, and thy wrath, for my former sin.
• 2. Which I collect thus. Thou hast formerly lifted me up, then sure I was in thy fovour; but hast now cast me down, whence I may well conclude, that I am in disfavour with thee.
• 3. And the effect plainly shows it. For my days are as a shadow that declines, [unspec 11] and am withered like grace. Become mortal, flying, fading from thy wrath, raised by my own default.

2. Hitherto the Prophet hath petition'd and complained. His case was lamentable, yet he is notswallow'd up of sorrow. Heart he begins to take, and comfort he promiseth himself in the Eternity and Immutability of God, and his love to his Church. Hence he conceives hope of reconciliation, and being moved by the Spirit of God, foretells the restauration of Zion and Jerusalem, and typically the state of Christ's Church. [unspec 12]

• 1. True, I wither away as grass, and so shall all Individual men. But
  • 1. Thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever: and therefore thy Church, and promises to thy Church.
  • 2. And thy Remembrance from generation to generation. The Covenant which thou hast made, shall be remembered from father to son, [Ver. 13] till the worlds end.
• 2. Thou seemest now to sleep. But thou shalt arise.
  • 1. Thou shalt have mercy on Zion, and save thy people.
  • 2. For the time to favor her, yea the set time is come; Literally, the seventy years of the Captivity were near expired. Typically, by the Spirit, the Prophet foresaw, and conceived the Redemption of the Church in the future, as a thing present. And both he calls a time of favor; for from the favor and mercy of God, both proceeded.
• 3. And this Consideration wrought a double effect.
  • 1. One upon God's people for the present, viz. an earnest desire to have it so. [Ver. 14] Earnest they were that Jerusalem should again be built, the Church set up. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. [Ver. 15]
  • 2. The other upon the Heathen. So the Heathen shall fear thy name; which began when Darius and Cyrus saw and acknowledged the Prophesies, and obeyed them. 2. And all the Kings of the earth thy glory; which was truly fulfilled, in the conversion of Constantine, &c. to the Faith.

And he adds the cause why Kings and Nations should be so strangely converted, because he had beyond all belief and expectation of man, [Ver. 16] so strangely delivered his people from Captivity, and so miraculously set up his Kingdom in his Church. This shall be done, When, or because the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory. Before, he cast his people into the grave, as it were, without any hope of life, or restitution; but when he shall bring them from thence, he shall make his glory and honor manifest.

And that which moved him to it, was the prayers of his people. [Ver. 17] He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

Now lest the Jews should conceive, that what was done for them, did concern them only, and not their Children, or to speak more properly, the whole people of God in all ages to come; God would have a Record kept of it.

• 1. This shall be written for the generation to come.
• 2. And the people, which shall be created, shall praise the Lord, [Ver. 18]