Davids Harp Strung and Tuned

The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and second Psalm.

O Almighty God, great Lord of heaven and earth, we miserable sinners, with fear and shame cast down ourselves before thee, [Ver. 1] humbly confessing, that for ourselves, we are unworthy that our prayers should have access to thee, since we have broken all thy righteous Laws and Commandments, and walked unworthy of thy Gospel, and our Christian vocation. But, O Lord, of thy mercy and clemency make us so worthy to pray, [Ver. 2] that thou mayest hear our prayers; and let the cry of thy Spirit in our hearts be so vehement, that it faint not in the way, but approach thy Throne of grace. Though we be foul and filthy sinners, that have defaced thy image, yet do not thou in displeasure turn away thy face from us. It troubles us, that we are thus foul, and this is the day of our trouble for it, oh thou who hast promised to accept the Sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, now, when we are in trouble, incline thine ear unto us; in this day when we call upon thee our heavenly Physician, hear us, and answer us, and that with speed, [Ver. 3] left if thou prolong the time, thou shalt not be able to find whom to heal and save.

For, O Lord, we are in a very lamentable condition, for the days of our life and prosperity are consumed as smoke, that vanisheth in the air, and the pillars of our bodies, our bones, [Ver. 4] are burnt up as a hearth that the fire wears away. Our heart is smitten out of the sense of thy wrath, and pineth and withereth away as grass scorched by the heat of the Sun; so great is our misery, so pressing our calamity, that we forget to take our daily repast, to eat our bread, which nature itself requires of us. We lived in delights, [Ver. 5] but now by the voice of our groaning, by the continual sorrows, and expressions of those sorrows that are upon us, our flesh is consumed, and our bodies brought to such a leanness, that our bones will scarce cleave to our skin. For very grief we fly the soriety of men, and seek out places that are fit for mourners; [Ver. 6] We are like a Pelican, a bird that delights to live alone in the Wilderness; and like an Owl, which flying the company of other birds, the light, and sight of men, dwells in a secret, dark, and retired place, where she sings a sad tune, and we a heavy song. [Ver. 7] Our nights we spend in continual watchings, very grief suffering us not to close our eyes, and at break of day we breath forth our sighs unto thee, as the Sparrow that sits alone, and laments the loss of her mate, upon the house top.

And in these our distresses, we find no comforter, [Ver. 8] all our friends have forsaken us, and our enemies making their advantage of it, have gathered themselves together against us, they reproach and revile us all the day long, and being mad against us, and set upon mischief, they have entered into a conspiracy, and bound themselves by an Oath to undo us. [Ver. 9] For this cause we eat no pleasant bread, neither came any wine in our mouths, but such as was kneaded with penitential ashes, and mingled with the salt of tears and weeping. And what soul that was ever under the sense of God's disfavour, can blame us for this, since, Thy wrathful displeasure goes over us, [Ver. 10] thy indignation pursues us? Thou, who in mercy didst lift us up, hast in judgment cast us down. The sad consideration whereof, doth, beyond all that man can do, afflict us.

But how long, O Lord, wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro? [Ver. 11] How long wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? While thou Writest these bitter things against us, our days are like a shadow, and decliues, and we are withered as grass, whose beauty and glory fades in a moment.

But why art thou thus vexed, O my soul? [Ver. 12] and why art thus disquieted within me? O put thy trust in God. Call to mind, that he endures forever, and the remembrance of his Covenant to all generations. 'It is thy promise, O Lord, we look to, 'tis thy Covenant only we hope in, according to thy word, arise and have mercy upon Zion, pity thy poor afflicted people, for the time to favor her is now very seasonable, [Ver. 13] yea the time is come; For thy servants think upon, and take pleasure in her stones, not so much those stones with which those goodly structures, [Ver. 14] in which we were wont to meet and praise thee, were built and beautified, as those living stones built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles, [Ver. 17] Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust. In the dust, Lord, we favor them, and for these we pray, that they may be restored to their places in thy Sacred Temple. [Ver. 16] O regard the prayer of the poor destitute, and despise not our desire, for this will tend to thy honor, and enlargement of thy Kingdom, being alsured, [Ver. 15] that when the Lord shall build up Zion, and when he shall appear in glory, that the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the earth thy glory.

Look down then, O Lord, from the height of thy Sanctuary, and from heaven behold the earth. [Ver. 19] Hear the groaning of the Prisoners, and loose those that are appointed to death, [Ver. 20] that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise at Jerusalem. [Ver. 21] May we but obtain so great a mercy, it shall be written for the generations to come, and the people, our children, that shall be born, [Ver. 18] shall praise the Lord: They shall praise thee, and sing of thy mercy in the great Congregation, [unspec 22] even when the people are gathered together, and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord.

That thou wilt make an Inquisition for innocent blood, I am assured, that those who have profaned thy dwelling place, shall be as a rolling thing before the wind, [Ver. 23] I do believe; that they who have swallowed down riches, shall vomit them up again, I know, for God shall cast them out of their belly. But thou hast so weakened my strength in the way, and so shortened my days, that it is not likely I shall lide to see it; Lord, might my eyes see thy salvation, I would willingly sing with old Simeon, [Ver. 24] Now let thy servant depart in peace: Yet will I pray, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my age. I am thy Creature, [unspec 25] O Lord, created after thy own image, yet not to live forever on earth, as thou shalt live in heaven, for thy years are throughout all generations. [unspec 26] Even the earth, whose foundation thou hast laid, and the heavens which are the work of thy Power and Wisdom, wax old as a garment, and as a vesture shall be wrapped up, they shall perish, and be annihilated, spare me a little then, because I am a creature of a short continuance, and can bear no proportion to thy esernity, [unspec 27] for thou art the same, and thy years have no end. But I yield myself to thy Will, I submit myself to thy dispose; if I cannot arrive to what I desire, to see Jerusalem in prosperity, yet grant, that I may see my Lord in the Land of the living, [unspec 28] for I am assured, that the children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee, and live in thy presence for evermore. Amen.

PSAL. CIII. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . A Psalm to David.

THE Title shows the Psalm to be inspired into David by the Holy Ghost, and the end is to comfort a soul heavy and laden, but especially with the burden of sin. To him every word in it drops like an Honey-comb, so that had not the comfort been revealed and sent from heaven, it could never have been believed, that Almighty God should be so merciful to sinful man.

Three parts there are of this Psalm.

• 1. The Exordium, in which David by an Apostrophe turns to his own soul, and stirs it up to bless God, ver. 1, 2.
• 2. The Narration, or an ample Declaration of the Benefits, from the first to the last, conferred by God upon him, and others; and the causes of them, from ver. 3. to 20.
• 3. A Conclusion, in which he makes a motion to Angels, and all other Creatures, to join with him in the praise of God, from ver. 20. to the last.

1. David being fully persuaded that he was one of the number of the Elect, stirs up himself in the person of the Elect, to praise and speak well of God in the two first verses.

• 1. Bless God, think on the Benefit, and bless the Benefactor; [Ver. 1] Extoll him with praises.
• 2. O my Soul bless him; because the Soul alone can know, and inform the whole man what God deserves for his blessings. 2. Again, he would not have it a lip-labor, but come from a heart affected with it: Heartily done; for, quod cor non facit, non fit.
• 3. Not the Soul alone, but that all that is within him: Totum hominis; whatsoever is within his skin, every part, every faculty about him; Will, Understanding, Memory, Affections, Heart, Tongue, Hand, Eyes, &c. All join.
• 4. And bless Jehovah; for he gave them their Being, and their Properties and Operations. 2. Praise his holy Name, his Essential Properties, his Wisdom, Power, Goodness, Justice; for to oclebrate God in all these, is, To praise his holy Name.
• 5. Bless the Lord, O my Soul; for he comes over it again, [Ver. 2] that he might press the Duty more emphatically, and show his vehement desire to have it done; it shows we freeze, and are cold in the Duty, and need a Goad to quicken us.
• 6. And forget not all his benefits.
  • 1. Forget not; He would not be guilty of the common Error, forgetfulness of a good turn; for 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Which if it happen, 'tis impossible to be thankful; and therefore, Omnium ingratissimus, qui beneficii accepti non reminiscitur: Forget not then
  • 2. All his benefits: Not all, no nor indeed any of them; for, not one but deserves a blessing.
  • 3. His benefits: Some read Munera, the Vulgar, Retributiones: If Munera, they are freely given; if Retributiones, they are more than we can deserve, yet it pleases him to accompt them so. Let but a man well consider, how many evils we return daily to God for his good things he freely bestows on us, and how many good things he returns to us daily, notwithstanding the evil we return him, and we shall easily understand how great is the goodness of God, That retributes good for evil, and makes his Sun to shine on the just and unjust, Luke 6. And Beneficia they are to us, for we are the better for them.

2. At the third verse the Prophet begins his Declaration, and by an Induction of particulars, reckons up the benefits, and that in this order. 1. Those done to himself, in which yet he excludes not others, as if they might not share with him. 2. Done to the whole Church: But of the first he had a true sense and experience what others felt, he could not say: Now these benefits to himself were either spiritual or temporal.

• 1. [Ver. 3] The first spiritual Benefit was Justification, or Remission of sin; by which of an unjust man, he made him just; of an enemy, a friend; of a slave, a son. Bless God, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, freely forgives thy Debt, or unjust Actions, although many. All, everyone, Original and Actual.
• 2. The second Benefit, is Regeneration, by which the Power of Concupiscence that dwells in us, is daily weakened and subdued, though not wholly abolished. The full cure must be expected in the life to come, but such a cure is done upon us in this life, That it shall not reign in our mortal bodies, and we obey it in the lusts thereof. And of this cure in himself, David was sensible, and therefore he saith, Who heals all thy diseases, or infirmities, is daily cutting away, and snubbing these roots of sin.
• 3. [Ver. 4] The third Benefit, is Redemption, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, from the Pit, from the Grave, from Death, and that which followeth it, eternal Destruction.
• 4. The fourth Benefit, Glorification: Who Crowneth thee, gives a Crown of Glory; and the cause of this, and the other Benefits, be conceals not, it is with, or out of loving-kindness and tender mercies; ex visceribus miserecordiae.

Neither is he behind with thee for temporal Benefits; for however Bellarmine refers these and the following words to the felicity of the Soul, and immortality of the Body in the life to come, which I dislike not in the Anagogical sense; yet I conceive the Literal sense of the words may properly be referred to this present life, in which God feeds and nourisheth our Bodies, and supplies what is necessary for Food and Rayment, and also conserves us in this life, and gives us health and strength; [Ver. 5] both which the Prophet teacheth us in the following words.

• 1. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things: He gives not sparingly, and with a Niggards hand, but gives abundantly to enjoy, 1 Tim. 6. He satisfieth; and good things they are, till we abuse them.
• 2. So that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles: An Eagle is a youthful and lusty Bird in her old age, and of long life; and this often God grants to many of his, that they be long-lived, healthful and lively, active and vigorous old men, as to Moses, Joshua, Job; which if it happen, it is a Gift of God.

2. As man is to pray, so also is he bound to bless God for the good that befalls his Neighbor, which course David here takes; for he blesseth God not only for the Benefits of God bestowed upon himself, but such as were common, and did belong to the whole Church; and in two he gives his instance. The first is, the defense of his people, and deliverance of all that are oppressed. The second is, the Manifestation of his Will by his Servants, the Pen-men of Scripture to them.

• 1. Most just God is to his, and good, in punishing their Adversaries. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed with wrong, [Ver. 6] which is a new Benefit: Two Alms he distributes.
  • 1. A righteous portion to his servants.
  • 2. Judgment, and a just revenge to his enemies, to all that are oppressed with wrong. The Israelites were preserved in Egypt, but Pharaoh plagued.
• 2. Most kind in making known his Will, which had he not declared to his servants, [Ver. 7] we had never known it. It must then be acknowledged for another favor, That he made known his Ways to Moses, his Acts unto the children of Israel.

And here the Prophet interserts four Epithers or Attributes of God, which declares unto us the true cause of all the former and following favors. The Lord is Merciful and Gracious, flow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

• 1. [Ver. 8] Merciful: Rachum, because he bears a pate • nal Affection to pious men.
• 2. Gracious: Channum, the Giver of Grace and Benefits: For he that loves with a fatherly Affection, will give.
• 3. Slow to anger: Not easily drawn to strike, he will bear long and much, as a Father, before he punish.
• 4. Plenteous in mercies: When he does us good, being moved by no merit of our's.

Of all which Attributes, the Prophet shows the effects, and applies them singula singulis, in the following verses.

• 1. He is merciful, bears a paternal Affection to his Children: He will not always chide, neither keep his anger forever. [Ver. 9] Angry he will be with his Children when they are untoward, yea, and chastise them too: For every father chastises the son that he loves. But his anger shall not last long; for in his heart there remains the love of a Father from whence the stripes proceed.
• 2. He is gracious; [Ver. 10] and therefore out of mere Grace he will give us a Pardon: For if he should deal with us according to our deserts, who could abide it? Psal. 130. For what doth a sinner deserve, but death? Rom. 6. Whereas he forgives us, and gives us Life, Grace, Glory; and therefore we may truly say with David here, He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. [Ver. 11]
• This Grace and Favor the Prophet amplifies by two Comparisons.
  • 1. The first is, the distance of the Heaven from Earth, which from the Center. to the highest Orb, is of an immense Altitude: Yet look, As high as the Heaven is above the Earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
  • 2. The second is, the distance of the East from the West, which is of an immense Longitude; and yet look, [Ver. 12] As far as the East is from the West, so far hath he set our sins from us: Let the sin be of what extent it will, it is not the interposition of our sin, so it be repented, and left, that can hinder his Grace to shine upon us, and remove it.
• 3. He is slow to anger; and he hath this of a Father also: For no men more patient than Fathers, in tolerating the infirmities and childishness of their Children; this in him also: For like as a Father pieth his Children, [Ver. 13] so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
• 4. Plenteous in mercy: He takes into his consideration what frail Creatures we are, and fading; For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth we are dust. [Ver. 14] As for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the Field, [unspec 15] so he flourisheth; for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, [unspec 16] and the place thereof shall know it no more: And this fragility and instability of our's, causeth him to be exceeding merciful to us; [unspec 17] which David expresseth in the next verse by way of Antithesis: But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting; ab aeterno in aeternum, from the Eternity of our Predestination, to the Eternity of our Glorification; yet not bestowed hand over head, it is with thy Restriction and Limitation.
  • 1. Upon them that fear him.
  • 2. And his righteousness; that is, veracity and faithfulness in performing his Covenant; not to the Fathers alone, but to Children's children. [unspec 18]
  • 3. To such as keep his Covenant; observe the conditions of Faith and Repentance.
  • 4. Yea, and of obedience also: That remember his Commandments to do them.

These Benefits are many and wonderful, and the mercy from which they proceed, infinite; but that no man doubt of the performance of it, [Ver. 19] that God will do for those, That fear him, and keep his Commandments, what he hath promised; and in the Close of this Part, the Prophet puts us in mind of his Power.

• 1. He is Dominus in Coelo; not like our Lord's on Earth, his power is nowhere circumscribed.
• 2. He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens; there he fits pro Tribunali, can see and judge the World.
• 3. And that we suspect him not to be some under-Judge set over us, and appointed by another, David tells us, His Kingdom ruleth over all: The Supremacy is his, he is the Supreme Monarch.

3. And thus the Prophet having particularly remembered God's Goodness and Benefits to his People, as being not able to return sufficient thanks alone, he invites all the Creatures to join with him in his praise, and first the Angels: Bless the Lord ye his Angels; whom he describes:

• 1. From their excellency, Ye that excel in strength.
• 2. From their obedience, And do his Commandments.
• 3. From their celerity, readiness, and cheerfulness in it; That hearken to the voice of his words, that you may show you selves faithful Ministers and Servants.

2. He invites all the Armies of God to join with him, by which, Bellarmine understands all the Superior Order, [unspec 21] Archangels, Principalities, Dominations and Powers, which is the Militia of Heaven, Luke 2. together with the Angels before-named: Bless the Lord all his Hosts; ye, who how glorious soever, yet are but Ministers of his that do his pleasure, faithfully receive your charge, and do it diligently, [unspec 22] and daily execute it.

3. He invites all the Creatures of God to join with him also, as if they had sense, and understood him; Bless the Lord all his works: All; for that no man should think, that he meant only rational Creatures in Heaven and Earth. 2. He adds, in all places of his Dominion, which extends over the whole world: All Creatures then without exception, and all in all places he desires would do it; and good Reason, for he made all, and rules over all, and is in all places, with all, and fills all, and preserves all, and moves all; and in their kinds they have done it, the Water at the Flood, the Fire at Babylon, the Crowes in feeding Elijah, the Lions in sparing Daniel, &c. And they do it, when all keep their own stations, and work according to that Law of Nature which God hath put upon them.

4. Lastly, That no man should imagine that he that called on others, would be backward in performing the Duty himself, as he began, so he concludes this excellent Psalm, Bless the Lord, O my Soul. At all times let his praise be in thy mouth.

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

T HE scope and intent of this Psalm, is the same with the former, viz. to excite men to praise God upon the consideration of his Benefits, but yet upon a different ground. In the former, for the Benefits of Grace confer'd upon his Elect. In this, for the Gifts of Nature bestowed in general upon all: Those flow immediately from his mercy, these from his power, wisdom, goodness, and depend upon his Providence, which are manifest in the Creation, Governance, and Preservation of all things. The Creature then is, the Subject of this Psalm, concerning which, in it we have a long, but very methodical Narration, by the meditation of which, he invites all men to sing Hallelujah.

The parts of the Psalm, are four.

• 1. The Exhortation proposed briefly, ver. 1.
• 2. The Exhortation persuaded by Inspection of the Fabric, the beauty, the order, the government of the World, from ver. 1. to 33.
• 3. The Duty practiced by himself, ver. 33, 34.
• 4. An Imprecation on them that neglect the Duty, ver. 35.

1. He begins with a double Apostrophe.

• 1. [Ver. 1] To his own Soul to praise God: Bless the Lord, O my Soul; which was the Conclusion of the former Psalm.
• 2. To his God, O Lord my God; whom he describes to be great and glorious.

And that he may set forth his Majesty and Glory, he useth a most elegant 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , borrowed from the Person of some great King, who presents himself very glorious to his people, in his Robes, in his Pavilion, with a glistering Canopy extended over his Throne, sometimes in his Chariot drawn by the swiftest Horses, with all his Nobles, Ministers and Servants about him, and attending his pleasure. And in this manner he presents the Majesty of God, which were the work of the first and second day; for by that order he proceeds in setting forth God's works, viz. by the order of the days they are made.

• 1. His Robe is the light, the work of the first day, which is the purest, the most beautiful, the most glorious, illustrious, vivifical, [Ver. 2] cheerful of all God's Creatures, with this he is clothed, as with a garment; for he is light, John 1.1. and be dwells in that inaccessible light that no man hath seen, nor can see, 1 Tim. 6.
• 2. His Pavision stretched round about him, is the Heavens, the work of the second day; these, as it were, the Hangings, the Curtains of his Chamber of Presence; by his fiat and power stretched out, [Ver. 3] as we now see them: He stretched out the Heavens as a Curtain.
• 3. His Palace built in a most miraculous manner; the beams thereof laid, not as is usual, upon some firm and solid body, but upon that which is most fluent, He lays the beams of his Chambers in the waters. In Gen. 1.7. we read of waters above the Firmament, which were a part of the second days work, and of these surely the Prophet speaks. What is to be understood by waters above the Firmament, is no dispute for this place, Uide Zanch. de op. Dei. lib. 2. c. 1.
• 4. His Chariot, the Clouds: Who makes the Clouds his Chariot; upon these, he, as it were, rides, and in a wonderful nimble manner is in all places he pleaseth, no otherwise than the Clouds, who are now in this place, and instantly removed to another.
• 5. The Horses that draw it, the Winds, Alipedes, as the Poets feigned the Horses that drew the Chariot of the Sun; by it, his intent is, to show, That by the power of God are brought upon the face of Heaven, and removed at his pleasure. [Ver. 4]
• 6. His Attendants, Angels: He maketh his Angels Spirits, his Ministers a flaming fire. No Creature of greater quickness and agility, than a Spirit; no Element more active, than fire: These blessed Spirits he sends forth as he pleaseth, to defend his Servants, and as a flame of fire to consume and burn up his enemies; in which appears his Might and Majesty.

2. Next the Prophet descends from the Heaven, and out of the Air, and comes to speak of the work of the third day; and he begins with the Earth, that Element which is best known to us, in which he shows the power and wisdom of God many ways.

• 1. In the foundation of it upon its center, that whether it have the motion of Verticity as some do teach, or else is fixed, and moves not at all; [Ver. 5] strange it is that so great and heavy a body should remain in the midst of the World, and not sink, ponderibia librata suis: This the Prophet attributes only to the Power and Providence of God: Who laid the foundations of the Earth, that it should not be removed forever.
• 2. Another part of his Providence about the Earth, was, that whereas the water being the lighter Element did at first cover the Earth, and made it useless; God, either by taking of some parts out of the upper superficies of the Earth in sundry places, and made it more hollow; and laying them in other places, made it more convex; or to speak more plainly, by raising some, and depressing others, made room for the Sea. This was a work of God's Word, and the Prophet speaks of this in the three following verses.
  • 1. First, He shows in what condition the Earth was in the first Creation, it was covered, and under water: Thou cover'dst it with the deep, [Ver. 6] as with a Garment, the waters stood above the Mountains.
  • 2. He shows how the Earth became uncovered, it was by the voice, power, and fiat of God: Let the waters be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear, Gen. 1. This the Psalmist here calls the rebuke of God, the voice of Thunder; for God had no sooner spake the word, [Ver. 7] But it was so: At thy rebuke they fled, at thy voice of Thunder they were afraid; whether they were such waters as are now, or thick mists and vapors after to be condensed into vapors, afraid they were to stay any longer, and to cover the Earth, when God rebuked them, spoken as it were in Thunder, and bid them remove.
  • 3. [Ver. 8] And so there became a new World as it were: Jussit & extendi campos, subsidere Valles: The Mountains and the Uallies take the lower place: Or else, as we read, They, the mists and vapors go up by the Mountains; for quanti montes volvuntur aquarum; but they stayed not then, nor yet do stay upon the Mountains, But they go down by the Uallies unto the place which thou hast appointed for them, still failing along to Sea.
  • 4. [Ver. 9] There thou inclosest them, as with doors and bars: Job 18. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the Earth; yet not violently kept there, as some suppose; but restrained by an ordinary way of Nature, it being natural for water to descend to the lower places, which by God's power was not hollowed for them to remain in; that they once did return, and cover the Earth, was by God's extraordinary Command.

3. And next he comes to speak of the Rivers and Springs, and shows God's wonderful Providence about them.

• 1. [Ver. 10] He sendeth the Springs; that is, the streams of water, from the Hills into the Valleys; which yet at first run among the Hills; for who knows not that the domus fluvii, the Spring and Well whence the greatest Rivers stream is seated, commonly in the foot of some Mountain.
• 2. And the end of this infinitely declares God's Providence, it is for the sustenance of Beasts and Fowls, perish they must for thirst, were it otherwise, and therefore he adds:
  • 1. [unspec 11] They, i. e. the Springs and Rivers, give drink to every Beast of the Field, the wild Asses quench their thirst.
  • 2. [unspec 12] By them shall the Fowls of the Heaven have their habitation, which sing among the Branches.

4. But the Springs and Rivers cannot water all parts of the Earth, were it not then for another part of his Care and Providence, the Hills and higher places would be altogether barren and unfruitful, his Wisdom therefore found out a way to remedy this also, and that was, by sending Rain out of his Bottles, the Clouds, a gift so great and peculiar to him, that he is called by Job, the Father of the Rain.

He watereth the Hills from his Chambers; [Ver. 13] that is, from the upper Rooms, the Clouds; the effect and end of which,

• 1. In general, the satisfaction of the Earth, which being thirsty, gapes for Rain, and drinks abundantly from God's plenty: The Earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works, by the Rain, which is by thy hand prepared, and is thy work in the Clouds.
• 2. In particular, the effects, ends, and consequences of these dew and showers are many, which all yet are from God as the prime cause; for quod est causa causae, est causa causati.
  • 1. Grass for the Cattle: He causeth the Grass to grow for the Cattle.
  • 2. [Ver. 14] Herbs for Meat and Medicine: And Herbs for the service of men.
  • 3. All kind of Food: And that he may bring forth Food out of the Earth; which without Rain would not be had.
  • 4. And Wine, which hath this lively spirit, That it makes glad the heart of man; and if we stay there, lawful.
  • 5. And Oil to make his face to shine: Oil supples, comforts, [Ver. 15] strengthens the nervs, and keeps the flesh and skin smooth, fresh, plump and youthful.
  • 6. And bread, which strengthens man's heart: Where there is bread, there is no Famine, it seems it is the strength of the Feast; for it is always the chief and necessary part of the Service.

5. Neither hath the Providence of God been forgetful to provide us Trees also, which, besides they serve for divers uses, as shade, building, fuel, and yield many kind of fruit; in the production of them, God hath not forgotten the very Birds, they serve them for their Nests, their Songs.

• 1. The Trees of the Lord also; his Trees, because he first made them, [unspec 16] and now makes them grow, are full of sap, which is another effect of the Rain: The Cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted. [unspec 17]
• 2. Where the Birds make their Nests; as for the Stork, the Fir Trees are her house; in them sly builds.
• 3. Nay, other Creatures are not forgotten by him, not the Coats, [unspec 18] nor the Conies: For the high Hills are a Refuge for the wild Goats, and the Rocks for the Conies.

3. The Psalmist goes on to the work of the fourth day, the Creation of the two great Luminaries, the Sun and the Moon, and the consequences of it; [Ver. 19] in which Providence also is very conspicuous.

• 1. He; i. e. God appointed the Moon for certain seasons, that it should shine in a fit and apt time in the night, and not in the day.
• 2. And the Sun knoweth his going down; that it is not to shine out of season, but to give place to the night.

And in this division of time the Providence of God was admirable both to Man and Beast: Thou makest darkness, and it is night. [unspec 20]

• 1. For the good of the Beasts, even the wildest, that they may be sustained; for,
  • 1. The night comes, [unspec 21] and then the Beasts of the Forest that durst not appear by day, do creep forth: The young Lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God; that is, seek their meat in that manner, as God's Providence hath ordained.
  • 2. Again, the day appears: The Sun riseth, and they appear not; [unspec 22] they gather themselves together, and lay themselves down in their Dens.
• 2. For the good of man; for this disposition of seasons by the course of the Sun and Moon, are good for him to; it is, [Ver. 23] that he may labor in the day, and rest in the night; for quod caret alternâ requie durabile non est: Man goeth forth to his work and labor; See what he was born to, to get his living by honest labor, and not by preying, murdering, tearing and ravening as a Beast, that riseth in the night to that purpose; but to labor in the day, and not tire himself out neither; labor he must all day, and then take rest: Labor till the Evening.

Upon the consideration of all which, the Prophet, as a little rapit out of himself by the thoughts of God's Providence, Power, Wisdom, Goodness, interserts this Exclamation.

• 1. How manifold are thy works, how great, how excellent, how worthy of praise; such, that I cannot express them.
• 2. In wisdom hast thou made them all: No thing is rashly, and by chance done; but all with judgment, and with great Reason; nothing in them doth want, nothing doth abound.
• 3. All the Earth is full of thy riches: No place, no part of it, but in it thy works proclaim that thou art a most bountiful and most wise Creator, and an open-handed and liberal Bestower of thy Riches.

4. The Prophet hath hitherto set forth God's wisdom in his works in the Heaven, the Air, the Earth, and now he descends into the Sea, in which he shows his wisdom.

• 1. [unspec 25] In the Amplitude of it, It is the great and wide Sea, extended far and wide.
• 2. In the Abundance of Fish in it, which was the work of the fifth day, Wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great animals.
• 3. [unspec 26] In the useful Art of Navigation, which God first taught by Noah 's Ark: There go the Ships.
• 4. In the Whale: There is that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein.

5. The Conservation of the Creature now follows, from ver. 27. to 30. where their dependence is shown upon the Providence of God, both for their meat, their life, and continuation of them in their species: For these words, These wait all upon thee, though they immediately reflect upon the flesh, he last spake; yet they must be refer'd to all Creatures, all having upon God the like dependence. [Ver. 27]

• 1. These all wait upon thee: They are all expectants, and wait they must, till thou give.
• 2. [unspec 28] That thou mayest give them their meat: Freely give, and meat fit for them, and that in a fit opportune season; meat fit for every season of the year, and when they want it.
• 3. That thou givest them, they gather: That, and no more, nor less; for it is not meat till God make it so; his power and blessing must co-operate with the second causes.
• 4. This he farther explains in the following words, Thou openest thine hand, and they are filled with good; filled and satisfied from thy open hand, without which, the Husbandmans industry, and the fatness of the ground is to little purpose.

Farther, Life and Death is in thy Power.

• 1. Death, and the Fore-runner of it, Trouble.
  • 1. [unspec 29] Thou hidest thy Face, seemest to be displeased, and withdraws thy help and assistance, and they are troubled.
  • 2. Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their Dust.
• 2. Life also.
  • 1. [unspec 30] Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, a vital Spirit, by restoring new Individuals to every species; for so they are created, that is, formed.
  • 2. And by this, Thou renewedst the face of the Earth; which, if it were not done, the whole World would fail in one Age.

Now after this long Catalogue of the Creatures, and God's Power, Wisdom, and Goodness, made most manifest in the Creation, Governance, and Sustentation of them, he descends to what he began with, and votes all praise to God; for so most read, ver. 32.

• 1. [unspec 31] Let the Glory of the Lord, his Glory, for his Wisdom, Goodness, Power, endure forever, hallowed be his Name.
• 2. The Lord shall rejoice in his Works: Let man be so careful to use them well, that by the abuse he put not God to grief, and cause him to repent that he made them.
• 3. [unspec 32] Which if it happen, it would be remembered, that he is a God, and power able to punish the ungrateful person how great soever: For if he looketh on the Earth with a threatening brow, it trembleth; that Earth, whose foundation, he said, should not be removed, ver. 5. He toucheth the Hills, and they do smoke; it was so as Sinai, Exod. 19.

2. Then he makes an open profession of his own practice.

• 1. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live, [unspec 33] I will praise my God while I have any being.
• 2. And this he would do with delight, [unspec 34] which is indeed the fat of the Sacrifice: My Meditation of him shall be sweet unto me, I will be glad in the Lord.

3. And he concludes with an Imprecation against unthankful and negligent persons, who regard not the Works of God, and will not see his Glory, Power, Wisdom, Goodness, in his Creating, Governing, and Sustaining this Fabrique of this Universe, and therefore very little praise him; against these he prays, [Ver. 35] That they may be confounded, or converted: Let the sinners be consumed out of the Earth; and let the wicked be no more; i. e. Let them so fail from the Earth, that either they be converted, and cease to be sinners; or else, if they will continue obstinate and perverse, let them perish out of the Earth.

PSAL. CV. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

T HE Title of this Psalm is Alleluja, as is also of the two following; and the first fifteen verses of it, were sung at the bringing up, and settling the Ark by David, 1 Chron. 16. The scope of it is the same with the two former, That we praise God: But yet with this difference in the one hundred and third, That he be magnified for his Benefits of Redemption. In the one hundred and fourth, For the Manifestation of his Power and Providence, in Creating, Governing, and Sustaining the World: But in this, For the gracious Covenant he made with Abraham, and in him, with his whole Church.

Two parts there are of the Psalm.

• 1. An Exhortation to praise God, from ver. 1. to 7.
• 2. An Enumeration of the Favors God bestowed to persuade to it, from ver. 7. to the end.

1. He that loves his Prince truly, desires that others also should magnify and honor him, as well as himself: This was David 's case, he was a true lover of his God, and set a true estimate upon him, he honor'd and praised himself, and out of his zeal he calls here upon others to do it, outwardly, and also inwardly, both with tongne and heart. He thought all too little, and therefore he comes over this Duty often, and shows indeed how it is to be done. [Ver. 1]

• 1. By giving of thanks: O give thanks unto the Lord.
• 2. By Invocation: Call upon his Name.
• 3. By Annunciation, Make known his deeds among the people.
• 4. By Voyces and Instruments of Music: Sing unto him, sing Psalms unto him.
• 5. By frequent Colloquies of his Works: [Ver. 2] Talk ye of all his wondrous Works.
• 6. By boasting of him: Glory ye in his holy Name, Profess that you are happy men, that ever God's holy Name was made known to you: He that glories, [Ver. 3] let him glory in the Lord, 2 Cor. 11.

He hath invited all outwardly to exhibit praise, and now he adviseth that it be done inwardly also, with exultation, and gladness of heart: He would not have men to think it a tedious work, and to be weary of it, but to perform it with joy.

• 1. Let the heart of them rejoice: Spiritus sanctus non canst nisi de laeto cord.
• 2. Of them that seek the Lord: For indeed they only that seek him can rejoice heartily, they can acquiesce in God and his Promises of Grace, Pardon, Acceptance, and have reason then to approach him, and praise him with glad hearts; others conceive God as angry with them, and then can take no delight in any service they do him.

Which is so necessary in everyone that will with comfort make his approaches to the Throne of Grace, and have his praise that he tenders accepted, that the Prophet seriously urgeth the Duty.

• 1. [Ver. 4] Seek the Lord: All other gods, all impiety, wickedness being cast away, seek him.
• 2. Seek his strength; which at that time was the Ark, a Symbol of his Presence: Seek him in his Church.
• 3. Seek his Face evermore: His Favor, his Grace, his Reconciliation; seek him in his Word, in his Sacraments, &c.
• 4. [Ver. 5] Evermore seek him; Jugiter: Now and then is too little, it must be our constant work.

He hath spoken of the Heart, now he comes to the Memory: Memento te, remember, forget not; and the things to be remembered, are: 1. His marvelous works. [Ver. 6] 2. His wonders. 3. His judgments; which three are the matter of this whole Psulm, and are after explained according to these heads; and in the next verse he tells us to whom in particular he directed his Memento at that time, which were the Israelites, the posterity of Abraham, and the sons of Jacob.

Remember his marvelous works, &c. O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen: Remember that he made Abraham, and chose Jacob to be his servants, gave you Law, and showed you with what Rites he would be worshipped; you then may not forget it.

2. And at the 7th. verse, the Prophet begins his Narration, and tells the Israelites, and in them us, what marvelous works God had done for his people, all which he presseth as Arguments, that his people praise, honor, worship, obey him: There is much reason for it; for,

• 1. He is the Lord our God: The same Argument prefaced to the Commandments, I am the Lord thy God.
• 2. [Ver. 7] His judgments are in all the Earth: He is a mighty Monarch, and hath all men under his Empire.

And if neither of these move, yet there is another drawn from his many and infinite favors and benefits bestowed upon you, O you Israelites, and indeed the chief upon all mankind, which was the Covanant he promised upon the fall of man, [unspec 8] That the seed of the woman shall break the Serpents head, and this he forgot not: He hath remembered his Covenant forever, the Word which he commanded to a thousand Generations.

• 1. Which Covenant he made with Abraham, and confirmed it by a facrifice, Gen. 15. & 13.
• 2. And his Outh unto Isaac, Gen. 26.3, 4.
• 3. [unspec 9] And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a Law, and to Israel for an everlasting Covenant, [unspec 10] Gen. 28.13, 14, 15.
• 4. The Form of the Covenant recited, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, [unspec 11] the lot of your inheritance; for it was divided to the Tribes by lots.

Which Covenant God made with their fathers, and them; not out of any merit that could be in them, Deut. 8.4, 5, 6. Josh. 24.2. For this Covenant and Promise was made to them.

• 1. When they were but a few men in number, yea, very few.
• 2. And they strangers in the Land; [unspec 13] for the Patriarchs did sojourn only in Canaan.
• 3. Yea, when they went from one Nation to another, and from one Kingdom to another people, as did Abraham, Gen. 12. and Jacob.

2. Now when they were in this condition few, very few, Strangers, Sojourners, Pilgrims, God protected and defended them, which was a second Favor over and above that of the Covenant; for,

• 1. He suffered no man to do them wrong, no not the greatest; [unspec 14] but reproved even Kings for their sakes; as Pharaoh, Gen. 12. and Abimelech for Abraham's, and Abimelech for Isaac's, Gen. 26. and Esau and Laban for Jacob's sake, Gen. 31. & 32.
• 2. For he gave a Command to these Kings concerning them, [unspec 15] Touch not mine Anointed, viz. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who were anointed with the Holy Ghost, though not with material oil: Nor do my Prophets no harm; i.e. the same men, for they were Prophets. Abraham foresaw the bondage of his seed in Egypt, &c. Isaac foretold what should befall to Esau 's posterity, Gen. 27. Jacob by a Prophetical Spirit gave his blessings, Gen. 49. Of Abraham it is expressly said, He is a Prophet, and he shall pray for thee, Gen. 20.7.

3. Two of these mercies, the Covenant and Protection, are already named, and now he goes on, and insists upon the third, from ver. 16. to 23. For which, there was infinite matter of praise for the wonderful wisdom of God, that brought out of the greatest evils, the chiefest good, by preserving their lives in Aegyp • in an extreme famine; the story is extant in the Book of Genesis, in the 37. and the following Chapters.

• 1. Moreover he called for a Famine upon the Land: He called for it, that is, [unspec 16] God, this, the Sword, the Pestilence, &c. come not by chance, they come upon God's call; those things which to us seem to fall accidently, are from his Decree; and they come at his Beck, they rise against us as an Army, that must be in readiness, when called to march and fight.
• 2. He brake, still it is his doing, the whole staff of bread, which is the staff, the stay, the upholder of our lives; and this he brake, when he ordered, That for seven years there should be nor plowing, nor sowing, nor earing, nor harvest, Gen. 45.
• 3. By this occasion of the Famine which was to come, [unspec 17] in which the Patriarchs were to suffer, God provided for their sustenance. He sent a man, He sent a man, virum, a wise man before them. God our of Providence sent him, when he suffered him to be sold to the Ishmalites, and carried down to Egypt.
• 4. He tells us who this man was, Joseph, sold by the envy and cruelty of his Brethren, to be a Bond-servant; for the Ishmalites sold him to Potiphar.
• 5. And now he comes to his base Usage: 2. His Advancement.
  • 1. By the false Accusation of Potiphar 's Wife, [unspec 18] that turned her base love into hatred, he was cast into Prison: His feet they hurt with fetters of Iron.
  • 2. He was laid in Iron; or as some read, the Iron entered into his Soul: The grief was great that he suffered from the Irons; but that which added to his grief, that he should lie under the Aspersion of so foul a Crime.
• 6. There he lay, Donec, Untill the time that his Word came: [unspec 19] So long then he lay in Prison, and no longer. God hath then his Donec for his servants to suffer, and when that Donec comes, they shall suffer no longer.
  • 1. Untill the time his Word came: His Word, i.e. God's Word for his deliverance: 2. Or as others, Joseph's word to the Butler came to pass.
  • 2. The Word of the Lord tried him; God tried his patience: Or, the Interpretation of the Dreams proving true, were a sufficient trial, that it was the Word of the Lord which he spake. He spoke by the Spirit of God.

2. [unspec 20] And now follows his Honor and Advancement.

• 1. Pharaoh by his Butler hearing of Joseph 's wisdom, He sent and loosed him from Prison.
• 2. Even the Ruler of the people let him go free; a work fit for a King.

2. And his Advancement follows: To free an Innocent, a signal Favor; but to advance him, a greater; this Pharaoh did.

• 1. [Ver. 21] He made him Lord of his House, Majordorno.
• 2. And Ruler of all his Substance: He was his Treasurer, Gen. 41.40, &c. Indeed a great Viceroy, a grand Visier.
• 3. [Ver. 22] The Kings end in it, admirable; not only in the Famine to provide bread to feed their bodies, but for the good of their fouls also.
  • 1. To punish the Rebellious: To bind his Princes at his pleasure.
  • 2. To instruct them his Counselors in that Wisdom, those Arts, Sciences, Religion, which he excelled in; exalted he was, to teach his Senators the great Counsel of his Kingdom, wisdom; and it is supposed, That all the learning in which the Egyptians excelled, was first taught them by Joseph.

4. The fourth Benefit follows, of God toward his people, from ver. 22. to 37. which was their nourishment, their increase in Egypt, their oppression, and deliverance thence.

• 1. He begins with Jacob's descent thither.
  • 1. [unspec 23] Israel also, Josephs father, went down into Egypt, read Gen. 45.
  • 2. And Jacob with all his family, seventy souls sojourned, there then to remain for a time, viz. two hundred and twenty two years in the land of Ham, viz. in Egypt, so called, from Cham the father of Misraim, that first peopled it after the Flood.
• 2. He proceeds with their strange increase there; for it is wonderful, that in so short a time they should so multiply, and grow into such multitudes, Exod. [unspec 24] 1.7. at their going out, they were six hundred thousand, besides children, Exod. 12.37. And he increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies, Exod. 1.9.

This was the Occasion of their Afflictions, [unspec 25] Bondage, and Sufferings; for,

• 1. He turned the Egyptian hearts to hate his people: i.e. He suffered them to be turned: For there arose another King which knew not Joseph, Exod. 1.8.
• 2. And to deal subtly with his servants: Come on, say they, let us deal wisely with them, Exod. 1.10. and their wise work was:
  • 1. To set over them Task-masters to afflict them with their burdens, Exod. 1.11. But when they saw, That the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, ver. 12.
  • 2. Then they ordered, That all the male-children should be strangled by the Midwives, ver. 16. And when this way took not neither:
  • 3. Then Pharaoh charged, That every son that was born, should be cast into the River, ver. 22. Thus subtly they dealt, but it hindered not their Multiplications; there is no Counsel against God.

Now God seeing their Affliction, and hearing their Groans, sent them a Deliverer. [Ver. 26]

• 1. [unspec 27] Hesent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen.
• 2. They shown his signs among them.
  • 1. To the Israelites.
  • 2. And wonders in the land of Ham; then to the Egyptians, of which the Caralogue follows.

• 1. He sent darkness, and it was dark; and they, i.e. [unspec 28] Moses and Aaron rebelled not against his Word.
• 2. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. [unspec 29]
• 3. The Land brought forth Frogs in abundance, [unspec 30] in the Chambers of their Kings.
• 4. He spake, [unspec 31] and there came divers sorts of Flies and Lice in all their Coasts.
• 5. He gave them Hail for Rain, and flaming fire in their land. [unspec 32]
• 6. He smote the Uines also and Fig-trees, [unspec 33] and brake the Trees of their Coasts.
• 7. He spake, and the Locusts came, and Caterpillars, [unspec 34] and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in the land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. [unspec 35]
• 8. He smote also the first-born of their Land, [unspec 36] the chief of all their strength.

These were the wonders that God wrought in Egypt by the hand of Moses and Aaron, for the deliverance of his people, which therefore the Psalmist briefly Records, that they might remember to be thankful, and praise him.

5. The fifth Benefit which God bestowed upon his people, is, that he brought them not out Beggars, but enriched them with the Spoiles of Egypt; nor in a sickly, but healthful condition.

• 1. He brought them forth with silver and gold; [unspec 37] for they were sent by God to borrow Jewels: And when they pretend by their example to rob honester men than themselves, whom yet they esteem no better than Egyptians, can show such an immediate Commission from God to do it, content I am, that they borrow, and never restore; rob and spoil whom they please, till that be shewn, they are Thieves and Robbers, and Sacrilegious persons.
• 2. Farther; whereas they left the Egyptians afflicted with some strange disease, of which their first-born was dead in every house, they came forth with healthy bodies. There was not one, no not one feeble person among their Tribes, not one among six hundred thousand men. [unspec 38]

The terror of them was so great, and the fear of death so instant, that little regarding their Jewels, Gold and Silver; they urged them to be gone, they thrust them out, as glad at heart they were upon terms rid of them; which the Prophet thus expresseth: Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them; for Exod. 12. They said, We are all dead men.

6. The sixth Benefit follows after their departure, which was, The Pillar of a Cloud by day, and the Pillar of fire by night: He spread a Cloud for a covering, and Fire to give light in the night. Which most interpret, [unspec 39] As if the Cloud by day did overshadow them, and keep off the heat of the Sun: And therefore the Prophet saith, He spread it for a covering: But Bellarmine conceives it somewhat otherwise, grounding his conjecture upon the 13th. of Exodus, ver. 21. And the Lord went before them by day in a Pillar of a Cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a Pillar of Fire to give them light, to go by day and night. This is it then which he judgeth true, That the cloudy Pillar did not cover them, but went before them, to show them the way, till they came to the red Sea, till Pharaoh and his Army followed, and then the Angel of the Lord with this Pillar of a Cloud, interposed betwixt the Israelites and Pharaohs Army, that they could not come to each other, in which sense, the Cloud might well be said to be stretched out for a protection and covering. And he adds, That besides this Pillar of a Cloud, which was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , there might be another Cloud which might protect the Israelites from the heat of the Sun in their journey, of which yet there is no mention in Exodus; and this, Jerome's Translation out of the Hebrew seems to countenance: Expandit nubem in Tentorum. And the Author of the Book of Wisdom, chap. 10. ver. 17. And was unto them a Cover by day.

The seventh Benefit, [unspec 40] was Quails and Manna.

• 1. The people asked, and he brought Quails: He means, those given, Exod. 16. not those in the first of Numbers, for these last were given by God in anger, and were no Benefit.
• 2. And satisfied them with the bread of Heaven; that is, with Mann • , which he calls the bread of Heaven, because the sweet dew whereof it was made, descended from the Air, the Earth had nothing to do in the production of it.

8. The eighth Benefit, the water he gave them to drink out of the Rock; for they travelled through a dry Wilderness, where there is great scarcity of springs and waters, and therefore he opened the Rock, and the waters gushed out, and they ran in dry places, as a River.

• 1. [unspec 41] He opened the Rock; turned not the Rock into water, as some think; but only opened it, and made a passage for some River which ran in the bowels of the Rock.
• 2. And this most likely; for the waters gushed out upon the passage made for them.
• 3. And they ran in dry places; for it is conceived they made a new River, by whose Banks the Israelites journeying, needed not a new Miracle to quench their thirst.

Now here he interserts the Reason both of the former and the following Benefits, which was, his Covenant, his Promise made to Abraham; for he remembered his holy promise, [unspec 42] and Abraham his servant.

9. that they had Reason to exult and triumph at it, as indeed they did, Exod. 15. where Moses sings his 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , for the overthrow of Pharaoh's Host in the red Sea.

10. [unspec 44] And to make the number of his Benefits complete, he adds a Tenth, which was, the Complement of all the rest, and the exact fulfilling of his promise, his introduction of them into Canaan, ejection of the Inhabitants, and the Donation of their Inheritances to his people, which they after possessed, being enstated by Joshna.

And gave them the lands of the Heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people; the Houses which they built, the Vines which they planted, the Lands which they tilled, fell to them.

For all which Benefits, [unspec 45] God requires no more than Obedience from them; this he requires, as it were his Due, and his Tribute; so many Benefits he bestowed on them, for one end only.

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

T HE Intention of the Prophet in this Psalm, is, To express God's Long-suffering in bearing with rebellious sinners, and yet his Mercy in pardoning them, upon the Confession of their sins, and turning to him; both which he doth exemplify, by a long. Narration of Israel's Rebellions, Repentance, Turning to God, and God's dealing with them; which gave him just occasion both to praise God, and to pray for his Church and People.

The Contents of this Psalm, are these.

• 1. An Exhortation to praise God, with the Reasons in general, ver. 1. and who are fit to perform this Duty, ver. 2, 3.
• 2. A Petition and Prayer directed to God in his own person for the whole Church, and the end of it, ver. 4, 5.
• 3. A Confession of fin, particularly of the Israelites, together with God's patience to them, and his healing them upon their Repentance; Toties, quoties, from ver. 6. to 46.
• 4. His Prayer, that God would collect his Church out of all Nations, that they might meet and praise him, ver. 47, 48.

1. Allelujah, Praise ye the Lord; O give thanks unto the Lord. To this the Prophet invites, and that we stick the less at the performance, by two Reasons he persuades unto it.

• 1. Because he is good; he is beforehand with us, [Ver. 1] and prevents men with many Benefits.
• 2. Because his mercy endures forever; his mercy is everlasting, and far exceeds our sins and miseries; for after men have offended him, and deserve no mercy, yet his mercy is unconquerable; for he receives to mercy penitent offenders: 'It is but Reason then we praise him, and magnify his mercy.

Yea, but now it may be said, Quis idoneus ad haec? [Ver. 2] Who is sufficient for these things? who fit to praise him, and set forth his mercies? Who can utter the mighty Acts of the Lord? that is, the infinite Benefits in mercy exhibited to his people: Or, Who can show forth all his Praise, in conserving, pardoning, defending, propagating his Church? This is the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .

To which the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or right answer should be, Who can? none can; [Ver. 3] for we are all sinners, and therefore all unworthy, Praise being not comely in the mouth of a sinner: But the Prophet gives in his answer another way: They are only happy men, who keep judgment, and do righteousness at all times; and by consequent fit to do this Duty, they may speak of the mighty Acts of God with comfort, and show forth all his praise.

• 1. They are happy in prosperity and adversity; they dwell in the house of God, under his protection.
• 2. They keep his judgments; follow in their lives the strict Rule of Divine Law, by which they judge of all their Actions, and so keep faith, and a good conscience.
• 3. They do righteousness at all times: Always they approve, and do what is right, true, and just; condemn, hate, and punish what is unjust; these then are fit to praise God with their tongues, because they praise him in their lives.

2. After the Prophet had invited to the praise of God, and shown who were fit to do it, he falls upon his Petition, which he proposeth in his own person for the whole Church, in the two following verses.

• 1. Remember me: Uulg. Nostri. Me, but not me alone, rather thy whole Church: By what we suffer, [Ver. 4] Thou hast seemed to forget thy Covenant and Promise, but now call it to mind again.
• 2. Which I expect not yet for any desert of mine, but merely out of thy good-will: Remember me with the favor thou bearest to thy people.
• 3. O visit me, but yet not in wrath; for such a visitation there is: but in mercy and grace.
• 4. With thy Salvation: Save me at this time from my sins, and from my present calamities.

And to this end I desire thy Favor, thy gracious Visitation, thy Salvation.

• 1. That I may see the good of thy Chosen: Be a partaker of, and in their happiness.
• 2. [Ver. 5] That I may rejoice in the gladness of the Nation: Partake in the joy of the Nation, which is the consequent of happiness.
• 3. That I may glory with thine inheritance: Glorify thee with them, and glory in thy Salvation.

But observe here the three eminent Titles given to God's Church, by which is set forth their happy condition.

• 1. First, They are Electi, a chosen people; which is a glorious and a gracious Title, and intimates, being coupled to Beneplacitum, Favor; in the former verse, that it proceeded not out of merit, or foreseen works; but out of free grace, and mere love: He chose whom he pleased; and this foundation remains sure, God knows who are his.
• 2. They are his Nation, his peculiar people; chosen out of all other people, brought to be of his Household and Family, that they might be partakers of his Salvation, for which they were to worship and praise him.
• 3. They are his inheritance: Fallen to him, and given to his son, as the reward of his Passion.

In these two fore-going verses, we find the happy condition of God's people, their Predestination in his favor, good-will, and election; their Justification in his Salvation; their Glorification in the Vision of God's face, where they are to rejoice in the gladness of his people, and glory with his inheritance.

3. In the following part of the Psalm, from ver. 7. to 46. he makes use of a new Argument to move God to mercy: He presents not the present condition the people of God were in, not their captivity, miseries, afflictions; but ingenuously confesseth how they had offended God, and how justly they suffered; for which being penitent, he hopes for pardon. He knew, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Nazianz. and therefore he begins with that.

• 1. [unspec 6] We have sin'd with our fathers, trode in their steps, and filled up the measure of their sins.
• 2. We have committed iniquity, not only upon infirmity, but upon malice and choice.
• 3. We have done wickedly; the intent and purpose in it was evil: And by these three steps he exaggerates the sin; the act, the frequency, the intent: As every true Confessionist to God ought, never to extenuate, but to aggravate the offense against himself.

And because he had mentioned their fathers at large, now he instanceth in their Rebellions; they began betime, not yet gone out of Egypt, but they murmured and rebelled.

Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: [Ver. 7] That is, laid not to heart.

• 1. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the Sea, even at the red Sea. When they saw Pharaohs Army on one side, and the Sea on the other, they grew heartless, diffident, and murmured, as is apparent, Exod. 14.10, 11, 12.
• 2. This was their sin at that time: But not Obstante, God was then merciful to them: [Ver. 8] Nevertheless he saved them; of which he assigns two causes.
  • 1. For his Names sake: To advance his glory, his honor. It was not for any worth or desert that was in them, but that he might make it known that he was a God, true in his Promises.
  • 2. That he might make his mighty power to be known. Pharaoh and the Egyptians might have taken notice of it, by the plagues he had already upon them; but it seems they contemned, and laughed at it: Now therefore they should know his power to their utter ruin.

And in the following verses, by a distribution, he shows the manner of their deliverance.

• 1. By God's rebuke, and drying up of the Sea: He rebuked the red Sea also, [Ver. 9] and it was dried up.
• 2. By the unheard of way he led them; so he led them through the depths, as through the Wilderness, no more water there to offend them, than in the sands of Arabia.
• 3. By the Consequent of it: And he saved them from the hand of him; [unspec 10] i. e. Pharaoh, that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
• 4. And the waters covered their enemies, [unspec 11] there was not one of them left.

The effect was, that for the present.

• 1. It extorted, will they, nill they, from them a confession, that God was true in his promises: Then believed they his words. [unspec 12]
• 2. It incited them to praise him: They sang his praise; and the Song is extant, Exod. 15.

2. This was their first Rebellion, which begot in them belief and thanks, which the Prophet interserted; not to commend their piety, or to extenuate their sin and ingratitude; but rather to aggravate both: For these very men that were forced to confess his power, and sing his praise for the overthrow of Pharaoh in the red Sea, were scarce departed from those Banks; but they for want of a little bread and water, grew as impatient and distrustful, as they were before, and this was their second Rebellion, Exod. 15.22, &c.

• 1. Festinaverunt & obliti sunt; They made haste to forget: Or, They soon forgot, which aggravates their sin. [Ver. 13]
• 2. They forgot his Omnipotence, his Providence; as if they had not had but now a sufficient proof of both.
• 3. They waited not for his Counsel; with patience they expected not the end, why God in his Wisdom and Counsel suffered them now to want, which was, to prove their faith, their hope, their love: But they not understanding the end of God's Counsel, murmur'd, as if God had cast them off, and had no care of them, and could not relieve them.
• 4. And what they did at this time, they did also at others: For they lusted exceedingly in the Wilderness, and tempted God in the Desert; as is evident, [unspec 14] Exod. 16. & 17. and Numb. 11. & 20.

Now God yielded to these desires of the people, he gave them bread, flesh, and water.

• 1. And he gave them their request; Exod. 16.12.
• 2. But he sent leanness into their souls; which certainly hath reference to the Quails in Numb. 11.20. & 33. where the people eat, [unspec 15] and died of the plague; so that the place from the multitude there buried, was called, Kibrothhattaava.

3. Another rebellion yet there was, which the Prophet now toucheth, when they rose up against the King and the Priest, the story of which is extant, Numb. 16.

• 1. They envied also Moses in the Camp; objecting unto him, that he had usurped a power over them, and taken it upon him of his own head, which arose out of envy; for they envied. [unspec 16]
• 2. And Aaron, the Saint of the Lord: Him whom God had chosen, and sanctified to the Priests Office.

The punishment follows, which at large may be read, Numb. 16.

• 1. The earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the Congregation of Abiram. [unspec 17]
• 2. [unspec 18] And a fire was kindled in their company, the flame burnt up the wicked; i. e. the 250. men that presumed to offer Incense, and presently after the 14700. that murmured, and objected to Moses and Aaron that they had killed the people of the Lord.

4. Still the Prophet goes on in his story of Israel 's stubbornness and rebellion, and now he comes to their grand sin, their Idolatry, in erecting the golden Calf, which he detests; and withal, praiseth the mercy of God, that would be pacified by Moses prayer; the story is extant, Exod. 32.

• 1. [unspec 19] They made a Calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image; quite contrary to the second command.
• 2. [unspec 20] Thus they changed their Glory: That is, the true God, who indeed was their glory, into the similitude of an Ox, a brute Beast, that eats grass; a base creature, [unspec 21] which much aggravates their sin. A sin so great, that the Jews conceive, that it is not expiated to this day; for they have usually these words in their mouths; Non accidit tibi, O Israel, ullaultio, in quâ non sit uncia de iniquitate anrei vituli.
• 3. [unspec 22] But the Prophet aggravates their stupidness and folly: They forgot God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the red Sea.

In the following verse is expressed God's just anger and mercy.

• 1. His anger against their sins: Therefore he said, pronounced his will to destroy them.
• 2. [unspec 23] His mercy, in that yet he spared them at Moses intercession; for destroyed them certainly he had:
  • 1. Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: That breach and division which this sin had made betwixt God and his people, like some breach made in the Wall of a besieged Town, in which some valiant Captain stands, and opposeth himself against the assault of the enemy; so did Moses.
  • 2. For his end was the same; it was, To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy: And the effect was answerable; for by his intercession the wrath of God was turned away; so powerful are the intercessions and prayers of God's Saints, servants, friends with him.

5. Farther yet, he calls to mind a new rebellion, which fell out upon the report of the Spies sent to search the Land, Numb. 13.26, &c. and Numb. 14. For when the Spies told them, that it was a land that eat up the Inhabitants, that the sons of Anak were there, in comparison of whom, they were but as Grashoppers.

• 1. [unspec 24] They despised the pleasant Land, and had a mind to return into Egypt, Numb. 14. from ver. 1. to 5.
• 2. They believed not his Word; for they said, Hath the Lord brought us unto this Land to fall by the Sword, [unspec 25] &c.
• 3. But murmured in their Tents, and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, Numb. 14.10.

As their sin, so their punishment is also extant, Numb. 14.29. at which the Prophet here points.

• 1. [unspec 26] Therefore he lift up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the Wilderness: Your carcasses shall fall in the Wilderness, doubtless ye shall not come into the Land.
• 2. This punishment fell upon the Murmurers themselves: but if their children should be guilty of the like rebellion, they should not escape neither; for God then would lift up his hand against them too, and overthrow their seed among the Nations, [unspec 27] and scatter them in the Lands; which we have lived to see fully brought to pass.

6. The Prophet joins to that of the golden Calf, another piece of Idolatry in the Wilderness, to which there was joined Fornication also, by the Connsel of Balaam, and the policy of Balak; this caused them to eat, and sacrifice to their God, Numb. 25. which the Prophet insists upon next.

• 1. They joined themselves to Baal-Peor, because the Idol was set up upon that Mountain.
• 2. And eat the offerings of the dead: [unspec 28] They left the Sacrifices of the living God, and eat of those meats which were offered to their dead Idols, That have eyes, but see not; and hands, but handle not.

Upon which there followed God's wrath, and their punishment.

• 1. God was angry: For they provoked him to wrath with their inventions, inventing a new god.
• 2. And the plague brake in upon them: It rush'd in upon them, as some mighty waters; or as an Army into a City, at a breach; [unspec 29] for there died of the plague, 24000, Numb. 25.9.

In the former Idolatry God's anger was averted by Moses intercession, in this by Phinehaz execution of judgment; for,

• 1. Then stood up Phinehaz, moved no question with the zeal of God's honor. [Ver. 30]
• 2. And he executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi; for which, let men conceive as they please, I see nothing to the contrary, but he had his Commission from Moses, or God rather, Numb. 25.4, 5.
• 3. The event was, and so the plague was stayed; execution of Justice on Offendors, pacifies God.

Which zeal of his was well rewarded: [unspec 31] This was accounted to him for righteousness unto all Generations for evermore. God that knows the heart, knew his good intention, and so accounted it not murder, but a just punishment, that deserved both praise and a reward: And an ample reward he had for it; for God established the dignity of the high Priesthood in Phineaz, and in his posterity, as long as the Common-wealth of the Jews continued.

7. The Prophet comes to another remarkable sin of the Jews, extant, Numb. 20. where the people chode with Moses for want of water.

• 1. They anger'd him also at the waters of strife: That is, God, when they contradicted Moses. [unspec 32]
• 2. So that it went ill with Moses, for their sakes, [unspec 33] for being passionate and disturbed with cholar; He spake unadvisedly with his lips: Hear now ye Rebels, &c. and he smote the Rock. By their murmuring and grumbling, they so provoked his spirit to bitterness, that he who at other times was cheerful, and ready to obey all God's Commands, did now somewhat strike at it.

8. Hitherto the Prophet hath set down seven several rebellions of the Jews during their abode in the Wilderness; now he proceeds to show us, how they have behaved themselves after they came into, and were seated in the land of Canaan: Better, a man would think, they should be, now that God had made good his Word to them: But I see, a Blackmore cannot change his skin, nor they their manners; disobedient, stubborn, and rebellious they were still, which the Prophet confesseth, and is upon Record in the Book of Judges.

• 1. God had expressly commanded that the Nations of Canaan should be destroyed, Deut. 7.1, 2, 3. [unspec 34] But they did not destroy the Nations concerning whom the Lord had commanded; this was Disobedience.
• 2. But were mingled among the Heathen: They made Leagues and Marriages with them, Judge. 2. & 3. [unspec 35]
• 3. And learned their works: Many superstitious, many lewd customs.
• 4. But which went beyond all, they learned to be Idolaters of them, forsook God for the Devil.
  • 1. They served their Idols, which was a snare unto them; for, for that, [unspec 36] they became their slaves, Judge. 2, &c. [unspec 37]
  • 2. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and daughters unto Devils; that is, to Moloch. [unspec 38]
  • 3. With inhumane sin, that the Prophet might aggravate, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he comes over it again, And shed innocent blood; that is, the blood of innocent children, even the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the Idols of Canaan.

The Consequents of which were double: First, a double pollution. Secondly, a heavy judgment.

• 1. [unspec 39] First, A pollution of the Land in which they dwelt: The land was defiled with blood.
• 2. A pollution of their own souls: Thus were they defiled in their own works: Polluted, as a Harlot, that pollutes her body, by the prostitution of it; so they polluted, when they went a whoring after their own inventions. Espoused they were to God their husband, but they left him, and followed Idols, they were to be accounted no better than Whores; which Idols, were properly their own inventions; for they learned to prostitute themselves to them, neither from God, nor Moses.

The judgment or punishment now follows, and a signification whence it proceeded; it came not by chance, nor merely by the hand of man, it was by God's Order and Anger.

• 1. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people: Therefore, for their Idolatry, [unspec 40] Murder, Whoredom; so that he was not only angry, but his anger was kindled, it was in a flame.
• 2. Nay, he took so great dislike to them, that abominatus est, insomuch, That he abhorred his own inheritance. It must be a very foul offense, that will kindle the wrath of a mild King against his people, and a strange dislike, for which a man will renounce and abhor his own inheritance; it shows how heinous a sin Idolatry is.

And the punishment he took upon them was very just.

• 1. [unspec 41] He gave them into the hand, i. e. the power of the Heathen; and this, E Lege Taliouis: God had given the Heathen into their hands to destroy them, which because they did not, but learned their works; therefore now God gave them into the hands of the Heathen.
• 2. He made them their Lord's, and hard Lord's they were, as easily appears in the story of the Book of Judges, and the first of Samuel; and no wonder, for they hated them; yea, even when they made Leagues and Contracts with them: Their case must be then very miserable, when those that hated them, ruled over them; from such they were to expect little favor.

3. And little they had; for the Prophet in the next verse acquaints us, that,

• 1. [unspec 42] Their enemies also oppressed them; Tyrants, Oppressors they were, read the Book of Judges, &c. and very often, if they sought to free themselves.
• 2. They were brought into subjection under their hand; to wit, under the hand of the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, &c.

In which state and condition yet God did not forget them; For many times did he deliver them: [unspec 43] Not once, but often; as by Gideon, Jephtha, Deborah, Sampson, and others.

But O the ingratitude of a sinful Nation; whereas being delivered, they should have served; being delivered, they provoked him with their Counsel; that is, by following the Counsels of their own hearts, and not the directions of God.

And so were very justly brought into the case they were before: For they were brought low for their iniquity; that they might know that God that had humbled them, [unspec 44] and delivered them; could, when they revolted, bring them into the same case they were before, as he often did.

And now the Prophet adds that, which indeed he drives at through the whole Psalm, the wonderful and immutable good-will of God to them; though he forgave, and delivered them upon their Repentance, and in a short time provoked him again, Nevertheless he received them to Grace, even after their Recidivations and Relapses; and the Causes that moved him to this, were external, and internal.

• 1. The 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that outwardly and occasionly moved him to it, was their affliction and cry: He regaraed their affliction, [unspec 45] when he heard their cry.
• 2. But the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 that inwardly swayed him, was, his word past to them, and his mercy.
  • 1. His word and his promise was past to Abraham, to be their God, and he would not break it: And he remembered for them his Covenant.
  • 2. His tender affection that he always bear them; this caused him to repent and grieve, that they should be in misery: He repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

And the effect which all these Causes had, was beneficial to them, even in the time of their bondage and captivity; for even their very enemies hearts were often turned to do them good, as is evident in Jeremiah, David, Daniel, Ezra, Zerubbabel, Mordecai, and indeed the whole Nation under the Babylonian, Philistian, Egyptian, Persian Kings, which the Prophet hath set down, ver. 46.

He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them Captives: [unspec 46] So this is that of the wise man; When a man's ways please God, he will make his very enemies at peace with him, Prov. 16.7.

But it seems this verse may be read otherwise, and it is by the Vulgar. Moller, Musculus, Dedit eos in misericordias, or miserationes in conspectu omnium, quo caeperant eos; so that the sense is not, as if all of them had from all that carried them away captive received mercy; but that God in their afflictions, put them into the bosom of his mercy, even they seeing and wondering at it, whose Bond-slaves they were; for beyond all hope, he freed his people from Egypt, the Ammonites, Philistines, &c. so that they, under whose Captivity they were, must needs confess, that God in mercy did defend, and fight for them: And this sense Bellarmine receives, as more probable; nor yet utterly rejecting the other.

4. And this sense makes the way plainer to what follows, the Petition, and the Doxology; for if God showed himself merciful in the time of his anger, and made it apparent, even to the very view of their enemies, encouragement they might have:

• 1. First, To pray: Save us, O Lord our God, [unspec 47] and gather us from among the Heathen, to give thanks in thy holy Name, and to triumph in thy Praise.
• 2. Then to give thanks.
  • 1. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from Generation to Generation.
  • 2. And for it, let the people do their Duty, viz. [unspec 48] the solemn and necessary Forms: Let all the people say, Amen. Allelujah.

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

THE Title of this Psalm is Allelujah, because in it are set forth the praises of God, for delivering, such as are oppressed, from four common miseries; after every of which, is expressed those intercalary verses, Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, &c. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. As also for the effects of his Providence, who only by his power orders and governs the change and vicissitudes we see in the World.

There be four especial Points handled in this Psalm.

• 1. A Preface, in which he exhorts all to praise God, especially the Redeemed, ver. 1, 2.
• 2. A Declaration of his goodness in particular.
  • 1. To the banished and strangers, famished, from ver. 3. to 9.
  • 2. To the prisoners and captives, from ver. 10. to 16.
  • 3. To the sick, from ver. 16. to 23.
  • 4. To the Mariners, from ver. 23. to 32.
• 3. A praise of God's Power and Providence, which is evidently seen, in the changes and varieties of the World, of which he gives several instances, by which it is proved, That he is the sole Disposer and Governor of the Universe, from ver. 33. to 42.
• 4. The Conclusion, which sets forth the use we are to make of it, ver. 42, 43.

1. This Psalm begins, as did the former, and the intention in it is the same, viz. That we celebrate and set forth God's praise; yea, and for the same Reasons.

O give thanks unto the Lord: [Ver. 1] 1. For he is good: 2. And merciful; For his mercy endureth forever.

2. And those who he invites to perform this Duty, are indeed all who are sensible that they have received any mercy or goodness from him any way, in Soul, or Body, whom he calls the Redeemed of the Lord, that men may know when they are freed from any evil, that it is only by chance, or by their wisdom, &c. God's hand is in it, he is the first and chief cause of it, the rest, inferior instruments to bring to pass his Providence.

• 1. Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so; i. e. that he is good, that he is merciful.
• 2. [Ver. 2] They say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. If the Holy Ghost by the enemy means the Devil, then he speaks of our Redemption by Christ; if by the enemy, some Tyrant, Tribulation, &c. then a corporal and temporal Redemption; but the last is generally understood, and especially is refer'd to the first afflicting misery, Banishment; and the next verse intimates so much.
• 3. [unspec 3] And gathered them out of the Lands, from the East, and from the West; from the North, and from the South; which is yet as true of our spiritual Redemption, and Christ's collection of his Church from all parts of the World, Mat. 8.11. John. 10.16. & 11.52.

2. Most Expositors therefore begin the second part at the second verse: But some at the fourth; but the matter is not much material. In those two there was mention made of God's goodness in their deliverance, in their collection from all lands: But in the following, is an evident Declaration of what they suffered, during their absence from their Country; which is the first misery described here by the Prophet, to which a man's life is subject. And it is the heavier Cross, when a man is forced to it by Banishment, as is apparent by the complaints that have been made of it, by those that have suffered; they are sine foco, sine lare.

And this is the misery which the Prophet first instanceth in this place, which first he describes, then shows the course the Banished took, and lastly, acquaints us with the manner of their deliverance, which is the method in the rest.

1. Their misery was:

• 1. That they wander'd, no small discomfort to an ingenuous nature, to be a Vagrant, [unspec 4] to walk from place to place, and not have a certain House to put his head in. God's people were for a time, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , pilgrims and strangers, and all that time, few and evil were their days.
• 2. The place adds to the misery; Banished men are not confined to solitary places always, though that they have not the company they desire, yet company they may have; but the case of these Banished was, That they wander'd in the Wilderness in a solitary place, they fovnd no City to dwell in: Literally it was fulfilled in the Israelites, while they travelled through the Wilderness.
• 3. [unspec 5] Hungry and thirsty, omnium egeni. Men may wander, and be in solitary places, but yet have a supply of necessary food: To this pass sometimes God's people come, that they have nor meat, nor drink, as Elijah, the Israelites, David, &c.
• 4. And the Famine may be so great, that their souls; that is, their life is ready to faint in them. This is the Incrementum that the Prophet useth, to aggravate the misery of Banished men, and are the several steps by which it riseth.

2. Next the Prophet shows us the Course that these banished and hungry souls took for ease and help, and that it failed them not; no, nor the rest following that took the same Course, and therefore he four times repeats it, versu intercalari. The way was, That when all human helps failed, they implored the aid and help of God Almighty.

• 1. Then in their trouble. When no other Course will work, this will do it, [Ve. 6] and therefore God lets his be brought into trouble. In prosperity, the heart of the best man is often too secure, and thinks not on God; but let such a one be brought into some extremity and straight, and he will cry: They did so here.
• 2. They cried. In their Petition they were very earnest, 'twas not a cold prayer, that might freeze in the way before it came to Heaven; but it was fervent, a Cry.
• 3. And they cried. Not to any false god, as did Baals Priests; nor relied wholly on any human help: But they cried unto the Lord; their cry was rightly directed.

Now the success was answerable to their desire.

• 1. In general: He delivered them out of their distresses.
• 2. But in particular, the deliverance was every way fit, and accommodated to the exigence they were in, the manner being this.
  • 1. They wandered in the Wilderness in a solitary way, they found no City to dwell in, ver. 4. But he led them forth by the right way, [Ver. 7] that they might go to a City of habitation.
  • 2. They were hungry and thirsty, and their soul fainted in them, ver. 5. [unspec 9] But he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness: Which mercies are every way correspondent to them, expressed in ver. 4, 5.

And upon this he inculcates his Exhortation to praise God, with which he began, ver. 1. But is so earnest to have it done, that he interserts between the mercies, as if he were loath to have it defer'd; which Course he also perpetually takes, as may be seen after in the Psalm.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, [unspec 8] and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

• 1. The Lord delivered, the Lord led them forth; let him then have the praise, 'tis his due.
• 2. It was out of mere goodness he did it, not out of desert: For he is good, ver. 1.
• 3. And the effect of his goodness was seen in his works, his wonderful works. He would then have his praise be as public as were his works, open, manifest: And it was his hearts desire it should be so; Oh that men would praise.

2. The second Corporal Misery to which men are subject, is Captivity and Imprisonment, which as before he first describes; then shows the Course the Captives and Prisoners took, and the consequent of it; viz. God's mercy in their deliverance, upon which he exhorts them, as he did the banished and hunger-starved, to be thankful.

1. He describes their misery.

• 1. Captives they were, taken by the enemy, put into Dungeons and Prisons, [Ver. 10] where they were debarred of the comfort of the Sun: For they sat in darkness, and shadow of death; for such is a Dungeon, and they in it, are in daily expectation of death.
• 2. Besides in this place, They were fast bound with affliction and iron, the iron enters into their souls.
• 3. And the farther it will enter, if the cause be, as it is of the most, their rebellion against God; when they are conscious of this, their irons will be far the more afflictive: To others, as Joseph, the Apostles, Jeremy, the Dungeon will be the less troublesome. But as I said, this is the cause of few; the most come thither, Because they rebelled against the words of the Lord, [Ver. 11] and contemned the counsel of the most High, as did the Israelites in the time of the Judges, and after. And therefore he brought down their heart, took down their pride, with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help.

2. [unspec 12] But then they took the same course that the banished did.

• 1. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble.
• 2. And found the same favor. And he saved them out of their distresses.
• 3. [unspec 13] The manner being very suitable to their distress.
  • 1. [unspec 14] For they sat in darkness, and shadow of death, ver. 10. But he brought them out of darkness, and shadow of death.
  • 2. They were bound in affliction and iron, he brake their Bands asunder; yea, [unspec 16] and set open the Prison-doors: For he hath broken the gates of Brass; and cut the bars of iron in sunder. The Prison was not so strong, but he was stronger; and in mercy did deliver his, from the severest and sharpest Captivity.

Now he interposeth, as before, his Exhortation to be thankful. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, [unspec 15] and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

3. The third Misery in which the Prophet instanceth, is, some great sickness, or pining away of the Body under some grievous disease, incurable by man, such as was that of the Israelites, when stung by fiery Serpents, or after of Hezekiah: And about this he useth his former method.

• 1. Describes the danger and dolour under which the sick parties languish.
• 2. Shewes the Course they took for recovery, which was the very same with the Exiles and Captives.
• 3. And the Consequent upon it, their recovery; upon which, he the third time calls upon the delivered to be thankful.
  • 1. The appellation he fastens upon these diseased persons, is, Fools: Not but that they may be wise enough in other things; but in that they sin with a high hand against God, for which they draw some plague upon them, [unspec 17] they are Fools.
  • 2. Now such Fools God often smites with an incurable disease. Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquity, are afflicted. Not but all sickness is from sin; but this that the Prophet here speaks of, being extraordinary, was for some general Apostasy, Rebellion, Contempt of God and his Word, some more than ordinary sin. You have the first description of their sickness from the Cause.
  • 3. The next is from the Effect, which was lamentable, and double.
    • 1. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat. Meat, with which the life of man is sustained, [unspec 18] all manner of meat becomes loathsome to them; the disease was grievous.
    • 2. Yea, and deadly too, no Art of Physicians able to cure them; For they draw near to the gates of death, i. e. the Grave, where death exerciseth his power, as the Judges of Israel did in the gates.

2. But these being but dead men in the eye of man, took the same Course as they before.

• 1. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble.
• 2. [Ver. 19] And by God's blessing they recovered, beyond all hope and expectation, God above, and alone, was their Physician.
• 3. This was the manner of their Cure, He saveth them out of their distresses.
  • 1. He sent his Word, and healed them. He said the word only, and they were made whole; or if any Dos were applied, as put case, a Brazen Serpent, [Ver. 20] or a Bunch of Figs, yet it was his Word, his Will, his Command that made them Medicinal, Wisd. 16.12, 13. And therefore the Prophet useth an apt word to put us in mind of this, He sent his Word; no otherwise than some great Prince sends forth his Ambassador to do his Command; and I little doubt but the Centurion had this in his mind, when he said to our Savior, Say the word only, and my servant shall be whole, Mat. 8.
  • 2. And he delivered them from their destructions; which is opposed to the danger they were in, ver. 18. They draw nigh to the gates of death.

3. But again he remembers the delivered to acknowledge the Cure with a grateful heart. [Ver. 21]

And he adds:

• 1. And let them sacrifice their Sacrifices; their 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .
• 2. But yet with these conditions and limitations. [Ver. 22]
  • 1. That it be with a thankful heart; they must be Sacrifices of Thanksgiving, an outward Sacrifice was nothing worth without it.
  • 2. That with the Sacrifice there go an Annunciation; that men declare his works, publish what great things God had done for them, that the Cure was his.
  • 3. That it be done with rejoicing; that we have an experience of God's presence, his mercy and favor; in which the heart ought more to rejoice, than for the Cure done upon the Body.

4. The fourth Misery, ariseth from the danger at Sea, of which, all Travelers, Merchants, Mariners, have experience; which,

• 1. He describes.
• 2. Shewes the course they take in a storm.
• 3. And the event following upon their prayers.
• 4. Upon which he calls upon, as upon the three before to praise God.
  • 1. They that go down to the Sea in ships: Go down; [Ver. 23] for now the Sea is lower than the Earth.
  • 2. That do business in great waters. Have a Calling and Vocation to go down, as Merchants, Mariners; for, as for Pirates, they have no Vocation, they may perish, they have no promise of Protection, nor Audience.
  • 3. These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. [Ver. 24] Others hear of them by Relation, but these see them. They see the great Whales, innumerable kinds of strange Fishes and Monsters; they see what the vastness and depth of the Sea is; they see Islands innumerable, dispersed and safe in the Waves; they find in it many Whirle-pools, Quick-sands, Rocks; they have experience of the virtue of the Load-stone; they discover many Stars that we know not; they behold the working of the Sea, the raging of it; through which, fear and horror of death invades the hearts even of the most valiant men.
  • 4. For he commandeth. Now he begins to describe the Tempest, [unspec 25] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 .
    • 1. From the cause. God it is that says the word, and his word is a Command.
    • 2. And with his word, He raiseth the stormy wind. Incutit vim ventis.
    • 3. Which, inspired with his word, lifts up the waves thereof, that is, the Sea.
      — Fluctus ad sidera tolli.
    • 4. They, that is, the passengers, mount up to heaven, [unspec 26] they go down to the depth.
      Hi summo in fluctu pendent, his unda dehiscens.

      — Terram inter fluctus aperit.
    • 5. Their soul is melted because of trouble. Their strength fails, and their spirit for fear and horror faints.
      Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra.
    • 6. [unspec 27] They reel too and fro, they are tossed this way and that way.
      Tres curus ab alto in Brevia & Syrtes urget.
    • 7. They stagger and totter, as a drunken man; an apt similitude.
      — Cui dubii stantque labantque pedes.
    • 8. And are at their wits end: Or, Omnis sapientia corum absorbetur. Their Judgment roves, their Art fails, their Skill is at end.
      Et meminisse viae media Palinuras in unda. — Denegat, Acts 27.14.

Hitherto the Prophet hath Poetically described the Tempest and Storm, and now he comes to acquaint us with the Course they in this danger took for to save their lives: They all fly to the common Remedy; this they thought was safest, and might do it, when all failed.

Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. [unspec 28] The Course that the Mariners in Jonah took, Jonah 1. I see the old Proverb will be true, Qui nescit orare, discat navigare.

And the Consequent was as before, And he brings them out of their distresses: The manner this.

• 1. He makes the storm a calm. Dicto cirius tumida aequora placat.
• 2. [unspec 29] So that the waves thereof are still. Et cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor.
• 3. [unspec 30] Then are they glad, because they be quiet, which is the first Effect: No more reeling too and fro, no more at their wits end; but taken out of the jaws of death by a sudden calm, whence ariseth much joy.
  — Laeto testantur gaudia plausu.
• 4. And to increase it, at last he sets them safe on shore: So he brings them to their desired Haven.
  Magno telluris amore Egressi, optata nautae potiuntur arenâ

  Et sale tabentes artus in littore ponunt.

3. And now in the last place he puts them in mind of their Duty, and wishes that they would pay their Tribute for the miracle done upon them, in saving of their lives out of so great danger.

And it might be, that in their danger they had made some Vow, as was usual for men in a great danger at Sea to do. Read the life of Nazianzen, who in such a case vowed himself to God: This the Prophet would have paid, and yet openly.

• 1. [unspec 32] Let them exalt him also in the Congregation of the people. In a Congregation, where all the people are assembled to praise God.
• 2. And that, not only before the promiscuous Multitude, but in the presence of those who excel in Authority, Wisdom, and Power, even the Princes: Let them praise him in the Assembly of the Elders. Me tabula sacer votiva paries indicat, vida suspendisse potenti vestimento Maris Deo.

3. After the Prophet had exalted God's mercies in freeing men from these four former Miseries and Calamities, Banishment, Captivity, Sickness, and Shipwrack; now he manifests his Power, Providence, and Wisdom, in the vicissitudes and alterations we find in things below, which proceed not from Chance and Casualty, but from his wise Dispensation. In the Earth we see strange Mutations, in Kingdoms wonderful Revolutions; and though for these, we are apt to assign inferior Causes, and fix on them, yet we must go higher, and not rest, till we acknowledge God's Hand in all, whose Wisdom orders all, and whose Power hath an influence in all these Alterations and Revolutions; let Epicurus and his Scholars think what they please to the contrary. Now of these Changes the Prophet produceth some Instances, upon which Tertullian very wittily descants in his Cap. 2. de Pallio. His first Instance is in the Earth, for in that he finds a great Change; but yet so, as God is the Cause of it, that he would have remembered.

• 1. He turns Rivers into a Wilderness, and Water-springs into a dry ground. The fertility of any Land ariseth from the Rivers, [Ver. 33] as is apparent in Egypt, which is made so fruitful by the overflow of Nile: And when Elisha would free the Soyle from barrenness, he first healed the waters. Now when God pleaseth to bring sterility upon a Land, he can dry up these Rivers, or stay them, that they shall not overflow, as it was in Egypt in the seven years Famine: And easy it were to produce examples of Rivers that have left their Channels, and diverted their Courses, by which, the Land that was formerly fruitful, is become barren and desolate as a Wilderness; and when there were Springs of water, now very dry ground; so that a fruitful Land is turned into barrenness; as Sodom, [unspec 34] Gomorrah, Gen. 14. & 19. And if stories be true, the whole Land of Canaan, which was a Land flowing with milk and honey; but is now in comparison of what it was, very barren.
• 2. And the Cause of this is, The iniquity of them that dwell therein. Sodom is an instance. In my ears are the cry of your sins, saith the Lord of Hosts, and therefore of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair without an Inhabitant; yea, ten Acres of Vineyard shall yield one Bath, and the seed of an Homer shall yield an Ephah, Isa. 5.9, 10.

2. And now on the contrary, that which more yet illustrates his Mercy and Providence, is, the Change we find in barren, dry, and incultivated grounds, which at his will become fruitful, inhabited, and abundant in all necessaries, for the life of man, which must be ascribed to his Power; for no Power is able to turn Nature into a better course, but that of God: Or if it be done by man's industry, yet it is God that teacheth him the skill to do it, and gives the blessing to his labor. It was an impious Speech of Cyclops in Euripides:

Now this our Prophet in this place insists on, and amplifies at large.

• 1. He, that is, God, turneth the Wilderness into a standing water, [unspec 35] and dry ground into Water-springs; i. e. He hath brought to pass, that in desert and dry places, there should be Pools of water; and the Earth, which had no water, should abound with Springs and Rivers; which is all one, as if he had said, They should be very fertile and fruitful; which is done for man's sake.
• 2. For there he makes the hungry to dwell. [unspec 36] Upon the discovery of some new found good Land, Colonies are transported thither, and such who live in want and hunger at home, betake themselves to these Forrain Plantations, which yet is done so much upon their own choice, as God's secret direction: For there he makes the hungry to dwell.
• 3. Yea, and to build houses, That they may prepare a City for habitation.
  Pars aptare locum tecto, pars ducere muros.
• 4. Farther yet, the studies and endeavors of these new Colonies are:
  • 1. [unspec 37] To sow Fields.
  • 2. To plant Uineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. That innocent work of Husbandry is their Profession, which was the first Trade in the World.
• 5. [unspec 38] And God's blessing is upon their honest endeavors, He blesseth them also.
  • 1. In Children: So that they are multiplied greatly.
  • 2. In Cattle: And suffereth not their Cattle to decrease.

2. But there is nothing in this World perpetual and stable, which leads the way to his second Instance, even those that God sometimes had blessed, and by blessing, multiplied and enriched, continue not always at the same stay.

• 1. [Ver. 39] These are minished and brought low.
• 2. These are worn out by oppression, affliction, and sorrow; by some public Calamity or other; either War, Famine, Pestilence, Invasion, Inundations, &c. Neither is this only true in common men, but even in the greatest Princes, Principalities and Monarchies, even these are subject to Changes: All the Monarchies are fallen.
  • 1. [unspec 40] He pours Contempt upon Princes. This, to our grief, we have lived to see and feel: And it is a heavy judgment, both to Princes and people, and a great Argument of some grievous precedent sins, that he suffer Princes, whether Civil or Ecclesiastical, to become contemptible; for then the Reins of Discipline is let loose, confusion follows, and all things grow worse; which effusion of vengeance, when it happens, is sometimes caused for the sin of the Prince, sometime of the people, sometime of both. 'It is certainly, as he said before, For the iniquity of those that dwell in the Land.
  • 2. And causeth them to wander in the Wilderness, where there is no way; which Clause is subject to a double Interpretation.
    • 1. Either that he suffers Princes to err in their Counsels, in their Lives, and Examples; being destitute of the light of Wisdom and Grace, they live viciously and scandalously; or, they enact unjust Laws, favor wicked men, and oppress the good, in which there is no way of God.
    • 2. Or else he suffers them to be Wanderers in the World, as banished Persons; which I read with tears, well knowing, That there cannot be a greater Calamity to a Noble and ingenious spirit.

But yet there is some Comfort in the following verse, That it shall not be so always.

• 1. [unspec 41] Yet he will look upon the poor afflicted, penitent, and raise him: Yet setteth he the poor man on high from affliction; [unspec 41] He will give him ease and release from his temporal and spiritual affliction.
• 2. And make him Families like a Flock: He will yet multiply him, gather him and his Family into one Fold, become his Shepherd, feed him, and govern him by his singular Providence and Manuduction.

4. He concludes the Psalm with an Epiphonema, in which he persuades all good men to consider the former Premises, and lay it to heart: To observe the whole course of God's Providence, that they impute not the Changes of the World to Chance and Fortune, nor be overmuch dejected at them, but rather bless God for all, as Job did.

• 1. [unspec 42] The righteous shall see it: Consider, and seriously meditate upon it.
• 2. And rejoice; when they are assured, that God is their Guardian, and that therefore the Crosses which he lays upon them, are trials for their good, not for their ruin.
• 3. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth: By observation of the event at last, evil doers shall not have occasion to laugh, and blaspheme, and find fault with God's ways, but confess, That all was by God justly done, and wisely disposed.

But this is a Consideration not for every brain, 'tis for wise men, that look afar off, and think on it.

• 1. Who is so wise, will observe these things: That is, [unspec 43] vicissitudes and changes of this World.
• 2. And they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord: It shall appear unto them at last, how ineffable his mercy is toward them which truly fear him, and call upon his Name; but our life is hid with Christ in God.

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

T HIS Psalm is wholly composed and drawn into one out of two Psalms. The first part of it, until the 6th. verse, is verbatim taken out of the 57th. Psalm, beginning at the 7th. verse; the latter part, from ver. 6. to the end, is taken out of the 60th. Psalm, beginning, as it doth here, at the 6th. verse, and is continued, as here, unto the end. I shall not need therefore to Analyse and explain, or insert a Meditation upon it, since it is done already; and therefore I pass on to the next.

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

THE later Expositors expound this Psalm, of Doeg, Achitophel, and other Persecutors of David, and so it may be understood in the Type: But the Ancient Fathers apply it to Judas the Traitor, and the Jews that put Christ to death; which opinion, because it is more probable, being occasioned by those words of Peter, Acts 1.20. which by him are applied to Judas out of this Psalm; I shall expound it of Christ, whom David doth personate; and of Judas, and the malicious Jews, very fitly understood in the persons of his wicked and slanderous enemies.

There be four parts of this Psalm.

• 1. A short Ejaculation, ver. 1. and the Reasons of it expressed in a Complaint of the fraud and malice of his enemies, ver. 6.
• 2. A bitter Imprecation against them, from ver. 6. to 21.
• 3. A Supplication presented to God for himself, from ver. 21. and the Reasons, to ver. 30.
• 4. A profession of thanks, ver. 30, 31.

1. He begins with an Ejaculation: Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise, ver. 1. Observe,

• 1. [Ver. 1] The Epithite, or Title he useth, O God of my praise. In the reading Translators vary; for thus they read: Deus laudis meae, Deus laus, mea, Deus laudabilis mihi; and they expound it:
  • 1. Either actively; that is, O God, whom I praise, even in my greatest pressures or calamities.
  • 2. Or passively, Who art my praise; the Witness and Advocate of my innocence and integrity, when I am condemned by malicious tongues; which sense seems fittest for this place, and to this the Vulgar gives more light, that thus reads it, Domine laudem meam, ne tacueres: And Bellarmine puts the words into Christ's mouth, in which he desites that God would not conceal his Charity, Innocence, and other Virtues, being very like that prayer, John 17.5. Father, glorify thy Son.
• 2. Hold not thy peace. Tacere, in Scripture, when refer'd to God, is to connive, and rest, and seems as it were, not to regard; and the contrary, loqui, to speak, to do somewhat for revenge or deliverance: This then is that which David here asks, That when the malice of his enemies arrived at that height, that it could be no longer endured, that God would connive at them, suffer them, and hold his peace no longer, but would declare his displeasure against them.

2. And after by way of Complaint he describes unto us their malicious nature, and unsufferable conditions, which he aggravates by an elegant Gradation: For the mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful, are opened against me, they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

They were, 1. Impious. 2. Deceitful. 3. Liars. Impiety, deceit, lying, were then the ingredients of their sin. [Ver. 2]

• 1. For the mouth of the wicked. Caiaphas, Judas, the Priests, the Jews, moved with envy and malice.
• 2. And the mouth of the deceitful is opened against me. Deceitful those words were, Master, Thou teachest the way of God truly: Tell us whither, They sought to entrap him in his words?
• 3. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. He casteth out Devils, through Belzebub, the Prince of Devils. He said, he would destroy the Temple, and raise it in three days.

And yet the mischief rises higher; for this deceit and lying, arose from hatred and malice.

• 1. [Ver. 3] They compassed me about with words of hatred, manifesting in plain words the malice which they carried in their hearts, saying, This man is not of God, behold a gluttonous person, and a wine-bibber, Away with him, Crucify him. Yea now, but what evil hath he done, that would be known? why so much spoken against? why so hated? But such there was not, which aggravates their fault.
• 2. They hated me, gratis, without a cause. Hate, and lie, and speak ill they would, because they would, John 15.

4. Farther, They were not only wicked, deceitful, and malicious, but very ungrateful persons also. I went about doing good, healing every sickness, [Ver. 4] and evely diseases among the people, and I loved them, as a Hen her Chickens, and would have gathered them. Now he is of a very ill nature, that being beloved, will not love again; but he of a worse, that for love will return hatred; and this they did.

• 1. For my love, they are my adversaries. Enough this to turn the heart of any man from them: But,
• 2. I give myself to prayer. I prayed for them on the Cross, Father, [Ver. 5] forgive them, they know not what they do.

Which base ingratitude of theirs he yet farther opens in fuller words, ver. 5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. I see that of Theognis is most true.

2. The Prophet having complained of the malice, hatred, spiteful usage, and ingratitude of his Nation, their crafty dealing with him, the lies and slanders which they heaped upon him, proceeds to pray against them, and that in a most bitter and fearful imprecation. Enemies he fore-saw they would be to the Son, God; and hinder, so much as lay in them, the flourishing estate of Christ's Church; yea, and that nothing was of force to restrain or amend them, and therefore he curses them with a curse, the most bitter that ever fell from the lips of man; and had it not been directed and inspired by the Holy Ghost, not justifiable. In particular, Judas that was guide to them, who took Jesus, is pointed at: But as Augustine observes, he represented the person of the whole Synagogue, the Imprecations then that are prayed for against him, do also involve them respectively.

1. The first is a fearful imprecation: Set thou a wicked man over him, [Ver. 6] and let Satan stand at his right hand.

• 1. Subject him to the will of some impious and wicked man, to whose lust and violence he may be no better than a slave. Others, by a wicked man, understand some false Teacher, that may seduce him by false Doctrine: But Bellarmine by Peccator here, understands the Spirit of Covetousness, which was set over Judas, when he sold Christ, to whom he unhappily served till death.
• 2. Let Satan stand at his right hand; have full power over him, let him stand, which signifies a perpetual, and indefatigable endeavor, to urge and press him forward, till he effect the mischief intended; and so it was in Judas, and the Jews; for after that Satan had put into his heart to betray his Master, and the Jews had taken counsel to crucify him, Satan would never permit them to give it over, till they had brought him to the Cross; the Devil was their Guide, and they followed him.

2. The second is, When he shall be judged, let him be condemned. [Ver. 7] Find no mercy; no favor at the Judges hand, but have the sentence of condemnation pronounced against him at the Bar of man, and at the Bar of God. Literally it fell out in Judas, when his own conscience accused and condemned him for betraying the innocent; the very High Priests that bribed him, would not acquit him; and he went out; and became his own Executioner, He hanged himself.