Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry

PSALM CVIII.

Vers. 1. O God, my heart is fixed, &c.] The seven first verses of this Psalm we had before almost word for word Psalm 57.7, &c. and the rest of this Psalm we had before Psal. 60.5. for which therefore see the Notes in both those Psalms.

PSALM CIX.

Vers. 1. HOld not thy peace, O God of my praise. ] Many of our best Expositors take the word praise actively, as if he had said, O God whom I desire always to praise, or, O God, who hast always given me occasion to praise thy name, appear in my defense, and be the same to me still, that thou hast always hitherto been, that I may praise thy name. But others take it passively, as if he had said, O Lord, thou art he in whom only I glory, accounting it my greatest praise that I am thy servant, and have an interest in thee, and in whom alone all my praise doth consist, because thou upholdest me in my just cause; whilst others cry out against me, as a perfidious wicked man, I beseech thee appear still in my defense. And indeed this last I conceive the most probable; and that because this seems to be prefixed, as by way of opposition to that which follows in the next verse, for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me : as if he had said, Because wicked men do slander me, I appeal to thee for my justification, as the witness and patron of mine innocence; and therefore whilst they cry out against me with full mouth, as a pestilent enemy to the state, be not thou silent, on whom I wholly depend for the clearing and avenging of mine integrity: and though all the world condemn me, yet as long as thou dost approve me, that is a sufficient praise to me. But however, because it is generally thought that it was Doeg, (or, as some think, Saul) against whom particularly David prays in this Psalm, as ver. 6, &c. set thou a wicked man over him, &c. it is most probable that this Psalm was composed in the time of David's troubles under Saul: and withal, because one clause of this Psalm verse. 8. let another take his office or charge, is by the Apostle Peter applied to Judas Act. 1.20. therefore it is also clear, that David speaks here of himself in the person of Christ, as foretelling by the spirit of prophesy, that it would hereafter fare with Christ, as it then fared with him: and so in reference to Christ, the drift of these words may be the same with that branch of Christ's prayers Joh. 17.1. Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee, &c.

Vers. 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me, &c.] See the foregoing Note, as also the Notes 1 Sam. 24.9. and Psal. 43.1. In reference to Christ, this may be meant of those clamours of the Jews, Crucify him, crucify him, as likewise of the flatteries of Judas and others, when they meant to betray him: and so likewise the following words, they have spoken against me with a lying tongue, may be meant of the many horrible slanders which they cast upon Christ.

Vers. 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. ] See Joh. 15.24, 25.

Vers. 4. For my love, they are my adversaries; but I gave myself to prayer. ] That is, I think not of requiting evil for evil, but flying to God by prayer is my only defense and refuge; see the Note Psal. 35.13. and 69.13. How this was accomplished in Christ, and particularly in his praying for those that crucified him, Luk. 23.34. we may easily conceive.

Vers. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him, &c.] This may be taken as spoken indefinitely of everyone of his enemies before-mentioned (and some conceive it was accomplished, when the Romans came to tyrannize with such horrible cruelty over the Jews;) or of someone that was the chief and the most mischievous amongst them, the head and the ring-leader of all the rest. And therefore taking the words as spoken by David with reference to himself, the most Expositors hold that this is meant of Doeg; who did not only incense Saul against him more then any of his enemies besides, but also caused a whole city and family of the priests to be cruelly slaughtered for his sake. But taking them as spoken with reference to Christ, it is clearly meant of Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus, Act. 1.16. and to whom Peter doth expressly apply one branch of these curses, Act, 1.20. As for this first imprecation, it is meant of appointing some wicked cruel tyrant to exercise dominion over him at his will and pleasure. And the very same in effect may be intended also in the next clause, if we read it, as it is in the margin of our Bibles, and let an adversary stand at his right hand ; that is, let him have some powerful and bitter enemy continually with him, that may diligently watch and vex and pursue him, and that may continually oppose and hinder him in all that he undertakes: for standing may imply all assiduity and diligence in doing these things; & the standing of an enemy at the right hand of a man, gives him an advantage to hinder such a one in anything he would do. Yet I know there are some Expositors that understand both clauses in a more restrained sense: Set thou a wicked man over him, to wit, to be his judge; and let an adversary stand at his right hand, to wit, to accuse him. But now reading the second clause, as it is in our Bibles, and let Satan stand at his right hand, that which is hereby desired must needs be, that the devil might be still powerful with him to lead him into any wickedness, and afterwards to accuse him, and to terrify him, and at last to drag him to eternal perdition: and indeed of Judas it is expressly noted what power the devil had over him; as that it was the devil that put it into his heart to betray Christ, Joh. 13.2, and verse. 27. that after the sop Satan entered into him. And just indeed it was that he should be subject to the devil, that would not be subject to Christ. As concerning the lawfulness of these curses, see the Note Psal. 28.4.

Vers. 7. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned, let his prayer become sin. ] That is, If he begs for mercy, instead of finding mercy thereby, let his entreaties enrage the judge the more, and provoke him to greater wrath against him. But this may be also understood with reference to God's tribunal, When he shall be judgeed, let him be condemned, &c. that is. When he shall at his going out of this world be judged by the Lord, let him be condemned without mercy; and though he shall then pray to God for the pardon of his sins, yet let them not be pardoned, but let his prayer add to the number of his sins.

Vers. 8. Let his days be few, &c.] That is, Let him live but a while after his sin; or rather, Let him be cut off by an untimely death: which how it was accomplished in Judas, we see Matth. 27.5. and with reference to this place Christ spake that of Judas Joh. 17.12. those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: and so likewise the Apostle Peter expressly said, Act. 1.20. that the next clause, and let another take his office, was to be accomplished by choosing another Apostle into the room of Judas; yet it may be meant of Doeg, with reference to that office which he held under Saul, 1 Sam. 21.17. and which doubtless puffed him up, and made him the more insolently cruel to David and others.

Vers. 10. Let his children be continual vagabonds and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. ] That is, Let them come out of their plundered houses to beg bread of those that pass by; or, being driven out of their dwellings, where they were spoiled of all they had, let them go about from one place to another begging for bread.

Vers. 11. Let the extortioner catch all he hath, &c.] To wit, by entangling him with bonds, and other fraudulent oppressive courses, as with so many pits and snares, and thereby stripping him by degrees of all that he hath: and let the stranger spoil his labor ; that is, let him strip him of those things he hath gotten by much labor. And by the stranger may be meant, either any that having no interest in what he hath, do only surprise them by fraud or violence; or else spoilers of some foreign nation, who when they come to pillage men, are wont to make clean work, and to show no pity.

Vers. 14. Let the iniquity of his father be remembered with the Lord, &c.] That is, Let him be punished not only for his own sins, but also for the sins of his progenitors.

Vers. 15. Let them be before the Lord continually, &c.] That is, Let their sins never be forgiven; or, Let the Lord be continually punishing the sins of his parents in him and his posterity, till they be no more remembered amongst men.

Vers. 16. Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, &c.] That is, me and others, that are distressed and afflicted, see the Notes Psal. 40.17, and 69.29: that he might even slay the broken in heart ; that is, the man that was sorely afflicted in spirit, because of his distresses: and indeed of Christ it is noted, that he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, Isa. 53.3. and that he was broken in heart for our sins, My soul, saith he, is exceeding sorrowful even unto death ▪ As for that expression, Because that he remembered not to show mercy, it implies, either 1. that the kindness that his enemy had formerly received from him might have put him in mind to have shown mercy to him; or 2. that the extremity of misery he was in might have stirred up in his enemy thoughts of pity towards him, as naturally men are wont to take compassion of those that are in a very sad condition; and that because he did not this, therefore it was just that God should not show the least mercy to him or his. And how truly this might be said concerning the merciless dealing both of Judas and the Jews with Christ, we may easily conceive.

Vers. 17. As he loved cursing, &c.] To wit, say some Expositors, 1. in that he delighted to denounce curses and imprecations against men; or 2. in that he did wittingly and willfully run on in those ways of wickedness, which must needs bring God's curse upon him, (which was as if he had desired God's curse) and would not walk in those ways wherein he might have been certainly blessed (as it was with Judas, that for a little money betrayed his Savior, and with the Jews in general, that despised and crucified him, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed; crying out, His blood be upon us and upon our children ;) or 3. which I like the best, in that he delighted to do all the mischief he could to the godly, and took no delight at all in doing them good: so let it come to him ; that is, let that be done to him, which he hath done to others.

Vers. 18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, &c.] To wit, in that he practiced it as constantly, as men wear their garments; or, in that he loved it, and delighted & gloried in it, as some men do in their costly apparel; see the Note Psal. 73.6: so let it come into his bowels like water ; that is, as water doth when a man drinks, or when a man is sunk under water, & then it runs into his body: and like oil into his bones ; that is, as oil which is of that efficacy, that it will pierce to the very bones and marrow. And the meaning of this is, that he desires, either that the curse of God might fall upon him in great measure, as men pour down water when they are thirsty, or as men, when they have aches in their bones, or upon other occasions, use much ointments; or that it might seize upon him not only outwardly in outward calamities, but also inwardly in his soul, his mind & conscience, as by continued horrid terrors, and by being delivered up to a reprobate sense, &c.

Vers. 19. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, &c.] See the Note Job 8.22: and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually ; that is, let the curse of God lie close upon him, and cleave fast unto him.

Vers. 20. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul. ] That is, against me; or rather, that by their slanders seek to take away my life.

Vers. 21. But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy names sake, &c.] See the Notes 1 Sam. 12.22. and Psal. 25.11: because thy mercy is good ; see the Note Psal. 69.16.

Vers. 22. For I am poor and needy, &c.] See the Notes Psal. 40.17. and Psal. 69.29: and my heart is wounded within me ; that is, I am in a manner a dead man; or rather, my heart is broken with sorrow: which how it was verified in Christ, we see, Matth. 26.38. and Luk. 22.44.

Vers. 23. I am gone like the shadow, when it declineth, &c.] That is, swiftly & suddenly; for no sooner is the sun covered with a cloud, but presently the shadow is gone: but see the Note also Psal. 102.11. I am tossed up and down as the locust: to wit, because as locusts are continually leaping up and down, yea and are often carried away by the winds, Exod. 10.19. and driven away by men, as being mischievous, hurtful creatures; so was David persecuted from one place to another, and so was Christ hurried up and down from one tribunal to another; both being looked upon as mischievous persons, not to be endured in the places where they lived. Yet because locusts have dry and thin bodies, some think that in this comparison the Psalmist doth also allude to that leanness of body, whereof he speaks in the next verse.

Vers. 24. My knees are weak through fasting, &c.] To wit, for want of m • at; or through grief and anguish of mind, which makes men oftentimes even to loath their food, Psal. 102.4.

Vers. 27. That they may know, &c.] Having in the foregoing verse prayed for deliverance, Help me, O Lord my God, &c. he adds, That they may know that this is thy hand: as if he had said, Let my deliverance be such, that mine enemies themselves may see, that there is a divine hand in it; or, By my deliverance let mine enemies come to know, that this which I now suffer is of thee, by thine appointment and by thy disposing providence; and that thou didst but make use of them as thine instruments for my correction: which fully agrees with that which is said of Christ Isa. 53.10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief.

Vers. 31. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, &c.] To wit, even then when he may seem to have cast him off; which David speaks with reference to himself; but see also the Note Psal. 16.8: to save him from those that condemn his soul ; that is, that unjustly censure and slander him; or, that seek to take away his life by judging him to be a malefactor, not worthy to live, and so proceeding against him in a judiciary way: which we know was the condition both of David and Christ.

PSALM CX.

Vers. 1. THe Lord said unto my Lord, &c.] Though this might be taken as spoken by the people of Israel concerning David, who was indeed a glorious type of Christ, and did by the mighty help of God subdue all his enemies round about him, see the Note Psal. 89.27; yet I rather take it to be only a prophesy concerning Christ: and that 1. because there are some passages in this Psalm, which cannot with any show of probability be applied to David, as that verse. 4. for how can it be said that David was a priest, much less a priest forever? or that there was a priesthood after another order, the order of Melchizedek, erected by God at that time, when the priesthood after the order of Aaron was still settled in the Church? 2. Because our Savior himself alleged this very Text to the Pharisees, Matth. 22.43, as a passage commonly acknowledged to be meant concerning the promised Messiah, and that to prove that he was to be more then mere man: for when the Pharisees had acknowledged, that Christ when he came was to be the son of David, our Savior objected this very place to them, How then, saith he, doth David in spirit, (that is, by the spirit of prophesy) call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thy enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? and the Evangelist adds there immediately verse. 46. that no man was able to answer him a word ; which was a clear proof, that in those times this was generally acknowledged to be a prophesy concerning Christ, or else the Pharisees would soon have objected that. 3. Because the Apostle Heb. 1.13. doth in effect say, that no angel, and therefore much more no mere man, could be capable of that honor which is promised in these words; To which of the angels said he at any time, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? and 4. Because the Apostle Peter doth expressly say Act. 2.34, 35, that it is not the people that speak here of David their Lord, but that it is David himself that speaks these words, The Lord said unto my Lord; and that those words, Sit thou on my right hand, &c. could not be meant of David, because David was not taken up into heaven as Christ was, For David, saith he, is not ascended into the heavens; but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. These words therefore, The Lord said unto my Lord, &c. are doubtless a prophesy concerning the kingdom of Christ: for the fuller understanding whereof we must know, 1. that David calls Christ here his Lord, both as he was God, and as he was his King and Redeemer; 2. that by the Lord's saying that which is here mentioned to Christ, David's Lord, is meant, that God the Father had from all eternity decreed this concerning Christ his Son, and did in time make known this his decree and promise, both to Christ and to his Church; 3. that by Christ's sitting at the right hand of God the Father is meant, the advancement of Christ, as he was both God and man in one person, to the supremest place of power and authority, of honor and heavenly glory, under God the Father: for this word sitting implies reigning with continuance, after he had finished the work of man's redemption, even as a prince that sits in his throne of glory; and God's right hand notes the next place of power and glory under God, or, as some express it, a place of equal power and authority with God, even that he should be advanced far above all principality and power and might and dominion, Eph. 1.21. and should from the highest place of heavenly glory, as Mediator, and his Fathers Deputy, reign over the whole world, which is therefore called the right hand of the majesty, Heb. 1.3. and the right hand of the power of God, Luk. 22.69: and 4. that in those words, until I make thine enemies thy footstool, though the act of subduing Christ's enemies be ascribed to God the Father, yet we cannot thence infer that Christ doth not himself subdue his enemies; for what things soever he, that is, the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise; only acts of power are usually ascribed to God the Father, not only because Christ, as the Mediator, is assisted by the Father in all that he doeth, but also because whatsoever the Son doeth, he doeth it by that power which he hath from the Father by his eternal generation. And as for this word until, though it doth not always imply a certain prefixed time, unto which that which is affirmed shall be, and no longer, as Gen. 28.15. and Psal. 112.8. may seem rather to imply a certain determinate time: for though there is no question, but that Christ shall reign with God the Father unto all eternity, see the Note Psal. 45.6; yet because it is as certain, that when death, the last enemy of Christ, is once wholly subdued, he shall no longer reign as he doth now, to wit, as a Mediator, and as his Fathers Deputy, gathering and defending his Church against her enemies, and interceding with his Father in her behalf as formerly; but as one true God, of the same essence with the Father, he shall reign without any external means or instruments, without word or Sacraments, without enemies or hindrances, &c. therefore here, I say, this word until may imply, that Christ's kingdom as Mediator should continue till all his enemies were subdued, and that then he should voluntarily resign it into the hands of the Father, which is that the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.24, 28.

Vers. 2. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, &c.] That is, thy mighty and powerful kingdom, (the scepter, the sign, being put for the thing signified;) or, thy strong scepter, the scepter whereby thou dost show forth thy power; that is, the preaching of the Gospel, accompanied with the mighty working of the spirit of Christ, for this is the scepter whereby Christ doth mightily subdue and govern his people: and therefore is the Gospel called the word of the kingdom, Matth. 13.19. and the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, Rom. 1.16. And accordingly the sum of that which is here said is, that though the Gospel should be first published, and the spirit should be first poured forth upon the Apostles in Jerusalem, Act. 2.4. yet from thence it was to be spread abroad all the world over; and so, though the foundations of his kingdom should be laid in Zion, yet it should be extended afterwards unto the farthest parts of the earth: see the Notes Psal. 2.6, 8. As for the following clause, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies, the meaning is, that Christ should rule as King, even where the power of his enemies was greatest, and maugre all their malice and rage against him; and that not only by subduing and destroying his enemies at his pleasure, but also by gathering a people to himself, and governing them by his word and spirit: which is more clearly expressed in the following verses.

Vers. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, &c.] That is, when thou shalt go forth as a mighty king to conquer and subdue the world, and shalt make thy Gospel to work mightily upon the consciences of those that hear it, then shall thine elect people with all readiness and willingness submit to thee, follow and obey thee. As for the following words, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth (which is acknowledged by all Expositors to be one of the hardest passages in all the Psalms) for the understanding thereof we must know, First, that by the beauties of holiness may be meant, 1. God's holy Temple, or (in allusion thereto) the holy assemblies of God's people, for which see the Notes 1 Chron. 16.29. Psal. 27.4. and 29.2; and then the meaning is this, that in the day of Christ's power his people should willingly gather themselves together, to worship him in his Temple, or in the place of the holy assemblies: or 2. the amiableness that is in the holy ways of Christianity; and then this may be added, as the cause of the people's coming in so willingly to the service of Christ: or 3. which I like the best, that glorious holiness wherewith all true Christians are adorned; and then this clause is added to set forth the glory of that people, that should so willingly come in and submit themselves to Christ, namely, that they should come in to him in the beauties of holiness, that is, adorned with all the holy graces of God's spirit; as soldiers, that for the honor of their General, do go forth to serve him in their bravest attire, or as the Priests in the Law did wait upon God in their holy garments, beautiful and glorious; the holiness of the Church being that which indeed makes her beautiful as Tirzah, and comely as Jerusalem, Cant. 6.4. Secondly, those words from the womb of the morning, may be read, as it is in the margin of our Bibles, more then the womb of the morning ; and then they must needs be referred to the foregoing words, as making known that the beauties of holiness, wherewith the people of Christ should be adorned, should be more then are the beauties of the morning, where it first breaks forth. But now if we read this clause, as it is in our Bibles, from the womb of the morning, then may these words be referred either to the foregoing words, in the beauties of holiness; and so that which is hereby intended is this, that from the first shining forth of Christ upon his people in the preaching of the Gospel, (and Christ is indeed called the bright morning star, Revel. 22.16. and the day-spring from on high, Luk. 2.78.) or, from the first forming of Christ in their hearts, they should with much willingness present themselves before Christ in his service, being adorned gloriously with the graces of his spirit, as with clothing of wrought gold and raiment of needle-work: or else it may rather be referred to the following words, from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth; (for many learned men conceive that the Colon, or middle point that is in our Bibles betwixt these two clauses, is only a distinction for convenient reading, not a disjunction of the sense;) and then the meaning of the words is clearly this, that look as the dew is born out of the womb of the cool morning-air, & so distilleth down insensibly with innumerable drops upon the earth, (and indeed the like figurative expressions we find elsewhere, as Job 38.28, 29. Hath the rain a father? or, who hath begotten the drops of the dew? out of whose womb came the ice? & the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?) so from the first breaking forth of the sun of righteousness in the morning-light of the Gospel, an heavenly offspring shall be suddenly born unto Christ, begotten by the word and spirit, in innumerable multitudes, as are the crystall drops of the dew which in a morning cover the earth. They are the children that are begotten unto Christ that are here called his youth, because they are made new creatures, and are as new-born babes, 1 Pet. 2.2: and they are compared to the dew, thou hast the dew of thy youth, that is, thy young and new-born people are as the dew, because there should be an innumerable company of them, and because they should be suddenly brought forth, by a heavenly calling, upon the first preaching of the Gospel, as the dew that distils down from heaven upon earth. And indeed this explication is very suitable to other places of Scripture where the like expressions are used: as Isa. 54.1, and 66.8, 9; but especially that Mich. 5.7. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

Vers. 4. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. ] The chief thing intended in these words is, that whereas there should certainly be an end of Aaron's priesthood, as if the Lord had repented of the honor he had conferred upon that family, it should not be so with Christ; for his priesthood should be an eternal and unchangeable priesthood. But see also the Notes Gen. 14.18.

Vers. 5. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. ] Here the Psalmist sets forth the victories of Christ, as in reference to that which was said before verse. 1. to wit, that God would make his enemies his footstool. The Lord at thy right hand (see the Note Psal. 16.8.) shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath ; that is, though he may forbear them a while, yet there will a day come, when his wrath will break forth against his mightiest enemies, and he will utterly destroy them. And indeed, though some under this word kings include Christ's spiritual enemies, as Satan, the Prince of this world, Joh. 16.11. and sin, which reigneth as a king over carnal men, Rom. 6.12. and death, which is called the king of terrors, Job 18.14; yet it is chiefly meant of the mighty men of this world. The greatest question is, of whom and to whom those words are spoken, The Lord at thy right hand, &c. And for this we must know, that they may be understood, 1. as spoken to God the Father concerning Christ; as if it had been said, O God the Father of all power and majesty, the Lord, thy Benjamin, the son at thy right hand, (as was said of Christ verse. 1.) shall strike through kings, &c: or 2. as spoken to Christ concerning God the Father; O Christ, the Lord thy father shall stand by thee at thy right hand, to aid thee, and to destroy all thine enemies for thee: or 3. as spoken to the people of God concerning Christ; as if he had said, Be not dismayed, O ye servants of Christ; for as the Lord your Savior sits at the right hand of his Father in glory and majesty, so he will also be at your right hand, to assist and prosper you, and to execute judgment on all your enemies.

Vers. 6. He shall judge among the heathen, &c.] That is, He shall rule as king amongst the heathen; or rather, he shall punish and destroy his enemies of all nations, not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also: which is clear by the following words, he shall fill the places with dead bodies, that is, with dead bodies lying unburied; which also may imply the multitude of the slain, in that they that were left alive should not be able to bury their dead: he shall wound the heads over many countries ; that is, he shall destroy the mightiest of princes that oppose him.

Vers. 7. He shall drink of the brook in the way, &c.] Some conceive that hereby the havoc that Christ should make amongst his enemies is farther set forth; for they make the meaning of the words to be this, that Christ should make such a slaughter amongst them, that as a conqueror he might drink the blood of his enemies, which should run down as a brook or stream, according to that expression Numb. 23.24. Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain : and hereby, they say, is signified Christ's satiating, refreshing and delighting himself in the destruction of his enemies. But there are two other expositions that are far more probable: and indeed of these it is hard to say which is the best. The first is, that hereby the Psalmist sets forth the alacrity, heat and fervency of Christ in pursuing his enemies: He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head ; that is, being in the pursuit of his enemies, he shall nowhere stay to rest and refresh himself, but quenching his thirst a little out of any brook that he meets with in the way, he shall presently lift up his head again, and shall again follow his enemies close at the heels. And this exposition some learned Expositors do the rather approve, because by the coherence of these words with the two foregoing verses, it may seem, that the Psalmist doth still prosecute his prophesies concerning the victories of Christ. But then the second is, that these words are meant, the first branch of his humiliation or passion, and the second of his resurrection and exaltation. For by those words, He shall drink of the brook in the way, they say is meant, either 1. the poor and mean condition, wherein Christ lived as a pilgrim and stranger here in this world, like that of those, that have no other drink, but the water that runs in brooks and rivers, to quench their thirst, (wherein they say also that David, whilst he lived obscurely in desolate places for fear of Saul, was a type of Christ;) and then by the lifting up of his head must be meant, the glory whereto afterwards Christ was exalted: or 2. the death and passion of Christ. As waters in the Scripture do usually signify afflictions and sorrows, see the Notes 2 Sam. 22.5. and Psal. 42.7; so drinking of these waters may signify, either that a man is drowned and overwhelmed in these floods of afflictions, because when a man is drowned, the water will run into his bowels, as we may see in that Psal. 69.1, 2. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul, &c. for which see the Notes there; or else, a voluntary submission to the afflictions which a man undergoes, according to that of our Savior, Joh. 18.11. the cup which my father giveth me, shall I not drink it? But now, as drinking of a cup may signify the undergoing of a certain portion of afflictions and miseries; so on the other side, drinking of the brook may signify an undergoing of the highest degrees of all miseries and sorrows, because a brook of waters may signify a confluence of all kind of miseries. So that when it is said here of Christ, He shall drink of the brook in the way, the meaning is, that all the miseries due to men for sin should, as a torrent, come pouring in upon him. Having spoken so much in the foregoing verses concerning the victories of Christ, under those metaphorical expressions of striking through kings, of filling the places with dead bodies, &c. lest we should hence think that his kingdom should be an outward worldly kingdom, the Psalmist doth therefore add this, concerning his suffering, and so entering into glory: He shall drink of the brook in the way ; that is, as he passeth through this world, or, whilst he is in the way of accomplishing the will of God for the salvation of men, passing through this veil of tears, he shall drink of the troubled brook of many bitter sufferings, he shall undergo all the wrath that was due to man for sin: therefore shall he lift up the head ; that is, he shall rise victoriously out of the grave, he shall triumphantly ascend up into heaven, and shall there sit down at the right hand of his Father. See also the Note for this phrase of lifting up the head, Psal. 3.3.

PSALM CXI.

Vers. 1. PRaise ye the Lord, &c.] See the Note Psal. 25.1. This is the first of the Alphabetical Psalms, wherein we have all the Hebrew letters perfectly according to their order without omission of any: and they are in the beginning of every clause of the Psalm, the first eight verses being divided into two clauses, and the two last into three. And just so it is again in the following Psalm.

Vers. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. ] As if he had said, Though profane ungodly men discern not the transcendent excellency that is in God's works, and that because they regard them not, and therefore search not into them; yet they that take delight in searching into them, they discover, and in a good measure understand, the exquisite excellency that is therein.

Vers. 3. His work is honorable and glorious, &c.] Some understand this peculiarly of the glorious work of God's delivering the Israelites out of Egypt, because they conceive the Psalmist speaks of this in the following verses. But I rather take it as spoken generally, that whatever God doeth is full of majesty and glory. And (which the Psalmist here adds, because therein consists the chief glory of his works) his righteousness endureth forever ; that is, whatever God doeth, he doeth it in faithfulness and righteousness unto his people; yea even then when he may seem to do that which is contrary to what he hath promised them.

Vers. 4. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. ] To wit, by his word given them, wherein those wonderful works of his are recorded; or by those memorials of his glorious works, which he ordained to be kept amongst them, such as were the pot of mannah, the rod of Aaron, and the festivals which they were appointed to observe, as the Passover, the Pentecost, the feast of Tabernacles, &c or because the works that God wrought for the Israelites were so exceeding wonderful, that they were not only worthy forever to be remembered, but such indeed as that it wat not possible they should ever be forgotten.

Vers. 5. He hath given meat unto them that fear him, &c.] That is, to his people Israel; and he useth this expression, unto them that fear him, either because they were then the only people that worshipped God in a right manner; or because what he did for them, was done for their sakes amongst them that did truly fear him. As for the mercy here spoken of, He hath given meat unto them, either it may be meant in general, of God's providing food convenient for them that have feared him in all ages, as he did for Elijah, and others; or rather more particularly, of God's feeding the Israelites in the wilderness with manna from heaven. And the reason of this is given in the next words, he will ever be mindful of his covenant ; because of the covenant he had made with them God did this, though they were a murmuring and rebellious people.

Vers. 7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment, &c.] That is, All that God doeth in the government of his Church is full of truth and faithfulness, exactly according to what he hath promised, and full of judgment, being exactly just in every regard. And this some conceive may be added in particular reference to that work of God mentioned in the foregoing verse, in giving the Israelites the heritage of the heathen ; wherein God approved his truth, in performing the promise he had made to his people, and his justice, in rooting out those wicked nations. As for the next clause, all his commandments are sure, (for which see the Note Psal. 19.7.) I conceive that under this word his commandments, both the promises and threatenings annexed to his commandments must necessarily be comprehended: and so they may be said to be sure, both because they do surely reveal the will of God to us; and because what is promised and threatened therein shall certainly come to pass. However, this clause seems to be added to that which went before concerning God's works, purposely to show what a clear agreement there is betwixt his works and his word; his works continually making good the sure truth of all that he hath revealed in his word & commandments.

Vers. 8. They stand fast forever and ever, &c.] That is, God hath established his commandments that they shall never be changed, but they shall be found perpetually true, together with all the promises and threatenings annexed thereto, whatever carnal reason may in the hour of temptation judge to the contrary: and are done in truth and uprightness ; that is, they are composed and ordained according to the exact rule of truth and righteousness, so that they cannot be charged with the least falsehood or unrighteousness.

Vers. 9. He sent redemption unto his people, &c.] Many understand this particularly of the Lord's delivering the Israelites out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, whom he sent unto them, and that because in the next words, he hath commanded his covenant forever, he seems to speak of the covenant which God made with them at the giving of the Law, which was presently upon their deliverance out of Egypt. But yet it may be meant more generally, of all the deliverances of the like nature which God had afforded his people, and that as they were shadows of their Redemption by Christ; whence it is that the Psalmist speaks in the next words of the covenant which God made with them for life eternal, which was grounded on that great work of Christ's Redemption, and whereto they were strongly obliged, 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 because he had so redeemed them. As for the expression here used, he hath commanded his covenant forever, see the Notes 1 Chron. 16.15: and for the following clause, holy & reverend is his Name, that is added, as an argument to stir up men to be careful of keeping covenant with God.

Vers. 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, &c.] Having said in the foregoing verse, that God's name was holy and reverend, hence the Psalmist takes occasion to press upon men the fear of God, The fear of the Lord is the beginning, that is, the foundation, of wisdom ; there is never any true wisdom in men till they begin to fear God: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments ; the wisdom of others deserves not comparatively the name of understanding: his praise endureth forever ; that is, the praise, the approbation, and the glorious reward, which such a man receives from God; or rather, the praise of God.

PSALM CXII.

Vers. 2. BLessed is the man that feareth the Lord. ] By describing the bliss of those that fear God, the Psalmist seems to make good what was said in the close of the foregoing Psalm, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Vers. 2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth, &c.] That is, exceeding numerous, and of great power in every regard: the generation of the upright shall be blessed ; see the Note Psal. 37.26.

Vers. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house; and his righteousness endureth forever. ] Several ways is this last clause understood by Expositors. For 1. some take it to be added in the praise of the man that feareth God; to wit, that notwithstanding he abounds in wealth, yet he is not corrupted thereby, as many are, but still holds fast his righteousness: 2. others understand it of his renown amongst men; to wit, that though men may seek to overcloud his righteousness with false accusations, yet it shall still shine forth gloriously, and be forever renowned amongst men: 3. others conceive it is added, as the cause why there is still wealth and riches in the house of the man that feareth God; to wit, because whilst the iniquity of the wicked, both in getting and using their riches, doth soon wast their great estates, his is preserved by his constant righteousness: and 4. others understand it of his perseverance in the ways of righteousness, and the never-failing reward thereof.

Vers. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, &c.] And that several ways: as 1. when they are for a time under great distress and heaviness, and yet then God brings them into a prosperous condition again, or gives them much joy after their heaviness; 2. when God keeps them free, in times of some common calamity; and 3. when they are inwardly cheered with the consolations of God's spirit, even in their greatest afflictions. Wicked men even in the sun-shine of their greatest prosperity, not having any assurance of God's favor, are indeed under darkness, and in their distresses they are quite overwhelmed with sorrow; but then the man that fears God is full of joy, through the light of God's countenance shining into his heart, even under the darkness of his saddest calamities: see the Note Esth. 8.16. As for the following words, he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous, though many Expositors hold that they are spoken of God, and that herein a reason is given, why unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness, namely, because God is gracious, &c yet methinks, the dependence of this clause upon the foregoing words shows clearly that it is spoken of the upright man there mentioned, this being the reason given why light ariseth to the upright in darkness, namely, because the upright man is gracious, &c.

Vers. 5. A good man showeth favor, and lendeth; he will guide his affairs with discretion. ] It is in the Hebrew, with judgment, that is, justly and judiciously: see the Note Psal. 25.9. But in our Bibles it is rendered, with discretion, which consists in many things: as in ordering his affairs and estate with such frugality and wisdom, that he may still have to give to the poor; in considering when and where it is fit to give, and when and where to lend; in not being too prodigal, nor too penurious; in proportioning his charity according to the persons to whom he affords it; and many other particulars of the like nature.

Vers. 6. Surely he shall not be moved forever. ] See the Notes Psal. 15.5, and 16.8, and 55.22.

Vers. 9. He hath dispersed, &c.] To wit, by distributing his alms amongst many, and that with a full hand and cheerfully, as the husbandman scatters his seed when he sows his land. And so though his alms be given away, yet his righteousness remains, as it followeth in the next words, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth forever : for which see the Note above verse. 3. His horn shall be exalted with honor : see the Notes 1 Sam. 2.1. and 2 Sam. 22.3.

Vers. 10. The desire of the wicked shall perish. ] This may be understood generally, of God's frustrating all the carnal desires of wicked men: yet because in the foregoing words the Psalmist speaks of their fretting at the prosperity of the righteous, The wicked shall see it, and be grieved, &c. it is most probable, that these words are also more particularly meant of the disappointment of all the plots and devices, which the wicked desired to have effected for the ruin of the righteous.

PSALM CXIII.

Vers. 1. PRaise, O ye servants of the Lord. ] The Levites may hereby be more peculiarly intended, whose special office it was continually to sing forth the praises of God; but all the faithful servants of God may be comprehended.

Vers. 3. From the rising of the sun, unto the going down of the same, the Lord's Name is to be praised. ] That is, all the world over; to wit, because the glory of God is manifestly discovered in his works all the world over. Yet herein may also be implied, that all nations were to have the glory of God in the work of man's Redemption discovered unto them by the preaching of the Gospel.

Vers. 4. The Lord is high above all nations, &c.] See the Note Psal. 97.9. A chief thing intended is, that God far excels in his majesty and glory all the great ones that are in the world. And his glory above the heavens: see the Note Psal. 8.1.

Who is like unto the Lord? &c.] See the Note Exod. 15.11.

Vers. 6. Who humbleth himself to behold, &c.] That is, to undertake the care and government of the things that are in heaven ; so that, as glorious creatures as the angels are, it is an abasement to the most high God to mind or regard them: and in the earth ; yea the meanest of them, as is expressed in the following verse, He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, &c.

Vers. 8. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. ] Where it is a greater honor to be a prince, then to be a prince elsewhere, and a greater advantage in other regards; because of God's special favor to them above other princes, and the great things that God usually doeth for his people above other nations.

Vers. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, &c.] To wit, by giving her many children, thereby to make up a full family: see the Note Psal. 68.6.

PSALM CXIV.

Vers. 1. WHen Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of a strange language. ] See the Note Psal. 81.5.

Vers. 2. Judah was his Sanctuary, &c.] That is, The children of Israel (the chief of the tribes being here put for the whole body of the people) became a holy people unto the Lord, being sanctified and set apart from all other nations to be a peculiar people unto himself, in whom he would be glorified, amongst whom he would make himself known, be worshipped and served, as in his temple and Sanctuary; according to that 2 Cor. 6.16. ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and Israel his dominion ; that is, they became a people subject unto his dominion, over whom he would rule as their king by his word and spirit. And this is said to have been done, when God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, because then, by the many miracles which God wrought for them, he made it manifest that he had taken them to be a peculiar people unto himself, and because by that great work of their Redemption he had indeed purchased them to be his people.

Vers. 4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs, ] That is, At the giving of the Law, the mountainous tops of Sinai and Horeb, and the little rising hills therein, or the mountain of Sinai, and other adjacent mountains and hills, did move and shake as apparently, as when the rams and lambs in a flock do leap and skip; and therefore it is said Exod. 19.18. that the whole mount quaked greatly: see also the Note Psal. 29.6.

Vers. 7. Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. ] Having demanded in the foregoing verse, why the mountains skipped like rams, &c. here the Psalmist, as by way of answering that question, adds these words, Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord, &c. as if he had said, Surely it was because they were afraid of the presence of the mighty God of Jacob: thus it was then, and thus indeed it ought always to be; Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord, &c.

PSALM CXV.

Vers. 1. NOt unto us, O Lord, &c.] This is expressed as a prayer of God's people when they were in great danger of their idolatrous enemies, Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give glory : as if they had said, We desire, Lord, that thou wouldest deliver us from the tyranny of the heathen; but not that any glory may thereby redound unto us, either for our valor in vanquishing them, or for our righteousness, as if we thereby had deserved any such thing at thy hands, but only that thy Name may be glorified: for thy mercy and for thy truths sake ; that is, that hereby it may be manifested how merciful thou art to thy people, and how faithful in making good all thy promises to them.

Vers. 3. But our God is in the heavens, &c.] This is added by way of disdaining that scorn of the heathen mentioned in the foregoing verse, Where is now their God? Our God, say they, is in the heavens, and is therefore a God of infinite majesty and power, having all the creatures in heaven and earth under his command: he hath done whatsoever he pleased ; so that all that hath been done in the world, hath been done, because it was his will and pleasure it should so be. And hence they would imply, that as their enemies could not have prevailed over them, but that their God was pleased it should so be; to when he pleased, he could easily restore them to a better condition again.

Vers. 7. Neither speak they through their throat. ] It was said before verse. 5. They have mouths, but they speak not ; and therefore that which is added here, seems to be meant of somewhat more, to wit, that they could not do what the brute creatures did, they could not make the least noise to come out of their throats.

Vers. 8. They that make them are like unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them. ] That is, they are as stupid and blind, as very stocks and blocks, as their idols are; no more able to oppose the will and power of God, and to hurt his people, then their dead idols were.

Vers. 9. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord, &c.] As if he had said, Though the heathen say your trust is in vain, yet be not discouraged; let them trust in such helpless things as their idols are, do you still trust in the Lord: he is their help and their shield ; to wit, that trust in him.

Vers. 10. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. ] These are particularly expressed, because by their place they were bound to be patterns and examples herein unto others.

Vers. 11. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. ] Some understand this of those that did fear the Lord of other nations, whether they were proselytes that had joined themselves to the Church of the Jews, or others; yea some look upon it as a prophesy of the calling of the Gentiles. But rather I conceive the drift of these words is, to show how we are to understand the two foregoing verses, to wit, that it was only those of Israel, and of the house of Aaron, that did truly fear the Lord, that should find him their help and their shield.

Vers. 12. The Lord hath been mindful of us, he will bless us, &c.] As if they should have said, Though God hath afflicted us, yet he hath not cast us off, nor forgotten us; all this while he hath been mindful of us: God hath formerly remembered us in mercy, and therefore doubtless he will bless us still.

Vers. 14. The Lord shall increase you more and more, &c.] To wit, in number; or, he will give you daily a supply of new benefits, both temporal and spiritual.

Vers. 16. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, &c.] That is, they are his by creation; or he hath taken them to be the place of his habitation, and from thence he orders and disposeth all things, as he pleaseth, that are here below. And the drift of these words is, either to assure God's people how safely they might trust in God, who had all things under his power and command, and could therefore make them instrumental for their good; or else to illustrate that which is said in the following words concerning God's love to mankind, but the earth hath he given to the children of men: as if they should have said, The Lord enjoys an all sufficiency in himself in the heavens, which he hath provided for the throne of his glory, neither needs he any of these things that are here below; and therefore it is clear that all these things he hath made merely for man's use and service: wherein is implied 1. that this discovery of God's love and goodness and bounty to mankind might let his people see, how confidently they much more might assure themselves, that God would not fail to bless them; and 2. what just cause there was, that this bountiful provision God had made for man should stir them up to praise God for it; whence it is that those words are added in the following verse concerning their praising God.

Vers. 17. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. ] That is, into the grave; where there can be nothing but silence, and therefore no possibility of praising God. But that which they would imply hereby is, that if the Lord should suffer his people to be cut off by their enemies, there would be none left to praise his Name, whereas this was the very end why God gave the earth to the children of men. See the Notes Psal. 6.5, and 30.9.

Vers. 18. But we will bless the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. ] As if they had said, Thou Lord, preserving us, we thy people shall still in all succeeding ages praise thy Name: and therefore save us for thy Names sake.

PSALM CXVI.

Vers. 1. I Love the Lord, &c.] By the words in the last verses of this Psalm, I will pay my vows in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, it appears that it was composed after the Ark was removed to Jerusalem. And because those expressions verse. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me, &c. are much the same with those which David used Psal. 18.6. it seems most probable that this Psalm was also composed by him, and both (it may be) upon the same occasion, which was his deliverance out of the hands of Saul.

Vers. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me. ] So he calls his sorrows and pains, not only because he was in apparent danger of death, for which see the Note 2 Sam. 22.6; but also because he was tempted to fear, that the evils that befell him proceeded from the wrath and displeasure of the Lord against him.

Vers. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple, &c.] That is, say some Expositors, those that are plain-hearted, and do sincerely and simply mean what they profess: and this indeed David might well speak with reference to himself, who plainly meant what he professed, and did not cunningly intend any hurt unto Saul, whilst he professed all fidelity to him. But rather I conceive that by the simple here are meant those that lie open to injuries, and are easily circumvented, and that when they are in danger and trouble, are not cunning to work out their deliverance, as many worldly men are, but are wont only with a simple, quiet mind, to commit their cause to the Lord, and to seek and wait for help from him, as children that being helpless in themselves, do wholly rest upon their parents for help. And this he speaks as from his own experience; I was, saith he, brought low, not knowing which way to help myself, and be helped me.

Vers. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul. ] That is, Be no longer disquieted, but rest thyself quietly, as thou hast formerly done, upon God's promises and fatherly providence, and that upon the experience thou hast now had of God's goodness to thee; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. They that conceive this Psalm to have been composed after David was delivered from the insurrection of his son Absalom, do otherwise understand this clause; to wit, that now he might expect to rest quietly in his throne again, and peaceably to enjoy the liberty of God's Sanctuary, as he had formerly done. But the first exposition is clearly the best.

Vers. 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. ] See the Note Psal. 56.13.

Vers. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. ] That is, say some Expositors, I will daily serve the Lord in his Tabernacle, as long as I live here in this world: see the Note Psal. 27.13. But what is rather meant by walking before the Lord, see again in the Note Psal. 56.13.

Vers. 10. I believed, &c.] To wit, that God would make good his promise to me; or particularly, that God would deliver me out of those straits I was in: therefore have I spoken, to wit, that which he had said before verse. 4. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul; or, therefore have I spoken, that is, therefore have I so often spoken of the promises that God had made to me, and made open profession of my confidence therein; or it may be spoken with reference to that which he had said before in this Psalm, concerning God's goodness and faithfulness to his poor servants, verse. 5, 6: I believed; that is, when I saw how miraculously God had delivered me, my faith was strengthened thereby, and hence hath proceeded this confession which I have here made of my confidence in God. And indeed in the 2 Cor. 4.13. where the Apostle cites these words, he seems rather to apply them to speaking by way of confession, then by way of invocation; We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak, &c. As for the following words, I was greatly afflicted, they are added to show that he was in great distress even at that time, when he did thus call upon God, or encourage himself in his promises.

Vers. 11. I said in my haste, &c.] See the Note Psal. 31.22: All men are liars ; that is, prone to lie, and to deceive those that rely upon their words: and this it is thought David spake in reference to the prophets, Samuel especially, who had anointed him and promised him the kingdom; and that he doth here acknowledge it, purposely to show how unworthy he was of the mercy which God had afforded him, and that by this discovery of his own wickedness he might the more magnify God's goodness.

Vers. 13. I will take the cup of salvation, &c.] That is, I will offer unto the Lord a peace-offering of praise; or, I will praise the Lord in a solemn and joyful manner: for the ground of this expression, I will take the cup of salvation, was, either because in those peace-offerings they were always wont to pour out a drink-offering unto the Lord; or because when the sacrificer came to feast with his family and friends on his peace-offerings, the custom was that he took a cup in his hand, and having used a certain form of blessing God for that mercy or deliverance, which God had afforded him, he drank, and then caused the cup to pass round to all the rest; and upon this ground it seems they called this cup the cup of salvation, or the cup of blessing. And indeed even to this custom Christ may seem to have had some respect in the institution of his last supper, the cup whereof therefore is called by the Apostle the cup of blessing, 1 Cor. 10.16.

Vers. 15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. ] This is added as a reason why he would praise the Lord, namely, because by the experience of the Lord's preserving him, he had found what precious account God makes of the lives of his faithful servants: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints ; that is, he doth not make light of their deaths, but their lives are very precious in his sight, even after their death he esteems them as his jewels. But see the Note Psal. 72.14.

Vers. 16. I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, &c.] See the Note Psal. 86.16: thou hast broken my bonds ; that is, thou hast delivered me out of all my straits and dangers, or from the thralldom whereinto mine enemies would have brought me.

PSALM CXVII.

Vers. 1. O Praise the Lord, all ye nations, &c.] That the Psalmist speaks this, as foreseeing and foretelling that all nations should by Christ be joined to the Jews, and become his people, is evident, because the Apostle Rom. 15.11. doth expressly allege this place to prove the calling of the Gentiles.

PSALM CXVIII.

Vers. 1. O Give thanks unto the Lord, &c.] It is evident by many passages in this Psalm, especially by those expressions verse. 22, 23, and 24. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone in the corner, &c. that it was composed to be sung in some solemn and festival assembly of the people, and that when David was newly settled on the throne of Israel. And therefore it is by almost all Expositors judged most probable, that it was penned when after the death of Ishbosheth all the tribes of Israel had anointed him to be their king, & he had vanquished the Philistines that at the same time had invaded the land, & thereupon he gathered the chief of the people together, that he might give thanks unto the Lord, & withal that they might remove the Ark to Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 6.1. But yet withal by that passage verse. 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone in the corner, which is in so many places of the New Testament applied to Christ, & that verse. 25, 26, Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord, &c. Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, which the inhabitants of Jerusalem applied to Christ, as the promised Messiah, Matth. 21.9. it is as evident, that whilst David speaks in this Psalm of himself, & those things which had befallen him, his principal aim was hereby prophetically to foretell those things that concerned Christ, that was to spring out of his loins. And as for this exhortation, O give thanks unto the Lord, &c. it may be taken as spoken by David, or by the people of God, & that principally with respect to that great mercy in exalting David to be their king, or rather in giving Christ to be their king & Savior.

Vers. 3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth forever. ] For this and the following verse, see the Notes Psal. 115.10, 11.

Vers. 7. The Lord taketh my part with them that help me, &c.] See the Note Psal. 54.4: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me ; see the Note Psal. 91.8.

Vers. 10. All nations compassed me about. ] Though of Christ it may be literally and truly said, of whom David was a type, that all nations do set themselves against him; yet understanding the words of David himself, it cannot be otherwise meant then of the neighbouring nations; unless we take it as a figurative expression, All nations compassed me about, as if he had said, All the world is set against me, I can nowhere be safe or quiet.

Vers. 12. They compassed me about like bees, &c.] Though it is not without some contempt that he compares his enemies to bees, yet withal he seeks hereby to imply how he was continually stung and vexed by them, not knowing how by any means to avoid them. And see also the Note Deut. 1.44. As for the following words, he doth thereby show farther how easily they were ruined: they are quenched as the fire of thorns ; which though they be soon set on fire, and make a mighty crackling noise, and yield for a time a more terrible blaze then greater wood will do; yet alas, they are soon consumed in their own flame, and so the fire will be presently out, and they will • arce leave • o much as any ashes behind them.

Vers. 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall. ] To wit, Thou, O Saul; or indefinitely, Thou, O mine enemy.

Vers. 15. The voice of rejoicing & salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous, &c.] This may be here laid down as a general truth; for indeed all God's righteous servants are sure to see the salvation of God, & they only can & will truly rejoice in God's salvation. But here doubtless it is added in reference to that particular mercy, for which this Psalm was composed. And the meaning is, that all the faithful throughout the land should, everyone even in their own private dwellings, rejoice for that salvation which God had wrought for David, being glad to see the day whereon so great a change was wrought, & that especially because they knew that his exaltation to the throne tended to the great good of the whole kingdom. And so the following words, the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly, may be added as that triumphant song, which should be sung in the tabernacles of the righteous.

Vers. 17. I shall not die, &c.] To wit, by the hand of mine enemies. It is as if he had said, Mine enemies have long thirsted & sought after my death; & indeed for many years together I have been, as it were, continually in the very jaws of death, & I have been looked upon no otherwise then as a lost dead man: but I see God hath determined otherwise of me, he hath reserved me for his praise; I shall not die, but live, & declare the works of the Lord. How this may be applied to Christ, whom the pains of death could not hold, we may easily conceive.

Vers. 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness, &c.] That is, the gates of God's Sanctuary: which are called the gates of righteousness, 1. because there the most righteous God had chosen the Sanctuary for his habitation; 2. because there the word of God was taught, the only rule of true righteousness; 3. because there the people of God were cleansed from their sins by the sacrifices that they offered up unto God, & so were presented righteous in God's sight; 4. because there they worshipped & praised God, which was a chief part of their righteousness; & 5. & especially, because God required that they should be a righteous people, that presented themselves there in his presence, & did therefore enjoin, that none that were unclean should be admitted to be there. And indeed this reason seems to be implied in the following verse, This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. Now this David speaks to the Priests & Levites, that had the charge of the doors of the Sanctuary, in reference to that festivity for which this Psalm was composed, whereon he had gathered the people together, that they might praise God for his mercy to them: see the Note above verse. 1. And it is expressed in a poetical manner, with a kind of triumphant joy, Open to me the gates of righteousness ; as if he should have said, Those gates from which I was so long banished, & which I did so long & so earnestly desire to see, Let them be now opened to me, & my company, I will go into them, & I will praise the Lord.

Vers. 20. This gate of the Lord, &c.] That is, of the Lord's house, into which the righteous shall enter, according to that Isa. 26.2. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth truth may enter in. Now some learned Expositors conceive that in these words David doth covertly intimate, what a change there should be in matters of religion, now God had exalted him to the throne, to wit, that whereas in Saul's time the worship of God had been neglected, or at least polluted by profane ungodly wretches; now, by the encouragement that should be given to religion, the house of God should be more carefully frequented, & that by such as did truly fear his Name.

Vers. 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner. ] That is, the chief foundation corner-stone. This with the three following verses seem to be the words of the people, congratulating the inauguration of their new king; as those expressions therein may well induce us to think, it is marvelous in our eyes, & we will rejoice & be glad. But however for the meaning of the words, First, doubtless they are meant of David. As builders are wont to cast away some stones, as not fit to be laid in the building, so was David despised and rejected: his own father looked upon him, as not worthy to be presented before Samuel, when he came to anoint one of his sons to be king, 1 Sam. 16.11; his brethren scorned & despised him, 1 Sam. 17.28; & as for Saul, his princes & courtiers, who were as the master-builders in Israel, upon whom the care chiefly lay of raising & advancing the glory & well-fare of the Church & commonwealth of Israel, instead of owning David to be the man ordained of God to be king after Saul, they persecuted him, as a perfidious ungodly wretch, not worthy to be numbered amongst God's people; they have driven me out this day (saith he) from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, 1 Sam. 26.19. yea & after Saul's death all the tribes of Israel, but Judah only, sided with Ishbosheth, & would not endure to have David their king. And yet at last in despite of all this opposition, God brought it so about, that he was established king, & so became the foundation corner-stone in that Church & state, whose peace & glory he was a means under God to uphold & raise, & united together those that had been sadly divided & distracted amongst themselves. And this is thus recorded, that by considering what a miracle it was, that he should be thus exalted to the throne, men might plainly see, that it was not by any ambitious policy & power of his, that he came to be king, but merely by the decree & mighty hand of God, as is more fully expressed in the following verse, This is the Lord's doing, & it is marvelous in our eyes ; & consequently, how notoriously false all those slanders were, that had been formerly raised of him. But then 2. this is principally meant of Christ, that stone cut out of the mountain without hands, Dan. 2.45. who though he was despised & rejected of men Isa. 53.3. especially by the Priests, the Scribes & Pharisees, the elders & rulers of the people, that by their place ought to have built up the Church of God, who would not endure that he should be counted the promised Messiah, but on the contrary persecuted him, as a notorious wicked wretch, not worthy to live amongst God's people, & never left till they had put him to a shameful death; yet being raised from the dead, he is now ascended into heaven, is now become the foundation, 1 Cor. 3.11. the King & Head of the Church, Ephes. 1.22. the chief corner-stone, who hath joined together the Jews & Gentiles in one body, in one Church, as the corner-stones in a building do join two walls together, & in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, Eph. 2.20, 21. And indeed so clear a testimony this is of Christ's being the promised Messiah, that to prove this no place in the Old Testament is cited so often by Christ & his Apostles, as this is: see Matth. 21.42. Mark 12.10. Act. 4.11. Rom. 9.32. 1 Pet. 2.4.

Vers. 23. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ] To wit, This bringing of a poor, despised, banished man to sit on the throne of Israel; & this bringing of a poor crucified man to be the sole Savior & Monarch of the world.

Vers. 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made. ] As if they had said, It is the Lord only that hath given us occasion of keeping this solemn day of rejoicing, & praising his Name together; to wit, by bringing David so miraculously to the throne of Israel: see the Note above verse. 1. And as this is spoken in reference to Christ, it may be meant of the day of our redemption, the day of the Gospel, or the day of the Resurrection of Christ.

Vers. 25. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord, &c.] Having given us such a king, we beseech thee save him from all evil. It is an acclamation which they were wont to make to their new kings, & so was now used by the people when David came to the Sanctuary to give thanks for the kingdom received. In the Hebrew it is Hoschiahna, but in the Greek it is expressed by that word Hosanna, as we may see Mat. 21.9. where the people used this acclamation to Christ when he rode into Jerusalem, as being an acknowledged prophesy concerning the promised Messiah; Hosanna to the son of David, that is, save now, I beseech thee, the son of David; let him be victorious over all his enemies, & let him be preserved in his members unto the end of the world. And the same is implied in the following words, O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity, to wit, to our king & people.

Vers. 26. Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, &c.] That is, Let our king, who cometh by authority & commission from God, that he may represent God's person, & seek his glory, & may in his stead govern & save his people, let him be praised & extolled of all men; or rather, Let him be blessed of God with all blessings requisite to make his government happy, & a blessing to the people, & that both in his own person & in the success of all his enterprises. And this was also applied to Christ by the people when he rode into Jerusalem, Matth. 21.9. Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord ; professing thereby their faith, that he was that blessed seed, that was sent of God to be a blessing to his people, & that the work of the Lord would surely prosper in his hands. Some take these words to be a part of the acclamation of the people to David when he came to the Sanctuary. But rather they are the words of the priests welcoming David to the tabernacle; for clearly the following words are the priests words to the people, we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord ; that is, We, whose office it is to wait upon God's service in his tabernacle, & to bless his people in his Name, see Numb. 6.23. we desire the Lord to bless thee, David, & thy followers, yea we assure you that you shall be blessed, & that in this your king. And indeed if we take the words as spoken in reference to Christ, when God's ministers do preach the Gospel, what do they but pronounce the people blessed in their Lord & Savior Christ?

Vers. 27. God is the Lord, &c.] That is, God is the Lord of heaven & earth, faithful in performing all his promises; or, the Lord Jehovah, the God whom we serve, & who hath revealed himself to us in his word, is the true almighty God: which hath shown us light ; that is, he hath manifested himself to be such, in that he, & he alone, hath brought us into a joyful prosperous condition, who lay before, in the time of Saul's reign, under the darkness of great sorrows & afflictions. But especially may it be said that God shown his people light in giving them Christ, who is the light of the world, Joh. 8.12. & by his word & spirit doth enlighten all his people. Bind the sacrifice with cords even unto the horns of the altar : see the Note Exod. 27.2.

PSALM CXIX.

Vers. 1. BLessed are the undefiled in the way, &c.] This is another of the Alphabetical Psalms: see the Note Psal. 25.1. But here, the Psalm being divided into 22. sections, according to the number of the Hebrew letters, & each section consisting of eight verses, all the verses in the first section begin with the first letter in the Hebrew Alphabet, all in the second with the second letter, & so it is in all the sections on to the end of the Psalm. And as for the matter of the Psalm, it seems to be a collection, which David made of the several meditations that he had had concerning the Word of God, upon his experience of the great benefit he had found thereby in all the various changes of condition that had befallen him. And hence it is that there is not above two verses at the most, wherein there is not some mention made of the word of God, though it be under different terms; as namely the 90. & 122. verses.

Vers. 3. They also do no iniquity, &c.] That is, They do not wittingly allow themselves to live in any sinful way.

Vers. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. ] That is, When not regarding what mine own reason, or other men shall suggest, I shall only mind what thy word enjoineth, resolving in all things to follow the direction thereof; then shall I not be ashamed : to wit, of anything I have done, (which is indeed the sure effect of sin, What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? ) but being free from an evil conscience, I shall be able with comfort to look God & man in the face, yea though I meet with many crosses & afflictions; & (for this also may be included) I shall not at the day of judgment be of the number of those, who having flattered themselves with vain hopes of salvation, shall be cast off with eternal shame & confusion, Dan. 12.2.

Vers. 7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. ] To wit, so as to practice them, according to that Joh. 6.45. Every man that hath heard & hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me: & indeed there is no true praising of God, unless men praise him by the righteousness of their lives, as well as by their words. As for those words, righteous judgments, see the Note Psal. 19.9.

Vers. 8. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. ] To wit, neither 1. by withdrawing thy grace utterly from me, though to try me thou shalt see fit to leave me for a time to myself; nor 2. by hiding thyself over-long from me in any time of trouble, lest I should be overcome by so sore a temptation.

Vers. 9. Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. ] The Psalmist doth particularly here instance in young men, 1. because youth is the time when men do usually make choice what course of life they will take, whether to live piously or profanely; & therefore it is fit that they should especially consider of this, that if they will address themselves to live holily & righteously, the only way to do this is in all things to take direction from the word of God: & 2. because young men, through their folly and weakness, & want of experience, & through the violent impetuousness of their lusts, are hardliest restrained from their sinful courses; so that if the word may be effectual to cleanse them from sin, then much more others.

Vers. 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart, &c.] Which is done by getting the knowledge of it, by committing it to mind & memory, by thinking seriously of it upon all occasions, by having always a full purpose of heart to keep close thereto, as the only rule of man's life; & by doing all this out of a high esteem of it, & dear affection to it, as to some precious treasure.

Vers. 12. Blessed art thou, O Lord; teach me thy statutes. ] Either by blessed here is meant, that God is praised & blessed of all his creatures, to wit, for his goodness & mercy to them, & because he filleth all things with his blessings; & then the argument that David useth here is, that since God was so good & gracious, & ready to give all his creatures occasion to bless him, therefore he would also deal so with him, by teaching him his statutes: or else that God is absolutely blessed & happy in & of himself, & consequently the fountain from whence all bliss is derived unto the creatures; & so upon this account he desires God to teach him his statutes, that thereby he might become a sharer of his blessedness.

Vers. 17. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live & keep thy word. ] Two things therefore David here desires of God: 1. that God would preserve his life, which seemed to be in extreme danger; & 2. that being so preserved he might consecrate his life wholly to God service, not desiring to live for any other cause, but that he might keep his word. And to this some add, that under these words, that I may live, he desires of God the spiritual life of grace; or that he might live cheerfully & comfortably, as being assured of God's favor, which is indeed only worthy the name of living.

Vers. 18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law. ] This may be meant of the wonderful wisdom, holiness, righteousness & equity, &c. which do shine forth in God's law; of the wonderful rewards there promised to the righteous, & the punishments denounced against the wicked; the wonderful works of God recorded in his word; but especially of the wonderful & incomprehensible mysteries of the Gospel; for the discovery whereof David had the more cause to desire the illumination of God's spirit, because they were only made known by dark types & shadows in those times of the Law.

Vers. 19. I am a stranger in the earth, &c.] See the Note Gen. 47.9. This is laid down as the ground of the following petition, hide not thy commandments from me ; that is, suffer not thy commandments, for want of the illumination of thy spirit, to be hidden from me: & that 1. because being but a stranger upon earth, & having but a while to continue here, it was fit that his chief care should be for heaven, the land of rest where he was to dwell forever & ever; & 2. because being therefore here always travelling towards heaven, he had need of continual direction from the word of God, to guide him in the way thither, & that the rather, because naturally he knew no more of the way that leads to heaven, then men do know the way that leads from one place to another, when they are in a strange country: see also the Note Psal. 39.12.

Vers. 20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. ] That is, My spirit fails or faints within me; or, my soul, in her eager desires after thy judgments, is as the broken & chawned earth when it gapes after the rain; or, I do so earnestly long after thy judgments, that my heart doth even break through grief when I cannot come to enjoy them.

Vers. 21. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, &c.] That is, Thou hast destroyed the proud contemners of thee & of thy laws: (for the word rebuked see the Note Psal. 6.1.) which do err from thy commandments ; that is, that out of pride & stubbornness refuse to walk in the ways that God hath enjoined them. Now the drift of the Psalmist in alleging this was, to imply, that even by the judgments of God upon those that despised his laws, he might well be quickened in a holy endeavor carefully to observe them.

Vers. 22. Remove from me reproach & contempt, &c.] That is, Free me from that reproach & contempt which wicked men have cast upon me; for I have kept thy testimonies, & therefore have I no way deserved those foul aspersions; but indeed it is for my keeping so close to thy testimonies, that they have reproached me: or, for I have kept thy testimonies, that is, I have not been ashamed of thee & thy service, I have not abandoned thy truth, & thy ways, because of their reproaches; & therefore I hope thou wilt clear mine innocence against thē that falsely accuse me.

Vers: 23. Princes also, &c.] As if he had said, Not only the meaner sort of people, but even Princes did sit & speak against me ; to wit, not only as they casually met together in private, but especially when they sat in counsel together, yea when they sat in the seat of judgment, (for so much those words did sit & speak against me seem to imply:) but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes ; to wit, thereby to comfort myself, to strengthen my faith, & to learn how to carry myself in such a condition. And hereby he would imply also, that their speaking against him did no way beat him off from the ways of piety, but rather encouraged him in them.

Vers. 24. Thy testimonies also are my delight, & my counsellors. ] David seems to speak here as a prince, that doth nothing without the advice of his privy counsel. And this he opposeth to that in the foregoing verse, as if he had said, Whilst princes sat together, & took counsel against me, I betook myself to thy testimonies, & they were the men of my counsel, as it is in the Original.

Vers. 25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust, &c.] To wit, through extreme distress & danger, or through grief & terrors of conscience: but see the Note Psal. 44.25. quicken thou me according to thy word ; see the Notes Psal. 71.20, and 80.18.

Vers. 26. I have declared my ways, &c.] That is, all my straits and sorrows, temptations & sins, every state & condition wherein I was, all my businesses and undertakings, I have still made them known to thee: & thou heardest me ; to wit, in doing for me what withal I then desired of thee: teach me thy statutes ; as if he had said, hear me therefore in this, as thou hast done formerly for other things.

Vers. 27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts; so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. ] That is, the wonderful works that thou shalt work in doing this for my poor soul, how herein thy power hath been magnified in my weakness; or, the wonderful works recorded in the word, for which see the Note above verse. 18. And the drift of this is, to set forth, either 1. that if God would teach him, then he would be ready upon all occasions to teach others; or 2. how it would cheer him in his afflictions, making him with great joy to talk of the wonders of God's word, if the Lord would effectually teach him the way of his precepts. And indeed unless men understand God's word, it is not possible they should take any delight in talking of it.

Vers. 28. My soul melteth (or, as it is in the Hebrew, droppeth) for heaviness. ] The meaning is, either that his soul did melt away, as it were, into tears, drop by drop; or that his strength did by little and little wast and pass away like water.

Vers. 29. Remove from me the way of lying, &c.] This may be meant either of the way of error in doctrine, or of the way of sin, which may be called the way of lying, because it deceives those that walk in it, & men are usually drawn thereinto by the false impostures of the world & the devil. And this he desires may be removed from him, because he knew that his own corrupt nature was inclinable thereto, though for the present he walked in the way of truth, as he professeth in the next verse. And accordingly we must understand the following clause, & grant me thy law graciously ; that is, let me have that still to be the rule of my life, imprint it in my heart, that I may live according to the directions thereof.

Vers. 31. I have stuck unto thy testimonies; O Lord, put me not to shame. ] That is, say some Expositors, Suffer me not to fall into any such sinful course, as may expose me to shame amongst men, & likewise fill mine own conscience inwardly with confusion. But rather his desire is, that God would not by denying his requests, or hiding himself from him in his troubles, frustrate the hopes that he had in him, & so overwhelm his spirit with shame & confusion, & give occasion to wicked men to insult over him; but rather that he would give him cause still to persevere in the ways of his commandments, with full assurance of his love & favor. Or else his request in these words may be only this, that God would not suffer wicked men to reproach him for his care & endeavor to keep his commandments.

Vers. 32. I will run the way of thy commandments, &c.] That is, I will cheerfully & zealously observe thy commandments: when thou shalt enlarge my heart ; which is meant of working in him 1. a greater measure of knowledge; for so in regard of his great knowledge it is said of Solomon 1 Kings 4.29. that God gave Solomon wisdom & understanding exceeding much, & largeness of heart, &c. see the Note there; 2. more strong degrees of love to God & to his word, &c. as Paul expresseth his ardent love to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 6.11. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged ; & 3. & especially, an increase of comfort & joy through the assurance of God's love & favor in Jesus Christ; for thus also the joy of the Church is set forth upon the conversion of the Gentiles Isa. 60.5. thine heart shall fear, to wit, with admiration, & be enlarged, to wit, with joy, because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, &c. And indeed, as sorrow streighteneth the heart, so joy doth dilate & enlarge it: & this spiritual joy is the true well-spring of all free, forward & cheerful obedience.

Vers. 36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, & not unto covetousness. ] And so consequently not unto any other sinful lusts. Only covetousness is particularly expressed, because that doth in a special manner take men off from the love & study of God's law, & is the root of all evil: & hereby also is implied, that God's testimonies are better then all riches.

Vers. 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, &c.] That is, from looking so after vain things, as for them to neglect thy law, from beholding them so, as thereby to be brought inordinately to affect them, & to be entangled in any sinful practice: & quicken thou me in thy way ; that is, direct me so in thy way, that I may live thereby; or, cause me to live according to thy laws; or (which I like the best) cause me to walk on with all liveliness & cheerfulness & zeal in the way of thy commandments.

Vers. 38. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, &c.] That is, By thy spirit assure me that thy promises shall be made good to me; or, Perform what thou hast promised to thy servant: who is devoted to thy fear ; that is, who am only desirous & careful, that I may continually persevere in thy fear, & who am therefore one of those to whom those promises are made.

Vers. 39. Turn away my reproach, which I fear, &c.] I conceive that this is much the same with that which he had said before verse. 31. O Lord, put me not to shame ; for which see the Note there. Yet some Expositors do limit this to the reproach of loosing the kingdom promised, or the reproaches which he feared would befall him for the sin which he had committed in the matter of Uriah: & again others, with more probability, because of those words, which I fear, do understand it of the reproach which shall be the portion of the wicked at the day of judgment; as if he had said, The reproaches of men I fear not, but that which I fear is, lest I should be cast off with shame before thy tribunal; let not that, I beseech thee, Lord, be my portion: or else, of his fear lest the word & truth of God should suffer reproach by his means, as if he had in vain made his boast of them. And accordingly we must understand the following clause, for thy judgments are good, that is, they are holy & just, righteous & faithful, profitable & delightful to those that observe them: as if he should have said, Therefore let them be so to me, let me not be ashamed of the hope I have placed in them; or, Therefore cause me still to cleave close to them, and not to bring reproach upon myself by any sinful swerving from them; or, Therefore it is not sit that I should be erproached by men as an evil doer, as long as I observe these good judgments, and make them my rule in all things whatsoever.

Vers. 40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts; quicken me in thy righteousness. ] That is, quicken me in thy law, which is exactly righteous, & the only rule of true righteousness; see the Note above verse. 37: or, quicken me according as thou art a righteous God; see the Note Psal. 5.8: & what is meant by quickening, see in the Note above verse. 25.

Vers. 42. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me, &c.] That is, to confute & stop the mouths of them that reproach me, for being so strict in my ways, & for trusting in thy word; namely, by showing how God hath made good his promises to me: for I trust in thy word ; it is as if he had said, & therefore let me have wherewith to answer those that reproach me for my confidence therein.

Vers. 43. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, &c.] As if he had said, Whereas I have hitherto made profession of thy truth, & gloried of thy promises, bring me not now into such a condition, either by withholding thy grace, or by not affording the help thou hast promised me in my trouble, that I should now be afraid to profess thy truth, or to glory of thy promises, as I have done; at least though thou mayest, to try me, leave me in such a condition for a time, yet let it be but for a time, take not the word of truth utterly, that is, forever, out of my mouth: for, saith he, I have hoped in thy judgments, that is, thy word & promises; or the judgments thou hast threatened against wicked men, & which thou hast said thou wilt execute on the behalf of thy faithful servants.

Vers. 45. And I will walk at liberty. ] That is, cheerfully, willingly, securely, as being delivered from the bondage of sin, & freed from those doubts & fears and terrors, wherewith wicked men are perplexed. It is in the Hebrew, I will walk at large, for which see the Notes Psal. 4.1.

Vers. 48. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, &c.] That is, I will with all earnestness endeavor to do what is therein enjoined: or, I will with all eagerness embrace and study them; as men reach forth their hands to those things they do most earnestly desire. Yet some conceive that in these words the Psalmist alludes to the lifting up of the hands in swearing or prayer, & that he desired to imply thereby, that he would bind himself by an oath to the observation of God's laws, or that he would address himself to the study of them, with prayer to God for assistance therein.

Vers. 51. The proud have had me greatly in derision, &c.] That is, They have derided me with all possible bitterness, & that continually day by day: And who he means by the proud, see in the Note above verse. 21. Yet have I not declined from thy law ; that is, from the study of thy law, from the ways of piety therein prescribed, or to seek redress or comfort in my troubles any other way then from thy word.

Vers. 52. I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord, & have comforted myself. ] Some by God's judgments here understand the laws of God, which were written in men's hearts from the first creation. But though these may be included, yet it is clear that the righteous acts of the Lord, recorded in the Scriptures, which God as a just judge had executed in all ages, according to the threatenings annexed to his laws, both in the punishments of the wicked, & the deliverances of his righteous servants, are the judgments wherewith David is said here to have comforted himself.

Vers. 53. Horrour hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law. ] That is, it causeth a grievous terror & trembling to seize upon me; to wit, out of zeal for God's glory, & indignation against such wicked wretches, for their presumptuous and grievous sins; & partly also out of grief for the sore punishments which he knew their wickedness would bring upon them, & haply the common calamities they might also bring upon others. And some add also that their wickedness made him afraid of his own falling into the like enormities.

Vers. 54. Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. ] That is, in the days of my pilgrimage here in my earthly tabernacle; see the Note Gen. 47.9: or, whilst I lived in exile, wandering up and down from one place to another. And by saying that God's statutes were his songs he means, either that he made or sung Psalms & songs concerning God's statutes; or else that the remembrance & meditation of God's statutes was as delightful to him as songs, and that in his exile: though he were then subject to many miseries, griefs & fears, & were deprived of the comfort of God's Ordinances, & of serving God in his Sanctuary; yet then the meditation of God's statutes yielded him much refreshing comfort: as travellers use to delight themselves, & to take away the wearisomenesse of their journey, by singing songs together as they go along; so did he delight himself in the time of his exile, by thinking on God's statutes.

Vers. 55. I have remembered thy Name, O Lord, in the night, &c.] To wit, when others slept, & when men do usually take greatest liberty to sin against thee; or, when sorrow doth ordinarily lie heaviest upon men, then did I remember thee, to wit, with joy, see the Note Job 35.10. And then those words are added, & have kept thy law, because indeed they that do often and seriously keep God in their thoughts, they must needs be rendered careful to observe his commandments.

Vers. 56. This I had, because I kept thy precepts. ] To wit, all these benefits before mentioned; or more particularly with reference to what he had said in the two foregoing verses, this, that I have been thus comforted in my greatest afflictions, that God's statutes were my songs in my pilgrimage, &c. Yea some refer this both to his comforts & to his afflictions; This I had, that is, thus I was persecuted, & thus I was comforted, because I kept thy precepts.

Vers. 57. Thou art my portion, O Lord, &c.] See the Note Psal. 16.5: I have said, that I would keep thy words ; to wit, that I may be sure to keep mine interest in thee, which I have chosen as the only happiness I desire.

Vers. 59. I thought on my ways, &c.] That is, the ways wherein I was to walk; before I did anything, I considered seriously with myself whether it were warrantable or no: & turned my feet unto thy testimonies ; that is, I was careful to do that only which was agreeable to thy word. Or thus rather, I thought on my ways; that is, on my former course of life: & turned my feet unto thy testimonies; that is, where I found that I had gone awry, I reformed my life according to thy testimonies.

Vers. 62. At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee, &c.] Where I can have no respect to the applause of men, but only to approve myself unto thee, who seest in secret; but see also the Note above verse. 55: because of thy righteous judgments ; see the Note above verse. 43, & Psal. 19.9.

Vers. 66. Teach me good judgment & knowledge, &c.] To wit, that I may not only know thy law, but also may be able thereby to judge rightly of things that differ, & may not mistake error for truth, & evil for good: for I have believed thy commandments ; that is, I have been fully persuaded that they were thine, and have accordingly embraced them as worthy to be obeyed: as if he should have said, Teach me therefore to understand them more fully, that I may more fully believe, embrace & obey them.

Vers. 69. The proud, &c.] See the Note above verse. 21: have forged a lie against me ; see the Note Job 13.4: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart; as if he should have said, their lies shall not beat me off from the obedience of thy laws; or, thereby I shall be best able to stop their mouths, or at least I shall be sure that their lies & plots against me shall never do me any hurt.

Vers. 70. Their heart is as fat as grease. ] That is, it is gross and carnal, and through outward pomp & plenty puffed up with pride & arrogance, sottish & stupid & unteachable (as indeed when men's hearts are overgrown & oppressed with fat, such men are usually noted to be dull & foolish,) senseless & void of feeling, (see the Note Job 15.27.) stiff & hard & obstinate, according to that Isa. 6.10. make the heart of this people fat, which is expressed by the Evangelist Joh. 12.40. in these words, He hath blinded their eyes, & hardened their heart.

Vers. 73. Thy hands have made me & fashioned me, &c.] See the Note Job 10.8. Some conceive that the first words, Thy hands have made me, are particularly meant of the creation of his soul, & the next, & fashioned me, of the forming his body. However the ground whereon he infers the following request, give me understanding, that I may keep thy commandments, may be twofold: 1. because being God's creature, he was thereby obliged to serve him, & therefore desires herein assistance from God; & 2. because God is indeed the readier to do good unto man, because he is the work of his hands.

Vers. 74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me, &c.] That is, when they shall see that thou hast instructed me in the knowledge of thy law, and that hereby I am brought to keep thy commandments, & (we may add too) when they shall see that all thy promises are in the conclusion made good to me, they shall rejoice not only on my behalf, but also on their own; see the Note Psal. 34.2: because I have hoped in thy word; that is, considering that this befell me because I hoped in thy promises, this shall encourage them to expect the same grace.

Vers. 75. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, &c.] That is, all those judgments wherewith thou dost either punish the wicked, or correct thy righteous servants; as is evident by the following clause, & that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Yet if by judgments here be meant God's precepts, then we must understand this place thus; as if he had said, Though thou hast sorely afflicted me, yet I know that every passage of thy word is just & right, & that it is in faithfulness that thou hast afflicted me.

Vers. 76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. ] That is, Though thou dost afflict me, yet by teaching me, and causing me to believe thy merciful kindness revealed in thy word, support, I beseech thee, & comfort me in mine afflictions: or rather, Let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, to wit, by giving me grace to keep thy precepts; or, by delivering me out of my distresses and troubles.

Vers. 77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, &c.] See the Note above verse. 41: that I may live ; to wit, cheerfully & comfortably in the assurance of thy love; without which indeed men are but as dead men, even whilst they live.

Vers. 78. Let the proud, &c.] See the Note above verse. 21. be ashamed, see the Note Psal. 6.10: for they dealt perversely with me without a cause ; that is, unjustly, & wickedly, out of mere malice & perverseness of spirit: but I will meditate in thy precepts ; see the Note above verse. 23.

Vers. 79. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, &c.] That is, say some Expositors, Let such as these be mine acquaintance: I care not for the society of wicked men. But there are two other expositions that are more probable: to wit, 1. that David desires that such godly men as had forsaken him or been estranged from him, being misled by delusions & false reports, or beaten off by the troubles & low condition whereinto he was fallen, might again be brought to join themselves with him in a way of amity & friendship, & take his part, & (some add too) embrace him as their king, being convinced of the equity of his cause, by the judgments of God upon his enemies; or rather, 2. that he desires the godly would turn to him, that is, look towards him, that beholding in him an example of God's faithfulness to his righteous servants, they might be strengthened and comforted concerning themselves. See the Note above verse. 74.

Vers. 82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, &c.] That is, with waiting for that salvation & mercy which thou hast promised in thy word; see the Notes Deut. 28.32. & Job 11.20: saying, When wilt thou comfort me? to wit, by affording me the deliverance & mercies I have long waited for.

Vers. 83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke. ] That is, my body is scorched & black with extreme misery, see the Note Job 30.30; or, my skin through my leanness is withered, wrinkled, and shrunk up, & so it is every day more and more with me, as it is with a skin bottle or bladder hung up in the smoke; yea I am no more esteemed & regarded amongst men, then such a bottle would be.

Vers. 84. How many are the days of thy servant? &c.] That is, the days allotted to me, wherein I must continue under this oppression & misery? or, the days of my life? as if he should have said, They are but few, I have not long to live; therefore let me not spend those few days I have to live, without seeing thy promise made good to me. When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? But see the Note Psal. 89.47.

Vers. 85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law. ] Some conceive that there is an allusion in these words to that law Exod. 21.33, 34. concerning digging of pits, & that hereby he seeks to aggravate the wickedness of his enemies, that whereas God's law provided for the security of beasts, that no pits should be digged & left uncovered to the endangering of them, their wickedness must needs be very great, that did secretly dignity pits purposely that men might fall into them. But whether it be so or no, doubtless the drift of this clause was to represent his enemies to the Lord, as worthy for their wickedness to be destroyed; The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law : which is as if he had said, They regard not thy law, but what they please they will do, though it be never so contrary to thy commands.

Vers. 86. All thy commandments are faithful, &c.] That is, All thy laws, together with all thy promises & threatenings annexed, are most true & faithful: and whereas therefore they favor innocence & righteousness, & are against all injustice & wrong, they that depend on the salvation promised therein to those that observe them, shall doubtless never be deceived. And hereupon he infers, they persecute me wrongfully, help me : as if he had said, they therefore that persecute me for keeping these thy righteous laws must needs do it wrongfully; & therefore thou that art a faithful God help me against mine unjust oppressors.

Vers. 87. They had almost consumed me upon earth, &c.] By adding those words ( upon earth ) he implies, that however they had dealt with him here, he had hope of a better life in heaven, whereof he was sure they could never deprive him.

Vers. 88. Quicken me after thy loving kindness. ] See the Note above verse. 25.

Vers. 89. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven, &c.] That is, thy promises stand firm forever with thee in heaven, though they may seem to fail upon earth, when things come to pass, which seem to be contrary to what thou in thy word hast said shall be. Or else the meaning may be, that the eternal certainty & efficacy of God's word is clearly to be seen in the permanency of the heavens: for why do the heavenly lights, & orbs, & all things therein continue in their beings & motions from their first creation, but because God hath said that it shall so be? from whence the Psalmist would imply, that accordingly also the promises that God hath made to his people in the written word must needs be of the same eternal efficacy & certainty, & sure to be accomplished in their seasons, notwithstanding all the strange alterations & confusion that seem to be in the things that are here below. And this exposition may seem the more probable, because in the following verses he alledgeth likewise the stability of the earth by the same word of God verse. 90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; thou hast established the earth & it abideth, & the continuance of all the creatures both in heaven & earth in their several stations and operations, as from the beginning God did appoint, verse. 91. They continue this day according to thy ordinances &c. & all this to prove, that therefore he might safely build upon the sure accomplishment of God's promises, which he expresseth verse. 92. Except thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine afflictions.

Vers. 96. I have seen an end of all perfection, &c.] That is, I have found by clear reason, and partly by mine own experience, that the most excellent of all the creatures, & the greatest perfection that is in them, are but finite: namely in that 1. they are subject to fail & vanish, & come to an end; & 2. all the good that is in them may be comprehended within certain limits; they are not able to give full contentment to a man's mind, or support to his heart, at least in all conditions & afflictions. But thy commandment is exceeding broad ; to wit, in that 1. it comprehends infinite & incomprehensible treasures of wisdom & knowledge; nothing pertaining to holiness or happiness is wanting in it, nothing requisite for the direction of all men in all conditions; neither is it possible to express the innumerable benefits which it yields to those that enjoy it: and 2. it is to be an eternal rule of truth & righteousness unto the Church, according to that Matth. 24.35. Heaven & earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away ; & when all earthly things shall fail men, the word shall still be a sure counselor and comforter to them: it shall support them in all afflictions, even unto death, and the comforts thereof shall abide with them forever.

Vers. 98. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser then mine enemies, &c.] To wit, not only because thereby he became wise unto salvation, which is the only true wisdom, far above the worldly wisdom of his enemies; but also because this wisdom of walking in God's ways was more prevalent to preserve him, then the craft & policy of his enemies was to ensnare & destroy him. And observable it is, that the great politicians in Saul's Court, that were advanced to high places for their great wisdom & subtlety, were of the chief of those enemies of whom David here professeth, that he excelled them in wisdom. For they are ever with me ; that is, thy commandments are rooted in my heart; I do always think & meditate on them, & make them my Rule in all things.

Vers. 99. I have more understanding then all my teachers. ] Through God's abundant grace, the faithful do many times outstrip their godly teachers in knowledge & piety. Yet because David spake not this by way of boasting, but to set forth the great benefit of being taught out of God's word, it is not improbably thought by some Expositors, either that David spake this of those that had instructed him in human learning, meaning that from the word of God he had learnt wisdom far excelling that which they had taught him; or else of those that were public teachers in the Church, but yet were in those corrupt days of Saul carried away, as well as others, with the common iniquity of the times, and haply in their very teaching complied with the humors of Saul, his princes and courtiers.

Vers. 104. I hate every false way. ] That is, every way of error & sin; for these are called false ways, both because they are not agreeable to the word of truth, and likewise because they will surely deceive those that expect any good from them.

Vers. 108. Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will-offerings of my mouth, &c.] That is, say some Expositors, the vows and promises before mentioned, that he would keep God's laws, such as that verse. 106. I have sworn, & I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. But it is rather meant of his prayers & praises, the Psalms which he composed & sung to the praise of God, which are termed the calves of our lips Hos. 14.2. see the Notes also Psal. 50.14, 15. And it may well be that in this request he had respect unto his exile, desiring, that seeing in that regard he could not offer any other sacrifices, God would therefore accept of these free-will-offerings of his mouth.

Vers. 109. My soul is continually in my hand. ] That is, My life is continually in danger. The expression seems to be taken from the condition of soldiers in battle, who may well be said to have their soul in their hands, because they are in such continual danger, that unless they secure themselves by a strong hand, they are but dead men. But see the Notes Judge. 12.3, & Job 13.14.

Vers. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever. ] To wit, as choosing & esteeming them above all things whatsoever. See the Note Deut. 33.4.

Vers. 113. I hate vain thoughts, &c.] That is, I hate not only the doing, but even the very thinking of evil; though I cannot wholly keep such thoughts out of my mind, yet I hate & resist them. But because the following clause, but thy law do I love, is added as in opposition to this, therefore the most of Expositors do particularly understand this of all human inventions, wherewith men merely out of their own carnal reason might think to serve & please God, or might flatter themselves in any way not truly agreeable to God's word; and that these they are which David here professeth were hateful to him, & that because he only made the law of God the rule of his life.

Vers. 116. Vphold me according to thy word, that I may live, &c.) That is, Uphold & preserve me alive, maugre the rage of mine enemies; or uphold me in faith, and piety, & comfort, that so my soul may still be quickened with the grace, & cheered with the comforts of thy spirit. And to the same purpose is the following verse, Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe, &c.

Vers. 118. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes, &c.] To wit, though they were never so high, & did never so proudly exalt themselves against thee: for their deceit is falsehood ; that is, either 1. the shows of piety, wherewith such men deceived the world, are false and counterfeit; or rather 2. there is nothing but falsehood in their fraudulent practices, wherewith they seek to ruin God's faithful servants, which must needs therefore make them hateful to God, who is a God of truth; (& herein David might have respect to the false slanders which his enemies raised against him) or 3. all the subtle devices, wherewith they seek to prevail against the faithful, do usually fail them, and come to nothing, themselves being often taken in the snares which they laid for others; or 4. (which most Interpreters do pitch upon) the imaginations & carnal confidences, wherewith they flatter themselves to the deceiving of their own souls, either concerning any good they expect in their ways of wickedness, or concerning their hopes of securing themselves, & escaping the judgments of God, prove always in the conclusion lying vanities. However the Psalmists drift here, in adding this concerning the dreadful end of wicked men, is to imply, that for this partly he was the more careful not to do as they did, but to study God's law, that he might walk in his ways & trust in his goodness, as is more evident in the following verse.

Vers. 119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross, &c.] That is, Though wicked men live a while mingled amongst thy faithful people, as dross is with gold & silver, yet at last thou art wont to take them away, even the greatest as well as the meanest, as drossy, worthless things, that so thy Church may be the purer: through thy fiery indignation they suddenly vanish away like smoke, even as dross consumes away in the fining of metals. Therefore I love thy testimonies ; to wit, because I am thereby taught so to live, that I may not thus perish with the wicked; & because this severity of thine against the wicked makes me the more highly to prize that word, wherein thou hast made known the riches of thy grace towards thy chosen people.

Vers. 120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments. ] To wit, as being terrified with the judgments which God executed upon wicked men; of which he had spoken in the two foregoing verses. See also the Note Psal. 42.6.

Vers. 121. I have done judgment & justice, &c.] As if he should have said, And it is therefore without cause that mine enemies persecute me; & hereupon he infers, leave me not to mine oppressors.

Vers. 122. Be surety for thy servant for good, &c] That is, Interpose thyself betwixt me & mine enemies, & rescue me from their tyranny & oppression, (as sureties do poor debtors out of the hands of their cruel creditors) & that by undertaking to plead my cause, & to assert mine innocence.

Vers. 126. It is time for thee, Lord, to work, &c.] To wit, to do that which is thy proper work, as thou art the just judge of the whole world; that is, to punish & suppress the wicked, & to make good thy promises by helping thy poor servants out of their hands: as if he had said, Whatever becomes of me, it is time for thee, Lord, to work, for the vindicating of thine own glory. For they have made void thy law ; to wit, in that they had no respect to it, but did merely what they pleased themselves, as if there had been no law, to which they were bound to submit themselves; yea in that they forced others to disobey it, & persecuted those that would have made it their rule; & especially too in that by their false glosses, & perverting of God's laws, they made them of none effect. However it was not the purpose of the prophet hereby to prescribe God a time; only he seeks to God for deliverance, by pleading how seasonable it was to take vengeance on the wicked, when they were so ripe for judgment.

Vers. 127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold, &c.] That is, Because I saw that wicked men did so generally slight & make void thy law, therefore admiring their blindness and madness herein, out of a holy indignation against them & that thy service might not wholly fall to the ground, my love to thy law became the more fervent; or, Because I was persuaded that God would undertake the defense of the righteous, & would not let the wickedness of the wicked go always unpunished, therefore I did the more affectionately love thy law. And to the same purpose is that which follows in the next verse.

Vers. 128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, &c.] That is, For the same reasons, (to wit, those mentioned in the foregoing Note) I am the more assuredly persuaded of the righteousness of thy whole law, and do the more heartily embrace it: and I hate every false way ; see the Note above verse. 104.

Vers. 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful, &c.] See the Note above verse. 18: therefore doth my soul keep them ; that is, even out of that reverence which in this regard I bear to them, I do willingly & heartily observe them.

Vers. 130. The entrance of thy words giveth light, &c.] That is, When thy words enter a man's heart, & make a sanctifying impression therein, then they enlighten his soul; or rather thus, When men do first enter upon the study of thy word, they shall presently find their understandings enlightened thereby: it giveth understanding to the simple ; see the Note Psal. 19.7.

Vers. 132. Look thou upon me, &c.] This David might say, either with respect to the false slanders that were raised against him by his enemies, from which to clear himself, he desires that God would look upon him, & take notice of his innocence; or with respect to his apprehension that God had for a time seemed to turn his back upon him, which makes him therefore desire that God would again look favourably upon him; &, saith he, be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name ; which is as if he had said, Though in this great misery I am in thou seemest to hide thyself from me, yet knowing that all thy faithful servants have in all ages found thee merciful to them, this emboldens me to beg of thee, that thou wouldest deal with me, as thou art wont to deal with those that sincerely love thee.

Vers. 139. My zeal hath consumed me. ] See the Note Psal. 69.9.

Vers. 140. Thy word is very pure. ] It is in the Hebrew tried or refined ; for which see the Notes 2 Sam. 22.31. & Psal. 12.6.

Vers. 142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, &c.] To wit, the righteousness of God revealed in his word, as it contains both an eternal rule of righteousness for men, and also promises and threatenings, that shall be always found righteous & faithful; which is evident by the following clause, & thy word is truth : see also the Notes Psal. 111.7, 8.

Vers. 143. Thy commandments are my delight. ] He means the commandments with the promises annexed, or the whole doctrine of life & salvation revealed in the word.

Vers. 148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. ] Because in the night there were several watches, (see the Note Judge. 7.19.) therefore the meaning may be, either that he was more careful & ready to awake at several times in the night, to meditate on God's word, then those that were appointed to watch were to do their duty therein (& yet we know the care of such men is usually very great, both to keep their times for watching, and to see that sleep doth not overtake them) for which see also the Note Psal. 63.6; or else, that he did usually awake to meditate on God's word at several times in the night, before the watchmen did call upon him, who were wont, it seems, to call upon men to tell them the seasons of the night. But I rather think that by the night watches here are meant the last watch in every night, which is elsewhere called the morning watch, Exod. 14.24; and so that he saith here is the same with that which he had said in the foregoing verse, I prevented the dawning of the morning.

Vers. 149. O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment. ] That is, according to thy word; see the Note verse. 25. The same is meant after verse. 154, 156, 159.

Vers. 150. They draw nigh that follow after mischief, &c.] That is, They draw nigh to me to do me mischief: they are far from thy law ; that is, they mind not thy law, & therefore no marvel though they care not what mischief they do me.

Vers. 151. Thou art near, O Lord, &c.] That is, As mine enemies are near to mischief me, so thou art near to help me, & to destroy mine enemies: & all thy commandments are truth ; to wit, the commandments, together with the promises & threatenings annexed; as if he should have said, & therefore I know thou art near unto me.

Vers. 152. Concerning thy testimonies I have known of old, &c.] That is, from my tender years, or from the first time that I began to study them; or, I have known by experience of old, even in all foregoing ages: that thou hast founded them forever ; that is, that thou hast ordained them to stand firm forever: see the Notes Psal. 111.7, 8.

Vers. 155. Salvation is far from the wicked; for they seek not thy precepts. ] That is, so far they are from keeping them, that they do not so much as desire to know them, nor endeavor to keep them: therefore I know that thou wilt not take part with my wicked enemies against me, but wilt protect me from their rage: or, seeing salvation is far from them that seek not thy precepts, therefore teach me thy law, that I may not be in this danger.

Vers. 159. Consider how I love thy precepts. ] This may have particular reference to those words in the foregoing verse, I beheld the transgressors & was grieved, because they kept not thy word ; as if from hence he would desire God to take notice how unfeignedly he loved God's precepts.

Vers. 160. Thy word is true from the beginning, &c.] That is, from the beginning of the world, or, ever since thou didst make known thy word to thy people, it always was unquestionably true. And then that it should always continue so to be, is affirmed in the next clause, and everyone of thy righteous judgments endureth forever ; for which see the Notes above, verse. 89. & 142. & Psal. 111.7, 8.

Vers. 161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause, &c.] To wit, such as by their power were able to crush him, & therefore are usually most feared; & such as by their place should have been rather a refuge to him: & to be injured by such, men can least endure: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word ; to wit, in that I am afraid to do anything contrary to thy law for fear of these my persecutors, & in that I dare not take liberty to do evil to them, as they do to me.

Vers. 162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. ] The ground of this expression is, because the joy of such men is indeed always exceeding great, that having been a while before in danger of losing their own lives, are suddenly not only advanced in their spirits with the honor of a glorious victory, but also greatly enriched with the spoils of their enemies. And the sitter this expression was for David, because he had been a great warrior, and because besides he had found the word very advantageous to him in his spiritual warfare.

Vers. 163. I hate & abhor lying, &c.] That is, all false speaking & hypocrisy, yea every false way contrary to the word of God; see the Note above verse. 29: & hence is the next clause opposed thereto, but thy law do I love.

Vers. 165. Great peace have they which love thy law, &c.] That is, All things shall go prosperously with them: & nothing shall offend them ; that is, nothing shall hurt them. Or thus, Great peace have they which love thy law ; that is, they shall enjoy great quiet of mind & peace of conscience, as knowing the filial affection which they bear to thy word, and being thereby assured of thy love and favor to them: & nothing shall offend them ; that is, nothing shall trouble or disquiet them. This last clause is in the Original, they shall have no stumbling-blocks ; & so the meaning may be, that those things which prove stumbling-blocks to others to make them fall into sin, shall not, by reason of the great respect which they bear to God's law, prove so unto them. But then this must be understood of such a stumbling & falling, as ends in a final apostasy; for otherwise the best may fall into sin.

Vers. 168. I have kept thy precepts & thy testimonies; for all my ways are before thee. ] This he addeth, either 1. by way of calling God to witness concerning the truth of that which he had said; or 2. as a reason why he was so careful to keep God's precepts; or 3. to set forth his sincerity in keeping God's commandments, to wit, that he did it, not that he might approve himself to the eye of man, but that he might approve himself to God.

Vers. 172. My tongue shall speak of thy word, &c.] That is, I shall not only sing forth thy praise, but I shall also speak of thy word to the edification of others: for all thy commandments are righteousness ; that is, they are most righteous, even the only perfect rule of righteousness, & consequently fit to be observed of all men, & the only means of reforming the unrighteousness of men; & from hence also he would imply, that therefore he would teach others therein, or that therefore he would extol them, & declare to others how righteous they were: or, they are exceeding faithful; & therefore I will declare the faithfulness of thy word, and teach others to trust in it.

Vers. 173. Let thine hand help me, &c.] To wit, in my seeking to know & keep thy precepts; or by delivering me out of my dangers and miseries, or out of the hands of my enemies.

Vers. 175. Let my soul live, &c.] See the Note above ver. 116: & it shall praise thee ; to wit, all my days: & let thy judgments help me ; that is, by thy judgments executed upon mine enemies, help me out of my troubles & dangers. But because in this Psalm by God's judgments God's laws are usually meant, the meaning of this clause may be this, Let thy judgments help me, that is, Let thy promises made to me in thy word be accomplished for my help; or, Let my integrity and sincere endeavor to keep thy judgments be for my help; or lastly, Let thy word help me in the praising of thy great name: for that indeed went immediately before this clause, Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.

Vers. 176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep, &c.] To wit, in regard of his wandering up & down from one place to another in the time of his exile, when he was shut out, as it were, from the Church, the sheep-fold of God's people; or in regard of his going astray through infirmity from the ways of God's commandments, whereupon he desires the Lord, his shepherd, to seek him out, & bring him home again into the right way, whenever he should thus go astray, seek thy servant: and the reason he gives in the next words, for I do not forget thy commandments ; that is, though I may sin through frailty, yet my constant desire is that I may keep thy commandments.

PSALM CXX.

The Title. A Song of Degrees. ] There are here fifteen Psalms together that have all this Title. Some say, because they were culled out by the Jews to be sung at their several stages or stations, as they went up from Babylon to return back to the land of Canaan: & others, because they were sung by the Levites on their solemn festival days, or else at the dedication of Solomon's Temple upon the fifteen steps or stairs, whereby they went up by degrees to the house of the Lord. And indeed we read of certain stairs that were in Solomon's Temple 2 Chron. 9.11. And the king made of the algume trees terrises (or, as it is in the margin, stairs) to the house of the Lord ; which some conceive to be the same that are called Neh. 9.4. the stairs of the Levites, & to which the prophet Ezekiel may seem to allude Eze. 40.6. But the most probable reasons that are given why these Psalms were called songs of degrees I conceive to be these. 1. Because they raised up their voices to a very high strain in singing these Psalms, or haply sung them in tunes, wherein they raised their voices by degrees still higher & higher; as it is said 2 Chron. 20.19. that the Levites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high : or 2. because they were sung by the Levites standing in some high place, from whence the people might the better hear them: or 3. because they are Psalms of choicest use & greatest excellency, even as a man of eminency above others is 1 Chron. 17.17. termed a man of high degree.

Vers. 3. What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? ] As if he had said, Thou lookest for some great reward and preferment from men; but, alas, what is the recompense that shall be given thee? to wit, from the Lord. To which an answer is given in the next verse, Sharp arrows of the mighty, &c. But now it may be read, as it is in the margin, what shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, or what shall it profit thee ? and then it is all one as if he had said, Alas, thou wilt gain nothing by it: meaning thereby, first, that no profit would thereby redound to him; others he might bring into great danger and distress, but he the whilst should get nothing by it; and none but men desperately wicked would hurt others without hope of any advantage to themselves: and 2. that all their slanders & fraudulent dealing would come to nothing, because God would vindicate the innocence of his servants, & retort the evil intended against them upon the heads of those that sought to mischief them.

Vers. 4. Sharp arrows of the mighty, &c.] That is, the mighty God of heaven & earth shall suddenly bring upon thee (see the Note Deut. 32.23.) plagues & sorrows and terrors, that shall pierce as deeply, and give thee as sore deadly wounds, as do the sharpest arrows shot by a mighty man, & wherewith thou shalt be long tortured, according to the torments of him that should be burnt with coals of juniper; which is said, because, as they say, juniper wood, being of a saltish & fat and gummy substance, doth make a very scorching fire, and the coals thereof do burn exceedingly. And some there are that conceive, that by these arrows of the mighty are meant those terrors of conscience, which should stick like poisoned arrows in their bosoms, & that by the coals of juniper are meant the everlasting torments of hell. But now if we read the words as they are in the margin of our Bibles, It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty man with coals of juniper, then as in reference to the other translation of the foregoing verse, What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee? or what shall it profit thee? the drift of the Psalmist herein is to show what a mischievous thing a false slanderous tongue is: as if he had said, whilst it yields no benefit to the slanderer, it is extremely mischievous to them that are slandered by him, It is as the sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of juniper ; that is, they wound as deeply and deadly, as do such arrows (see the Note Psal. 57.4.) & that unawares when men are absent▪ & think not of the danger they are in: and the torment thereof is as the burning of juniper coals. For as juniper wood (according to the report of those that write of the nature of it) is 1. soon set on fire; 2. the fire in it spreads with much violent rage, and makes a mighty crackling noise; 3. the coals thereof scorch & burn exceedingly; & 4. they retain fire very long whilst they are covered over with ashes: so 1. the slanderous tongues of wicked men do soon raise up false reports of the righteous; 2. these false reports will spread apace with great clamours and noise; 3. they bring upon men much bitter sorrow; & 4. they are not easily suppressed when they are once raised, but even when they seem extinct, some jealousies thereof will be still nourished in men's breasts. And to this some add, that as juniper coals burn sorely, whilst they yield a very sweet smell; so the tongue of the slanderer doth often sorely mischief a man, under a show of speaking fairly & friendly of him.

Vers. 5. Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, &c.] A people that were descended from Meshech, one of the sons of Japheth, Gen. 10.2. often mentioned in the prophesy of Ezekiel, as chap. 27.13. & elsewhere. Many there are that think they are the same people, that were afterwards called Scythians, and at this day Muscovites; & that the rather, because these nations were of old famous archers, men of great might for drawing the bow; & Mesech may fairly be derived of an Hebrew word that signifieth to draw: that I dwell in the tents of Kedar ; that is, amongst the posterity of Kedar, the son of Ishmael, Gen. 25.13. that dwelt in tents; and these are those that were called Arabians, a savage nation, that had no settled dwelling-place, but in their tents were still wandering up & down like beasts for their prey. And indeed both these nations were people fierce & barbarous, great robbers, and such as made nothing of taking away the lives of any that came in their way. Yet it was not because David ever dwelt amongst these nations, that he thus bewails himself here, Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, &c. but he speaks it either of the Philistines (as some conceive) amongst whom David was sometimes forced to hide himself, or rather of his own country-men, & that to set forth their barbarous cruelty & inhumanity, & that especially in their seeking to take away his life by their false slanders; as if a man should say in these days, living amongst those that professed themselves Christians, who yet notwithstanding should deal with him more like savages then Christians, Woe is me that I sojourn amongst Turks & Pagans. And withal we may note that David might the more fitly use this word sojourn, Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, &c. because in his exile he had indeed no settled habitation, but was continually forced to flee from one place to another.

PSALM CXXI.

Vers. 1. I Will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. ] That is, say some Expositors, I will look to the sanctuary or Temple, whose foundation was in the holy mountains Psal. 87.1. to wit, the hills of Zion & Moria; as knowing that my help must come from the Lord only, who hath chosen that for his dwelling place. But I rather conceive, with others, that the Psalmist speaks here, as one that were debating the matter with himself, from whence he should expect help in the danger he was in; & that accordingly he first sets down how he was inwardly moved & tempted to place his hope in outward helps, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, &c. but then corrects himself in the following verse, My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven & earth ; as if he had said, Let me cast mine eyes whether I will, if I look not to him, I shall look & wait in vain. Accordingly therefore by the hills here is meant whatever is most eminent & glorious in the world, whatever may seem most firm & strong & invincible; & so the prophets aim must be to show, that if he should expect help where it was most likely to be had in earthly things, such hopes would deceive him. Or else in saying I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, his meaning might be, either that he would look to them as places of refuge & defense against their enemies; or else that he would look about on every side for help: for because Canaan was a hilly mountainous country, see Exod. 15.17. & Deut. 11.11. or because there were mountains round about Jerusalem Psal. 125.2. therefore to say that he would lift up his eyes to the hills, was all one in effect as if he had said, that he would look about on every side, to see if from any place help would come in to him. And indeed if David composed this Psalm, as some think, for the encouragement of himself & his soldiers, when he was to lead forth an army out of Jerusalem, (which may seem the more probable, because some expressions therein are so suitable to the condition of soldiers, as that verse. 6. the sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night ) then by his lifting up his eyes to the hills he might mean, that at first he was solicitous what auxiliary forces would come in to him from the several tribes of Israel; though at last he corrected himself, & concluded that it was God only upon whom his hope of help depended, as he saith in the next verse. But however, reading the words as they are translated in the margin of our Bibles, this is then clearly the drift of the place, Shall I lift up mine eyes to the hills? from whence should my help come? that is, how should I hence expect any help?

Vers. 3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved, &c.] That is, to stumble or slide; see the Note Psal. 38.16. And this may be taken as spoken by the Psalmist to himself, or to every particular godly man, according to that Psal. 91.3. for which see the Note there. As for the following clause, he that keepeth thee will not slumber ; it is observed by some Expositors, that in that expression the Psalmist alludes, according to what is said in the foregoing Note, to that constant order in all armies of appointing Sentinels to watch for the preservation of the whole army whilst they take their rest.

Vers. 5. The Lord is thy shade, &c.] Thy comfortable refreshing & protection; see the Note Numb. 14.9: at thy right hand ; see the Note Psal. 16.8. And in this expression it may seem probable that the Psalmist alludes to that pillar of a cloud, whereby the Lord did not only guide the Israelites, but also shadow them from the heat of the sun, & the cold of the night; whence is that of the Psalmist Psal. 105.39. He spread a cloud for a covering ; see the Note also Exod. 13.21. And thence is that which follows in the next verse.

Vers. 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, &c.] That is, It shall not hurt thee with the heat thereof: nor the moon by night ; to wit, with the cold and moist vapors which it raiseth. The meaning is, that God should preserve him from everything that might hurt him. But the expression here used is suitable to the condition of soldiers, that usually are abroad in the open fields both by day and night, as is noted before verse. 1.

Vers. 7. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul. ] That is, thy life; or, The Lord shall so far preserve thee from all evil, that nothing which befalls thee shall hurt thy soul, or prove prejudicial to thine eternal salvation.

PSALM CXXII.

Vers. 1. I Was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. ] The drift of David in this Psalm may be, only to set forth what delight he took in frequenting God's house. But yet it is the opinion of almost all Expositors, that he composed this Psalm, when he had newly removed the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of Zion, as to the place wherein God had made known to him, that he would take up his settled habitation, according to that Psal. 132.13, 14; & that his aim herein was, to express how exceeding glad he was, when he perceived by the people's flocking together to worship God in this holy mountain, & by their exciting one another thereto, especially at the three solemn feasts, when all the males of Israel were to appear there before God, how acceptable this which he had done was, not only to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who had now gotten the Ark, the sign of God's presence, amongst them, but to all the people of the land in general, yea & how unanimously they all rejoiced in this, that God had at last made good his promise, in providing a settled place for his worship and service.

Vers. 2. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. ] This may be taken as the words of David, or as the words of those that stirred up him & others to go to the Sanctuary, Let us go into the house of the Lord; our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. And it is as if it had been said, We shall no longer now go sometimes to one place to worship God, & sometimes to another, as we did before, when the Ark was now in one place & now in another; but Jerusalem must now be the settled place where we shall constantly meet to worship God, even unto the coming of the promised Messiah.

Vers. 3. Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together. ] That is, whose buildings, first did not stand scattering, some in one place, & some in another, as it useth to be in villages, but were joined closely & handsomely together, & that in a well-contrived order, & with a very comely proportion & uniformity in the structure; & 2. whose inhabitants were as firmly knit together with all possible unanimity and harmony of affection, being jointly subject to the same government, & making profession of the same religion. All which is here spoken of Jerusalem with relation doubtless to her former condition; because in former times there had been two (if not three) towns in the place where Jerusalem stood, the one inhabited by the Jebusites, which was called the fort of Zion, the other by the Israelites: who did accordingly live under several governments, & made profession of several religions, till David took the fort of Zion; & then, it seems, he built all the vacant places in & between these two towns, and compassed them both with the same walls, & so did perfectly unite them together, and make of them one well-compacted city. And this is noted here by way of extolling the beauty & glory of this city, purposely thereby to settle in the hearts of the people an high esteem of it, & (which was the only foundation of all their safety and welfare) that they might still own it, as the city which God had chosen to be the only peculiar place of his worship, and the royal seat of that kingdom, under which they were to live in subjection unto all succeeding generations.

Vers. 4. Whether the tribes go up, &c.] To wit, at the three solemn feasts: the tribes of the Lord unto the Testimony of Israel ; that is, unto the Ark, which is called the Testimony, see the Note Numb. 17.4; or unto the Tabernacle, or the Temple, where the Ark was; whence the Tabernacle is usually in the books of Moses called the Tabernacle of testimony.

Vers. 5. For there are set thrones of judgment, &c.] That is, God hath appointed that the supreme Courts of Judicature, both civil & ecclesiastical, shall always be there, see the Note Deut. 17.8; or more particularly, that the Regal throne for David & his successors shall always be there, as is expressed in the following clause, the thrones of the house of David.

Vers. 8. For my bre • hren & companions sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. ] Least any should suspect, that in transferring the Ark into Zion, his own city, & in speaking so much for Jerusalem in the foregoing verses, he aimed at his own glory, & the establishment of his own kingdom, therefore he protests here, that he desired that Jerusalem might flourish, not out of any self respects, but for his brethren and companions sakes, to wit, the whole Israel of God throughout the land, who were his brethren, and companions in the fellowship of the same faith 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 and religion; & that because he knew that the safety & happiness of them all depended upon the welfare of Jerusalem, in that God had established that to be the seat of the Sanctuary and kingdom: neither could they be happy any longer then they enjoyed God's Ordinances there, and lived under the government of that kingdom.

PSALM CXXIII.

Vers. 1. UNto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. ] As if he had said, Finding all things in outward appearance hopeless & desperate here below, I look up unto thee, O Lord, in whom there is hope for thy people in their greatest extremities. And indeed if this Psalm was composed for the use of God's people (as it is probably thought by many Expositors) when they were in Babylon, or under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, they might well then say that they had no hope in the world, but in God only.

Vers. 2. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hands of their masters, and as the eyes of a handmaid unto the hands of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, &c.] The faithfuls waiting upon and looking up unto God may here be compared to servants looking to the hand of their master or mistress in three regards especially: 1. as servants & slaves of old did wholly depend upon the good will & pleasure of their masters & mistresses for their food & raiment, and whatever else they wanted, not daring to challenge anything, but patiently waiting to receive what they were pleased to give them; so the faithful do quietly wait upon God for a supply in all their necessities: 2. as such servants when they were beaten were wont to cast back their eyes sadly upon the hand of their master or mistress that beat them, even by their mournful looks begging as it were for mercy; so are God's servants wont to look with weeping eyes unto the Lord, when ever he corrects them: & 3. as such servants, however they were wronged, yet were not allowed to revenge themselves, nor to lift up a hand against those that injured them; in such thralldom they lived in this regard, that they might not carry either sword or any other weapon about them; and therefore whenever they were injured they still had recourse to their masters for aid, expecting that they should take their part, & defend them against those that injured them; so also it is with God's servants, they look up still to God, to whom vengeance belongs, for protection & help against those that oppress and afflict them. And indeed this last is most agreeable to the sequel of the Psalm, wherein they complain how exceedingly they were oppressed by their enemies. As for that last clause, until that he have mercy upon us, as it implies their confidence that God would help them, so also their resolution patiently to wait upon God, till he were pleased to help, though he deferred it never so long.

PSALM CXXIV.

Vers. 1. IF it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say, &c.] Some Expositors conceive that David speaks here in general of all the wonderful deliverance which God had wrought for the Israelites in all ages. But because of those words, now may Israel say, I rather think that he speaks here of some particular deliverance, upon occasion whereof this Psalm was composed, & wherein it was unquestionably clear that God alone had saved them by his almighty power; as haply that from Absalom's conspiracy, or that from the invasion of the Philistines, 2 Sam. 5.17, 18, or some other of the like nature.

Vers. 3. Then they had swallowed us up quick, &c.] That is, They had utterly destroyed us, & that as speedily as a man is swallowed up that falls into deep waters; for that he alludes thereto in this expression, is evident in the following verse.

Vers. 4. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul. ] See the Notes 2 Sam. 22.5. Psal. 32.6, & 69.1.

Vers. 6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. ] This phrase implies, 1. that the mightiest enemies of God's people cannot prevail over them, even in their greatest weakness, unless the Lord deliver them into their hands; & 2. that this, because of their sins, God in his justice might now have done, but that of his mercy he was pleased to spare them.

Vers. 7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler. ] See the Note Psal. 91.3.

PSALM CXXV.

Vers. 1. THey that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, &c.] The meaning is, that as mount Zion stood fast & could not be overturned, though the winds on every side should blow with never such violence upon it; so the Church shall never be overthrown, but in the midst of all the changes & confusions that are in the world, & all the persecutions that are raised against her, she shall stand fast and continue forever: and so shall it be with every faithful member of the Church, in regard of their constant perseverance in the right way unto eternal salvation. Only we must know, that because mount Zion was a type of the Church, therefore the Psalmist sets forth the stability of the Church by the steadfast standing of mount Zion, rather then of any other mountain.

Vers. 3. For the rod of the wicked, &c.] That is, the persecution & oppression of wicked men, the rod whereby they scourge & beat God's faithful servants; or the rod & scepter, the tyrannical government of wicked men: shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous ; that is, upon the Church, or upon their substance & inheritance: lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity ; that is, say some, lest they stretch forth their hands in praying to idols; or, (for it is not safe so to limit the words) lest by the prosperity of such wicked men they be tempted to partake with them in their sins; or, lest through despair or faint-heartedness & fear of suffering, they yield to do anything that is evil, or take any unlawful course to help themselves. And indeed that phrase of putting forth their hands unto iniquity seems to imply, either some sly, close & secret stealing forth of men's hands, as it were, to do something that is evil, thereby to avoid suffering; or some sudden reaching forth their hands, being overborn by the violence of temptation, to some unlawful way of securing themselves, even as men ready to fall or sink in the water will suddenly catch at anything that is within their reach to save themselves.

Vers. 4. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, &c.] This may be understood more particularly (as in reference to what was said in the foregoing verse) of God's sending them such seasonable deliverance from the oppression of wicked men, that they might not put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Vers. 5. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, &c.] That is, God shall cut them off & destroy them; yea & at the last judgment, separating them from his elect people, he shall cast them together with other reprobates into the pit of hell: for in this expression, the Lord shall lead them forth, &c. there is doubtless an allusion to that usual custom of leading forth malefactors in public from the place of their imprisonment to the place of execution. But what is meant here by those that turn asside unto their crooked ways? & why is it said that they shall be led forth with the workers of iniquity? I answer, that this may be probably expounded several ways: as 1. that those cunning hypocrites, that profess themselves to be of the number of God's people, & make a show of religion, and yet the whilst do secretly turn aside into the crooked ways of any base sinful practices, shall be punished no less then those that are openly profane, yea no less then the heathen, that are professedly workers of iniquity; or 2. that those that forsake the ways of righteousness, & turn aside into the crooked ways of wickedness, shall be destroyed no less then those that have always given up themselves to work iniquity; or 3. (which I like the best, because it best agreeth with that which went before verse. 3, 4.) that those that in times of persecution, when the rod of the wicked is upon the lot of the righteous, shall for fear or hope of favor deny the faith, or take any other crooked sinful way, to secure or advance themselves, shall be punished as workers of iniquity; no pretence of the temptations by means whereof they were seduced, shall keep them from being numbered amongst workers of iniquity, nor from being punished as such: for this expression, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, is to the same effect with this, the Lord shall punish them as workers of iniquity; as if we should say, They that secretly filch away other men's goods, the judge shall punish them with thieves. And as for that last clause, but peace shall be upon Israel, therein is this covertly implied, that the destruction of such hypocrites shall tend to the peace of the truly faithful.

PSALM CXXVI.

Vers. 1. WHen the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, &c.] That is, When the Lord brought the Jews back from Babylon into their own country: we were like them that dream ; the mercy seemed so incredible, so far above all hope and expectation, that at first we could scarce tell whether it were so indeed, or whether we were not all the while in a dream; as it is said of Peter, when the Angel had carried him out of prison, Act. 12.9. that he wist not that it was true which was done by the Angel, but thought he saw a vision. And indeed that a heathen king should of his own accord send home God's captived people into their own land, & that with a charge to build again the city Jerusalem and the Temple therein, & a command to his subjects, to afford them all requisite accommodations thereunto, giving them likewise all the vessels of the Temple, with great riches besides, it was a matter of great wonder; & the people here do observe it, to show what great cause they had to bless God for it.

Vers. 2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, & our tongue with singing. ] See the Note Job 8.21. The time was when they hung up their harps upon the willows, & could not sing for bitterness of spirit, How shall we sing, say they, the Lord's song in a strange land ? see Psal. 137.2, 4: but now they had taken them down again, and could sing Psalm upon Psalm, and were never weary of singing. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them ; that is, even the Chaldeans & Persians, together with other nations, amongst whom the Jews had lived as the most despised nation under heaven, and who had wont to insult over them for their confidence in God, and to flout at them and their religion, Psal. 137.3. Sing us, say they, one of the songs of Zion, were by the wonder of our deliverance forced to acknowledge, that our God had shown great love to us in the great things he had done for us.

Vers. 3. The Lord hath done great things for us, &c.] As if the Jews should have said, (for in their name the Psalmist here speaks) If you that are our enemies say so, who speak it haply with repining spirits, well may we say so with glad hearts, for whom God hath done it.

Vers. 4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, &c.] That is, Bring home the rest of our brethren, that are still captives in Babylon, as thou hast brought us home. For we must know, that though part of the Jews were returned, when this Psalm was penned, upon liberty granted them by the Proclamation of Cyrus, as is noted before verse. 1; yet the greatest number by far stayed still in Babylon, according to that Isa. 10.22. though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return : apprehending the tediousness of the journey, how great the perils were they were like to meet with in their way homeward, & how impossible it seemed that they should recover their land again, from which they had been carried away captives so many years ago, and withal being grown, some of them at least, well enough contented with their present condition; either for fear or sloth, they preferred certain rest, though under bondage, & that amongst idolaters, before hope of liberty, & of recovering their ancient inheritance, accompanied with so many dangers and troubles. And therefore no wonder it is, though that remnant of the Jews that were returned to their own country do still pray thus for their brethren that were behind, Turn again our captivity, O Lord, &c. Yea some conceive that in these words they do also pray that God would perfect the mercy of their deliverance out of Babylon to those that were returned, by settling them quietly in their land, & freeing them from that mighty opposition they met with in their rebuilding of their city & Temple, by means of the envy & malice of their neighbors round about them. As for that clause, as the streams in the South, we must take notice, first, that by the South here is meant barren and dry deserts; for because on the South of Canaan there lay great deserts, dry and sandy, yea the South parts of Canaan itself were dryer then other parts of the land were, whence was that of Caleb's daughter to her father, Thou hast given me a South land, give me also springs of water, (see the Note Josh. 15.19.) therefore by the South in the Scripture is usually meant the desert or wilderness, as in Psal. 75.6. promotion cometh neither from the East nor from the West, nor from the South, which is in the Hebrew, nor from the desert: and 2. that in those dry deserts God did sometimes send mighty land-floods, either by sudden violent showers of rain, or by the melting of the snow upon the mountains. Accordingly therefore when the Church here prays, Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South, either 1. they mean thereby, that God would bring home their captivated brethren in great multitudes, so that they might cover the ways as they went, as those mighty streams in the South were wont to overflow & cover the earth, and that speedily & suddenly too, as those land-floods used to come suddenly, when there was a little before no appearance of water: or 2. they would imply hereby, that though it would be a work of great wonder, like that of bringing streams of water into the dry deserts, yet God was able to do it: or 3. they would hereby intimate how great a refreshing this would be to them; that the turning again of their captivity would be as welcome a mercy to them, as it would be to the traveler, that is to go through dry deserts, to meet there with some sweet streams of water for the refreshing of himself.

Vers. 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. ] That is, as the poor husbandman that sows in tears, either for the toil of his work, or the unseasonableness of the weather, or especially when in times of dearth & scarcity he casts the corn, that should nourish himself & his family, into the ground, and that too but upon uncertain hopes, as knowing that often when men carry out much, they bring in little, as is threatened Deut. 28.38. yet when a plentiful harvest comes, he then reaps with joy; & haply hath the richer harvest, when his seed-time was saddest, according to that usual proverb, that corn sown in a flood, comes up like a wood : so they that do what God requires, in hope of a retribution from God, according to his will revealed in his word, though they may meet with much affliction & sorrow therein, yet shall doubtless at last reap what they expected with exceeding great joy; yea their foregoing sorrow shall be in part a cause or occasion of their greater joy. And with this general sentence the Psalmist concludes this Psalm: partly with respect to the experience which some of the Jews had already had of the truth hereof in their deliverance out of Babylon, when they went into captivity, in hope that God would make good what he had promised them by the prophet Jeremy, that after a certain time he would bring them back again with joy into their own land, their faith & patience & prayers was precious seed, sown not without many tears because of their misery; but when God brought them back with so much riches & glory, then they reaped with joy, according to that Isa. 51.11. the redeemed of the Lord shall return, & come with singing unto Zion, & everlasting joy shall be upon their head : & partly by way of encouragement for the time to come, both to those that were behind in Babylon, & those likewise that were employed in repairing Jerusalem, &c. but were many ways in a very sad condition, by reason of the great opposition, & manifold discouragements they met with in that service; even to put them in hope, that after this sad seed-time they should have a joyful harvest; which is again repeated in the following verse.

Vers. 6. He that goeth forth; &c.] That is, that goeth out of doors to sow his seed; or, that in the field goeth on still forward, casting his seed into the ground: & weepeth, bearing precious seed ; that is, good & choice corn, that is fit for seed; or corn when it is scarce & dear, & so it grieveth him the more to part with it: shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him ; to wit, when at harvest he comes home out of the field with his carts laden with sheaves.

PSALM CXXVII.

The Title. A Song of degrees, &c.] See the Note on the Title Psal. 120. for Solomon, or, of Solomon, as it is in the margin of our Bibles. And indeed because this psalm treats concerning the well ordering of private families & public states, in the knowledge whereof Solomon through the grace of God did especially excel, & because that which is here delivered is in effect much the same with that which is declared in the book of Ecclesiastes, it may seem very probable that Solomon was the author of this Psalm; see the Title Psal. 72.

Vers. 1. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it, &c.] For this phrase of building the house, see the Notes Exod. 1.21. & 2 Sam. 7.11: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. The meaning of both clauses is, that no care or labor of men can avail to the increase & welfare of private families; & that no watchfulness or endeavors of magistrates and others subordinate to them, can be successful for the preservation & prospering of public states, except the Lord give a blessing thereunto. And it is not improbable which some conceive, namely, that this Psalm was composed to be used at the dedication of their new-built houses: for which see the Notes Deut. 20.5, & on the Title of the 30. Psalm.

Vers. 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late. ] This may be understood as spoken to them which watch & ward for the preservation of a city, or to magistrates that use to wake when others sleep, in consulting about the welfare of the commonwealth, according to what is said in the foregoing verse; or rather of those that toil and moil themselves in private families, for the advancing of their private estates, as appears by the following words, to eat the bread of sorrows, that is, course homely meat, (as Dan. 10.3. that which we translate there pleasant bread, is in the Original, bread of desires ) or rather, bread gotten with much labor and sorrow, & eaten with much grief & vexation, whilst men out of a covetous humor do even grudge themselves the very bread they put into their mouths. As for the following words, for so he gives his beloved sleep, that hath reference to what he had said concerning the providence of God, that without that all endeavors of men were in vain: for, saith he, so he gives his beloved sleep ; that is, through God's provident care over his beloved, & their reposing themselves quietly thereon, they can seasonably sleep in peace, and fare better then those that wear out themselves with carking cares. And probable it is that in those words, his beloved, Solomon might allude to that other name of Jedediah, which God had given him, that is, beloved of the Lord, 2 Sam. 12.25.

Vers. 3. Loe, children are an heritage of the Lord, &c.] This is added, because by children a man's house is built, according to the phrase of the Scripture; so to make good what was said before verse. 1. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: see the Note there.

Vers. 4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. ] That is, children in their youth, or children begotten in the youth of their parents, as Joseph, because he was begotten by his father when he was old, is called the son of his old age, Gen. 37.3. and a husband married to a maid in her youth is called Joel 1.8. the husband of her youth. Now these are said to be, to wit, when they are blessed of God, as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, to imply 1. that they are always ready at hand to go whithersoever their father will send them, & to do whatsoever he will enjoin them; 2. that they are healthful, strong, of generous dispositions, virtuous, & active, fit for any service he shall employ them in, and able to effect the greatest exploits; and 3. especially that they are a defense to their father against all wrongs whatsoever, and a terror to his enemies. And this is said here of children of the youth, that is, (according to the most received of the Expositions before mentioned) children begotten by the father in his youth, either because such are usually most strong and vigorous, and are also often best qualified in other regards, by means that their father lives to see that they be well educated; or else because parents seldom live to have any comfort or service from children that are born to them in their old age.

Vers. 5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them, &c.] That is, his house; or, that hath many such children: they shall not be ashamed ; that is, all that are parents of such children shall not need to be ashamed, as those parents must needs be that are usually reproached with the wickedness of their children; or, they, that is, such children, shall not be ashamed, to wit, because being virtuous & good, they shall be able therefore to give an account of their lives, & to stop the mouths of false accusers; or, (joining both together) such a father & his children shall not be ashamed, & why? the reason is implied in the following words, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate: that is, they shall plead their fathers cause before the tribunal of the magistrate, & defend him from the wrongs & oppressions of his enemies; or, they shall be able to oppose any enemies that shall assault the city: & indeed some read this last clause thus, they shall subdue (or destroy) the enemies in the gate. See the Note Gen. 22.17.

PSALM CXXVIII.

Vers. 1. BLessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, &c.] This Psalm some conceive to have been composed for the use of the Jews at their marriages.

Vers. 2. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands, &c.] Many blessings are implied in this: as 1. that God should prosper the labors of such a man, that he should reap the fruit of his labors; 2. that what he gets should be preserved to him for his use; 3. that by this means he should be able to live of his own, and neither depend upon the bounty of others, nor be chargeable to others; 4. that this estate of his own whereon he lived should not be gotten by any unjust means, but by his honest labors, which is of all the most comfortable; 5. that he should live contentedly though he had no more then what he earned with his daily labors; & 6. that God should give him a heart to enjoy with comfort what he hath gotten.

Vers. 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, &c.] That is, she shall bear thee many children, & shall be an ornament to thy family, and the continual delight of thine eyes, and gladness of thy heart. This I conceive is chiefly intended here in these words. Yet withal observable it is how fitly a wife is compared to a vine by the sides of the house, both because it is the praise of the wife to be much at home in the house, & there her business continually lies; & because as the vine, being a weak plant, cannot grow up by itself, but as it is by some means born up & supported, so doth the wife, by reason of the weakness of her sex, stand in continual need of being upheld and born up by the care of her husband. And so for the next clause, thy children like olive plants round about thy table, as it implies the blessing of many children; so also that the children he had should be healthful, fair, fresh & flourishing, (see the Note Psal. 52.8.) hopefully sprouting, & growing up continually, so that their father should delight to look upon them, & to have them with him; as likewise that they should be well qualified & virtuous, & such as in time should yield the sweet fruit of much comfort & benefit to their parents: to which some add too, because olive branches were used as emblems of peace, that they should be the means of keeping peace between their parents.

Vers. 5. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion, &c.] See the Note Psal. 20.2. These words out of Zion are added, to put them in mind of the Covenant which God had made with them: so that it is as if he had said, Our God that dwelleth in Zion shall from thence hear the prayers which there thou offerest up unto him, and shall bless thee with all the blessings of his people, according to his covenant, and the promises he hath made to us: & thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life, meaning that he should delight to see the flourishing estate of God's Church, & that he should have a share in her blessings.

PSALM CXXIX.

Vers. 1. MAny a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say, &c.] That is, ever since God had first a Church upon earth, as was seen in the murder of Abel; or rather, ever since the seed of Israel became a people, which was whilst they abode in Egypt; for indeed the time of their being there, and of God's delivering them from thence, is often elsewhere in the Scripture called the time of Israel's youth, as Ezek. 23.3. & Hos. 2.14, 15.

Vers. 3. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. ] By the plowers plowing upon their backs is meant, that their enemies had rent and torn them, & grievously afflicted them, with all possible cruelty, no otherwise then as if men lying with their faces upon the earth should have plows again and again driven over their backs; & by making long their furrows is meant, that they had used them thus despitefully and cruelly a long time together. But yet withal the aim of saying that this was done upon their backs, might be to imply, either that this was done by the heavy burdens which their enemies laid upon them; or that the deep slashes which their enemies by scourging them had made in their backs, were like so many furrows which the plow makes in the earth. Neither is it altogether improbable which some add, that the Holy Ghost might also intend covertly to intimate by this expression, that in all this cruelty of the enemy, God made use of them as his husbandmen to till his field, the Church, that through these afflictions they might be the better prepared to receive the seed of his word & spirit, & might afterward yield him the more fruit, as a field doth that is well plowed and manured.

Vers. 4. The Lord is righteous; he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. ] That is, even in the heat of their persecuting God's people, God hath broken their power, & frustrated all their plots & practices, & so hath taken them off, that they can proceed no further; & all this on a sudden, as when one should cut asunder the harness or plow-gear, wherewith the plow is drawn, the plow must needs stand still, nor can the husbandman carry it on any further.

Vers. 5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. ] See the Notes Psal. 35.4. & 40.15.

Vers. 6. Let them be as the grass on the house tops, &c.] Because the houses in Judea were built flat on the tops, & so out of the clefts & crevices between the stones there grass or green corn would usually sprout out, which yet for want of earth and moisture was soon blasted by the heat of the sun, thence is it that the Psalmist useth this similitude, praying that the enemies of the Church, even when they were at the greatest height, might yet be but as such grass or green corn on the house tops.

Vers. 7. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves, his bosom. ] That is, which never comes to be mown, nor bound up in sheaves, as the corn in the fields doth. And in this expression here used the reason hereof is intimated, namely, because if it should grow up, it would not be worth the reaping and gathering; there is but only a little here & there that sprouts up, the harvestman cannot cut it down by handfuls, nor grasp his arms full in his bosom, when he gathers it to bind it up in sheaves, as he doth in the corn fields. And the same is intended in the following verse.

Vers. 8. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, &c.] That is, such grass or green corn on the house tops never comes to be mown, or gathered in by the harvest-men, who should thereupon have the prayers of those that pass by, as they usually have when they are working in the field. The drift of all this is, to express their earnest desire that the enemies of God's people might be suddenly destroyed.

PSALM CXXX.

Vers. 1. OVt of the depth have I cried unto thee, O Lord. ] That is, out of the depths of seeming desperate tribulations & dangers, & likewise of overwhelming sorrows by reason of my sins; see the Notes Psal. 40.2, & 68.22, & 71.2. see also the Note upon the Title of the sixth Psalm.

Vers. 3. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand? ] See the Note Psal. 1.5. It is as if the Psalmist should have said, If thou shouldest take strict notice of the iniquities of men, with a purpose to deal with them according to their deserts, no man could ever escape thy just vengeance; & if the holiest of men cannot justify himself before thy tribunal, alas, what shall become of me? For doubtless the Psalmists aim in these words is to imply, 1. that he acknowledged that God had justly for his sins cast him into those depths of misery wherein he lay, & that he might also justly upon the same ground reject his prayers; and 2. that therefore he did not desire deliverance out of his miseries, because of any righteousness of his own, but only that he should do it of his own free grace & mercy; as is also more fully expressed in the following verse.

Vers. 4. But there is forgiveness with thee. &c.] That is, Thou art & hast declared thyself to be a God ready to forgive poor penitent sinners; or, there is forgiveness to be had from thee, if men seek it as they ought to do: that thou mayest be feared ; that is, that thou mayest be worshiped by men in a right manner; for fear here is taken, as it is often elsewhere in the Scripture, for the whole worship of God. God's readiness to forgive poor penitent sinners, & to deliver them out of their troubles, is the great encouragement to draw men to serve God, and to pray to him for mercy when they are in misery (as the Psalmist now did) & that as children seek to their father, fearing to offend him, even because of his goodness.

Ver. 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord, more then they that watch for the morning, &c.] That is, more eagerly then they that watch in the last watch of the night do wait for the first breaking of the day: either because they watch abroad in dangerous times, & perhaps too in tedious weather; or else merely because being tired with long watching they long for the morning, that then they may go & take their rest. See the Note also Psal. 119.148.

Vers. 7. With the Lord there is mercy, & with him there is plenteous redemption. ] That is, He is infinitely gracious to pardon the sins of his people, though never so many & great, and as infinitely able, by innumerable incredible ways and means, to deliver them out of all their troubles and miseries.

Vers. 8. And he shall deliver Israel from all his iniquities. ] That is, He will pardon and deliver them from all their sins, which have been the causes of their sufferings, and that for the merits of Christ their Redeemer; and so consequently he will deliver them also from all their sufferings & sorrows.

PSALM CXXXI.

Vers. 1. LOrd, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty, &c.] It is in the Hebrew, my heart is not lifted up, &c. which was according to that law which God gave for the king of Israel, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, Deut. 17.20. But for the better understanding of these words, we must know, that David might speak them, either with respect to the time before he was settled in the throne of Israel, professing hereby, that however Saul's flattering Courtiers had continually reported of him, that he sought Saul's ruin, and out of pride & ambition sought to step into his throne, yet the Lord the searcher of all hearts knew, that he did never of himself aspire to, nor look after any such worldly greatness, but did still refer himself to the will of God, being content to be in whatever condition God was pleased to dispose of him: or else with respect to the times when he sat in the throne of Israel; & that accordingly he protests in these words, that though God had exalted him to the highest pitch of honor that man upon earth can be capable of, in that he had made him both a prophet and a king, & had set him in the throne promised to the Messiah, the only-begotten Son of God, & had furnished him with excellent gifts suitable to this dignity, yet his heart was not exalted hereby to think highly of himself, neither did he carry himself in his place proudly & arrogantly, his utmost ambition being still only this, that he might be serviceable to God and his people: neither (saith he) do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me ; that is, I have kept myself within the bounds of my calling, & have not, in the confidence of mine own wisdom & power, undertaken things that were above my reach; neither did I of myself undertake to be a prophet or king, nor have I sought to enlarge my dominions, or attempted anything of the like nature, but as I was called thereto of God, to whose will in all things I submitted myself.

Vers. 2. Surely, I have behaved & quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother, &c.] By quieting himself he means, that he had bridled himself from, & suppressed in himself, all those inordinate motions & desires, wherewith ambitious men, that would be over-wise & provident for themselves, do usually disquiet both themselves & others, & whereunto himself was naturally inclined as well as others. And he compares himself to a child that is weaned of his mother, which he repeats again in the last clause of the verse, my soul is even as a weaned child, not to imply, that he was as free from all pride, & ambitious desires after great things, and revengeful thoughts, as such infants are (for to imply this it had been enough to have said, that he was as a child, without adding that of a child weaned of his mother, as we see in the like expression of our Savior's, Matth. 18.3. Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven ;) but rather to imply his quiet recumbency upon God in any estate & condition whatsoever: that as a child that is weaned from the breasts of the mother, is notwithstanding no way solicitous for itself how it shall be fed, but still hangs upon the mother, and rests upon her for everything whatsoever, & though it have not what it naturally most desires, the milk of the breast, yet it is contented to be fed with what the mother gives it; so did he wholly cast his care upon God, as one that could do nothing for himself, and even when the Lord was pleased to withhold from him what he expected, & to keep him in a low & afflicted condition, yet he patiently still submitted himself to God's good will & pleasure, & was contented to be what God would have him.

Vers. 3. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and forever. ] As if he should have said, Let all the Israel of God therefore learn by mine example to have mean thoughts of themselves, that so accordingly they may not trust in themselves, but in God alone. And indeed because the performance of God's promises made to David concerning his being settled in the throne, tended so much to the common good of the whole Israel of God, well might his confidence, that God would perform his promises made to him, encourage them also to hope in the Lord.

PSALM CXXXII.

Vers. 1. LOrd, remember David & all his afflictions. ] Because Solomon made use of some verses of this Psalm, to wit, verse. 8, 9, 10. almost word for word, in his prayer at the dedication of the Temple, 2 Chron. 6.41, 42. (for which see the Notes there) it is hence evident that this Psalm was composed before that time: & probably therefore either by David, to be sung when the Ark was removed from the house of Obed-Edom to Zion, or for the use of his son Solomon when he came to build the Temple; or else by Solomon himself, that the people might use it all the time the Temple was building, or particularly at the great solemnity of the Temples dedication. But however, the drift of this petition, Lord, remember David & all his afflictions, is to desire of God, that by settling and prospering the throne of David, & the Temple, the place of his public worship, & by blessing the service that was there done him, he would make it evident that he was mindful of him, & did highly esteem him, both for what he had suffered for his sake, and especially for his great sollicitousnesse to have built God a house, which is the chief thing that is intended by his afflictions. For first, because when David had made known how earnestly desirous he was to build God a Temple, God did hereupon tell him that his son should do it, though he might not, and did withal make many gracious promises to him, concerning his kingdom, the Temple, & the flourishing estate of his Church & people, 2 Sam. 7.10, 16. (concerning which see the Notes there) therefore this, Lord, remember David and all his afflictions, is all one in effect as if this had been added too, And remember also the promises which thou didst then make unto him; for so we see the like expression used, Deut. 9.27. Remember thy servants Abraham & Isaac & Jacob, look not unto the stubborness of this people, that is, Remember the covenant which thou madest with Abraham & Isaac & Jacob, and because of that do not destroy this people, though they be a stubborn people. And 2. because David had undergone so many afflictions, in a manner all his days, for the advancement of God's glory, & that in confidence that God would at last do for him what he had promised him, and because he had been so anxiously solicitous to build a house for the Lord, therefore in these words, Lord, remember David & all his afflictions, this also may be comprehended, that even in this regard God would be the readier to do good to him, who had been so zealous for his glory, & had suffered so much for his sake.

Vers. 2. How he swore unto the Lord, &c.] See the Note 2 Sam. 7.3: & vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; that is, the God whom Jacob worshipped and trusted in, as an almighty God, Gen. 49.24. & who by his almighty power had delivered Jacob out of all his dangers and troubles.

Vers. 3. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, &c.] To avoid the absurdity of thinking, that David should make such a rash & unwarrantable vow as this might seem to be, that till he had his desire satisfied in that which is afterwards expressed, he would abide in the open air, & never go within his doors, nor ever take any rest either by day or by night, some say that David spake this with reference to his purpose of taking the fort of Zion from the Jebusites, 2 Sam. 5.6, where by revelation he knew that God meant to have the Ark settled, and which he might probably think would be accomplished within some short time. And then others again say, that he meant it only of that stately cedar house, which he had lately built for himself in Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 7.1, 2. to wit, that he would not go into that house; & so also that he would not go up unto his bed; nor (verse. 4.) give any sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eye-lids, to wit, in that house. But neither of these expositions give me any satisfaction. I rather take these to be hyperbolical expressions of the continual exceeding great care, wherewith he was perplexed about providing a settled place for the Ark to rest in, like that Prov. 6.4, 5: Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eye-lids; deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, &c. Neither is it anymore in effect then if he had said, I will never lay by this care, to mind myself in anything whatsoever, I shall never with any content abide in mine own house, or with any quiet rest in my bed, until, &c.

Vers. 5. Until I find out a place for the Lord, &c.] That is, Untill I find where the place is, of which God hath so long since spoken, (see the Note Deut, 12.5.) that there he would have his habitation, & that there the Ark should take up its settled abode; or rather, Untill I provide, prepare or build a dwelling-place for the Lord; for so the same expression is used Act. 7.46. where it is said of David, that he found favor before God, & desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob, and so it is more clearly expressed in the following clause, an habitation (or, as it is in the Hebrew, habitations ; for which see the Note Psal. 43.3.) for the mighty God of Jacob, see above verse. 2.

Vers. 6. Loe, we heard of it at Ephratah, &c.] A very obscure place this is. But the most probable expositions that I find amongst Expositors are these. 1. That in these words a reason is given why David was so solicitous to have the Ark brought into its resting place, and why the people were so glad to have this done, to wit, because formerly it had been still in a fleeting condition, carried up and down from one place to another: to express which they say, we heard of it at Ephratah, that is, we heard of the Ark, that in old time before our days it was in Ephratah, that is, in the land of Ephraim, to wit, in Shiloh (& indeed why might not the land of Ephraim be called Ephratah, seeing we find that Jeroboam, because he was of the tribe of Ephraim, is called an Ephrathite? 1 Kings 11.26.) we found it in the fields of the wood, that is, when the Philistines brought back the Ark out of their country, we found it in the field of Bethshemesh, 1 Sam. 6.12, 13, 14; or when David went to fetch it to mount Zion, we found it in Kiriathjearim, 1 Sam. 7.1. 1 Chron. 13.5, 6. which signifieth properly a town or city of woods, that is, situated nigh unto woods; and so the full scope of these words is as if they should have said, Thus hath the Ark been formerly transported from place to place, but now care hath been taken to bring it to the place where it must always abide. 2. That the care of David in bringing the Ark to the place which God had appointed for it, is set forth by showing the different opinions which men formerly had concerning the place of the Arks settled abode: we heard of it at Ephratah, that is, we heard of the resting place for the Ark, the mansion or habitation for the mighty God of Jacob, mentioned in the foregoing verse, that it was to be in Ephratah, that is, in Bethlehem, Gen. 35.16. which was a very fruitful place, & called therefore Ephratah, which signifieth fruitfulness, as for the same cause also it was called Bethlehem, that is, the house of bread (& indeed it is not improbable that such a report might be spread abroad concerning Bethlehem Ephratah, in regard that many men might be inclinable to think, that the city where David their king was born, was likely to be made the seat both of the kingdom and Sanctuary;) we found it in the fields of the wood, as if they should have said, but now we have unexpectedly found that the place where the Ark must be settled is in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, see the Note 2 Sam. 24.18. which might be called the field of the woods, because it was a woody place • or in Jerusalem, or mount Zion, which might be so called, because it was but a barren soil, and compassed about with hills that were covered over with wood. 3. That this is spoken of David's removing the Ark to the city of Zion, We heard of it at Ephratah, that is, the same of this solemn transporting of the Ark to Zion was brought unto us the inhabitants of Bethlehem Ephratah; we found it in the fields of the wood, that is, as is before noted, in Kiriath-jearim; for it is in the Hebrew in the fields of • oar, & Joar differeth not much from jearim. Or 4. that this was spoken by way of congratulating the bringing of the Ark in to the Temple, according to the desire of David, as into the place appointed of God for its settled abode: We heard of it at Ephratah, that is, say some Expositors, We heard of the ancient men in Bethlehem Ephratah, even when we were children, where the Ark was to be settled; or, as others, we heard of it of David the Ephrathite, that is, who was of Bethlehem Ephratah; & accordingly we found it in the fields of the wood, that is, in Jerusalem, or in mount Moriah, the floor of Araunah, as is before noted; he being anointed king, the place of the Arks settled abode is now discovered. But to me the two first seem the most probable.

Vers. 7. We will go into his Tabernacle, &c.] See the Note again Psal. 43.3: we will worship at his footstool ; see the Notes 1 Chron. 28.2. & Psal. 99.5. In this verse the people are brought in, resolving that since the Ark was now brought into the place which God had chosen for its settled abode, they would now diligently frequent that place of his presence & public worship; & they speak as rejoicing at the benefit which thereby would redound to God's people.

Vers. 8. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest, &c.] See the Note 2 Chron. 6.41.

Vers. 9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, &c.] That is, Let them be righteous & holy, and live holily and righteously; & particularly, let them carry themselves justly & holily in the execution of their priestly office: see the Note, Job 29.14. And in this expression he alludes to the holy garments wherewith the Priests were clothed, Exod. 28.23. In the 2. Chron 6.41. this clause is expressed thus: Let thy Priests, O Lord, be clothed with salvation ; & accordingly the meaning here may be, Let the manifestation of thy righteousness, in protecting them by thy grace & providence, & in showing thyself tenderly careful over them, be an ornament to them; for which see the Note there. And they therefore that think this Psalm was composed to be sung at the removing of the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom, do conceive that David doth hereby implicitly desire, that no such thing might now befall them, as had before in the sudden death of Uzzah. And let thy Saints shout for joy ; that is, Let thy holy people exceedingly rejoice in the manifold mercies which through thy favor they enjoy, or particularly in the benefits they enjoy by means of the ministry of thy priests, and the settling of the Ark amongst them. I know that some understand this of the Levites, whose work it was to praise God with singing of Psalms in the Temple. But if we compare this with the place before cited 2 Chron. 6.41. it will clearly appear that the former exposition is the best.

Vers. 10. For thy servant David's sake, &c.] That is, (say some Expositors) for thy Christ's sake, who is often in the Scripture called David; see the Note 2 Sam. 22.51. But others again conceive that David himself doth here desire, that God would remember him his servant, and make good his promises to him, whom he had anointed king over Israel; turn not away, saith he, the face of thine anointed. And some restrain his request to this, that God would not send him away without effecting the work he had undertaken, of removing the Ark from the house of Obed-Edom to Zion, as he had done before when Uzzah was smitten, But I rather take it to be the prayer of Solomon, or of the people on Solomon's behalf, to wit, that God remembering the promises he had made to David, & out of the respect he bare to him, who was a man after his own heart, would not cast off his son Solomon, that was anointed to succeed him in the throne, out of his sight, nor reject his prayers, or frustrate him of his hope in building a Temple for the Lord, as his father had appointed him: all which will be evident by comparing this place with that 2 Chron. 6.42.

Vers. 11. The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. ] See the Notes 2 Sam. 7.11, 16. and Psal. 89.3.

Vers. 13. For the Lord hath chosen Zion, &c.] See the Notes Psal. 78.68. and 1 Kings 9.3.

Vers. 15. I will satisfy her poor with bread. ] That is, I will not only give them food enough, but also, by my blessing upon it, cause their food to nourish and satisfy them.

Vers. 17. There will I make the horn of David to bud, &c.] That is, In Zion I will make the strength and glory of his kingdom to grow up and increase; see the Notes 1 Sam. 2.1, & 10. 2 Sam. 22.3. & Psal. 89.24. But withal this expression of the budding of the horn of David seems to have respect, both to the mean condition from which David was advanced, as likewise to the strange growing up and shooting forth of his kingdom again in his posterity, when it was brought very low, as it was by the schism of the ten tribes, that fell off to Jeroboam, and often afterwards in their civil wars; yea when it was in a manner cut off, as it was in the Babylonian captivity; but especially when it was so utterly ruined at last, that there seemed to be no memorial left of it, & yet then in Christ, that horn of salvation, Luk. 1.69. budded and sprang forth again, and from Zion, where indeed Christ's kingdom began, did spread abroad all the world over: whereto the prophets also seem to allude, where they call Christ the branch, as Zach. 6.12. and Isa. 11.1 a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots. And to the same purpose is the following clause, I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed ; that is, that there shall be still one of his posterity, in whom the glory of his kingdom shall live and shine forth; see the Note 1 Kings 11.39. Which yet was chiefly accomplished in Christ, in whom this kingdom did indeed shine forth most gloriously even unto the ends of the earth. But see the Note also 2 Sam. 21.17.

Vers. 18. His enemies will I cloth with shame, &c.] See the Note Job 8.22: but upon himself shall his crown flourish ; that is, upon his own head, & the heads of his posterity, even unto Christ, in whom his kingdom shall flourish unto all eternity.

PSALM CXXXIII.

Vers. 1. BEhold, how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity. ] That which is said most probably by Expositors, concerning the occasion of penning this Psalm, is, either that it was purposely provided to be sung by the Israelites at those three solemn feasts, when all the males were to come up to worship God together at Jerusalem: or else that it was composed upon occasion of that pacification that was made amongst the Israelites, either after the suppressing of Absalom's rebellion, or rather when after many years civil wars that had been in the land between David & the house of Saul, all the tribes did at last jointly submit to David, and so lived peaceably together as brethren under his government; whereupon, as from the experience they now had, how much better it was with them, when they lived thus comfortably together in unity and peace, then when before they were continually seeking to destroy one another, he commends unto them brotherly love & concord, Behold how good & how pleasant it is, &c.

Vers. 2. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. ] That is, It must needs yield as much refreshing content and delight both to God & man, especially to those that live thus as brethren together, as that precious ointment did, that was always poured forth upon the head of Aaron and his successors, when they were consecrated to the high priests office; nor only to the high priest himself, but also to all that were about him, to whom the fragrant smell thereof did spread. And the rather doth he compare the unity of brethren to this holy ointment, which was peculiarly designed to that religious service of consecrating the high priest, because he desired hereby to intimate, first, that the brotherly concord which he chiefly intended, was when they joined together with one consent in a way of religion, to wit, in the pure worship of God, being all of them endued with the sweet smelling graces of God's holy spirit; & 2. that this brotherly concord is an effect of that spirit of grace & peace, which being plentifully poured forth upon Christ the head of the Church, runs down upon all the members of his body, and is the bond of their spiritual union.

Vers. 3. As the dew of Hermon, &c.] As by the similitude in the foregoing verse David shown how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity, so by this here he shows, how good it is, that is, how profitable: As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion ; that is, as the dew that falls from heaven upon such a fat & fruitful soil, as is that of mount Hermon, and the mountains near about Zion or Jerusalem, doth cause these places to yield great increase & profit, so doth brotherly love, through God's blessing, bring all variety of outward plenty with it to those that do sincerely practice it, besides that it doth also make men fruitful in good works, both towards God & towards man. For there, that is, where brethren do thus dwell together in unity, the Lord commanded the blessing, that is, he poureth forth upon such men all variety of blessings; see the Notes Psal. 42.8, & 44.4, & 68.28, & 71.3: even life for evermore ; that is, not only a long prosperous life here, but also life eternal in heaven, whereof therefore brotherly love is made an unquestionable sign 1 Joh. 3.14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. Yet some understand, that by life for evermore here is meant, that God would give a happy life to all that should so agree together throughout all generations.

PSALM CXXXIV.

Vers. 1. BEhold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, &c.] That is, all ye Priests & Levites, as appears by the following words, which by night stand in the house of the Lord : for though some devout men & women of the people were sometimes wont to wait upon God's service in the Temple even by night, as is noted of Anna, Luk. 2.37. that she departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings & prayers night & day ; yet here the Psalmist seems to speak of such as by their office & place were constantly to give attendance upon the service of God in the Temple by night, as well as by day, as the word stand doth here import. And that this was the constant charge of the Priests & Levites, as in their courses they waited in the Temple, is evident Levite. 8.35. 1 Sam. 3.3. & in many other places: as a kings guard are wont to watch by night in his Court, so did they keep their watches in the Sanctuary. However, the aim and scope of this exhortation to these Priests & Levites is all one as if he had said, Think it not enough that you watch by night in the Temple, or that you perform there the outward ceremonial service, but see that you give God that spiritual service of praising his name, which he chiefly requires. See also the following Note.

Vers. 3. The Lord that made heaven & earth bless thee out of Zion. ] That is, say some Expositors, everyone of you Priests & Levites that do carefully perform your duty, as I have said, in praising the Lord. But now others conceive that this is here added as the substance of that prayer, wherewith the Psalmist desires that the Priests would bless the people, when they lifted up their hands in the Sanctuary, as was said in the foregoing verse. Yea & some also hold that this Psalm is written dialogue-wise, and that accordingly the two first verses must be taken as spoken by the people to the Priests & Levites, & then this as the answer of the Priests & Levites to them; or else that the two first verses contain the words of David to the Priests & Levites, & then this their answer to David their king: See the Note Psal. 118.26. As for the last words, out of Zion, see the Note Psal. 128.5.

PSAL. CXXXV.

Vers. 2. YE that stand in the house of the Lord, in the Courts of the house of our God. ] Though this Psalm begins with the very same words, in a manner, as doth the foregoing Psalm; yet I conceive the drift of this is, not only to stir up the Priests & Levites, as it was in the former, to this duty of praising God, but the people also: & that 1. because the arguments which here he brings to press this, did in common concern both Priests & people; & 2. because that clause, which is here added, in the Courts of the house of our God, may be extended to the people, as well as to the Priests, seeing there were some Courts in the Temple which were for the people to worship God in.

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Vers. 3. Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. ] That is, The name of God is pleasant & delightful to his servants, when they think or speak of it; or, It is a pleasant and delightful thing to sing praises to his name.

Vers. 5. Our Lord is above all gods. ] That is, all that are called gods; see the Note Deut. 10.17. And in advancing the Lord above all Idol-gods, he hath respect to the high esteem which the heathens had of them.

Vers. 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places. ] That is, all deep rivers and lakes: or, by deep places may be meant all the invisible depths, both of the earth and waters, even to the very center.

Vers. 7. He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth, &c.] Of which in the middle region of the air the clouds are formed. Now in saying that these ascend from the ends of the earth, either his meaning is, that they ascend from all parts of the earth in every quarter of the world; or else that they ascend from the sea, which is the lands end, or the utmost bounds of the earth. And indeed those vapors of which watery clouds are formed do usually rise from watery places of the earth, and especially from the seas; whence is that of Elijah's servant 1 Kings 18.44. Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand ; see also Amos 5.8. He maketh lightnings for the rain ; that is, to make way for the rain, the lightnings bursting the clouds, that so the rain may pour down; or, to go along with the rain, this being the wonder here noted, that fire and water should so go together, & break forth from the same cloud: he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries ; that is, say some, out of the caves and hollow places of the earth: but I rather conceive, that because the wind riseth many times on a sudden, & as our Savior saith Joh. 3.8. we cannot tell whence it cometh, therefore God is said here to bring it forth, as if he had it locked up in a readiness in some secret & hidden treasuries or store-houses.

Vers. 13. Thy name, O Lord, endureth forever, and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations. ] See the Note Psal. 102.12.

Vers. 14. For the Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants. ] That is, Though he may for a time afflict his people, yet he will at last relent over them, and punish their enemies: see the Note Deut. 32.36.

Vers. 15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, &c.] By this description of the vanity of idols, compared with the fore-mentioned works of God, he clears what he had said before verse. 5. that our Lord is above all gods. What is farther to be noted in this and the five following verses, see in the Notes Psal. 115.4, 11.

Vers. 21. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, &c.] That is, Resorting to Zion, the place of God's presence and public worship, let us thence praise the Name of our Lord.

PSALM CXXXVI.

Vers. 1. O Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. ] See the Notes 2 Chron. 7.3, and 20.21.

Vers. 4. To him who alone doth great wonders. ] See the Note Psal. 72.18.

Vers. 6. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters. ] See the Notes Gen. 1.9. and Psal. 24.2.

Vers. 7. To him that made great lights. ] See the Note Gen. 1.16.

Vers. 8. The sun to rule by day, &c.] That is, to have sole power under God to give light by day, the moon & stars not then appearing; as on the other side the moon & stars have the only power to give light by night, the sun being then hidden from our sight, and are therefore also said in the following verse to rule by night.

Vers. 14. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it. ] To wit, the red sea, (as was said in the foregoing verse) not only by opening a passage for them through the waters, but also by giving them courage to pass between those heaps of water, with as much confidence as if they had been to go on dry land in any other place.

Vers. 16. To him which led his people through the wilderness. ] To wit, carefully & tenderly, as a father leads his child, or a shepherd his flock, supplying them in their wants, & protecting them from dangers, going before them, by day in the pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; see the Note Exod. 13.21.

Vers. 23. Who remembered us in our low estate. ] That is, many and many a time when our dangers & miseries were greatest.

Vers. 26. O give thanks unto the God of heaven. ] That is, that created the heavens, that hath his habitation in the heaven, and from thence doth support and govern the whole world.

PSALM CXXXVII.

Vers. 1. BY the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion. ] For the better understanding of this & other passages in this Psalm, take notice, 1. that it was penned as in the name of the holy Levites, that had been singers in the Temple, as appears by many passages in it; as those wherein there is mention made of their harps, & the enemies desiring them to sing one of the songs of Zion, &c: 2. that the drift of this Psalm might be different, according as we may differently conceive of the time when it was written. For if it were penned after their return out of Babylon, as some think, because he speaks here of those things that were done in Babylon in the time past, there we sat down, yea we wept, when we remembered Zion, &c. then the scope of the Psalmist was, to render the people the more thankful for their deliverance out of Babylon, by putting them in mind how sad their condition was when they were in captivity: but if it were composed whilst they were yet in Babylon, Cyrus not having yet subdued the Babylonians, (which others conceive may be probably gathered from those words verse. 8. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, &c.) then the drift of the Penman of this Psalm might be, to keep the people from being too much dejected, & especially from being polluted with the superstition and profaneness of the nations amongst whom they lived in so lasting a captivity as seventy years, to wit, by propounding herein to them the example of the steadfast faith and piety of the holy Levites, how they could not be entangled by the delicacies of Babylon, but still groaned & longed after Zion, & how they could not be won to do anything, that might be a dishonor to their God and their religion, yea how they foretold the destruction both of the Edomites & Babylonians, verse. 7, 8. which shown that they expected a time of deliverance: 3. that those words here, there we sat down, are either to imply their long continuance in Babylon, or else to set forth hereby their weariness after this toilsome labor, or rather their sadness and sorrow; for sitting is usually mentioned in the Scripture as the gesture of mourners, as Job 2.12. So they, that is, Jobs friends, when they found him in such a sad condition, sat down with him upon the ground seven days & seven nights, &c. & Jer. 15.17. I sat alone, because of thine hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation, & Lam. 2.10. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, & keep silence: & 4. that it is expressed that they sat down & wept by the rivers of Babylon, 1. because Babylon was a country full of goodly rivers, see Ezek. 1.1. Dan. 10.4. the chief whereof were Tigris and Euphrates; 2. because the captive Jews were not suffered to dwell amongst the Babylonians in their towns & cities, they being as odious to the Babylonians as formerly they had been to the Egyptians, but were assigned to have their habitation by themselves in the country, that they might there be set a work in their servile field-employments; & so they lodged in the open field, or at the best in some poor tents and cottages, which there they reared up for themselves by the river side; or 3. because they were wont when they had any leisure, to retire thither by themselves, and there to sit down, & bewail their condition; or 4. that this might imply that the pleasures of Babylon, which consisted much in their goodly rivers, could not make them forget their sorrow for Zion, but that even there they sat down, and poured forth many sad penitential tears, when they remembered Zion, that is, in what a sad condition poor Zion lay, and how they were deprived of that comfort in God's presence and public worship they had formerly enjoyed.

Vers. 2. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. ] Because it may seem very improbable, that the Levites should have so much leisure, as to mind the saving of the musical instruments of the Temple, (which are all comprehended under the harps here mentioned) when the Babylonians were with such rage burning the city & Temple of Jerusalem, and making such a slaughter as they did amongst the inhabitants, and when therefore they must needs have enough to do to secure their own lives; or that the merciless plundering soldiers would show them so much favor, as to let them retain their musical instruments; therefore some Expositors take these words, We hanged our harps upon the willows, to be only a figurative proverbial expression, meaning only that there they bad adieu to their musical instruments, being brought into such a sad and doleful condition. But because there follows in the next verses an historical relation of what the Babylonians said to them, and what they answered again, I conceive it is clear that the Psalmist relates what was actually done, namely, that they did indeed hang up their harps upon the willows in the open fields; thereby showing how little they regarded them, and giving the Babylonians to understand, in whose sight they did this, that the pleasant shade of those willows by the rivers sides could not tempt them to make use of their musical delights, when as their souls were so oppressed with sorrow for the miseries of Zion. Neither seems it to me so improbable, either that the Levites should in that confusion of the sacking of Jerusalem endeavor with all solicitous care to reserve to themselves, and to carry away with them, those holy precious remainders of the Temples utensils, as memorials of God's Zion, and the delight they had formerly taken in God's worship there, and which in God's good time they might hope again to use in the holy service of God, as they had formerly done; and haply as hoping they might allay their sorrow in their captivity by some musical refreshings, though afterwards they found themselves so overpressed with sorrow, that they could not take any delight therein; or, that the Babylonians should afford this favor, especially if we consider that they might out of curiosity desire to hear what the skill of the Hebrews was in those kinds of melody; for which also see the following verse.

Vers. 3. For, &c.] This word shows, that here another reason is given why they hanged up their harps upon the willows: they that carried us away captives required of us a song, & they that wasted us, that is, that sacked us & pillaged us, & laid our city on heaps, as the Hebrew word signifies, required of us mirth ; to wit, not so much out of a desire to delight themselves with the music of the Hebrews, or to hear what their skill was in playing & singing (though that some might have respect to, as is before noted,) as by way of scoffing at them, & insulting over them: Sing us, say they, one of the songs of Zion ; as if they had said, what? is your God dead, to whom you were wont to sing? If he were formerly delighted with your music, why do you give it over? And observable it is that the Psalmist doth express this, that it was they that carried them away captives that required this of them: for this was 1. to imply, how unreasonable a thing it was, that they that had brought them into such a sad condition should require mirth of them; & 2. to imply the courage of these poor captives, that being in bondage could yet in this refuse to gratify their lords & masters.

Vers. 4. How shall we song the Lord's song in a strange land? ] That is, being in exile, where we are overpressed with sorrow, both for our own sufferings, & the sad condition wherein Zion lies; what heart do ye think we can have to sing? especially considering that the Lord doth hereby call us to mourning. Yea, how dare we profane the holy songs of Zion, composed for the worship of the Lord our God, by singing them to an idolatrous heathenish people, to make them merry, and so to expose them to their derision and scorn? This I conceive is the drift of this their answer. Yet there may be in these words also a covert intimation, that they hoped that God would carry them back into their own land, and that then they would cheerfully sing the songs of Zion, though in a strange land they could not do it. And so also some understand the following verse.

Vers. 5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, &c.] That is, say some Expositors, so as not earnestly to long after, and to wait for the promised restauration of poor Jerusalem, which our enemies do so scorn & despise; and so as not to be most ready to sing the songs of Zion, if God should ever carry us back thither, to see Jerusalem again in a flourishing condition, though now indeed we can neither play nor sing; or rather, If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, to wit, so as to give myself to music and merriment, whilst thou art in so sad a condition: let my right hand forget her cunning ; that is, let my skill fail me of playing upon musical instruments, that gift wherewith God hath honored me for his service; or, let a dead palsy seise upon my right hand, that I may never play on instrument more: see also the following Note.

Vers. 6. If I do not remember thee, &c.] See the foregoing Note: let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; that is, let me be stricken with an apoplexy, that I may not be able to sing or to speak. But indeed these imprecations are no more in effect, then as if they had said, that they might well expect some notable judgment from God upon them, if they should thus forget Jerusalem. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy ; that is, If I do not esteem, desire & pray for the happy recovery and flourishing estate of Jerusalem, more then anything that might yield me the greatest joy for mine own particular; or rather, if I rejoice in anything more then in the restauration of Jerusalem, or till I see Jerusalem in a better condition, if I prefer not my mourning for Jerusalem before the chiefest joy that can betide me.

Vers. 7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, &c.] To wit, how they carried themselves towards thy people: in the day of Jerusalem ; that is, in the day of her destruction, as it is said of the Ethiopians, Ezek. 30.9. great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt, that is, in the day when Egypt was destroyed: see also the Notes Job 18.20. and Psal. 37.13. And how they carried themselves is expressed in the following words, who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundations thereof: the meaning whereof is, that they with much delight assisted and encouraged the Babylonians in the destruction of Jerusalem, as is largely related by the prophet Obadiah, verse. 11, 12, 13, 14. But now the drift of this prayer of the holy Levites is, that as they remembered Jerusalem to pity her, so God would remember the cruelty of her enemies to punish them for it; covertly to assure the poor Jews, that this in his own good time, God would certainly do; & that because God had foretold this by his prophets concerning the Edomites in particular, and that with special respect to their unthankfulness to the children of Israel, who had formerly spared them as brethren, Deut. 2.4, 5. when they first entered the land of Canaan, as Obad. 10. for thy violence against thy brother Jacob▪ shame shall cover thee, & thou shalt be cut off forever, & so in many other places; of which therefore in these words, Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, the Levites desire the Lord to be mindful.

Vers. 8. O daughter of Babylon, &c.] That is, O thou great and mighty empire of Babylon, now in the prime of thy beauty & glory; or, O thou nation, O ye people of Babylon, see the Note 2 Kings 19.21: who art to be destroyed ; which they speak with confidence, because this the prophets had foretold, as Isa. 47.1, &c. and in many other places: happy shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us ; to wit, because it shall be counted an honor to them, that they have executed God's vengeance upon such a wicked cruel people; & because God would recompense this with outward prosperity & success and many earthly blessings. Yet some take this as only implying their desire, that they might be happy that should so return the cruelty of the Babylonians into their own bosoms.

Vers. 9. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. ] The Psalmist may seem herein to have respect to that place in Isaiah's prophesy, where this very thing is expressly foretold concerning the Babylonians, Isa. 13.16. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes, &c. And his aim herein was to set forth, that though this were in itself an act of horrid cruelty, yet they that should so use the Chaldeans should be honored for it, because they had exercised the same cruelty towards God's people.

PSALM CXXXVIII.

Vers. 1. I Will praise thee with my whole heart, &c.] See the Note Psal. 9.1: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee ; that is, before princes & great ones, see the Note Psal. 107.32▪ (for these are often called gods in the Scripture, see the Note Exod. 22.28.) or, before the angels, who are present indeed in Church-assemblies, as was signified by the images of the Cherubims in the Sanctuary. And thence it is that Paul saith, that women ought to have a covering on their heads in the holy assemblies, 1 Cor. 11.10. because of the angels.

Vers. 2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, &c.] See the Notes Psal. 5.7, & 28.2: & praise thy name for thy loving kindness & for thy truth ; to wit, in settling me in the throne of Israel, according as thou hadst promised me: for thou hast magnified thy word ; to wit, in the promise thou hast made concerning the Messiah, the greatest good that ever thou didst make known to thy people: or, thou hast magnified thy word ; that is, thy faithfulness in making good thy word, or the infallible truth & unresistable power of thy word: above all thy name ; that is, above all thy other glorious attributes, to wit, in that men were chiefly ravished with the admiration of God's accomplishing the promises which he had made to David concerning the kingdom; the promises seemed before hand so unlikely to be performed, that when God had fully brought all to pass that he had promised, the faithfulness of God was so admired herein, that comparatively nothing else was thought of.

Vers. 3. In the day when I cried, thou answeredst me; and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. ] That is, Though thou didst not presently deliver me, yet a gracious answer I had of my prayer, in that thou didst inwardly strengthen my faith and patience and courage, and so didst support me from sinking under that pressure of afflictions that lay upon me, & enabledst me quietly & cheerfully still to wait upon thee.

Vers. 4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. ] That is, So many of the kings of the earth, far & near, as shall hear how wonderfully thou hast made good what thou hadst spoken concerning me, both when thou didst command me to be anointed king, & when thou didst promise to settle me in the throne of Israel, though I lived then in a low & mean condition, shall hereupon praise thy name. Yet because David was a type of Christ, we may well also understand this of the kings of the Gentiles, when they should be converted upon the preaching of the Gospel to them.

Vers. 5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord. ] That is, They shall with singing praise the works of the Lord, in bringing me to the kingdom which he had promised me, & the manifold strange ways whereby he brought it about; or, They shall praise the Lord with singing, they themselves the whilst walking in the ways wherein the Lord hath appointed them to walk. But this indeed may be most fitly said of the converted Gentiles, with respect to their exceeding joy for the glad tidings of the Gospel.

Vers. 6. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, &c.] That is, Though the Lord be a God of transcendent majesty, & hath his habitation in the highest heavens, yet he beholdeth the lowest, the meanest and the most despised amongst men: yea he beholdeth them with a favorable countenance, to pity, deliver, & exalt them in due time, especially when they are also of an humble and lowly spirit. For that this is included appears by the following clause, but the proud he knoweth afar off ; that is, though he knoweth them well enough, yet it is not in a friendly manner, but with contempt, he stands aloof from them; even as they look with contempt upon others, so doth the Lord upon them. And then taking these words also as spoken with reference to the times of Christ, the meaning is clear, to wit, that God is very tender over poor humbled sinners, but that he abhors those that are proudly conceited of their own righteousness.

Vers. 7. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me. ] That is, Thou wilt preserve and deliver me, even when I might seem to be in the very jaws of death; or, Thou wilt comfort me against all terrors and sorrows, inward and outward: see the Notes Psal. 71.20, and 80.18.

Vers. 8. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, &c.] That is, Though I should still meet with more and more troubles, and though mine enemies should still rage never so much against me, God will perfect the work of my deliverance and salvation; yea whatever he hath promised to do for me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever; forsake not the works of thine own hands ; that is, give not over what thou hast begun to do for me.

PSALM CXXXIX.

Vers. 1. O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. ] That is, thou hast exactly known me; see the Note Psal. 7.9. Yet some take it thus, that God had proved and sifted him by many trials, and so had exactly discovered all that was in him. But now the scope of this long discourse which David here enters into concerning the omniscience of God, was either 1. hereby to intimate that he made his addresses now to God with all sincerity, as to an all-seeing God; or, 2. hereby to appeal, as it were, to God concerning his innocence in regard of the false slanders of his enemies, as that he did no way favor any wicked or bloody purpose in himself or in others, which he seems to urge verse. 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore ye bloody men ; or 3. hereby to press God to help him, because he knew his straits, & exactly understood his condition in every regard.

Vers. 2. Thou understandest my thought afar off. ] That is, Though thou art in heaven & I upon earth, yet thus far off thou knowest every thought of my heart; or rather, Thou knowest my thoughts long before they be brought to effect, or long before they come into my mind.

Vers. 3. Thou compassest my path, &c.] This may be read, as it is in the margin, Thou winnowest my path ; & then the meaning is, that God did as clearly see every way of his, as the corn is seen, when it is winnowed from the chaff. But reading the words as they are in our Bibles, Thou compassest my path, &c. the meaning must needs be, that God was on every side present with him, where ever he was & whatever he did, & therefore must needs know all his actions. And indeed considering the expressions here used, Thou compassest my path, & my lying down, & art acquainted with all my ways, it is not improbable which some think, namely that David doth herein allude to the knowledge which huntsmen often get of some wild beast, by watching & tracing her every way, that they know exactly where she useth to go, & where to lie, both by day & night, and are acquainted with all her paths: see also verse. 5.

Vers. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but loe, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. ] That is, I speak not a word but thou knowest it, yea and with what mind and to what purpose it was spoken; or, If I be but about to speak, whilst my words are yet, as it were, in my tongue, thou knowest what I mean to say before I speak it, or, though I should never speak it.

Vers. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, &c.] That is, Thou dost environ me on every side with thine omnipresence; see the Note above verse. 3: and laid thine hand upon me ; that is, there is no fleeing out of thy sight or presence; I am in that regard, as if thou layedst thine hand upon me, and keptst me prisoner, that I should not stir away from thee: or this phrase may be used to imply, that he must needs be everywhere in God's eye, because he was upheld, & preserved, and guided, & led by God's all-disposing power and providence, so that he could not turn or stir anywhere, but as he would have him. Yea & some conceive that here again David alludes, as before verse. 3. to a huntsmans besetting and seising upon some beast he hath pursued, when at last he claps his hand upon her.

Vers. 7. Whether shall I go from thy spirit? &c.] That is, that I may be where thou, who art an infinite spirit, art not present? as it is more clearly expressed in the following clause, or whether shall I flee from thy presence ? Or, Whether shall I go from thy spirit ? that is, to be hid from thy eye, that thou mayest not know where I am? Because men know & understand things by their spirit, which is a faculty of the inward man, according to that 1 Cor. 2.11. what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him ? therefore doth David here put the spirit of God for the knowledge of God.

Vers. 8. If I make my bed in hell, &c.] That is, If I go down into the lowest parts of the earth, or into the grave, which is as the bed where dead men are said to rest. See the Note Job 26.6.

Vers. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. ] That is, Could I take my flight never so early, or, could I flee never so swiftly from East to West, as the morning light doth; for the sun-beams are here compared to wings, (as also Mal. 4.2. the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings ) because they pass through the air so exceeding swiftly, as it were in a moment; & the uttermost parts of the sea are here put for the West, because the Mediterranean sea was on the West of Canaan.

Vers. 10. Even there shall thine hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. ] That is, All the way I went I should be under thy power and custody and conduct; so that to be sure there is no escaping out of thy presence: see the Note above verse. 5.

Vers. 13. For thou hast possessed my reins, &c.] That is, Thou didst make them at first, & so they are thine, and thou hast absolute power over them, & therefore thou must needs exactly know them; & consequently also all that is within me, see the Note Psal. 7.9: thou hast covered me in my mothers womb ; that is, thou hast cherished & preserved me there; or, this may be • eant of his being wrapped up in his mothers womb, in that which we call the after-birth; or, of his being covered with skin & flesh, see the Note Job. 10.11. However this which he saith of God's framing his body in his mothers womb, doth fully clear what he had said in the foregoing verse, that