they may also look upon themselves as a people created a-new to praise the Lord. 19. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven did the LORD behold the earth 19. Because in much mercy He hath been pleased to preserve a miserable Nation from utter destruction and though He be infinitely exalted above all our thoughts yet the Lord hath graciously condescended to mind the afflicted condition of this distressed Country 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner to loose those that are appointed to death 20. And to be moved by our groans to deliver us out of a sad captivity and to revive us when we had reason to look upon our selves as dead and hopeless 21. To declare the name of the LORD in Sion and his praise in Jerusalem 21. That we might go and recount in his Temple the famous things which He hath done and make the holy City sound with the praises of his power goodness and truth which He hath declared in our restauration 22. When the people are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve the LORD 22. When all the people shall be gathered together there to worship the Divine Majesty and other Kingdoms join with us unanimously in his service 23. He weakened my strength in the way he shortned my days 23. I had hopes to have lived to see this blessed time and thought I had been in the way to it III. Ezra 8 c. But He hath stopt our vigorous beginnings IV. Ezra 4. and thereby so sorely afflicted me that I feel I am like to fall short of my expectations 24. I said O my God take me not away in the midst of my days thy years are throughout all generations 24. Though I prayed most earnestly to Him and said O my God who hast so graciously begun our deliverance take me not away before it be compleatly finished but let me see thy promise fulfilled which Thou who diest not as we do I am sure wilt not fail to make good 25. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands 25. For it cannot be too hard for Thee to raise Sion out of her ruins who hast many ages ago created this goodly fabrick of heaven and earth by thy eternal Word I. Heb. 10. 26. They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed 26. And Thou dost neither decay nor alter in process of time as thy creatures do some of which shall perish but Thou shalt eternally subsist and all of them shall grow old like our garments with long wearing even the heavens themselves which now enwrap the earth as our cloaths do our bodies shall be folded up I. Heb. 12. and laid aside like a tattered garment when Thou shalt command that alteration 27. But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end 27. But Thou and thy Word art still the very same and shalt always continue so without any the least variation 28. The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee 28. Yet all that I conclude from hence is onely this that though I do not live to see our perfect restauration yet according to thy unalterable purpose the Temple and Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and the children of thy servants who now are in great distress be peaceably settled there yea their posterity after them remain unmovable in thy favour and enjoy the tokens of thy Divine presence among them PSALM CIII A Psalm of David ARGUMENT The Title tells us this Psalm is one of Davids and the third fourth and fifth Verses may satisfie us that he composed it after his recovery from a dangerous sickness to such a vigorous health as the Eagles have when they renew their plumes To that he alludes Ver. 5. as Euthymius and Saint Hierom understand it The latter of which says upon XL. Isaiah that he had often taught the Eagles do no otherway return to youthfulness when they are old but onely mutatione pennarum by change of their feathers I have expressed this a little more largely then ordinary in the Paraphrase as I have done in the rest of the Psalm to fit it the better to their use now that have escaped the like danger who should take occasion when they thank God for such a blessing to imitate David in making a thankfull commemoration of the rest of his mercies both to him and to others both in the present and in past ages And the more to excite devout souls to this and that I might make their thankfulness the more affectionate if they please to make use of this Hymn for that purpose I have oft repeated the beginning of the Psalm which I think refers to the whole and likewise put it into a little different form of a soul actually praising God without the least alteration of the sense 1. BLess the LORD O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name 1. BLessed for ever blessed be the Lord of life and health and all other blessings Blessed be his eternal power wisedom and goodness with my whole heart do I bless Him with my most ardent love and the devoutest affections of my soul 2. Bless the LORD O my soul and forget not all his benefits 2. Which shall be every day thus employed and praise his name with continual pleasure I will never forget how shouldst thou prove so ungratefull O my soul as not to acknowledge the inestimable benefits I have received from his bounty which are more then thought can number 3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases 3. More particularly I render Thee O Lord my most hearty thanks for thy late mercies vouchsafed to me Blessed be thy mercifull kindness that after a short correction for my faults Thou hast graciously pardoned them and healed all the sores and grievous wounds which they had made 4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies 4. Blessed be God who hath saved me from death and not onely spared my life but surrounded it most graciously with I know not how many benefits which make it exceeding delightfull to me I owe my friends lovers and acquaintance my carefull attendants my warm and quiet habitation the plentifull estate Thou hast given me the liberal provision Thou makest for me with all the rest of thy mercies to the bowels of thy tender compassions towards me 5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles 5. Blessed be thy almighty Goodness that my mouth which lately disgusted all things or was restrained from what is desired or was prescribed that which was disgustfull to it can now relish its food again and is satisfied with many good things I can never sufficiently bless thy Goodness who by this
their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses 28. And yet when in the midst of this great strait they make their addresses to the Lord with earnest prayers for his protection He is graciously pleased to hear their cry and to free them from that anguish of mind which sorely oppresses them 29. He maketh the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still 29. For He silences the blustring wind and makes so great a calm that the swelling waves lie quiet and still 30. Then are they glad because they be quiet so he bringeth them unto their desired haven 30. Which happy change turns their fear into joy when they see not onely the storm appeased but gentle gales arising to carry them directly to the port for which they are bound 31. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness and for his wonderfull works to the children of men 31. O that they who are thus unexpectedly preserved would never forget to make their thankfull acknowledgments to the Lord for this singular kindness But every where proclaim what wonders He hath done for them 32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders 32. Let them magnifie his power and goodness in the greatest assemblies of the people especially in his Temple Let them praise Him in the supreme Court of the Kingdom that the Judges and Governours may be excited to make Him their trust and confidence 33. He turneth rivers into a wilderness and the water-springs into dry ground 33. Who turns well watered Countries into a mere wilderness and makes moist and fertil soils become dry and barren ground 34. A fruitfull land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein 34. Where none of those fruits will grow which before it plentifully yielded because of the ill disposition of the inhabitants who produce nothing but all manner of vice and wickedness 35. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into water-springs 35. And on the other side He turns a barren desart for none of these things come by chance into rich and fruitfull pastures and sends such plenty of water into dry and sandy grounds 36. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city for habitation 36. That there they who lived wretchedly before find a comfortable habitation and are invited to build Towns and Cities in those formerly desolate places 37. And sow the fields and plant vineyards which may yield fruits of increase 37. Where they sow all manner of grain and plant vineyards which recompense their pains with a plentifull harvest and a joyfull vintage 38. He blesseth them also so that they are multiplied greatly and suffereth not their cattel to decrease 38. His blessing also makes the inhabitants fruitfull as well as their ground they grow exceeding populous together with their flocks and their herds which by the increase of people are not diminished 39. Again they are minished and brought low through oppression affliction and sorrow 39. But when they prove ungratefull to Him He quite alters the course of his Providence and on a sudden sends some grievous pestilence which lessens their numbers or lays them low by tyrannical oppressours into whose hands He delivers them by dearth and other calamities which make them pine away in grief and sorrow 40. He poureth contempt upon princes and causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way 40. Their Princes and the most eminent persons in their Country are not able to preserve themselves from contempt and scorn To which they are so openly exposed that they who had troops of followers and attendants are utterly deserted and forced to walk in solitary places to hide their shame without any means that they can see to recover their thrones out of which they are disgracefully thrown 41. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction and maketh him families like a flock 41. Which he bestows upon some poor despicable person whom from a low condition He raises to the highest dignity and gives him a very numerous istue to maintain and continue the honour He hath conferred on him 42. The righteous shall see it and rejoice and all iniquity shall stop her mouth 42. Which is a great incouragement to the righteous who herein behold with joy the wise and just providence of Almighty God But gives the wicked who under those bad Princes were insolent and full of proud boasts such a rebuke that they hang down their heads and are confour dedly put to silence 43. Whoso is wise and will observe those things even they shall understand the loving kindness of the LORD 43. And therefore whosoever will be truly wise ought to mark and ponder such passages as these in the Divine Government that they may make others who are less considerate understand how very kind and gracious the Lord is to those who study to please Him and to obtain his favour by dutifull obedience and humble submission to Him PSALM CVIII A Song or Psalm of David ARGUMENT The Title tells us this Song-Psalm see the reason of this name upon Psal LXVII was made by David and was placed here as I conjecture because now he was in a hopefull way to perfect some Victories which he had begun to win whereby some of those Captives in strange Lands mentioned Ver. 2. and 3. of the foregoing Psalm were rescued and set at liberty What those Nations were over whom he was about to triumph see in the Title of Psalm LX For the latter part of this Psalm from Ver. 6. to the end is the very same with some light variations with the eight last Verses of that As the former part of it is very little different from the five last Verses of Psalm LVII Which the Psalmist I suppose here placed instead of those wherewith the LX. begins though he retains all the latter end of it because now as I said he had made some progress in those Wars which he was but entring upon when he made that LX. Psalm And therefore here he begins with thanks to God for his mercy as there he laments the ill condition wherein he found the affairs of the Kingdom when he came to the Crown 1. O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise even with my glory 1. MY heart is ready O most gracious God it is firmly resolved to give Thee most solemn thanks My tongue also wherewith I ought to glorifie Thee shall sing of thy Goodness and with all the expressions of joy set forth thy praise 2. Awake psaltery and harp I my self will awake early 2. Nor shall any of the instruments of Musick be silent but accompany my Hymns which I will sing unto Thee so early that I will prevent the rising of the Sun 3. I will praise thee O LORD among the people and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations
but after I have suffered a while be preferred to those dignities from whence they fall and which is more be so graciously accepted by Thee as to continue in them unto immortal glory 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee 25. This I expect from thy Almighty Goodness who art the solest object of my hope For thou knowest there is none in Heaven whom I depend upon for help and protection but Thee alone none upon Earth whose favour I seek but onely thine which shall perfectly content me 26. My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever 26. It is possible I may still be pressed with such sore afflictions that not onely my bodily strength but also my courage may begin again to fail me but then I will recover my self and fortifie my Soul by flying unto Thee O God for safety in whose love I will alway think my self happy and enjoy everlasting satisfaction 27. For lo they that are far from thee shall perish thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee 27. For there is nothing more certain or more remarkable then this that they who by forsaking Thee have put themselves far from under thy care will never be able by any other means to save themselves from perishing For Thou hast already made such men a terrible Example of thy displeasure and utterly destroyed those who quitting thy service have devoted themselves to the worship of other Gods 2 Chron. XXVIII 6 18 19. XXIX 7 8 9. 28. But it is good for me to draw near to God I have put my trust in the Lord GOD that I may declare all thy works 28. And therefore I will learn by their miscarriages that it is the best and safest course for me to adhere to my good God and to make my humble addresses to Him alone I have done so hitherto and no danger shall tempt me hereafter to quit this hold and to confide in any thing but onely in the Sovereign of the World who never fails those that depend upon Him and will I hope be so gracious unto me that I shall have abundant cause to publish and proclaim to all others the Works of his Providence in preserving the Good and in throwing the wicked down at last to the ground PSALM LXXIV Maschil of Asaph ARGUMENT The desolation of Jerusalem and of the Temple as well as the rest of the Country made by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon was the sad occasion of this Psalm For it is altogether improbable that it hath respect to the days of Antiochus Epiphanes as some fancy because as Theodoret perrinently notes to omit all other reasons we reade nothing in any History of his burning the Temple or so much as of his laying the City waste which are both here most sorrowfully bewailed by Asaph Who was not therefore that Asaph in David's time unless we should grant him to have written by the spirit of Prophecy and predicted what should be in after-times as a great many think because there was no such Temple in those days nor had been as is here described Nor was it Asaph the Seer in Hezekiah's days of whom see Argument of the foregoing Psalm who saw no such desolation made by Senacherib for he did not take Jerusalem nor shoot so much as an arrow into it nor in all likelihood prophesied of the destruction here spoken of because the description of it in this Psalm is so plain that we may most reasonably think the Authour of it had it before his eyes and did not merely see it by the spirit of Prophecy which is not wont to foretell things in so clear a manner but more obscurely and darkly I conclude therefore it was some other Asaph who composed this Psalm in the time of the Captivity and in the middle or rather toward the conclusion of it because he complains Ver. 9. that they had no Prophet as there was in the beginning of the Captivity particularly Jeremiah to tell them how long it should last And considering that in the second Verse he speaks of himself as one that dwelt still in the Land of Israel pointing to Mount Sion as a place near to him I take him to have been some pious man of the posterity of Asaph who was suffered to remain there with the Chaldaeans And if it were fit to suppose him to have written this Psalm very young and to have lived to a great age when I have no proof of either I should guess him to be Asaph the Keeper of the King's Forrest in the days of Nehemiah who desired Artaxerxes to write to him to furnish him with Timber out of Lebanon for the rebuilding some of those places which the Psalmist here complains were destroyed Among which the Porch of the Court of the Sanctuary remained unbuilt even unto those times Howsoever from the mention of Mount Sion in the second Verse it is manifest Grotius forgot himself when in his Notes upon Ver. 6. he applies this Psalm to the destruction of Shiloh which he supposes Asaph to have here bewailed For Mount Sion had then never been in their possession as it was afterward and had lain so long waste Ver. 3. when Asaph wrote this Psalm that it look'd like a perpetual desolation Besides the Tabernacle was not burnt when Shiloh was destroyed but remained though without the Ark till the days of Solomon 2 Chron. I. 3. see Psalm LXVIII And of the meaning of Maschil see Psalm XXXII 1. O God why hast thou cast us off for ever why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture 1. O God the Sovereign Judge of the world who hast justly expelled us out of our Land and continued our banishment so long that little hope appears of our being restored to it again behold the anguish of our Souls wherein we cry unto Thee for mercy For we are confounded to see Thee so highly incensed against those who were once under thy most indulgent care as if Thou wert resolved never to be reconciled to us any more 2. Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed this mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt 2. Thou hast not forgotten we know though it be very long ago with the expence of how many Miracles Thou didst make our Ancestours thy peculiar people For which reason though we be exceedingly underserving we beseech Thee to let all the world see Thou wilt not utterly abandon the poor remainders of that Nation which Thou didst acquire at so great a price that Kingdom which Thou didst rescue out of the most miserable slavery to be thy own possession and this Mount Sion wherein after Thou hadst by many wonders brought us into Canaan and routed out the old Inhabitants Thou wast pleased at last to settle thy abode among us 3. Lift up thy feet unto
other but assistants as it is plain they were in that Invasion 2 Chr. XX. 1. And then the Authour of this Psalm must be either Jehaziel one of Asaph's posterity upon whom you reade there Ver. 14. the spirit of the Lord then came or some other in those days whose proper name this was Which is much more probable then their conjecture who think the Authour was Asaph in the days of David who subdued indeed the Moabites and Edomites and other neighbouring Nations but we do not reade of any Confederacy they made against him much less that they sent as far as Assyria for help or that they began the War as the people here mentioned did The same may be said against the application of it to the Conquests made in the days of Uzziah over several people here mentioned 2 Chron. XXVI 6 7 8. Or to the Invasion made by Senacherib King of Assyria who did not join himself as we reade here Ver. 8. with other Nations but by the forces of his own Kingdom alone as far as appears came up against them There are those indeed that take in all the attempts made upon them since that in Jehosaphat's days by several Nations the last of which was Assyria whose King came to doe that which the rest had not been able to effect And then the Authour is easily found to be the same that I have named in the Argument of the foregoing and many other Psalms And which way soever we are pleased to determin the matter it is plain in general that many Nations both near and remote who had a hatred to the Jews set themselves together when this Psalm was penned to destroy them assaulting them not onely severally but conjunctly entring into consultation also and conspiring together how to effect it Which hatred continuing after their return to their own Land from the Captivity of Babylon gave occasion to Theodoret to say both in his Preface to this Psalm and upon the twelfth Verse of it that the Psalmist here complains of the opposition which several of their neighbours made to the rebuilding of the Temple and of Jerusalem But this seems more improbable than all the rest many of those Countries here named being before that time destroyed and the Assyrians themselves as he himself observes upon Ver. 8. being not then extant Though whensoever this Confederacy happened there was very great reason for that solicitous and vehement importunity wherewith this Psalm begins Why it was called a Song-Psalm see Psalm LXVII 1. KEep not thou silence O God hold not thy peace and be not still O God 1. O God the supreme Judge of the World whose power is so great that the united forces of all men on earth or Angels in heaven are not to be compared with it 2 Chr. XX. 6 12. who with one word of thy mouth canst dissipate this great Army do not refuse now to answer our prayers in this sore distress O do not shut thy mercifull ears to our cries nor quietly see us perish most mighty God 2. For lo thine enemies make a tumult and they that hate thee have lift up the head 2. For we are surprised with a sudden Invasion of numerous Enemies haters of Thee and thy Worship as much as of our Nation who make a dreadfull noise like the waves of the Sea 2 Chron. XX. 2. and proudly promising themselves a Victory insult as if they had already won it 3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones 3. They have with equal malice and subtilty carried on a close design against thy people and with great secresie consulted how to destroy not onely us whom Thou hast hitherto wonderfully protected as thy Jewels but thy Temple also and the secret place wherein Thou there dwellest 4. They have said Come and let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance 4. Come say they one to another Let us agree and join all the power we have together not merely to make a Conquest of them but for their utter exstirpation 2 Chron. XX. 11. that there may be no mention hereafter in the world of such a people as the Commonwealth of Israel 5. For they have consulted together with one consent they are confederate against thee 5. And accordingly Ten several Nations are combined heartily in this design and how different soever their inclinations are upon other accounts they have all entred into a solemn league and made a covenant of mutual help and of imploying their joint indeavours totally to subvert that Government and Religion which Thou hast established 6. The Tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites of Moah and the Hagarens 6. Those warlike Nations the Edomites and Ishmaelites who dwell in Tents are ingaged in this enterprise and so are the Moabites and others descended from Hagar the Mother of Ishmael 7. Gebal and Ammon and Amalek the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre 7. With whom are united our neighbours the Giblites XIII Josh 5. the Ammonites our old enemies the Amalekites and Philistines and they that dwell in and about the famous City of Tyre 8. Assur also is joined with them they have holpen the children of Lot Selah 8. And to add to their strength they have called the powerfull Nation of the Assyrians into their association on whose assistance the Moabites and Ammonites the Authours of this War do principally rely 9. Doe unto them as unto the Midianites as to Sisera as to Jabin at the brook of Kison 9. The greater need we have of thy assistance and with the greater earnestness we beseech Thee to make them an example of humane weakness by defeating them as Thou didst that vast Army of the Midianites and their Confederates VI. Judg. 5. VII 12. whom Gideon overthrew with no greater power then three hundred men VII Judg. 21 22. compared with 2 Chron. XX. 23. and as Thou didst in former times to that famous Captain Sisera who fell by the hand of a Woman IV. Judg. 21. and to Jabin his King who together with his Army was swept away in the brook of Kishon IV. Judg. 21 24. V. 21. 10. Which perished at Endor they became as dung for the earth 10. A great slaughter there was of them near Endor compare V. Judg. 19. with XVII Josh 11. where their carkases lay and rotted and served instead of dung to fatten and inrich the earth 11. Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb yea all their Princes as Zebah and as Zalmunna 11. Let their Princes and Commanders fall like Oreb and Zeeb VII Judg. 25. and their Kings not be able to save themselves by flight but be taken and slain like Zebah and Zalmunna VIII Judg. 12 21. 12. Who said Let us take to our selves the houses of God in possession 12. Who came with a design VI. Judg. 3 4 5. as these Nations do now 2 Chron. XX. 10 11. to possess
foot-steps signifies properly the heel of a mans foot and from thence is translated to signifie the end of any thing as in Psal CXIX 33. Which notion of it in my judgment best suits with all that goes before in this Psalm concerning the stability of David's Kingdom which their enemies now boasted as we would express it in our present language they saw upon its last legs And the truth is it was never restored to that Family till Christ the great Son of David came to whom some passages in this Psalm are applied by the Jews themselves in both the Beresiths and in other Books to which Abenezra and R. Solomon consent Why this Psalm is called Maschil see Psal XXXII But why any should fancy as some have done that it was made by Jehojachin after he came out of Prison 2 King XXV 27 28. I cannot conceive unless the first words moved them to think that he who in the foregoing Psalm speaks of himself as in a Dungeon gives God thanks here for his deliverance 1. I Will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations 1. THE innumerable calamities that are befaln us shall not blot out the memory of the innumerable benefits which the Lord hath formerly bestowed on us but I will sing of them without ceasing and indeavour to make all posterity believe notwithstanding our present desolation that Thou art faithfull and constant to thy word 2. For I have said Mercy shall be built up for ever thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens 2. For I am confident thy Mercy which is immovable and indures for ever will raise us out of these ruines thy promises being as firm and stedfast as the heavens in which we see an image of the unchangeableness of thy Nature and of thy will 3. I have made a convenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David my servant 3. Which Thou didst declare by thy Prophet saying 1 Sam. XVI 13. 2 Sam. III. 9 10. V. 2. VII 15 16 28. I have chosen David my faithfull Servant to be the Governour of my people and have made a Covenant with him confirmed by an Oath 4. Thy seed will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations Selah 4. That not onely he but his Children after him shall be settled in the Throne which though it totter sometime or be thrown down shall be raised again and continued throughout all succeeding generations 5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders O LORD thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints 5. For which stupendious kindness if we should forget to praise Thee or in this our calamitous condition distrust thy power and fidelity to make it good the heavenly inhabitants will not fail to doe it but in their holy Assemblies confess them both with their solemn praises 6. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD 6. For there are none of the powers of the air they know much less any upon earth that can resist the Lord and hinder the fulfilling of his will The mightiest among themselves they are sensible are not to be compared with his Majesty to whom they are but Ministers 7. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him 7. And when they assemble in the greatest numbers and make the most glorious Court stand in great fear and dread of Him attending with awfull reverence what commands He will be pleased to lay upon them 8. O LORD God of hosts who is a strong LORD like unto thee or to thy faithfulness round about thee 8. With whom I will join O Lord the Commander of all these heavenly Hosts and celebrate thy Name on earth as they do in heaven saying Where is he among them all that can equal Thee O most powerfull Lord whose Faithfulness is as ready to fulfill thy Promises as the Angels are to execute thy Commands 9. Thou rulest the raging of the Sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them 9. The Sea it self which submits to no body else is under thy Government who when it is a calm makest it swell as if it would overflow the earth and reducest it when it is in its greatest rage to a perfect stilness again 10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces as one that is slain thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm 10. There the Egyptians who had been wounded before with many other grievous plagues were utterly overthrown and with the like irresistible power the Canaanites were scattered at the entrance of thy people into the promised Land 11. The heavens are thine the earth also is thine as for the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded them 11. For Thou art the owner of things both in heaven and earth and hast the justest right to dispose of them to whom Thou pleasest because the world and all the inhabitants of it are thy Creatures 12. The north and the south thou hast created them Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name 12. Whether we cast our eyes to the Southern or Northern parts of the earth to the West towards Tabor or Eastwards towards Hermon they all acknowledge Thee their Creatour and rejoice in thy bountifull Providence which inriches them with all things needfull for them 13. Thou hast a mighty arm strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand 13. And thy power extending it self throughout the whole always effects in every place whatsoever Thou designest whether it be to punish evil-doers or to preserve and exalt them that doe well 14. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne mercy and truth shall go before thy face 14. But none shall be able to say Thou doest them any wrong Because Thou dost not rule the world merely by thy absolute power but hast placed thy principal glory in justice and equity mercy and fidelity from which Thou never swervest 15. Blessed is the people that know the joyfull sound they shall walk O LORD in the light of thy countenance 15. Happy then are the people who live under thy righteous and mercifull Government and hear the Trumpet sound which signifies the royal presence of thy Majesty among them and calls them to attend upon Thee X. Numb 10. They shall spend their days most chearfully O Lord being secure of thy favour which will let them want nothing that is good for them 16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted 16. They shall not barely rejoice but triumph and that continually in thy love to them and thy power to defend them and walking in thy holy Laws shall by thy goodness be highly exalted and made superiour to all their enemies 17. For thou art the glory of their
strength and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted 17. For they owe not their conquests to their own valour or forces though never so great but it is Thou who givest illustrious Victories to the smallest Armies And therefore by thy favour we hope that our Empire which is now broken shall be raised again to its former splendour 18. For the LORD is our defence and the holy One of Israel is our King 18. For the Lord is still our Protectour though our Prince be taken and made unable to defend us He whom Israel adores and acknowledges infinitely to transcend all other Beings is our King and Governour 19. Then thou spakest in vision to the holy One and saidest I have laid help upon one that is mighty I have exalted one chosen out of the people 19. Who then didst reveal thy mind in a Vision to the holy Prophet Samuel 1 Sam. XVI 1. when the Philistines defied Israel and grew terrible to them XVII 10 11 24. saying I have provided myself a valiant Champion 1 Sam. XVI 18. to be your deliverer 2 Sam. III. 18. I have designed a person of singular worth from among the common people 1 Sam. XVI 11. to be promoted to the Kingdom 20. I have found David my servant with my holy oil have I anointed him 20. I have observed David 1 Sam. XVI 1. and find him a man that will faithfully serve me Go and anoint him with the holy Oil for I intend him for the Governour of my people 21. With whom my hand shall be established mine arm also shall strengthen him 21. With whom I will always be powerfully present for his assistance 1 Sam. XVII 45 c. and never desert him as I did Saul XVIII 12 24 28. But my mighty power shall extraordinarily strengthen him in all his enterprises 1 Sam. XXX 6. 2 Sam. VIII 6 14. 22. The enemy shall not exact upon him nor the son of wickedness afflict him 22. The subtilest of his enemies shall not be able to circumvent him nor the most malicious how powerfull soever oppress him 23. And I will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him 23. But after all their vain attempts I will not onely protect him from their crafty violence but subdue all his adversaries under him and destroy those that hate him 2 Sam. VII 9. 24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him and in my name shall his born be exalted 24. He shall ever find me not onely faithfull in my promise to him but kind above his expectation and by my powerfull assistance and his confidence in it his authority shall be highly exalted 1 Chron. XIV 17. 2 Sam. VII 9. VIII 13. 25. I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers 25. On one hand he shall conquer the Philistines and those that live upon the coast of the Sea 2 Sam. VIII 1. and on the other hand the Syrians as far as Tigris and Euphrates 2 Sam. VIII 9 c. X. 16 19. 26. He shall cry unto me Thou art my father my God and the rock of my salvation 26. For he shall intirely depend on me in all his distresses and fly to me for succour as a Child to his Parent saying with more then usual love and confidence Thou art my Father as well as my omnipotent God from whom alone I expect protection and deliverance 27. Also I will make him my first-born higher then the kings of the earth 27. Which I will never fail to afford him till I raise him to the prime dignity among all those whom I call my Sons and set him so high above all other Kings in the world that he shall be a most eminent Type of my Son Christ the King of kings and the Lord of lords 28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him 28. Nothing shall alter these kind intentions toward him but I will always have a love for him and faithfully perform my Covenant with him 29. His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven 29. Which is that his Family shall never be extinct but notwithstanding the changes which all things are subject unto here below have the royal power continued in it as long as the heavens endure 2 Sam. VII 16 28 29. I. Luke 32 33. 30. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments 30. If his Successours indeed shall depart from the Law which I have given you by my Servant Moses and not judge my people righteously 31. If they break my statutes and keep not my commandments 31. If they prophanely neglect or corrupt my Religion and observe not the rest of the Rules of life which I have enjoined them 32. Then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes 32. Then will I execute the threatnings which are in my Law XXVI Levit. upon them and punish their transgressions with sore diseases and their Idolatries with several plagues 2 Sam. VII 14. 33. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail 33. But I will not so chastise them as never more to doe good to his Family 2 Sam. VII 25. but will still have a kindness for it and faithfully keep my promise with it 1 King XI 34 36. XV. 4. 2 King VIII 19 c. 34. My covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips 34. I will not violate the Covenant I have made with David 2 Chron. XXI 7. nor retract the promise which I have solemnly passed to his Family 35. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David 35. For I have unalterably sworn by my own incommunicable excellencies that I will as soon cease to be what I am as deceive him 36. His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me 36. His Family as I said Verse 29. shall never be quite extinct but always remain in my favour and hold the royal dignity as long as the Sun shineth 37. It shall be established for ever as the moon and as a faithfull witness in heaven Selah 37. The Moon may as well fall from her Orb as his Authority fall to the ground and rise no more Let that be a witness of my fidelity when you look upon it XXXIII Jer. 20 21. and conclude that after all the changes and eclipses his Kingdom may suffer it shall stand as fast as that and all the rest of the heavenly bodies 38. But thou hast cast off and abhorred thou hast been wroth with thine anointed 38. But all these promises alas so sacredly confirmed and oft repeated have not secured it from a dismal subversion For Thou hast rejected with the greatest contempt and indignation our Sovereign one of the posterity of David and
praising thy great Creatour and Benefactour And let all those who have any sense of Him stir up themselves and join with me in his praises PSALM CV ARGUMENT Though this Psalm have no Title yet we are assured by what we reade in the 1 Chron. XVI 8 c. that the first part of it at least to the end of Ver. 15. was made by David and delivered by Him to Asaph and his Brethren for the constant service of God in the Tabernacle when after several Victories over the Philistins 1 Chr. XIV he had settled the Ark of God in Sion And it is most probable that he afterward inlarged this Psalm for who else would adventure to doe it that it might be a more compleat commemoration of all the mercies of God towards their Nation from the days of Abraham to their taking possession of the Land of Canaan Into which he shews their gracious Lord conducted them by so many miraculous providences in several ages according to his faithfull promise made to Abraham his faithfull Servant that it deserved their most hearty acknowledgments to which he excites them by ten several expressions in the five first verses of the Psalm To which the Greeks praefix an Hallelujah for they take the last word of the foregoing Psalm and set it on the head of this as a note how much they were obliged to praise the Lord according to that exhortation when they remembred in this Psalm the benefits that He had bestowed upon their Forefathers which were sufficient to excite and whet their minds to the imitation of their vertue And it may serve to admonish the new people of God as Theodoret speaks that is us Christians how much we ought to rejoice in God's goodness to us and how dangerous it is to be ungratefull to Him which provoked Him to deprive the Jews of that fatherly care which He had taken of their Ancestours 1. O Give thanks unto the LORD call upon his name make known his deeds among the people 1. STir up your selves all ye that are here assembled to make your most gratefull acknowledgments unto the great Lord who is pleased to come and dwell among you never approach his presence to make your petitions to Him but join his praises together with them and proclaim to all the people round about what great things He hath done for you and for your Forefathers 2. Sing unto him sing psalms unto him talk ye of all his wondrous works 2. Sing his praise with a chearfull voice and with all the Instruments of Musick and let the subject of your hymns and of your ordinary discourse be his many marvellous acts of which let not one be forgotten 3. Glory ye in his holy name let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD 3. For nothing can be so great an honour to you as that you are the servants of such a mighty Lord who infinitely transcends all other Beings triumph therefore and make your boast of this as a greater happiness then all worldly goods let it fill the hearts of all his faithfull worshippers with the highest joy and gladness 4. Seek the LORD and his strength seek his face evermore 4. Let it incourage them to address themselves unto Him upon all occasions and prostrating themselves before the Ark of his presence 2 Chron. VI. 41. commend themselves to his powerfull protection let them unweariedly seek his favour and implore his gracious assistance 5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth 5. Which you may with the greater confidence expect if you call to mind and thankfully commemorate the marvellous things He hath done for your deliverance and his terrible executions III. Exod. 20. according to his just sentence passed VII Exod. 4. upon your enemies 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant ye children of Jacob his chosen 6. The benefit of which you still enjoy O ye who are the posterity of his servant Abraham whose faith and obedience you ought to imitate the children of Jacob whom He chose rejecting Esau to inherit the promised blessing 7. He is the LORD our God his judgments are in all the earth 7. He is still the same mighty Lord and our most gracious God who continues to execute his judgments every where upon our enemies 2 Sam. V. 7 10 17 c. and therefore let us never cease to praise Him and chearfully serve Him and faithfully depend upon Him 8. He hath remembred his covenant for ever the word which he commanded to a thousand generations 8. For He is never unmindfull of his ingagements to us but punctually performs in all ages what He hath promised in his Covenant 9. Which covenant he made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac 9. Which He first solemnly made XV. Gen. 17 18. and then sware XXII 16. unto Abraham and renewed with his Son Isaac to whom He promised to perform that Oath which He sware unto Abraham XXVI Gen. 3. 10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant 10. And again confirmed it to Jacob both when he went to Haran XXVIII Gen. 13 c. and at his return when He changed his name into Israel XXXV Gen. 10 c. and at last passed it into a Law in that Covenant which He made with their posterity XXIII Exod. 22 23 31 32. never to be altered if they keep their Covenant with Him 11. Saying Vnto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance 11. The sum of which was this I bestow upon thee and will bring thee into that good Land the Land of Canaan which according to this faithfull Covenant you now possess as by lot it was distributed to your several Tribes for their inheritance XIV Josh 1 2. 12. When they were but a few men in number yea very few and strangers in it 12. This Covenant He began to make with your Forefathers and shew'd his intention to perform it by his singular care over them when their Family was very small XII Gen. 1 5. and consequently so weak that they might easily have been destroyed in the Land where they were strangers XXIII Gen. 4. and had no friends nor allies to support them 13. When they went from one nation to another from one kingdom to another people 13. Nor any settled habitation but were forced to wander to and fro from one part of Canaan into another XII Gen. 6 8 9. and then to sojourn in other Kingdoms sometimes in Egypt XII Gen. 10. sometimes in Gerar XX. Gen. 1. XXVI and sometimes in the Eastern Country from whence they came XXIX Gen. 1. 14. He suffered no man to doe them wrong yea he reproved kings for their sakes 14. And wheresoever they sojourned He took them into his protection and suffered no man to doe them any injury XXXI Gen. 24 42. but gave severe checks even to the King of Egypt XII Gen. 16.
ye servants of the LORD praise the name of the LORD 1. O Ye Ministers of the Lord and whosoever you are that love his Service praise his eternal Majesty be not remiss in this heavenly imployment but with your best affections praise the power wisedom and goodness of his eternal Providence 2. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore 2. Praise him now in this present Age and wish that those incomparable perfections of his may be celebrated with the praises of those that live in future times as long as the world shall last 3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised 3. And not onely here in this little spot of earth but wheresoever the Sun shines and lets men see how splendid and glorious his Majesty is 4. The LORD is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens 4. For all the Nations of the earth are his and but a little parcel of his supreme Dominion which extends far beyond the Sun and Moon and Stars whose light is but a dim resemblance of the brightness of his glory 5. Who is like unto the LORD our God who dwelleth on high 5. Do not think that any of them though worshipped by other Nations as gods is comparable to that great Lord and our most gracious God whom we adore for the very place where his glorious Majesty resides is far higher then they 6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth 6. And it is a great condescension in him that He will have any respect to the most illustrious of those celestial bodies though He be so gracious also as to extend his kind and carefull Providence even to us who dwell upon this earth 7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill 7. Where among other manifest tokens of his stupendious goodness He is pleased to take special notice of those whom the world despises and to raise them out of a mean nay sordid condition to such a pitch of honour and dignity 8. That he may set him with princes even with the princes of his people 8. That at last they are advanced to sit upon a Throne and made the Governours of his own people 1 Sam. II. 8. 2 Sam. VII 8 9. compared with 1. XXIV 14. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyfull mother of children Praise ye the LORD 9. And which is still more strange He opens the barren womb which according to the course of nature would have brought forth nothing and makes a numerous Family spring from thence to the great joy of her that bears them 1 Sam. I. 20. II. 21. Praise the Lord in these and such like wonderfull works of his PSALM CXIV ARGUMENT As the foregoing Psalm puts them in mind of several works of the Divine Providence about particular persons so this makes a brief narration of some miraculous works wherein the Lord declared his power when He brought the whole Jewish Nation out of the Egyptian bondage 1. WHen Israel went out of Egypt the house of Jacob from a people of strange language 1. WHen our Forefathers with their whole Family were brought out of Egypt and not one of them left behind among that barbarous people who had long oppressed them 2. Judah was his sanctuary and Israel his dominion 2. There was a most glorious appearance of God among them by that bright cloud the token of his presence which then had no other peculiar place for its sanctuary but stood over the whole Camp of Israel XIII Exod. 21. XIV Numb 14. whom He then took for his peculiar Kingdom XIX Exod. 6. 3. The sea saw it and fled Fordan was driven back 3. At which appearance the red Sea forsook its channel and left a dry path for them to march through XIV Exod. 21 24. and so did Jordan also afterwards to make way for their easie entrance into Canaan III. Josh 15 16. 4. The mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs 4. All the Mountains great and small which adjoined unto Sinai trembled and leaped like so many affrighted rams or little lambs before the same most dreadfull Majesty XIX Exod. 18. 5. What ailed thee O thou sea that thou fleddest thou Jordan that thou wast driven back 5. To what else shall we ascribe that sudden ebb of the Sea and that no less strange retreat of Jordan when it overflowed all its banks 6. Ye mountains that ye skipped like rams and ye little hills like lambs 6. What made the mountains and hills leap up like affrighted rams or lambs as if they would run away from the place where they were so firmly fixed 7. Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob 7. But onely the glorious presence of the Divine Majesty who was then bringing his people to the rest He had promised to give them And let the whole earth be afraid and tremble before that great Lord who hath honoured us so far as peculiarly to be our God 8. Which turned the tock into a standing water the flint into a fountain of waters 8. And was so kind as to supply the necessities of our Forefathers even when they murmured against Him by a new Miracle bringing out of hard rocks as hard as flint such plenty of water as if they had been dissolved into lakes or rivers XVII Exod. 8. XX. Numb 11. PSALM CXV ARGUMENT There is great reason to think that this Psalm was made in some time of sore distress when their Pagan Enemies began to boast and brag as if their gods were too hard for the God of Israel But by whom it was made or on what particular occasion there are so many conjectures that it will be no presumption to interpose mine which is this That when Jehoshaphat saw that vast Army which we reade of 2 Chron. XX. 2. composed of several Nations coming against him and after his prayer to God for deliverance was incouraged by a Prophet to hope for it Ver. 14 15. and had by the Levites given Him thanks for this hope he or that Prophet composed this Hymn to quicken and confirm their faith in God unto which you reade he exhorted them Ver. 20. And it is likely that this was the Hymn which by common consent the Singers were appointed to use when they went out to encounter those Enemies saying not onely those words which we reade there Ver. 21. Praise the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever but these Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truths sake c. 1. NOT unto us O LORD not unto us but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truths sake 1. PRosper our arms O Lord and give us the victory over these
into the Temple which is now built for it 2 Chron. V. 2 3 4 c. 8. Arise O LORD into thy rest thou and the Ark of thy strength 8. And be pleased O Lord together with the Ark the token of thy powerfull presence among us to translate thy Divine Glory thither 2 Chron. V. 13 14. VII 1 2 3. there to settle it self and stir from thence no more for ever 9. Let thy priests be cloathed with righteousness and let thy saints shout for joy 9. Guard also thy Priests who minister unto Thee here and incompass them with thy Goodness 2 Chr. VI. 41. that they may procure thy blessings for others and make all thy pious Worshippers who are dear unto Thee triumph in thy kindness to them 10. For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thine anointed 10. I beseech Thee have a respect to the sincere piety of my Father David and thy gracious promise to him 1 Chron. XXII 2 10 14. XXVIII 2 6 c. and upon that account deny me not but grant the petitions of thy servant who by thy special appointment succeeds him in the government of thy people 11. The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David he will not turn from it Of the the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne 11. According to that Oath whereby the Lord secured the Kingdom to his Family that faithfull Oath which He will never break saying One of thy Sons will I advance to sit upon thy Throne when thou shalt leave it 1 Chron. XVII 11. XXVIII 5. 2 Chron. VI. 10. 12. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them their children also shall sit upon thy throne for evermore 12. Yea I will perpetuate this royal Dignity to thy Children in all succeeding generations and not take it from them as I did from Saul 2 Sam. VII 15 16. if they prove faithfull and constant in their Religion and observe all the Commandments whereby I will teach and instruct them how my pleasure is that they should worship and serve me 1 King II. 4. IX 4 5 6. 13. For the LORD hath chosen Sion he hath desired it for his habitation 13. For the Lord hath such a love to Sion the seat of the royal Family 2 Sam. V. 7 9. that He hath chosen to place his own dwelling very near unto it 2 Chron. III. 1. VII 12. 14. This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it 14. Saying this is the place where my Glory shall fix it self for ever 2 Chron. VII 16. I will remove no more but here will I take up my abode for I have pitched on this place and declared that it is acceptable unto me above all other 1 Chron. XXI 26. XXII 2. 15. I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfie her poor with bread 15. From whence I will dispense my blessings so abundantly that Sion which is become the City of God as well as of David shall never be in any want But I will make such liberal provision for it by fruitfull years that the poorest person there shall be satisfied with food 2 Chr. VII 13 14. 16. I will also clothe her priests with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy 16. I will also defend her Priests and they shall be giving continual thanks and praise for the blessings they shall procure for my pious Worshippers who shall exceedingly triumph in my kindness towards them 17. There will I make the horn of David to bud I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed 17. There will I make the Regal Power and Majesty of David to put forth it self afresh in his royal Successours no sooner shall one be extinguished but another shall shine 1 King XI 36. 2 Chron. XXI 7. in such splendour as shall give a lustre to the name of that anointed Servant of mine till the great Prince the Messiah appear 18. His enemies will I clothe with shame but upon himself shall his crown flourish 18. And whosoever they be that go about to destroy this succession they shall be so miserably defeated that they shall not be able to shew their faces while with shame and confusion they behold the regal Dignity in his Family notwithstanding all their attempts against it in an unfading glory PSALM CXXXIII A Song of degrees of David see CXX ARGUMENT When there was no other strife among all the Tribes of Israel then who should be most forward in returning to their allegiance and the Children of Judah also were inclined as one man to bring back David to his Kingdom from which his Son Absalom had driven him 2 Sam. XIX 9 14. he fell into a rapturous admiration of that happy unity and concord which he commended to them afterwards in this Psalm as their best preservative and security in future ages This seems to me more probable to be the occasion of it then the concurrence of all the Tribes to make him King after Saul's death which is the common account that is given of it for then Sion was not in his possession and it is not likely he would then have made such mention of it as he doth here while it remained in the hands of the Jebusites But whatsoever was the first occasion it was aptly applied to their condition after the return of their Captivity from Babylon when as Theodoret notes the Tribes which had been divided by the imprudence of Rehoboam were then again united living under one and the same Government and worshipping God in the same place and the same manner as the Law prescribed It was as fitly used by the first Christians to express their joy for the blessed union of Jews and Gentiles and may now serve the uses of all Christian Societies whose happiness lies in holy peace and concord 1. BEhold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity 1. O Consider how beneficial and delightfull it is beyond all expression for those that come from the same stock and are of the same Religion to have no differences one with another but to live together in such a friendly agreement as if they had but one Soul among them all 2. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aarons beard that went down to the skirts of his garments 2. I cannot resemble it to any thing better then to that excellent ointment compounded of several spices XXX Exod. 21 c. which consecrated the high Priest to the Divine Service VIII Levit. 12. and was poured in such plenty that running over all his face even to the collar of his garment where he did bear the names of all the Tribes of Israel it perfumed all the place with its fragrant odour for just so doth this holy concord make you both dear to God and procure you an excellent fame among men who cannot but be pleased to