Exposition of the Whole Bible

fliged, and muft live to the age of two hund and ten; which is the common notion of the Fea, writers *: however, he muft be fifty or fixty years of age at that time, fince his former children were grown up and were for themfelves; and itis faid *, his afflictions continued feven years. So that it is not at all improbable, that he lived to be about two hundred years of age; and which was fingular blefling of God to him, if you compare his ag with that of Facob, Fofeph, Mofes and Fofoua, between the two former and the two latter he may: be fuppoféd to live. And faw his fons, and bis fons fons, even four generations; Fofeph faw-but the third, Fob the fourth, he was a great-great-grandfather. This was no doubt a pleafant fight to him,’ to fee fuch a numerous offspring defcending from’ him; and efpecially if they were walking in the ways’ of God, as probably they were, fince no doubt he would take all the care of their education that in him lay. This is the great blefling promifed to the Me fiah, the antitype of 702, J/a lui.to. feealfol a.lix.21.

¥.17. So Fob died, &c.} As every man does, though he lived fo long, and as Metbujélab the oldeft man did; and though a good man, the beft of men die as well as others: /o Fob died, as a good man, in the Lord, in faith and hope of eter~ nal life and happinefs; and fo he died in all his outward profperity and happinefs, having great fubftance and a numerous offspring. © Being old; as he might be truly called, being two hundred years of age-or thereabout: and full of days; lived out all his days, the full term of life in common, and longer than it was ufual for men to live. He had a long life to fatisfaction, as is promifed, P al.

xci. 16. He lived as long as he defired to live, was quite fatisfied with living; not that he lothed life, as he once did, and in that fenfe he-did, and from fuch principles and with fuch views as he then had, chap. vii. 15, 16. But he had enough of life, and was willing to die; and came to his grave, as Hiiphaz faid, like a shock of corn in his feafon, chap.

v.26, Adrichomius’, from certain travellers, peaks of the fepulchre of ob, in the form of a pyramid, in the plains of the land of Uz, to the eaft of the city Sueta, fhewn to this day, and had in great honour by Greeks and others; and which is more probable than what fome fay ‘, that his grave is in Conftantinople, where there is a gate called Fol’s’ gate, from thence: but the 7od there buried, was a general of the Saracens, who died befieging that city with a numerous army, and was there buried, A.D. 675%, There is a fragment at the end of the Septuagint and Arabic verfions of this book, faid to be tranflated from a Syriac copy, which gives a’ very particular account of ‘70b’s defcent; as, that’ “* he dwelt in the land of 4ufitis, on the borders of “* Idumea and Arabia; that his name was firft Fo- ‘¢ bab; that he married an Arabian woman, and ‘* begot a fon, whofe name was Exnon; that his fa- “‘ ther was Zare, a fon of the fons of E/au; that ‘‘ his mother was Boforra (or Bofra) and that he ‘¢ was the fifth from Abrabam. And thefe are the *« kings that reigned in Edom, which country he ** reioned over; the firft was Balac, the fon of Beor, «* the name of whofe city was Denwaba; after Balac, <* Fobab called Fob; after him dfom, who was go- ‘© vernor in the country of Zéeman; after him Adad, «¢ the-fon of Barad, who cut off Midian in the aS “< of Moab, the name of whofe city was Gethaim, * «¢ The friends that came to him (7ob) were Elipbaz, <¢ of the fons of Efau, the king of the Themanites; * <¢ Baldad, king of the Saucheans; and Sopbar, ki Per “ the Mineans.’? The fubftance of this is confirmed. by Arifteus, Philo and Polyhiftor *, ancient hiftor ans, @ Suidas in voce Iw6. © > Theatrum Terre S. p93 et ¢ Apud Eufeb. Prepar, Evangel. 1.9. ¢. 25. i eee TLE title of this book may be rendered tbe book of praifes or hymns 3 the pfalm which our Lord fung at the pafiover, is sq Called an hymn, Matt. xxvi. 30. y and the 145th pfalm is intitled monn an bymn of David; and the pfalms in general are called hymns by Pdilo the Jew *, and fongs and hymns by Fofephus?; and to thefe feveral names of this book, the apoftle manifeftly refers in Ephef, v. 19. Col, ili, 16. The Jews divided the writings of the Old Teftament into three parts: the firft divifion is the Law, or five books of Mofes; the fecond is the Prophets, former and latter; and the third, the hagiographa, or holy writings; to which divifion Chrift has a regard in Luke xxiv, 44. and becaufe the book of Pialms ftands firft in the laft divifion, the whole goes by its name. This book by the apoftle Peter is intitled as here, és i. 20. the title in the Syriac verfion is, ** the Book of the Pfalms of David, ¢¢ king and prophet,’ with which agrees the 4rabic verfion. As to the divine authority of it, that it was written by infpiration of God, we have not not only the teftimony of David, who fays, the Spirit of God foake by me, 2 Sam. xxiii. 2, but the teftimonies of Chrift and. his apoftles, Ma t. xxii.

43. Adsi. 16. andiv. 24, 25. and, as dben Ezra ‘ obferves, the whole of it was fpoken wa}prR nN3 by the holy Ghoff. Concerning the penman or amanuenfis, employed by the Spirit of God in writing it, there are different opinions, The Jews make mention of ten, which are differently reckoned by them. According to archi *, they were Adam, Melchizedek, Abrabam, Mofes, David, Solomon, Afapb, and the three fons of Korab, According to Kimchi *, they were Adam, the firft, Melchizedek, Abraham, Afaph, Heman, Feduthun, Mofes, and the three fons of Korab; Afir, Elkagab and Abiafaph, Some afcribe all the pfalms to

David ‘, and think that thofe which are faid to be a plalm of A/aph, or of Heman, &c. fhould be rendered, @ pfalm to Afaph, &c, and only fignify that they were pfalms delivered to them, to be fung ina public manner. But the trueft opinion feems to be, that the greater part of them were written by David, and for the moft part thofe that have no title; and the reft by thofe whofe names they bear. Some were written at and after the Babylonifh captivity, as P/alm cxxvi. and cxxxvii. The manner or form in which they were written. was metre ®, though fome deny it, that the Jews had metre; as appears by the different accentuation of them from other writings, and from their being fung vocally and on mufical inftruments. e/ephus*, the Jewith hiftorjan, fays, that ** David ‘¢ being free from war, and enjoying a profound *¢ peace, compofed fongs and hymns to God, of “< various metre; fome trimetre, and fome penta- «¢ metre; z.¢. fome of three feet, and others of five feet: for the Pfalms of David are thought to be of the dyric kind; and Gomarus in his Lyra hag given many inftances out of them, which are of the iambic, trocbaic kind, €c. tho’ the Jews for many years have loft the knowledge of the facred poetry. R. Benjamin’ indeed fays, that in his time there were at Bagdad, R. Eleazar and his brethren, who knew how to fing the fongs, as the fingers did when the temple was ftanding, The fubject-matter of this book is exceeding great and excellent: many of the pfalms refpeét the perfon, offices and grace of Chrift; his fufferings and death, refurrection, afcenfion and feffion at the right hand of God; and fo are exceeding fuitable to the Gofpeldifpenfation. The whole book is a rich mine of * grace and evangelical truths, and a large fund of fpiritual experience’ and is abundantly fuited to every cafe, ftate and condition, that the church of Chrift, or particular believers, are in at any time,

reafonably be thought to be a pfalm of Daid; fince the next pfalm, which is alfo without a are joined together as one pfalm by the Jews *; fee the note on 4/s xiii. 33. and fince this is the ge-

T: IS pfalm, though without a title, may | title, is afcribed to him, 4fsiv. 25, and Ainee both neral preface to the whole book, which is chiefly of David's penning: it is intitled, in the metaphrafe of Apollinarius, «a fong of David, the prophet «« and king.”

y.1. Bleffed is the man, 8c.) This pfalm begins in like manner as Chrift’s fermon on the mount, Matt.v.2. fetting forth the praifes, and expreffing the happinefs of the man who is defcribed in this and the following verfe. The words may be rendered, O, the bleffedneffes of the man, ox of this man; he is doubly blefled, a thrice happy and bleffed man; blefféd in things temporal and {piritual; happy in this world, and in that tocome. He is to be praifed and commended as a good man, fo the Targuin, “* the goodnefs, or O, the goodnefs << of the man;” or as others, ‘* O, the right goings «or happy progrefs, or profperous fuccefs of the « man™,” who anfwers to the following characters; which right walking of his is next obferved, and his profperity in ¥. 3. Some have interpreted this pfalm of Chrift, and think it is properly {poken of him". That walketh not in the counfel of the ungodly: all men are by nature and practice ungodly, without God, without the true knowledge, fear, and worfhip of God, and are at enmity againft him. It is a character that belongs to God’s elect as well others, whilft in a ftate of nature; and is fometimes ufed to illuftrate the love of Chrift in dying for them, and the grace of God in the juftification of them, Rom. iv. 5. andv. 6. But here it defcribes not fuch who are wicked in heart and life in common only, but the reprobate part of mankind, profligate and abandoned finners, fuch as Jude {peaks of, ¥. 4. and for whom the law is made, and againft whom it lies, 1 Zim. i. 9. The word ° here ufed fignifies fuch who are reftlefs and continually in mifchief; who are like the troubled fea, which cannot reft, ever cafting up mire and dirt: they are always difquieted themfelves, and are ever difquieting others; nor do they ceafe from being fo till they are laid in their graves. And to thefe coun/el is afcribed, which fuppoles capacity and wifdom; as, generally {peaking, fuch are wife and prudent in natural and civil things, and are wife to do evil, though to do good they have no knowledge: and counfel implies confultation and deliberation; they act deliberately in finning, they caft about in their minds, form fchemes, and contrive ways and means how to accomplifh their vicious purpofes; and fometimes they enter into a confederacy, and confult together with one confent, and their counfel is generally againft the Lord, though it does not profper and prevail; and againft his Chrift, his people, truths and ordinances: it takes in both their principles and practices; and the fum of their counfel is to indulge themfelves in fin, to throw off all religion, and to caft off the fear and worfhip of God, Fob xxi. 14, 15. Now not to walk herein, is not to hearken to their counfel, to give into it, agree with it, purfue it, and act according to it; and happy is the man, who, tho’ he may fall in the way of it, and may have bad counfel given him by ungodly men, yet does not confent to it, take it and a¢t upon it. - This may be applied to the times of the Meffiah, and the men of the age in which he lived; and the rather, fince the next pfalm, in which mention is made of the counfel of the ungodly, manifettly be- longs unto them. The men of that generation were a fet of ungodly men, who confulted againft Chrift to take away his life; and blefied is the man, as Fofeph of Arimathea, who, though he was in that affembly which confpired againft the life of Chrift, did not walk in, nor confent unto their counfel and their deeds, Luke xxiii. 51. Nor flandeth in the way of finners all men are finners thro” Adam’s difobedience, and their own actual tranfgreffions, and fuch were the elect of God when Chrift died for them; and indeed are fo after converfion, for no man lives without fin. But here it intends notorious finners, who are open, bold and daring in iniquity: the word ” fignifies fuch, who in fhooting mifs the mark, and go afide from it, as fuch finners do from the law of God; proceed from evil to evil, choofe their own ways, and delight in their abominations. Now their way is not only their opinion, as the Syriac verfion renders it, their corrupt fentiments, but their finful courfe of life; which is.a way of darknefs, a crooked path, and a road that leads to deftruétion and death: and happy is the man that does mot /tand in this way, which denotes opennefs, impudence, and continuance; who, tho’ he may fall into this way, does not abide in it; fee Rom. vi. 1,2. The pharifees in the time of Chrift, tho? they were not openly and outwardly finners, yet they were fecretly and inwardly fuch; and the way they ftood in, was that of juftification by the works of the law: but happy is the man, as the apoftle Paul and others, who ftands not in that way, but in the way Chrift Jefus, and in the way of life and righteoufnefs by him. Nor fiteth in the. feat of the fcornful: by whom may be meant proud and haughty perfons, in oppofition to the humble and lowly, as in Prov. iii. 34. fuch who are proud of their natural abilities, knowledge and wifdom, of their honours and riches, or of their own righteoufnefs, and defpife others; or fuch who are defperate in wickednefs, of whom there is no hope; fee Prov, ix. 7, 8. and deifts and atheifts, who fcoff at divine revelation, and mock at a future ftate, at death, hell and judgment, as in J/a. xxviii. 14, 15. 2 Peter iii. 3. Now happy is the man that does not fit or keep company with fuch perfons 5 who comes not into their fecret and into their affembly; does not affociate himfelf with them, nor approve of their difpofitions, words, principles and actions; fee P/alm xxvi. 4, 5. Such were the cribes and pharifees in Chrift’s time; they derided him and his doétrines, fcoffed at him when he hung upon the crofs, and defpifed him and his apoftles, and his gofpel; but there were fome that did not join with them, to whom he, his minifters and truths, were precious and in high efteem, and to whom he was the power and wifdom of God.

y.2. But bis delight is in the law of the Lord, &c.] Not the law of nature, which was infcribed on Adam’s heart in innocence, but now greatly impaired by fin, and become very imperfeét and very infufficient to make men happy, or to lead them to true felicity: nor the law of Mofes, which is a fiery law, and works wrath, accufes of fin, pronounces guilty, curfes and condemns to death; and therefore cannot be delighted in by a fenfible finner, unlefs as it is in the hands of Chrift, and as fulfilled by him, who is the end of it; and as itis” — written on the heart of a regenerate man, who, fo far

™ Recti inceflus, felices progreffus, ac Romualdus apud Mabillon, Itinerar..

far as it is, delights in it after the inward man, and ferves it with his {pirit: but rather the fcriptures, as much and as ‘many: parts of them as were written in David’s time; particularly the five books of Mofes, which are called the Law, and the teftimony of the Lord; which being infpired by God, were profitable and delightful to read, and to hear explained; and as they were David’s delight, and the men of his council, P/a/. cxix. 24. fo they were the delight of every good man, there being many things in them concerning the Meffiah, his grace and kingdom; fee Luke xxiv. 44. Aé#s XXVi. 22, 23. Moreover the word 7711: here ufed, fignifies doGfrine, and may intend the evangelic doctrine, as it does in P/fal. xix. 7. which is a pfalm concerning the doétrine of the apoftles that went into all the world; and in like fenfe is the word ufed in J/a, ii. 3. and xlii. 4. of the doctrine of the Meffiah, that is, the Gofpel; and is the fame with the Law, or doétrine of faith, in Rom. iii. 27. And this may be called the doétrine of the Lord, becaufe he is the author of it; it came by him, he revealed it; and becaufe he is the fubject of it; it is concerning him, his perfon, office, grace and righteoufneds; and fo far as it was publithed in the times of David, it was a joyful found, good news and glad tidings, and the delight of good men. And in bis law doth be meditate day and night; as Fofoua was directed to do, and David did, 7o/b. i. 8. Pfal’ cxix. 97. This is to be underftood of a diligent reading, and ferious confideration of it; and of the employment of the thoughts, and of deep ftudy upon it, in order to find out the fenfe and meaning of it; and which is to be done conftantly, every day, as often as there is leifure and opportunity for it; or, as Kimchi on the place obferves, whenever a man is free from the bufinefs of life; unlefs this fhould be taken figuratively, of the day of profperity and night of adverfity, whether in things temporal or fpiritual, which are each of them proper feafons to meditate in, upon the word of God and gofpel of Chrift. x: 3. And he fhall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,-&c.] Or, for then Shall he be, &c. as Alfhech renders the words; and the Hebrew particle vau is often ufed for then, As the preceding verfes defcribe the man who is blefied, this points at his bleffednefs, and fhews and proves him to be an happy man; for he is comparable to a tree; not toa dry tree, or a tree without fruit, or whofe fruit is withered; but to a fruitful tree, a green and flourifhing one; to a green olivetree, or a palm-tree, or a cedar in Lebanon; to which David compares himfelf and the righteous, Pfal. Vii. 8. and xcii. 12. and here fuch an one is compared to.a tree planted; not to one that grows of itfelf, a wild tree,-a tree of the wood; but to one that is removed from its native place and foil, and planted elfewhere; and fo defigns fuch who are broken off of the wild olive-tree, and are grafted into the good olive-tree; who are planted in Chrift Jefus, and in the church, the houfe of the Lord; of which tranfplantation, the removal of Jfrael into Canaan’s land was an emblem, P/al. Ixxx. 8. and fuch a fpiritual plantation is of God the hufbandman; whofe planting the faints are efficiently, J/ai. lx. 21. and Ixi. 3. Matt. xv. 13. And it is owing to the word, the engrafted word, which is the means of this engrafture, and to the minifters of itinftrumentally; fome of whom plant, and others water, 1 Cor, iii. 6,7. Moreover, the happy man before defcribed is like a tree that is fituated by the rivers of water, or divifions* and tivulets of water; which running about the plants, make them very fruitful and flourifhing; fee Ezek. Xxxi.4. and which may intend the river of the love of God, and the ftreams of it, the difcoveries and applications of it to regenerate perfons; and alfo the fulnefs of grace in Chrift, who is the fountain of gardens, the well of living waters and ftreams from Lebanon, to revive, refreth, fupply and comfort his people; as well as the graces of the Spirit of God, which are near the faints, and like rivers of water flow out of them that believe in Chrift 5 to which may be added the word and ordinances of the gofpel, which are the {till waters, to which they are invited and led, and by which, and with which they are greatly refrefhed, and made fruitful. Arama interprets it of the waters of the law; it is beft to underftand it of the gofpel; fee J ai.

lv. 1. it follows, shat bringeth forth his fruit in bis feafon, and fo appears to be a tree of righteoufnefs, filled with the fruits of righteoufnefs, the graces of the Spirit, and good works; which are brought forth by him under the influence of grace, as he has opportunity, and according to the meafure of grace beftowed. His leaf alfo fhall not wither; neither tree, nor fruit, nor leaf fhall wither, but fhall be always green; which is expreffive of the faints perfeverance: the reafons of which are, they are engrafted in Chrift the true vine, and abide in him, from whom they have their fap, nourifhment and fruit; they are rooted and built up in him, and eftablifhed in the faith of him; and fo they hold faft the profeffion of it without wavering. And whatfoever he doth fhall profper 3 meaning not fo much in things temporal, of which Arama interprets it, for in thefe the good man does not always fucceed, but in things fpiritual: whatever he does in faith, from love, to the glory of God, and in the name of Chrift, profpers; yea, thofe things in which he is concerned, that are adverfe, and feem for the prefent to be againft him, in the iffue work for good to him: in fhort, fuch a man is bleffed with grace here, and glory hereafter; and therefore muft needs be an happy man.

¥. 4. The ungodly are not fo, &c,] They are not as the good man is; their manner and courfe of life are different; they walk in the counfel of ungodly men, like themfelves, and take counfel againft the Lord, his anointed, and his people: they ftand in the way of finners, and fteer their converfation according to the courfe of the world, and fit in the feat of the fcornful; laugh at divine revelation, lampoon the fcriptures, deride good men, make a jeft of religion and a future ftate: they have no delight in the law of the Lord, they caft it away from them, and defpife it; and are fo far from a conftant meditation on it, that they never read it, nor fo much as look into it, nor is it ever in their thoughts. They are not like to a tree, as defcribed in the preceding verfe: if they are like to trees, it is to dry trees, and not green ones, to trees without any fap, moifture and verdure, and which are only fit fuel for the fire; to the trees of the wood, to wild olive-trees; to trees on an heath, in a defert, in parched land, and not to trees by rivers of water, but to trees that have no root, and are without fruit, Zudey. 12, And though they may be in a feeming profperous condition for a time, may be in great power, riches and honour, and fpread themfelves like a green bay-tree; yét fuddenly they aré cut down as the grafs, and wither as the green herb; and even their outward profperity deftroys them; fo that not any thing they have or do in the iffue profpers: and therefore they are not bleffed or happy as the good man is; yea, they are wretched and miferable, nay curfed; they are curfed now, and will be hereafter: they are curfed in their bafket and ftore, their bleffings are curfes to them; the law pronounces them curfed; and they will hear, Go, ye curfed, at the day of judgment..The Vulgate Latin, Septuagint and Arabic verfions, repeat the words not fo, and read not fo the ungodly, not fo; which feems to be done for the confirmation of the truth of it; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away: they are like chaff, which has no root, moifture,greennefs, nor fruitfulnefs; they have nothing in them folid and fubftantial, they are deftitute of all that is good; are vain and empty; without the knowledge of God and Chrift 5 without faith in Chrift and love to him; and are fenfual, not having the Spirit, his graces and fruits: they are like chaff for lightnefs, vain in their imaginations, light in their principles, frothy in their words, and unftable in all their ways: they are never long in any pofition, unfettled, difquieted, and toffed to and fto; and there is no peace unto them: they are like chaff, ufelefs and unprofitable, nothing worth, fit only for everlafting burnings, which will be their cafe. For when Chrift will gather his wheat, the righteous, which are of value, into his garner, the heavenly glory, he will burn the chaff, the wicked, with unquenchable fire. They are now like chaff, driven and carried about with every wind of doctrine, with divers and ftrange doctrines, and entertain every light and airy notion; and are eafily drawn afide and carried away by the force of their own lufts, and with every temptation of Satan, who works effectually in them: and particularly, they are like chaff before the wind of terrible judgments and calamities in this life, and of the awful judgment hereafter; when they will be driven away from the prefence of the Lord into everlafting deftruétion. The metaphor is often ufed in this fenfe; fee Fob xxi. 17. Jfai. XVii. 13, 14. and xxix. 3. Hof. xiii. 3. and denotes the fecret, fudden, fure and eafy ruin of the ungodly, which comes upon them like a whirlwind, in an inftant, which they cannot avoid; and they can no more ftand before God and againft him, than chaff before the wind. It follows, ¥.5. Lherefore the ungodly fhall not ftand in the judgment, &c.] Neither in temporal judgment, when God comes forth in a way of wrath and fore difpleafure; for who can ftand before him when he is angry? what are chaffand ftubble, thorns and briers, to confuming fire? nor in the laft and great day of judement, fo the Targum, and Kimchi interpret the words; for that day will burn like an oven the wicked, who will be as ftubble, and leave neither root nor branch: when the great day of the Lamb’s wrath is come, who will be able to ftand? there will be no ftanding for the wicked when-he appears; they will all ftand before the judoment-feat of Chrift, to take their trial and hear their fentence; but they fhall not ftand in the fame place with the righteous, not at Chrift’s right hand, but at his left; they fhall not ftand with an holy confidence, with intrepidity, and without fhame, as the blefied man will, they will not ftand, but fall in judgment; they will not be acquitted and difcharged, but be condemned to everlafting punifhment; and this fenfe the Targum on the place exprefles, The

PLi. ¥.5,6. ungodly Jhall not be juftified in the great day; the Vulgate Latin and Septuagint verfions render the words, The ungodly /hall not rife again in judgment 5 from whence fome have concluded there will be no refurrection of the wicked: which feems to be the fenfe of Kimchi and other Jewifh writers; who af= fert that the fouls of the wicked perifh with their bodies at death, and that the latter rife not, contrary to Ecclef. xii. 7. Dan. xii. 2. but that the wicked will rife may be concluded from the juftice of God, which requires that the bodies which have finned fhould be punifhed; and from the general judgment of good and bad, and from the account of the punifhment of hell, which will be inflited on the body as well as on the foul: befides, the contrary doctrine is a licentious one, and is calculated to harden wicked men in their fins, and is directly repugnant to the affertions of Chrift, and the apoftle Paul, John v. 28, 29. Acts xxiv. 16. nor has it any foundation in this text, even admitting fuch a verfion; which does not abfolutely affirm that the wicked fhall not rife again, but that they fhall not rife again in judgment, in the firft refurrection, the refurrection of the juft, and fo as to be acquitted and difcharged, but they fhall rife to the refurrection of damnation. Nor j/inners in ihe congregation of the righteous; who are made righteous by the righteoufnefs of Chrift imputed

/to them, and have a work of grace and holinefs - wrought in them; and who under the influence of grace live foberly, righteoufly, and godly; thefe. are the fame with the bleffled man, ¥. 1. and who ~ at the day of judgment will be perfectly holy, and free from all- fin; and they will be all gathered together by the holy angels; the dead faints will be raifed, the living ones will be changed, and both - will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and will make up one general affembly and church of the firft-born; and among thefe, and in this affembly, there will not be a fingle finner 5 there are now finners in Zion, foolifh virgins with the wife, chaff and tares among Chrift’s wheat, and wolves and goats among his fheep; but then there will be an eternal feparation, and no mixing together any more.

¥. 6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, &cc.] “Fhe way in which he walks by faith, which is in Jefus Chrift; the way in which he goes to the Father, and carries to him his facrifices of prayer and praife, which meet with acceptance through him; the way in which he feeks for and expects juftification, pardon, and falvation, namely, through the blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice of Chrift: and alfo it may denote his courfe, his _ walk and converfation; for the righteous man is a follower of God, he takes up the crofs and copies after Chrift; he walks not after the flefh but after the Spirit, according to the rule of the word, and as becomes the gofpel of Chrift: and this way of his in every fenfe the Lord knows; not merely as he is omnifcient, for by his omnifcience ‘his eyes are upon the ways of all men; he knows the way of the wicked as well as the way of the righteous; but the fenfe is, that the Lord approves of and is” well pleafed with his way of faith and holinefs; he knows his perfon, fo as to love him and take delight and pleafure in him; his countenance beholds — him with a fmile; he is well pleafed with him in Chrift and for his fake, on whofe account he has refpect to him and to his offerings, to his fervice and duty, to his ways and works; and hence he is a bleffed man, is in a happy fituation, and all he does profpers, for he and his ways pleafe the et

Pil. Ys and hence alfo it is, that neither he nor his way fhall perifh; the way he is in leads to everlafting life, and he being a follower of the Lord in a way pleafing to him, he fhall never perifh, but have eternal life. But the way of the ungodly hall perifh; for his way is a wicked way, the way of finners, y, 1. it leads to deftruétion and death, and all that walk in it fhall perifh; for it is a way the Lord knows not, does not approve of, he abhors it; wherefore the man that continues in it will be unhappy, wretched and miferable to all eternity. Thefe laft words therefore fhew the reafon of the happinefs of one fort of men, and the unhappinefs of the other; and prove and confirm the fame: the Lord knows, approves of, loves and delights in the one; he does not approve of and delight in the other,

HIS pfalm is the fecond in order, and fo it is called in és xiii. 33. which fhews that the book of pfalms was in the fame form in the apoftles days as now, and as it ever had been; and tho’ it is without a title, yet certain it is, that it is a pfalm of David, fince the twelve apoftles of Chrift with one voice afcribe it to him, in which no doubt they fpoke the generally received fenfe of the Jewifh nation, 4s iv. 24,25, and the Meffiah is the fubject of it; and that it is a prophecy concerning him, his perfon, office and kingdom, appears from the exprefs mention of the Lord’s anointed, or Meffiah, in it; from his being fet as king over Zion, notwithftanding the oppofition made againft him; from the perfon fpoken of being called the Son of God, and that in fuch fenfe as angels and men are not, and therefore cannot belong to any creature; and from his having fo large an inheritance, and fuch power over the heathen; and from the reverence, fervice, and obedience due to him from the kings and judges of the earth; and from the truft and confidence which is to be put in him, which ought not to be placed but in a divine perfon; and more efpecially this appears from feveral paffages cited out of it in the New Teftament and applied to the Meffiah, 4é#s iv. 25, 26, 27. and xiii. 33. Heb. i. 5. and v. 5, to which may be added, that the ancient Jewifh doctors interpreted this pfalm of the Meffiah*; and fome of the modern ones own that it may be underftood either of David or of the Meffiah, and that fome things are clearer of the Meffiah than of David‘; and fome particular paffages in it are applied to him both by ancient and later writers among the Jews, as y. 1, 2. Why do the heathen rage, &c," y.6. I have fet, &c.” y¥. 7. [ will declare the decree, &c.*. and y. 8. Afk of me, &c.” and we may very fafely interpret the whole of him,.

yr. 1. Why do the heathen rage, &c.] Or the nations; which fome underftand of the Jews, who are fo called, Gen. xvii. 5. Ezek, ii. 2. becaufe of their feveral tribes; and of their rage againft the Meffiah, there have been many inftances; as when they gnafhed upon him with their teeth, and at feveral times took up ftones to {tone him, and cried out in a moft furious and wrathful manner, Crucify him, crucify bim, Luke iv. 28, 29. John viii. 59. and x. 31. and xix. 6,15. though it is beft to interpret it of the Gentiles, as the apoftles feem to do in Af#i iv. 27. The Hebrew word tranf{- lated rage is by one Jewifh writer * explained by WIN affociate or meet together; and which is often the fenfe of the word in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, in which it is more ufed; and another * fays, that it is expreffive of gathering together, and of a multitude; it intends a tumultuous gathering together, as is that of a mob, with great confufion and noife>; and fo the Gentiles, the Reman {oldiers, gathered together, even multitudes of them, and came out with Fudas at the head of them, with {words and ftaves to apprehend Chrift and bring him to the chief priefts and elders; thefe afflembled together in Pi/ate’s hall, when Chrift was condemned to be crucified, and infulted him in a moft rude and fhocking manner; and many are the in- {tances of the Gentiles rifing in mobs, and appearing in riotous affemblies, making tumults and uproars againft the apoftles to oppofe them, and the fpread of the gofpel by them; to which they were fometimes inftigated by the unbelieving Jews, and fometimes by their own worldly intereft; fee ds xili, 50. and xiv. 5, 19. and xvii. 5, 6. and xix. 23—32. to which may be added, as inftances of this tumult and rage, the violent perfecutions both of the Pagan emperors and of the Papifts, which laft are called Gentiles as well as the other; for this refpects the kingdom of Chrift, or the gofpeldifpenfation, from the beginning to the end. nd the people imagine a vain thing? by the people are meant the people of J/rae/,, who were once God’s peculiar people, and who were diftinguifhed by him with peculiar favours above all others, and in whom this prophecy has been remarkably fulfilled; they imagined and meditated a vain thing when they thought the Meffiah would be a temporal king, and fet up a kingdom on earth in great worldly {fplendor and glory, and rejected Jefus, the true Meffiah, becaufe he did not anfwer to thefe their carnal imaginations; they meditated a vain thing, when they fought to take away the good name and reputation of Chrift, by fixing opprobrious names and injurious charges upon him, for wifdom has been juftified of her children; and fo they did when they meditated his death, with thofe vain hopes that he fhould die and his name perifh, and fhould lie down in the grave and never rife more, Palm xli. 5, 6, 8. for he not only rofe from the dead, but his name was more famous after his death than before; they imagined a vain thing when they took fo much precaution to prevent the difciples ftealing his body out of the fepulchre, and giving out that he was rifen from the dead, and more efpe-~ cially when he was rifen, to hire the foldiers to tell a lie in order to ftifle and difcredit the report of ir; they meditated vain things when they attempted to oppofe the apoftles and hinder the preaching of the gofpel by them, which they often did, as the 42s of the Apostles teftify; and it was after one of thefe attempts that the apoftles, in their addrefs to God,

2 Aben Ezra in loc. congregrant fe turmatim, Vatablus; cum tumultu, Muntter, Tigurine verfion, made ufe of this very paflage of fcripture, 4és iv. 25 31 175 185 245 25. and they {till meditate a vain thine in that they imagine Jefus of Nazareth is not the Meffiah, and that the Meffiah is not yet come, and in that they are expecting and looking for him. Now the pfalmift, or the holy Ghoft by him, afks wy all this? what fhould move the Gentiles and the Jews to fo much rage, tumult, and oppofition againft an holy and innocent perfon, and who-went about doing good as he did? what end they could have in it, or ferve by it? and how they.could expect to fucceed? what would all their rage and riot, and vain imagination fignify? it is ftrongly fuggetted hereby, that it would all be in vain and to no purpofe, as well as what follows.

y.2. The kings of the earth fet themfelves, &c. ] Rofe and ftood up in great wrath and fury, and prefented themfelves in an hoftile manner, and oppofed the Meffiah: as Herod the great, king of “fudea, who very early beftirred himfelf, and fought to take away the life of Jefus in his infancy; and Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, who is called a king, Mark vi.14. who with his men of war mocked him, and fet him at nought; and Pontius Pi- Jate, the governor of Yudea, who reprefented the Roman emperor, and condemned him to death; and all the kings of the earth ever fince, who ever perfecuted Chrift in his members, and have fet themfelves with all their might to hinder the pread of his gofpel and the enlargement of his intereft. And the rulers take counfel together, as did the Fewifh Sanbedrim, the great court of judicature among the Fews, the members of which were the rulers of the people, who frequently met together and confulted to take away the life of Chrift: tho’ it may alfo include all other governors and magi- {trates who have entred into fchemes againjt the Lord, and againft bis Anointed, or MeMiah, Chrift: by the Lord, or Febovab, which is the great, the glorious, and incommunicable name of God, and is expreffive of his eternal being and felf-exiftence, and of his being the fountain of effence to all creatures, is meant God the Father; fince he is diftinguifhed from his Son, the Meffiah, his anoint- éd One, as Meffiah and Chrift fignify; and who is fo called, becaufe he is anointed by God with the holy Ghoft,. without meafure, to the office of the Mediator, Prophet, Prieft, and King; from whom the faints receive the anointing, which teacheth all things, and every grace of the Spirit in meafure; and who, after his name, are called Christians. ‘This name of the promifed Redeemer was well known among the Fews, Johni. 41. and iv.25. and which they took from this paflage, and from fome others.

¥. 3. Let us break their bands afunder, &c.] Thefe are not the words of the apoftles, nor of the faints in gofpel-times, encouraging one another, notwithftanding the rage and oppofition of Fews and Gentiles againft their Mafter and his intereft, to break afunder the bands of wickednefs, the idolatrous cuftoms and practices of the heathens, and to throw off the infupportable yoke of bondage, of Fewi/h traditions and ceremonies; but- of the heathen, the people, and kings of the earth, and rulers, who with one voice fay this and what follows, and caft away their cords from us; with re- Tation to the Lord and his Anointed, whofe laws, ordinances and truths, they call bands and cords; fo Arama interprets them of the law, and the commandments; or a yoke, as the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions render the laft word; and the phrafes in general exprefs their irreverence of God and the Meffiah, their rejection of Chrift and his religion; their non-fubjection to him, and their refufal to have him to rule over them; and their difefteem and contempt of his gofpel, and of the ordinances of it, and of the laws and rules of his government in his churches: and alfo they fhew the wrong notion that carnal. men have of thefe things; that‘ whereas Chrift’s yoke is eafy, and his burden light; his gofpel and the truths of it make men free from the flavery of _ fin and Satan, and from a fpirit of bondage; and true gofpel-liberty confifts in an obfervance of his commands and ordinances; yet they look upon thefe things as bands and cords, as fetters and fhackles, * as fo many reftraints upon their liberty, which are. not to be bore: when, on the other hand, they promife themfelves liberty in a difengagement from them, and in the enjoyment of their own lufts and finful pleafures; whereas thereby they are brought into bondage, and become the fervants of corruption. Some render it caft away—. from him‘; either from Chrift, or every one from himfelf. ¥.4. He that fitteth in the heavens foall laugh, &c.] At the rage and tnmult of the heathen; at the vain imaginations of the people; at the oppofition of the kings of the earth; at the mad counfel of the rulers, againft him and his Meffiah; and at’ their propofal to one another to throw off the yoke and governmentof them both. This is a periphrafis of God, who dwells in the heavens, and fits there __

-. 7 enthroned; though he is not included and com-_ prehended in them, but is every where; and his’ being there is mentioned in oppofition to the kings of the earth, and the people in it; and to fhew the vatt diftance there is between them, and how they” are as nothing to him, J/ai. xl. 15, 17, 22. Fob iv.18. and how vain and fruitlefs their attempts mutt be againft him and his Meffiah: and his fitting there {till and quiet, ferene and undifturbed, is oppofed to the running to and fro, and the tumultuous and riotous aflembling of the heathen. Laughing is afcribed unto him, according to the language of men, as the Jewifh writers fpeak *, by an anthropopathy; in the fame fenfe as he is faid to repent and grieve, Gen. vi. 6. and exprefles his fecurity from all their attempts, Fob v.22. and xli. 29g. and the contempt he has’them in, and the certain punifhment of them, and the aggravation of it; who will not only then laugh at them himfelf, but expofe them to the laughter and fcorn of others, Prov. i. 26. The Lord hall have them in derifion; which is a repetition of the fame thing in other words; and is made. partly to fhew the certainty of their difappointment and ruin, and partly to explain who is meant by him that fits in the heavens, The Targum calls him, The Word of the Lord; and Alfbech interprets it of the Shekinab, — ¥.5. Then fhall be [peak unto them in bis wrath, &c.] Or, and be fhall {peak to them; fo Noldius: that is, the Lord that fits in the heavens, and laughs, and has the heathen, the people, the kings and rulers in derifion; fhall not only filently defpife their furious and concerted oppofition to him and his Meffiah, but fhall at laft fpeak out unto them, not in his word, but in his providences; and not in love, as to his own people, when he chaftifes them, but in great wrath, inflicting — fevere and. juft punifhmerit. It feems to refer to the deftruétion of Ferufalem, after the crucifixion, fufferings, death, refurreétion, and afcenfion of

Chnift; and after the pouring out of the Spirit, | king, nor was he made fo by men; but he was fet up, or anointed by God the father, as the word ® here ufed fignifies; and may refer either to the inauguration of Chrift into his kingly.office, and his inveftiture with it from all eternity, as in Prov. viil. 23. where the fame word is ufed as here; and anointing with oi] being a ceremony performed at the inftallment of kings into their office, the phrafe is ufed for the thing itfelf: or rather, fince Chrift was anointed with the holy Ghoft in the human nature, at his incarnation and baptifm, and efpecially at the time of his afcenfion, when he was made or declared to be Lorp and CuristT3 this may refer to the time when he, as the afcended Lord and King, gave gifts to men, to his apo- {tles, and qualified them in an extraordinary manner to carry his gofpel into the Gentile world, and fpread it there, as they did with fuccefs; whereby his kingdom became more vifible and glorious, to the great vexation of the Jews; for, maugre all their oppofition, Chrift being fet by his father king over his church and people, continued fo, and his kingdom was every day more and more enlarged, to their great mortification.

y. 7. I will declare the decree, &c.|. Thefe are the words ‘of Febovah’s anointed and king, exercifing his kingly office, according to the decree and commandment of the Father: for thefe words refer not to the following, concerning the generation of the Son, which does not depend on the decree and arbitrary will of God, but is from his nature; but thefe words relate to what go before, The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Oriental verfions place this claufe at the end of the preceding verfe; fome render it, declaring bis commandment, or the commandment of the Lord, the laws'that he would have obferved, both by him and by the fubjects of his kingdom. The Syriae and Arabic verfions, that be might declare the commandment of the Lord; as if this was the end of his being appointed King. The word pn is differently rendered;, by many, the decree, the purpofe of God concern ing Chrift as mediator, and the falvation of his people by him; and who fo fit to declare this, as he who lay in the bofom of the Father, and was privy to all his fecret thoughts and defigns, and in whom the eternal purpofe was purpofed? Fobn i. 18. Epbef. iii. 11. The Chaldée paraphrafe renders it by Np the covenant, the everlafting covenant of grace; and who fo proper to declare this, as he with whom the covenant was made? and who is the covenant itfelf, in whom all the bleffings and promifes of it are, and the meffenger of it? Mal. iii. 1, It may not be unfitly applied to the gofpel, which is the fum and fubftance of both the decree and covenant of God; it is what was ordained before the world for our glory. This Chrift was apointed to preach, and did declare it in the great congregation; the fame with the counfel of God, Aéts xx. 27. The words will bear to be rendered, I will declare pM “YN to the command *; or according to the order and rule prefcribed by Febovah, without adding to it or taking from it; agreeable to which he executed his office as King, and Prophet alfo. The doctrine was not his own, but his Father’s he preached; he fpake not of himfelf, but as he taught and enjoined him; the Father gave him commandment what he fhould fay and fpeak, and when the gofpel, to their great mortification, had got ground, and made large advances in the Gentile world. And vex them in bis fore difpleafure, or in the heat of bis anger*: fee Deut, xxix. 24, where the holy Ghoft fpeaks of the fame people, and of the fame ruin and deftruction of them at the fame time, as here: and as the carrying of the Jews captive into Babylon, is called their vexation, J/ai. ix. 1. much more may their deftruction by the Romans; then it was they howled for vexation of fpirit, //ai. xv. 14. the wrath of God came upon them to the uttermoft; they were filled with trouble and confufion, with terror and confternation, as the word‘ ufed fignifies; they were vexed to fee themfelves ftraitned and pent in on every fide by the Roman armies, oppreffed with famine and inteftine divifions, rapine and murder; to fee their temple profaned and burnt, their city plundered and deftroyed,and themfelves taken and carried captive: and what moft of all vexed them was, that their attempts againft Jefus of Nazareth, the true Meffiah, were fruitlefs; and that notwithftanding all their oppofition to him, his name was famous, his intereft increafed, his kingdom was enlarged, through the fpread of his gofpel among the Gentiles; and what Febovab in the next verte fays, though it is to the comfort of his people, was to their terror and vexation.

¥.6. Yet have I fet my King upon my holy bill of Zion.\ Or, bebold, I have fet, &c. fo Noldius. By Zion is meant the church of God, efpecially under the gofpel-difpenfation; fee Hed. xii.22, Rev. xiv. 1. fo called, becaufe, as Zioz was, it is the object of God’s love and choice, the place of his habitation and refidence; where divine worfhip is obferved, and the word and ordinances of God adminiftred; and where the Lord diftributes his bleffings of grace; and which is the perfection of beauty, through Chrift’s comelinefs put upon her; and will be the joy of the whole earth: itis ftrongly fortified by the power and grace of God, and is immoveable and impregnable, being built on Chrift the rock of ages; and, like Zion, it is an high hill, eminent and vifible; and more efpecially will be fo, when the mountain of the Lord’s houfe is eftablifhed upon the tops of the mountains: and it is an holy one, through the prefence and worfhip of God in it, and the fanctification of his Spirit. And over this hill, the church, Chrift is king; he is king of faints, and is acknowledged by them; and it is for their great fafety and fecurity, their joy, comfort and happinefs, that he is fet over them: he is called by his Father, my King, becaufe he who is king of Zion is his Anointed, as in y.2. and his Son, his begotten Son, as in y.7. his firft-born, his fellow and equal; and becaufe he is his as king; not that he is king over him, for his Father is greater than he, as man and mediator, or with refpect to his office-capacity, in which he is to be confidered as king; and therefore he is rather king under him: but he is a king of his fetting up, and therefore called his; he has appointed him his kingdom, given him the throne of his father David; put a crown of pure gold on his head, and crowned him with glory and honour, and the fcepter of righteou{nefs in his hand, and has given him a name above every name. He did not make himfelf a fpeak, Fobn xii. 49. and he kept clofe to it, as he here fays he would: and he ruled in his name, and by his authority, according to the law of his office; and which might be depended upon from the dignity of his perfon, which qualified him both for his kingly and prophetic offices, expreffed in the following words: Zhe Lord hath faid unto me, Thou art my Son; not by creation, as angels and men; nor by adoption, as faints; nor by office, as civil magiftrates; nor on account of his incarnation or refurrection; nor becaufe of the great love of God unto him; but in fuch a way of filiation, as cannot be faid of any creature nor of any other, Heb.i. 5. He is the true, proper, natural and eternal Son of God, and as fuch declared, owned, and acknowledged by Febovab the Father, as in thefe words; the foundation of which relation lies in what follows: This day have I begotten thee; which act of begetting refers not to the nature, nor to the office, but the perfon of Chrift; not to his nature, not to his divine nature, which is common with the Father and Spirit; wherefore if his was begotten, theirs muft be alfo: much lefs to his human nature, in which he is never faid to be begotten, but always to be made, and with refpect to which he is without father: nor to his office as mediator, in which he is not a fon but a fervant;_ befides, he was a Son previous to his being Prophet, Prieft and King; and his office is not the foundation of his fonfhip, but his fonfhip is the foundation of his office; or by which that is fupported, and which fits him for the performance of it: but it has refpect to his perfon; for, as in human generation, perfon begets perfon, and like begets like, fo in divine generation; but care muft be taken to remove all imperfection from it, fuch as divifibility and multiplication of effence, priority and pofteriority, dependence, and the like: nor can the modus or manner of it be conceived or explained by us. The date of it, to day, defigns eternity, as in J/ai. xliti. 13. which is one continued day, an everlafting now. And this may be applied to any time and cafe in which Chrift is declared to be the Son of God; as at his incarnation, his baptifm, and transfiguration upon the mount, and his refurrection from the dead, as it is in 4/75 xiii. 33. becaufe then he was declared to be the Son of God with power, Rom.i. 4. and to his afcenfion into heaven, where he was made Lord and Chrift, and his divine Sonfhip more manifeftly appeared; which feems to be the time and cafe more efpecially referred to here, if it be compared with Hed, 1. 3, 45 5

¥.8. Ak of me, &c.| Febovab is either here again introduced fpeaking, or thefe words are a continuation of the Son’s account of what his Father faid unto him; which do not fuppofe any fu- are only expreffive of the Father’s great refpect and affeCtion for his Son, as fuch a way of {peaking among men fhews, Efther v. 3. Matt. xiv..7. and of the great intereft the Son had in his Father, who could afk nothing but he had it; and fhews the perfect harmony, agreement, and unity between » thems fee 1 Kings iii. 5. Chrift, in the council and covenant of grace and peace, afked many things of his Father, which were granted; he afked for the perfons of all the elect to be his bride and fpoufe, and his heart’s defire was given him, and the requeft of his lips was not withheld from him: he afked for all the bleflings of grace for them; for fpiritual life here, and eternal life hereafter; and all were given him, and put into his hands for them, P/a/. xx. 2, 3, 4. and here it is’ promifed him, And I feall give thee the heathen for thine inberitance, and the uttermoft parts of the earth for thy poffeffion; by the heathen, and the uttermoft parts of the earth, are meant God’s elect among the Gen-

-tiles, and who live in the diftant parts of the world;

which are Chrift’s other fheep, the Father has given to him as his portion, and whom he has made his care and charge: as if it was not enough that he fhould be King of Zion, or have the government’ over his chofen ones among the Jews, he commits into his hands the Gentiles alfo; fee J/ai. xlix. 6. and thefe are given him as his inheritance and poffeffion, as his portion, to be enjoyed by him; and’ who efteems them as fuch, and reckons them a goodly heritage, and a peculiar treafure, his jewels, and the apple of his eye. Thefe words refpect the’ calling of the Gentiles under the gofpel-difpenfation; and the amplitude of Chrift’s kingdom in all the earth, which fhall be from fea to fea, and from the’ rivers to the ends of the earth.: ¥.9. Thou foalt break them with a vod of iron, &c.] Not his inheritance and pofleffion among the Gentiles, the chofen ones given him by the Father; thefe he delights in, takes care of, protects and preferves: but the ftubborn and rebellious ones among the heathen, and in the feveral parts of the world, who will not have him to reign over them; who treat his perfon with contempt, reject his government, difobey his gofpel, and defpife his commands; towards thefé Chrift will ufe feverity, and will exert his power and break them im pieces. The Vulgate Latin, Sepluagint, Syriac, Arabic and

| Ethiopic verfions render it, /hall feed or rule them;

and {fo it is cited in Rev. ii. 27. and “xil. 5. and xix. 15. and applied to Chrift, the Word: of God, and King of kings; and muft be underftood as it is in thofe places, of the feverity of his government over them, of the ftrictnefs of his juftice, without the leaft difplay of mercy; and then the fenfe is the fame with thofe verfions which render it, hai?

break them; as the word ufed is interpreted by the Targum, and the Jewifh commentators on the place; and which is confirmed by what follows: Thou fhalt dafh them in pieces like a potter's veffel; which is very eafily done with a bar of iron; and when it is done, the pieces can never be put together again: fo that by the metaphor is fignified, the eafy and irreparable ruin of the wicked; fee Ifa. xxx. 14. Fer. xix. 11. The word fignifies that they fhould be fo crumbled into duft, that they fhould be {cattered about as with the wind; which, fo far as it relates to the Jews, was fulfilled in their deftru€tion by the Romans, and will have its accomplifhment in the antichriftian nations at the latter day; fee Rev. ii. 26, 27.. ¥.10. Be wife now therefore, O ye kings, &c.J periority in the one, or inferiority in the other; but This addrefs is made not fo much to the kings of the earth in David’s time, as to thofe who would be under the gofpel-difpenfation, and times of the Meffiah; and particularly who would rife up, and fet themfelves againft the Lord and his anointed, y. 2. and with thefe are to be underftood their fub- ~ jects: for if they are to ferve the Lord, and be fubject to Chrift, then much more thole that are under them; and they are rather fpoken to particularly, becaufe their examples have great influence on thofe over whom they rule, whether for —— good or evil. Thefe are exhorted to be wife, or to act the wife part; for great men are not always wife; wifdom, riches and honour, do not always. go together; men may be in high places, and yer be of low underftandings; however they do not always act wifely, and particularly thofe kings did not, when they rofe up and fet themfelves againft the Lord and his Meffiah; fince fuch oppofition mutt be fruitlefs, nor is there any counfel againft the Lord. And:we learn from the connexion of thefe words with the following, that the trueft wifdom in kings and people, is to fear God; be fubject to Chrift, and truft in him. The words are an inference from what goes before; sherefore, fince Chrift is fet as King over Zion, and he is no other than the Son of God; and who has a power over all fefh; one part of the world is his inheritance and poffeffion, and the other part he will in a little time break and dafh to pieces; wherefore now, under the gofpel-difpenfation, while it is to day, and now is the accepted time and day of falvation, before the blow is given; act the wife part and leave off oppofing, and become fubject to fo great and powerful a King. Be inftructed, ye judges of the earth; who are under kings, being appointed by them to hear caufes and minifter juftice; they anfwer to the Saubedrim of the Jews; to the rulers in ¥.2, Thefe are exhorted to receive inftructions, not in things political and civil, they may be well acquainted with; but in things religious and evangelical, in the worfhip of God, in the gofpel of Chrift, and in his ordinances; for perfons in fuch poits fhould not be above inftruction in thefé things. ‘The word may be rendered, be ye chaftifed or correéted'; that is, fuffer reproof, correction and chaftifement at the hand of God, ‘whether by words or deeds; fubmit to it patiently, and receive inftruction from it: for God fometimes reproves kings and princes of the earth, on account of their fins, and for the fake of his people, when they fhould learn righteoufnefs; fee Pfal. cv. 14, 15. Ifa. xxvi. 9. é

¥. u1. Serve the Lord with fear, &c.] Not the creature, neither more, nor befides, nor with the creator; God and mammon cannot both be ferved; nor any fictitious and nominal deities, the idols of the Gentiles, who are not gods by nature; but the true Febovah, the one and only Lord God, he only is to be worfhipped and ferved, even Father, Son, and Spirit, ther of the Lord Chrift, the Son of God, who is to be ferved by the kings and judges of the earth, he being King of kings, and Lord of lords; or rather of ‘Fehovabh the Father, fince the Son feems to be diftinguifhed from him in the next verfe: and the fervice thefe perfons are called unto lies not in the difcharge of any office in the church, as in preaching the word, which is ferving God in the gofpel of his Son; and hence the minifters of the word are eminently called the fervants of the moft high God; for kings and judges are not required hereby to lay afide their crowns and {ceptres, and leave their feats of juftice, and become preachers of the gofpel; but in acting according to the will of God revealed in his word, and in the whole worfhip of him both internal and external: and this is to be done with fear, not with fear of man, nor with fervile fear of God, but with a godly and filial fear, with a reverential affeCtion for him, and in a way agreeable to his mind and will; with reverence and awe of him, without levity, careleffnefs, and negligence. And rejoice with trembling, fome reference may be had to the joy in public worfhip, as at facrifices and feftivals, and the mufic in divine

Here it may be underftood ei- _ fervice under the law; and the finging of pfalms and hymns and fpiritual fongs under the gofpel; and efpecially to the gofpel-difpenfation itfelf, which is a time of joy and rejoicing; the gofpel is good tidings of great joy; the kingdom of God is not in things external, but in joy in the holy Ghoft; and above all, refpeét is had to a rejoicing in Chrift Jefus, in his perfon, righteoufnefs, and falvation: and which is confiftent with ¢rembling, not with a fearful looking for of judgment, but with modefty and humility; in which fenfe this word, when joined with fear as here, is ufed, Phil. ii. 12. and ftands oppofed to pride, haughtinefs and arrogance; men fhould fo rejoice in Chrift as to have no confidence in the flefh, or affume any degree of glory to themfelves, or have any rejoicing in themfelves, but wholly in Chrift, giving all the glory of what they have to him.

y. 12. Kifs the fon, &c.] The Son of God fpoken of in y. 7. the word ufed is fo rendered in Prov. xxxi. 2. and comes from another which fignifies to choofe, and to purify, or to be pure; hence fome render it the ele& or chofen one, or the pure one *; and both agree with Chrift, who is God’s elect, chofen to be the Redeemer and Saviour of his people, and who is pure and free from fin, original and a¢tual. And whereas a kifs is a token of love among friends and relations, at meeting and parting, Gen. xxxiii. it. Rathi. 14. it may here defign the love and affection that is to be expreffed to Chrift, who is a moft lovely object, and to be loved above all creatures and things; or as it fometimes fignifies, homage and fubjection, 1 Sam. x. 1. and it is the cuftom of the Indians to this day for fubjedts to kifs their kings: it may here alfo denote *he fubjection of the kings and judges and others to Chrift, who is Lord of all; or elfe, as it has been ufed in token of adoration and worthip, Fob xxxi. 26, 27. Hof, xili, 2. it may defign the worfhip which is due to him from all ranks of creatures, angels and men, Heb, i. 6. and the honour which is to be given to him, as to the Father, fobv v. 22. which fhows the ~ greatnefs and dignity of his perfon, and that he is the true God and eternal life: in the Ta/mud ' this is interpreted of the law, where it is faid, *¢ there is “ no 93 but the law, according to P/fal. ii, 12. which agrees with the Septuagint verfion, Lest be be angry; for though he is a Lamb, he has wrath in him, and when the great day of his wrath comes in any form on earth, there is no ftanding before him; and how much lefs when he fhall appear as the lion of the tribe of ‘¢udab, and fhall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire; then kings and freemen will call to the rocks to fall upon them, and hide them from him. Aud ye perifh from the way; the Syriac verfion renders it from bis way, the Son’s way; and the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions from the righteous way; and the Arabic verfion from the way of rightedufnefs, or as to the way, as others ™, the goed way; all to one fenfe; meaning that way of righteoufnefs, falvation and eternal life by Jefus Chrift,which being miffed by perfons, they are eternally loft and undone: fome render it becaufe of the way"; that is, becaufe of their finful courfe of life; for the way of the ungodly fhall perith itfelf, and therefore they that purfue it fhall perifh alfo; others render it in the way °; and then the fenfe is, left they perifh in the midft of their courfe of fin, in their own evil way, they have chofen and miele ed in, or to ufe the words of Chrift, die in their fins, and everlaftingly perifh; for this perifhing is to be underftood not of corporal death, in which fenfe righteous men perifh, but of everlafting deftruction: er the word which is rendered from the way, may be tranflated fuddenly °, immediately, or ftraightway, and our Englifh word direé#ly is almoft the fame; and fo may defign the fwift and fudden deftruction of fuch perfons who provoke the Son to wrath and anger; which fenfe is confirmed by what follows. When his wrath is kindled but a little; either to a fmall degree, or but for a little while; for the leaft degree and duration of it are intolerable, and who then can dwell in everlafting burnings, or abide the devouring flames? or when it is kindled CD iNMB /uddenly °, in a moment, as Far-

Pf.iti. ¥.2. chi interprets it; and fo fudden wrath brings fudden deftruétion. Bleffed are all they that put their truft. in him; not in horfes and chariots, in riches and honours, in their own wifdom, ftrength and righ-. teoufnefs; but in the Son of God, the Lord Jefus. Chrift, and who is truly and properly God; or otherwife faith and truft would not be required to. be put in him: and happy are thofe who betake themfelves to him as to their ftrong-hold and place of defence; who look to him and believe in him for pardon, peace, righteoufnefs, every fupply of, grace, and eternal life; thefe are fafe and fecure in, him, nor fhall they want any good thing needful for them; and they have much peace, joy and comfort here, and fhall have more grace as they want it, and hereafter eternal glory and happinefs..