Jarchi,
Pf. 1V. ¥.3—-5 e faid to feek after a lie, when they feek after another Meffiah, befides Jefus of Nazareth: for every other proves a Bar Cozbi, that is, the fon of a lie; as the falfe Meffiah in Adrian’s time was called by themfelves. And fo do all fuch as feek after and embrace falfe doétrines, errors and herefies, and are given up to believe them. Now the pfalmift fuggetts that thefe great men were obftinate, and continued in thefe finful practices; and that in the iffue all their efforts would be vain and fruitlefs; and which he further ftrengthens, by obferving to them what follows,
¥. 3, But know, &c.] Take notice of it, confider it, be affured of the truth of it; it may be depended upon as fact, that the Lord hath fet apart him that is godly for bimfelf: which may be underftood of David himfelf, an holy, good man; a man after God’s own heart; whom the Lord chofe, and in a marvelous manner feparated from the reft of his brethren; took him from the fheepfold, and fet him upon the throne of J/rae/, for the glory of his great name; and therefore the attempts of his enemies againft him would be without fuccefs: and alfo of the Meffiah, God’s holy One, whom he has chofen out from among the people, to be their Saviour and Redeemer, to the glory of his grace; wherefore the work of the Lord has profpered in his hands: and likewife of all the faints, and of their election; which act is exprefled by their being fet apart, or feparated from others, who are called the reft; and which is a marvelous act of grace: for the word may be rendered, be bath wonderfully fet apart”. It is an amazing inftance of grace, that God fhould make one to differ from another, and feparate them from their mothers womb, and call them by his grace. The object of this act is, bim that is godfy, or holy °; not that any are fet apart or chofen by God for their godlinefs, or holinefs; for they are chofen through fanctification of the Spirit, and not becaufe they were, or it was forefeen they would be holy. Holinefs, faith, godlinefs and good works, are the fruits of election, and not the caufes of it; but the word 99pm rendered godly, fignifies good and merciful ® and defigns one that God is good, and gracious, and merciful unto; who is an object of his free grace and favour; and therefore he choofes, and fets him apart of his own grace and mercy, and according to his fovereign will and pleafure: and that for bim/elf, for his own ufe and fervice, for his praife and honour, and to the glory of his grace 3 which is his grand end in predeftination, election, and in all fpiritual bleffings. And now all attempts againft {uch perfons are in vain; all charges againft them are of no avail; all methods, whether by open force of perfecutors, or by the cunning of falfe teachers, that lie in wait to deceive, to prevail againft them, prove fuccefslefs: and God will avenge his elect, that cry unto him day and night; as follows. The Lord will hear when I call unto him, and deliver out of the hands of enemies, and cut them off: wherefore it is a vain thing for men to fet themfelves againft.Chrift and his people, y.4. Stand in awe, and fin not, &c.] That is, ftand in awe of God, and his righteous judgments; be afraid of him, and tremble before him; make him your fear and your dread, and go on no longer, and proceed no further in finning a-
Ws ALM
5s gaint him. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions, render it, Be ye angry, and fin not: which are the words of the apo- {tle, Epb. iv. 26. referring to this place; and which doubtlefs is the reafon of thefe verfions. There is an anger that is finful, when it is without a caufe, or exceeds due bounds, and is not directed to a good end, and is productive of bad effects, by words or deeds; and when it is foon raifed, or long continued: and there is an anger that is not finful; when it arifes from a true zeal for God and religion; when it is kindled, not againft the perfons, but fins of men; and when it is continued to anfwer good purpoles; as the good of thofe with whom we are angry, and the glory of God, and the promoting ot the kingdom and intereft of Chrift. Commune with your own heart upon your bed: when retired from men and bufinefs, and you are at leifure to think and meditate; then reflect upon your actions, ferioufly confider them 5 afk your heart fome proper and clofe queftions; examine narrowly and thoroughly the principles on which,’ and the views with which you act. And be Still. Selah, Ceafe from all- your rage and fury again{t me, againft the Lord, and againft his people 5 or fay in your own hearts‘, as follows. ¥. 5. Offer the facrifices of righteoufnefs, &c.] Offer for facrifice things righteoufly gotten, for the Lord hates robbery for burnt-offering, J/ai. xi. 8.
Some refpect may be had to the unrighteous acquifitions of 4b/alom and his men, and who were now in poffeflion of Ferufalem, and of the altars of the Lord, and were facrificing on thems; in which they gloried; and to which this may be oppofed. Likewife, facrifices of righteoufnefs, are fuch as were according to the law, and were offered in a right manner; which were not maimed, nor had any blemifh in them; fee Mal. i. 13, 14. and particularly, fuch as were offered up in the faith of the great facrifice, Chrift; for without faith it is impoifible to pleafe God by any facrifice, And this fenfe is confirmed by the following claufe, which requires truft in the Lord. Moreover, righe teoufnefs, with the Jews, fignifies alms, beneficence, fhewing mercy to the indigent; and acts of liberality are facrifices, with which God is well pleafed; and which are preferred by him to the {acrifices of the ceremonial law, Hed. xiii. 16, Hof. vi.6. The facrifices alfo of a broken heart, and of a contrite {pirit, are fuch as God efteems of; he looks to thofe that have them, and dwells with them. And to this fenfe the Chaldee paraphrafe inclines, in which the words are thus paraphrafed; «© Subdue your corruptions, and it thall be rec- «¢ koned to you as a facrifice of righteoufnefs:” and why may not the facrifice of praife for mercies received, efpecially for the righteonfnefs of Chrift, be at leaft included, if not principally defigned; fince thefe are facrifices which, under the ceremonial law, were more pleafing to God than others; and are always acceptable to him through Jefus Chrift our Lord? Agreeably to this, ben Ezra thinks the peace-offerings are intended, which were in a way of thanksgiving; and are oppofed to fin-offerings, and trefpafs-offerings, and burntofferings; from the laft of which facrifices of righteoufnefs are diftinguifhed in P/almli.1g. And
| put your tru in the Lord; not in your ftrength, in horfes and chariots, and numbers of men; nor in wile °o DM fanfum, V.L. Muis, De Dieu, wife counfels, nor in riches, nor in flefhly privileges, nor in works of righteoufnefs, or facrifices of righteoufnefs: for though they are to be performed, they are not to be trufted in; nor in your own hearts. And whilft the pfalmift is ftriking at the falfe confidence of the fons of men, he is addreffing, he may at the fame time be thought to be encouraging thofe that were with him to truft in the Lord, Febovab, the Son of God, before fpoken of by him as the object of truft, P/almii.12. to truft in his perfon for the acceptance of their perfons and facrifices of righteoufnefs; and in his righteoufnefs for juftification; in his blood for ardon; in his facrifice for expiation of fin; in his fulnefs for daily fupplies; and in his power for protection and fafety. And it is right to truft in him at all times; in times of affliction, temptation and defertion: he is always the fame; in him is everlaiting ftrength; he has an heart as well as an ability to help and fuccour, and none ever trufted in him and were.confounded. i and fafety, and can want.no good thing, y.6. There be many that fay, Who will foew us any good? &c.] Thefe may be thought to be the men of the world; carnal, worldly-minded
* men, feeking after temporal good, and taking up their reft and contentment in it; to whom the pfalmift oppofes his wifh and requeft, in the following words. Or thefe are the words of the men that were along with David, wifhing themfelves at home and in their families, enjoying the good things of life they before had; or rather thefe are the words of the fame many, the enemies of David, fpoken of in P/al. iii. 1, 2. who were wifhing, as Kimchi obferves, that 4b/alom’s rebellion might profper; that David might die and his fon reign in his ftead, fo the evil they wifhed to him was good to them: or they may be the words of the fame men, exprefling the defperate condition that David and his friends were in, which the pfalmift reprefents in this manner, who will fhew us any good? none, fay they, will fhew them any good, neither God nor man; there is no help for him in God; he and his friends muft unavoidably perifh: and this produces the following petition, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, meaning his gracious prefence, the manifeftations of himfelf, the difcoveries of his love, communion with him, the comforts of his Spirit, and the joys of his falvation; fuggefting that in the enjoyment of thefe things lay their good and happinefs, and their fafety alfo; his face and favour, love and grace, being as a fhield to encompafs them, and as a banner over them, Pfa/. v. 12.
Cant. ii. 4. and fo Farchi obferves, that the word here ufed fignifies to lift up for a banner"; fome refpect feems to be had to the form of the prieft’s bleffing, Numb. vi. 24-26. and the words are oppofed to the good defired by carnal men, and exprefs the true happinefs of the faints, P/al. Ixxxix, 15, this is a blefling wifhed for not only by David but by his antitype the Meffiah, Mast. xxvii. 46. and by all believers.
y. 7. Thou haft put gladnefs in my heart, &c.] The Lrhiopic verfion reads it into our heart; in granting the above requeft, for nothing fo rejoices the hearts of God’s people as the light of his countenance, or the enjoyment of his gracious prefence: this was matter of excéeding joy to Chrift himfelf, Pfal, xxi. 6. Asi. 28. and fo it is to all his mem- bers; this caufes inward gladnefs, gladnefs of heatts and is oppofed to the external rejoicings of wicked men and of hypocrites: and this is of God’s putting into the heart; and indeed none can put gladnels either into a wounded conf{cience, into the heart of a fenfible finner, or into the foul of one that is panting after the prefence of God, and communion with him, but God himfelf. More than in the
time that their corn and their wine increafed; mean-.
ing the time of harveft and of vintage; when there is a good harveft, and a good vintage, there is joy among men, and the contrary when it is otherwife, Ifa. ix. 3. Foel i. 12. thefe things being of general ufe, fpread an univerfal joy among people; there is fcarce any earthly thing that occafions more joy than thefe do; and yet the joy on fuch occafions is not to be compared with fpiritual joy, that is a joy unfpeakable and full of glory. Some take the 19 to be not comparative but caufal, and render the words °, thou baft put gladnefs in my heart from the time that their corn, &c. as do the Chaldee paraphrafe and Syriac verfions; and the Arabic verfion renders it, becaufe of the multitude of fruits, 8c. and then the fenfe is, as if David fhould fay concerning his enemies, ‘* I never envied their profperity, I al- ¢ ways rejoiced when they had a good harveft, or ‘¢ vintage, and ftill do; and yet they have rofe up ‘© and rebelled againft me, and requited me evil “« for good.” And this fenfe is given into by the Jewifh commentators ‘, and fhews of what an admirable fpirit, and in what a fweet difpofition of mind the pfalmift was; that whilft his enemies were feeking his life, he was rejoicing in their profperity; and is a fad aggravation of their wickednefs: and this may alfo be underftood of the rejoicing of Da= vid, and even of the Meffiah; and likewife of all good men, at the fpiritual profperity of the faints, at any increafe of grace, {piritual knowledge and joy, fignified by thefe outward things, as in Fer. XxXxi. 12. the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions, add oi/ to corn and wine.
¥. 8. I will both lay me down in peace, and fleep, &c.] Signifying, that he had fuch a calmnefs and ferenity of mind, amidft all his troubles, that’ he could not only lay himfelf down in great peace, and much compofure of mind, but fleep alfo, and that as foon as laid down almoft; fome lay themfelves down but cannot fleep, through the anxiety of their minds, but the pfalmift could do both: or the word rendered both, may be tranflated together"; and the fenfe be either that he would lie down and fleep together with his friends, committing himfelf and them to the care and proteétion of God; or that he fhould lie down and fleep together with his enemies; meaning that he was affured that there would quickly be a reconciliation and peace be- — tween them; fee Prov. xvi. 7. For thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in fafety; faggefting that his protection and fafety were owing to the power and prefence of God only; and that was the reafon of the tranquillity of his mind, and why he flept fo quietly in the night watches, though in fuch danger from his enemies; or thou, Lord, make ‘me only or alone”, being folitary and deftitute of friends, to dwell in fafety, under the fhadow of thy wings, encompailed by thy favopr, and furrounded by power; fee Deut, xxxiii. 28. ae
Panels MV: To the chief mufician upon Nehiloth, a pfalm of David.
HIS pfalm being written by David under i the infpiration of the holy Spirit, is infcribed and fent to him who had the direétion and management of the mufical inftruments ufed in religious worfhip in David’s time, and afterwards in the temple-fervice, called xebiloth; as the preceding pfalm is infcribed to him who prefided over thote called neginoth; and as they feem to be fuch inftruments as were played upon with the hand, ftringed inftruments, fo thefe feem to be wind-inftruments, fuch as were blown with the mouth; as the flute, cornet, pipe, trumpet, and hautboy; the word being derived from the fame root as chalil, the pipe, is, and fignifies hollow, and fo defigns fuch hollow inftruments as above: Rabbenu Hai * thinks the inftrument intended was fo called from the humming of bees, which its found refembled; sechil feel deborim, with the rabbins ” fignifying a fwarm of bees; and a word from the fame root in the Arabic language is ufed for a bee*; though others have thought it might be fo called from the murmuring noife of a brook or river, to which the found of it might be like; becaufe a word from the fame root this is thought to come, in the Hebrew Janguage fignifies a brook or river. The Septuagint verlion, which is followed by the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic verfions, renders it, for that which obtained the inheritance; and the Arabic verfion, concerning the inheritance; and to this agrees the old Midrajh *of the Jews; but what is the meaning is left to every one to conjecture; the reafon of thefe verfions is becaufe the root from whence this word is fuppofed to be derived, fignifies to inherit: the Targum renders the whole infcription thus, to fng upon toe dances a fong of David, as it does the title of the preceding pfalm; Aben Ezra takes the word, » as he does neginoth, to be the firft word of fome fong, to the tune-of which this pfalm was to be fung; and archi interprets it troops or armies, and fays it is a prayer on account of the troops of enemies that came againft J/rae/; and that the finger faid this pfalm on the behalf of all Z rael.
The Syriac interpreter calls it a prayer in the perfon of the church, when it went in the morning to the houfe of the Lord. The occafion of it feems to be the fame with that of the two former: and certain it is, that the pfalmift was in diftrefs by reafon of wicked men when he wrote it, as appears from feveral paffages in it; the ancient Jewith doétors ° underftood by them Deeg and Abitophel, fome think it was penned, as the preceding pfalm, on account of the rebellion of Sheba, 2 Sam. xx, y¥. 1. Give ear to my words, O Lord, &c.]. Meaning not his words in common converfation, but in prayer; the words which came out of his mouth, and were audibly expreffed by him at the throne of grace, and defign vocal prayer; and fo ftand diftinguifhed from the meditation of his heart, facred ejaculations, or mental prayer; fee P/al, liv. 2. and xix. 14. and words in prayer to God ought to be few, at leaft not repeated, Eccl. v. 2. Matt. vi. 7. and thefe fhould be a man’s own words, as
® Apud Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. So David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 93.1.
were the pfalmift’s; not what were fuggefted by another, or written in a book before him, but what were of his own compofing and putting together, under the direction of the Spirit of God; who put words into his mouth, and furnifhed him both with words and matter, and which he freely uttered before the Lord: and this is the parrbefia, boldnefs, freedom of fpeech, which the fcriptures fpeak of, Heb, iv. 16, and x. 19. and the faints are allowed to ufe in prayer before God; when they may pour out their fouls unto him, and freely tell him all their mind, as the pfalmift now did; to which he intreats the Lord to give ear; not that God has a corporeal ear as man has, but he that made the ear has the power of hearing: this is an anthropopathy, and is fpoken after the manner of men; fuch as are of kind and benevolent difpofitions do not turn away, but ftop and hear what a poor miferable object has to fay to them, to whom they liften and return an anfwer; and fo this phrafe is expreffive of the kind regard God has to the prayers of the deftitute, which he does not defpife but delight in; and of his bowing and inclining his ear, or of the ftriét and clofe attention he gives to them; and of the full and fuitable anfwer he returns, in his own time and way; and is what the pfalmift moft earneftly intreats. He adds, confider my meditation; the prayer he had meditated: for meditation is requifite to prayer, and fhould go before it; which is neceflary in order to pray with the underftanding; nor fhould men utter any thing rafhly and haftily before the Lord: it may defign mental prayer, in diftinétion from vocal prayer, fignified by his words before, fuch as that of Moj/es at the Red fea, and of Hannab before Ei, Exod. xiv. 15. 1 Sam. i. 13. The word alfo fignifies inward mourning, fighs and groans; the root from whence this is derived fignifies to mourn, and is fo rendered in Ifa. xxxviii. 14, where Hezekiah compares hig prayers to the chattering of a crane and fwallow, and the mourning of a dove; and are the fame with the unutterable groanings with which the Spirit of God fometimes makes interceffion for the faints, Rom. viii, 26. and which are not hid from God, P/al. xxxviii. 9, but are well known to him: he underftands the language of a figh or groan 5 and fo the words may be rendered underftand my moan ©.
y.2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, &c.] Which feems to intend more than groans or words, even a loud outcry, as of a perfon in great diftrefs; fuch as the ftrong crying of Chrift, in the days of his flefh, when on the crofs, forfaken by God, deferted by his friends, and furrounded by his enee the cafe of David his type. ‘The arguments ufed by him, that the Lord would hearken to him, are as follow: and the firft is taken from his intereft in the Lord, and his relation to him, My King, and my God the Lord was David’s King in a civil fenfe; tho’ David was a king over others, yet the Lord, who is the King of kings, was King over him, and he owned him to be fo; he was fet upon the y Maimon. in Mifn, Bava Kama, @ Midrafh Tillim apud Viccarf. in loc. > Apud the throne by him, had his kingdom from him, and was accountable to him: and he was his King in a natural fenfe, the kingdom of nature and providence belonging to him, as he was his creator, preferver, protector and defender; and in a fpiritual fenfe, he being delivéred from the dominion of other lords, fin, Satan, and the world, and brought to a fubjection to him by his Spirit and grace 5 and fo to own him as his King and Lawgiver, as well as his Saviour, And he was his God; not in a general way, as he is the God of the fpirits of all flefh living; nor merely in the peculiar way in which he was the God of the people of J/rael; but in a moft fpecial manner, as being his covenant-God and Father in Chrift. He was his God, not only as the God of nature and providence, ‘but as the God of all grace; who had diftinguifhed him by fpecial and fpiritual bleffings and favours; and whom David loved, believed in, and worfhipped as his God. And this his intereft in him, and relation to him, he ufes with great pertinence and propriety, as an argument that he might be heard by him; fince the Lord was his King, and he is fubject; the Lord was his God, and he one of his people; the Lord was his father, and he a child of his; and therefore intreats and hopes to be heard; fee //a. Ixill. 15, 16. His next argument is taken from his refolution to pray to him, and to continue to do fo: For unto thee will I pray; and only to thee: not to the gods of the heathen, to idols, the works of mens hands, who can neither hear nor fave: and to thee always; fuggefting, that he would never leave off praying till he was heard; he would give him no reft day nor night, until he received an anfwer, X. 3. My voice fhalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord, &c.] Thefe words may be confidered, either as exprefling the confidence of the pfalmift, that the Lord would hear and anfwer him, and that in the morning, every morning, as foon and as often as he prayed; or that he would hear him early, quickly, fpeedily, feafonably, and at the beft time; or elfe,as declaring what he would do in confequence of his refolution to pray to the Lord in the preceding verfe; he would pray to him every morning: the morning is a proper time for prayer, both to return thanks to God for refrefhing fleep and reft, for prefervation from dangers by fire, by thieves and murderers, and for renewed mercies in the morning; as alfo to pray to God, to keep from evil and dangers the day following; to give daily food, and to fucceed in bufinefs and the employments of life; and for a continuation of every mercy, temporal and fpiritual. God fhould be ferved and fought in the firft place; and fo to do, looks as if God was with his people, and they with him, when they awake in the morning. The Targum and Arabic verfion confider the words as a petition, and render them, Hear * in the morning, O Lord, my voice, or my petition; and fo bear the fame fenfe as the other petitions. Jn the morning will I direé# my prayer unto thee; or fet it in order“: not fo much refpecting the order of words, the method of prayer, which is fometimes very broken and confufed, and yet regarded by God; but in allufion either to the fhew-bread, placed in order on the table, which was typical of Chrift’s continual interceffion for his people, Exod. xl. 4. or to the offering of incenfe and other facrifices, which when offered, were put in order upon the altar; and to which prayer is compared, P/al. cxli. 2. Or the words may be rendered, J will #and before thee in the morning, as the Arabic verfion;
or, I will prefent unto thee, as the Sepiuagint; that is, myfelf; fee Fob i. 6. Rom. xii. 1, tho’ the fupplement, my prayer, feems to be a good one; and {o the words are fupplied by the Jewifh commentators ‘. And will look up; or out *, as out of a watch-tower, Hab. ii. 1. to fee if help is coming, and for an anfwer of prayer: the phrafe is expreffive of hope, expectation, faith and confidence, that an anfwer would be returned; and therefore the pfalmift determines to look upwards to heaven, whither he directed his prayer, and from whence the anfwer muft come; and to look out from his watch-tower, where he was waiting for it, and to continue patiently expecting it, till he had it: and the ground of his confidence were the nature and perfections of God, particularly his purity and holinefs, as appears from the following verfe.
¥. 4. bor thou art not a God that bath pleafure in wickedne/s, &c.| Sin, ungodlinefs; it is contrary to his nature, who is holy, juft and good, and, to his will revealed in his law, which is the {ame with his nature; and fin is a tranfereffion of it. God is fo far from taking pleafure in fin, that it is the abominable thing which his righteous foul hates; tho’ this hinders not his voluntary permiffion of fin, or his decree of it; which he has willed, tho’ he does not delight in it, in order to magnify the riches of his grace and mercy in the falvation of his people: nor is this contrary to the delight and pleafure which he takes in the perfons of his elect in Chrift, tho’ they are finners in themfelves, and were fo when he fo loved them as to give his Son for them, and who died for them while they were yet finners; and when he fends his Spirit to regenerate and fanctify them, and are after converfion guilty of many fins: for tho’ he delights in their perfons, he has no pleafure in their fins; nor is it confiftent with the holinefs of his nature to take pleafure in wickednefs, let it be committed by whomfoever. Neither jhall evil dwell with thee; that is, the evil man, who continues in a courfe of wickednefs, and lives and dies in his fins. He has no communion with God here, nor fhall he dwell with him hereafter; but fhall be bid to depart from him, whether he be a profane finner openly, or fecretly a wicked profeffor of religion. The fenfe of the pfalmift is, that fince they were evil and wicked men, that were rifen up againft him, and gave him trouble, he entertained a {trong confidence that God would hear him, for himfelf and his friends,. whofe caufe was righteous; and appear againft his enemies, who were wicked and ungodly men; and this he grounded upon the purity and holi nefs of God.
¥. 5. The fooli/h fhall not ftand in thy fight, &c.
By the foolifa, are meant not fuch who are fo in a natural, but in a moral fenfe, wicked and ungodly men. The Septuagint render the word, tran/greffors of the law; and the Vulgate Latin verfion, the unrighteous; andthe Arabic verfion, they that contradict thy precepts. ‘The word * ufed comes from a root, which fignifies to praife; and may defign fuch as are praifers of themfelves, proud boafters; who are elated with their own excellencies, with their wiidom, ftrength, honours, riches and righteoufneis, and treat all others with contempt; for tho’ they are unrighteous, yet they truft in themfelves that they are righteous, and defpife others, which betrays their folly; hence the Syriac verfion renders it, the proud; and the Chaldee paraphrafe, mockers. And their not ftanding in the fight of God, denotes his abhorrence and deteftation of them; as when one man abhors another, he cannot endure to look upon him, or bear to have him in his prefence: and it fhews that fuch fhall receive no favour from him; for tho’, like proud Haman, they may think themfelves his favourites, and they are the perfons the King will delight to honour; yet to their great mortification they will find, that a poor Mordecai, a mean defpicable believer, will be preferred unto them. Nor fhail they ftand in acceptance and confidence before him, at the day of judgment: they will not be able to ftand themfelves, but will call to the rocks and mountains to cover them; and they will not be fuffered to ftand, but will be driven from the prefence of the Lord into everlafting burnings. Thou hateft all workers of iniquity, not all that have fin in them or do fin, for there are none without it; but fuch who give themfelves up to work wickednefs, who make it the bufinefs of their lives, and are flaves unto it, living in a continued feries and courfe of impiety; and this character does not only belong to openly profane finners, but to fome profeffors of religion; fee Matt. Vii. 22, 23. and thefe are the objects of God’s hatred. Which does not fo much intend any paft act of his, the preterition or paffing them by, when he chofe others ‘in his eternal purpofes; in which fenfe the word is ufed in Rom. ix. 13. as his continued averfion to them, denying them his grace and favour, and rejecting them from all nearnefs to him and communion with him; and may include the everlafting punifhment of them, by which his difplicency and hatred will be made manifeft: and he is impartial in it, without any refpect to perfons, high or low, rich or poor; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguifh, will come upon every foul of man that does evil. God’s love to his own people was antecedent to fin, and was placed upon them in Chrift, in whom their perfons are always well pleafing to him; and though they finned in Adam, and became actual tranfgreffors of his law, yet fuch was his love to their perfons, that he faves them from their fins by the blood and righteoufnets of his Son.
¥. 6. Thou fhalt deftroy them that fpeak leafing, &c.] Or a ie’; whether in matters of religion; as falfe doétrines, errors and herefies, are lies; and fo all that deny the deity, fonfhip and meffiahfhip of Chrift, are liars; and the followers of the man of fin fpeak lies in hypocrify: or in common converfation; fuch are like to Satan, and are abominable in the fight of God; and he will deftroy them, either with a temporal deftruction, with bodily difeafes, as Gebazi was {mitten with a leprofy; and with corporal death, as Ananias and Sapphira, or with eternal deftruction, the deftruction of body and foul in hell; for ali liars have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimftone. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man; or the man of blood and decett*; that thirfts after blood; who fheds innocent blood, as the Zargum paraphrafes it.
He fhewed his refentment againft Caiz, the firft of this fort, in a way that was intolerable to him. He very early eftablifhed a law, requiring that he who
5°99 fhed man’s blood, by man fhould his blood be fhed; and he will give the whore of Rome, who has been drunk with the blood of his faints, blood to drink, becaufe fhe is worthy. And all fuch who flatter with their tongue, and fpeak with a double heart, and lie in wait to deceive their neighbour, whether in things temporal or fpiritual, are the objects of his abhorrence and indignation; fee P/alm lv. 23. Now David’s enemies being fuch fort of perfons foolith, wicked men, proud and haughty, workers of iniquity, liars, bloody and deceitful men, men that God had an abhorrence of: he therefore hoped and was confident, that God pes hear his prayers againft them, and for himfelf.
¥.7. But as for me, I will come into thy houfe, &c.] The tabernacle of Mo/fes, fometimes called the houfe of God, 1 Chron. ix. 23. for as yet the temple was not built. Here David had been ufed to go in times paft; and tho’ he was now ina kind of exile from it, he was confident he fhould again enter into it, and determined fo to do whenever he had an opportunity, and that in the following manner: In the multitude of thy mercy; grace or goodnefs. God is rich in mercy, abundant in goodnefs and truth; there is a multitude of mercy, love, and grace in his heart, and which is ftored up in his covenant, and difplayed in his Son, and in the provifion of him as a Saviour of loft finners; abundant mercy is fhewn in regeneration, in adoption, and in the forgivenefs of fins, and in every fpiritual blefiing, and in the gift of eternal life. And now, not relying on his own merits, ftrength and righteoufnefs, or leaning to his own underftanding, but trufting in the mercy, grace and goodnels of God in Chrift, and in hope of finding more grace and mercy to help in time of need; with thankfulnefs for what he had received, he determines, by divine leave and affiftance, to enter into the houfe of the Lord: and whatever other perfons did, whom he had before deferibed, it was his refolution to ferve the Lord, under a fenfe of his mercy and goodnefs to him; which laid him under an obligation fo to do, and is the true principle from which all fervice fhould proceed. And in thy fear will I worfhip toward thy holy temple; either heaven, the habitation of God’s holinefs, towards which and to God there, the pfalmift would lift up his eyes, his hands and heart; or the tabernacle, at the door of which the worfhip of God was performed, the facrifices were brought, and
| God met his people; and therefore he fays, he would worfhip towards the temple or tabernacle, Levit. i. 3. Exod. xxix. 42, 43. And it may be that David has reference to the Meffiah, the medium of divine worfhip; whofe human nature was typified by the tabernacle and temple, in which the fulnefs of the Godhead dwells: the pfalmift therefore purpofes to worfhip God in Chrift, and to perform all acts of worfhip, as prayer, praife, hearing the word, offering facrifice, &c. in the name and faith of Chrift; looking towards him for the prefentation of his fervices by him, and for the acceptance of them with God through him: and this he defired to do in the fear of God; not with a flavifh fear, but with reverence and godly fear; with a fear influenced by the multitude of God’s mercy, grace and goodnefs, in a humble, modeft manner, not trufting to or depending upon any fervice done by him.
y¥.8. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteoufnefs, &c.] Not in mine but thine; in the righteoufnefs of God, which is revealed in the gofpel, trom faith to faith, and is imputed by God, and received by faith; in this righteoufnefs the pfalmift defired to be led into the houfe of God, and appear before him; nor is there any other righteoufnefs, in which man can ftand before God and worfhip. Or elfe the fenfe js, that God would lead him in the way of righteoufnefs, in his righteous ftatutes, judgments and ordinances; in which way the Lord does lead his people, P/al. xxiii. 3. Prov. viii. 20. Or that he would lead him for his righteoufnefs-fake; becaufe of his faithfulnefs to his promifes, that he would direct, uphold, and never leave nor forfake him. David was very fenfible that the way of man is not in himtelf, and that he could not direct his own fteps; and therefore defired to be guided by the Lord, and to be led by the right hand of his righteoufnels, and to be upheld by it in his ways: Becaufe of mine enemies; Or, thofe that obferve me’; that lie in wait and watch for my halting, as Yeremiab’s enemies did; and would rejoice at my fall, and infulc me, and blafpheme thy name; therefore lead, guide and uphold me. Make thy way flraight before my face; thy way of providence, thy way of grace, thy way of worfhip and duty; let it appear plain and manifeft, that I may know in which way I fhould walk; and let all obftructions be removed out of the way, that I may walk ftraight on, without any ~ difficulty or hindrance. He feems to have refpect to his enemies, who lay in his way, that God would remove them; fee ¥. 9, 10.
¥.9. For there is xo faithfulnefs in their mouth, &c.] In the mouth of the ungodly, as the Chaldee paraphrafe; in the mouth of every one of them, as Aben Ezra interprets it: that is, in the mouth of every wicked, bloody and deceitful man; of every one of David’s enemies, as Saul, or the con- {pirators with Abfalom his fon. There was no ftedfaftnefs in them; nothing right, fure, or firm faid by them; nothing that could be depended upon; there was zo truth in them, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic verfions render it. And as this was true of Davia’s, fo of Chrift’s enemies; of Herod, and of the Herodians, and of the Scribes and Pharifees; fee AZatt. ii. 8. and xxii. 16. and of the enemies of Chrift’s gofpel; of all falfe teachers, who fpeak not the word faithfully; tell dreams, ufe the hidden things of difhonefty, walk in craftinefs, handle the word of God deceitfully,. and fpeak lies in hypocrify: there is no Certainty in them, nor is any thing they fay to be trufted to. And this is the character of wicked men in common: they are an affembly of treacherous men; there is none upright among them; nor is any confidence to be placed in them: the people of God are in danger of being impofed upon, and mifled by them to their hurt; and therefore the pfalmift prays, that the Lord would lead him in his righteoufnefs. Their inward part 1s very wickedne/s, their heart, which is defperately wicked, exgeeding finful; not only wicked; and very wicked, but wickednefs itfelf. This is the root and fountain of all wickednefs; and the reafon why there is no faithfulnefs in their mouth: the word ™ is fometimes rendered, their inward
E > Sa nd J) ee ae es > pret | Bde aks B. aS - ny ae ee thought, Pfal. xlix. 11. and Ixiv. 6. which is the inmoft of man, the neareft to him; and which and even the imagination of it is evil, and that cdnti- nually: the word” tranflated wickedne/s, fignifies ry woes, calamities, and mifchiefs,; and fuch the wicked hearts of men are full of, and are continually devifing againft the people of God, and his righteous caufe, And this is the juft character of ungodly men, even though they profefs to know God, have a form of godlinefs, and be outwardly righteous before men; as thefe were David was concerned with. Their throat is an open fepulchre, or as one, as the Targum para-_ phrafes it; to which the throat of wicked men may be compared for its voracity and infatiablenefs; the grave being one of thofe.three or four things, which never has enough or is fatisfied. And this is true of the throat, whether it be confidered as an inftrument of fpeech, and throws out devouring words to the prejudice of the charaéters - and reputations of others; or as an inftrument of {wallowing meat and drink, and where the pleafure of appetite is; and fo may be exprefiive of the eager defire of the wicked after fin, who drink up iniquity like water; and of their delight in it, and their fulnefs of it, and yet ftill greedy, infatiable, and not to be fatisfied: and their throat may be compared to an open grave, for the naufeous {tench it emits; corrupt communication, filthinefs, and foolifh talking proceeding out of it; and horrible oaths, curfes, imprecations,. and blafphemies being belched out through it; and for the danger which is by it, fince into it men may fall unawares; and fo the evil communications of wicked men corrupt good manners, and do great mifchief to thofe who fall into company with them. They flatter with their tongue, or, make it fmooth°; ufe ‘oily expreffions, foft language: or, part or divide ® their tongue; are double-tongued and double-hearted; and fo deceive perfons, as the apo- {tle interprets it in Rom. iii. +3. They flatter God himfelf, drawing nigh to him in an hypocritical way; they flatrer men, their neighbours, and impofe-upon them; they flatter princes, and fuch fycophants were about David. And iuch are falfe teachers, who prophefy fmooth things, and with good words and fair fpeeches deceive the hearts of the fimple; on which account there is great reafon to pray to be led and directed by the Lord. - y¥. 10. Destroy thou them, O God, 8¢c.} Or make. them guilty’; that is, make them appear to be guilty, either to themfelves, that they may acknowledge their offences, confefs their guilt, and afk for pardon; or to others, pronounce them guilty, pafs the fentence of condemnation on them: and the Chaldee paraphrafe and the Syriac verfion render it by 39 condemn them, or hold the: 1 guilty; and the Septuagint, Vuigate Latin, Pe and. Ethiopic verfions, judge them; treat them as guilty perfons, punifh them, deftroy them foul and body,, with an eyerlafting deftruétion. Let them fall by their own counfels; into the pit Hey have dug for others; as Haman fell by his countfels, and was hanged on the gallows he prepared for And fo fometimes a man’s own — counfel cafts him down, and is the caufe of his _ ruin, Fob xviii. 7. Or, becaufe of their own os *, which they have taken againft the Lord and is anointed, againft his caufe and intereft, and againft his righteous ones, particularly David; meaning their wicked counfels, in which they walked; fee Hof. xi.6. Or from their counfels* as the Targum and moft verfions render it: that is, let their counfels be turned into foolifhnefs, become brutifh, be carried keadlong, and come to nought. Which had its accomplifhment in 4bithophel. Cast them out; either out of their own country, and carry them into captivity; or from the prefence of the Lord, from his tabernacle and worthip; which David’s enemies now enjoyed, and gloried in: or into outer darknefs, into a furnace of fire, where there is weeping and wailing and gnafhing of teeth. In the multitude of their tranfgrefions: when God deals with men in a way of grace, he turns away ungodlinefs from them, or them from their ungodlinefs; but when in a way
*of judgment he fuffers them to die in their fins, and fo perith: or for the multitude of their tranfgrefions*. The fins of tranfgreflors are many, and becaufe of them they are caft out of the fight of God, and will be bid to depart from him hereafter. For they have rebelled agains thee: all fin is a rebellion againft God; hence finners are called rebellious ones. The rebellion of David’s fubjects againft him, was a rebellion againft God; becaufe it was an attempt to dethrone him, whom God had made king -of J/rael. The word “ fignifies, to imbitter, exafperate and provoke: and fuch is the nature of fin, it is a bitter, thing in itfelf, and it provokes the eyes of God’s glory. Now thefe feveral expreffions are to be confidered, not fo much petitions, as prophecies; and not as imprecations, but as predictions of what would be the portion of wicked men.
y.11. But let all thofe that put their tru in thee rejoice, &c.| Who truft not in themfelves, in their own hearts, in their righteoufnefs, or riches, or ftrength; but in the name, righteoufnefs and ftrength of the Lord: who betake themfelves to him, and put all their confidence in him: let them rejoice in the falvation of the Lord, and in hope of eternal glory and happinefs. Let them even foout for joy: not only rejoice inwardly, but exprefs their joy externally, with their voices, and in the loudeft manner; and that always, the matter and foundation of a believer’s joy always continues; and fo does the grace itfelf: though it is not always in exercife, yet it isan everlafting joy; and with it the redeemed of the Lord will come to Zion, and no man will be able to take away their joy. Which diftinguifhes it from the triumphing of the wicked, and the joy of the hypocrite, which is but for a moment. Becau/e thou defendeft. them, or covereft them“; with the feathers of divine protection, under the fhadow of his wings, and with thehollow of his hand:
fo God preferves his people, keeps them by his power, as the apple of his eye, and is ‘a wall of fire round about them. Which is a good reafon why they fhould rejoice, and fhout for joy. Let them alfo that love thy name; as all that put their truft in the Lord do; they love the Lord himfelf, becaufe of the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hands, and for what he has done for them: they love all they know of him; they love him in all his perfons, Father, Son, and Spirit; and every name of his, by which he has made himfelf known. They love, admire, and adore all his attributes and perfections, as they are difplayed in the works of creation and providence; and efpecially in redemption by Jefus Chrift, where they all glorioufly meet together; and in whom God has proclaimed his name gracious and merciful. ‘They love his word, his gofpel, by which he is made known; and they love his people, on whom his name is called, and who call upon his name. And let fuch, fays the pfalmift, Ze joyful in thee: not rejoice in their boafting of their wifdom, ftrength, riches and righteoufnefs; all fuch rejoicing is evil: but in the Lord, in his grace, righteoufnefs and falvation. He is the only true proper object of fpiritual joy; and there is good reafon for it, from what follows.
¥.12. For thou, Lord, wilt blefs the righteous.} As he has bleffed him with a righteoufnefs, even the righteoufnefs of God imputed to him, by which he is denominated righteous, and with the forgivenefs of his fins; fo he will blefs him with peace and profperity,* with all {piritual bleffings, with the bleffings of grace here, and glory hereafter. Hence he has juft reafon to rejoice and be glad. With favour wilt thou compafs bim, as with a fhield: by which is meant the free favour, love, and grace of God in Chrift, which fprings from his fovereign will and pleafure; is his good will to men, and the exceeding riches of his grace, fhewn in his kindnefs towards them in Chrift Jefus: and the compaffing or crowning of the righteous with it, as the word * fignifies, is expreffive of the abundance of it, in the application of it to them in converfion, and in every inftance and blefling of grace; for fuch are crowned with loving-kindnefg and tender mercies; the grace of the Lord is exceeding abundant towards them, it flows and overflows; it furrounds them on all fides, and covers them all over: it is as a fhield unto them from all their enemies, P/a/m xl, 11. and which being held in the hand of faith, quenches the fiery darts of Satan; and is the faint’s fecurity from every enemy, and from all hurt and danger, here or hereafter; fee Zeph. iii.17. Rom. viii. 38,39. and is a crown of glory upon them, which makes them glorious, lovely and amiable. Some interpret this of Chrift the righteous One; fo Nebien/is.
To the chief mufician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, a pfalm of David.
HAT is defigned by the chief mujfician, and what is meant by neginotb, have been ob- | ferved in the title of Pfalmiv. As for /heminith, 6 rvmwyins propter confilia fua, Pifcator; it feems to be one particular fort of the xeginoth, or ftringed inftrument, which this man had the care of; fee the title of Pfalm xii. which moft fo Tigurine verfion, and Michaelis,
Hebrew writers ’ underftand of the harp of eight ftrings, to which this pfalm was fet; and which, from the number of its ftrings, was called /beminith, which fignifies the eighth: and this receives confirmation from «Cbron.xv.21. Theeighth ftring was added to the harp by Simonides, according to Pliny?: bur if fuch an harp is here meant, this refutes it, for David lived long before Simonides. Though fome * have thought it refers to a poem or fong of eight notes, to the tune of which this pfalm was fung; or to the eighth note, which was grave, and which we call the bafe. As for the eighth day of circumcifion, of which fome Jewith writers myftically interpret it; or the eighth, that is, the firft day, or Lord’s day, to which fome of the ancient Chriftian writers refer it, or the eighth age, or millennium, as Theodoret; thefe can by no means be admitted of. The occafion of it was either fome bodily difeafe the pfalmift laboured under, or fome diftrefs of foul, on account of fin; and the rather this feems to be the cafe, feeing the pfalm begins with the fame words as pfalm xxxviil. in which the pfalmift fo much bewails his iniquity. Some have thought it was drawn up, for the ufe of any and every fick perfon; and others fay it was written on the account of J/rae/ in captivity, who were then as fick perfons’: but rather, the’
y. 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, &c.] The Lord fometimes rebukes, or reproves, men by his Spirit, and fometimes by his word and minifters, and fometimes by his providences, and that on account of fin; to bring to a fenfe and acknow- Tedgment of it; and particularly for remiffhefs in duty, or neglect of it; and for trufting in the creature, or in any outward enjoyment, boafting of it, and loving it too much; and thele rebukes of his own people are always in love, and never in wrath, though they fometimes fear they are; fee P/alm Ixxxviii. 7, 16. Lam. iii. 1. and therefore deprecate them, as the pfalmift here does; not the thing itfelf, but the manner in which it is apprehended it is done, or doing. Neither chaften me in thy bot difpleafure; when God chaftens his own people it is not in a way of vindictive wrath, or as a proper punifhment for fin; for this would be'contrary to Chrift’s furetyfhip-engagements and performances, and to the doétrine of his fatisfaétion for fin; it would draw a vail over it, and render it of none effect; it would be contrary to the juftice of God to punifh both furety and principal; and to the everlafting love of God to them, in which he always refts, and from which there can be no feparation; ‘nor would they be dealt with as children; and befides would be condemned with the world, and killed with the fecond death; whereas they will not, though chaftened of God, it is the chaftning of a father, is very inftructive to them, and is always for their good, fpiritual and eternal; is in meafure, in judgment, and in love; and never -in fury and hot difpleafure; but this being feared, is deprecated.
¥. 2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, &c.] He knew he was a finner, both by original fin and ac~ tual tranfgreffion, which he was always ready to own; he knew that what he had done deferved the wrath of God, even his hot difpleafure; and that for fuch things it came upon the children of difobedience: he knew that there was mercy with God through Chrift, and therefore he flees unto it, pleads for it, and intreats the manifeftation of forgiving love: he pleads no merits of his own, nor makes any mention of former works of righteoufnefs done by him, but throws himfelf upon the mercy of God in Chrift; giving this as a reafon, for Tam weak; either in body, through fome difeafe upon him; or in foul, being enfeebled by fin, and {fo without fpiritual ftrength to do that which was good of himfelf; to exercife grace, and perform duty, and much lefs to keep the law of God, or make atonement for fin, or to bear the punifhment of it. O Lord, beal me; meaning either his body, for God is the phyfician of the body, he wounds and he heals; fo he healed Hezekiah and others; and he fhould be fought to in the firft place by perfons under bodily diforders: or elfe his foul, as in P/al. xli. 4. fin is the difeafe of the foul, and a very lothfome one it is, and is incurable but by the balm of Gilead, and the phyfician there; by the blood of Chrift, and forgivenefs through it; and the forgivenefs of fin is the healing of the difeafes of the foul, Pfal. ciii. 3. For my bones are vexed, with ftrong pain; meaning his body, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra obferve; becaufe thefe are the foundation of the body, and the more principal parts of it: and this may be underftood of his grief and trouble of heart for his fins and tranfgreffions, which is fometimes exprefled by the bones being broke, and by there being no reft in them, P/a. li.
¥. 3. My foul is alfo fore vexed, &c.) Or exe ceedingly troubled *, and even frightned and thrown into a confternation with indwelling fin, and on account of actual tranfgreffions, and by reafon of the hidings of God’s face, and through the temptations of Satan, and becaufe of the fear of death 3. to which Old-Teftament-faints were very incident. But thou, O Lord, bow long? it is an abrupt expreffion, the whole he defigned is not fpoken, being hindered through the grief and forrow with which his heart was overwhelmed; and is to be fupplied after this manner, ‘ fhall I have refrefhment?” as the Chaldee paraphrafe; or * wilt thou look and not heal me?” as Farchi; or ** my foul be troubled?” as dben Ezra; or “ fhall I be afficted, and thou wilt not heal me?” as Kimchi; or ‘* wilt thou afflict me, and not arife to my help?” fee Pfal, xiii. 1, 2.
that the Lord had withdrawn himfelf, and was departed from the pfalmift, wherefore he intreats him to return unto him, and grant him his gracious prefence. every where: going away and returning cannot be properly afcribed to him 5 but he may be faid to
God is immenfe and omniprefent, he is depart from his people, as to fenfible communion, with him, and enjoyment of him; when he hides his face, withdraws his gracious prefence, and the comfortable difcoveries and influences of his love; and he may be faid to return when he vifits them again, and manifefts his love and favour to them: the Jewifh writers * interpret it, ‘¢ return from the fiercenefs of thine anger,” as in Pfalm Ixxxv. 3. and though there is no fuch change in God, as from love to wrath, and from wrath to love; but inaf- — much as there is a change in his difpenfations towards his people, it is as if it was fo; and thus ic is is apprehended by them. Deliver my foul; from the anxiety, diltrefs, and fore vexation it was now in, tor of all troubles foul-troubles are the wortt; and from all enemies and workers of iniquity which were now about him, and gave him much grief and uneafinefs; and from death itfelf, he was in fear of. O, fave me for thy mercy’s fake, out of all troubles of foul and body, and out of the hands of all enemies, inward and outward; and with temporal, f{piritual, and eternal falvation; not for his righteoufnefs-fake, as Kimchi well obferves; for falvation is according to the abundant mercy of God, and not through works of righteoufnefs done by men, otherwife it would not be of grace.
y. 5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee, &c.] Of the goodnefs, truth, power, and faithfulnefs of God; no notice can be taken, nor mention made either of the perfections or works of God, whether of nature or of grace, by a dead man to others; he is wholly ufelefs to men on earth with refpect to thefe things. Jn the grave who shall give thee thanks? for mercies temporal or {piritual; the dead cannot praife the Lord among men, only the living; fee Pfal. xxx. g. and cxv. 17. I/@. Xxxviii. 18, 19. wherefore the pfalmift defires that he might live and praife the Lord: this argument is taken from the glory of God, which end cannot be anfwered among men by death, as by life. It does not follow from hence that the foul either dies or fleeps with the body, and is unactive until the refurrection- morn, neither of which are true; or that the fouls of departed faints are unemployed in heaven; they are always before the throne, and ferve the Lord day and night; they remember, with the utmoft gratitude and thankfulnefs, all the goodnefs and grace of God unto them, and praife him for all his wondrous works: but the fenfe is, that when a faint is dead, he can no more ferve and glorify God on earth among men, y. 6. LI am weary with my groaning, &c.] By reafon of bodily illnefs, or indwelling fin, or the guilt of actual tranfgreffions, or the hidings of God’s face, or a fenfe of divine wrath, or the temptations of Satan, or afflictions and croffes of various kinds, or fears of death, or even earneft defires after heaven and eternal happinefs, or the low eftate of Zion; each of which at times occafion groaning in the faints, as in the pfalmift, and is the common experience of all good men. ‘The pfalmift being weary of his difeafe, or of fin, groaned till he was weary with his groaning; inward groaning affects the body, waftes the animal fpirits, confumes the flefh, and induces wearinefs and faintnefs; fee P al.
cil. 5. Fer. xtv. 3. All the night make I my bed to fwim: I walter my couch with my tears; thele are hyperbolical phrafes *, expreffing more than is intended, and are not to be literally underftood; for fuch a quantity of tears a man could never fhed, as to water his couch and make his bed to fwim with them, but they are ufed to denote the multitude of them, and the exceffivene(fs of his forrow; fee P al.
cxix. 136. Lam. iii, 48, 49. and thefe tears were fhed, not to atone and fatisfy for fin, for nothing but the blood and facrifice of Chrift can do that; but to exprefS the truth and reality, as well as the abundance of his grief; and this was done all the night long; fee Fob vii. 3, 4. when he had leifure to think and reflect upon his fins and tranfgreffions, and when he was clear of all company, and no one could hear or fee him, nor interrupt him in the vent of his forrow, ‘and when his difeafe might be heavier upon him, as fome difeafes increafe in the night-feafon: this may alfo be myftically underitood, of a night of fpiritual darknefs and defertion, when a foul is without the difcoveries of the love of God, and the influences of: his grace; and has loft fight of God and Chrift, and intereft in them, and does not enjoy communion with them; and throughout this night-feafon, weeping endures tho’ joy comes in the morning. And it may be applicable to David’s antitype, to the doleful night in which he was betrayed, when it was the hour and power of darknefs, and when he had no other couch or bed but the ground itfelf; which was watered, not only with his tears, but with his fweat and blood, his {weat being as.it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; fo he is often faid to figh and groan in {pirit, Mark vii. 34. and viii, 12, Fobn xi. 33538.
y. 7. Mine eye is confumed becaufe of grief, &c.] Either by reafon of the affliction he laboured under, which could not be joyous but grievous; or becaufe of the fin that was in him, ‘and thofe that he had committed, which were grieving to him 5 or through the fins of other profeffors of religion, or profane finners, whom he beheld with grief of heart and weeping eyes: the word‘ ufed fignifies anger and indignation, and forrow arifing from thence, and may denote either indignation in himfelf at his enemies, who were rejoicing at his calamities; or the fenfe he had of the anger of God, and his hot difpleafure, which he feared he was rebuking and chaftening him with; and now his heart being filled with grief on one or other of thefe accounts, or all of them, vented itfelf in floods of tears, which hurt the vifive faculty; for through much weeping the eye is weakned and becomes dim, and through a multitude of tears, and a long continuance of them, it fails; fee Fob xvii. 7. P al.
xxxi. 9. Lam. it. 11. Jt waxeth old becaufe of all mine enemies; {faints have many enemies, fin, Satan, and the world; and thefe are very oppreflive ones, as the word * here fignifies; fuch as befet them about, ftraiten them on ail hands, and -prefs them fore; and they muft be prefied down by them, were it not that he that is in them is greater than he that is in the world; and David’s enemies gave him fo much trouble, and caufed him to fhed fuch plenty of tears, that his eye waxed old, was fhrunk up, and befet with wrinkles, the figns of old age; or it was removed out of its place, as the word is rendered in ob xviii. 4. or the fight was removed from that, it was gone from him, P/al. xxxviii. 10.
¥. 8. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity, &c.] The pfalmift being fully affured that God had heard his prayer, that he fhould recover from his, diforder, or be delivered out of his calamities, whether corporal or {piritual, has on a fudden a {pring of joy, faith, and comfort; as fometimes there is a quick tranfition from comfortable to uncomfortable frames; fee P/falm xxx. 7. fo on the contrary, there is as quick a paflage from uncom- 'fortable to comfortable ones; fee Lam. iii. 18, 24. who may be called workers of iniquity may be feen in the note on P/al. v. 5. and thefe were either his. open enemies, as Sau/ and his men, or Ab/alom and the confpirators with him, whom he bids to ceafe from following and purfuing after him; or his fecret ones, hypocritical courtiers, that were about him, who were wifhing and hoping for his death.
It is the lot of God’s people to be among the workers of iniquity; Lot was among the Svdomites, David was in Me/bech and in the tents of Kedar, Ifaiab was among men of unclean lips; Chrift’s lily is among thorns, and his fheep among goats; and though in fome refpects a civil converfation with wicked men cannot be avoided, for then good men muft needs go out of the world; yet as little company fhould be kept with them as can be, and no tellowfhip fhould be had with them in finful practices, nor in fuperftitious worfhip; and though there will not be a full and final feparation from them in the prefent ftate of things, there will be hereafter, when thefe very words will be ufed by Davia’s antitype, the Lord Jefus Chrift; not only to profane finners, but to carnal profefiors of religion, who have herded themfelves with the people of God, Matt, xxv. 41. and vii, 23. Luke xii, 26—28, The. reafon why the pfalmift took heart and couyage, and ordered his wicked perfecutors, or fycophants, to be gone from him, was his affurance of being heard by the Lord. |‘ For the Lord hath beard the voice of my weeping; referring to what is faid y. 6, 7. he had not only lift up his voice in prayer, but he had wept and made fupplication, as Facob ‘did, Hof: xii. 4. fometimes God brings his people to the throne of grace weeping, and with fupplications leads them, Yer. xxxi. 9. and then hears their ery and anfwers them.
y. 9. The Lord hath beard my fupplication, &c.] Which he had prefented to him, y. 1, 2, 4. in which he deprecates his anger and hot difpleafure; imtreats his free favour, grace, and mercy; defires healing for foul or body, or both; prays a return ef his gracious prefence; and deliverance and falvation out of all his troubles, from all his enemies, and from death itfelf. The word" ufed properly fignifies petitions for grace and mercy, which the pialmift put up under the influence of the Spirit of grace and fupplication, and which were heard. The Lord will receive my prayer, inftead of a burntoffering, as Aben Ezra glofies it; as {weet incenfe, as what is grateful and delightful, coming up out of the hands of Chrift the mediator, perfumed with the fweet incenfe of his mediation: the word ' fig-
Pf vi.¥.9,10.- nifies prayer made to God as the righteous judge, — as the God of his righteoufnefs, who would vindicate his caufe and right his wrongs; and a believer,
| through the blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift, can go to God as a righteous God, and plead with him even for pardon and cleanfing, who is juft and faithful to grant both unto him. ‘The pfalmift three times exprefles his confidence of his prayers being heard and received, which may be either. in reference to his having prayed fo many times for help, as the apoftle Pau/ did, 2 Cor. xii. 8. aud as Chrift his antitype did, A/ait, xxvi. 39, 42, 44. Or to exprefs the certainty of it, the ftrength of his faith in it, and the exuberance of his joy on account
¥. 10, Let all mine enemies be afbamed, &c.| Or they foall be afbamed * and fo the following claufes may be rendered, and be confidered as prophecies of what would be; though if this be confidered as an imprecation, it is wifhing no ill; wicked men are not afhamed of their abominations committed by them, neither can they blufh; it would be well if they were afhamed of them, and brought to true repentance for them; and if they are not afhamed now, they will be hereafter, when the judge of quick and dead appears. And fore vexed; or troubled‘; as his bones had been vexed, and his foul had been fore vexed by them; as he knew they would be through difappointment at his recovery, and at his deliverance from the diftrefles and ealamities he was now in, when he fhould fing for joy of heart, and they fhould howl for vexation of pirit. Let them return; meaning either from him, from purfuing after him; or to him, to feek his favour, and be reconciled to him, and be at peace with him, as Aben Ezra and Kimcbi explain it; unlefs this word fhould only fignify again, as it fometimes does, and be read in connection with what follows; let them be again afbamed fuddenly™; intimating that his deliverance would: be fudden, in a moment, in a very little time, and fo would be their difappointment, fhame, and confufton. Farché from R. Fonathan and R. Samuel bar Nachmani, refers this to the fhame of the wicked in the world to come.