Exposition of the Whole Bible

| 519 peared glorioufly to Gentiles as well as Jews. This claufe fhews that this is faid by David prophetically of gofpel-times; for not in his time, nor in any period under the Old Teftament, was the name of the Lord glorious and excellent in all the earth. His namé was great in I/rae/, but not in all the world. He fhewed his word, and gave his {tatutes and ordinances to Facob; but as for the Gentiles, they were without them, and were ftrangers to the covenants of promife, P/a/. lxxvi. 1, 2. and cxlvii. 19,20. Eph. it. 12. but this was true of the firft times of thé gofpel; and will be ftill more fully accomplifhed; when the prophecies in. Mal.i. 11. and Zech, xiv.g. fhall be fulfilled. Who hast fet thy glory above the heavens: meaning his Son, the Lord Jefus Chrift, ‘the brightnefs of his glory; in whom is all the fulnefs of the Godhead, the glory of all the divine perfeétions; fo called Pfalm Ixiii. 2. and Ixxxv. 9. and the fetting of him above the heavens, defigns the exaltation of him at the right hand of God; where angels, principalities and powers became fubjeét to him, and he was made higher than the heavens, Heb. vii.26. And it was in confequence, and by virtue of this, that the gofpel was fpread throughout the earth; for upon Chrift’s exaltation, the Spirit was poured down upon the apoftles, and they were endowed with gifts qualifying them to carry the gofpel into the feveral parts of the world. ¥. 2. Out of the mouths of babes and fucklings, &c.] Not literally fuch, though the Jewith writ~ ers * generally fo underftand it; as do fome Chriftian interpreters, who explain it of the wonderful formation, nourifhment, and growth of infants; and of the marvelous care of God in providing the breaft for them; in filling it with milk, and and teaching them to fuck; which, being obferved by men, occafion praife to God, to the confufion of atheifts and infidels. But this is no other than what is common to brute creatures: rather, the words are to be underftood in a figurative fenfe. So Farchi applies them to the priefts and Levites in the temple: but it is beft to interpret them of the apoftles and firft preachers of the gofpel; and of fuch who received it and profefled it; who were in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the world, as babes and fucklings, Matt. xi.25. Hast thou ordained firength: by which is meant the gofpel, the rod of Chrift’s ftrength, and the powerof God - unto falvation’ and which being made ufeful for the converfion of fouls, is the caufe of much praife and thanksgiving to God: this, by the mouths and means of the apoftles and firft minifters of the word, God ordained, or founded ‘, fettled and eftablifhed in the world, notwithftanding all the oppofition made unto it; fo that the gates of hell cannot prevail againft it, to root it out of the world; but it will continue the everlafting gofpel. Becaufe of thine enemies: either for the fake of fubduing them, and bringing them to the obedience of Chrift, that is, the elect of God, who are before converfion enemies to God and Chrift; or rather for the fake of confounding the implacable enemies of God and Chrift, and of the caufe and intereft of religion. In order to which, God has made choice of inftruments the moft mean and defpicable, 1 Cor. i. 26, 27, 28. and God’s end in this more particularly is expreffed in the following claufe. That thou mightest jtill the enemy and the avenger; Satan, the enemy of gis aioe the the adverfary of Chrift perfonal and myftical, who is filled with envy, wrath and malice againft Chrift and his people; him, by the means ot the gofpel and the miniftry of it, God has caufed to ceafe *, as the word may be rendered; not as to his being, but as to his power and authority, in the Gentile world; out of which, to his great mortification, he was caft, by the mouth and miniftry of babes and fucklings. Thefe words are applied by Chrift to the children in the temple, crying Hofanna to the Son of David, out of whofe mouths God perfected the praife of the Méffiah; and by which, and Chrift’s defence of them, the Scribes and Pharifees, the mortal enemies of Chrift, and who wanted to revenge themfelves on him, were filenced and ftilled, Matt. xxi, 15, 16.

y 3. When I confider thy heavens, &c.] Where God dwells, and which he has made; the airy and ftarry heavens, which are to be feen with the bodily eye; and the heaven of heavens, which is to be beheld and confidered by faith: the work of thy fingers; being curioufly wrought by his power, and garnifhed by his Spirit: for the finger of God is the Spirit of God; fee Ma¢t.xii.28. compared with Luke xi. 20. The moon and the ftars, which thou bast ordained, or prepared *, for various ufes to the earth, and the inhabitants of it. The fun is not mentioned, becaufe it cannot be looked upon, as the moon and the ftars may, nor be feen when they are. And it is generally thought, that David compofed this pfalm in the night, when thefe celeftial bodies were in view; and, it may be, whilft he was keeping his father’s fheep, fince in the enumeration of the creatures fubject to man, fheep are mentioned firft, as being in fight, ¥.7. The heavenly bodies are very glorious creatures, and are worthy of the confideration and contemplation of man, and even of a faint; whereby he may be led to obferve the wifdom, power, goodnefs, and greatnefs of God.

¥.4. What is man, that thou art mindful of him 2 &c.] That is, the pfalmift, while he was confidering the greatnefs and glory of the celeftial bodies, thought this within himfelf, and fo exprefsed it; which is to be underftood, not of man in general, nor of Adam in a ftate of innocence; he could not be called Exo/, the word here ufed, which fignifies a frail, weak, fickly mortal man; nor could he with any propriety be faid to be the fon of man, as in the following claufe: nor of fallen man, or of Adam’s pofterity, defcending from him by ordinary generation; for all things are not put in fubjection to them, as is hereafter faid of man: but this is to be underftood of the man Chrift Jefus, as it is interpreted in Heb. ii. 6, 7,8,9. or of that individual of human nature which Chrift affumed. The name of Exo/h well agrees with him, who was a man of no note and efteem among men, a worm and no man, a man of forrows and acquainted with griefs, encompafled with infirmities, and was fubjeét to death, and did die. Now it was a marvelous thing that God fhould be mindful of that individual of human nature; that he fhould prepare it in his council and covenant; that among the vaft numbers of individuals which it came up in his infinite mind to create, he fhould choofe this, to exalt it, and appoint it to union with his own Son, and take that delight in it he did; that when it was formed by his Spirit, he fhould anoint it with the oil of gladnefs above his fellows; that he fhould take fuch providential care

of it, and fo often and fo ftrongly exprefs. his.

affection for it; that he fhould regard it, and fup— port it under fufferings; and when in the grave, did not leave it, nor fuffer it to fee corruption; but raifed it from the dead, and gave it glory, and exalted it at his own right hand, man, that thou vifitest him? The name of the Jon of man, is the name of the Meffiah, in P/alm Ixxx.17. Dan. vil. 13. and is often given to Chrift, and ufed by him of himfelf in the New Teftament. And this vifiting of him is not to be underftood in a way of wrath, though he was fo vifited by God, when he bore the chaftifements of his people; but in a way of favour, by beftowing upon him without meafure the gifts and graces of his Spirit; by affording him his gracious prefence, and filling him with fpiritual peace and joy. ¥.5. For thou bast made bim a little lower than the angels, &c.| Than Elohim, than God, as this word ufually fignifies: and could it be interpreted of man, as made by God, it might be thought to refer to the creation of him in the image and likenefs of God; but as it muft be underftood of the human nature of Chrift, it may regard the wonderful union of it to the Son of God, on account of which it is called by the fame name, Luke i. 35. and fo made but a little lower than God, being next unto him, and in fo near an union with a divine perfon; and which union is hypoftatical or perfonal, the human nature being taken into a perfonal union with the Son of God: and fo thefe words give an inftance of God’s marvelous regard to it; and contain a reafon, proving that he has been mindful of it, and vifited it. “Though rather, this claufe refers to the humiliation of Chrift in his human nature, as it is interpreted in Heb: ii. 9. and fo it removes an objection, as it is connected with the following claufe, which might be made againft what had been obferved in the foregoing verfe, on account of the low eftate of Chrift’s human_ nature, when here on the earth; and the fenfe is, that God has been mindful of it, and vifited it, notwithftanding its {tate of humiliation for a little while, fecing he has crowned it with glory and honour, &c. Chrift was made low as to nature, place, eftate, reputation and life; he who was the moft high God, in the form of God, and equal to him in the divine nature, was made frail mortal flefh, and was in the form of a fervant in the human nature. He who dwelt on high, and lay in the bofom of his father, defcended into the lower parts of the earth, was formed in the womb of a virgin, and when born was laid in a manger, and dwelt and converfed with finful mortal men upon earth: he who was Lord of all, whofe is the earth, and the fulnefs of it, had not where to lay his head: he whofe glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, became a worm and no man in the efteem of men, was defpifed and rejected of men, and was of no reputation: and he who was the Lord of life and glory, was crucified and killed; becoming obedient to death, even the death of the crofs. Such is the nature of Chrift’s humiliation, exprefled by being made low; the degree of it is, lower than Elobim, than God: he was equal to him in the divine nature, but inferior to him in the human nature, Fon xiv. 28. As mediator he was the fervant of God, and the fervant is not greater than his mafter; nor as fuch fo great: and he was in his low eftate in fuch a condition as to need the help and affiftance of God, which he had in the day of falvation: and efpecially he was lower when he was deferted by him, Matt. xxvii. 46. Agreeable to which, fome render the words, as they will bear to be rendered, thou did make him want God, or did& deprive or bereave bim of God‘; that is, of the gracious prefence of God: and fo Chrift was made lower than God in nature, office and condition. Sometimes the word Elohim is ufed for civil magiftrates, as in Pfalm \xxxii. 6. becaufe they are in God’s ftead, and reprefent him; and on account of their majefty, authority and power, bear fome refemblance to him. Now Chrift was made lower than they, inafmuch as he not only taught obedience to them, but obeyed them himfelf, was a fervant of rulers, paid tribute to them, and fuffered himfelf to be examined, tried, judged, and condemned by them: but fince the word is rendered angels by the Chaldee paraphrafe, the Sep/wagint interpreters, the Jewifh commentators, Aben Ezra, Farchi, Kimchi and Ben Melech, and in the Arabic, Syriac, and Etbiopie verfions, and above all by the author of the Epiftle to the Hebrews; it is beft to interpret it of them: and Chrift was made lower than they by affuming human nature, which is inferior to theirs, efpecially in the corporeal part of it; and more fo, inafmuch as it was attended with infirmities, and fubjeét to forrows and griefs; and as it was fometimes reduced to great indigencies, and to want the comforts of life; and fometimes was in fuch diftrefs as to need the affiftance and miniftration of angels, which it had, Matt. iv.11. Luke xxii. 43. and particularly, it was lower than they -when deferted by God, whofe face they always behold. To which may be added, that Chrift was made under a law given by the difpofition of angels, ordained by them, and is called the Word fpoken by them; fome parts of which they are not fubject to; but the particular inftance the apoftle obferves, is fuffering of death, Hed. ii.g. which angels are not liable to, they die not. The duration of this low eftate was a Jittle while; for fo the Hebrew word wpr may be rendered, as itis in P/al. XxXXvii. 10. and the Greek Beayu mw, ufed by the Septuagint, and the author of the Epiftle to the Hebrews, as it is in Atts v.34. which refers either to the time of fuffering death, and lying under the power of that and the grave, which was but a little time; or at moft to the days of his flefh, reaching from his incarnation to his refurrection; which was a courfe but of a few years, and may very well be expreffed in this manner. And to this low eftate was Chrift brought by Febovah the father, who is the perfon fpoken of throughout the pialm; he preordained him to it, prepared a body for him, fent him in the fulnefs of time, made of a woman, made under the law, and had a very great hand in his fufferings and death: though all was _ with Chrift’s full confent, and with his free good will. And bast crowned him with glory and honour; by raifing him from the dead, and fetting him at his own right hand, committing all judg- _ ment to him; and requiring all creatures, angels and men, to give worfhip and adoration to him. And this being in confequence of his fufferings, after he had run the race, and endured a fight of afflictions; and becaufe of the greatnefs of his glory and honour, with which he was as it were on all fides furrounded, he is faid to be crowned with it; who a little before was crowned with gat thorns, and encompafted with the terrors of death and hell. This refpects his mediatorial glory.

¥. 6. Thou madeft bim to have dominion over the works of thy bands, &c.}. All power in heaven and in earth being given to him: when he was raifed from the dead, and when he afcended on high, and was fet down at the right hand of God, he was made or declared Lorp and CuristT3 Lord of the hofts of heaven, of all the angels there, King of faints, King of kings, and Lord of lords. All things in heaven and earth, which God has made, are put into his hands, to fubferve his caufe and glory, and for the good of his people; for he is head over all things to the church. The Ethiopic verfion reads, all the works of thy hands 5 among whom are angels, This is a greater dominion than was given to the firft man, ddam, Gen. i.28. Thou baS put all things under bis feet or put them in fubjection to him, as the phrafe fignifies, and as it is interpreted, Hed. 11.8. - Good angels are fubje€t to him, as appears by their miniftration to him, their dependence on him, and adoration of him, 1 Pe, ili,22. devils are fubject to him, whether they will or no; and fo are wicked men, whofe power and wrath he is able to reftrain, and does; and the church is fubject to Chrift, as her head; and fo all good men, willingly and heartily, and from a principle of love, obey his commands: yea, all creatures in the earth, air and fea, are in fubjection to him; an enumeration of which is given in the following verfes.

¥.7. All fheep and oxen, &c.| ‘The tame creatures, which are ufeful for food and cloathing: yea, and the beafts of the field; the wild beafts, which he can make ufe of to deftroy and devour his enemies, and whom he can reftrain from hurting his own people, Yer. xv. 3. Dan. vi. 22. Ais XXVIll. 354, 5+

¥.8. The fowl of the air, &c.] ‘Thefe he rained about the tents of the J/raelites for their relief, Pfal. \xxviii.27. and can command them to feéd his people, as the ravens did Elijah, 1 Kings xvii. 4, 6. or to deftroy his enemies, er. xv.3. fee P al.

l. 10,11. And the fifo of the fea: inftances of Chrift’s power over them, and of their being at his command, and for his fervice, may be feen in Matt. xvii. 27. Lukev. 5,6. Fobu xxi.3, 6. And whatfoever paffeth through the paths of the feas: fome * underftand this of fhips, made by the wifdom and art of men, in which they pafs through the paths of the fea, and fifh in the midft of it. The Zargum paraphrafes it, and Leviathan, which paffes through the paths of the fea. Compare with this Tfa. xxvii. 1, Some interpret all thefe things in a figurative and allegorical way; and fome of the ancients by /Leep, underftood believers among the Gentiles; by oxen, the Jews; by the beasts of the field, idolaters and profane perfons; by the fowls of the air, angels; and by the f/h of the fea, devils: but thefe are much better explained by Cocceius, who by /heep underftands common members of the churches; by oxez, thofe that labour in the word and doétrine; by the beasts of the field, aliens from the city and kingdom of God; men fierce and cruel, J/a. xi. 6, 7,8. and Ixv. 25. by the fowl of the air, fach as are lifted up with pride and vanity; and by she ji/h of the fea, fuch as‘ are im= merfed in worldly pleafures. But it is beft to interpret the whole literally; from whence may be obferved, that what was loft by the firft 4dam is reftored voluifti paulalum a Deo, Michaelis; carere eum fecifti Deo parumper, Gejerus,

& Aben Ezra & Kimchi in loc.

reftored by the fecond; and that believers have a free ufe of all the creatures through Chrift: and not only the things here mentioned are fubjeé to him, but every thing elfe; there is nothing left that is not put under him, only he is excepted that put all things under him, Hed. ii, 8. 1 Cor. Xv. 27.

¥.9. O Lord our God, bow excellent, &c.] The pfalm ends with the fame words with which it begins; which fhews that the fenfe of this, with which the pfalmift was affected, continued with him, and doubtlefs increafed after fuch a confirmation of it, by the inftances he was led to take notice of,

To the chief mufician upon Muthelabben, a pfalm of David.

OME take muth-labben to be the name of the tune to which this pfalm was fung, and to defign the fame note which we call the countertenor: others think, that “pon muth, or almuth, are but one word, and the fame as alamoth, Pfalm xlv. title; and that itis the name of a mufical inftrument; and that Bex in /abben, is the name of the chief mufician, who was over that fort of inftrument, to whom the pfalm is infcribed’; and indeed, R Sol Farchi fays, that he had feen in the great Ma/orah thefe words as one; and fo it feems the Septuagint interpreters read them, who render them, for the bidden toings of the Son, and the Arabic verfion, concerning the mySteries of the Son: and Ben is a name, it is faid, of one of the fingers, whofe kindred and companions were appointed with pfalteries on alamoth, 1 Chron. xv.18,20. And fo then the title runs thus; Zo the chief mu fician on alamoth, even to Ben. But others are of opinion, that the fubject-matter or occafion of the pialm, is defigned by this phrafe; and that as muth fignifies death, the death of fome perfon is intended, on account of which this pfalm was compofed; fome fay Nabal, feeing the word 334 Laban inverted, or read backwards, is Nadal", whofe death affected David; as appears from 1 Sam.xxv. 38,39. Others, that it was one of the kings of the Gentiles, whofe name was Labben, and is mentioned no where elfe, who fought with David, and whom he flew, and upon his death penned this pfalm ®. Others, Goliath the Philifline°, who is called 1 Sam. xvii. 4, 23. COWS wR which we render champion and dueller, one of two that fight together. But rather, the reafon of the name is as given by the Jewifh commentators ®, becaufe he went and ftood between the two camps of the Philiftines and the I/raelites; and fo the Chaldee paraphrafe renders the title of this pfalm, ‘ to «¢ praife, concerning the death of the man who « went out between the camps, a fong of David.” And fo the pfalm itfelf, in the Zargum, and by other Jewifh writers, is interpreted of Goliath and the Phififtines, and of the victory overthem; and which does not feem amifs. rama interprets it of the death of Sau]. Others interpret /-muth Labben, of the death of the fon, and underftand it of the death of Abfalom, the fon of David’; but David's paffion moved in another way, not in joy, but in grief, 2 Sam. xviii.33. nor is there any thing inthe pfalm that can be referred unto it. Others, of the death of the Son of God; but of that there is not the jeaft hint in the pfalm. heodoret interprets it of Chrift’s victory over death by dying, which was a myftery or hidden thing. Rather, I fhould think it might be interpreted of the death of the fon of perdition, the,man of fin and his followers; who may be typified by Goliath, and the Philiftines:

* Kimchi & Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc. levi in ibid, 5 ® Kimchi & Ben Melech in loc. in s Sam. xvii. 4, & So fome in Jarchi in los,

™ So fome in Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc. ® Jarchi, Kimchi, Levi Ben Gerfom, R, Ifaiah & Ben Melech and fo, as Ainfworth obferves, as the former pfalm was concerning the propagation of Chrifl’s kingdom, _ this is of the deftruction of Antichrift, And Yerom — long ago faid, this whole pialm is fung by the pro- © phet in the perfon of the church, concerning Anti- — chrift: and to this agrees the Syriac verfion; which makes the fubjeét of the pfalm to be, ** concern< ‘¢ ing Chrift, taking the throne and kingdom, ‘«* and routing the enemy.” And alfo the Arabic verfion, according to which the argument of the pfalm is, ‘‘ concerning the myfteries of the Son, ‘¢ with refpect to the glory of Chrift, and his re- ‘¢ furrection and kingdom, and the deftruétion of ‘¢ all the children of difobedience.”* To which may be added, that this pfalm, according to R. Sol. Farchi, belongs to the time to come, to the days of the Meffiah, and the future redemption by him,

¥. 1. I will praife thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, &c.| This is what is called in the New Teftament making melody in the heart, or finging with grace in the heart, Eph. v. 19. Col. ili. 16. and yet does not fignify mere mental finging, but vocal finging, the heart joining therein; for the word here ufed for praife fignifies to confefs, to {peak out, to declare openly the praifes of God in the public congregation, as David elfewhere determines to do, Pfal. cxi. 1. and cxxxviii. 1, 2. the heart ought to be engaged in every part of divine fervice and worfhip, whether in preaching or in hearing, or in prayer, or in finging of praife; and the whole heart alfo: fometimes God has nothing of the heart in worfhip, it is removed far from him, and gone after other objects; and fometimes it is divided between God and the creature; hence the pfalmift prays that God would unite his heart to fear him, and then he fhould praife him with all his heart, with z!l that was within him, with all the powers and faculties of his foul; fee P/a/. Ixxxvi. 11, 12. and ciii. 1. This phrafe is not expreflive of the perfection of this duty, or of performing it in fuch manner as that there would be no imperfection in it, or fin attending it; for good men fail in all their performances, and do nothing good without fin; hence provifion is made for the iniquities of holy things; but of the heartinefs and fincerity of it; and in fuch an undiffembled and upright manner the pfalmift determines, in the ftrength of divine grace, to praife the Lord. J will fhew forth all thy marvelous works; fuch as the creation of all things out of nothing, and the bringing them into the form and order in which they are by the.word of God; and in which there is fuch a dilplay of the power and wifdom of God; and particularly the formation of man out of the duft of the earth, in the image, and after the likenefs of God; the ful tentation

tentation of the whole world of creatures in their being, the providential care of them all, the prefervation of man and beaft; and efpecially the work of redemption: it is marvelous that God fhould think of redeeming finful men; that he fhould fix the {cheme of it in the way he has; that he fhould pitch upon his own Son to be the Redeemer; that ungodly men, finners, the chief of finners, and enemies, fhould be the perfons redeemed; and that not all the individuals of human nature, but fome out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation: as alfo the work of grace, which is a new creation, and more marvelous than the old; a regeneration, or a being born again, which is aftonifhing to a natural man, who cannot conceive how this can be; a refurrection from the dead, or a caufing dry bones 10 live; a call of men out of darknefs into marvelous light; and it is as wondrous how this work is preferved amidft fo many corruptions of the heart, temptations of Satan, and fnares of the world, as that it is; to which may be added, the wonderful works yet to be done, as the fetting up of the kingdom of Chrift; the deftruétion of Antichrift, the refurrection of the dead, the laft judgment, and the eternal glory and happinefs of the faints: and doubtlefs the pfalmift may have refpect to the many victories which he, through the divine power, obtained over his enemies; and particularly the marvelous one which was given him over Goliath with a ftone and fling; thefe the pfalmift determined to make the fubject of his fong, to dwell and enlarge upon, to fhew forth unto others, and to point out the glories, beauties, and excellency of them: and when he fays a// of them, it muft be underftood of as many of them as were within the compafs of his knowledge, and of as much of them as he was acquainted with; for otherwife the marvelous works of God are infinite and without number, od v. 9. and ix. 10. “4 t, y. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in thee, &c.| Not in himfelf, in any attainments or works of his; not in his wifdom, riches and ftrength, nor in his warlike exploits, but in the Lord; not in fecond caufes, in horfes and chariots, in armies, and in the courage and valour of men, but in God, as the author of deliverance, victory and falvation; not in God only as the God of nature and providence, but as the God of all grace, and as his covenant-God and father; and becaufe of the bleffings of this covenant, as forgivenefs of fin, a juftifying righteoufnefs, &c. for he rejoiced not in his own righteoufnefs, but in the righteoufnefs of Chrift, as well as in his perfon, grace, and facrifice; fo the Cha/dee paraphrafe renders it, Iwill be glad and rejoice 7VO3I in thy Word, the Jogos, the effential Word of God, of whom there were many types, promifes, and prophecies in the former difpenfation; two words being here ufed exprefs the greatnefs of this joy, and efpecially the latter word denotes a very vehement joy, a joy unfpeakable and full of glory; fuch as arifes from a fight of Chrift the objeét, and which the pfalmift had now in view; and this was not a carnal and worldly joy, but joy in the holy Ghoft. J will fing praife to thy name, O thou moft High, that is, to the glory of his name, his being, and perfections, as difplayed in his marvellous works, and in the revelation of his word, and efpecially in his Son; and under the character of the mof# bigh God, the fupreme being over all creatures, angels and men; fee Pfal, vii. 17.

¥. 3. When mine enemies are turned back, &c.] As the Philiftines were, when Goliath their champion

523) was dead; and as the mén that came to apprehend Chrift, David’s antitype, went backwards and fell to the ground, thro’ the fuperior power of Chrift, and as fin, Satan, and the world, and at laft antichrift, are made to retreat from the Lord’s people, who are more than conquerors over them through Chrift that has loved them. They fhall fall and perifh at thy prefence; they fhall ftumble at one thing or another which divine providence will throw in their way to hinder them from executing their defigns, and fo fall before them they meant to deftroy, and perifh at the prefence of God as wax melteth before the fire; fee Pfalm xxvii. 2, and Ixvili. 1, 2. fo antichrift fhall be confumed with the breath of Chrift’s mouth, and the brightnefs of his coming, 2 The/f: ii. 8. and this is the ground and foundation of the pfalmift’s joy, and rejoicing, and finging praife to God, as it will be the reafon ‘of the joy of faints in the latter day, Rev, xviii. 20. and xix. 1, 2:

y. 4. For thou haft maintained my right and my caufe, &c.| Or vindicated and eftablithed his righteous caufe; God had pleaded and ‘defended it, and by the flight, fall, and ruin of his enemies had clearly made it appear that his caufe was juft and good. Thou fatteft in the throne judging right, God has not only a throne of grace on which he fits, and from whence he diftributes grace and mercy to his people, but he has a throne of judgment, and which is prepared for it, as in ¥. 7. where he fits as the judge of all the earth, and will do right; nor can he do otherwife, though his judgments are not always manifeft in the prefent ftate of things; and the vindication of the pfalmift’s innocence and up= rightnefs, is another reafon of his joy and gladnefs.

¥. 5. Thou baft rebuked the heathen, &c.| The people of the Philiflines, as the Targum and Kimchi explain it, though fome Jewifh writers * underftand it of Amalek the chief of the heathen nations; but it rather refers to gofpel-times, and to the rebukes of the heathen by the preaching of the gofpel, for their idolatry and fuperftition; and efpecially to the latter day, and to the rebukes of the antichriftian ftates, the papifts, who are called Gentiles; which will be with flames of fire, and will iffte in their utter extirpation, upon which a profound peace and profperity will fucceed in the chriftian churches, according to J/a. ii. 4. which is a prophecy of thofe times. Thou haft deftroyed the wicked; the wicked man}; for it is in the fingular number; Jabben, as Aben Ezra obferves, or who is meant by him; Goliath, according to the Targum and Kimchi; or Efau, as other Jewith writers”, that is, his pofterity the Edomites; and each of thefe were figures of antichrift, the man of fin, the wicked one, whom Chrift will flay with the breath of his lips, Z a. xi. 4.

Thou haft put out their name for ever and ever; that is, the glory and reputation of their name, a good and honourable one, which they fought to tranfmit to the lateft pofterity; for though the names of wicked men may continue, as Pharaoh, Fudas, and others; yet they continue with a fcandal and reproach upon them that fhall never be wiped off, their names rot and ftink; fee Prov. x. 7. the whole of this denotes the utter ruin and fhameful end of the enemies of Chrift and his church, and which is matter of joy to the faints.

y. 6. O thou enemy, &c.] Which fome underftand of Goliath, though we do not read of any de~ folations made by him, nor of any cities deftroyed by him; nor by the J/raelites upon his death and the flight of the Pviliftines on that account; Farchi

5 524 interprets it of E/an and his pofterity, who fhall be deftroyed in future time, to which he applies Ezek. XXXV. 9. other Jewith writers © think Amalek is intended, whofe deftruction they fuppofe will be in the days of the Meffiah, and then will this fcripture be fulfilled: and as thefe all prefigured antichrift, as before obferved, he feems to be defigned, and not Satan, as fome Chriftian interpreters have thought, that enemy of Chrift, perfonal and myftical, of the church, and every true believer, and fo is antichrift, he oppoles himfelf to God, and all that is called God; he is one that is contrary to Chrift, as his name fignifies, to his perfon, offices, grace, and kingdom; who blafphemes the name of God, his tabernacle, and his faints. Dej/truéciions are come to a perpetual end which may be underftood either of the deftructions and defolations made by antichrift, the havock he has made in the world, treading under foot the holy city, the church, deftroying the earth and the inhabitants of it, the bodies, fouls, andeftates of men; but now the pfalmift prophetically declares the end of them to be come, his forty two months, or one thoufand two hundred and fixty days or years will be up, and he will go on no more defolating and deftroying; fee Kev, xi. 2, 3, 18. and xiii. 5, 7. or of the deftructions and defolations made upon him by the pouring out of the feven vials upon the antichriftian {tates, upon the feat of the beaft, and upon both Pope and Turk, the eaftern and weftern antichrift; when in the iffue the beaft, and the falfe prophet with him, will be taken and caft alive into a lake of fire; fee Rev. xvi. and xix, xx. and fo this phrafe denotes that the deftruction of antichrift will be confummate, his ruin will be complete, and there will be an utter end of him. Some inftead of de/olations, by the change of a point read pygan fwords, and Ben Labrat or R. Donefb fays*, that he found it fo written in an ancient book; and fo reads Farchi, though he takes notice of the other reading alfo; and {fo read the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic verfions; and then the fenfe is, {words fhall fail, they fhall be no more made ufe of to deftroy men with, they fhall be beaten into plowfhares; for upon the deftruction of the man of fin there will be a profound peace in the world; fee J/z. ii, 4. Some * read thefe words interrogatively, are de/truétions come to a@ perpetual end? that is, which the enemy antichrift defigned to bring upon the people of God? no they are not; he may imagine they are, when the two witnefies are flain; and may think he has then made an entire flaughter, and a complete deftruction of the faints; but he will be miftaken, thefe witnefles will rife again, and afcend up to heaven in the fight of their enemies, and to the great terror of them, Rev. Xi. 10, 11,12. And thou haft deftroyed cities, or bajft thou deftroyed cities? that is, as antichrift threatned and intended, namely, to deftroy all the cities and churches of Chrift; but, alas! he will never be able to do it, they are built on a rock againft which the gates of hell can never prevail: but it is better to read the words affirmatively, and interpret them not of the enemy but of God, and of him deftroying the cities of the enemy; for at the pouring out the feventh and laft vial, the great _ city, the whole antichriftian jurifdiction will be divided into three parts, and utterly perifh; and the cities of the Pagan and Mahometan nations will fall, and particularly Babylon the great city will come in remembrance before God, and be utterly deftroyed, — Rev, xvi. 19. Their memorial is perifhed with them; they fhall not be returned or built any more, but fhall be like a milftone caft into the fea, and be found no more at all, Ezek, xxxv. g. Rev. xviii. 21. Somefread this claufe by way of interroga- _ tion 4s the others, is their memorial perifhed wit them? no, the righteous are in everlafting remembrance, even thofe churches which the Romi/h anti- "i chrift has made havock of, as the J/bigenfés and Waldenfes, the memory of them is ftill precious.

y.7. But the Lord fhall endure for ever, &c.Js When antichrift is entirely ruined, his cities de- {troyed, and the memorial of them perifhed, then } Joall the Lord fit for ever ®, as the words may be rendered; that is, as a Jewifh writer " paraphrafes ~ them, in reft and quiet. The words may be a preflive of the unchangeablenefs and eternity and power of God; the Chaldee paraphrafe of them is, ya ID the word of the Lord is for ever; bis habitation is in the highest heavens. And they may very well be interpreted of Chrift, the effential Word of God, who is the unchangeable, everlafting, and almighty God; and who fits King for ever, and muft fit at God’s right hand, in the higheft heavens, until all his enemies are made his root{tool; and to him moft properly do the following things in this and the next verfe belong: He hath prepared bis throne for judgment; for the adminiftration of judgment in this world, for the particular judgment after death, and for the general judgment after the refurrection of the dead; which feems by what follows to be chiefly meant, and which will come on after the deftruction of antichrift; and all things are preparing for it; the day is appointed, in which God will judge the world; Chritt is ordained to be the judge ot quick and dead; devils and ungodly men are referved to the judgment of the great day; the throne is ready, which will be a white one, Kev. xx. 11. denoting the purity, juftice and uprightnefs of the judge, who ‘himfelf is at the door,

¥.8. And be fhall judge the world in righteoufnefs, &c.] The word 93: rendered world, is, as Ben Melech well obferves, a general name for all the countries of the habitable world; and fo fhews that it is the univerfal judgment that is here fpoken of; and which will be carried on and finifhed with the utmoft righteoufnefs, and according to the ftricteft rules of juftice and equity; and is therefore called the righteous judgment of God, Rom. ii. 5. fee Pfal. xcvi. 13. and xcviii. 9 Ads xvil. 31. He Jhall minifier judgment to the people in uprightnefs s which fignifies the fame with the former claufe, unlefs by the world there, fhould be meant the wicked of the world; and by the people here, the people of God; to whom the righteous Judge will give the crown of righteoufnefs.

¥.9. The Lord aljo will be a refuge for the oppreffed, &c.] The poor and weak, fuch as have no might nor power, and are thrown down and trampled upon, as the word ' fignifies; and fuch are the people of God. ‘They are opprefled with the burden of fin; they are bowed down with Satan and his temptations; and are fometimes prefled out of meafure, and above their ftrength, with the perfecutions of men; they are trodden under foot by antichrift, or otherwife are bore down with a variety of forrows and afflictions; but the Lord isa refuge for them. The Chaldee paraphrafe renders it as before, the Word of the Lord, the eternal Logos, the Son of God: he is a refuge for poor, fenfible finners, fleeing from wrath to come; being typified by the cities of refuge, whither the manflayer fled from the avenger of blood: he is the ftronghold for the prifoners of hope to turn into; his name is a ftrong tower and place of defence for opprefied faints; he is a refuge when all others fail, and at all times, in the day of affliction, and in the hour of death, and at judgment. 4 refuge in times of trouble; of which the faints have many, as when God hides his face, when corruptions prevail, when grace is low in exercife, and temptations are {trong, yet even then Chrift is the refuge from the ftorm; the falvation of his people is of him, and he is their ftrength in every time of trouble; fee Ija. xxv. 4. Pfal. xxxvii. 39.

y¥. 10. And they that know thy name, &c.| As proclaimed in the gofpel, a God gracious and merciful and forgiving fin; and as in Chrift, in whom his name is, and in whom he is the God of love, grace, and mercy, though out of him a confuming fire; or the name of Chrift himfelf, the Word of the Lord, who is the refuge of faints and finners; his name Jelus, a Saviour: fuch who know him to be the able, willing, complete, all-fufficient, and everlafting Saviour; who know his power and faithfulnets to keep what is committed to him; and who know him mot merely notionally and fpeculatively, and in a profeffional way only, but affectionately, fpiritually and experimentally; fuch wil? put their truft in thee; as they have great reafon to do; and the more they know of the grace and mercy of God in Chrift, and of the ability and fuitablenefs of Chrift as a Saviour, the more ftrongly will they place their truft and confidence in him. For thou, Lord, haft not forfaken them that feek thee; who are firft fought out by God in effectual vocation, and then under the influence and direction of. his grace and Spirit feek him in Chrift, where he is only to x Ate and feek Chrift and his righteoufnefs above all things elfe, and with their whole hearts, and diligently; and feek to Chrift alone for life and falvation, and continue feeking the Lord by prayer and fupplication, for whatever they ftand in need of; thefe God does not forfake: he may fometimes hide his face from them, as he does from his own children, and did from his own Son, yet he never forfakes them totally and finally; nor will he forfake the work of his own hands, which he has wrought in them, but will perfect it; he will never leave them fo as that they fhall perifh by fin, Satan, or any enemy; he will not forfake them in life, nor at death, but will be the ftrength of their hearts, and their portion for ever.

y. 11. Sing praifes to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion, &c.| The pfalmift having determined in the ftrength of grace to praife the Lord himfelf, and fhew forth all his marvelous works, and given his reafons for it, both with refpeét to himfelf in particular, and with refpect to the people of God in general, here calls upon others to engage in the fame work; the Lord is not only to be praifed, which may be done by celebrating the perfections of his nature, and the works of his hands; by giving him thanks for mercies temporal and fpiritual, and by living to his glory; but his praifes are to be fung by a modulation of the voice in tuneful notes, as the word ufed fignifies; fee Cant, ii. 12. where the fame word is ufed of the finging of birds; and this is to be done by the faints jointly, in concert together, as Paul and Silas in prifon fang the praifes of God; and there is great reafon why they fhould join together in this work, fince they fhare the.

bleffings of divine grace in common together; and it is their duty to ftir up one another to this fervice, as well as to other parts of worfhip: and this perfeétly agrees with the exhortation to the faints, and the work they fhall be employed in at the fall of Babylon, or deftruétion of Antichrift, Rev. xiv. r, 2, 3. and xviii. 20. and xix. 1,2. Febovab, to whom praifes are to be fung, is defcribed as the inhabitant of Zion, the ark and tabernacle being there before the temple was built, which were fymbols of the The Targum paraphrafes it, who caufeth bis fhekinah to dwell in Zion; as many of the Jewith writers interpret this pfalm of Goliath, a doubt arifes here about it, fince in the days of Saul and at the time of Goliath’s death, Zion was in the hands of the Febufites, and the ark of God was not there till many years afterwards; to this it is replied, that David might compofe this pfalm upon that occafion not immediately at that time, but after he was king of J/rael, and when the ark was brought to Zion; or that he faid this by a prophetic fpirit, forefeeing that God would dwell there; and Kimchi obferves, that it was every where a received tradition among the people of J/rael that the fanétuary would be built there; but however this be, certain it is that the church of God goes by the name of Zion frequently; fee Pfal. ii. 6. and 1.2. Heb. xii. 22. Rev. xiv. 1. God by his effence and power is every where, he fills heaven and earth, and cannot be contained in either; his glorious prefence is in heaven; his gracious prefence is in his church and among his people; where they dwell he dwells, and where he dwells they dwell: hence the church is called by the fame name as the Lord is here, the inhabitant of Zion, Ifa. xii. 6. and this defcription of him points out the place where his praifes are to be fung, in Zion; who are to fing them, the members of the church; and the reafon why, becaufe the Lord dwells in Zion; and is there a refuge for his people, and protects them. Declare among the people kis doings; what God does for the fouls of men is not only to be declared among the people of God, P/al. Ixvi. 16. but alfo among the people of the world, when a fuitable opportunity offers; and efpecially in the public miniftry of the word; partly that the name of God may be exalted, his grace, goodnefs and mercy be difplayed; and partly that it might be the means of the converfion of God’s chofen ones among them, Pfal. xcvi. 2, 3. Ifa. xii. 2, 3, 4. though it may be here his doings in providence are meant, his fpecial providential care of his church and people, and his vengeance on their enemies, on Babylon; for upon the ruin of Antichrift, the judgments of God, his providential difpenfations towards his church and people will be made manifeft, and all nations will be called upon to fear and worfhip him; fee Fer. 1,28. Rev. xv. 3, 4. the word * which is here ufed fignifies fuch deeds and actions as are the effects of thought and counfel, and which are purpofely and induftrioufly done; and whatfoever is done by the Lord, whether in a way of grace or providence, is done after the counfel of his own will; as he thought. {c it is, as he purpofes fo it comes to pafs, and all things are done well and wifely, and anfwer the ends and defigns of them.

y.12. When be maketh inquifition for blood, 8cc. | The Arabic verfion renders it, be remembers bim that feeks their blood 5 that is, the wicked man, that lies in wait for innocent blood, and whofe feet are f{wift to fhed ir; the man of fin, who is bloodthirfty; who drinks up the blood of the faints like water, and has been made drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jefus, him will God remember, and take vengeance on, in his own time: but rather, this is to be underftood of God himfelf, feeking for the blood of his faints: he knows where it is, though ever fo privily fhed, as he did Abels; yet, to fhew his ftrict care and accurate notice of it, he is reprefented as fearching for it, and finding it out by fecret fearch, Fer. ii. 34. And it is the fame phrafe with requiring blood, and exprefies a demand of fatisfaction for it; and declares the vengeance that God will take on account of it: he requires the blood of every man at the hand of him by whom it is fhed, Gen ix. 5,6. efpecially the blood of the righteous, Mart. xxiii. 35. particularly the blood of the martyrs of Jefus, fhed by the Romi/b Antichrift; he will make inquifition for that, and will find in Badylon the blood of the prophets and faints, and of all that are flain on earth and will avenge the bloo/ of his fervants at her hand, and give her blood to drink, Rev. xvili.2 4.

the righteous, as the Targum paraphrafes it, whofe blood has been fhed; or elfe the wicked, who thed their blood: God will remember them and their fins; which, for fome time, may feem not to have been taken notice of by him, and will pour out his wrath, and inflict juft punifhment on them; fee Rev. xvi.1g. and xviii. 5,6. He forgetteth not the ery of the bumble: the cetib, or writing of the text, is C9337 afflicted; the keri, or reading, is yp humble; fo the Maforab and Targum read: both may be taken into the fenfe: afflicted perfons are generally humble, afflictions make them humble; God’s people are an afflicted people; afflicted with fin, with Satan, with the world, with Antichrift and his followers: and they are a humble people; grace makes them humble, and a fenfe of their fin and unworthinefs keeps them fo: and this is a proper character of the followers of Jefus. Thefe in their diftrefs cry to the Lord, as the Z raelites did in Egypt under their bondage and preffures: yea, their blood cries after death, as /be/’s did, and as the blood of the martyrs of Chrift does,

», whofe fouls under the altar cry for vengeance, Rev.

' vi. g. and God is not unmindful of their cry; however he may feem to be, he takes notice of it, and will in his own time avenge his elect, which cry unto him day and night.

¥. 13. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, &c.] The pfalmift proceeds to petitions on his own account in this verfe: the ends he propofes by the fulfilling of them, are mentioned in the next. A good man, a man called by the grace of God, though he has obtained mercy of the Lord, yet ftill ftands in need of more, of freth difcoveries of pardoning grace and mercy, of merciful fupplies, of merciful fupport, and merciful deliverances from enemies, inward and outward: and fuch.an one flees to God, and not to the creature; and pleads, not his own dignity, righteoufnefs or merit, but the mercy of God. Confider my trouble which I fuffer of them that bate me; or fee my affliction because of mine enemis'; look upon me under it with an eye of pity and compaffion, and help and deliver me; and look upon mine enemies that give me this trouble, and take vengeance on them. Thou that lifte# me up from the gates of death, the houfe a " pointed for all living; that is, from the power of. it, when juft upon the brink of it; when near it, as a perfon is to an houfe, when he is at the gates of it; either through ficknefs, or fome violent diftemper of body, as Hezekiah was; or thro’ fome imminent danger in battle, as David was when engaged with Goliath 5 when every one thought, as Kimchi obferves, that he fhould fall by his hand: or it may be, this may have refpeé to his being raifed up from the death of fin, and delivered from the power of darknefs; to his being brought out of the horrible pit and miry clay of an unregenerate ftate, and fet upon the rock of falvation; which is a lifting up indeed, an exaltation from a very low toa very high eftate: and this the pfalmift takes notice of to encourage his faith; and makes ufe of it as an argument with

God, that as he had dealt fo gracioufly and bountifully with him, he would {till fhew mercy to him, and look upon him under his affliction. - y.14. That I may fhew forth all thy praife, 8c.} That is, all thy bounties and acts of goodnefs, deferving of praife; even as many of them as he had an experience of, and which came within his knowledge; and as much of them as he was capable of obferving: for otherwife, the inftances of divine grace and goodnefs are fo many, that they cannot be reckoned up in order, nor God be praifed for them, in the prefent ftate of things, as he fhould; fee the note on y. 1. Jn the gates of the daughter of Zion: it was ufual with the Hebrews, to reprefent a chief city as a mother-city, and the towns and villages, and places adjacent, as daughters; and fo, as Zion or Ferufalem fenifies the church of God in general, or the mother-church, Gal. iv. 26. fo the daughter of Zion may mean a particular church: the Targum renders it the congreeration of Zion; and tbe gates of it, are the public ordinances of divine worfhip in it 5 and the fenfe is, that the pfalmitt defired to fhew forth the praifes of God in the moft public manner in the congregation and affembly of the faints. J will rejoice in thy falvation, or that Imay rejoice in thy falvation™: meaning either temporal falvation and deliverance from enemies, wrought by God for him, which would be matter of joy to him; or fpiritual falvation, which may be called God’s falvation, becaufe contrived by him in the council of peace, and fecured by him in the covenant of grace, and wrought out by his Son in the fulnefs of time, and applied by his Spirit at converfion. And a gracious man rejoices in this falvation more becaufe it is the Lord’s, than. becaufe it is his own; or he rejoices more becaufe of the glory of God, which is difplayed in it, than becaufe of his own advantage and happinefs by it.

¥. 15. The beathen are funk into the pit that they made, &c.] The pfalmift having determined to praife the Lord, and called upon others to join with him in it, here enters upon it: for, as Farchi and Aben Ezra obferve, this is mMomM the praife he was defirous to fhew forth, which is oceafioned by the deftruétion of God’s enemies, and the deliverance of his people: by the heathen are meant not the Philiftines, as Kimchi interprets it, who thought to caufe IJ/rael to fall, and fell themfelves; but this is fpoken prophetically of the nations of the earth, who have joined in the idolatry of anti- — chrift, the Gentiles, by whom the holy city has been trodden under foot; even the SAS AY a. ** "a cnri 3

@ TAN exultem, Janius & joa chriftian ftates, that will be deftroyed by the pouring out of the feven vials, and efpecially the laft, at the battle of Armageddon; and which will be

‘brought on by themfelves, with a defign to deftroy the whole kingdom and intereft of Chrift, but will iffue in their utter ruin, which this phrafe is expreflive of; fee Rev. xviii. 3. and xi. 2. and xvi.13, 14, 16. and xix. 19——21. The metaphor is taken from hunters, who dig pits for the wild beatts to fall into, that they may the more eafily take them, into which they fall themfelves; fee P/alm vii.15. Wicked men are mifchievous and crafty, but fometimes they are taken in their own craftinefs: Ia the net which they laid, is their own foot taken, which may fignify the fame thing as before, that the mil> chief they defign for others falls upon themfelves; only as the former phrafe denotes their utter deftruction, like the finking of a milftone in the fea, by which the ‘irrecoverable ruin of Babylon is exprefled, Rev. xviii.21. this may defign the reftraint and hindrance of them from doing the evil they would; their feet are intangled, that they cannot run to fhed blood; and their hands are held, that they cannot perform their enterprize; and their wrath is reftrained and made to praife the Lord. The metaphor is taken from fowlers, who lay nets and fhares for birds, and cover them that they may not be feen, but fall into them unawares; fee P/a.

¥. 16. The Lord is known by the judgment which be executeth, &c.] The judgment which God will execute upon antichrift, and the antichriftian powers, will be a means of making known his name, his glory, his perfections, in all the earth 5. as his wifdom, power, juftice and goodnefs; fee Exod. ix. 16. P/al. Ixxix. 10. Rev. xv. 3,4. The deftruction of antichrift will be the Lord’s doing, and it will be a righteous one; it will be a juft retaliation; as he has killed with the fword, multitudes of his, followers fhall be killed with the fword; as he has led captive, he fhall be taken captive at the battle of Armageddon; as he has burnt many of the martyrs of Jefus, he fhall be cait into the lake of fire burning with brimftone. Some read thefe words as two fentences, The Lord is known, he bath executed judgment™: the latter of thefe refers not to the miniftration of juftice in the providential government of the world, or at the laft day in the general judgment; but to the judgment of the great whore, or Antichrift, at which time the Lord will be known in his gofpelin all the world; the earth will be filled with the knowledge of him, and he, and he alone will be exalted; his name will be great and glorious throughout the earth; all fhall know him from the Jeaft to the greateft; and their knowledge of him will be very clear and comprehenfive. The wicked is fnared in the work of his own bands; not Goliath, as Kimchi thinks, who was lain by David with his own fword, though this was true of him in the letter and type; but the wicked One, the man of fin and fon of perdition, Antichrift, whofe coming is after the working of Satan, with all craftinefs and wily ftratagems, called the depths of Satan, Rev. ii. 24. but his own fins fhall take him, and he fhall be holden with the cords of his iniquities, and be rewarded double for all his fins; what is before figuratively expreffed, is here litterally declared; or he bath fnared the wicked in or by the work of his hands*, that is, God. Higgaion,

Sclab. of the latter of thefe words fee the note on Pyal, iii, 2. the former fignifies meditation, Farchi paraphrafes it s3n79) /et us meditate on this, felahs Aben Ezra interprets it, I will fhew forth this in truth; the Chaldee paraphrafe is, the righteous fhall rejoice for ever; the note of Kimcbi and Ben Melech is, this falvation is to us meditation and praife; upon the whole the fenfe feems to be this, that God’s judgments upon Antichrift, and the antichriftian ftates, and the deliverance of his people from their yoke and tyranny, are things worthy of the meditation-of the faints, and afford juft matter of joy, praife and thankfgiving. i: ¥. 17. Lhe wicked ball be turned into hell, &c.]

Some render it, /hall return to the grave’, to the earth, the original duft from whence they came 5 but this is common to all men, to the righteous as well as the wicked; rather $yxw here fignifies the place of torment, commonly called hell, where devils and damned fpirits are; hither the fouls of the wicked go immediately upon their departure from their bodies, Luke xvi. 23. and after the judgment is over, they will be remanded thither in foul and body; and their damnation is called the deftruction of foul and body in hell; which will confift in an everlafting feparation from God, and in a fenfe of his wrath and fiery indignation; and though this is true of all the wicked, yet. here that wicked one, Antichrilt, and his wicked followers, are chiefly. defigned; even the beaft and falfe prophet, who fhall be.caft alive into the lake of fire burning with brim ftone, Rev. xix, 20. and xx. 10.. And all the nations that forget God; whichis not to be underftood of the pagan nations, though they may be faid to forget God, fince he is to be known by the light of nature, and yet they worfhip idols, the works of their hands; but the papal nations, who adore the Pope of Rome as God on earth, worfhip angels and faints departed, and images of gold and filver,-and wood and ftone. It may be applied to every wicked man who forgets there is a God who fees and knows all things, and to whom men are accountable;: fee Pfal. 1. 22. ¥. 18. For the needy foall not always be forgotten, &c.} The people of God. are’ poor and needy for the moft part; they are fo in things temporal, and they are poor in fpirit, or.in things fpiritual, of which they are fenfible; their.needs are. many, and frequently return; but God has provided.a throne of grace for them, to come to for.help in time of need, and he will fupply all their wants out of the fulnefs of grace in Chrift; nor is he unmindful of them, and of his covenant with them; ftrictly fpeaking, they are: never forgotten by him, being engraven on his hands, and fet as.a feal on his heart; but they fometimes feem to be fo both to themfelves and others, P/a/. xlii..2, 10, and xliv. 24: and Ixxvii..g. J/g. xlix. 14. and they may. continue fo long; God may feem for a long time to take no notice of them, but fuffer them to lie under affii@tion and perfecution; the holy city is trodden under foot forty two. months, or one thoufand two hundred and fixty days, that is, fo many years; fo long the witnefles prophefy in fackcloth, fo long the church is in the wildernefs, and fo long will be the reign of Antichrift, Rev. xi, 2, 3. and xii. 6. and xiii, 5, but as great Babylon will come up in remembrance before God, and he will remember her fins, and. render her double; the fet time to favour

° YW WPI VHD Yy52 illaqueavit iniquum per opus (vel in opere) P TIPINWD 191 revertentur ad vel in fepulchrum, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, favour his poor and needy will come, and he will arife and have mercy on them, and bring them into a glorious and comfortable ftate and condition. The expeiation of the poor fhall not perifh for ever the negative particle, though not in the original text, is rightly fupplied from the preceding claufe, as it is by the Zargum, Farchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimcbi, and as the fenfe requires; and the expectation of Chrift’s poor ones is not only a fupply of grace here and eternal happinefs hereafter; but they expect a glorious ftate of the church on earth, and that Chrift will defcend in perfon from heaven, and his tabernacle will be among men; and that they fhall be kings and priefts, and poffefs the kingdom, and reign with Chrift a thoufand years; and tho’ thefe things may feem to be deferred, and their expectation put off to a length of time, yet it flial not perifh for ever; there will be a performance of the things promifed and expected.

¥. 19. Arife, O Lord, &c.] To the deftruction of thine enemies, and the falvation of thy people; fee the note on Pf-vii.6. Let not man prevail; the man of fin, Antichrift, that is, let him not always prevail; he is the little horn that was to prevail againft the faints, and has prevailed, Dax. vii.21. Rev. xiii. 7. but he fhall not always prevail; this petition will be heard and anfwered; for though he fhall caft down many thoufands, he fhall not be /trengthened by it, Dan. xi. 12. where the fame word is ufed as here; the Lamb at laft fhall overcome him and his ten kings, his fupporters, and all that fhall aid and amift him, Rev. xvii. 14. and xix. 1g——21. Let the heathen be judged in thy fight; that is, the anti- chriftian nations that adhere to the man of fin, let them be judged and punifhed in the fight of God, the judge of all the earth, whofe eyes are as a flame of fire; compare with this Yoel iii. 12.

y. 20. Put them in fear, O Lord, &c.] Who are a bold, impudent, fearlefs generation of mens who, like the unjuft judge, neither fear God nor regard men, therefore the pfalmift prays that God would inject fear into them, who only can do it s and this will be done at Babylon’s deftruction, when the antichriftian kings, merchants, and feafaring men will ftand afar off for fear of her torment, Rev. xviii. 10, 15,17. That the mations may know themfelves to be but men. Selab. and not God, and have no power againft him; fee //z. xxxi. 3. the fenfe is, that the antichriftian nations who oppofe themfelves to Chrift and his people, may know that they are but frail, mortal, miferable men, as the word! fignifies; and that he who is at the head of them, the man of fin, is no other, though he exalts himfelf above all that is called God, 2 Theff. ii. 4. or thefe words are a prayer for the converfion of many among the nations, and be rendered, put, O Lord, fear in them*; that is, the true grace of fear, that the nations may know themfelves, their fin and guilt and danger, and know God in Chrift, and Chrift, and the way of falvation by him; for at the word know fhould be a ftop, concluding a propofition, fince the accent athnach is there; and then follows another, they are men. Selab. deititute of the fear and grace of God, are capable of it, bus cannot give it to themfelves,

HIS pfalm in the Septuagint verfion, and thofe that follow it, is a part and continuation of the preceding pfalm, and makes but one with it; hence in thefe verfions the number of the following pfalms differ from others, and what is the xi" with others is the x“ with them, and {fo on to the cxiv and cxv‘, which alfo are put into one; but in order to make up the whole number of one hundred and fifty, the exvi® and cxlvii are both divided into two; and indeed the fubject of this pfalm is much the fame with the former, Antichrift and antichriftian times are very manifeftly defcribed; the impiety, blafphemy, and atheifm of the man of fin; his pride, haughtinefs, boafting of himfelf, and prefumption of fecurity; his perfecution of the poor, and murder of innocents, are plainly pointed at; nor does the character of the man of the earth agree fo well to any as to him: his times are times of trouble; but at the end of them the kingdom of Chrift will appear in great glory, when the Gentiles, the antichriftian nations, will perifh out of his land, y. 1—11, 16, 18.

¥. 1. Why standeft thou afar off, O Lord, &c.} This pfalm begins with a complaint which proceeds on two general heads; the one is with refpect to God, his diftance from his people, and defertion of them in times of trouble, in this verfe; and the other is with refpeét to the wicked in fome following ones. God by his infinite effence and power is every where, and is never far off from any of his

“ereatures; and though his glorious prefence is in heaven, which, with refpect to us on earth, is a land atar off, yet this hinders not but that there is often great nearnefs between God and his people; and when he ftands afar off from them in their apprehenfions, it is when he withdraws his gracious prefence from them, and defers help and affiftance to them, and does not immediately and direétly come. and vifit them: this they cannot bear, they complain; they wonder that feeing they are the objects of his love, this fhould be his manner of conduét towards them; they expoftulate with him, and inquire for what end and upon what account he fhould fo ufe them, and moft earneftly defire that he would hafte and come unto them and help them; fee P/. xxii. 1, 11, 18. Why hides thou thyfelf in times of trouble? when God feems to take no notice of his people, does not look upon them, but turns a deaf ear to them, he is faid to hide his face, his eyes and ears, from them: and this is fometimes the cafe of the beft of faints, as it has been of Fob, David, Heman, and others; and though this is done in a fovereign way by God, who comes and and goes when he pleafes; for fenfible communion with him as much depends upon his fovereign pleafure, as the gift of his grace itfelf does; yet gene« rally fpeaking, the denial or withdrawing of his gracious prefence is by way of refentment for fome difagreeable condué and behaviour of his people; and is confiftent with his everlafting and unchangeable love to them, but is what fills them with grief and forrow; nor can they forbear making mourn-— ful complaints upon it; and this is aggravated when 4 ete it