Exposition of the Whole Bible

© CNP AND AN W pone timorem eis, fo Junius and Tremellius, Pifcator, Pagninus, Montanusy

Pf. x.¥.2—4. it is a time of trouble with them, either of foultrouble, by reafon of the prevalence of unbelief, and the force of Satan’s temptations; or of bodily affliction; though times of trouble here feem to defign times of perfecution, as may be concluded from the connexion of thefe words with the following; and antichriftian times are times of perfecution: during the reign of Antichrift, in which he is fuffered to make war with the faints and overcome them; and during the church’s being in the wildernefs the fpace of one thoufand two hundred and fixty days or years, God may feem to ftand at a diftance, and to hide himfelf from her.

¥.2. The wicked in his pride doth perfecute the poor, &c.] The poor is the good and gracious man, who is commonly poor in this world’s things, and is fenfibly poor in fpirit, or fenfible of his piritual poverty; or he is fo called becaule affliéed, as the word fignifies; and he is afflicted becaufe he is poor: thefe two characters generally go together. The wicked man, is the wicked one, the lawlefs one, the man of fin, and fon of perdition, Antichrift, the great perfecutor of Chrift’s poor faints and faithful witneffes, more or lefs, ever fince he has been in power; and which arifes from the pride of his heart, not bearing that any fhould refule to pay homage to him, contradiét his will, or diffent from him. The word * fignifies to fol- Jow after, to purfue, as archi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret it; and to purfue hotly, as it is rendered in Gen. xxxi. 36. and denotes the vehemence and heat of his wrath and fury, with which Antichrift perfecutes the followers of the Lamb; hence perfecution is compared to the heat of the fun, Matt. xiii. 6,21. Some render the words, through the pride of the wicked the poor is burned, or the poor burns *, which may be underftood either literally, of the burning of the martyrs of Jefus by Antichrift, as here in Queen Mary’s days; and which was foretold, that {ome of the faints fhould fall by flame, as well as by fword, captivity and {poil; and to which that part of the defcription of Chrift anfwers, whofe feet are faid to be like fine brafs, as if it burned in a furnace; and which.is prefaced to the Epiftle to the church at Zhyatira, which is an emblem of the apoftate church: fee Dan. xi. 33. Rev.i. 15. and ii. 18. or figuratively, of the poor faints burning with erief at the pride and wickednefs of the man of fin, and with zeal for the honour and glory of God; fee 2 Cor. xi. 29. Cant. viii. 6. Pfal. Ixix. 9. Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined: we read the words as a petition; and fothe denfe is, let the wicked perfecutors be taken in the wicked and crafty fchemes which they have devifed for the hurt of others, as they are, or will be; fee Pfal.ix. 15,16, But the pfalmift is not yet come to petitions, nor does he until ¥. 12. but is all along defcribing the wickednefs of the wicked one. It feems better therefore to render the words as do the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, They are taken in the devices that they have imagined: and the meaning is, that the poor, who are perfecuted by the wicked, are taken by their crafty fchemes they lay for them, as Yarchi interprets it, and are put to death by them. So thefe words fhew the iffue and event of perfecution: and this

* JID YSIDI & avarus benedicit fibi, Pifcator; fo Ainfivorth.

vay fenfe beft agrees with the boafted fuccefs of the wicked man in the next verfe.

¥. 3. For the wicked boafteth of his beart’s de- Jire, &c.] As Antichrift does of his univerfal power over all bifhops and princes, which his heart was long defiring after; of his being Chrift’s vicar, Peter’s fucceflor, and head of the church and of having power in heaven, earth and hell: he boai ts of his wealth and riches, of the righteoufnefs and merits of faints, of works of fupererogation, a ftock of which he pretends to have in his hands to difpenfe to others: he boafts of his own holinefs and infallibility, and of miracles, figns and lying wonders done by his creatures, and of his great fuccefs in deftroying thofe that oppofe him; fee Rev. xviii. 7. 2 Theff. ii.4. The words may be rendered, The wicked praifeth bimfelf for the defire of bis heart *, fo the Chaldee paraphrafe; to which agrees Farchi’s glofs, ‘* wicked E/ax praifeth him- «¢ felf, becaufe he hath obtained the defire of his “© foul:” and thus it is ufual for proud, haughty, wicked men, as the 4/yrian monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, and fo the man of fin, to afcribe whatfoever they have or do, to their own power and prudence; fee J/a. x. 12,13. Dan. iv. 30. Or, they may be rendered, He praifeth the wicked for his heart's defire’; or for his lufts, for his indulging them: for a wicked man not only delights incom~ mitting fin himfelf, but he alfo takes pleafure in thofe that do it; and fome of the antichriltian party have even wrote in commendation of the moft unnatural lufts. nd bleffeth the covetous whom the Lord abborreth: the covetous man is one that makes no ufe of what he has, but for himfelf; and oftentimes withholds that which is meet from himfelf, as well as from others; and who makes ufe of unlawful ways to get, retain, and increafe wealth, and is never fatisfied: fuch an one God abhors, becaufe he is an idolater, he has other gods before him’; he worfhips his gold, he fets his affection on it, places his confidence in it, and expects protection and fecurity from it, to a neglect of divine providence; and yet the wicked man bleffes him, calls his covetoufnefs frugality and good hufbandry; afcribes what he has to his diligence, care and induftry, and beftows gifts upon him. The words may be rendered, the covetous man bleffes himfelf *; with the good things he has laid up for many years; he pronounces himfelf bleffed, and promifes himfelf a great deal of happinefs, in futurity; and afcribes all he has to his own hands. Or, the covetous man curfes, be abhors the Lord’ 5 for the fame word in the Hebrew language fignifies to blefs and curfe, Fob i. 5. and ii. 9. which Aben Ezra on the place obferves; and it is applicable enough to Antichrift, who opens his mouth in blafphemy againft God, to blafpheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven; fee Rev. xiii. 6.

¥.4. The wicked, through the pride of bis countenance, will not feek, &c.] We fupply it, after God; as do the Zargum and Kimchi, on the place: the fenfe is, he will not feek to God for counfel or afliftance, he will not pray unto him; which is the character of every unregenerate man, Rom. iii. rr. or, he will not inquire into the will of God, to know what is right or what is wrong, but will

~ Quoniam Jaudat ipfium pro defiderio animi fui, Tigurine Y Avarus maledicit five blafphemat do what feems beft in his owneyes: and this arifes from the pride of his heart, which fhews itfelf in his countenance, in his proud and haughty look. It is faid of the little horn, who is Antichrift, that he has a look more ftout than his fellows, Daz. vii. 20. Fhe words may be rendered, the wicked inquireth not into the height of bis anger, fo Ainjqorth obferves; that is, of God’s anger; he is not concerned about it; he neither fears God nor regards men. ‘Farchi’s fenfe of the words is, * all «< his thoughts fay unto him, God will not inquire “s into every thing that I fhall do, for there is no « judgment.”? God is not in all bis thoughts; nor in any of them, for they are evil continually; and if he does at any time think of him, his thoughts of him are wrong; he thinks he is altogether fuch an one as himfelf: or, all bis thoughts are, there is no God*: though he does not choofe to fay fo, he thinks fo; at leaft, he wifhes it may be fo; and he works himfelf into fuch impiety and atheifm as to deny the providence of God, and thinks that he does not govern the world, nor concern himfelf with what is done below; that he takes no notice of mens actions, nor will call them to an account for them; and that there will be no future ftate or judgment, in which fecret as well as open things will be made manifeft: or, as the Cha/dee paraphrafe glofles it, that alt bis thoughts are not manifeft before the Lord.

y¥.5. His ways are always grievous, &c.] To God and to his people; or, dis ways caufe terror’, fo Aben Ezra; make men fear; as Antichrift has made the whole world tremble at him, Rev. xiil.4. or, bis ways are defiled, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin render it; for to him is nothing pure, his mind and confcience being defiled, Tit. i. 15. or, bis ways always remain’; they are always the fame, there is no change in them for the better: or they pro/per *, as ‘archi interprets it; and this is fometimes ftumbling to the faints, Fer. xi. 1. Pfal. \xxiii. 2,3. Thy judgments are far above, out of his fight: meaning either the laws, ftatutes, and commandments of God, which are not taken notice of by him; but his own decrees or orders are fet in the room of them; or the examples of punifhment infli€ted on wicked men, as-on the old world, on Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptians, and other nations; thefe are not regarded, when they fhould be a terror to him. As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them, who are the poor faints, and are looked upon by Antichrift as feeble creatures, and all their efforts againft him and his kingdom are treated with contempt: he blows upon them, and fuggefts that he can caufe them to fall with the breath of his mouth, or ftrike them down with a ftraw or a feather; fee Pal. xii. 6.

y.6. He hath faid in bis heart, &c.| To and within himfelf, he thought in hisown mind; for the thought is the word or fpeech of the mind, aoyos evdvaderos. I shall not be moved; from his profperous and happy condition, abounding with riches and honours; from his feat of empire, over kings, princes, and the nations of the world; flattering himfelf that ic would never be otherwife with him than it is: Even to generation and generation, \ fhall not be moved; fo the words may be rendered. For I fhall never be in adver/ity, or in evil*: meaning either the evil of fin; fo affert- ing his innocence, wiping himfelf clean of all inis quity, claiming to himfelf the title of oline s it~ — felf, and the character of infallibility; giving out that he is impeccable, and cannot err; when he s not only almoft, but altogether in all evil; andis © ayes, the lawlefs and wicked one, the mat me fin, who is nothing but fin itfelf. The Targum paraphrafes the whole thus; J /hall not be moved from generation to generation from doing evil; and fo it is a boaft of impiety, and that none can ree {train him from it, no one having a fuperior power over him; fee Pfal. xii. 4. Or the evil of affliction, or calamity; wherefore we render it adver fity, fo Farchi and Aben Ezra underttand it: the note of the former is, “ evil fhall not come upon

‘* me in my generation,’”? or for ever; and the _ latter compares it with Numb. xi.15. Kimebi and Ben Melech interpret it of long life. It isa vaunt of Antichrift, promifing himfelf a continuance of his grandeur, eafe, peace and profperity; in which he will be wretchedly difappointed. The language and fenfe are much the fame with that of the antichriftian Babylon, Rev. xviii. 7,8.

¥. 7. His mouth is full of curfing, 8c.| Or, be bas filled bis mouth with curfing * God and good men, his fuperiors, himfelf and others. The word fignifies az oath; and may defign either a profane oath, taking the name of God invain; or an oathon a civil account, a falfe oath, taken with a defign to defraud — and deceive others, as follows, and intends perjury; and this, as applicable to Antichrift, regards his mouth fpeaking great things and blafphemies againft God, and uttering curfes and anathema’s againft the faints, Rev. xiii. 5,6. And deceit and fraud; fach as flattery and lying, which are both ufed by him with an intention to impofe upon and deceive. The apoftle, in Rom. iii. 14. renders both thefe words by one, ditterne/s; which may be faid of fin in general, which is a very bitter thing; tho” it is rolled as a {weet morfel in the mouth of a wicked man, yet in the iffue it is bitternefsto him:.

and it is applicable to finful words, which are bitter in their effects to thofe againft whom they are fpoken, or who are deceived and impofed upon by them: and as they refer to Antichrift, may have refpect to the lies in hypocrify fpoken by him, and to the deceitfulnefs of unrighteoufnefs, by which he works upon thofe that perifh, 1 Tim. iv.2. 2 Theff.ii. 10. Under bis tongue is mifcbief and vanity: alluding to ferpents, who have little bags of poifon under their teeth, fee P/alm cxl. 3. Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve, that the heart is under the tongue, being lower than it, and fo denotes the wickednefs which that.is full of, and devifes continually, and is latent in it until difcovered; and is mifchievous iniquity, injurious to God, and the honour of his law, and to fellow-creatures; and. efpecially to the faints, whofe perfons, charaéters and eftates are aimed at; but in the iffue it is all vanity, and a fruitlefs attempt, being blafted by God, and overruled for good to him; fee J/a. liv.

¥.8. He fitteth in the lurking places of the villages, &c.|. Which were by the way-fide, where thieves and robbers harboured, and out of which they came, and robbed paflerigers as they came by. The word § fignifies palaces or courts; and fo it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrafe and Sy-

2 PFIDID 73 CIINPN PN non Deus, omnes cogitationes ejus, Montanus, Vatablus, Muis 5 nullam efle Deum he

‘viac verfion; and fo the allufion is not to mean thieves and robbers, but to perfons of note and figure, ‘Hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions render it, be fitteth in lurking places with the rich; and may be fitly applied to the Pope and his Cardinals. Antichrift fits in the temple of God, and by his emiffaries gets into the villages, the particular churches and congregations of faints, where they lie in ambufh to do mifchief, to corrupt their faith, worfhip and manners; and like thieves and robbers enter in to fteal, kill and deftroy. In fecret places doth be murder the innocent; the harmlefs lambs and fheep of Chrift; who, though they are not without fin in themfelves, yet are innocent with refpect to the caufe and the things for which they fuffer: thefe are the faints and prophets and martyrs of Jefus, whofe blood is fhed by Antichrift,; and the taking away of their lives is reckoned murder with God; and is fo ftiled in the fcriptures, Rev.ix.21.though the antichriftian party call it doing God good fervice, and impute it to zeal for the good of holy church: and yet this they choofe to do in fecret, by private maffacres, or by the inquifition; which having condemned men to death, delivers them over to the fecular power to execute the fentence on them: juft as the Jews delivered Chrift to the Roman governor, to fhift off the fin and blame from themfelves; murder being what no one cares to be known in; or chargeable with. His eyes are privily fet again# the poor: the word 34M rendered poor, is ufed no where but in this pfalm, in which it is ufed three times, here, and in ¥. 1—=4. and in the plural number in y.10. It is tranflated poor both in the Chaldee paraphrafe and,Septuagint verfion, and in thofe that follow them. In the Arabic language it fignifies black*, and may defign fuch who are black by reafon of perfecution and affiction, who go mourning all the day long on account of fin, their own and others; and becaufe of the diftreflés and calamities of the church and people of God. ‘Thefe the eyes of the wicked watch and obferve, and are fet again{ft them to do them all the mifchief they can; their eyes are full of envy and indignation at them, though it is all in a private and fecret way. The allufion is to thieves and robbers, who hide themfelves in fome fecret place, and from thence look out for them that pafs by, and narrowly obferve whether they are for their purpofe, and when it will be proper to come out and feize upon them.

y¥.9. He lieth in wait fecretly as a lion, &c.] The firft beaft in Rev. xiii. 2. is faid to have a mouth like a lion, and the fecond beaft in y. rr. fpake like a dragon; and both defign one and the fame Antichrift in his twofold capacity, civil and ecclefiaftical; this metaphor of the lion lying in wait fecretly for his prey, denotes the infidious methods ufed by Antichrift to deftroy the faithful witnefies of Chrift; who lies like a lion i” his den, in the temple of God, now become a den of thieves. He lieth in wait to catch the poor; to {natch and carry them away captive as his prey; fee Rev. xiii, 10. He doth catch the poor when be draweth him into bis net; this metaphor is taken from fowlers who fpread nets, into which they allure and draw the birds and catch them. The allurements, fnares and nets which Antichrift lays to catch the poor faints and people of God in, are the riches and honours of this world, great pretenfions to holinefs, devotion and religion, and many lying figns and wonders, y. 10. He croucheth and humbleth bimfelf, &c.] As the lion before he leaps and feizes on his prey, and as the fowler creepeth upon the ground to draw the bird into his net and catch it; fo the antichriftian beaft has two horns like a lamb; though he has the mouth of a lion, and {peaks like a dragon, he would be thought to be like the Lamb of God, meek and lowly and humble, and therefore calls himfelf /ervus fervorum, the fervant of fervants; but his end is, that the poor may fall by his trong ones; the word for poor is here uted, as before obferved on ¥. 8. in the plural number, and is read by the Ma/rites as two words, though it is written as one, and. is by them and other Jewifh writers "interpreted a multitude, company or army of poor ones, whofe » ftrength is worn out; thefe weak and feeble ones Antichrift caufes to fall by his ftrong ones; either by his ftrong decrees, cruel edicts, and fevere punifhments, as by {word, by flame, by captivity and by fpoils, Daz. xi. 33. or by the kings of the earth and their armies, their mighty men of war, their, foldiers, whom he inftigates and influences to perfecute their fubjects, who will not receive his mark in their right hands or foreheads, Rev. xiii.15, 16, 17. and xvii. 12,13. It is very obfervable, that thofe perfecuted by Antichrift are fo often in this prophetic pfalm called poor; and it is alfo remarkable, that there were a fet of men in the darkeft times of Popery, and who were perfecuted by the papifts, called the poor men of Lyons: the whole verfe may be rendered and paraphrafed thus, be tears in pieces, that is, the poor whom he catches in his net; be doweth himfelf, as the lion does, as before obferved; that he may fall, or ruth upon $ with bis firong ones, his mighty armies, upon the multitude of the poor.

y..11. He hath {aid in his heart, God hath fore gotten, &c.| Meaning either his own fins, becaufe they are not immediately punifhed; wherefore he hopes to go on for ever with impunity, but will be miftaken, for God will remember the iniquities of Babylon, and render to her double, Rev. xviii. 5,6. fee Amos viii. 17. or elfe the poor ones he oppreffes; for though they feem for a while to be forgotten by God, they are not, a book of remembrance is written for them. He bideth his face; that is, from his poor faints, which is true oftentimes; but then the ufe the wicked one makes of it is bad,’ namely, to infult them on that account, and to imagine that it is grateful to God, and doing him good fervice, to afflict and perfecute them; and that God will never regard them, nor return to them more, as follows. He will never fee it; or thems he will never more look upon the poor, he will no more regard them, and take notice of them and their afflictions; than which nothing is more falfe 5 for though he hides his face for a moment, yet with, everlafting kindnefs will he gather them to hime felf; and he beholds all their oppreffions and afflictions, and not as a bare fpectator; he fympathizes with them, and delivers them out of them. Or he will never fee the wickednefs committed by the wicked; which is a very foolifh thought, fince what is done in the dark, and in the moft fecret manner, is feen by God, the darknefs and the light are alike to him; he is all-feeing and ever-feeing, and every where feeing; and he it is that has made the eye, and fhall not he fee?. Pfal. xciv. 5—g. the fenfe of the whole in general is, that God takes no notice of good men or bad men, nor of what is done — by either of them; he does not concern himfelf with the affairs of this world, which is an impious i. 12. y. 12. Arife, O Lord, &c.] See Pal. iii. 7. and vii. 6. and ix.19. O God, lift up thine hand either on the behalf of his people, to help and deliver them; his hand may be faid to be let down when their enemies prevail, and to be lifted up or exalted, when it does valiantly, and works falvation for them; fo when Mo/es’s hands were let down Amalek prevailed, and when his hands were lifted up J/rae/ prevailed,, Exod. xvii. 11. or againft their enemies, to ftrike them, to infli€t punifhment upon them, as God’s hand is faid to be ftretched out againft the Egyptians, and to lie upon them, when he fent his plagues among them, Evxod. vii. 4, 5. and a dreadful thing it is to fall both into and under the hand of the living God, and to feel the weight of the lighting down of his arm with indignation. The Yargum underftands it as a gefture of {wearing; fee Gen. xiv. 22. and paraphrafes it, confirm the oath of thine hand either {worn in wrath againft his enemies, or in love to his people; either of which is fure and certain, and according to the immutable counfel of his will. Forget not the humble, the followers of the meek and lowly Jefus, the Lamb of God, by which character the faints are diftinguifhed from the antichriftian party, Rev, xiv. 4. thefe are fuch who are made fo by the Spirit of God, who in converfion brings down the pride and haughtinefs of man, that Chrift and his grace may be alone exalted; thefe have the meaneft thoughts of themfelves, and the beft of others; their motto is, ‘* lefs than the leaft of all faints, s* and the chief of finners;” they envy not the gifts and graces of others, and afcribe all they have and are to the free grace of God; they are not eafily provoked, they patiently bear injuries, and quietly fubmit to the adverfe difpenfations of providence: the word in the original text is read bumble, but written affiéted: both characters generally meet together in the people of God; fee the note on Pal. ix. 12. this prayer for the humble is a prayer of faith; for though the humble may feem to be forgotten by God, they are not, they are precious in his fight; he dwells among them, he gives more grace unto them, he comforts them when difconfolate, he feeds them when they are hungry, he teaches and guides them when they want direction, he lifts them up when they are caft down, and beautifies them with falvation.

¥. 13. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? &c.] God may be faid to be contemned or defpifed, when his being, perfections and providence are denied, or called in queftion, or abufed, y. 9, a1. when his word is derided, the great things of his law are counted as a ftrange thing, and the truths of his gofpel are reckoned foolifhnefs; and inftead of thefe, the decrees, doétrines and traditions of men are fet up, as by Antichrift; and when his minifters, and efpecially his Son, are treated with difdain, Luke x.16. He bath faid in bis heart, thou wilt not require it, or feekit*; or inquire after it, his iniquity; the fenfe is, that God will make no inquiry after fin, and bring it into judgment, unto account, and under examination; or will not make inquifition, that is, for blood, for the blood of the faints and martyrs of Jefus, thed by Antichrift, or will not require it at his hands, or recompence vengeance for it: all which is falfe and vain; the contrary to it will be found true, tuis, Vatablus, Cocceius.

y. 14. Thou haft feen it, &c.] Though the wicked fay God will never fee, y. 11. he es all things in general, all men and all their actions; are manifeft and open to him, and every thin particular, efpecially the wickednefs of men; that which is faid or thought in the heart, For thou beholdeft mifchief and /pite, that mifchief which — arifes from fpite or malice in the heart; God beholds the inward principle from whence it inthe as well as that itfelf; the mifchief devifed in t heart, on the bed, and which lies under the tongue, defigned againft the people of God, either to the injury of their characters and eftates, or to. their bodies, and even to their fouls, as much as in them lies, proceeding from implacable malice and enmity to them. Yo requite it with thy hand; of. power, to retaliate it upon their own heads, to render tribulation to them that trouble the faints, which is but a righteous thing with God: or fo put it in thy band*; and the fenfe is, that God looks upon all the injuries the wicked out of fpite devife to do to his people, and puts them in his hand, that they may be ever before him, and always in his fight, and he will take a proper opportunity of avenging them. The Zargum interprets it of God’s rewarding good men, as well as punifhing the wicked, paraphrafing the whole thus, ‘¢ it is manifeft before thee that thou wilt fend ‘¢ forrow and wrath upon the wicked; thou lookeft ‘© to render a good reward to the righteous with thy “ hand.” he poor committeth himfelf unio thee: his body, and the outward concerns of life, as to a faithful Creator; his foul, and the ipiritual and eternal welfare of it, as to the only Saviour and Redeemer; he commits all his ways to him, as the — God of providence and grace; and at laft he commits his fpirit to him at death, as to his covenant- God and Father: the words may be rendered, tbe poor leaveth upon thee’; that is, he leaves himfelf and his upon the Lord; he leaves his burden on him, he cafts all his care upon him, as he is advifed and encouraged to do; he leaves his caufe with him to plead it for him, who will plead it thoroughly and maintain it: the phrafe is expreflive of the poor’s faith and hope in God; hence the Chaldee paraphrafe renders it, o# thee will thy poor ones hope; for the fupply of their wants, and for help and affiftance againft their enemies. Thou art the helper of the fatherle/s,; God is the Father of them, provides for them, fupplies, fupports, and defends them; nor will he in a fpiritual fenfe leave his people orphans or comfortlefs, but will vifit and help them; fee Pfal. \xviii. 5. Fobn xiv. 18.

¥. 15. Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man, &c.] His power and ftrength, fo that he fhall not be able to hold the fword, to ftrike a blow, or do any hurt to the people of God; fee Ezek. Xxx. 21—25. This prayer is in fome meafure already fulfilled in Antichrift, the man of fin, or Pope of Rome; though his kingdom is not broke to pieces, as it will be when Chrift’s kingdom fhall be more vifibly fet up, to which reference is had in the next verfe; fee Dan. ii. 44. yet his ftrength is weakened, his arm is broken, he has not the power he had, nor can he tyrannife and do the mifchief he once did: but as for the evil man™, for fo the words fhould be read, there being an athnach under the word wicked, which ends the propofition there; Seek out bis wickednefs till thou find none; which defigns a Set, 9 fearch after fin, k JN MMM? ut ponas in manibus — full punifhment of it, and the entire ruin and deftruction of the wicked; and the fenfe is, that God ould make a ftriét inquiry into the wickednefs of he man of fin, which he promifed himfelf he would not, ¥. 13. and that he would punifh him and his followers to the uttermoft for it, until there fhould not be one of the antichriftian party found upon earth; with which fenfe agrees the following verfe; fee Pfal. civ. 35. h

¥. 16. The Lord is King for ever and ever, &c.] Chrift was king from everlafting, and during the Old Teftament-difpenfation he was promifed and prophefied of as King; and_he had a kingdom when he was here on earth, though not of this world; nor was it with obfervation. At his afcenfion’ to heaven, and feffion at the right hand of God, he fat down. upon the fame throne with his Father, and was made or declared Lord and Chrift, and appeared more vifibly in his kingly office; and in the latter day it will be yet more manifeft that ‘he is King of faints, and when indeed he will be King over all the earth, and ‘his. kingdom will be an everlafting one: he will have no fucceffor in it, nor will any ufurper obtain any more; the devil, beaft and falfe prophet, will be caft into the lake of fire; all antichriftian ftates will be deftroyed, and all authority, rule and power put down; nor can his kingdom ever be fubverted, he muft reign till all enemies are put under his feet; he will reign to the end of the prefent world, and with the faints a thoufand years.in the new heaven and earth, and in the ultimate glory to all eternity; nor will his government ceafe when ‘he fhall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father, only the mode of the adminiftration of it. Here begins the fong of praife; the reign of Chrift is matter of joy; fee P/alm xcvii. 1. Ufa. lii.7. The heathen are perifbed out of his land: not the feven nations which were driven out of the land of Canaan, to make way for the people of J/rae/, that was long ago; nor the wicked and degenerate Jews, called the heathen, P/alm ii. 1. compared with ffs iv. 27. on whom, and on whofe temple, city and nation, Chrift’s native land, wrath is come to the uttermoft; and they are perifhed out of it: nor hypocrites out of churches, which are Chrift’s property; but the antichriftian party out of the world, whichis Chrift’s land by creation, as God, and by the gift of his Father to him, as Mediator. The followers of Antichrift are called Gentiles, and the nations of the earth, Rev. xi. 2,18. and xviii, 2. and thefe will be no more; they will be utterly deftroyed, when the man of fin fhall be confumed with the breath of Chrift’s mouth and the brightnefs of his coming. ‘The feventh vial will clear the world of all the remains of Chrift’s enemies: this alfo is caufe of rejoicing, P fal cxxxii. 16—18. Rev. xviii. 20.

y. 17. Lord, thou hajt heard the defire of the humble, &c.] See ¥. 12. and Pfal. ix. 12. for the coming of Chrift’s kingdom, and that the kingdoms of this world may become his; for the deftruétion of Antichrift, and for the avenging the blood of the faints. The prayers of God’s people fometimes lie in inward and fecret defires of the foul, and are not exprefied in words; and thefe defires are all before the Lord, and are well known unto him; yea fuch prayers of the heart and which come from it, are principally regarded by him; they being his own preparation, as is fuggefted in the next claufe, and

$33 the breathings of his Spirit; and efpecially the defires of humble fouls are regarded, whofe prayers. he never defpifes, nor fends them away empty, but fills with his good things. Thow wilt prepare their heart, for prayer, by pouring a fpirit of grace and fupplication on them; impreffing their minds with _ a fenfe of things to be prayed for, and drawing out the defires of their fouls unto them, and making interceffion for them with groanings according to the will of God, and fo helping their infirmities 5 and it is God’s work to prepare the heart for prayer, as well as to put words into the mouth, Prov. xvi. 1. or thou wilt direé their beart®; to the ob-— jet of prayer, himfelf, and to the things to be”

prayed for, for they know not what to pray for, nor how as they fhould; and to what may encourage to it, as the love of God, the covenant of grace, the perfon, blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift: or confirm or eftablifh their beart®; ftrengthen and fix them, that they be not wavering and doubtful, but certain and affured of fuccefs, believing that their defires will be fulfilled in God’s own time. Thou wilt caufe thine ear to bear; God has an ear to hear the prayers of his people, nor is his ear heavy that it cannot hear; his ears are open to the cries of righteous ones; nor will he ever turn'a deaf ear to them, but will give an anfwer in his own’ time and ways which is an inftance of his fovereign grace and goodnefs. Thefe words expréfs the faith of the pfalmift in God being a God hearing and anfwering ptayer, particularly in things relating to the ruin of Antichrift and his followers, and to the kingdom and glory of his Son Jefus Chrift.

¥. 18. To judge the fatherle/s and the oppreffed, &c.] That is, God will caufe his ear to hear the cries of his people, fo as to avenge the wrongs done to the fatherlefs, and them that are opprefled by the man of fin; fee Rev. xi. 18. and xviii. 20. and xix. 2, Lhat the man of the earth may no more op=- prefs; or terrify®, the dear children of God, and | faithful witneffes of Chrift, as he has done; for by the man of the earth is not meant carnal worldly men in general, the wicked of the earth, asthe Targum renders it; whoare fo called becaufé their original is from the earth, and they dwell in earthly tabernacles, and fhall return to the earth again, and are earthly minded men, and have much of this world’s things; and are therefore fometimes called the men and children of this world, and who, generally fpeaking, are oppreflors of the faints; and who fhall ceafe to be fo in the latter day, when the kingdom fhall be given to the faints of the moft

High; but particularly the man of fin, the Romi/b Antichrift feems intended, who is the beaft that is rifen up out of the earth, Rev. xiii. 11. and fo the words may be rendered here, the man out of the earth 4; whofe kingdom and governmentis an earth= ly one, and is fupported by the kings of the earth, and with earthly power and grandeur, and with earthly views and worldly ends: he has been the great oppreflor and terrifier of the poor people of God; but when Chrift comes to avenge them on him, he will no more opprefs, he will be taken and caft alive into the lake of fire; fee Rev. xiii. 10. and xix. 20. The words may be rendered according to the accents thus, ¢o judge the fatherle s and the oppreffed; be foall not add any more; for there is an athnach which makes a propofition under ny any more; and the fenfe is, God fhall fo thorougly avenge the injuries of the fatherlefs and the opprefied, that there will be no need to add thereunto or repeat the vengeance, it will be an utter deftruction; and then follows another diftinét end of caufing his ear to hear, namely, ¢o foake terribly the man

21. or as Farchi interprets the words, to beat and