Exposition of the Whole Bible

away the ftone from the fepulchre, asa token his juftification and difcharge: fo Farchi interp it, he fent his angels; and Aben Ezra fupplies it thus, “ he fent his word or his angel:” unlefs the fenfe fhould be, as Cocceius fuggefts; he fent a cloud from above, which was done at Chrift’s afcenfion, and which received him out of the fight of the apoftles, Ads i.g. Since it follows, He took mes | that is, up to heaven; thither Chrift was carried in a cloud, one of God’s chariots, he fent for him; and where he is received, and will be retained until his fecond coming; though rather the fenfe is, he took me by the hand: be drew me out of many waters. This is faid either in allufion to Mo fes, who had his name from his being drawn out of the water, Exod. ii. 10. and who was an eminent type of Chrift; and this is the only place where the Hebrew word is made ufe of from whence he had his name; or elfe to a man plunged in water ready to be drowned; fee P/fal. xix. 1,2. By thefe many waters, may be meant the many afflictions, forrows, and fufferings from which Chrift was freed, when raifed from the dead, and highly exalted and crowned with glory and honour; and the torrent of fins which flowed in upon him at the time he was made fin for his people, from which he was juftified when rifen; and fo will appear a fecond time without fin unto falvation; and the wrath of God, the waves and billows of which went over him, and compaffed him about as water, at the time of his fufferings; from which he was delivered when he was fhewn the path of life, and entered into the prefence of God, and fat at his right hand, where are joys and pleafures for evermore; and alfo his grand enemy Satan, with his principalities and powers, who came in like a flood upon him; but he deftroyed him and fpoiled them; and particularly the floods of ungodly men, fpoken of in ¥. 4. feem to be here defigned, compare with this P/a/. cxliv. 7. So, many waters, fignify many people and nations, Rev. xvii. 15. and accordingly the Targum is, «* he delivered me from ** many people.” This was true of Chrift when rifen and afcended; he was then feparate from finners, and made higher than the heavens; and this fenfe is confirmed by the following words, where what is expreffed figuratively here, is there literally explained. y

¥. 17. He delivered me from my jirong enemy, &c.] Which, as it may refpeét David, may be underftood of Goliath the Philifine champion,who was a man of war from his youth; or Sau/, king of J/rael; and as it may refpect David’s antitype, may defign either the chief priefts, fcribes and Pharifees, who were men of power and influence; or more efpecially Satan, the ftrong man armed, with all his principalities and powers; or, likewife death, the laft enemy, from whofe pains and cords he was loofed when raifed from the dead, and when he was delivered from every other ftrong enemy. And from them which bated me; from the old ferpent the devil, between whom and him there has been a lafting enmity; and from the world, the people of the Jews, particularly the Pharifees, who bore an implacable hatred to Chrift. For they were too firong for me; as Goliath and Saul were too {trong for David of himfelf, fo Chrift’s enemies were too ftrong for him; not as God, for he is-— the mighty God, the almighty, and ftronger than the {trong man armed, but as man; for in his human nature he had a finlefs weaknefs, which fhewed itfelf in his agonies in the garden; or a natural weaknefs, through which he was crucified, and this weak nature of Chrift Satan attacked, and got an advantage over, and brought it to the duft of death, which is meant by his bruifing his heel, though by it he got a broken head. But though Chrift’s enemies were too ftrong for him, confidered merely as man, they not being, at leaft many of them, flefh and blood, but principalities and powers; yet being helped by his father, and fupported by his divine nature, he overcame them, and was delivered from them.- y¥. 18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, &cc.) Referring to the times of his diftrefs in the garden and upon the crofs; the time of his fufferings and death, which was a dark and cloudy day, as the word * ufed fuggefts, both in a literal and in a fpiritual fenfe; and when the day and hour was come, fixed and determined by the will of God, then his enemies, though not before, met him, laid hold on him, were too mighty for him, condemned, crucified and infulted him. But the Lord was my fray; or ftaff, on whom he leaned, relied and depended, believing he would help him; and by whom he was fupported and upheld, Z/aiab xlii. 1. and 1. 7, 8, 9. and xlix. 7, 8. The Targum is, “ The word of the Lord was my ftay.”

y.19. He brought me forth alfo into a large place, &c.| Into heaven, a place of the glorious liberty of Chrift, after his captivity to death and the grave, whither he afcended leading captivity captive, and of the children of God; and a fpacious place, where there is room enough for Chrift and all his people; here he now is, and will remain till his fecond coming, and from hence we expect him; fee Fobw xiv. 2, 3.’ Compare with this P/al. xxxi. 8. and cxviii. 5. He delivered me, becaufe he delighted in me; God delivered David from all his enemies, becautfe he was a man after his own heart, in whom he delighted; not for any merit and worthinefs in him, but of his good will and pleafure: he delivered Chrift becaufe he was his elect, in whom his foul delighted; and who was daily his delight, rejoicing in his prefence before the world was: and he delivers his church and people, becaufe they are his Hephzibah, in whom is his delight; the Father delighted in them, and therefore chofe them to falvation; the Son delighted in them, and gave himfelf for them, and ranfomed them out of the hands of him that is ftronger than they; the holy Spirit delighted in them, and therefore regenerates, renews, and fanétifies them, and feals them up unto the day of redemption.

y. 20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteoufnefs, 8c.) Which, if applied to David, cannot be underftood of his own perfonal righteoufnefs, or of works of righteoufnefs done by him, for thefe merit nothing at the hand of God; no reward, in ftri€t juftice, is due to them, or given to them: a man’s own righteoufnefs is imperfect, and by the law of God is not accounted a righteoufnefs; and it is unprofitable to God, is no gain to him, and fo not rewardable by him; and were it perfect, it is but man’s duty, and what God has a prior right to, and fo is not recompenfed by him;, though it is fo far from being pure and perfect, that it is attended with much fin, and is no other

‘than rags and filthy ones, which can never recom-

‘mend a perfon to God; it is what will not bear

‘the fight of God, and can never be called cleannefs in his eye-fight: by it no man is juftified be-: zt fore him; and though God does, indeed, reward the works of his people, which are fruits of his grace, yet the reward is not of debt, but of grace. This, therefore, mutt be underftood of the righteoufnefs of David's caufe, and of his inhocence with refpect to the things he was charged with by his enemies; of his righteoufnefs towards Sax; and of the cleannefi of his bands, in not defiling them with his blood, when it was in his power to take away his life; therefore God rewarded him by delivering him out of his hands, and fetting him upon the throne, and caufing his kingdom to flourifh and profper; for this refpects temporal bleffings, and not eternal glory and happinefs; and is fomething that had been and was then enjoyed, and not any thing future, or in another world: though it is beft of all to apply it to Chrift, and underftand it of his righteoufnefs, which he, as mediator, has wrought out for his people; this is perfect, tet and fpotlefs, and entirely agreeable to the aw of God; what will bear the fight of God, is fatisfying to his juftice, is well pleafing to him, and is what he accepts of, and imputes to them that believe in Chrift, and by which they are juttified from all things. Now according to this righteoufnefs, Chrift in ftrict juftice has been rewarded in his own perfon; as he had the work of man’s redemption affigned him, and he agreed to do it, he had a reward promifed him, and which he claimed, when he had glorified his father and finifhed his work; and which he received when he was fet down at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honour, in confequence of his obedience, fufferings and death; fee Phil. ii. 7—10, and he is rewarded in his members according to his righteoufnefs, they being juftified by it, and made heirs of eternal life on account of it, and are or will be glorified with him for evermore. According to the cleannefs of my bands bath be recompenfed me; which fignifies the fame thing.

y.20. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, &c.] Not thofe which the Liérd himfelf walks in, his ways of providence, or of grace; though thefe are and fhould be taken notice of and obferved by good men, as the word ” ufed;will bear to be rendered; but the ways whiclthe has_prefcribed and direéted men to walk in, the ways of his commandments, in which they fhould go; thefe were, in fome meafure, kept by David, who often, in Pfal. cxix. fpeaks of his keeping the teftimonies and ftatutes, and ‘commandments of the Lord; as they are by good men, with fome degree of pleafure, they take delight to walk in them; and with fome degree of conftancy, they keep walking in them, without turning to the right hand or the left, though folicited to it; but yet not perfectly, for they have many a flip and fall in them; wherefore this-cannot be a. reafon of their being rewarded according to their righteoufnefs: in ftri&t juftice, the words better agree with Chrift, who kept the law of God perfectly, did his will compleatly; hecame from heaven to do it; it was his meat and drink to accomplifh it; and he:always did the things which pleafed his father, wherefore he rewarded him. And have not wickedly departed from my God, which was, in fome fenfe, true of David; not as by difbelieving the power and providence, the promifes, truth and faithfulnefs of God, and his covenant-intereft in him; which to

= 9"\N8 791999 in the day of my cloudy calamity, Ainfworth; nomen "'N proprie fignificat vaporem vel nubem,.nt Gen.

_vii, 6. hine per metaphoram transfertur ad obfcuras ac terrificas calamitatum nebulas, Proy. i. 26. Gejeras.

do would have been a wicked departure from God; fee Heb. iii. 12. nor by forfaking the houfe, and worthip of God; though he was driven from thence by wicked men, yet fore againft his will, and which during his exile he frequently laments and complains of; nor by fining wilfully and prefumptuoufly, only through error, inadvertency, infirmity and temptation: but when it is obferved, how much unbelief, which is a partial departing from the living God, and how many there are that neglect private and public worfhip, and what a pronenefs there is to fin and wickednefs, and how much there is of the will in finful a€tions, in the beft of men 5 it isright and beft to underftand this of Chrift,who never was guilty ‘of fin, nor committed any wickednefs in departing from God in the leaft: as man, God was his God, and he always believed his intereft in him, and claimed it even when he forfook him on the crofs; nor did he quit his fervice, defert his caufe, nor depart from the work and bufinefs he enjoined him, till it was finifhed.

y. 22. For all his judgments were before me, &c.] That is, the precepts of the law of God, which David had a refpeét unto, loved, took delight and pleafure in, and fo had them all in his fight, and made them the rule of his actions; and the law of God is delighted in by regenerate perfons, after the inward man; and though it is abolifhed as a covenant of works, it is a ruleof walk and converfation to the faints; and as fuch they keep it in view, and regard it impartially, not only fome of its precepts, but all. This in the higheft and fulleft fenfe was done by Chrift, who was made under the law, in whofe heart it was, and who came to fulfil it, and has compleatly fulfilled it. ud J did not put away bis fiatutes from mes, in 2 Sam. XXii, 23. itisread, And as for bis flatutes, I did not depart from them; the fenfe is the fame; this. may have refpect to the ceremonial law, and the ordinances of it, which David abode by, very ftriétly obferved, renewed and put in order; and which Chrift, his antitype, never departed from, but conformed unto throughout the whole of his life; witnefs his circumcifion, keeping of the paffover, attendance on the fynagogue and temple-worfhip; nor did he put them away until they had their full accomplifhment in him; when there was a difanuling of them becaufe of their weaknefs and unprofitablenefs.

y. 23. I was alfo upright before him, &c.) In heart and converfation, being fincere and faithful; fo David was in the fight of God; but this is much more true of Chrift, in whom there was no unrighteoufnefs nor guile, neither in his heart, nor in his lips; he was of perfect integrity, and faithful in all things to him that appointed him. And I kept myfelf from mine iniquity; which fome interpret of original fin, in which David was born, which dwelt in him, and prompted him to fin; but rather, it refers to the taking away of Szujl’s life, which he might be tempted to do, as being his enemy that fought his life; and which he was put upon and urged to by fome about him, and yet did it not. But it is beft here alfo to apply thefe words to Chrift, for though he had no iniquity of his own, yet. he had the iniquities of his people on him, as their furety, and which he calls mine, Pfal.xl.12. But though he bore them, he did not commit any of them; though he was made fin, he knew none; and though he was tempted

by Satan to the moft enormous iniquities, as deftroying himfelf and worfhipping the devil, he kept himfelf from the evil One that he could not touch him: the fenfe is, that he kept himfelf from committing any fin, which cannot be faid of any mere man; and fo far as good men are kept from fin, they are kept by the power of God, and not by themfelves. All thefe things fhew, that the righteoufnefs of Chrift was a perfect, finlefs one, entirely agreeable to the laws, ftatutes, and judgments of God; was pure in the fight of God, and rewardable in ftrict juftice., Hence it is repeated as follows: y x. 24. Therefore hath the Lord recompenfed me according to my righteoufnefs, &c.] Haying proved and fupported this propofition by the above i fons, it is repeated, for confirmation-fake: ccording to the cleannefs of my bands in his eye-fight; this phrafe, in his eye-/ight, is here added, to fhew that the righteoufnefs of Chrift was clean, pure, and. fpotlefs in the fight of God; in the eye of divine’ juftice: hence thofe that are clothed with it, are holy and unblameable, and irreproveable in his fight, Col. i. 22. ae

¥. 25. With the merciful thou wilt fhew thyfelf merciful, &c.| The merciful man is the good, gracious, holy and godly man, as the word ” here ufed fignifies, and is fometimes rendered; one that has received grace and mercy from the Lord, and has principles of grace and goodnefs wrought in him, and is kind and merciful to others, both to their fouls and bodies; and to fuch men God fhews himfelf merciful: not that they are firft merciful to others and then he is fo to them, for it is juft the reverfe; nor is their mercifulnefs the caufe or condition of his, for he has mercy on whom he will have mercy; but to fuch he fhews frefh mercy, and beftows more grace upon them; they find grace and mercy with him now, and will do hereafter; fee Matt. v. 7. This.may be applied to Chrift, all whofe ways are mercy and truths; he faw the eftate his people would come into; he pitied their cafe, and became their furety in eternity 3 he betrothed them to himfelf in loving kindnefs and tender mercies; and undertook to feed the flock of flaughter, even the poor of the flock; having, through his merciful loving kindnels, aflumed human nature, he went about doing good to the fouls and bodies of men; he healed the difeafed and fed the hungry, and had compaffion on the ignorant, and them that were out of the way; and, as a merciful high prieft, he bore the fins and forrows of his people; andin his love and pity redeemed them, and continues to fympathize with them in all their afflictions and temptations; and though no mercy was fhewn him whi he was fuffering for them, for God {pared him not, but awoke the {word of juftice againft him, and ufed him with the utmoft rigour and fey tys yet fatisfaction being made, he did not leave him in the grave, nor fufier his holy, good, and merciful One to fee corruption; but raifed him f 7m thedead, prevented him with the bleflings of his goodnefs, and fet upon his head a crown of honour and glory. With an upright man thou wilt foew thyfelf uprights an upright man, as the an, not word * ufed fignifies, is a perfect mi: lutely, but comparatively; not in him Chrift; perfect with a perfection of parts, of degrees; he is one that is upright in

PL xviii. ¥.26—29: ‘cere and without hypocrify; am J/raelite indeed, whofe faith, hope and love are undifguifed; he is a man of integrity, a faithful man, faithful to God, his caufe and intereft, his word and ordi- ‘nances, and is faithful with the faints; he walks uprightly according to the rule of God’s word, and by faith in Chrift; and to fuch upright men God fhews himfelf upright, or faithful, by keeping his covenant with them, fulfilling his promifes to them, and not fuffering one good thing to fail, he has given them reafon to expect from him. This may alfo be interpreted of Chrift, who is in the higheft and fulleft fenfe perfe&t, upright, and fincere, and faithful to him that appointed him; and as he has been faithful in all his covenant-engagements with his father, fo his father has been faithtul to him in making good allhepromifed him; both with refpect to his own glory, and the happinefs of his people; fee I/a. liii. 1o——12.Fobn xvii. 4,5. Phil. ii. g, 10.

¥. 26. With the pure thou wilt fhew thyfelf pure, &c.] None of Adam’s pofterity are pure by nature; they are all defiled with fin; and tho’ fome are pure in their own eyes, they are far from being cleanfed from their filthinefs; fuch only are pure who are fanétified by the Spirit of God, have clean hearts, created in them, and whofe hearts are purified by faith in the blood of Chrift; who are juftified by Chrift’s righteoufnefs, and are wafhed from their fins in his blood; and whe, in confequence of fuch grace, love purenefs of heart, peak | a pure language, hold the myftery of faith in a pure confcience, and with a pure converfation, and live foberly, righteoufly and godly: and whereas God is a pure and holy being, his perfections, works, and word are pure; he fhews himfelf to be fo to fuch perfons, by providing for the honour of his purity and holinefs in their redemption, fanctification and falvation; by making all things to be pure to them; by granting them his prefence, and blefting them with the vifion of himfelf here and hereafter; fee Matt. v. 8. this may likewife be underftood of Chrift, who, in his human nature, is pure from all fin, both original and a¢tual: he indeed took upon him the fins of his people, and bore them, and made fatisfaétion for them, and brought in everlafting righteoufnefs 5 which being done, God has fhewed himfelf pure to him, by juftifying, acquitting, and difcharging him from all fuch fins; by accepting his righteoufnefs, and imputing it to thofe for whom he wrought it. dad with the froward thou wilt foew thyfelf froward; or thou wrestle#*, or wilt contend with them until they are deftroyed: the fame word is here ufed which Naphibali has his name from, Gea. xxx. 6.

The froward are fuch as are of perverfe difpofitions, and of ftubborn and obftinate tempers, and whofe ways are crooked and diftorted; and fuch were the people of the Jews in the times of Mo/es, and of Chrift, Deut. eee 20. Matth, xvii. 17. and who feem here to be defigned; even the Jews in Chrift’s time, who were juft the reverfe of the above charaéters, were cruel and unmerciful, faithlefs and hypocritical, filthy and impure, difbelieved the Meffiah, rejected and crucified him, were contrary to God, and toall men; and therefore God walked contrary to them, as he threatened, Lev. xxvi. 27, 28. the fame as fhewing himfelf froward to them; for God is not froward and loc. h Apud Aben Ezra in loc. Tigurine verfion, Caflalio; fo Ainfworth, perverfe in himfelf, nor in his ways, which are all equal, juft, and pure: and though there is one and the fame word ufed in our verfion, yet there are two different words in the Hebrew text; the fame word that is ufed of the froward, is not ufed of God; that which is ufed of God, as before obferved, fignifies wreftling, and defigns God’s con= tending with the people of the Jews, in a way of wrath and fury, which came upon them to the uttermoft, and iffued in their entire ruin as a people and nation; the words here had their fulfilment in the deftruction of Ferufalem.

¥. 27. For thou wilt fave the affifted people, &c.] As the people of God commonly are;

they are afflicted with fin, and the corruption of their own hearts, and with Satan and his tempta-. tions, and with the world, its reproaches and perfecutions; but God in his own time faves them out of them, if not here, yet hereafter. This is particularly and eminently true of the chriftians, who lived between the crucifixion of Chrift and the de- {truction of Ferufalem, who were greatly afflicted and perfecuted by the Jews, but were in a remark= able manner faved a little before the deftruétion of Ferufalem, by being directed to go out of it to a place called Pella‘; fo that not one chriftian fuf+ fered in it, But wilt bring down high looks; or proud men, whom God humbles; thefe he abhors, refifts, fets himfelf againft, featters and deftroys. The Jews were a very proud people, and behaved in an infolent and infulting manner ‘towards Chrift and his followers; but the high looks of the chief priefts, fcribes and Pharifees, were brought down to a purpofe, when their city, tem ple and nation, were deftroyed; fee Las ii 11, y. 28. For thou wilt light my candle, &c.] or lamp‘: in 2 Sam, xxii. 29. it is, Thou art my lamp, O Lord; which may either defign outward profperity, and the flourifhing condition of David's kingdom; or internal, fpiritual light, and an increafe of it, by giving frefh fupplies of the oil of grace, to cauie the lamp to burn more clearly; or rather, the profperous eftate of Chrift’s kingdom 5 and may be the fame with the lamp ordained for the Meffiah, P/al. cxxxii. 17, The Lord my God will enlighten my darkne/s; or caufe light to fhine in my darknefs°, that is, bring me out of darknefs into light; either out of adverfity to profperity, o; Rout walking in darknefs, to the ae ee oe Aiba light of his countenance; and is true of Chrift, not only of the profperity of his kingdom and intereft, but of him perfonally; who though, when on the crofs, was in darknefs of foul, being forfaken by his God; yet when raifed from the dead he was received up to heaven, and fet down at the right hand of God, and was made full of joy with his countenance, és ii. 28. ¥. 29. Por by thee [have run through a troop, &c.] Or, [have run to a troop; to meet one, ‘ with courage and intrepidity, as fome interpret it®; or as others, I have run after a troop; that is, purfued after one, as David purfued after the troops of the Amalekites who burnt Ziklag, 1 Sam. xxx. 8. to which Farchi refers this paflage; or rather, I have broke a troop, or through one’; for the word, as fome Jewith writers * obferve, comes from a root, which fignifies to break in pieces, and is fitly ufed for the deftroying, or cutting in pieces a troop of the ene-. my $ © Eufeb, © So ¢ Apud Kimchi in

SO ae a #!. ae my; and is true of Chrift, when he engaged with the troops of hell, and broke the fquadrons of the infernal fiends, and fpoiled or difarmed principalities and powers, and triumphed over them on the - crofs, and made a fhew of them openly, when he dragged them at his chariot-wheels, and led captivity captive. And by my God have I leaped over a wall; which refers to the fcaling of walls, and taking of fortified places; and fo the Targum, By’

the word of my God I will fubdue fortified towns; fo Apollinarius has it, pafled over a tower, or took it; which was literally true of David, in many inftances. archi applies this to his taking the fortrefs of Zion from the Febufites: a learned writer ' thinks this refers to his leaping over the city-wall, and flipping through the city-watch, when Michal let him down thorough a window: it may be applied to Chrift, who broke down the middle wall of partition, the ceremonial law, which ftood between Jew and Gentile; or rather, it may defign the many difficulties which were in the way of the falvation of his people, which he furmounted. and got over with great ftrength and fwiftnefs; fuch as fulfilling the law, fatisfying juftice, bearing fin, and making atonement for it, undergoing a fhameful and an accurfed death, and grappling with numerous enemies, whoni he conquered; and he is faid to do all this by his God; becaufe, as man and mediator, he was ftrengthened and affifted by him.

y. 30. As for God, bis way is perfect, &c.] Or without fpot™, as the Septuagint render the word; without any juft charge of inequality, or unrighteoufnefs; fuch is God’s way of providence, though fometimes his methods of providence are cavilled at by wicked men, and murmured at by his own people: they are at a lofs, at times, to recconcile promifes and providences together, and to account for the juftice and equity of them; thefe ways of his are unfearchable, and not to be traced out by them but when his judgments will be made manifeft, the wifdom, goodnefs, and righteoufnefs of them will be clearly difcerned, and they will be admired; for they are all of a piece, and perfectly confiftent with the attributes of God: and fuch alfo is his way of grace, and method of falvation; it is agreeable to all his perfections, and according to his purpofes, counfel and covenant; this being refolved on in his breaft, contrived by his wifdom, and concluded on in the covenant, has been effected and finifhed by his Son; and his inward way of working upon the heart, though at prefent imperfect, will be compleated; he is a rock, and his work is perfect, and all his ways are judgment: whatever way or method he contrives and enters upon, whether in providence or grace, he purfues and brings to an iffue; for he is anomnipotent, omnifcient, and unchangeable being, and neither fruftrates, nor is he fruftrated; nor is there any infincerity, unrighteoufnefs, and unfaithfulnefs in him; nor can he act contrary to himfelf, and the perfections of his nature: the way alfo which ‘he prefcribes to others is perfect and plain; whether the path of doctrine or of duty; the path of truth is plain to the enlightened underftanding, and the way of holinefs is fuch, in which men, though fools, fhall not err; fee Prov. viii. 8, 9. I a. xxxv.

8., The word of the Lord is tried; as filver ina furnace, and is clear of all drofs, of error and falfhood; is free from human mixtures, and without any impurity and unholinefs; nor is God’s word of promife chargeable with unfaithfulnefs;

all his promifes being yea and amen in Chrift, and —

As light and fwift as’ theirs, as the Targum that tu» Sad,; 0) aoc See have been tried and proved by the faints in all ages; and have been found true, faithful, conftant, and invariable. He is a buckler ‘to all thofe that trust in bim; not in man, nor in themfelves; in their own righteoufnefs, or in any creature or creature-enjoyment or performance; but in the providence and power of God, in his grace and mercy, inhis word, and efpecially in his Son; imhis perfon, blood, and righteoufnefs; to fuch he is a buckler or fhield: his power is all around them, his favour encompafies them, ard his truth, or faithfulnefS in his word, is their fhield and buckler: and fo is his Son, who is both a fun and fhield to them; and fuch are his precious blood, his {potlefs righteoufneis, and atoning facrifice; which being held up by faith, repel the fiery darts of Satan.

¥. 31. For who is God, fave the Lord? 8c. Or Febovah? there is but one God, and Febovab is hes there is none befides him, nor any like him: there are many that are called gods, nominal deities, who are not by nature gods; fictitious ones, the idols of the Gentiles, made of gold, filver, brafs, wood and ftone; but there is but one true God: there are gods, in an improper fenfe, as civil magiftrates 5 but there is none really and truly fo but the Lord; which is to be underftood, not of /ebovab the ther, to. the exclufion. of the Son and Spirit; 4 the Son is Febovab, and the Spirit is Febowah 5 both are fo called, as well as the Father, and all three one God. Or who is a rack, fave our odd to have recourfe to for fhelter and protection3 or to truft to, and build upon, for eternal life and falvation. Falfe gods are rocks; but not like ours, our enemies themfelves being judges, Deut. XXxll. 31. fo Apollo at Delphos is called the Delphian rock": the words feem to be taken from, or at leaft there is in them a reference to 1 Sam. it. 2.

_ ¥. 32. It is God that girdeth me with Strength, &c.] For battle, as in y. 39. with ftrength of body and’ fortitude of mind; both which are from the Lord, and were in David; and were acknowledged by him as beftowed on him by the Lord; and which confirms what he had before faid of him: or with fpiritual ftrength, with ftrength in his foul, againft fin, Satan, and the world; and to do the will and work of God: faints are girt by the Lord with the whole armour of God, and among the reft with the girdle of truth; and are prepared and ready. to every good work; fee 1 Sam. ii.,4. Hannab’s fong is again referred to: in 2. Sam. xxii. 33. the words are, God is my firength and powers they aréttrue of Chrift, the. man of Godehehe handy whom he promifed to ftrengthen, and. Whom he has made ftrong for himielf. Pfal. \xxx. 17. and Ixxxix. 21. Aud maketh my way perfec?; or fafe, or profperous. God remo every impediment and obftacle out of his way, and made it plain and eafy, as Zarchi obferves; and fucceeded him, and gave him victory over his enemies; this has ae ho has conquered, fin, Satan, the world, death, and the grave: for this is not to be underftood p the wa and courfe of David's lifé’and converfation, whi was not perfect and unfpotted, but h mifhes and imperfeétions owns, confeffes, and bewails. —

H. 93. He maketh my feet like binds feet,” Bee.)

_s, either to fee, when there was a neceffity for it, as Kimchi obferves; or rather to purfue after the ~ enemy, to run through a troop, ‘and leap over a wall, as before; fee 1 Chron. xii. 8. 2 Sam. ii. 18, 19. the fame phrafe is ufed in Hab. ili. 19. and may be underftood in a fpiritual fenfe, of that readinefs and chearfulnefs with which the faints run the ways of God’s commandments, when their hearts are enlarged with his love and grace; and may very well be applied to Chrift, who is often compared toa roe, or a young hart, for {wiftnefs; who readily and at once engaged to come and do the will of God, and whofe coming in the flefh, at the appointed time, was fwift; and who made hafte to dothe work of God, in which ke took the utmoft pleafure; and who is a fpeedy and! prefent help to his people in time of trouble; fee Cant. ii. 8, 9,17. and vili. 14. And fetteth me upon my high places; the towers and fortrefles, and {trong and fortified places, where he was fafe from his enemies 3 and, in a fpiritual fenfe, may defign the everlafting love of God, the covenant of grace, its bleffings and promifes; and Chrift himfelf, with the fulnefs of grace in him, on which believers may be faid to be fet, when their faith is direéted to them, and they live and dwell upon them; fee Had. iii. 19. J/a. xxxiii. 16. and the words were fulfiled in Chrift, when God highly exalted him at his. right hand, and fet him above all principalities and powers, and made him higher than the heavens. ¥. 34. He teacheth my hands to war, &c.| From whence it appears, that war, in fome cafes, is lawful; and that all the fkilfulnefs and art in training men for war, in the ufe of armour, in marfhalling of armies, in forming fieges, &c. is all from God; fee Pfal. cxliv. 1. and fo is all that fpiritual kill, in making ufe of the whole armour of God againft every enemy, fin, Satan, and the world; and even the wifdom and fkill, counfel and inftruction, which Chrift as man and Mediator had, when it was the hour and power of darknefs; when he was engaged with principalities and powers, and got the victory over them,.were from the Lord; fee P/al. xvi. 7. So that a bow of Steel is broken by mine arms; that is, the bow of an enemy falling into his hands, which might be literally true of David. It is in the Hebrew text, a bow of brafs; and fo Appollinarius renders it; which Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret, ftrong iron, that is, fteel; and fo the Zargum; fee Fobxx. 24. Satan is an archer; his temptations are darts, and fiery ones; and his ftrong bow may be faid to be broken by the arms of faith, when his temptations, under the influence of divine grace, are repelled and rendered ineffectual; and efpecially his bow was broken by Chrift, not only in the-wildernefs, when he was vanquifhed by him; but inthe garden, and on the crofs, when Satan could find nothing in him, and get no other advantage over him, but to bruife his heel; when he himfelf had his head broke, his works ruined, and he himfelf deftroyed. Some render the words, Mine arms have bent a bow of steel; that is, fuch fkill and ftrength were given him, that he was able to bend, draw, and fhoot a bow of fteel: the Targum is, and hath ftrengthned mine arm as a bow of brafs, or fteels and fo the Syriac and Arabic verfions; and to the fame purpofe the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Etbiopic verfions, or it may be rendered, ‘my arms have bent, or made to defcend’, a bow of brafs; for when a bow is

| bent, the horns, or Cormiers of it, aré made to defcend towards a man,

¥. 35. Thou bast given me the fhield of thy falvation, &c.] Meaning either temporal falvation, which was a fhield to him when he had no outward one, as when he fought with Goliath; and was what preferved him in all his battles at other times: or {piritual falvation, which is of the Lord, of his contriving, effecting, and applying, and in which his glory is concerned; intereft in which is a free gift of his, as are the knowledge, application, and poffeffion of it; and this is as.a fhield; which faves trom fin, from all fin, and the damning power of it; keeps off the curfes of the law, fecures from wrath to come, and repels Satan’s temptations 5 the words may be applied to Chrift, who, though he was not faved from dying, yet was preferved in the day of falvation, and was not fuffered to fee corruption in the grave, and was quickly delivered from the power.and dominion of it. And thy right hand bath holden me up; Chrift may be faid to be the right. hand of God, being as dear to him as his right hand; and being exalted at it; and becaufe by him he communicates all good things to his people, and with him upholds and fuftains them; or elfe it defigns the mighty power of God, which is often fignified by it, Pal. xx. 6. and xliv. 3. and CXvili. 15,16. and may be underftood of the fuftentation of David,both in a providential way, with refpect to his being, the prefervation of it, the fupplies of life, and iupport in times of trouble and diftrefs; and in a {piritual fenfe, maintaining the principle of grace in him, furnifhing him with frefh fupplies of grace, and bearing him up under and through every temptation and exercife; fo upholding him that he itood firm in the true grace of God, in the exercife of it implanted, and in the doétrine of grace, fo as to go forward in the ways of God, and follow hard after him, and fo as not to fall and utterly perifh; and which is true of all the faints; fee Pfalm Ixiii, 8. and xxxvii, 24, The words may be interpreted of Chrift, who, as man and mediator, as God’s righteous fervant, was upheld by him, fo that he failed not, nor was he difcouraged; the hand of the Lord was eftablifhed with him, and his arm alfo ftrengthened him, J/a. xlit. 1,4. Pfal. Ixxxix. 21. this claufe is not in 2 Sam. xxii, 36. dnd thy gentlene/s hath made me great; David was very mean and low by his birth and occupation, and whilft perfecuted by Sau/; but God of his grace and goodnefs, of his fovereign good will and pleafure, raifed him to an high eftate, fet him on the throne of J/rae/, and gave him honour among and above the kings of the earth; fo Kimchi interprets the word for gentléne/s by goodnefs or merciful kindnefs; R. Jonah by providence; and R. J/faac explains it thy belp and good will and all fhews that his greatnefs was not owing to his merits, but to the providential goodnefs of Gods and his fpecial grace and mercy in Chrift Jefus made him ftill greater, even a child of God, an heir of God, a joint-heir with Chrift, a king and a prieft unto God; gave him aright unto, and a meetnefs for a crown of glory, an everlafting kingdom, an eternal inheritance, as it does all the faints. The words may be rendered, thy humility hath made me great ®; which may be underftood either of God’s humbling himfelf to look upon him in his low eftate, and to raife him to fuch honour and dignity as he did, both in a temporal and fpiritual fenfe a fee

Pfal. cxiii. 6—8. or of the humility which he had in himfelf from God, as Aben Ezra interprets it of which grace God is the author; it is a fruit of the Spirit; which he takes great notice of, gives more grace to them that have it, and exalts them, as he did David, who was mean-and low in his own eyes. The Septuagint, and thofe verfions which follow that, render it thy di/cipline or correction; and fo may defign the gentlenefs and lenity of God in chaftifing his people, which is always in meafure and in judgment, and for their good; whereby he increafes grace in them, and trains them up for, and brings them to his kingdom and glory. The Chaldee paraphrafe is, by thy word thou hast increafed me; it may not be improperly interpreted of Chrift, who was very low in his eftate of humiliation on earth, but is now highly exalted, and crowned with glory and honour; who firft endured great fufferings, and then entered into his glory.

¥. 36. Thou hast enlarged my fleps under me, 8c. | Which is oppofed to thofe ftraitned circumftances in which the pfalmift was, ¥. 4, 5. and is expreflive of deliverance from his enemies, by whom he was furrounded, befieged, and fhut up; fee P/al. xxxi. 8. and of freedom of walking at large, without being ftraitned for room, or interrupted by others, Prov. iv. 12. and of fafety in ftanding; all which is true in a fpiritual fenfe of believers in Chriit, who being delivered by him out of the hands of their enemies, ferve the Lord without fear in righteoufnefs and holinefs; walk at liberty by faith in Chrift, and up and down in the name of the Lord their God; and have their feet eftablifhed upon the Rock of ages, that fure and large foundation, Chrift, from which there is no danger of flipping and falling; as follows. That my feet did not flip; fo as to fall and perifh; for fometimes the fteps of the faints are well nigh flipt; yea in fome fenfe they ftumble, flip, and fall, but not fo as to be utterly caft down and perifh eternally; the bottom on which they are is fo broad, and the foundation fo fure, that it is not poffible they fhould. The words will bear to be applied to Chrift, who was in very prefied and ftraitned circumftances, when befet with the bulls of Ba/han, encompafied with dogs, and inclofed with the aflembly of the wicked; and was in flippery places, when he funk in deep mire where there is no ftanding, P/al. xxii. 12, 16. and Ixix. 2. but now being delivered from all this, he is brought, as in y. 19. into a large place, into heaven, and made higher than the heavens, and is fet down at the right hand of God, from whence he can never be moved.

y. 37. I have purfued mine enemies, and overtaken them, &c,) Which may refer to David's purfuing the Amalekites, who overtook them and recovered all they had carried away, 1 Sam. xxx. 8,10, 18, 19. fo Kimchi explains it. Neither did

I turn again till they were confumed; for not a ‘man efcaped, fave four hundred young men that rode on camels and fled, ¥. 17.

y. 38. I have wounded them that they were not able to rife, &c.] Which was not only true of the Amalekites, but of all with whom David engaged in war. They are fallen under my feet; either dead, or become fubject and tributaries to him; as the Philiftines, Moabites, Syrians, and Edo. mites; fee 2 Sam. viii. This, with the preceding verfe, may very well be accommodated to David’s antitype, and be expreffive of the entire victory he has obtained over all his and his peoples enemies; he wounded the heads over many countries, P/al, cx. 6, Satan and his principalities and powers, whofe head is broke, whofe works are deftroyed; yea he himfelf, which had the power of death, fo as not