PLxxxvieh 2— Be
wicked man’s finful courfe of life, and his daring impieties, conceived in his own mind, and concluded from hence, that there is 20 fear of God before bis eyes 5 no reverential affection for him, but enmity to him; no godly filial fear, but at moft only a flavifh fear, a fear of punifhment; no holy and humble fear of him, but pride and wickedne{s; no fiducial and obediential fear, but all the reverfe; no true worlhip of him, either internally or externally: there can be no fear of God in any unregenerate man’s heart, becaufe it is not of nature but of grace, and is what is implanted at firft converfion; there is in fome an appearance of, it, where it is not really, whofe fear is taught by the precept of men; and in others there may be fome awe of the divine Being, and trembling at the thought of a future judgment, arifing trom the dictates of nature, the light of revelation, and the enjoyment of a religious education; but in fome there is no fear of God at all, and they are bold and daring enough to affert it themfelves, as the unjuft judge did, Luke xviii. 4. Such as the atheift, the common fwearer, the debauchee and epicure, who give up themfelves to all manner of wickednefs, contemn revelation, defpife the word of God, and regard no day nor manner of worfhip; and this notwithftanding the majefty of God, at whofe prefence they tremble not, and notwithftanding the goodnefs of God, which fhould induce them to fear him, and notwithftanding the judgment of God on others, and even on themfelves; fee Fer. iii. 8. Luke xxiii. 40, and notwith{tanding the future awful judgment which they put far away or difbelieve. The Targum is, tran/- grefion faith to the wicked within my heart; and Farchi’s note upon the text is this, “« this text is to “© be tranfpofed thus, It is in my heart, that tranf- *© oreffion, which is the evil imagination, fays to «< the wicked man, that there fhould be no fear of « God before his eyes; and the phrafe in the ‘ midjt of my heart, is as if a man fhould fay, fo it « feems to me.” The Septuagint verfion, and thofe that follow it, render the words thus, be tranfereffor faid, that he might fin in bimfelf, there is no fear of God before bis eyes. Guffetius * interprets before bis eyes, before the eyes of God himfelf,who is fo good a Being, that the finner fears no punifhment from him, but will pardon all his fins. y. 2. He flattereth himfelf in bis own eyes, &c.] There are many felf-flatterers; fome on account of their worldly eftate, that they are out of the reach of God and men, and regard neither; and that as they have much goods laid up, they fhall enjoy them many years,and fo never think of dying, nor of another world: others on account of their eternal ftate, pleafing themfelves with their own purity, goodnefs, and righteoufnefs: fome flatter themfelves either that their fins are not fins, or they are {mall ones; or they are no other than what multitudes commit; or they are not feen and _known, andthat God himfelf fees them not, or _takes no notice of them’; and that they fhall go.on with impunity, fentence againft them being not {peedily executed; and others that there is no God, will be no judgment, nor future ftate. Until bis iniquity be found to be hateful, or, to Jind bis iniquity and to bate * that which is good, as the word may be rendered; that is, he flatters himfelf, or peaks
{mooth things to himfelf, and endeavours to work himfelf up into the belief of the above things; that he may find, embrace, and indulge his lufts with a quiet confcience, and hate God, good men, and every thing that is good; the Targumis, «that he ** may find fins and hate doétrine”’ or infttuétion. Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret the wotds another way ‘* that the holy and blefled God may find out ‘* his iniquity to hate him” fee Gen. xliv. 16. which God may be faid to do, when he charges the guilt of fin upon the confcience, and punifhes for it; and expofes both the finner and his fins to the world; thereby teftifying his hatred of him and his fins; and which fhould have been hateful to him, as they are to all good men.
¥. 3. The words of bis mouth are iniquity and decet, &c.} Not only finful, burt fin itfelf; his mouth is full of curfing and bitternefs, of filthy and unchafte words, of corrupt communication, lying deceit and flattery; out of the abundance of the wickednefs of his heart his mouth fpeaketh; and which fhews the badnefs of it, and proves all that is faid before of him. He bath left off to be wife, and to do good; by which the pfalmitt feems to intend one that had been a profeflor of religion, who, befides the light of nature he had acted contrary to, had had the advantage of a divine revelation, and had been enlightned into the knowledge of divine things, and had done many things externally good, particularly acts of beneficence; but now had dropped his profeffion of religion, denied the truths he had been enlightned into, and ceafed from doing good; otherwife a natural man underftandeth not, and though he is wife to do evil, to do good he has no knowledge.
¥. 4. He devifeth mifcbief upon his bed, &c.] He cafts about in his mind on his pillow, when at leifure from all employment; and confults and contrives fchemes how to compafs his lufts, and to doinjury to others, without doing which he ¢cannot fleep. He fetteth bimfelf in a way that is not good; in an evil way, which he choofes and delights in, and determines to continue in, he leaving the paths of righteoufnefs to walk in the ways of darknefs: he abborreth not evil; which is to be abhorred \both becaufe of its nature and effects; fee Rom. xii. g. but on the contrary he loves it, takes pleafure in doing it, and in them that commit ic: thus by his thoughts, words, and actions, he appears to be devoid of the fear of God.
WV. 5. Thy mercy, O Lord, isin the heavens, &c.] Meaning either the general mercy of God the earth is full of, and extends to all creatures; to which it is Owing that wicked men before defcribed, are not confumed; and which reaches up to the heavens *, as the words are by fome rendered, as their fins do; fee Pfal. lvii. 10. or the fpecial mercy of God, and regards not the objects of it, creatures in heaven; for there are none there proper objects of mercy; but the feat of it, the heart of God who is in heaven; or the repofitory of it, the covenant of grace, which is full of the fure mercies of David, and of mercy there was a moft glaring inftance, when the Son of God was fent down from heaven, to obtain falvation for finful men; or it may denote the original of it, the heaven, being as ben Ezra obferves fome Jewith interpreters fay, the fountain of mercy, and the fpring of truth; or the greatnefs and abundance of it, it being as high as heaven, yea, above it; fee P/al. ciii. 11, and cviii. 4. And thy faithfulnefs reacheth unto the clouds; which lies in the execution of his purpofes, whofe counfels of old were faithfulnefs and truth; and in keeping his covenant and promifes; he never changes changes his mind nor forgets his word: he is a God of truth and cannot lie; he knows the end from the beginning; no unforefeen’ event can turn up to hinder the performance of what he has purpofed and promifed, and he is able to perform; nor does ever any of the good things he has fpoken of fail: though his faithfulnefs fometimes feems to be not only to the clouds, but in them, and out of fight; providences feem to clafh with promifes, which make unbelief to fay, Doth his promife fail for evermore? yet though we believe not, he abides faithful, P/al. xxvii. 8. 2 Tim. ii. Lae x. 6. Thy righteoufne/s is like the great mountains, _ &c.] Or, the mountains of God; fo called for their excellency, as the cedars of God, P/al. Ixxx. 10. or as Gu/fetius* oblerves, the greateft and higheft mountains, which are here meant, reaching above the clouds and the region of the air, are the pillars of the palace of God, and a part of it; and therefore called his mountains with great propriety, to which his righteoufnefs is compared: that is, either the righteoulnefs of God in the government of the world, which is fometimes like the high mountains, not to be reached and accounted for in the prefent {tate of things, though always is, and is immoveable as they are; or the righteoufnefs of God, by which he juftifies finners, which may be faid to be as the mountains of God, becaufe of the dignity of his perfon, who has wrought i it out; and becaule of the clear manifeftation of it, the gofpel, and fo vifible, as high mountains; and becaufe of the immoveablenefs and duration of it. Thy judgments are a great deep; both in a way of providence, many of them being at prefent not to be traced, though ere long they will be made manifett.; and in away of grace, fuch as the choice of fome and the leaving of others, the rejection of the Jews, and the call of the Gentiles; fee Rom. xi. 33. O Lord, thou preferveft man and beaft; in a providential way, upholding each in their being, and fupplying them with the neceffaries of life: ’ fome underftand this figuratively, of God’s faving Jews and Gentiles, wife and unwife, and particularly thofe who, through humility and modefty, as Farchi fays, compare themfelves to beats, becaufe of their ignorance and ftupidity, Prov, xxx. 2. Pfal. Ixxiii, 225 ’
y¥. 7. How excellent is thy loving kindnefs, O God, &c.] Which has appeared to men and not angels to fome and not others; to the chief of finners, who are by nature children of wrath as others; in chufing, redeeming, and calling them, taking them into his family, and making them heirs of eternal glory; and all this of his fovereign good will and plealure, there being Aothing in them that could move him to it; which loving kindnefs was in his heart from everlafting, ahd will: never change in him, nor depart from. them 5 and hence it mutt be moft.excellent and. precious: therefore thé children of men put their truft under the foadow of thy wings: not all men; for all have not faith, only fome, to whom it is given to believe, and who know the Lord and his loving: kindnefs; by which’ they are “induced and encouraged to trutt i in him, to. betake themfelves to him for mercy and protection, which they find in him: the allufion is either to the hen that patho het chickens under her wings, and proteéts them in time of danger, and fo it exprefles both the paternal affection of God tohis people, and the protection of them; or elfe to the wings of the cherubim over the mercy- -feat, between which ag
Lord “fat and communed with his peontas and fhewed mercy and favour to them, which encou-
God ‘himfelf, as he j is in Y Chri is though: the manifeftations of; cn fame’s and itis sete dco raged them to truft in him.
¥. 8. F; ‘bey foall be abundantly fatisfied with the fatnefs of thy boufe, &c.| By his houfe is meant the church of God, of his building, and where he dwells; by the fatnefs of it the ‘provifions there, the word and ordinances, and the bleflings of grace which they hold forth; and efpecially Chritt, the fatted calf, the bread of life, whofe’ flefh is meat indeed, and whofe blood is drink indeed, and which make a feaft of fat things; and thefe they that cruft: in the Lord, are welcome to eat and drink of abundantly, and to abundant fatisfa@tion 5 3 fee’ M 6. Pfal. xxii. 26. And thou foalt make them dram of the river of thy pleafure, the love of God, whofe ftreams make glad the city of Gods or the fulnefs of grace, ‘whic isan Chrift, out of which believers draw with joy, and drink with pleafure 5 or eternal glory and happinefs, enjoyed in’ the prefence of God, in which is fullnefs of joy, and at whofe.right hand are pleafures for ever+ more; a never ceafing torrent of them.
¥. 9. For with thee is the fountain of life; &ec.J Or lives *: God himfelf is: the fountain of living waters; this is a reafon proving the happi+ nefs of thofe that truft in the Lord,’ and that they fhall enjoy thé above things; becaufe with God the object of their truft is the fountain of life 3 not only of natural life, from whom ‘they have it, and by whom ‘it is fupported, but of fpiritual life, being quickened by him when dead in fin, by virtue ‘of which they live by faith on Chrift, and alfo of ‘eternal life; and’ the’ phrafe denotes, that life is originally in’ God’as’ in its - fountain, and that ‘both the fullnefs of it is with him, and the freenefs of it in the communication of it to others, as well as its continuance and duration. Jn thy light /hall’ we fee light 5
God is light itfelf, the Father of lights, and the former of it in every fenfe; in the light of his countenance, and the difcoveries of his love, they that truft in him feé light, or enjoy comfort; and in the light of his Son Jefus Chrilt, the fun of righteoufnels and light of the world, they fee the face of God, and enjoy his favours and behold the elory and excellency of Chrilt himfelf; and in the light of the divine Spirit, who is a Spirit of wifdom _ and revelation, they fee their fins exceeding finful, their righteoufitefs as nothing, and a precioufnels in the biéed, righteoufnefs, und facrifice of Chrift s and in the light of the divine word, they fee the — truths of the cofpel in their native fimplicity and excellency, and the duties of religion to be formed by them; and in the light of faith, which is _: the'gift of God, they have at Teatt olimpie of the - unfeen glories of the other world; and) when the _ beatific’ vifion fhall take place, they” fhall ‘fee no mote darkly through a glafs, but face'to face, even 7 Ai 5 igen
210! O continue thy loving -Rindnefi tot ben that know thee, &c.| "That is tpiritually and perimentally; and fuch are they that ruft Hh - and love him: and thefe até'the ‘objeéts of the lo of God;, not that their knowledge, fa thy!
are the caufe of his love to them; but th defcribe and paint at’ manifettly. * obje ef: and this'requeft re panes the open difeavery yo to thei: for the I Goat vays of them, the pfalmift here prays: for it may be rendered, draw out thy loviyg-kindnefs *, that. is, to agreater length; make a larger and clearer difcovery of it, thatthe height and depth, and length and breadth of it, may be more difcerned. dud thy righteoufne/s unto the upright in heart 5 who are fincere and without guile; who have new hearts created and right {pirits renewed in them, and have.
truth in the inward parts; and unto and upon fuch is the righteoufnefs of Chrift, and where it always continues,.for it is an everlafting one; but here it means a clearer and conftant revelation of it from faith to faith; unlefs ic fhould rather intend the righteoufnefs of God in protecting his people. from the infults of their enemies, and the continual ex- értion of it for that purpoig.
y¥. 11. Let not the foot of pride come againft me, &c.] Meaning fome proud enemy, fuch an one as Abitbophel, of whom. R. Obadiah expounds it,
Ae | 635 who lift. up his heel againft him; and is applicable to any haughty enemy of Cbriit and his peo—. ple, and particularly to antichrift, the man of fin, that exalts himfelf above, all that is called, God. And let not the band of the wicked remove me; cither from the houfe of, God; or from his throne, that high ftation and dignity in which he was placeil.
oy Me 42. There are the workers of iniquity fallen, &c.] Eitherin the pit they dug for others; or into hell, where they fhall be turned at laft; fee the notes on Pfal. v. 5. and vi. 8. They are caft down, and foall not be able to.rife; which will be the caie of Babylon. when fallen, Rev. xviii, 21. and this diftinguifhes the falls of the wicked from thofe of the righteous; for though the righteous fall, whether into fin, or into any calamity, they rife again, not.fo the wicked fee P/al. xxxvii.24. Mic. vii.8. and thus as the pfalm begins with: the tranf{gretfion of the wicked, it ends with their ruin.
HIS pfalm, it is very probable, was written at the fame time, and upon the fame occafion, with the former; and defcribes the different
{tates of good and bad men; and is full of exhortations, inf{truétions, and advice to the people of
God; intermixed with various encouraging promifes. A late learned writer " thinks it was. written for Mephibefbeth’s confolation under Ziba’s ca- Jumny.
¥. 1. Fret not thyfelf becaufe of evil-doers, &c.] ‘The faints may be grieved at them and for them, becaufe of their evil doings, and may be angry with them for them; yet are not to fhew any undue warmth, at leaft in an indecent way, by calling them opprobrious names; for the words may be rendered, do not fhew thy/elf warm or angry’, ina finful way; or fret not at their outward profperity, as it is explained ¥. 7. _The Targum adds, to be like them, which agrees with y..8, Neither be thou envious againft the workers of iniquity; that is, at their prefent temporal happinefs; fee P/al. xxiii. 3. The Targum adds, as before, to be joined with them; which fenfe fome parallel places feem to incline to, Prov. iti. 31. and xxiii. 17. |
¥..2. For they fhall foon be cut down like the gra s,
and wither as the green herb.| Which in the motning looks green, gay, and flourifhing, and in the evening is cut down and then fades away;. fee Pfal. xc. 5, 6. and fo the wicked profper and flourifh for a while, and then they perifh with all their honour, riches, and wealth; fo that their happinefs is a very fhort-lived one, and therefore need not be envied and fretted at. _. a a:
y. 3. Truft in the Lord, &c,| Not in men, who are fading and, perifhing like the green grafs and tender herb; nor in riches, which are very uncertain things; but in the Lord, in whom is everlafting ftrength; and with whom are riches and honour, yea durable riches and righteoufnels; truft in him both for things temporal and fpiritual, for foul. and body, for time and eternity; the way to have peace and quietnefs of mind under all difpenfations, is to exercife faith on a promifing God.. The Tazgum is, truft'in the Word of the Lerd, in. the effential Word of God, the promifed Meffiah... dnd do food; in general, all good a¢tions, in faith, and as the fruits and effects of it, without trufting to them, but in the Lord; doing them in his ftrength, and with a view to his glory; or in particular, aéts of beneficence to the poor, to which the encouragement follows. So /halt thou dwell in the land; either in the land of Canaan, a continuance in which depended upon the obedience of the people of the Jews to the commands of God; fee /a.i. 19. Eph, vi. 1, 2» of rather in the good land which is. afar off, the heavenly and better.country, which thofe — that truft in the Lord, and have that faith in Chrift which works by love, fhall dwell in.to,all eternity. And verily thou foalt be fed; either. temporally, fhall have food and raiment, even all the neceflaries of life; or fpiritually, with the word and. ordinan- ‘ces, ‘and with Chrift the bread of life now; and hereafter fhall be fed by him, the Lamb in the midit of the throne, and. by hirn Jed to fountains ot living water: fome read the words as,an exhortation, and render them, feed truth *, i.e, teach it, as Abraham taught his houfhold, and as faithful paftors feed with knowledge and underftanding; or feed by faith’, as the juft live by it; or as the Zarf£um renders it, be ftrong in faith, as Abraham was,. Rom. iv. 20. or rather, feed upon truth™, the word of truth, the gofpel of falvation, and the feveral truths and doétrines of it, which are food. for faith and nourifh up to everlafting life. aceite) oY. 4. Delight thyfelf alfoin the Lord, 8¢.] In the 'perfons in God, Father, Son, and Spirit; in the perfections.of God, his power, goodnefs, faithfulnefs, wifdom, love, grace and mercy;.in his works of creation,, providence, and redemption; in. his word, his gofpel, the truths, and ordinances of it 5 in his houfe, and the worfhip of it; and in his peo-., ple, the excellent in the earth, in whom was all the delight of the pfalmift; and each of thele afford a field of delioht/and pleafure, to attend unto, contemplate, and meditate upon. And he shall give thee the defires of thine heart, fuch as are according to the will of God, and for the good of his people; fuch as relate to communion with him, and to the communication of more grace from him, and to the enjoyment of eternal glory.
yr. 5: Commit thy way unto the Lord, &c.) Or thy works, as in Prov. xvi. 3. that is, all the affairs and bufinefs of life, which are a man’s ways in which he walks; not that men fhould fit ftill, be inactive, and do nothing, and leave all to be done by the Lord; but fhould feek direction of God in every thing engaged in, and for ftrength and affiftance to perform it, and go on in it, and depend upon him for fuccefs, and give him all the glory, without trufting to any thing done by them: or, as fome render the words, reveal thy way untothe Lord“; not that God is ignorant of the ways of men, and of their affairs, and of their wants and neceffities, but it is their duty to afk, and it is his delight to hear; they may come and ufe freedom with him, and tell him their whole cafe, and leave it with him, believing he will fupply all their need: or, as others render it, roll thy way on the Lord’; fee Pfal. lv. 22. meaning not the burden of fin, nor the weight of affliction, but any affair of moment and importance, that lies heavy upon the mind, it is an eafe to the mind to fpread it before the Lord, who fympathizes with his people, fupports them under and brings them through their difficulties. Aud be fhall bring it to pa/s; as he does whatever he has appointed and determined fhall be and whatever he has promifed, and whatever will be for his own glory and his peoples good.
¥. 6. And be fhall bring forth thy righteonfnefs as the light, &c.] That is, the good man having committed his caufe to him that judgeth righteoufly, he will, in his own time, clearly make it appear, that it is a righteous one, both to himfelf and others, in whatfoever obfcurity it may have Jain. And thy judgment as the noon day; the fame as before, unlefs rather the righteoufnefs of Chrift, which is the believer’s by imputation, and is a juftifying
_ one in the judgment of God, fhould be meant; fee Micab vii. 9. and the phrafes may denote not barely the revelation of it in the gofpel, but the more clear manifeftation of it to the believer himfelf, from faith to faith; or as it will be ftill more clearly revealed and declared at the day of judgment, when thofe whoare clothed with it fhall fhine as the fun in the kingdom of their Father, and be clear of all thofe charges and imputations which they have lain under in this life. ’
y. 7. Reft in the Lord, 8ec.] Or be filent to the Lord ®; be ftill and know that he is God; quietly fubmit to his will, and acquiefce in all the difpenfations of his providence: it does not defign a ftupid indolence, or a ftoical apathy, that we fhould be like ftocks and ftones, without any concern at the hand of God upon us; nor an entire filence under afflictions; we fhould own that they are of God, and that we are deferving of them; we fhould pray to him to fanétify them, to fupport under them, and deliver out of them; we fhould blefs his name that they are no worfe, and that they are any ways ufeful to us; and we fhould fpeak to others of the divine goodnefs experienced under them; but this ftands oppofed to an arraigning or murmuring at the providence of God, and intends a patient bearing the hand of God, and a refignation of will to his will; for it follows, And wait patiently for bim, for the enjoyment of him, help from him, and deliverance by him. Fret net thy- Self becaufe of him who profpereth in his way, becaufe of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pafs; this explains the fenfe of y. 1. it being often an additional uneafinefs to the people of God under affiiction, when they obferve the profperity of men that go on ina finful way, and have all or more than heart can. wifh; and whatever they contrive and devife, though wicked and criminal. pe y. 8. Ceafe from anger; &c} Either at thefe wicked men who are fo profperous, or at God, who for the prefent fuffers it; fee Fonab iv. 9. Prov. xix. 3. And forfake wrath, which is anger wrought up to a greater degree; and the rather to be fhunned and avoided, as being very difagreeabte to the character of a good man. Fret not thyfelf in any wife to do evil; evil may be done by fretting at the profperity of wicked men, or by imitating. them, doing as they do, in hope of being profperous as they are; from which the pfalmift diffuades by reafons following.
¥. 9. For evil doers fhall be cut off, &c.J Tho? they flourifh for a while, they fhall be cut down like the grafs or flower of the field, or they fhall be cut off as branches from a flourifhing tree; they fhall be cut off from the earth, and rooted out of it by death or fome defolating judgment; fee Prov. ii. 22. and therefgre not to be envied and fretted at. But thofe that wait upon the Lord /ball inberit the earth; fuch who attend his word, worfhip, and ordinances; obey his commands, truft in his grace and mercy; or, as the Targum, truft in the Word of the Lord; who wait upon him for the manifeftations of himfelf, for the performance of his promifes, for anfwer of prayer, for fupplies of grace, and live in the expectation of the heavenly glory 5 thefe fhall have for their inheritance, not the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, which the obedient Jews enjoyed; but either this world and the neceffaries of it, which fuch perfons have the promife of, a right unto through Chriit, are heirs of, and do enjoy what they do witha bleffing; or elfe the new earth after this, in which only righteousones, thofe that wait upon the Lord, and truft in him, will dwell; unlefs the heavenly country, the good land afar off is ‘meant, often called an inheritance. ° a y. 10. For yet a little while and the wicked foall not be, &c.} Not that they fhall be annihilated or reduced to nothing, becaufe non-entities have no place nor being any where; when they die they fhall lift up their eyes in hell; their bodies’ will rife again at the laft day; they fhall ftand before the judgment-feat of Chrift, and go into everlafting punifhment; but they thall be no more in the world, and in the fame Hourifhing and profperous circumftances they were: and this their deftruétion will be in a fhort time, véry quickly. 2@a, thou Soalt diligently cunfider bis place and it thal not be; his dwelling place, called after his own name, to perpetuate the memory of him; fee Fob vil. 10. and xX. 9. an inftance of this the pfalmift gives of his own knowledge, y. 35, 36. eras y. 11. But the meek hail inherit the earth, &c.] See the note on y. g. of this charaéter fee the note on P/al. xxii, 26,. Our Lord jeems to refer tothis paffage in Matt.v. 5. And fhall delight themfelves in the abundance of peace’ of {piritual peace enjoyed ina way of believing, arifing from a comfortable view of intereft in the blood, righteoufnefs, and facrifice of Chrift; and of all happinefs and profperity in the kingdom of Chrift here on earth,.
at which time there will be abundance of’ peace, Pfal. \xxii. 7. or of eternal peace in the world to come, which will be a ftate of. uninterrupted and unfpeakable peace; fee ¥. 37. all which afford inconceivable delight and pleafure; and therefore fuch have no need to fret and be envious, at the fading happinefs of wicked men. i y. 12. The wicked plotteth againft the juft, &c.) Forms fchemes to make him uneafy, uncomfortable, and unhappy; And gnafheth upon him with bis teeth; which exprefies his malice‘and hatred, as Davia’s enemies. did upon him, P/al, xxxv. 16. and Stepben’s, Acts vii. 54. '
¥. 13. The Lord fhail laugh at him, &c. | Have him and his plots in derifion, confound his ichemes, and difappoint him of his defigns, bring him into calamity and laugh atit; feé P/al. i. 4. Prov. 1. 26. For he feeth tbat bis day is coming; either the day of the Lord, which he has appointed to judge the world in 3 and which comes fuddenly, at unawares, as.a.thief in the night, and is known unto the Lord though to none elfe; or the day of the wicked’ man’s ruin, and deftruétion, to which he is appointed, and which is the fame; and fo the Targum is, the day of his calamity; which the Lord obferves is haftening on, when he will be for ever miferable, y. 14. The wicked bave drawn out the fword, &c.} That is, out of the feabbard; they drew upon the righteous, in order to fheath it in them; or they fharpened the fword, as dben Ezra obferves fome interpret the word 3 it may be literally rendered, opened the fword 3, which before lay hid in the fcabbard; dud have bent their bow;’ having put the arrow in it in ofder to fhoot. The former expreffion may defign the.more open, and this the more fecret way of.acting again{t the righteous; and their view in both is to caf down the poor and needy, who are fo, both in a temporal and fpiritual fenfe; to caufe fuch to fall either into fin, or into fome calamity or another; And to flay fuch as be of upright converfation 5 who walk according to the rule of the word of God, and as becomes the gofpel of Chrift: nothing lefs than the blood and life of thefe men will fatisty the wicked; and it is an aggravation of their wickednefs, that they fhould attempt to hurt men of fuch character, who are poor and needy, holy, harmlefs, inoffenfive, and upright; and this points at the reafon why they hate them, and feek their ruin, becaufe of the holinefs and uprightnefs of their lives; fee Zohn xv. 19, 20. I Pét. iV. 35 4+. ' ye 15. Their fword fall enter into their own heart, &c.} As Saul’s did into his, 1. Sam. xxxi. 4. And their bows foall be broken; the meaning is, that their efforts fhall be fruitlefs, and their attempts in vain; the mifchief they have contrived and defigned for others, fhall fall upon themfelves; fee P/al. vii. 15. and therefore the faints fhould not be fretful and envious.
y. 16. A litile that a righteous man hath, &c.) It is the portion of the righteous, for the moft part, to have but little of this world’s goods; fome indeed have been rich, as Abraham, Lot, David, Fofeph of Arimathea, and others; but generally {peaking, the wicked have the largeft thare of worldly things, and the tighteous but little, and are as having nothing comparatively; and yet their litele, ‘is better than the riches of many wicked not thata little is better than much, or that poverty is bettér than riches, or a poor man better than a rich man; but the comparifon is between a righteous man and a wicked man; the emphafis lies there: and the fenfé is; that a righteous man’s Jitile, is better than a wicked man’s much; the righteous: have aright to what they have, through Chrift, who is heir of all things, but not the wicked; they have what they have in love and with a bleffing, not fo the wicked; they are contented in their ftate and condition,,when the wicked are never fatisfied; they. pofféfs and enjoy what they have, even all they have, when God oftentimes does not give the wicked an heart to eat and drink of what they are poflefied, but a ftranger eats it; they have the prefence of God with them, and that makes a little {weet and to goa great way; and they live without any anxious, diftrefling, carking care, not fo the wicked; and ere long the tables will be turned, and they will have their good things, and the wick» ed their evil things; fee Prov. xvi. 8. and xv. 16, 17. wherefore they have no need to fret under prefent circumftances, nor envy the happinefs of wicked men, Aramainterprets it, of a little help that a righteous ‘man has, better than the riches of many wicked; and Guffetivs* underftands all this not of the fmallnefs and largenefs of the fubftance of different perfons, but of their numbers, the one {mall the other large; and Farchi, that the fenfe is, that a few perions with the righteous, which was the cafe of Abraham and Gideon, are better and fucceed more than the multitude of many wicked perfons; and the church fhould be content with a {mall number of believers, and not draw ina multitude of wicked men into their communion,
¥. 17. For the arms of the wicked fhall be broken, &c.] Thatis, their fword-arm, with which they have drawn it; and fo fhall not be able to ftrike with it; and with.which they have bent their bows, but fhall not be able to fhoot: and this proves what is before fuggefted, that their efforts fhall be fruitlefs; or their fubftance fhall be taken away from them, in which they trufted, and wherein their ftrength lay; and this confirms what had been juft fpoken, that the righteous man’s little, is better than the wicked man’s much; and which is further confirmed by what follows. But the Lord upholdeth the righteous; both in a providens tial way, by fupporting them in their being, fupplying their need, preferving them from dangers, and bearing then? up under all their afflictions; and in a fpiritual way, by maintaining the principle of grace and life in them, by furnifhing them with all fpiritual bleffings, by fuftaining them in times of temptation, and by fecuring them fafe from their enemies; upholding them fo as that they ftand in the grace of God now, and fhall ftand before Chrift with confidence hereafter 5 and thall not fall here finally and totally, nor in the day of judement. The Targum is, The word of the Lord upboldeth the righteous.
y. 18. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, &c.] Not only how long they fhall live, and fo fill up their days, the number of them, as 4en Ezra interprets it; but the nature of their days, whether profperous or adverfe; and caufes both to work together for their good; and he knows the work of their days, as archi_explains it, the actions
‘done by them in faith and love, and to his honour’
and glory, and which he approves and accepts of in Chrift; fee P/al.i. 6. And their inheritance foall be for ever; in heaven, which is an eternal and never-fading one, Heb. ix. 15. 1 Pet. i. 4. and therefore they ought not to fret and be envious.
y. 19. They fhall not be afbamed in the evil time, &c.] Of affliction and perfecution, or of old age, or in the day of judgment, when it will go ill with others; fee 1 Yobn ii. 28. And in the days of famine they fhall be fatisfied; whether it is underftood figuratively of a famine of hearing the word, or literally of a proper famine of bread and water: thefe, God will provide for them, as he did for Elijah, and they fhall be fure unto them, and therefore let them not fret nor envy.
¥. 20. But.the wicked fhall perifh, &c.] Ina time of famine, in an evil day, and particularly at the day of judgment: for this is to be ‘underftood, not merely of being in bodily diftrefs and want; nor of perifhing by death, common to the righteous and the wicked; nor of being in a loft, perifhing condition, as all men by nature are, but of eternal perdition in hell. Aud the enemies of the Lord fhall be as the fat of lambs, they fhall confume; that is, either they fhall confume away as the fat of lambs burnt upon the altar, which evaporates, or as lambs fattened on purpole to be killed, and fo prepared for the day of flaughter; in likesmanner the wicked, who have waxed fat and kicked, will be deftroyed; they being the enemies of God, yea, enmity to him, to Father, Son, and Spirit, to the gofpel and ordinances of Chrift, and to his people, and will be treated as fuch. Some render the word, dike the excellency of paftures*; the grafs of the field, which is cut down and withers prefently; feey. 2. Into fimoke forall they confiume away, or with* it; that is, as it; fee Pfal. \xviii. 1, 2. or in fmoke"; in the, fmoke of eternal torments, or hell, as the Jargum.
y. 21. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again, &c.] Whilft the wicked live, they are fcandalous; they live by borrowing, which was always reckoned mean; fee Deut. xxvill. 12, 44. Prov. xxii. 7. and what is worfe, as they borrow they do not defign to repay; they take no care nor thought about that, but live upon what they borrow: for this either exprefies their incapacity that they cannot pay; or the evil difpofition of their mind, which rather feems to be the fenfe, that they will not pay. But the righteous foeweth mercy, and giveth; which not only argues capacity and ability, but a kind, merciful, and tender fpirit to perfons in diftrefs, and is expreffive of a generous action, y. 22. For fuch as be bleffed of him, &c.] Not of the righteous man; for he bleffes them that curfe and perfecute him, and defpitefully ufe him; but of the Lord, as the Syriac verfion exprefies it; or by the Word of the Lord, as the Zargum; both in a providential way, for it is the bleffing of the Lord that makes rich, and puts into a capacity to give to others; and ina way of grace, with. an in- ~ tereft in God as a covenant-God in Chrift; and with the bleflings of grace in him, with a juftifying righteoufnefs, pardon of fin, and a right to eternal glory. The Septuagint verfion, and thofe that follow that, render the words actively, fuch as ble/s him either fuch as blefs the righteous, who a blefied alfo, Gen. xii. 3. or rather, fuch as blefs the Lord, as the righteous do, for all their bleffings temporal and {piritual they receive from him; thefe Shall inberit the earth; {ee the note on ¥, g. And they that be cured of him; not of the righteous man, -but of the Lord, according to the tenour of his righteous law, which they have broken: Shall be cut off; out of the land of the living; many of them in the midft of their days, and fhall everlaftingly perifh. 1
¥. 23. The fleps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, &c.] Or of a man“; fuch a4 man as is bleffed of the Lord; the fteps which he takes in life are ordered by the Lord, both with refpeét to things temporal and fpiritual: his good conduét is not of himielf, it is a bleffing of the Lord; who directs and keeps the feet of his faints, and inclines them to take fuch fteps, and purfue fuch methods, which he fucceeds and profpers. 4nd be delightetb in bis way; which he knows and approves of, guides and directs him in; fee P/al.i. 6.
¥. 24. Though be fall, &c.] Into temptation, and by it into fins, and thefe very great ones; from a lively and comfortable exercife of grace, and a degree of ftedfaftnefs in the doétrine of grace: He Jeall not be utterly caft down; becaufe he is in the arms of everlafting love, and in the hands of Chrift Jefus; is on him as the fure foundation, and is kept by the power of God through faith unto fale vation, and fo fhall not perifh, but have everlafting life. For the Lord upholdéth bim with his band; with the right hand of his righteoufnefs, and keeps him from falling finally and totally; fee Z a. xli.
¥. 25. Ibave been young, and now am old, &c.} The pfalmift makes mention of his age, which takes in the whole compafs of his life, to command attention to what he was about to fay; which was founded upon a long experience and obfervation of things; and was as follows. Yet have I not feen the righteous forfaken, though afflicted of God, and perfecuted by men, yet not forfaken; though poor and needy, and often in neceffitous circumftances, yet God in his providence appeared for them, in one way or another; and fo as Apollinarius paraphrafes it, ‘I never knew a juft man entirely “ needy;” for fuch might be forfaken by men, and even by their deareft friends and relations, yet not by the Lord: they might indeed at times think themfelves forfaken of him, and their enemies might conclude and fay they were, and yet this was not their cafe, J/a. xlix. 14. P/al. Ixxi. 10, 11. and though they may be forfaken by him fora while, yet not utterly; he will not leave them and forfake them for ever, J/a. liv. 7. Heb. xiii. 5. Nor his feed begging bread; they being righteous alfo, which mutt be fuppofed; otherwife, as good men have wicked children, thefe, through their wickednefs may come to poverty, to beggary, as they fometimes do; tho’ a diftin¢étion may be made between being poor and beggars; the feed of the righteous may be the one, and not the other: befides, there is a difference between afking bread of others, in fome few inftanees, and conftantly begging bread from door to door, in which laft fenfe the ats mutt be underftood here; for otherwife he Nob, -* {UYA cum Fumo, imfelf, — in fome cafes, had afked bread, as of Abimelech at.