Carreh CaP ae:
was attended with finging and dancing, with fhouting, and the found of a trumpet, 2 Sam. vi. 12— 16, but it rather feems to be penned on account of the afcenfion.of Chrift to heaven, prophetically fpoken of in this pfalm; and of the {pread of the gofpel, and the conquefts it made in the gentile world upon Chrift’s afcenfion; as the whole pfalm fhews: and even Aben Ezra and Kimchi. apply it to the times of the Meffiah; and fo do’ fome of their moft ancient writers, who particularly interpret ¥. 5. of him, as may be feen in the note upon it.. nod y.1. O clap your bands, all ye people, &c.] Meaning the Gentiles more efpecially; fee P/al. cxvii. x. compared with Rom, xv. g, 10, 11.. who had reafon to rejoice and be glad, fince the afcended Lord and King here fpoken of, was given to be their Saviour, was the propitiation for their fins, and had given himfelf a ranfom-price for them; and now the gofpel was preached among them, by an order from him. after his refurrection; and upon his afcenfion,.gifts were beftowed on his apoftles, qualifying them for it; when many of them were. converted: by it, and were:made partakers of the fame grace and: privileges with the Jews that’ believed in. Chrift, and were, formed into gofpelchurches. Wherefore they are called upon to declare their joy and gladnefs, by:clapping their hands; which is a gefture expreffive of exultation and joy; ice Pfal. xcviit. 8. J/a. lv. 12. Nahum iii. 19. ° It was ufed at the unction and coronation of a king, 2 Kings xi. 12. and. fo very proper to be ufed on occafion of the Meffiah being made or declared Lord and Chrift, as he was at his afcenfion, és ii. 36. Shout unto God with the voice of triumph; as when triumphs. are made on ‘account of viétories obtained, which was now. the cafe; Chrift having conquered fin, Satan, and the world, by his fufferings and death, 4nd having fpoiled principalities and powers, made a fhew of them, openly triumphing over them, when he afcended on high, and led captivity captive; and he having fent his apoftles into the gentile world with his gofpel, they were,.caufed to triumph in. him wherever they came. And now thefe:external actions of clapping, hands,, and. fhouting with the voice, are expreflive of inward fpiritual joy; which thofe.:among the people who were, conquered by: the race of God, and hada fight of their afcended wee and Saviour were filled with: and who: are exhorted to exprefs it in this manner, unto God; not to angels; nor to. men, ‘no not to minifters,, who brought the joyful:tidings to them; but to God,: either to God the Father, for all theirtemporal and fpiritual bleffings; efpecially for the unfpeakable, gift. of his Son, \to fuffer and die for them: or to the Son of God, God manifeft in the fiefh; God that was..gone up with a fhout, y. 5- and was now at the right hand. of God, crowned with glory and honour; who, by the fufferings of death, had obtainedieternal redemption for them.. y. 2. For the Lord moft high is terrible, 8c.] Chrift is not only theSon of the higheft, but he himéelf is the moft high God, God over all, bleffed for ever. He is higher than the higheft, than the angels in heaven, or any of the fons of men on earth. He is the high and lofty One, that dwells aa the bigh.an sacter agrees with him as the afcended Lord and rs Maxim. 1. 7. ¢, 2, extern. 1.
us, Junius Se Tremellius timendus eff, Cocceius venetendus, Michaelis.
King in his human nature; he is afcended on high, is fet down on the right hand ‘of the Majefty on high. He is highly exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour; he is made higher than the heavens, and than the kings of the earth are; angels, authorities, and powers are fubjeét to him, And this is a reafon, exciting all the people to joy and gladnefs. And he is terrzd/e to his enemies, being the lion of the tribe of Fvdab; who will rule the nations with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces as a potter’s veffe]: and fo he will be when he fhall come in the clouds of heaven, and defcend from thence, in flaming fire, to take vengeance on thofe who have defpifed and rejected him; and at the fame time will
.be glorious to, and admired by them that believe in him. His appearance, which will be terrible to others, ‘will be matter of joy to them, Tho’ the word ufed may be rendered as it is in P/al. exi. 9g, reverend or to be feared *, as he is; fee Ifa. viii..13, 14. both on account of his goodnefs, as the Redeemer and Saviour of his people, Ho/fea iii, 5. and of his greatnefs, being equal with God, and King of faints. As it follows; Heisa great king over all the earth, as he muft needs be, fince he is the great God and our Saviour; and is King of kings, and Lord of lords. He is now King of Ziox, and head over all things to the church; and ere long the kingdoms of this world will become his, and he will take to himfelf his great power and reign, and fhall be King oyer.all the earth openly and vifibly, he fhall be one, and his name One, Zech, xiv. 9. Mal.i. 14. which is another reafon for joy and gladnefs among the people, ¥. 3. He fhall fubdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.) As Fofoua, his type, fabdued the Canagnites; and as David, another type of him, fubdued the Syrians, Moabites, and others: the Jews from thefe words expect that in the times of the ‘Meffiah they look for, the Gentiles: in a literal fenfe will be fubdued by him, and become fubjeét to them; but thefe, and all other expreffions of the like kind, are to be underftood in a fpiritual fenfe; fuch as J/a. xlix. 23. and Ix, 10,12, 14. and which will have their accomplifhment in the latter day, in the fubjection of the Gentiles to the word and ordinances of the gofpel adminiftered in his churches; though the paifage here refers to the times following the afcenfion of Chrift to heas ven, ‘when he went forth in the miniftry of his apoftles conquering and to conquer; *and \which he made’ ufe. of to caufe the people to fall under him,,and to be willing to be faved by him;:to fubmit to his righteoufnefs, and ro his ordinances, the {ceptre of,his:kingdom; and which «was, caufing them: to triumph, and fubduing the! people under them, who through the gofpel preached by:them became: obedient by word and deed; and which was an occafion of joy even to the conquered ones. y¥. 4. He fhall choofe our inheritance for uss: $c
Either a portion in this life; God knows what is beft forhis people, and therefore they fhould leave ir with him who can make a better choice for them than for themfelves: anheathen * once gave this advice, ‘. give thyfelf wholly to the will and dif-
*¢ pofalvof the celeftial ones; for they who are ufed “ to give things eafily, can alfo ghoofe the “ fitteft? Or the heavenly inheritance, fo called in allufion to the land of Canaan, fubdued and poffeffed by the [/raelites,in which Chrift is greatly concerned; his people are prédeftinated to the adoption of children, that is, to the inheritance they are 8 » adopted © Socrates apud Valer, adopted to by him, in whom they obtain it; thro’ his death they receive the promife of eternal inheritance, he being the teftator of that will of their heavenly father which bequeaths it to them it is his righteoufnefs which gives them a title to it, and through his grace they have a meetnefs for it, and he will at laft introduce them into it; all which is a reafon for joy and gladnefs in them. The Arabic verfion renders it, be bath chofen us an inheritance for bimfelf, fo the Lord’s people are,’ Deut. Xxxii. 9. Chrift afked them of his Father, and he gave them for his inheritance, he having chofen them as fuch, and greatly delighted he is with them, P/al. ii. 8. and xvi. 6. The excellency of Facob whom he loved. Selah. the faints, who are in his efteem, the excellent in the earth, and who will be in the latter day an eternal excellency, P/al. xvi. 3. Ja. \x. 15. even the whole church, confifting of Jews and Gentiles, the fpiritual Jacob or Ifrael of God, whom Chrift has loved with an everlafting love, and therefore has chofen them for his portion and peculiar treafure; as facob in perfon was loved when E/au was hated.
y¥. 5. God is gone up with a foout, &c.} That is, the Son of God, who is truly and properly God equal to the Father, having the fame perfections; God manifeft in the flefh, the Word that was made flefh and dwelt among men on earth; who in the next claufe is called Lord or Fehovab, being the everlafting I am, which is, and was, and is to come;. he having done his work on earth he came about, went up from earth to heaven in human nature, really, locally, and vifibly, in the fight of his apoftles, attended by angels, and with their fhouts and acclamations,which are here meant. The Lord with the found of the trumpet; which circumftance, though not related in the account of Chrift’s afcenfion in the New Teftament, yet inafmuch as the angels fay he fhall defcend in like manner as he afcended, and that it is certain he will defcend with a fhout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; fo that if his afcent was as his defcent will be, it muft be then with a fhout, and the found of a trumpet, 44s i. 10. 1 Lheff. iv. 16. This text is applied to the Meffiah by the ancient Jewith writers *.
y¥. 6. Sing praifes to God, &c.] That is gone up with a fhout, Chrift Jefus, our afcended Lord and King, as the apoftles did at the time of his afcenfion, Luke xxiv. 52, 53. Sing praifes, fing praifes unto our King, fing praifes; who was then made Lord and Chrift, declared king of faints, and crowned with glory and honour; the repetition of the phrafe fing praifes, denotes frequency, conftancy, fervency, and great devotion in the performance of this fervice; and that the afcenfion of Chrift, the occafion of.it, is of the greateft moment and importance, and requires it to be performed in fuch a manner.
y..7. For God is the king of all the earth, &c.] Or the king of all the-earth is God*, the fame that is afcended into heaven, and is king of faints, even Chrift Jefus; and fo he will appear to be, efpecially in the latter day; fee the note on ¥. 2.°° Sing ye praifes with underftanding; or as De Dieu renders it, to him that underftandeth, that.is, to God the only wife, whofe underftanding is infinite; even to Chrift who, as God, knows all things;:and as man and mediator is of quick underftanding, and has all the treafures of wifdom and:knowledge in him;
fo R. Obadiah, fing of him who underftands; or, Jing ye praifes, O every one that underftandeth*;
that is, how to fing, as every one does not; this is_ the fenfe of ben Ezra and Kimchi; or with underftanding, as we render it; with underftanding of what is fung. The apoftle Pau! feems to refer to this paffage in 1 Cor. xiv. 15. ‘The Targum renders it, with a good underftanding.
¥. 8. God reigneth over the heathen, &e.) He reigned over J/rae/ under the former difpenfation, and now he reigns over the Gentiles under the gofpel-difpenfation; as appears by the numerous in- {tances of converfion among them in the firft ages of chriftianity; and by the many churches that were planted by the means of the apoftles; and by the deftruétion of the Roman pagan empire under the fixth feal, Rev. vi. 1214. and xii. 7-10. and which will ftill more appear by the deftruétion of Rome papal, when all the heathens fhall perifh out of the land; and by the fulnefs and forces of the Gentiles being brought into a fubmiffion to him 5 all which are reafons to fing praifes tohim. God Jitteth upon the throne of his bolinefs; or his holy throne, which is heaven; on the right hand of the throne of the majefty in the heavens; on his Father’s thrones having done his work on earth he is’
received up into heaven, and is fet down ona throne at the right hand of God, an honour which none of the angels have: he has ceafed from his work and entered into his reft, and fits and fees of the travail of his foul; all which is matter of joy to his people, and a reafon why they fhould fing praifess and the rather, fince they are fet down with him in heavenly places: or this may be underftood of his’ fitting on the throne of judgment to judge the world in righteoufne(s at the laft day, it following. upon his reign over the Gentiles; though the other fenfe beft agrees with bis immediate afcenfion to heaven.;
¥. 9. The princes of the people are gathered togegether, &c.) Not againft Chrift, as at his firft coming, but to him and to his church and peoples even the great men of the earth, the kings and princes of it, as they will in the latter day; fee Jf. xlix, 23. and Ix. 3,10, 11. Rev, xxi, 24. or this may mean the faints in general, who are all of them the princes of his people, and are fet among princes, yea are kings and priefts unto God; fome render it, tbe willing or voluntary ones of bis people® the fame word is here ufed as in P/a/. cx. 3. where it is rendered willing, and defigns fuch who are made willing to be faved by Chrift, fubmit to his righteoufnefs, and be fubject to his word and ordi« nances. - Even the people of the God of Abrabam 3 whom the God of 4brabam has chofen for his people, taken into covenant, given to his Son, and who are redeemed by his blood, and effectually called by his grace; and who, though Gentiles, belong to the fame covenant, and the fame covenant- God as Abrabam did, and have the bleffing of Abraham upon them; and are indged his fpiritual feed, being Chrift’s..The Targum. is, the people. that believe in the God of Abraham. The words may be rendered in connexion with: the forme:
claufe, gathered together, unto the people of t of Abraham*; and fo denote the affociati¢ Gentiles converted, with the believing Jews, at the firft, times of the gofpel, and will be at lateer day, 1, Cor. xii. 13. Gal, iti, 28, 2 Ix.4. For the frields of the earth belong unto God; that oes CY 9399) voluncarii populorum, Jumws & is, the rulers of the earth, as the word is rendered in Hof: iv. 18. who are as a fhield and a protection to their fubjects; thefe are fet up and put down by the Lord at his pleafure; and their hearts are in his hands, and he can convert them when he pleafes, and gather them to his Son, and into his churches; or as archi interprets it, ‘«* he has power in his « hands to protect as with a fhield all that truft in /
“« him;” fafety is of the Lord; the protection of the world and of the church is from him who is King over all the earth. He is greatly exalted, that is, Chrift, who has all power in heaven and in earth; he is highly exalted at the right hand of Sg: angels, authorities and powers being fubject to him.
A fong and pfalm for the fons of Korah,
\ELIS pfalm is intitled @ fong-pfalm, a pfalm to be fung vocally; or a fong and pfalm to be fung both vocally and inftrumentally, and is one of the fpiritual fongs the apoftle fpeaks of Eph. v.19. It was occafioned, as fome think, by David’s fpoiling the PhiiSines, 2 Sam. v. 17—21. or as others, by the deliverance of the people from the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Febo/haphat, 2 Chron. xx. 27, 28. or as others, by the deliverance of the inhabitants of Ferufalem from Sennacheribd in the times of Hezekiab, 2 Kings xix. 34, 35. though as Kimchi, a celebrated Jewifh commentator, owns, it belongs to the times of the Melfiah, as the other preceding pfalms; and treats of his greatnefs, and of the praife and glory due to him, and gives large encomiums of his church, y. 1. Great is the Lord, &c.] ‘The fame that in the foregoing pfalm is faid to be gone up to heaven with a fhout, to fit on the throne of his holinefs, to reign over the heathen, and to be king over all the earth; who is great, and the Son of the Higheft; the great God and our Saviour; great in his perfon as God-man, God manifeft in the flefh, his Father’s fellow and equal; and in the perfections of his nature, being of great power, and of great wifdom, and of great faithfulnefs, and of ftrict holinefs and juftice, and of wonderful grace and goodnefs; great in his works of creation and providence; in his miraculous operations when on earth, and in the work of man’s redemption and falvation; great is he in all his offices, a great prophet rifen in J/rae/, a great high-prieft over the houfe of God, a Saviour, and a great one, and the great fhepherd of the fheep. And greatly to be praifed, in the city of our God; the city of Feru alem, the city of folemnities, where was the worfhip of God, and where the tribes went up to worthip, and God was prefent with his people; and where the great Lord of all fhewed himfelf to be great; here Chrift the great Saviour appeared, even in the temple, when a child, where Simeon and Anna faw him, and fpoke great things of him; where he at twelve years of age difputed with the doétors, and fhewed his great wifdom; here when grown up he wrought many of his great miracles, and taught his doétrines; here he entered in great triumph, attended with the fhouts, acclamations, and hofannas of the people; here he eat his laft paffover with his difciples; and in a garden near it was he taken and brought before the Sanbedrim, affembled at the high-prieft’s palace at Ferufalem 5 and then tried and condemned at the bar of Pilate; when being Jed a little way out of the city he was crucified on mount Calvary; and on another mount, the mount of Olives, about a mile from it, he afcended to heaven; and here in this city he poured forth the Spirit in an extraordinary manner on his difciples at the day of Pentecosf, as an evidence of his afcenfion; and from hence his gofpel went forth into all the world; and therefore was greatly to be praifed here, as he was by his difciples, church and people, Afis ii. 46,47. Ferufalem is a figure of the gofpel-church, which is often compared to a city, fa. xxvi, 1. and Ixii. 12. of which faints are citizens and fellow-citizens of each other; this is a city built on Chrift the foundation; is full of inhabitants when together and confidered by themfelves; is governed by wholefome laws, enacted by Chrift its King, who has appointed officers under him to explain and enforce them, and fee that they are put in execution; and has many privileges and immunities belonging to it; and this is the city of God, of his building and of his defending, and where he dwells; it is, as in ¥. 2. the city of the great King, the King Meffiah, and where he difplays his greatnefs; here he appears great and glorious, fhews his power and his glory; is feen in the galleries and through the lattices of ordinances, in his beauty and {plendor; here he grants his gracious prefence, and beftows his favours and bleffings; and is therefore greatly to be praifed here, as he is by all his people on the above accounts. Even in the mountain of bis holinefs; as mount Zion is called on account of the temple built ~ upon it, and the worfhip of God in it; and a fit emblem it was of the church of Chrift, which, as that is, is chofen and Joved of God, and is his habitation, is impregnable and immoveable, and confifts of perfons fanctified by God the Father, in the Son, and through the Spirit. ¥. 2. Beautiful for fituation, &c.] This, and what follows, are faid of the city of God, the city of Ferufalem, which was delightfully fituated on an eminence, in a wholefome air; the brook Kidron gliding by it, the water of Silogb running through it, or at leaft through fome parts of it; fields and: gardens adjoining to it, and mountains all around it: and fo the church of Chrift is built upon him, the rock; the river of divine love runs by it, the ftreams whereof make it glad; the green paftures of the word and ordinances are in it; and falvation is’ as walls and bulwarks about it; and fo healthful is it, that the inhabitants have no reafon to fay they are fick, fince the people that dwell therein have their iniquities forgiven, J/ai. xxxiiil. 24. The joy of the whole earth; that is, the city of Ferujalem,
Lam. ii. 15. efpecially it was fo when Chrift, whofe birth near it was matter of great joy toall people; when he who is the defire of all nations was in it; and when the gofpel went out from it unto the whole earth, and caufed joy wherever it came in power, and with the Holy Ghoft; and the church of Chrift, particularly in the latter day, will be an eternal excellency, and a joy of many generations, J/a. Ix. 15. and even now the whole world has reafon-to rejoice and be glad, becaufe of the church of Chrift in it, who are the light of the world world and the falt of the earth, and on whofe account the world continues, and the men of it enjoy the bleffings they do, Is mount Zion; or by mount Zion, Ferufalem was near it, and beautifully fituated by it. On the fides of the north 5 Ferufalem was north of Zion, as Zion was fouth of Ferufalem; \ikewife the temple was on the north.part of mount Zion, Ifai. xiv. 13. the altar and altar-gate were on the north-fide of the temple, and there were the tables on which the facrifices were flain, Ezek. viii. 5. and xl, 35—40. and’ on the north fide of the altar was the creature to be offered killed, Lev. i. 11. and perhaps fome reference is here had to the church of Chrift in the latter day, which for many, years paft has been chiefly in our northern part of the world: hence the proteffant doctrine is by the papiffs called the northern bere y;
and it will be sidings out of the north that thall trouble the man of fin, or fome agent of his, to come forth with fury, and plant the tabernacles of his palace between the feas, in the glorious holy mountain, Daz. xi. 44, 45. Tbe city of the great King; of Chrift the King of kings; fee the note on Pfal, xvii. 2. and xlviii. 1. |
¥. 3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.] As there were palaces in Feru/falem; fee v.13. and Pfal. cxxii. 7. fo there are in the church of Chrift; every place in it is a palace fit for a kings and every one that has truly a name and a place there, are kings and priefts unto God: and here God is a refuge both for faints and finners to fly unto; ‘fee the note on P/al. xlvi. 1. and is known to be fo; the minifters of the gofpel being here appointed to direct and encourage fouls to flee to Chrift for refuge, who is the hope fet before them in the ever- Jafting gofpel, preached by them to lay hold upon; and all that do flee to him know, by experience, that he is a refuge for them; and as all the people of God do in every time of diftrefs, and when all refuge fails them elfewhere. y. 4. For lo, the kings were affembled, &c.] As the princes of the Pdiliffines to feek for David, when in the ftrong hold of Zion, 2 Sam. v. 17. as the E¢biopians in the time of 4fa, 2 Chron. xiv. 9. and the Moadites and Ammonites in the times of Febofbaphat, 2 Chron, xx. 1. and the kings of Syria and J/rael in the times of Abaz, Tfai. vii. 1. and Sennacherib with his princes, who, in his efteem, were kings, in the times of Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii. 17. which are inftances of the kings of the nations gathering together again{t Ziow, the city of Ferufalem, and people of the Jews, who were typical of the church of Chrift; and that without fuccefs, and to their own confufion and deftruction; though this feems to refer to the latter day of the gofpeldifpenfation, when all the kings of the earth, Pagan, Papal, and Mabometan, will be gathered together at the inftigation of Satan, to the battle of the great day of the Lord God Almighty, in a place called Armageddon, where they will be defeated by Chrift the King of kings, Rev. xvi. 13, 14, 16, and xix. 19-21. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret the paflage of Gog and Magog gathering together to fight againtt Feru/alem, with which compare Rev, Xx. 8,9. They paffed by together; either to the battle, as Farchi explainsit; or they pafied by Ferufalem, the city of our God, the church, without “entering into, it, or doing it any hurt,: — _ Xs.5. They faw it, &c.] _ Either the city, or the powet of God, as Aben Ezra; or, as Farchi, God himfelf going forth to fight againft the nations, ~ This refers to the power Chrift'will take to himéfelf, and fhew forth, by reigning in his church, and protecting it, which will not be vifible to the tints, Pty to the nations of phe lai and to | the brightnefs of Chrift’s reap in his f{piritual - reign, with the luftre of which Antichrift will be deftroyed, Rev. xi. 17, 18, 2 Theff ii. 8. at fe the glorious ftate of the church, fignified by the rifing of the witneflés, and their ftanding on their feet, and afcending’ to heaven, which will be feen, by their enemies, Rev. xi. 11, 12. and to the deftruction of Rome, the {moke of whofe burning, — the kings of the earth, that have committed fornication with her, will fee and lament, Rev. xviii. 8, 9,,10.. And fo they marvelled;'at the glory of the church, the fecurity of it, the power of Chrift in it and over it, and at the deftruction of myftical
At. Ibey were troubled; as Hered and all Ferufalem were, upon hearing of the birth of Chrift,
Matt. ii. 3. fo thefe kings will be, upon feeing the coming and power of Chrift in the latter day, the invinciblenefs of his church, and their own immediate and utter ruin: this will be the time of the _ howling of the fhepherds, both civil and ecclefiaftical, when all hands will be faint, and every man’s heart will melt, Zech. xi. 2. J/a. xiii, 6,7. And hafted away; fed for fear of the great King at the head of his armies, in the defence of his church and people: and as the kings of the earth alfo at the deftruction of Rome will flee and ftand afar of, for fear of her torment, Rev, xviii. 10. ae
¥. 6. Fear took hold upon them there, &c.J That is, either when they came up to the city, and pafled by it, and faw what they did; or, as Kimebi obferves, in the place where they thought to have made a great flaughter; that is, in Armageddon, Rev. xvi. 16. fo upon the flaughter of the feven thoufand namesof men,or men of name and renown, fuch as the kings here afiembled, the remnant wall be affrighted, Rev, xi. 13... And pain, as of a woman in travail; this figure.is made ufe of elfewhere, when the deftruction of Babylon and the comifg of Chrift are fpoken of; fee Jai. xiii. 8. 1 Theff. v.
¥..7. Thou breakest the fbips of Tarfoifh, with an eaft wind.} This is either another fimile, exprefsing the greatnefs of the dread and fear that fhall now feize the kings of the earth; which will be, as Kimchi obferves, as if they were {mitten with a ftrong eaft-wind, which breaks the thips of Tar/bifh; and to the fame purpofe is the note of Aben. ‘as who fays, the pfalmifticompares the pain that fhall take hold upon them, to an eaft-wind inthe fea, which breaks the thips; for by Zarphifh is. meant, not Tartefus in Spain, nor Larfus in Cilicia, or the port to which the prophet ouab went and. took fhipping; but the fea in general: or elfe this phrafe denotes the manner in which the er ian kines, a and antichriftian ftates,. will be de fhips. upon the ocean are dafhed to pieces with ftrong eaft-wind: or it may defign the lofs of al their tiches and fubftance brought to them in fhips; hence the lamentations of merchants,,and_failo and fhipmafters, Rev. xviii, 15-19. Wa y. 8. As we have beard, fo have we feet, Thefe are the words-of the people of Goc their obiervations on, the above fl; Aben Exra and Kimchi underftan ple of J/rael, and the former referring the war of Gog and Magog, paraphrales them t ** the Jraclites fhall fay in that d «© heard the prophets,who prop “* Gog and Magog fo * the Lord of hofts,’’.
ftood, either of facts which have been reported and heard to have been done in time patt, to which others will correfpond, and will be feen to do fo in the latter day;_ as for inftance, as it has been heard that God infli€ted plagues upon Lgypf;, fo it will be feen, that he will pour out the vials of his wrath upon the great city, which is fpiritually called Egypt and Sodom: as it has been heard, that God brought his people J/rae/ out of Egypt with amighty hand; fo it will be feen, that he will deliver his people from the captivity and tyranny of the man of fin, and will call them out from Babylon a little before the deftruction of it: as it has been heard, that Pharaob and his hoft were drowned in the red fea; fo it will be feen, that Babylon fhall be thrown down like a millftone caft into the fea, and be found no more: as it has been heard, that literal Babylon is deftroyed; fo it will be feen, that myftical Babylon will be deftroyed alfo: and as it has been heard, that the kings of the nations, at feveral times, have gathered themfelves together again{t Jeru/alem, without effect; fo it will be feen, that the kings of the earth will affemble together againft the church of Chrift; but, as foon as they fhall come up to her, and look upon her, they fhall be aftonithed, and flee with the utmoft confternation, fear and dread, and be utterly ruined: or elfe the fenfe is, as it has been heard, from the promifes and prophecies delivered out from time to time, that God. will grant his prefence to his church and people, and will be the protection of them, and will deftroy all his and their enemies; fo, it has been feen, that thefe have been fulfilled, more or lefs, in all ages; in the latter day their accomplifhment will be full and manifeft, even in the city of the Lord of bofts; of the hofts of heaven and earth, of all armies above and below; and therefore the church muft be fafe under his protection. In the city of our God; the covenant-God of his people; wherefore, as the former title declares his power, this fhews his love and affection, and both together fecure the happinefs of the faints: wherefore it follows, God will eStablifh it for ever. Selah. not only particular believers, of which the church confifts, are eftablifhed onthe foundation, Chrift; but the church itfelf is built on him, the rock againft which the gates of hell cannot prevail; yet as they are not always in a fettled and conftant condition, fo neither is that, being fometimes toffed with the tempefts of afflictions and perfecutions, and fometimes in one place, and fometimes in\another; but in the latter day it will be eftablifhed on the top of the mountains; and which is a defirable thing by all the faints, and what they fhould, as many do, earneftly pray for; and which God will do in his own time; and then it fhall be eftablifhed for ever, and be a tabernacle that fhall not be taken down; not one of its ftakes fhall be removed, nor any of its cords broken, J/a. ii. 2. and Ixii. 7. Pfal. Ixxxvii. 5. T a.
y. 9. We have thought of thy loving-kindnefs, O God, &c.] ‘Farchi interprets it, we have waited for thy loving-kindnefs; to fee thy falvation; and fome, as Ben Méelech obferves, explain it of hope and expectation; as if the fenfe was, we bave hoped for thy loving-kindnefs; fo the Syriac verfion renders it, and the word ufed has the fignification of tarrying, 1 Sam. xiv. 9. God has his fet time to favour his Zion, and till that time comes, it is right in them to be hoping, expecting, and waiting for it. The Chaldee paraphrale is, we have efteemed thy goodne/s; it being very excellent, ex- ceeding valuable, and. better than life itfelf; -but;
other Jewith writers, as Menachem, Aben Ezra;
Kimchi, and. Ben Melech, render it as we do, we: The loving-kindnefs of God, towards his people in Chrift, is a very delightful: and profitable fubject to dwell in meditation upon, ture of it; and ferves greatly to encourage faith and. hope, to draw out love to God, and engage to a ready and chearful. obedience to his will; and this is fometimes done in public, as. well as in private converfation, and in the clofet; as follows. Jn the, midft of thy temple; the church of Chrift, which is of his building, where he dwells, and grants his prefence, and is often called the temple of God in the New Teftament, in allufion to Solomon’s temple; fee, 1. Cor. iii. 16, 17. 2 Cor. vi. 16. Epb, ii.. 21. here the word of God is preached, - his ordi-;
are inftances of his loving-kindnefs, and lead his:
people to think of it; and particularly when the: faithful. minifters of the gofpel make mention of it, and the, ordinance of the fupper is adminiftring,’ which,is intended, to bring to remembrance the.
love of God and Chrift: moreover, in the,atter day, to which this pfalm belongs, the temple of God will be opened, Rev. xi. 19. and xv. 5, that is, the true worfhip of God will be reftored, and pure and un-) defiled religion freely exercifed; the gofpel will be clearly:and fully preached; and the ordinances adminiftred as they were firft delivered, which will; lead the faints to think of the loving-kindnefs of; God unto them;: and. particularly when they fhall » fee the angels with the feven, vials, the executioners of God’s wrath on the antichriftian ftates, go forth from the temple to pour them out upon them, praife unto the ends of the earth, &cc.| That is, as he himfelf is in the perfections of his nature, which; are difplayed in the works of his hands, through- » out the whole creation; fo is, or ought his praife to be: or rather, as in the Jatter day his name will be great in all the earth, AZa/. i. 11. fo will his \ praife be; and as his name will be one, Zech. xiv.
g. he will be one Lord, there will be one faith and one baptifm;, his worfhip, word, and ordinan- - ces will be uniformly obferved and attended to; fo will be hispraife: all the faints will unite together - in giving glory tohim: he, and he alone, {hall be exalted.
Moreover, his gofpel is hisname, és ix, 15.. and that.in the latter day will be preached will be converted, and from the uttermoft parts of the earth will be heard fongs of praife and glory untohim, J/a. xxiv. 15, 16. Thy right-hand is full of righteoufne/s; of all fpiritual bleflings for his peo-. ple; and particularly of the righteoutnefs of Chrift, which God accepts of, imputes unto, and liberally beftows upon them: and it is alfo full of puni-. tivejuftice, which he inflicts on his and their enemies; his right-hand teaches him terrible things, and thefe terrible things he does in righteoufnets;
all his works are in righteoufnefs, which the right~ hand, being the inftrument of action, is a token of.
Moreover, Chrift is the right-hand of God; he is the man of his right-hand, and as dear to him as his right-hand; he is the right-hand of his righteoufnefs, by which he upholds his people; and this righthand of his is full of righteoufnefs; he does nothing elfe but righteoufhefs; he is the author and..; donar donor of it to his people, and will execute righteoufnefs upon his enemies;* in righteoufnefs he will make war with them, Rev. xix. 11. and*which is greatly the fenfe of this paflage, as appears by the following verfe..
yy. 11. Let mount Zion rejoice, &c.] The church in general; feey, 1,2. Heb, xii. 22, Rev. xiv. 1. Let the daughters of Fudab be glad; particular churches;-and fo.the Targum renders it, the congregations of the houfe of Fudab; or particular believers; fuch as are called the daughters of eru alem, and the daughters of Zion, Cant. iii) 10, 11. thefe are exhorted to joy and gladnefs, at the loving-kindnefs of God, at the fpread of his name and glory to the ends of the earth, and at his righteoufnefs his right-hand is full of; and as it follows, Becaufe of thy judgments; executed on the'antichriftian kings, ¥. 4—7. and on all the antichriftian ftates, and on the whore of Babylon, and thofe who have committed fornication with her; {ee Rev. XIX. I, 2.
y¥. 12. Walk about Zion, and go round about ber, &c.] Thefe words are either an addrefs to the enemies of the church, farcattically delivered; calling upon them: to come, and furround, and befiege Zion, and fee what the iffue and confequence of it will be, even the fameas that of the kings, ¥. 4-6. or to the builders of Zion, as Farchi obferves, to come and take a furvey of it, and fee what ‘repairs were neceffary; or rather to the faints, to the daughters of Fudab before mentioned, to take a view of the ftrenoth and defence of the church, for their own comfort and encouragement, and to report the fame to otliers for theirs alfo; for by walking around it, may be obferved the foundation, the rock and eminence on which it is built, Chrift Jefus; the wall of it, the Lord himfelf, a-wall of fire; the entrance into it, Chrift the gate of righteoufnefs; the fortrefs and ftrong-hold of it the fame; and the guards about it, the watchmen on its walls, the minifters of the gofpel, and an innumerable company of angels, that in a circle furround both minifters and people; fee Rev. vii. rr. © Tell the towers thereof, fee 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Ifai. xxxiii.
18. the Lord himfelf is the tower of his people, | high and ftrong, which fecures and defends them from all their enemies, Pfal. xviii. 2. and Ixii. 3. Prov, xviii. 10. the minifters of the gofpel, who are immoveable, and are fet for the defence of it, Fer, vi. 27. the fcriptures of truth, which are like a tower built for an armoury, out of which the faints are furnifhed and provided with proper armour, whereby they are able to engage with falfe teachers, and to overcome theevil one, Cant. iv. 4. and the ordinances of the gofpel, the church’s two breafts, faid to be as towers, Cant. viii. ro. fome render the words, tellin the towers*; publith on the houfe-tops, declare in the high-places of the city, in the moft public manner, the great things of the gofpel, which relate to the glory of Chrift and his church.
y. 13. Mark ye well ber bulwarks, 8c.) Such as the free favour of God in Chrift; which is nor only as a fhield, but as a bulwark to the church; his everlafting love, electing grace, the covenant of grace, with its bleffings and promifes, all which are more immoveable than rocks and mountains; and efpecially the power of God, which furrounds his church, as the mountains did Ferufalem; and by which they are kept and preferved as in a garrifon, Pfal. cxxv. 2. 1 Peteri. 5. Alfo falvation by Chrift; his righteoufnefs, facrifice and fatisfac-
Jfirength, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; th on ber armies, asthe Targum is; her volunteers, her land of uprightnefs. And this guide is an times:leading his people in ways dark and idd