Pifcator, Cocceius, Gejerus.
fhall never go out; which was Davia’s confidenee, Pfal. xxiii. 6. and where he believed he fhould be as a green olive-tree; which is a very choice and fruitful tree, has fatnefs in it, produces an excellent oi]; is beautiful to look at; delights in hot climates and funny places; is found on mountains, we read of the mount of Olives; is ever green and durable, and its leaves and branches are fymbols of peace: all which is applicable to truly righteous perfons and believers in Chrift; who are the excellent of the earth, are filled with the fruits of righteoufnefs; are fat and flourifhing; have the oil of grace, the anointing which teacheth all things; are a perfection of beauty, made perfeétly comely through Chrift’s comelinefs thrive under him, the Sun of righteoufnefs; grow in the mountain of the Lord’s houfe, the church: their grace is incorruptible, their leaf withers not; they are rooted in Chrift, and ever continue; they are the fons of peace, and their laft end will be eternal peace. Now as fuch, David was affured he fhould be, when his enemy would be rooted up out of the land of the living, and caft like a dry and worthlefs branch into everlafting burnings; the ground of which confidence follows: I truft in the mercy of God for ever and ever; the mercy of God is not only an encouragement to truft, but the object of it; not the abfolute mercy of God, but the grace and goodnefs of God in Chrift Jefus, which endures continually, y.1. and fo does hope in it, which never makes afhamed, but abides to the end. The pfalmift feems to have refpeét to the mercy promifed him, that he fhould fit upon the throne. This he believed, and therefore was affured he fhould be in the flourifhing circumftances in the houfe of God, before mentioned.: ¥.9. I will praife thee for ever, &c.] Bothin this world, as long as he lived, and had a being in it; and in the world to come, to all eternity. This is a refolution refpecting what he would do, when he fhould be in the happy condition he was confident of. Becaufe thou haft done it; the Targum interprets it, ‘he revenge of my judgment; meaning the vengeance of God on Doeg; and to the. fame fenfe Aben Ezra and Kimchi: though it may refer to the comfortable and happy condition he fhould be in, y. 8. and which he wholly afcribes to the grace and goodnefs of God, and not to any.
merits of his own, and therefore determines to praife him for it. And I will wait on thy name; on the Lord himfelf, in his houfe and ordinances, for his prefence and frefh fupplies of grace and
| of his building, and where he dwells, and where _ to have a place, is the great privilege of the faints 5 ftrength, when he fhould be reftored. Or the fenfe » is, that in the mean while he would wait patiently on the Lord, until he had accomplifhed what he had promifed, and David believed, For it is good before thy faints; the fenfe is, either that it is good to wait upon the Lord and for him; which appears to be fo to all the faints, by the comfortable experience they have had of it, J/a. xl. 31. Lam. iii, 26. or the name of the Lord is good unto them,
To the chief mufician, upon Mahalath, Mafchil, 2 pfalm of David:
HE word mabalath is only ufed here and in
Pfal, \xxxviii. Some, with ben Ezra, take it to be the firft word of a fong, to the tune of which this pfalm was fet; others, with Zarchi, that it is the name of a mufical inftrument on which it was fung; a hollow inftrument, of the fame nature with zechilotb, Pfal. v. Though it may relate to the argument or fubject-matter of the pfalm, and be rendered, concerning /ickne/s or infirmily—; and as Farchi obferves, fome interpret it,.¢oncerning the fickne/s or weakne/s of Ifrael, when the temple was deftroyed. But it feems much better’ to underftand it of the ficknefs and difeafe of fin; and the weaknefs following upon that, to which all mankind are fubject; fince the pfalm.manifeftly treats of the general corruption and depravity of human nature.. This pfalm is the fame. with Pia, xiv. and is expreffed in the fame words, with fome little difference; the reafon of its repetition is ‘Varioufly conjectured. Some think that the compiler of the book of Pfalms, obferving various readings in it occafioned by copying, thought fit to infert it both ways; but it is molt likely to be compofed, by David himfelf, at different times, and it may be on different occafions, and with different views. Some think the former, namely P/al, xiv. was written concerning Nadal, and this concerning Doeg a according to Farcbi, that was concerning Nebu-; chadnezzar, this concerning Tilus Vefpafian; or, as others think, Antiochus Epiphanes. Kimchi is of opinion that this pfalm, being placed between One that relates to Deeg, and another that refers to the Zipbites, points at the likenefs there is between the cafe of David and the Meffiah; that as David had many who fought to enfnare him, yet God rewarded them, and eftablifhed him in the kingdom; fo it will be with the Meffiah: but it is much more reafonable with others to conclude, that it is repeated either becaufe of the importance of it; becaufe that as the former may refer to the corruption of the Jews in the times of David, this to the corruption of men in the times of Chrift: and his apoftles, and under the gofpel-difpenfation, until the fecond coming of Chrift, efpecially under the reign of Antichrift. The argument of the pfalm,. according to the Syriac verfion, is concerning Abithopbel, who gave counfel to 4b/alom to purlue his father David and kill him: and, according to the Arabic verfion, it is a prophecy concerning Badel and Sennacherib; fo Theodoret: but rather concerning myftical Babylon, and the man of fin.
y. x. The fool bath faid in bis heart, There is no God, &c.] The Targum adds, of whom is revenge; or there is no God to punifh and avenge the wicked. Corrupt are they; the Chaldee para- hrafe is, the wicked have corrupted their ways; as all flefh had done in the old world, Gen. vi. 12. And have done abominable iniquity; iniquity is the abominable thing that God hates, and makes men abominable in his fight; in P/a/. xiv. 1. itis read, abominable works: the Targum paraphrafes the words, they are far from good, for iniquity is found in them, fee Rev. xxi. 8,27. There is none that doth good; fee the note on P/al. xiv. 1.
-¢ FIND Oy de miferia, Tigurine verfion, vel infirmitate; fo Ainfworth,
¥.2, God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, &c.} \n Pfal. xiv. 2. it is read, she Lord or Febovah; in every thing elfe theré is an agreement in this verfe; fee the note there., Zo ee if there were any that, did underftand,, the Targum is, that were undéerftanding in the law; it doubtlefs means underftanding in divine and fpiritual things. That did feek God, the above paraphrafe is, /eeking dottrine from before the Lord.
\ Weg. Every one of them is gone back, 8cc.] From God, and the way of his commandments. In P/ai, XIV. 3.) it is, they axe all gone afide; fee the ndte there.. What follows in this verfe is the fame as there.
¥.4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? &c.] In P/al, xiv. 4. itis, have all the workers; &c, There are none of ‘them but what have, unlefs given up to judicial blindnefs, and hardnefs of heart, to believe a lie, as Antichrift and his followers,« 2 The/f. ii. 10, 11. Who eat up my people, |as they'eat bread; and‘drink their blood, and are~ drunken with it, Rev. xvii. 6. They have not called upon God but upon their idols, upon the Virgin Mary, ard faints departed, In P/ai. xiv. 4. it is, upon the Lord, ae eerie Seghy. * f5. There were théy in gréat fear, where no fear was, &c.]' Before; neither of God nor man, nor any dtead of punifhmeht, but the utmoft fecurity, Rev. xviil. 9,8, to. ‘For God hath feattered the bones of him that, encampeth againft thee, either againft Chrift, or againft his church and peoples who fet themfelves againft the perfon, office and grace of Chrift, and feek to diftrefs and deftroy his intereft: the bones of fuch God will fcatter that is, he will deftroy Antichrift and his armies, which afé his ftrerigth, as the bones are the fttength of the human body; and make ‘fuch a carnage of them, that the fowls of the air fhall eat their flefh, and their bones fhall be fcattered here and there; fee Rev. xix. 17—21. So the Targum, * for God
‘¢ fcatters the ftrength of the armies of the wick- “© ed.” Kimchi interprets it of the bones of the nations that fhall encamp againft Ferufalem, in the days of Gog; fee Rev. xx. 8,9. and Aben Ezra obferves, that thee refpects either God or the Meffiah. Thou haft put them to /hame; this is either an addrefs of the pfalmift unto God, declaring what he had done; or rather, of God’the Father to his Son Chrift Jefus; and fo Kimchi and Ben Melech fay, this refers to the Meffiah: and it may be expreffive of the fhame and confufion that Antichrift and his followers will be thrown into, when they fhall make war with the Lamb, and he fhall overcome them, Rev. xvii. 14. Becaufe God hath defpifed them or rejected them as reprobates; given them ‘up to a reprobate mind; and being ungodly men, has before ordained them to this condemnation. The
Targum is, ** for the Word of the Lord hath re-
“ jected them 5” as filthy, loathfome and abominable, and caft them alive into the lake of fire,
¥. 6. O that the falvation of Irael were come out of Zion! &c.] Or, who will give* out of Zion the falvation of Ifrael. ‘The Targum adds, except the Lord; and this is a requeft to him for it: and. as as in Pfal. xiv. 7. it may be a wifh for the firft coming of Chrift, to work out falvation for his people; here it may be expreffive of the defire of the church for his coming in a fpiritual manner, in the latter day, to take to himfelf his great power and reign; to deftroy Antichrift, and deliver his people from bondage and oppreffion by him; when the Gentiles fhall be gathered in, the Jews will be converted, and all J/raé? faved; fee Rom. xi. 25, 26. It is in the original text, /a/vations *; denoting the complete falvation of the church; when all her enemies will be deftroyed, and all peace and profperity fhall be enjoyed by her. When God bringeth back the captivity of bis people; who have been carried into it by Antichrift, Rev. xiii. 10. Facob foall rejoice, and Ifrael foall be glad; for now the kingdoms of this world will become Chrift’s; the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and the bride made ready, through the calling of the Gentiles, and the converfion of the Jews; which_will occafion the four and twenty elders, the reprefentatives of the chriftian church, to give thanks to the Lord God Almighty, and caufe many voices to be heard in heaven, expreffing great joy on this occafion, Rev, xi. 15, 16,17, 18. and xix, t—=7.
To the-chief nia fidnt, on Neginoth, Mafchil, @ pfalm of David; when the Ziphim came and faid to Saul, Doth not David hide himfelf with us?
O F the word weginoth, fee the note on the title of P/al. iv. and of. ma/cbil, the note on the title of P/a/. xxxii. The occafion of writing this pfalm were the difcoveries the Ziphim or Zipbites made to Saul, of David being in their neighbourhood; which they did twice, as appears from 1 Sam. Xxill. 14, 19. and xxvi.1.. Which of thefe gave occafion to the pfalm is not certain; it is very likely that it was compofed after both had been made. Thefe Zipbim were the inhabitants of a city called Zipk, which was in the tribe of Fudabh, Fo/h. xv. 55. near to which was a wildernefs, which had its riame from the city, in which David was when they came to Saul with this news of him.
¥.1. Save me, O God, by thy name, &c.}| That is, by himfelf, by his power, and of his grace and teeny; the Lord’s name is often ufed for himelf. David in his diftrefs applies to his God for falvation and deliverance, who only could give it; which was right; and his prayer was remarkably heard and anfwered: for when Saud came down upon the firft difcovery, and befet David and his men all around, juft as he was about to feize the prey, tidings came to him of the invafion of the Phili/- tines 3 which obliged him direétly to quit his purfuit of David, and return in hafte for the defence of his country, 1 Sam, xxiii. 26, 27, 28. and upon the fecond difcovery, when Sau/ came again to take him, Sau/ was delivered into the hands of David, who could have took away his life if he would; but he only took his fpear and cruife of water by his bolfter, as a proof of his being in his power, 1 Sam. xxvi, 12. Of fuch avail is the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, This prayer is fuitable enough to David’s Antitype and Son, the Meffiah; fee P/al. Ixix. 1. Heb. v. 7. and efpecially to fenfible finners; who, being made acquainted with their loft and perifhing condition, enquire the way of falvation; and finding it is not by works, but by Chrift alone, apply in that way for it, and defire that God would fave them by his Son; who is his name, in whom his name is, and whofe name Jefus, a Saviour, is of God’s giving; and this name is a ftrong tower, whither fuch fouls, fenfible of danger, flee and are fafe; nor is there any other name in which falvation is, and which is therefore exceeding precious, and like ointment poured forth; fee Exod. xxiii, 21. Matth. i. 21.
Prov, xviii. 10. As iv, 12. Cant. i. 3. Or, for thy name’s fake"; for the fake of the glory of his divine perfections;_ which was difplayed in the deliverance of David, and more ‘abundantly in the falvation of loft finners; fuch as the wifdom, power, faithfulnefs, juftice, grace and mercy of God. Such a petition fhews that man cannot fave himfelf; that no creature, none but God can fave him;_ and that a fenfible finner defires to be faved in fuch a way, that God may be glorified. dnd judge me by thy firength; David, though innocent, had many charges laid againft him; his enemies were lively and ftrong; he puts his caufe into the hands of the Lord, his ftrong Redeemer, who was able to plead it thoroughly againft thofe that ftrove with him; fo Chrift, his antitype, committed his caufe to him that judgeth righteoufly, 1 Pet. ii. 23. and fo fhould every believer. ¥. 2. Hear my prayer, O God, &c.] The pfalmilt firft puts up his petitions, and then defires to be heard;_ his diftrefs, and the fervency of his fpirit, not fuffering him to obferve order, Give ear to the words of my mouth; for the prayer which was conceived in his mind, and inwrought there by the Spirit of God, was expreffed vocally. __ dy ¥.3. For flrangers are rifen up againft me, &c.] Meaning fuch as Doeg the Edomite, or heathen foldiers, that Sau/ had hired and took into his army, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Tract 5 and fuch as thefe rofe up againft Davia’s antityp the Meffiah, P/al. ii. 1,2. 4s iv. 27. Or a the Ziphim, who were of his own nation, yea of his own tribe, yet ufed him as barbaroufly as the very heathens would have done, or worfe; and who, though notwithftanding they were of J/rae/, might not be J/raelites indeed, but ftrangers to an inwa: experience of divine and fpiritual things: for men may be profeffors of religion, and yet be ftrangers to God in Chrift, to Chrift himfelf, and the w of falvation by him, and communion with him; to the Spirit of God, and the operations of his grace on the heart; to themfelves, their own hear and their {tate and condition by nature; to the golpel of Chrift, and to the people of God; and thef are fometimes the moft violent perfecutors of gor and fpiritual men. And oppreffors feck after my foul; or life’, to take it away; as did Sa i army; Who are the mighty or Strong omes*, as the word here ufed fignifies; fee 1 Sam. xxiv. 14, and A. me ", as as the Jewifh fanhedrim, Scribes and Pharifees, fought after the foul or life of Chrift, to take that “away, as they did. They have not fet God before them. Selab, they did not confider themfelves as under the omnifcient eye of God; they did not fet his word before them, as the rule of their condu&, but caft-it behind their backs; nor did they regard his providential mercies and favours, as a motive to engage them to obedience to him, but defpifed them; they had not the fear of God before their eyes, nor in their hearts, nor any concern for his glory; and therefore did the wicked things they did againft his fervant. ¥. 4. Bebold, God is mine helper, 8cc.) This being a matter of wonder to be helped in fo extraordinary a manner, and a fure.and certain cafe, and what was deferving the attention of others; for the encouragement of their faith and hope in. like cafes, a bebold is prefixed unto it: and what is here faid is true of David’s Son the Meffiah, and is exprefled by him in much the fame language, Ifa. \, 9. and of all the faints whom the Lord helps, as at firft converfion, out of the pit wherein is no water, out of the horrible pit, the mire and clay of nature’s darknefs, ignorance and unbelief; fo out of all their afflictions and temptations, and out of the hands.of all their enemies; he:helps in the exercife of grace, and in the difcharge of duty; and he helps to all mercies temporal and fpiritual, needful for them; which help is quick and prefent, feafonable and fuitable, always fufficient; and is what they have reafon to expect both from what he has faid to them in promife, and from what he has done for them. The Lord is with them that uphold my foul; that miniftred to his fuftenance, as Abigail did, and that gathered to him and joined him, and expofed their lives in the defence of him; thefe the Lord was with,’ bleffed, protected, and afforded them his gracious prefence. Such there were with Chrift; who followed him in ‘the regeneration; who miniftred to him of their fubftance, whom God rewarded in a way of grace;
and he bleffes them that blefs his, and do good to them; they being the excellent in the earth, in whom is his delight, the apple of his eye, and his jewels. Or the fenfe is, that the Lord is he that upheld his foul; not only the chief of his upholders, but the only one: fo R. Mo/es * interprets it, that he is the alone upholder, and is inftead of all upholders, and anfwers to them all; who upheld his fou! in life, and followed him with his goodnefs: as when God is faid to be the firft, and with the laft, the meaning is, that he is the firft and the laft, Ifa. xli. 4. fee Pfal. cxviii. 7. fo he upheld the foul of Chrift in the wildernefs, and in the garden, and on the crofs; fee J/a. xlii. 1. And he upholds all his people in a providential way in their beings, and fupplies them with all the neceffaries of life; and in a fpiritual way, maintaining their fpiritual life, fupplying them with all grace, bearing them up under all trials, holding up their goings in his ways, and preferving them to the end.
¥. 5. He foall reward evil unto mine enemies, &c.} That eyed him as. Saa/ did; that obferved his haunts, where he reforted, and who were with him, as the Ziphites did under Sau/’s direction; as the word ™ here ufed for enemies fignifies: the mifchief they had devifed for him, he believed would be returned upon their own heads; the pit they digged, they would fall into themfelves; arid the net they had {pread for others, their own feet would be taken in. This was true as of David’s enémies, fo of Chrift’s, the wicked Jews, who narrowly watched him to take every advantage againft him. Cut them off in thy truth; root and branch, as Sand, and his family and his courtiers quickly were, according to the truth of promifes made to David, and of threatnings unto them.
¥. 6, 1 will freely facrifice unto thee, &c.] Not legal facrifices; no, nor freewill-offerings the law gives. directions about, though the aillufion is to them; but the freewill-offerings of his mouth, Pfal, cxix. 108. the facrifices of praife and thanksgiving, on account of help, falvation, and deliverance, as appears from the following claufe; which he determines to offer, not by conitraint, but willingly; not by force, but of aready mind; freely, and with all his heart. The facrifice of his. antitype is himfelf, his foul and body, as in union with
_his divine perfon; and this was offered up to God, againft whom man has finned, and whofe juftice muft be fatisfied; and this was done freely and voluntarily:; he gave himfelf an offering; he laid down his life of himfelf, and that for finners. The facrifices of his people are their prayers and praifes, their acts of beneficence, and the prefentation of their fouls and bodies in divine fervice;, all which they do freely, under the influence of divine grace. I will praife thy name, O. Lord, which explains what is meant by facrificing; this is what is due to the Lord, and comely in his people. For it is food; either the name of God; and therefore to be praifed. He himfelf is good, as heis, both in a way of providence and of grace; and it is good, both pleafantly and profitably good, to fing praifes to him, P/al. exlvii. 1.
¥.7. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble, &c.} Ashe defired, 1 Sam. xxvi. 24. that is, out of all his prefent trouble; not that he had no more afterwards; for as foon as one trouble is gone, generally {peaking, another comes; but as God delivered him out of his prefent diftrefs.; fo he believed he would deliver him out of all his afflictions in future times. And mine eye hath feen his defire upon mine enemies; or revenge, as the Targum fupplies it; not that he delighted in the deftruction of his enemies,.but in the juftice of God glorified thereby, and in the goodnefs of God to him, in delivering him from them; fee Rev. xviii. 20.
WAHE occafion of this pfalm was either the perfecution of Sau/, or the confpiracy of Abjalom. Some think it was written when David underftood that the inhabitants of Keilah would deliver him into the hands of Sau/, 1 Sam. xxiii. 12,
} Apud Aben Ezram in loe.
13. and others, when the Ziphites attempted a fecond time to do the fame, + Sam. xxvi, 1. but fince a fingle perfon is fpoken of that magnified himfelf againft him, ¥. 12, 13. and Ahithophel feems to be defigned; it may be thought rather to be written on account of Abfalom’s rebellion, and Abithopbel’s counlel againft him; who is confidered by many chriftian interpreters as a type of ‘fudas, the betrayer of our Lord; and indeed there are many things in this pfalm, if not the whole, which may be truly. applied to Chrift; as will be feen in the following expofition of it.
yt. 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God, &c.] Which was for that which is juft and right, and equitable to be given, as the word * ufed fignifies; being promifed in the covenant of grace, ratified and confirmed by the blood of Chrift. Not only David was a-man much given to prayer, as well as was tlie {weet pfalmift of-J/rae/,; but the Meffiah, as man, ‘was much, and often engaged in this work, in the days of his flefh, Luke vi. 12. Heb. v. 7. And hide not thyfelf from my fupplication, made for mercies and bleffings, which {pring from the free grace and goodnefs of God, which is the fenfe of the ‘word° here ufed; and fuch are all mercies, whether temporal or fpiritual; for none are merited by men: and from his fupplication for fuch things, the-pfalmift defires, that as he would not be as one deaf to him, fo that he would not hide his eyes, or refufe to look upon him, and deny his requetts; fee J/a.i. 15.,
¥.2. Attend unto-me, and bear me, &c.| Soas co anfwer, and that immediately and direétly, his cafe requiring prefent help. J mourn in my complaint, or in my meditation’; folitary thoughts, and melancholy views of things. Saints have their complaints, on account of their fins and corruptions, their barrennefs and unfruitfulnefs, and the decay of vital religion in them; and becaufe of the low eftate of Zion, the declining ftate of the intereft of Chrift, and the little fuccefs of his gofpel; and they mourn, in thefe complaints, over their own fins, and the fins of others, profeffors and pro-' fane, and under afflictions temporal and fpiritual, both their own and the church’s. Chrift alfo, in the days of his flefh, had his complaints of the perverfenefs and faithlefsnefs of the generation of men among whom he lived; of the frowardnefs, pride, and contentions of his difciples; of the reproaches, infult, and injuries of his enemies; and of the dereliétion of his God and Father; and he often mourned on account of one or other of thefe things, being a man of forrows,' and ‘acquainted with griets. And make a noife, not only with fighs and groans, but in fo loud a manner as to be called roaring; fee Pfal, xxii. 1. and xxxviii. 8.
¥. 3. Becaufe of the voice of the enemy, &c.] Of Abfalom, as Arama; or of Abithopbel, who gave out, he would fmite the king only, 2 Sam. xvii. 2. and fo of any fpiritual enemy, as fin, Satan, and the world, when they threaten dominion and tyranny; and of the fcribes and Pharifees reproaching Chrift, as being a Samaritan, and having a devil, and doing his miracles by his affiftance; menacing, infulting, and triumphing over him, when on the crofs. Becaufe of the oppreffion of the wicked; of Abfalom or Abithophel, as Arama; who con{pired againft David, and obliged him to quit his palace, and the city of Feru/alem, and is applicable to the troubles which furround the people of God, from every quarter, by wicked men, and to our Lord’s being inclofed by them at the time of his crucifixion, P/a/. xxii. 12, 13, 16. For they caft iniquity upon me; laid things to his charge he:knew not: fo wicked men falfly accufe the good converfation of the faints; and fo the Jews imputed crimes to Chrift he was innocent of; as immorality, fedition, blafphemy, &c. And in wrath they bate me; as they do all the people of God, becaufe chofen and called, and feparated from them; and fo they did Chrift, and with a mortal hatred, though without a caufe. 1
¥. 4. My heart is fore pained within me, &c.] At the civil war in his kingdom; at the battle likely to enfue, between his torces and 4b/alom’s, and at the iffue of it; fee Fer. iv. 19. this was true of Chrift in the garden, when his foul was exceeding forrowful unto death, and he was in pain, as a woman in travail, as the word ® here ufed fignifies; and on the crofs, when his heart, like wax, melted in the midft of his bowels.. dad the terrors of death, are fallen upon mex fee 2 Sam. xv. 14. thus it was with the human nature of Chrift, when he defired, if poffible, the cop might pafs from him.
¥.5. Fearfulnefs and trembling are come upon me, &c.] Fear and dread of mind, and trembling of body. And horror bath overwhelmed me; or covered me*; he was in the utmoft confternation and furprize, at what he apprehended would be the iffue of things; fo Chrift in the garden is faid to be fore amazed, Mark xiv. 33. all which terror, fearfulnefs, trembling, and horror, arofe from a fenfe of fin imputed to him, even of all the fins of his people, the filth of which muft be naufeous to him, andthe guilt thereof preffing upon him; and from a feeling of the wrath of God, and the curfe of the law, which he endured in the room and ftead of his people: and this fhews the truth of his human nature, and the weaknefs and infufficiency of thar, without his divine nature to have performed the great work of redemption; alfo the evil of fin, the exceeding finfulnefs of it, and the ftriétnefs of divine juftice; and likewife the wonderful love of Chrift in becoming a furety for his people, and what eafe and pleafure they may take; all the pain, the trembling and horror, were his, and all the joy is theirs. a ail af y. 6. And I faid, Ob, that I had wings like a dove, &c.} The pfalmift pitches. upon this’ creature, partly to fuggeft, that his enemies, purfuing him were like the ravenous hawk, and he like the harmlefs, innocent, and trembling dove; and - ly becaufe of its fwiftnefs in flying. Aben Ezra thinks the dove is mentioned, becaufe it is fociable with men, and who fend letters by them for quick: difpatch, of which inftances may be given‘. This wifh is exprefled fuitable to his character and cafe. The church is fometimes compared to a dove for its innocence, modefty, chaftity, purity, affection, inconfolablenefs for the lofs of its mate, and for its fearfulnefs, Cant. ii. 14, and iv.1. and vi. g. and fois Chrift, Cant. v. 12. who was typified by Yonah, whofe name fignifies a dove; and on whom the Spirit of God defcended as a dove, a his baptifm, and by whom he was filled with his dove-like graces. For then would I fly y 3 fo David defired to flee, and did flee with Pate > and hafte from Abfalom his fon, 2 Sam. xv. 14. Pal. iii. title. Arama obferves of the dove, thar, when weary with flying with one wing, it refts that, and flies with the other, and fo has ftrength to ye rm fapplication for grace, asp ea Michaelis Junius & to fly continually without ftopping, which he fuppofes to be the reafon why the wing of a dove is defired.. So every fenfible finner defires’ to flee from fin and finners, and from wrath to come; from avenging juftice, to Chrift the city of refuge; fo Chrift, under the terrors of death, in his‘human nature, in a View of the law’s curfe and wrath; defired the cup might pafs from him, and he might flee and efeape death, though with fubmiffion: to the divine will. And beat reff; fafe and. fecure from the confpirators, as David was; andas a finner is that has fled to Chrift; in whom is reftfrom the burden and guilt of fin, from the wrath, curfe, and condemnation of the law, and under all afflictions, whether of body or mind; and not in the world, and worldly enjoyments; nor inthe law, and the works of it: and as Chrift is; not by.efcaping death, but through dying, and having done his work has ceafed from it, and is entered into his reft; which was the joy fet before him, ‘that'animated him as man to endure the:crofs, and de- {pife the fhame; here alfo true believers,. weary of the world, defire to be, enjoying that -reft- which remains for the people of God. Ang main the wildernefs. Selab.| So David did when he fled from ddjalom, 2 Sam. x¥. 23, 275. 28. and xvi. 1, 2. fo gracious fouls defire to be;,not in the wildernefs of the people bur to be folitary as ina wildernefs, clear of the company of wicked-men, as Yeremy withed for, fer. ix. 2..and thatithey might be more at leifure for, and given up unto fpiritual devotion, and be fecure from their enemies: and as this may be applied to Chrift, it fhews the wickednefs, cruelty, and barbarity of the:men:of that generation among whom he liveds that he chofe rather to be in the wildernefs, among wild beafts, than to dwell among them, Afatt. xvii. 17- Ja. liii, 8. fome apply this to the ftate of the primitive church under Jewifh perfecution, when it fled from Fudea, and fettled in the wildernefs of the Gentiles; the preachers of the word being fcattered abroad by the windy ftorm and tempeft of perfecution, and the gofpel taken from the Jews, and carried to a nation bringing forth the fruit.of it, where it has remained ever fince. With:this may be compared the ftate of the church: under Rome pagan, in Rev. xii. 6, 135 14.)
y. 8. I would bajten my efcape from the windy form and tempeft.| Of an army of rebellious fubjects, bearing down all before them, and threatning with utter ruin and deftruction; fo a powerful army of enemies invading a country, is figni+ fied by a ftorm and tempeft, Ja. xxviii. 2. and xxxii. 2.. and may be expreffive of the ftorm and tempett of divine wrath and vengeance, the fenfible finner haftens his efcape from; by fleeing to Chrift; and of the blowing and furious winds of perfecution, which the church, Chrift’s dove, «flees from, by getting,into the clefts of the rock, and the fecret places of the ftairs, (Cant. ii. 14. and of the ftorms of divine wrath and; juftice that fell upon Chrift as the furety of his people; from which the human nature, feized with fearfulnefs, trembling, and horror,.defired an hafty efcape.
¥. 9. Deftroy, O Lord, &c.},. Or fwallow up*, as Pharaoband his hoft weref{wallowed up inthe red fea; or as Korah, Dathan, and-Abiram, were fwallowed up in the earth; fo all the enemies of Chrift and his church will be deftroyed; and death, the laft of them, will’be fwallowed up in victory, J/a. xxv.
SP SaT RNG 2, oy aqi fo QU
LM S: 8. The Targum interprets it, defiroy, or fcatter their counfél; but this feems:to be interided in the next claufe. And divide their tongues; as at the confufion of languages at Babel, to which the allufion is: this had its accomplifhment in Aé alom’s counfellors, according to David's wifh, 2 Sam: xv. 31. and xvii. 14. andinthe Jewifh fanhedrim in Chrif?’s time; and in the witneffes they produced againtt him, Luke xxiii; 51. Mark xiv.59. and of which there is an inftance in the council of the Jews, “held: on account of the apoftle Paul, Acts xxii. 7: For I have feen violence and ftrife in the city 3am the city of ‘Feru/alem, now left ‘by David, and poffefied by. Abfalom, by whom violence. was done to: David’s wives, through the advice of 4- bithophel; and frrife, contention, and rebellion were fomented among the people: this David faw, underftood, and perceived, by the intelligence brought him from»time to time’: and in the times of Chrift the kingdom “of heaven: fuffered violence in this place, and he endured the contradiéion of finners againft himfelf.
y. 10. Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof; 8c.) That is, violence and frrife go about the walls of it continually; men of violence and contention are the only watchmen of it: a city muft be fadly guarded that has no better watch than this... Mi/chief alfo and forrw are in the midft of it; it was full of wickednefs within and without 5 the city, as Aben Ezra obferves, was likea circle; violence.and:ftrife were as a line round about.it, and mifchiefiand forrow the center of it.: and thefe two commonly go together; where mifchief is, forrow follows. <3 1 mi
Yiorn. Wickedne/s is in the midft thereof, 82c.] All: manner of wickednefs; abominable wickednefs;_wickednefs as arrived to its higheft pitch, and as having filled up its meafure; fee Ezek. ix. 4. Zech. v738: Deceit and guile depart not from her Streets 5 where: truth was fallen, and equity could not: enter, J/a:/lix: v4, for thefe are contrary the one.to the other, and are incompatible; where the one. prevails, the: other muft give way. This whole account fhews the aboundings of fin in Ferujalem at this time, and that it was openly and publickly committed, and contains fo many reafons of theimprecations in y. 9.
y. 12, For it was not an enemy that reproached me, &c.) An open and avowed one; a Moabite or a Philistine; fuch an one as Goliath, who curfed him by his gods; but one of his own country, city, court, and family, who pretended to be a friend’; his: fon Abfalom, according to Arama: fo, it was not. one of the fcribes and Pharifees, the fworn enemies of Chrift, who rejected him as the Meffiah,: and would not have him to reign over them, that reproached him, but one of his own apoftles. Then I could have borne it; reproach from:an enemy is to be expected, and tay be patiently endured; and when it is for righteoufnefs fake, fhould be accounted an happinefs, and rejoiced at; but the reproaches of one that has been thought to.be.a friend, are very cutting, wounding, heart- breaking and intolerable, P/a/. Ixix. 7, 8, 20: the calumnies and reproaches of the fcribes and Pharifees were borne by Chrift with great patience, and were anfwered with great calmnefs and mildnefs, A/att. xi. 19. and xii. 24, 25. Fobn viii. 48, 49. Or, I would have lift up‘; that is, my hand, and defended myfelf; 1 fhould have been upon my guard, ready to receive the blow, or to have put it~ off, or repelled i it. Neither was it he that bated me; | That did magnify | in‘religious matters 5 for in-thefe the teftim openly, but fecretly in his heart.
himéelf againft me; made himfelf a great manyjand
{et himfelf at the head of the confpiracy and oppofition-againft him, and {poke great {welling words, in way. of raillery and reproach. Then. I would have bid my jelf from him; as David did from Saul, when he became his enemy, 1 Sam. xx. 24, and Xxiii,) cgscand xxiv. r. and: as» Chrift) frony the Jews, Fobn.viti. 59« but asifor’ Judas, he knew the place he reforted to, and therefore eafily found him, Fobm xviii. 2.the fenfe may be, that he would have fhunned his company, refufed converfation with him; much lefs:would he:+have:admitted him to his privy councils; by which means he knewvall his. affairs, and;there: wasino — and concealing things from him..
Vi 3. But it wasthou,&c.] The T, argum is, but thou Abithopbel, of whom the words are literally to be underftood, and fo they are in the Za/inud*; and myttically and typically of Fudas. Aman, inine e- gual sa man, and nota beatt, nor adevil; but aman, trom. whom humanity, ltacinfss and tendernefs might have been; expected; though both 4bitho- | and the |
Mine | Abitho- | phel was not equal to David in dignity, as the king phel and Fudas acted the part of a: devil; latter is exprefsly called one, Fobn vi. 70. equal; or like unto me; as the Targum..
of Trae; nor in gifts, as the {weet pfalmift of Tfrael., nor in grace ‘as he;~but as a man,»a mortal dying man: kings and fubjects are of the fame blood, equally liable.to death, and in\the grave will be manifeftly on a level’: or rather the.fente is, that he was’ in his efteem and affection as himfelf; he was his friend that he lovedas his own foul: fo Judas could not be in-every: fenfe equal'to»Chrift, who is. ‘febovab’s fellow, and:thought it no robbery to be equal. with God. Indeed as a man-he was like unto him; a frail, mortal. man, °though not finlefs.as Chrift.. The. word »>5y9 may: be rendered according to my appointment ™, ordination, or conftitution; 7udas being a man:appointed and ordained to be an apoftle of Chrift: with thereft:. or, according to my efteem*; being had in greatefteem and familiarity with Chritt: or, according to my order’, rank and clafs'; being taken’ into:his family, admitted to his table; where he fat.down and eat with bis, as. if he was his equal.. Mpguide'; or governor *.. Abithophel was not:governor over David.;.. but was. made.a governor by him: ‘hewas one of chis'dukes or nobles,. as.:the word is ‘rendered in Gen. xxxvi, 15. was raifed to great dignity by, him); perhaps was: chief minifter of ftate: it is certain: hai was his counfellor, and: his counfel:was with him as the oracle of God, 1 Chronsxxvii. 33. 2 Sam.xvis 232 he was his guide in civil affairs; he was directed by his advice,:and it. may ‘be was. prefident. of his privy council. udas owas not only the guide of them.to.Chrift who took him, Aéfs i. 16, but when the apoftles were fent out two by two before the face of Chrift, to:preach whereshe himfelf fhould come, Judas was fentealfo, Mark vi, 7, Luke x. 1. And mine ‘acquaintance; one. well known to: him, as. Abithophel was to' David; and Judas to Chrit, his friend and companion, in whom he., confided, and who eat» of ‘his: bread’ andiall thefe characters are.fo many ee i of his treachery and wickednefs, y. 14..We took foocet ene paises Bees) pete ies of the Lord were David’s counfellors, P/als cxix: 24. but:in civil things: hearty counfel is one’ branch of friendthip, and which greatly fweerens it, Prov. xXviis g. as this may be applied to Chrift ts tl das, it may denote the mutual delight and plea ure they had, the one in communicating, the other in receiving'a notional knowledge of the gofpel,, and the myfteries of it, which are the counfel of God, Aas xx. 27. for if hearers may hear the word glad rie as Herod did, and receive it with joy, as did the ftony-, ground-hearers, and yet be defticute of the grace of God 5 why may not /udas, and other preachers deebidl of ‘true grace,’ be thought to receive and preach the doétrines: of the gofpel in a fpeculative way, with fome kind of delight andpleafure? fo profeffors of religion take fweet counlel to ther, when ‘they communicate to each other’what light and knowledge they have in the myfteries of the gofpel, and converfe about experience, and the myfteries ‘and fecrets of internal godlinefs, and give and take advice in fpiritual things’ and fad it is when any one of thefe drop their profeflion, and turn reproachers, {coffers or perfeeutors. “And walked. unto the boufe of God in company, David with‘his royal family and courtiers, and Abithophel among the reft; where he delighted to go, and that with a multitude: So Chrift and Fudas often went to the temple together, with the reft of the difciples, who heard many an excellent fermon from his mouth: all which are farther} vations of fin and guilt. “And fo-fach perfons, who have walked together to the houfe of God and in it, have attended ‘together on ‘public worhhip; ‘and walked together in holy fellowfhip 5 ‘whem any of thefe forfake the‘affembling of themfelves together, fcoff at religion, fpeak evil of ordinances, reproach the faints, or perfecute them, ‘it is very pega cutting, and grieving indeed,
¥.15. Let death faze upon ben,.8 Beer Ab thopbel. and his accomplices, Judas and ‘the men with him; ‘as a ‘mighty man, as the’king 6P terrors, and fhake them to pieces. Or, let hitn exact upon ‘them *; asa creditor upon ‘the debtor, ‘and demand the debt of punifhment for fin or let him come upon them at an unawares; let them not die.
a natural, but a violent death. ‘The Zargum mientions Doeg and Abithophel. And Jet them: ‘go down quick into hell; as Korab, Dathan and Abiram went down ‘quick oralive into the earths ‘fo: te die and defcend into the grave in their fall ft and accordingly: Ab/alom and Abithopbel died will ‘be taken and caft ‘dlive‘into thedake it he atid dwells in thern wherever they 'g0.or Sojourn, this goes'and abides with them, being the’reigning principle: in ‘their hearts ‘and lives. «And ‘amon, them in the midft of ‘them’; their inward patt i very‘ wickednefs. The Targum is, in'their bodies, But rather the fenfe is; in'their’ heaiet 5. wick was both in their’ houfés nd “it their hehotagteind is the'reafon of the iimprecation on’
arifes not from ‘a revengeful fpitit, | a - nial for wes go aed ag apne nttene ist Cay ane ahs sig;
% preetos voligw Pagel cawaay w ny Pe eee difpofitionem, fc, ordinationem & as a prophecy of what wotild be, and ‘not to’ be drawn into an example fof private Chriftians to the Syriac verfion renders it; by way of petition, defuer my foul from them that know me; and the Tar- y.16, As for me, I will call upon God, Bec.) Not upon a Creature, on idols and images, on angels or faints departed; but upon God, in ‘his time of trouble, for falvation and deliverance froin‘enemies; who is able to fave. This is to be undér- {tood of calling upon God it prayer 5 asthe next verfe explains it, and the Targum here rendets its tho’ fometimes invocation of the name of God takes in the whole of divine worfhip.. And the Lord hai fave me; which confidence was founded partly upon his promife to deliver fuch that call upon him in the day of trouble, P/al, 1. 15.
y.17. Evening and morning, and at noon wilt J pray, &c.] Thefe being the ftated times of prayer with the Jews, and which continued to aftér-ages, Dan. vi. 10. Thefe times, they fay *, were fixed by Abrabam, Tfaac and Facob - ‘the morning-prayer by Abrabam, according to Gen. xxii. 3. the prayer of the minchab by Ifaac, according to Gen. xxiv. 63. and the eyening-prayer..by Facob, according ‘to Gen. xxviii. 11. The prayer of the evening was at the time of the evening-facrifice, to which it is compared, Pal. cxli, 2. This was at the‘ninth hour, at which time Peder and Fobn werit up to the tém-. ple to pray; and Cornelius prayed in his own Houle, 4s iti. 1..and x. 30. The prayer of the morning was_at the time of the morning daily facrificé, was about the third hour of the day; at which time the apoftles met together for prayer’on! the! day of Pentecoft, Acts ii. 1,15. and that at noon was at the fixth hour of the day; at which time Peter went up to the houfe-top to.pray, A#sx. 9, And now tho’ we are not tied down to thefé exaét and precife times of prayer, ‘yet this teaches us, that we ought to pray frequently and ‘conftantly, and that a day fhould not pafs without ‘it; “andthe morning and evening feem to ‘be very proper feafons for it, feeing the mercies of the Lord are ‘new every morning; and we fhould be thankful for‘thém and the mercies of the night paft, and implore djvine protection and.grace for the day followiti”; and at evéning we fhould exprefs our thankfulnefs for the mercies of the day, ahd commit ourfélves| and families into the hands of God, ‘who is J/ra 9s keeper, that neither flumbers nor fleeps. 4nd éry aloud; denoting the diftrefs he was in, the of his prayer, and the importunity of ‘it. foall bear ‘my voice, this he might be affured “of, ‘from the general character of God, ‘as ‘a God were many with: mes either enemies fighting with him; and fo this:is mentioned to fet, forth'the more the power of God: in his deliverance:, or friends, Who were on his’ fide:;.all U/rael) and Fudab;, who loved David.and prayed fon him,’ as Farchi inter- Prets itz: or the angels of God, as Aden Ezra 5, who being for the Lord’s people, are more. than, they that are againft them, »2 Kings vis 161 or God; Fa- | ther; Son and Spirit; and:if he is for us, who fhall be againft us; Rom: viii: 31; The Targum is, ‘* for-in many: affligtions ‘his Word. was for my and partly Upon his) “ help). 00 2 ow sn gh) Me ¥-19- Ged foal bear and afflict them, 8c.) ‘That 4S» either he fhall hear the prayers of his fervant, enemies, ¥..9, 15. and Mhall bring them down upon them, in anfwer to his. requefts 5 or it may be rendered, God hall bear 44 anfwer them‘; he fhall-hear their blafphemies, 29d take notice of their, wickednefs, and anfwer them by terrible things in righteoufnels. - Even he *4et abideth of old. Selah. or is the inbabitant of e- ‘ernity *; Ma. lvii. 15, the eternal God, from everlafting to everlafting; who was before all creatures 2nd before'all time, and will ever remain the fame, Out of whofe hands there is no.efcaping: The Tar- #7 4s,\-*s and he inhabiteth the Heavens from of | ‘* old to everlafting.”” Of the word /e/eh; fee the Note! on Pal, ati. 22° Because they have no cbanges 5 Kimchi renders: it, who:hath no changes; taking and wa? to: beithe fame with 79 ‘and interprets it of Gods connecting it with the former claufe, That he that abideth:of ‘old, -hath ino changes.. ‘There is 0 variablenefs nor thadow of turning: with him 5 he mever changes his mind, nor alters his counfel, Whetherit be for.good-or evil; and yet wicked men fear him not..» But rather this is to be underftood of finners, as the:Targum paraphrafes it, «whore t* not of old, and who ido mot: change their evil “°° Way's?” who-have no changes in their-hearts, nor } 49 their lives, but continue in their natural.and)finful eftate, without any impreffion of the power iand grace of God upon them. Orthey have no changes 4n theirsworldly circumftances, from good to bad, | a8 4en Ezraexplains it;things go well with them, and they aresnot in trouble as other men. ‘they are at eafe and quiet, and are fettled on their lees; fee | Job xong. Pfal. bxxiiic 4, 5. Fers xlviiicat. Or | they have no regard to-their laft change by death, fervéncy, ‘and ‘are notrafraid of that, as Farchi interprets it; 4nd ‘be! ithey put away this evileday far from them; think nothing aboutiit, as if ic would never be, and as'if ‘hear- ‘they ‘had.madé ‘an agreement. with it, that this power, whofe hand is not fhortened that'it Cannot fave. The Targum is, * the Word of the Lord fhall << redeem. me.” “. J imprecating ‘evils upon his
‘change fhould. never come upon them, op xiv.
ing prayer, and from his own {pecial and ‘patticudar experience of thé'truth of it, and from the pro-
'"45 20. Lherefore they fear not God 5 doinot ferve y. 18. He hath delivered ‘my foul in peace from jadgments here or hereafter; no change being-made ain’their hearts;.nor any alteration in their fecu- the hatile that was againft me, &c.] That is, God had preferved his life, and delivered him fafe and laid»up for many? years, ‘and ‘fentence again!lar-affairs for the worfe; but /having much goods t their found from many a battle which was fought ‘againft him, and might feem at firft'to go oe him; and had given him peace and reft from all his enemies before the prefent trouble'came upon him, 2 Sam. vii. 1. wherefore he believed, that he who had delivered him in time paft, would deliver him again; this is thereafoningvof faith; 2 Cor. i. ‘evil works not being {peedily executed, theirshearts are’hardenedy and they’ live fecure infin. —«. + 20.\\He bath put \forth his bands, 8c.) The pfalmiftereturns,and defcribes; \in this and sthe folowing verfe, the-cruelty, perfidy and:hypocrify of 9, his falfe friend; who had ftretched forth his hands
againft, fuch as be at peace with him, or he pretend-
* Latin, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions. render the laft. _ elaufe, from ‘them ‘that draw nighunto thee; and ed to be at peace, with. So, Abithophel put forth his | hands againft David, by whom he had’been a mitted into his privy-council, and there had taken {weet counfel together, by entring into a confpiracy and rebellion againft him, and by forming,a fcheme.
to fmite the king only, 2 Sam. xvii. 1, 22 and Fudas, tho’ he did not lay hands on Chrift himfelf, yet he gave his enemies a fign by which they might know him, and feize him, and hold him faft, as they did; and him Chrift calls the man of his peace, ‘Pfal.xli. 9. they being at peace when he lift up his heel againft him. He bath broken bis covenant; of friendfhip that’ was made between them; ‘he proved falfe and treacherous, broke through his engagements, and violated his faith. ney: ¥ 21. The-words of bis mouth were /moother than butter, &c.] Such were the words of Abithopbhel, when in counfel with David; and fuch the words of Fudas, when he faid to Chrift, bail, mafter, and kiffed him.. But war was in bis beart; even a civil war, rebellion againft his prince; that was what Abithophel meditated in his heart; and nothing lefs than to’ take away the life of Chrift was defigned by Fadas. The words may be rendered, they were divided *;. that is, his mouth and his-heart: his mouth was butter, and bis heart war; the one declared for peace, when the other intended war;. fee Fer. ix. 8. His words were fofter than oil; at one time full of foothing and flattery.. 2et were they drawn. fwords; at another time fharp and cutting, breathing out threatning and flaughter, deftruction and death. Pr; ¥.22. Caft thy burden upon the Lord, &c.| Thefe are either the words of the holy Ghoft to David, according to Farchi'; or of Davidito his own. foul in diftrefs, and may be directed to any:good man in like circumftances. The word rendered burden fignifies a gift, and fo the words are tranflated by many, Caf? thy gift: upon the Lord‘; what he has given in a way of providence and of grace, acknowledge him to be the author of it; pray for a‘continuance of mercies, and for frefh dupplies, and expect them; and alfo what: he. gives:in.a way ‘of ‘trial, the crofs, with all afflictions and troubles’: -which denfe feems moft: agreeable to. the context; and thefe may be faid to be the gift of God, as the cup of: forrow Chrift drank of is faid to be given:
him by his Father, Yobz xviii. 11. Thefe are given by the Lord to bring his people to.a.fenfevof fin, and ‘acknowledgment of it: to humble them for it, and. caufe them to! return from it; and to try their graces: and then do they caft'them.upon him, when theyacknowledge them as:coming from him; wait the removal of them im his time; defire a fanctified ufe of ‘them, and expect. deliverance from them by him. Or the fenfe is, whate.’er thou defireft fhould be given thee by the Lord, caft it on him that is, leave it with him to do as he pleafes, who works al] things after the counfel of his own will. The Zargum:renders it, ‘*caft thy hope up- *¢ on the Lord;” as an anchor on a good bottom, to which hope is compared, Heb. vi.ag. «This: is done when perfons make the Lord the object of their hope, and expect all from him they hope to enjoy here and hereafter, The Septuagint verfion is, ca t thy care upon the Lord; of thy body, and all the temporal concerns of thy family, and every thing relating thereunto; and of thy foul, and its everlafting welfare and falvation; fee 1 Pet. v. 7... But
Farchi,. Aven Ezra and Kimchi interpret the word — by Jawa thy burden, which is learnt from the ufe of it in the Arabic language. The Rabbins did not know the meaning of the word, till one of them heard an radian merchant fay *, * Take-up “eam thy burden, and cait it upon the camels.” The burden here meant, is either the burden of affliétions, which is fometimes very heavy; fee Fob Vi..2, 3. and xxiii. 2. no affliction is joyous but grievous; but fome are heavier in their own kind and_ nature than others, and become fo thro’ the multiplicity of them, as in the calé of Job; or thro’ the long continuance of them, and efpecially when attended with the hidings of God’s face, or with the temptations of Satan: or elfe the burden of fin and corruption, which is an heayy burden, and a very difagreeable one; under which the faints groan, and by which they are hindered in running their chriftian race, and which they are like to carry with them to their graves; their only relief under it is to look to Chrift, who has: bore it and took it away;_ which may be’ meant by cafting iton the Lord. And he fhall fuftain thee; in being, both natural and fpiritual; and fupply with all things neceflary both to the temporal and fpiritual life, and fupport.under all trials and difficulties.. He jhall never Juffer the righteous to be moved; to be fhaken and ftagger fo as to fall, efpecially totally and finally; for the words may be rendered, he fhall never fuffer the righteous to be moved for ever”; or fo. to be moved by their afflictions as to defert the caufe in which they are engaged; nor fhall they ever be moved by men or devils, or any thing whatever, from their fpiritual eftate, in which they are by grace; nor from the love of God and covenant of grace; nor out of the hands of Chrift; nor from their ftate of juftification, adoption and fanttification, BE ii y¥.23. But thou, O God, fhalt bring them down, &c.], Abithophel and his accomplices in the con- {piracy againft David, Fudas and the wicked Jews concerned in Chrift’s death; and did not believe in
| him. Into the pit of deftruétion, or corruption’; either the grave, where bodies being put corrupt and putrify; or hell, where the wicked are punithed with everlafting deftruction; fee ¥. 15. Bloody and deceitful men foall not live out half their days’, fach as Abithophel and Abfalom, Fudas, and the murderers of our Lord: or, do not halve their days*; do not come up to the half of the ordinary term of man’s life, which is threefcore years and ten. “The Jews fay’, that all the years of Doeg were but thirty four, and of Abithophel thirty three; and probably udas might be about the fame age. Or the fenfe is, that generally fpeaking, fuch fort of men die in the prime of their days, and do not live half the time that, according to the courfe of nature, they might ‘live; and which they promife themfelves they fhould, and their friends hoped and expected they would. But J will trujt in théee, the Lord, that he would hear and fave him, fupport him under his burden, fupply him with his erate, and every thing needful, and not fuffer him moved; and that he fhould nS bat og fure of his days, do the will and work of God, an then be received to glory. Bi, ¥ 4
£ Jam donum tuum, Montanass quicquid dat
To the chief mufician, upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philiftines ’ took him in Gath,
HE words Fonath-elem-rechokim are by our tranflators left untranflated. Aden Ezra takes them to be the beginning of a fong; and others think they are the name of a mufical inftrument: but they feem rather to defign the fubjectmatter of the pfalm, and may be rendered, Concerning the mute dove among them that are afar off ™, or in far places", and refer to David, who, when he wrote this pfalm, was. among the Phili/tines, who were aliens from the commonwealth of J/rae/, afar off from God and his law, and from righteoufnefs; and when David was there, he was at a diftance from his native country, his father’s houfe, the king’s court, and, what gave him moft concern, from the houfe and worfhip of God; and: here he was as a mute dove. He may be compared to a dove for his innocence in the cafe of Sau/; and to a filly dove, for his acting the part of a fool or madman before Achifh king of Gath, and was mute to what the fervants of Achilb faid, and was dumb before the Lord, who had fuffered him to fall into their hands, and into this diftrefs he was now in. They are alfo applicable to Chrift,who is comparable to a dove for his harmlefinefs, innocence, meeknefs and humility; and was as a mute one before Pontius Pilate the Roman governor, when his enemies accufed him, and he anfwered nota word; and when among the Roman foldiers, who mocked at him and reviled him, and he reviled not again; and when he was led to be crucified, he opened not his mouth either againft God or man. They may be alfo applied to the church of God, which is often called a dove in Cant.iv. 1. and v. 2. and vi. 9. and is in the wildernefs, and among wicked men, that are afar off from God, and is filent under all afflictions and perfecutions; fee Cant. ii. 14. The Targum paraphrafes the words thus; ‘« concerning << the congregation of J/rael, which is like to a fi- «¢ Jent dove, at the time they are removed afar off <¢ from their cities.” Moreover, the words may be applied to any truly gracious foul, that is fenfible of fin, and mourns as a dove for it; has fled to Chritt, as doves to their windows; and is harmlefs and humble; and living among men, aliens from God, is vexed and afflicted by them, yet patiently bears all that is faid and done unto it. The fact which occafioned the writing of this pfalm, is related in 1 Sam. xxi. 1o—15. Of the word michtam, fee the note on the title of P/al. xvi. and Guffetius ° is of opinion, that every pfalm that has this title belongs to Chritt.
y.1. Be merciful unto me, O God, &c.] For David could expeét no mercy at the hands of men, among whom he was, whofe tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gata, the city of Goliath, whom he had flain, and whofe fword he had now with him; and among his brethren and friends, who he might juftly fear would revenge his death upon him: wherefore he betakes himfelf to God and
™ De columba muta procul inter alienos conttituta, Mufculus; inter longinquos, Pifcator, Pfeiffer.
pleads, not any merit or righteoufnefs of his own, but implores the grace and mercy of God; and he might expect to find grace and mercy in this his time of need, fince there is mercy with the Lord; he is plenteous in it, diftributes it freely, delights in fo doing, and does it conftantly; his mercy endures for ever, it is from everlafting to everlafting on them that fear him. For man would /wallow me up; the Targum renders it i/di, a wicked man: it may be underftood of fome one man, fome great man, as Achifh king of Gath; or rather, Saul king of J/rael,' who breathed. and panted after his ruin and deftruction, as the word? fignifies; who fought to eat up his flefh, to take away his life, and utterly ruin him: or collectively of many, fince it appears by the following verfe, that he had many enemies who were defirous to {wallow him up, This he mentions as an aggravation of his diftrefs, and ‘as a reafon why he hoped the Lord would be merciful to him; and that he, being God, would not fuffer man to prevail; fee 2 Chron, xiv. 12, He fighting daily oppreffeth me; this fhews that Saul is more ‘efpecially intended, who was continually with his army purfuing him, and fometimes furrounded him and his men, and reduced him to great diftrefs. This may be applied to the Old Man, the corruptions of nature, and the lufts of the flefh, which are continually warring againft the foul, opprefs it, bring it into captivity, and threaten to {wallow it up. ¥.2. Mine enemies would daily fwallow me up,8&c.] For not one man only, but many were his enemies; who obferved and watched him, and were eagerly defirous.of his ruin. - The believer has many enemies, fin, Satan, and the world, feeking to devour and de- {troy him, tho’ they cannot. For they be many that fight againft me, O thou most High, he appeals to God, who dwells on high, and fees all things, for the truth of this, that he had many enemies, both at Gath and in J/rael; as well as applies to him for help, he being higher than they. Some rene der the words, for they be many that fight againft me from on high, or bighly*, proudly and haughtily. ben Ezra gives a very different fenfe, « I ‘* have many angels on high that fight for me.’? But [| marom, is an epithet of God, as in Pfal. xcii. 8. Mic. vi. 6. and fo it is interpreted by Jarchi and Kimchi; and alfo by the Targum, which renders it, O God moft High; and adds, *« whofe ‘¢ throne is on high;’’ which is approved by Guffetius *. ¥. 3. What time I am afraid, &c.] It was a time of fear with him now; he was afraid of Achi h king of Gath, 1 Sam. xxi. 12. fo believers have their times of fear; about their intereft in the love, and grace, and covenant of God; about their fins and corruptions, and the prevalence of them, fearing they fhall perifh by them; and about their enemies, who are many, lively and ftrong. J will trujt in thee; truft and confidence in the Lord is the
~ 906 the beft antidote againft fears; who is unchangeable in his love, in whom is everlafting ftrength, and who is faithful and true to every word of promife; and therefore there is great reafon to truft in him, and not be afraid.’
y. 4. In God I will praife his word, &c.]\ Or praife him for his word; for the whole fcripture that was then in being; for,thofe.teftimonies which were David’s counfellors in.times of difficulty and diftrefs; and particularly for fome word of promife made unto him, which he was perfuaded would be fulfilled, and in which he gloried and made his boaft of, and on which his faith and hope were built; and this he did, and determined to do, in the ftrength of the Lord, and by the affiftance of his grace. In God I have put my trujt; either in times paft, and was not afhamed or confounded; or now, as he determined he would in the preceding verfe, I will not fear what flefo can do unto me; or continue to fear any or all of my enemies; tho’ Ihave.
been afraid of them, I will fhake off thefe fears, trufting in the Lord, and depending on his word. Or, what can flefh do unto me‘? which is as grafs, and the goodlinefs thereof as the ower of the field.
Poor, frail, mortal man! what.can he do againft me, if God be for me? And therefore why fhould |
I fear? Men may contrive fchemes, form wea- | to the efcape of David’s enemies, but of himfelf;
pons, and attempt many things againft the faints, but can-execute nothing, except permitted by the
Lord; and the utmoft they can do, when fuffered, | {cribed, deliver me from them or deliver them”, fafhion and fhape them at their pleafure;; conftrue them, and put what fenfe upon them they think fir. The word " is ufed of the formation of the human body, in Fob. x. 8. They put his words upon the rack, and made them fpeak what he never intended; as fome men wreft the feriptures to their own deftruction, 2 Pet. iii, 16. and as the Jews wrefted the words of Chrift, Zobn it. 19. Matt. xxvi. 60, 61. The word has alfo the fenfe of caufing vexation and grief, J/a. Ixiii. 10.. and fo it may be rendered here, my words caufe grief “5 to his enemies; becaufe he had faid in the preceding verfes, that he would truft in the Lord, and praife his word, and not be afraid of men; juft as the Sadducees were grieved at the apoftles preaching, thro’ Jefus, the refurrection of the dead, 7s iv. 1, 2.. Or they caufed grief to himfelf; for becaufe of thefe, his enemies reproached him, curfed him, and diftrefled him. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin render it, they curfed my words, or defpifed them, as the Ethiopic and Arabic verfions; all ther thoughts. are againft me for evil; their counfels, fchemes and contrivances were all formed to do him all the hurt and mifchief they could. y¥. 6. They gather themfelves together, &c.} And meet in fome one place, to contrive ways and means to do hurt, and then affemble together again to put them in execution; as did the Jews with refpect to Chrift, Malt. xxvi. 3, 4. As iv. 27,28.) dben _Ezra fuppofes a various reading without »any reafon; and that, inftead of 999 which archi renders they lodge, and the Septuagint, and the verfions following that, they fojourn, it fhould be read 47439 they affemble in troops; becaufe they were many: but the fenfe is, they /lay*; or continue. in, fome certain place; they bide themfelves; the Targum
‘relatives dropped their tears for.
adds, in ambufb; they lay in, wait, and caufed others to lie in wait for him, in order to take him; — as did Saul and his men, and the fervants of the king of Gath. They mark my fteps; they obferved where he went, that they might feize himg, or they obferved his heels, as the old ferpent did the Meffiah’s, that he might bruife them; or they watched for his halting, as Feremiak’s familiars did. for his. When they wait for my foul; to take away his life, to deftroy him; fee P/al. cxix. 95. they wanted not a will to do it, they only waited for an opportunity. The Zargum is, ** as they waited, ‘« they did to my foul:” or rather, after they bad hoped for my foul’; when they had entertained hopes of taking him, this animated them to do the above things..
y..7. Shall they efcape by iniquity? 8c. Shall fuch iniquity as this, or perfons guilty of it, unpunifhed, or efcape righteous judgment, and the vengeance of God? No; and much lefs fhall they efcape by means of their iniquity; by their wicked fubtilty, or by any evil arts and methods made ufe of, by making a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell; or efcape becaufe of their iniquity; or be delivered becaufe of the abominations done by them, as they flatter themfelves, Fer. vii. 10, Some underftand thefe words, not as referring and render them, either by way of petition, becau e of iniquity, the iniquity of his enemies before demeaning his heels they marked, and his foul they waited for: or by way of affertion or interrogation, becaufe of iniquity there fhall be; or fhall there be a deliverance to them*? his heels and his foul; or from ibem, his enemies. Tho’ others choofe to render the words thus; decaufe of their iniquity, there fhall be @ casting of them away” by the Lord, and from his prefence, with loathing and contempt, as fons of Belial; reprobate filver, rejected of the Lord; which agrees with what follows: Jw thine anger, caft dowu the people, O God; Saul’s courtiers, or the fervants of Achifh king of Gath, or both, who were in high places but flippery ones; and fuch are fometimes brought down. to deftruétion in a moment, by that God from whom promotion comes; who putteth down one, and fets up another, and which he does in wrath and anger, ¥.8. Thou telleft my wandrings, &c.] Not his fins; tho’ thefe are aberrations or wandrings from the ways of God’s commandments; yet thefe are not told by the Lord: he takes no account of them; the number of them is not kept by him; they are blotted out, caft behind his back, and into the depths of the fea; though fometimes his people think they are told and numbered. by him, 70d xiv. 16. and xxxi. 4, but David’s removes and flights from place to place are meant, through Sau/’s purfuit of ine. as a partridge on the mountains. Some writers reckon twelve of thefe removes..The Targum renders it, ‘‘thou numbereft the days of my wandring;” that.is, the days of his pilgrimage and fojourning in this world: the number of our days, and months and years, in which we wander about in this: ince tain ftate of things, is with the Lord, fod xiv. Put thou my tears into thy botiie allufion is.to lachrymatories, or tear-bottles, dn. whi, ivi friends, and buried them with their afhes, or in their turns; fome of which tear-bottles are ftill to be feen in the cabinets of the curious. A defcription of which is given by Gejerus ‘, from Olaus Wormius; and who alfo from Cotovicus relates, that the grave of M. Tullius Cicero was dug up in the ifland of Zacynthus, A.D. 1544. in which were found two glafs urns; the larger had afhes in it, ‘the leffer water: the one was fuppofed to contain his afhes, the other the tears of his friends: and as this was a cuftom with the Romans, fomething like this might obtain among the Jews; and it isa faying with them *, *¢ Whoever fheds tears for a good man (de- ** ceafed) the holy blefled God numbers them, and ‘© puts them into his treafures, according to P al.
*¢ Ivi. 8.” which fhews, that they thought that reference is here had to funeral tears. The meaning of the text is, that God would take notice of David’s afflictions and troubles, which had ‘caufed fo many tears, and remember them, and deliver him out of them: thefe being defired to be put into a bottle was, that they might be kept and referved; not to make atonement for fin; for as a thoufand rivers of oil cannot expiate one fin, could they be come at; fo neither as many rivers of brinifh tears, could they poffibly be fhed: nor to obtain heaven and happinefs; for thére is no comparifon, nor proportion between. the fufferings. of the faints, and the glory that fhall be revealed in them;° though there is a connexion of grace through the promife of God between them: but rather, that they might be brought forth another day and fhewn, to the aggravation of the condemnation of wicked men,who by their hard {peeches, and ungodly actions, have caufed them. Are they xot in thy book? verily they are; that is, the tears and afflictions of his people. They are in his book of purpofes; they are all appointed by him, their kind and nature, their meafure and duration, their quality and quantity; what they fhall be, and how long they fhall laft; and their end and ufe: and they are in his book of providence, and are all overruled, and caufed to work for their good; and they are in the book of his remembrance; they are taken notice of and number« ed by him, and fhall be finifhed; they fhall not exceed their bounds. Thefe tears will be turned into joy, and God will wipe them all away from the eyes of his people.
¥. 9.. When I cry unto thee, &c.] In prayer. Then fhall mine enemies turn backs great is the ftrength of prayer; the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much againft their eneniies: when Mo/es lift up his hands, J/rael prevailed: the cafes of Aja, Febofhaphat, and Hezekiah prove it; this David was affured of, and knew it to be true by experience, his prayer being often the prayer of faith in this refpect. This I know; for God is for me; he knew that when he prayed his enemies would flee; becaufe God was on his fide, who is greater than they; or by this he knew that God was for him, and was his God, by hearing his prayers, and caufing his enemies to turn back: or however, let things go how they will, this he was affured of, that he had a covenant-intereft in God, and who would be his God and guide even unto death. _ y.10, In God will Ipraife his word, &e.] Thefe words are repeated from y. 4. and for the greater certainty of the thing, and to fhew his fixed refolution to do it, and his ftrong affection for the Lord and his word, they are doubled. In the Lord will I praife his word; in the former claufe the word Hlobim is made ufe of, which the Jews fay, denotes the property of juftice, and in the latter Febovab, which with them is the property of mercy; and accordingly the Targum paraphrafes the words, ** in the attribute of the juftice of God ** will I praife his word; in the attribute of the se mercies of Febovah will | praife his word,” and to the fame fenfe Farchi: that is, whether I am in adverfity or profperity, receive evil or good things from the hand of the Lord; yet will I praife him: I will fing of mercy and of judgment, P/al. ci. 1: or rather, the one may denote the grace and goodnefs of ‘a covenant-God in making promifes, and the other his truth and faithfulnefs in keeping thems on account of both which he is worthy of praife. The word dis is not in either claufe in the original text, and they may be rendered, in God will I praife the word; in the Lord will I praife the word, in and by the help, affiftance, and grace of Febovab the Father, will I praife’ the eternal and effential Word his Son. The Targum tenders it his Memra; a word often ufed in it tor a divine perfon, the eternal Logos; the lovelinefs of his perfon, the love of his heart to his people, the fulnefs of grace that is in him, the offices he fuftains on their account, and the virtue of his blood, righteoufnefs and facrifice, render him praife-worthy in their efteem. —y. 11. In God have I put my trust, &c.] See the noteon ¥. 4. IL will not be afraid what man - can dounto me; the fame with flefh in y. 4. and is oppofed to God in whom he trufted; and it fuggefts that he was not, and would not be afraid of the greateft of men, as well as of the meaneft 5 fee. the note on ¥. 4. Arama diftinguifhes between fle > and man; the former, he fays, means the Pdiiiftines, and the latter Sau/ and his army.
¥. 12. Thy vows are upon me, O God, &c.] Which he had made to him in the time of his diftrefs and trouble, and which he looked upon himfelf under obligation to perform; they were debts upon him he ought to pay off; they were with him; they were frefh in his mind and-‘memory; he had not forgot them, which is often the cafe when trouble is over; and he found his heart inclined to make them good. J will render praifes unto thee; which explains what he meant by his vows; namely, facrifices of praife and thankfgiving to the Lord: when he was in diftrefs, he had vowed and promifed, that if the Lord would deliver him, he would praife his name, and give him all the glory; and now he refolves to fulfil what he had promifed.
y¥. 13. For thou hast delivered my foul from death, &c.] From imminent danger of death, when in the hands of the PAilistines; not that the foul can die; that is immortal; but he means his perfon, on which account he determines to render praife to God: moreover, this may include the deliverance of his foul froma moral or fpiritual death, in which he was by nature, being conceived in fin, and fhapen in iniquity; from which he was delivered by regenerating grace, when he was quickened, who before was dead in trefpaffes and fins; and fo deli+ vered, as that this death fhould no more come upon him; the grace of God in him being a well of living water, {pringing up unto eternal life: and it may alfo be underftood of deliverance from eternal death, by Chrift, who has redeemed his people from the curfe of the law, and delivered them from wrath to come; fo that they fhall never be hurt of the fecond death; that fhall have no pows er er over them; but they fhall have eternal life; all which is matter of praife and thankfgiving. Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling? that is, thou wilt deliver them; for this way of {peaking ftrongly affirms; or ha/t thou not delivered them *? thou haft, and wilt ftill deliver, or keep from falling. The people of God are fubjeét to falling; God is the only keeper of them; and they have reafon to)
believe, that he will keep them from a final and total falling away; becaufe of the great love which he has for them, the gracious promifes of prefervatian he has made unto them, and his power, which is engaged in keeping of them; and becaufe they are put into the hands of Chrift, who is able to keep them, and who has an intereft in them, and an affection for them; and becaufe of the glory of all the three divine perfons concerned in the faints prefervation; and this is another reafon for rendering praifes untothe Lord; the end of which follows. That I may walk before God in the light of the living 5 to walk before God, is to walk as in his fight, who fees and knows all hearts, thoughts, words and actions; with great circum{pection, and caution, and watchfulnefs; to walk according to the word and will of God, inall his ways, commands; and ordinances; and fo the Arabic verfion, that I do the will of the Lord, and fo as to pleafe him, Enoch did, who walked with him, and whofe walking with him is interpreted by pleafing him, Heb. Xi. 5, 6. agreeable to which the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic verfions, render’ the words, shat I may pleafe before the Lord, or do what is acceptable in his fight. Moreover, to walk — before the Lord is to walk in the light of his countenance, to have his prefence, enjoy his favour, and be bleffed with communion with him: J# the light of the living? that is, to walk as an enlight~ — ned and quickned perfon, ‘as the children of the light; and to walk in the light of the gofpel, and as becomes that; and to walk in Chrift the light, and by faith on him; and fuch thall have she light of life, John vii, 12. a phrafe the fame with this here 5 and defigns the light of the heavenly glory; and of the new Yeru/alem-church-ftate, in which the nations of them that are faved fhall walk, Rev. xxi. 23,24. Some J ewith ‘ writers interpret this of paradife.