Exposition of the Whole Bible

To the chief mufician, Al-tafchith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

OME think the words A/-ta/chith are the beginning of a fong, to the tune of which this was fet, as Aben Ezra, others, that they are taken from Deut. ix. 26. they fignifying deffroy not ®; others, that they refer to what David faid to Abijfeai, when he would have flain Saul, deftroy him not, 1 Sam. xxvi. g. but that was an affair that happened after this pfalm was penned: they feem rather to be words which were frequently ufed by David in the time of his diftrefs; who often faid unto the Lord, either in an ejaculatory way, or vocally, or both, do not deffroy me, or fuffer me to be deStroyed; of which he was in great danger, as appears from y. 4, 6. and therefore prefixed thefe words in the title of the pfalm, in memorial of the inward anguifh of his mind, and of what his mouth then uttered; and to this agrees the Chaldee paraphrafe, ‘* concerning the trouble at the time when “© David faid, do not deftroy.”” Of the word Michtam, fee the note on Pfal. xvi. The occafion and time of writing this pfalm, were David’s fleeing from Saul in the cave; or rather into” the cave, as it fhould be rendered; for it was after that Sau was gone that David and his men came out of the cave; but he fled hither for fear of Sau/ 5 and whilft he was here, Saul, with three thoufand men, came to the mouth of the cave, and he himfelf went into it; which muft have put David and his men intoa very great panic, there being no retreat, nor any human poffibility of an efcape, but muft expect to fall into the hands of the enemy, and be cut to pieces at once. This cave was in Engedi, 1 Sam. xxiv. 1—3. of which Le Bruyn‘ fays, it is on- the top of a very high hill, and is extremely dark; which agrees with the account in the above place, fince it was on the rocks of the wild goats Sau! fought David, and coming to the fheep-cotes there, went into the cave where David was.

y. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God, &c.| Or be gracious to me*; which words are repeated by him. Be merciful, or gracious unto me to fhew the greatnefs of his diftrefs, the eagernefs, vehemency, and importunity he ufed in prayer; his cafe requiring a fpeedy anfwer, and immediate relief; and that he expected only from the mercy and grace of God; fee the note on P/al. lvi.1. For my foul trufteth in thee or in thy word; asthe Targum; and in thee only, both as the God of providence, and the God:

of grace; and a great act of faith this was to truft in the Lord in fuch circumftances; and it was not a bare profefiion of truft, but it was hearty and fincere; his foul trufted in the Lord; he trufted in him with all his heart and foul, and trufted him with his foul or life: and this he makes a reafon or argument for mercy; feeing, as the mercy of the Lord is an encouragement to faith and hope; fo the Lord has declared, that he takes pleafure in thofe that hope and truft in it; wherefore mercy may be expected by fuch. 2ea, in the foadow of thy wings will I make my refuge; or I will bope' 5 the meaning is, that he would betake himfelf to the power and protection of God, and make him his refuge from the enemy: the allufion is either to the hen, or any other bird covering its you with its wings, when a bird of prey is near, till that is gone; or to the Cherubim, whofe wings overfhadewed the mercy-feat, between which the glor of God dwelt; and fo the Targum, ** in the fhadoy “« of thy Shekinab, or glorious majefty, will” ‘¢ truft;” which agrees with his applyir mercy-feat, or to God ona throne of grace anc mercy: and here he determines to ab de, “Ur “i.. ©.» FIPS in fpeluncam, V.: * 9M gratiam. 1 FIBA, fperabo, V.L, Pagninus, Montanus,

thefe calamities be overpaft, the ftorm of them was over, which was very black and threatning. The Targum is, ** until the tumult is over;” and fo the Syriac verfion; until Sau/ and his men were gone, of whom he was afraid. The Septuagint verfion, and thofe that follow it, render the words until fin paffeth away 5 the caufe of thefe troubles; unlefs fin is put for finful men; and fo the fenfe is as before; fee J/a, xxvi. 20.

y.2. I will cry unto God moft bigh, &c.) To remember him in his low eftate, and who is higher than the higheft, than Sau/ and his mighty men with him. This epithet David no doubt made ufe of, to encourage his faith in the Lord, who is above all, and can do all things; as follows.» Unto God that performeth all things for me 5 ina providential way, having made him, upheld him in being, fed and cloathed him, preferved him, and followed him with his goodnefs all his days; and in a way of grace he performed all his purpofes concerning him, all his promifes unto him, and was performing, and would perfeét the work of grace in him fee Pfal. cxxxviii. 8. Phil, i. 6. The Targum adds a fable by way of paraphrafe on the text, «* who << commanded, or prepared a fpider, to perfect in «: the mouth of the cave a web for me;”’ foitis in the king’s Bible; as if, when he was in the cave, God fo ordered’it in his providence, that a fpider fhould ipin a web over the mouth of it, which prevented his perfecutors from fearching for him in it; but the {cripture is filent in this matter. Such a ftory is reported of Felix bifhop of Nola in ecclefiaftical hiftory ™.

y. 3. He foall fend from beaven, and fave me, &c.] His angel, as the Targum adds; or his angels, as Kimchi; who are miniftring fpirits, fent forth by him, to encamp about his people, and guard them, as they did acob when in fear of Lfau, Gen. xxxii. 1, 2. or to deliver them out of trouble, as Peter when in prifon, 47s xii. 7. or rather the fenfe may be, that David did not expect any help and deliverance in an human way, by means of men on earth; but he expected it from above, from heaven, from God above, and which he believed he fhould have; and he might have a further view to the miffion of Chrift from heaven to fave him, and all the Lord’s people; and which he may mention, both for his own comfort, and for the ftrengthening of the faith of others in that important article. From the reproach of bim that would fwallow me up. Selab. meaning Saul; fee Pfal. \vi. 1,2. The Targum renders it, * he hath «© reproached him that would fwallow me up for «< ever;” and to the fame fenfe the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac verfions; difappointed them, and filled them with reproach, fhameand confufion. God /hall fend forth bis mercy and his truth; fhall manifeft and difplay the glory of thefe his perfections, his mercy and erace, his truth and faithfulnefs, in his deliverance and falvation; and which are remarkably glorified in falvation by Chrift Jefus; and who himfelf may be called bis grace and bis truth”, as the words may be rendered; he being theWord of his grace, and truth itfelf, and full of both, and by whom, when fent forth, grace and truth came, Fobni. 14, 17. it may alfo intend a conftant fupply of grace, whereby God would fhew forth the truth of his promifes to him.

¥. 4. My foul is among lions, &e.} Not literally underftood; though fuch there might be in the wildernefles where he fometimes was; but figuratively, men comparable to lions, for their ftoutnefs, courage, ftrength, fiercenefs and cruelty; meaning not his own men, as fome think, who were fierce, and of keen refentment againft Sau/; and would fain have killed him when he was in the gave, had they not been reftrained by David, 1 Sam. XXIV. 4, 7. but Sau/, and thofe with him, who were three thoufand chofen men, ftout, courageous, fierce and furious. «It is ufual in fcripture to defcribe powerful princes, and efpecially perfecuting ones, by the name of lions, Prov. xxviii.15. Jer. \. 17. 2 Tim.iv. 17. Achilles, in Homer, is compared to a lion for his cruelty. The foul of Chrift was among fuch, when he was apprehended by the band of men that came with Fudas to take him; when he was in the high-prieft’s hall buffeted and fpit upon; and when he was in the common hall of Pilate furrounded by the Roman foldiers; and when he was incircled on the crofs with the crowd of the common people, priefts and elders, Matth. xxvi. 55, 67. and xxvii. 27, 395 41. Pfal. xxii, 12, 13, 21. and fo the fouls of his people are often among lions, perfecuting men, and Satan and his principalities, who is compared to a roaring lion, 1 Pet, v. 8. and among whom they are as wonderfully preferved as Dazie/ in the lions den. And J he even among them that are fet on

Jire; of hell, as the tdngue is faid to be in Fames iii. 6. by the devil, who ftirred up Sau/ againft David, filled him with wrath and fury, fo that he ’

breathed out nothing but flaming vengeance, threatning and flaughter againft him; and by wicked men his courtiers, who kindled and ftirred up the fire of contention between them; among thefe incendiaries, as Funius renders the word ®, David was, who inflamed the mind of Sau/ againft him, which he fuggefts in 1 Sam. xxiv. 10. Even the fons of men, whofe teeth are fpears and arrows; whole words, formed by means of their teeth, were very devouring ones, P/al. lii. 4. were very piercing and wounding; calumnies, detractions, and backbitings, {peaking againft him when abfent and at a diftance may be meant; fee Prov. xxx. 14. And their tongue a foarp fword; fee the note on P ai, lii,

2. and there was a fort of {words called dingule, becaufe in the fhape of a tongue %.

¥. 5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, &c.] Thatis, fhew thy felf to be God, that fitteft in the heavens, and art higher than they, by faving me, and difappointing mine enemies; that I, and thofe that are with me, may magnify the Lord, and exalt his name together, The Targum is, ‘* be thou exalted above the angels of heaven, “ QO God.” Let thy glory be above all the earth; that is, above all the inhabitants of the earth, as the Chaldee paraphrafe: let the glory of God in my deliverance be feen by all that dwell upon the earth; for by how much the lower and more diftreffed his cafe and condition were, by fo much the more would the glory of God be difplayed in bringing him out of it. Nothing lies nearer the hearts of the people of God than his glory; this is more defirable than their own falvation: David breathes after the one, when he fays nothing of the other, that being uppermoft; though his meaning is, that the one might be brought about by the other. x. 6 2 TFAONI WDM gratiam & veritatem fuam, Cocceius, mun incendiarios, Junius & Tremellius, Pifcator; fam. 4 A, Gell. No&. Attic, 1. 10, ¢. 25.

¥.6. They have prepared a net for my fleps, &c.] They laid fnares for him, as the fowler does for the bird, in order totake him. It denotes the infidious ways ufed by Sau/ and his men to get David into their hands; fo the Pharifees confulted together how they might intangle Chrift in his talk, Matt. xxii.15. My foul is bowed down; dejected by reafon of his numerous enemies, and the crafty methods they took to enfnare and ruin him; fo the foul of Chrift was bowed down with the fins of his people, and with a fenfe of divine wrath becaufe of them; and fo their fouls are often bowed down; or they are dejected in their fpirits, on account of fin, Satan’s temptations, various afflictions, and divine defertions. ‘The Targum renders it, ‘* he *¢ bowed down my foul;”? that is, the enemy; Sau/ in particular. The Septuagint, Arabic and Ethiopic verfions, they bowed down my foul; the fame that prepared a net for his fteps; every one of his enemies; they all were the caufe of the dejection of his foul: the Syriac verfion leaves out the claufe. They have digged a pit before me, into the midft whereof they are fallen themielves. Selah. contriving and feeking to find out the places where David’s haunt was, Sgu/ got into the very cave where he and his men were; and had his fkirt cut off, when his life might as eafily have been taken away, 1 Sam. XXlil. 22, 23. and xxiv. 3, 4. fee Pfal. vii. 15, 16. and ix, 15.

¥. 7. My heart is fixed, O God, &c.] Firm and fure, trufting in the Lord, believing that he fhould be faved by him out of his troubles; fee Pfal. ci, 1. and cxii, 7, 8. fo in a fpiritual fenfe, a heart fixed and eftablifhed, or that is firm and fure, is one that is affured of its falvation by Chrift; rooted and grounded in the love of God, firmly built on the foundation, Chrift, and has its affections fet on him; and is unmoved, from the hope of the gofpel, and the doétrines of it, by whatfoever it meets with inthe world. It may be rendered, my heart is prepared, or ready"; that is, according to fome, to receive good or evil, profperity or adverfity, at the hand of God; to which fenfe is Farchi’s note, ‘¢ my heart is faithful with *¢ thee in the meafure of judgment, and it is faith- ‘¢ ful with thee in the meafure of mercy.’’ That is, whether I am chaftifed with judgments, or followed with mercies, my heart is firm and true to God. The Targum is, ** my heart is prepared s¢ for thy law, O Lord 5 my heart is prepared for *¢ thy fear;” that is, it is prepared for the worfhip and fervice of God; it is ready to every good work; it is prepared to pray unto him, and to wait for an anfwer, which are both from the Lord, Prov. xvi..1. Pfal. X. 17. and particularly to fing praife unto him, as follows. My heart is fixed; this is repeated, to fhew the vehemency of his fpirit, and the certainty of the thing. J will fing and give praife; for the falvation wrought for him, and which he was fure of; and before he had finifhed this pfalm, or while he had compofed it, did enjoy. it.

_ ¥. 8. Awake up, my glry, &c.] Meaning his foul, whom Facob calls his honour, Gen. xlix. 6, it being the moft honourable; glorious, and excellent part of man; is the breath of God, of his immediate production’; is a fpirit incorporeal and immortal; is poffefled of glorious powers and faculties; had the image of God inftamped upon it, which made man the glory of God, r Cor. xi. 7. and has the image of Chrift on it in regenerated perfons; and.is that with which God and Chrift are glorified; and is, upon all accounts, of great worth and value, even of more worth than the whole world: and this fometimes in the faints is as it were afleep, and needs awaking; not in a literal © fenfe; for it is uncapable of natural fleep, being incorporeal; but in a figurative and fpiritual fenfe as when grace is dormant, and not in exercife; when the foul is backward to, and flothful in duty, unconcerned about divine things, and lukewarm and indifferent to them; which is occafioned by prevailing corruptions and worldly cares; and fometimes it becomes dull, and heavy, and inactive, through an overpreffure by forrows and troubles, as the difciples of Chrift were found fleeping for forrow, Luke xxii. 45. which feems to have been the cafe of the pfalmift here; he had been in great diftrefs, his foul was bowed down, y. 6. he had hung his harp upon the willow, and could not fing one of the Lord’s fongs in the place and circumftances he was in; but now he calls upon his foul, and aroufes all the powers and faculties of it, and ftirs up himfelf to the work of praife, juft as Deborah did, Fudg. v. 12. fome by his glory underftand his tongue, as in P/a/. xvi. 9. compared with és ii. 26. and Pfal, xxx. 12. and fo may defign vocal finging here, as inftrumental mufic in the next claufe, Awake, pfaltery and harp; which, by a profopopeia, are reprefented as perfons; as if they were animate, fenfible, and living: thefe had been laid afide for fome time as ufeleis,; but now the pfalmift determines to take them up and employ them in the fervice of praifing God: thefe are fitly put together, becaufe pfalms were fung to harps; and fo with the Greeks a pfalm is faid to be properly the found of the harp*. J. my felf will awake early; in the morning, when falvation and joy come; and fo foon caufe his voice to be heard, as in prayer, fo in praife; or I will awaken the morning; fo Farchi: be up before the fun rifes, the morning appears, or day dawns: this is taking the wings of the morning, and even preventing that. The Targum is, ** I will awake to the morning- ‘6 prayer.”

¥. 9. Iwill praife thee, OLord, among the people, &c.] Either among the people of J/rae/, as Aben Ezra, when the feveral tribes meet together; and fo it denotes the public manner in which he would praife God for his falvation: or among the Gentiles, as the following claufe fhews. J will Jing unto thee among the nations; the apoftle Paul feems to have reference to this paflage in Rom. xv. g. which he produces as a proof of the Gentiles glorifying God for his mercy in fending the gofpel among them, and calling them by his grace; by which they appeared to be his chofen and redeemed ones; and in forming them into gofpel-churches, among whom his praife was fung: for this fuppofes fomething to be done among the Gentiles, which fhould occafion praife; and here the pfalmift perfonates the Meffiah, who in his minifters and members praife God for his wonderful mercy to the Gentile world, as follows. “Sibel y.10. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, &c.] Which denotes the exceeding greatnefs and largenefs of it; as itis in the heart of God, who is plenteous in mercy; as it is expreffed in the cove- _ nant of grace, where are ftores of its as it is thewn forth in the choice of perfons to eternal life;

in the miffion of Chrift into this world to die for - them; in the regeneration of them, the pardon of their fins, and eternal life: and this mercy is not only extended to perfons in the feveral parts of the _: A }

‘ earth, but is as high as the heaven above it; P al.

cli. 11. And thy truth unto the clouds; the faithfulnefs of God in performing his purpofes and his promifes; or the gofpel, and the doétrines of it, which contain the deep things of God; unlefs Chrift himfelf fhould be meant, who is the truth which fprung out of the earth, P/al. Ixxxv. 11. is now afcended unto heaven, and is higher than the heavens; and whofe exaltation and glory may be

To the chief muficiah,. Al-

Ccording to the Syriac verfion, this pfalm was written when Saw/ threatened the priefts, becaufe they did not fhew him where David was, when they knew it. Dr Lightfoot thinks, that the title Al-ta/chith refers to David’s not deftroying Nabal, as he threatened; and that the venom of Nabal’s tongue in reviling him, and the deafnefs of his ears in not attending to the meffengers that told their errand wifely, are defigned in this pfalm; and in which the pfalmift prophefies of his fudden death, before the pots for his feaft could be warmed by the thorns under them, and whilft he was lively and jovial. archi is of opinion that it was compofed after David had been in the trench where Saul lay, and took away the fpear and cruife, and went his way, and called to Abner, faying, Anfwereft thou not? which is as if he fhould fay, Haft thou it not in thy power now to convince Sau/, and fhew him that he purfues me without caufe, fince, if I would, I could have flain him? Kimchi fays it was written on account of Admer, and the reft of Saul’s princes, who judged David as a rebel againft the government, and {aid it was for Sau] to purfue after him to flay him; for if they had reftrained him, Saul would not have purfued after him; and indeed they feem to be wicked judges who are addreffed in this pfalm 5 Do not de-

Ae! defigned in the following verfe.

y. 11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, &c.| As Chrift now is at the Father’s right hand, and who is God over all; bleffed for ever. Let thy glory be above all the earth; as it is above all the men on earth and angels in heaven: This is repeated from y. 5. fee the note there, and fhews the vehemency of his defire after thefe things, and how much his heart was fet upon them.

of, and called in queftion; at leaft their fincerity in giving judgment: yea, it is denied; for this interrogation carries in it a ftrong denial; and the meaning is, that they did not fpeak righteoufnefs, or that which was juft and right in the caufe of David, when beforethem. Do ye judge uprightly, O ye fons of men? no, they did not; they were unjuft judges. The pfalmift calls them the fons of men, as in 1 Sam. xxvi. 1g. in diftinétion from God the Judge of all, and to put them in mind of their frailty and mortality; for though they were gods by office, they were but men, and fhould die | like men, and be accountable to the fupreme Judge for all their proceedings in judgment here, P/a/, Ixxxii. 1, 6, 7. ¥. 2. Yea, in heart ye work wickedne/s, 8c.] So far were they from fpeaking righteoufnefs, and judging uprightly. The heart of man is wickednefs itfelf; it is defperately wicked, and is the fhop in which all wickednefs is wrought; for finful acts are committed there, as well as by the tongue and hand, as follows. This phrafe alfo denotes their finning; not with precipitancy, and through fur-

| prife; but with premeditation and deliberation;

and their doing it heartily, with good will, and with allowance, and their continuance and conftant perfifting in it. Ye weigh the violence of your bands firoy, Arama fays, it declares the wickednefs of in the earth; they were guilty of acts of violence y. 1. Do ye indeed [peak righteoufne/s, O congregation? &c.| Of the mighty, as in P/al. Ixxxii. r. the judges of the land, who were many, and therefore called a congregation, as it is neceffary they fhould; for being many, they are not fo eafily bribed; and befides, one may fee that in a caufe which another does not. ‘The word fignifies a Joeaf* s and fo it is by fome rendered, to which a bench or aflembly of judges may be compared; becaufe confifting of many, and a feleét body, who fhould unite together in a fentence or decree, and at uprightly, like a fheaf of wheat ftanding upright; fee Gea. xxxvii. 7. fome think the word has the fignification of dumbnefs, or filence; fo Farchi and R. Mofes*; as Elem in the title of the fifty-fixth pfalm, and render it, do ye indeed peak dumb juftice 2 or the dumbnefs of juftice”, of are you _ dumb, or your mouth filent, ‘when ye fhould fpeak righteoufnefs? and fo’ the pfalmift accufes them for their criminal filence, in not contradicting Sau! and his courtiers when they fpake againft him; and for not advifing him to another kind of conduct towards him. All men ought to {peak that which is right and truth; but efpecially judges on the bench, who are to judge the people with juft judgment, Deut. xvi. 18, but here this is doubted and oppreffion, which, of all men, judges fhould not to be guilty of; whofe bufinefs it is to plead the caufe of the injured and opprefiéd, to right their wrongs, and to protect and defend them: thefe they pretended to weigh in the balance of juftice and equity, and committed them under a fhew of righteoufnefs; they decreed unrighteous decrees, and framed mifchief by a law; and this they did openly, and every where, throughout the whole land. \ ¥. 3. The wicked are eftranged from the womb, &c.] Which original corruption of nature accounts for all the wickednefs done by men: they are conceived in fin, fhapen in iniquity, and are tranfgreffors from the womb; they are alienated fromrGod, and from that godly life which is agreeable to him, and he requires; and from the knowledge and fear of him, and love to him; and they defire not the knowledge of him nor his ways; they are far from his law, and averfe to it; and ftill more fo to the gofpel of Chrift; the doétrines of which, as well as the great things written in the law, are ftrange things to them; and they are aliens from the commonwealth of J/rae/, eftranged from the people of God, know nothing of them, neither of their joys, nor of their forrows. They go afiray as foon as they be born, fpeaking lies, they are wicked from their infancy, from their youth upward; and fin, * In Aben fin, which is meant by going aftray, as foon as they are capable of it, and which is very early. Sin foon appears in the temper and actions of men; they go out of God’s way, and turn every one to their own way, and walk in the broad road which Jeads to deftruétion: and particularly they are very early guilty of lying; as foon as they can fpeak, and before they can {peak plain, they lifp out lies, which they learn from their father the devil, who is the father of lies; and fo they continue all their days ftrangers to divine things, going aftray from God, the God of truth, continually doing abominations, and {peaking lies; which continuance in thefe things makes the difference between reprobate men and God’s eleét; for though the latter are the fame by nature as the former; yet their natures are reftrained, before converfion, from going into all the fins they are inclined to; and if not, yet at converfion a ftop is put to their progrefs in iniquity.

¥. 4. Their poifon is like the poifon of a ferpent, &c.] Either their wrath and fury, as the word * may be rendered, again{ft God, his people, and even one another, is like that of a ferpent when irritated and provoked; or their mifchievous and devouring words are like the poifon of afps under their lips,

Rom. iii. 13. or the malignity-of fin in them is here meant, which, like the poifon of a ferpent, is latent, hid, and lurking in them; is very infectious to all the powers and faculties of the foul, and members of the body; and is deadly and incurable, without the grace of God and blood of Chrift. They are like the deaf adder that ftoppeth ber ear; the adder is a kind of ferpent, in Hebrew called Pethen; hence the ferpent Python. This is not deaf naturally, otherwife it would have no need to ftop its ear, but.of choice; and naturalifts* obferve, that it is quicker of hearing than of fight. Farchi indeed fays, when it grows old it becomes deaf in one of its ears, and it ftops its other ear with duft, that it may not hear the voice of the charmer; though others fay *, it {tops one ear with its tail, and lays the other to the ground; but thefe feem fabulous. David {peaks of it figuratively, that it acts as if it was deaf, regarding no enchantments, but bites notwithftanding; thefe having no influence on it, which, if they had any, could not be hindered by its deafnefs; and he compares wicked men to it, who are wilfully deaf to all good counfel and advice given them *.

¥. 5. Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, &cc.] Or that ufe inchantments, to inchant ferpents, by muttering certain words, or by magical fongs; by which means, it is faid, that they have been drawn out of their holes, or caufed to fly, or have become ftupified, and have loft their poifon, and even burft afunder; as Bochart” relates from Pliny, AZlianus, Lucan, Ifidore, Virgil, Ovid, Horace and others: but an a/p is unmoved by inchantments, and they are of no avail againft its bites and poifon*®. Nor do thefe words fuppofe, that the pfalmift approved of inchantments, or affirms the virtue of them to be real, but rather fuggefts the contrary: he only takes his fimilitude from the feeming deafnefs and difregard of ferpents to inchantments, to fet forth the ob{ftinacy of wicked men, and their refolution to continue in their wicked ways; like the ferpent that difregards men

Charming never fo wifely, being wife, /ilful *, or - made wife in inchanting inchantments; one very learned and expert in the art; or in affociating affociations, fRilful*: who makes a confort of magical words to obtain his point, as fome think; or becaufe by his inchantments, he affociates and gathers many ferpents together, and tames them; or becaufe he does, this by fociety and fellowfhip with the devil; methods no ways approved of by the pfalmift, only alluded to. It may perhaps better be rendered, which will not bearken to the voice of the eloquent, putting things together ever fo wifely;

the word is ufed for an eloquent orator, J/a. iii. 3.

Such gofpel-minifters are, who are mighty in the {criptures. The voice of the gofpel is a charming voice; it publifhes good news, and glad tidings; it is a voice of love, grace and mercy, of peace, pardon, righteoufnefs, and falvation by Chrift; and is wifely charmed when it gives no uncertain found, is all of a piece, and is faithfully preached, as it was by the apoftles of Chrift,; who, as wife men, laid him as the foundation of eternal life and falvation; and efpecially as it was preached by Chrift himfelf, who fpake as never man did: and yet, fuch were the hardnefs and obftinacy of the wicked Jews, that they ftopped their ears to his miniftry, nor would they fuffer others to attend upon it; and fo it is now: which fhews the infufficiency of the beft means of themfelves, and the neceffity of powerful and éfficacious grace, to work upon the hearts of men..

¥. 6. Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth, &c.] From the defcription of the wicked, the pfalmift paffes to imprecations on his enemies 5 whom he reprefents as cruel and blood-thirfty, and as being ftronger than he; and therefore he applies to God, who could, as he fometimes did, {mite his enemies on the cheek-bone, and break the teeth of the ungodly; which is done by taking the power and inftruments of hurting from them: and it may be by their teeth in their mouth may be meant, their malicious words, calumnies and detractions; teeth being the inftrument of fpeech; and by breaking them, preventing the mifchief defigned by them. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord: Saul was the old lion; his princes, nobles and courtiers the young ones; whofe jaw-teeth were as knives to devour David and his men, unlefs plucked out;, or God in his providence fhould interpofe, and hinder the performance of their mifchievous and cruel defigns; and who could eafily deftroy them by-.his blaft, and by the breath of his noftrils, fob iv. 9,10. | y.7. Let them melt away as waters which run continually, &c.] Let them be difheartened, and their courage fail them, and let there o fpirit left in them, 7o/2. vii. 5. or let them be unftable as water, that is continually running, ever upon the fux and motion; let them never be fettled, but always changing in their ftate and circumftances, Gen. xlix. 4. or let them come to nought, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions; which is the cafe of water that runs over or runs away: or Jet them be defpifed, as Farchi, and the Arabic, Syriac and Etbiopic verfions; being ufelefs and unprofitable, as water is when pafled and gone: or let their ruin and deftruétion be as fwift as the gliding water; let them be brought to defolation in a moment;

© Jungentis conjunctiones docti, Montanus; confociantis

Pflvin.¥.8—11. Fob xxiv. 18, and let it be irrecoverable, as water running over the cup, and feattering itfelf, is’ pile upon the ground, and cannot be gathered up, 2 Sam. xiv. 14. The Targum is, * let them mele in their ** fins as water.” When be bendeth his bow to fhoot bis arrows, let them be as cut in pieces, either when the wicked man bends his bow to fhoot his arrows againft the righteous; when he devifes mifchief againft him, fhoots out bitter words, and attempts to do hurt unto him; Jet it beas if the {tring of his bow and his arrows were all cut to pieces; let all his defigns, words and actions be without effect, and let not his hand perform his enterprize: or when God bends his bow againft the wicked, fo Farchi; and prepares the inftruments of death for them, and ordains his arrows againft the perfecutors, P/al. vii. 12, 13. Let then his and his peoples enemies be cut off, as the tops of the ears of corn; as the word ufed fignifies, ‘fob xxiv. 24. The words may be rendered, let him (God) direé? bis arrows; as the tops of the ears of corn are cut off 's fo let them be.. ee eed

¥.8. As a fnail which melteth, let every one of them pafs away, &c.] Asa fnail when it comes out of its fhell liquefies, drops its moifture, and with it makes a path, from whence it has its name Sisaw in the Hebrew language; and fo the Targum here, * as the {nail moiftens its way 5’? which moiftnefs it gradually exhaufts, and melts away, and dies: fo the pfalmift prays, that every one of his enemies might die in like manner. Some think reference is had to the fnail’s putting out its horns to no purpofe when in danger, and apply it to the vain threatnings of the wicked; a ftrange difference this, between a roaring young lion, y. 6, and a melting fnail. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental verfions render it,’ as wax which melteth; fee Pfal. \xviii. 2. Like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not fee the fun; fee Fob iii, 16.. The Targum is, ** as an abortive and a «< mole, which are blind and fee not the fun.” So Farchi renders it a mole, agreeable to the Talmud *. Or, let them not fee the fun"; \et them die, and never fee the fun in the firmament any more; nor Chrift, the fun of righteoufnefs; nor enjoy the favour of God, and the light of his countenance; nor have the light of life, or eternal glory.and happinefs; fee P/al. xlix. 19. OUND haar y¥.9. Before your pots can feel the thorns, &c.] Which is foon done; for as dry thorns make a great blaze, fo they give a quick heat; the pots foon feel them, or the water in them foon receives heat from them. From imprecations the pfalmift proceeds to prophefy, and foretels the fudden de- {truction of wicked men, which would be before a pot could be heated with a blaze of thorns. ‘The Targum is, ** before the’ wicked become ‘tender, «< they harden as the thorn:”” that is, they never become tender, or have any tender confciences, but are hardened in fin from their infancy. Some render the words, before your thorns grow up toa briar or bramble‘; little thorns become great ones, tender thorns hard ones, as Yarchi; that is, as he interprets it, before the children of the wicked are grown up, they are deftroyed; thofe fons of Befial, who are like to thorns thruft away, 2 Sam. xxiii. 6. Others, as Aben Ezra, before they underftand; that is, wife and knowing men 5 that your iborns are a bramble; or from leffer ones are be- come greater; and fo denotes, as before, the fuddenneis and quicknels of their deftruction, as follows: “He, that is, God, hall rake them away as with a whirlwind; not to himfelf, as, Exoch 5 nor to heaven, whither £/ija4 went up by a whirlwind; but-out of the land of the living, and as with a tempeft, to hell, where fnares, fire and brimftone are rained upon them 3 fee Fob xxvii. 20, 21. Pfal. xi. 6. Both living, and in his wraib; when in health and full ftrength, and fo go quick to hell; as Korab and his company alive into the earth; and all in wrath and fore difpleafure: for the righteous are alfo taken away; but then it is from evil to come, and ‘to everlafting happinels; and through many tempeftuous providences, which are in love, and for their good, do they enter the kingdom:

‘and thofe that are alive at Chrift’s coming, will be caught up to meet him in the air; but the wicked are taken away as in a whirlwind, alive, and in wrath. ¥.10. Lhe righteous fhall rejoice when he feeth the vengeance, &c.] Before imprecated and fore- -told; the punifhment inflicted by the Lord, to whom vengeance ‘belongs, in a way of vindictive wrath 3 for what befals the wicked in an afflictive way, is in wrath, and: as a vengeance upon them: and as the judgments of God are fometimes manifeft, are to be feen, they are obferved by the righteous, who rejoice at theny; not:as evils and miferies fimply confidered, nor from a private affection; but as the glory of divine juftice is difplayed therein, and the goodnefs of God is fhewn to them, by delivering them out of their hands;. fee Rev. xviii. 20., and: xix. 12,3... He. fhall wajfh his. feet in the blood of the wicked, which denotes the great deftrution of the wicked, and the abundance of blood that fhall be fhed; fee Rev. xiv. 20; and: the entire victory the faints fhall have over them, and their fecurity from them, P/al. Ixviii. 21-23. as well as the fatisfaétion, and pleafure and refrefhment, as it were, they fhall have in their deftruction;. fignified by their:feet being wafhed in their blood, inftead of being, wafhed in water, ufual in the eaftern countries 5 becaufe of the glory of the divine perfections appearing therein.. Lhe Septuagint, Vulgate Latiny and all the Oriental verfions read his hands. ¥. 11. So that a map foall fay, &c.] Any man, and every man efpecially, that is obferving, wife -and knowing; he fhall conclude from fuch a difpenfation of things, from God’s dealing with the wicked, afterthis manner: Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; or fruit * for them: they have the fruits-of divine love, the bleffings of an everlafting covenant; and the fruit of Chrift, the tree of life, which is {weet unto their tafte, as are the benefits of his death, his word and ordinances; and_ the fruits of the Spirit, his feveral graces wrought ‘in their fouls; and the fruits of righteoufnefs, the effect of which is peace; and is a reward they receive in, though not for keeping the commands of God; and they gather fruit unto eternal life, which is the recompence of reward, the reward of the inheritance, the. great reward in heaven, which re-_ mains for them; and which they fhall have, not for their own righteoufnefs-fake, but for the fake - of Chrift’s righteoufnefs; from,which they are denominated righteous perfons, and which gives them a right and title to it: fo that this is a reward, not of debt as due to them, and to be claimed by them on Michaelis.? Tigurine verfion, en account of any thing they have done; but of grace, ftreaming through the blood and righteoufnefs of Chrift. Verily, be-is a God that judgeth in the earth; that there is aGod, is known by the judgments. that he executeth; and that he judgeth in the earth, and is the Judge of all the earth, who will do right, may be concluded from the ven- number, [>945aw conor Gods that judge, which Kimchi and Ben Melech fay, is on account of honour;, or as they, with den Ezra, interpret it, of the angels: but thefe are not judges in the earth; rather it is expreflive of a Trinity of perfons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father is the Judge of all, though he does not execute geance infliéted on wicked men 5 and he will one day judge the world in righteoufnefs, by him whom judgment 5 but has committed it to the Son, who is Judge of quick and dead; and the Spirit judges, he has ordained to be Judge of quick and dead, The words in the Hebrew text are in the plural reproves and convinces the world of fia, righteoufnefs, and judgment, -

‘Yo the chief mufician, Al-tafchith, Michtam of David; when Saul fent, and they watched the

HE hiftory of Sau/’s fending meffengers to watch the houfe of David, and to kill him when he rofe in the morning, is in 1 Sam. xix. 11. which was the occafion of his writing this pfalm; though the title of the Syriac verfion of it is, “Da- « vid faid or compofed this, when he heard that the priefts were flain by Saul:” and in the fame is added, ‘* but unto us it declares the converfion

“¢ of the Gentiles to the faith, and the rejection of the Jews.” And which perhaps is defigned in. 55 13. and fome interpreters are of opinion, that the whole pfalm is to be underftood of Chrift, of whom David was a type, efpecially in his fufferings 5 and there are fome things in it, which better agree with him than with David, as particularly his being without fin, y. 3.

y. 1. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God, &c.] David had his enemies in his youth, notwithftanding the amiablenefs of his perfon, the endowments of his mind, his martial atchievements, his wife behaviour and conduct, and the prefence of God with him; yea, it were fome of thefe things that made Saa/ his enemy, who, by his power and authority, made others 5 fee x Sam, xviii. Chrift had his enemies, though he went about doing good, both to the bodies and fouls of men continually; the chief priefts, Scribes and Pharifees, were his implacable enemies, and even the people of the Jews in general: and the church of God, and members of it, whom David may reprefent, have their enemies, fin, Satan, and the world; and as David and Chritt, fo the church has a covenant- God to go unto, from whom deliverance from enemies may be defired and expected. Defend me Strom them that rife up againft me; or, fet me on bigh above them'; out of their reach, as David was protected from Saul and his men, who rofe up in an hoftile manner againft him; and as Chrift was, when raifed from the dead, and exalted at his Father’s right hand; and as the faints are in great fafety, dwelling on high, where their place of defence is the munition of rocks; and therefore it matters not who rife up againft them.

¥.2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, &c.] See the note on Pfal. vi. 8. And fave me from bloody men; fauch as Saul fent to kill David, as appears from the title of the pfalm; and fuch as were concerned in the death of Chrift; and fuch are the enemies of God’s people, the followers of the man of fin. The heap of words, the various expreffions ufed in a way of petition, in this and the preceding verfe, thew the diftrefS the pfalmift was in, and whom he perfonates; his importunity, earneftnefs, and fervency in prayer. 1 y¥. 3. For lo, they lie in wait for my foul, &c.} As the men did that watched his houfe, when Sau/ fent to kill him; fo the Jews fought and lay in wait to take away the life of Chrift, and very often was it the cafe of the apoftle Pau/, that he was indanger of his life, through the lying in wait of the Jews; fo Satan makes ufe of cunning devices, ftratagems and wiles, to ruin the fouls of God’s people, if poffible; and falfe teachers lie in wait to deceive them. The emphatis lies upon the word /ou/, which is fo precious, and the redemption of which has coft fo much, even the blood of Chrift. Zhe mighty are gathered againft me or, dwell by me; fee Pal. \vi. 6. around his houfe, the foldiers that Sau? fent;.and fuch were the enemies of Chrift, P/a/. Ixix. 4, the chief priefts, fcribes and elders, men of great authority and influence among the people; the kings of the earth and rulers, Hered and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and people of the Jews, As iv. 26,27. yea Satan, and his principalities and, powers; and who are alfo thofe againft whom the faints wreftle, and would be too mighty for them, were it not that God, and Chrift, and the holy Spirit, and the holy angels, are on their fide. Not for my trangreffion, nor for my fin, O Lord; as the caufe of fuch ufage and treatment. David was not without original fin, in which he was conceived and born; nor without inward corruptions, of which he often complained; nor without aétual tranfgreffions, and fome very grofs ones, and which he owned and confefled, and prayed for the pardon of: but in the cafe of Saui, there was no tranfgreffion nor iniquity in him, as he declared to him himfelf, and appeals to God for the truth of it, 1 Sam. xxiv. 11. P/al. vii. 3,4, 5. One of the words here ufed fignifies rebellion™; of this he was not guilty; he never entred into any treafonable meafures, nor committed any treafonable practices, nor confpired againft the life and crown of his fovereign; in this refpeét he was quite clear and innocent. Chrift ginal or actual tranfgreffion; he had no. nature, nor committed any in his life; k to him; and therefore aariter he met men was very cruel and unju faints, though they are not tree from fi and aétual, yet in the cafe for which they fuffer reproach, and are perfecuted by men, ee criminal; they have done nothing to deferve fuch ufage; they do not fuffer as evil doers, but as Chriftians, 1 Pet. iv. 15, 16. ¥. 4. They run and prepare themfelves without my fault, &c.] Or, without fin in me; or without punifhment in them; fo the fame word is rendered, 1 Sam. xxviii. 10. They run, invan hoftile manner, againft me, as the Syriac verfion adds; or like dogs up and down, about the city, to find him and kill him; fee x. 7, 14. Or this may denote their readinefs and {wiftnefs to fhed blood, Prov. i. 16. and prepare themfelves with weapons, with inftruments of death, as the men did that were fent to kill him; and as the band of men that came with Fudas. to take Chrift, prepared. themfelves with {words and ftaves. The Targum is, ‘‘ they order or ordain «« war;” which they profecuted without any occafion of it from him, and with impunity in them. Wherefore it follows, Awake to help me; or to meet me”; fee Gen. xlvi. 29. Exod. iV. 14, 27 with fuccour and fupplies, and to deliver out of the hands of enemies.. The Lord, though he neither flumbers nor fleeps, yet feems to be afleep, when he does not arife to help his-people, but duffers the enemy to prevail; and when he feems to take no:notice of their cafe, but hides his eyes, and huts them as a man afleep. -Hence the following petition, And behold; the diftrefs the pfalmift was in, and the wickednefs and malice of his enemies againft

¥. 5. Thou therefore, O Lord God of bojts, &c.} Of the armies in heaven, the angels, and of all-the inhabitants of the earth; who are all under him, and at his difpofe, and can do among them and with them whatfoever he pleafes. The God of Ifrael; of the people of J/rael, literally underftood; and my- {tically of all the ele&t of God, Jews and Gentiles. The former epithet is expreffive of his power, this of his grace and goodnefs in a covenant-way; and both encouraged the pfalmift to addrefs him on the following account: Awake to vifit all the heathen; either the wicked J/raelites that rofe up againft David, and fought to take away his life, who behaved like heathens towards him, and were accounted as fuch by him; and the petition is, that God would arife and punifh them, every one of them, according: to their deferts: or elfe the Gentiles, properly fo called, whom he defires the Lord would vifit, either in a way of grace, by fending the gofpel to them, and taking out of them a people for his name, as he did, Aés xv. 14. foreleeing by a fpirit of prophecy, that the Jews would be rejected for their ill ufage of the Meffiah; fee the note on the title of the pfalm: or in a way of punifhment for their idolatry and impiety; and particularly the antichriftian ftates and powers, called the heathen, and Gentiles, and nations of the earth, P/a/. x. 16. Rev. xi. 2, 18. may be here meant; whom God will vific for their idolatry, blafphemy and bloodthed. Be not merciful to any wicked tranfgreffors. Selab. that are perfidioufly and abominably wicked, as Fudas Ifcariot, the Romifh Antichrift.. The Targum renders it, princes of a lie; that fpeak lies in hypocrify, and are given up to believe a lie, as the followers of Antichrift. God is merciful to » wicked men and to tranfgrefiors, but not to wicked tranfgreflors; apoftates may be meant, fuch as deal perfidioufly and treacheroufly, as the word ° ufed. fignifies; who fin wilfully and knowingly, after they have received the knowledge of the truth; fin againft light and evidence, and obftinately and wickedly perfift therein; who fin the fin againft the holy Ghoft, the fin unto death, which is not to be prayed for, 1 Yobn iv. 16. or otherwife, this may feem to be contrary to the command and example of Chrift, Matt: v.44. Luke xxiii. 34. Of /élab, fee the note on Pfal. iii. 2.

¥.6. They return at evening, &c.] It was at evening Sau/ fent meflengers to watch Davia’s houfe, that they might take him in the morning; but miffing him, perhaps after a fruitlefs fearch for him all the day, returned at evening to watch his houfe again; or they might come, and go and return the firft evening. So it was night when Judas fet out from Bethany, to go to the chief priefts at Feru 2- lem, to covenant with them, and betray his Mafter; and it was.in the night he did betray him, after he had eat the paffover at evening with him. Or, /e¢ them return’, asin ¥. 14. with fhame and confufion, as David's enemies, when they found nothing but an image in the bed, which they reported to Saul; and as Fudas returned to the chief priefts with confufion and horror, Or, they /hall return 4; which being prophetically faid, had its‘accomplifhment, both in the enemies of David and of Chrift; and will be true of all the wicked, who will return from their graves and live again, and give an account of themfelves at the evening of the day of the Lord, which is a thoufand years; in the morning of which day, the dead in Chrift will rife, bur the reft will not rife till they are ended. They make a noife like a dog 3 which is a very noify creature, and efpecially fome of them, which are always yelping and barking; tho’ indeed there are fome that are naturally dumb and cannot bark: fuch there are in the Weft Indies, as we are told?; and to which the allufion is in J/a. lvi. 10. and which may ferve to illuftrate the paflage there: but thofe’ referred to here are of another kind; and this noife of theirs either refpects their bark in the night, as fome dogs do continually, as d4ben Ezra and Kimchi; or to their howling, as the Syriac and Arabic verfions, Wicked men are compared to dogs, Matt. vii. 6. Rev, xxii. 15. and particularly the enemies of Chrift, P/al. xxii. 16, 20. in allufion either to hunting dogs, who make a noife all the while they are purfuing afterthe game; or hungry ravenous ones, who make a noife for want of food; and this character agrees not only with the Roman foldiers, who were Gentiles, and whom the Jews ufed. to call by this name, Matt. xv. 26. but the Jews alfo, even their principal men, as well as the dregs of the people, who were concerned in the death of Chrift,; and may be truly faid to make a noife like dogs, when they cried, Away with this man, and releafe unto us Barabbas, crucify him, crucify him; for which they were inftant and prefsing with loud voices, and their voices prevailed, Luke xxiii. 18, 21,23. And go round about the city; as Saul’s meflengers very probably, when they found David had made his efcape from his houfe, fearched the city round in queft of him;

and there was much going about the city of Ferufalem, at the time of our Lord’s apprehenfion, trial

.and condemnation; after he was taken in the garden, they went with him firft to Axnas’s houle, then to Caiapbas’s, then to Pilate’s, and then to Herod’s, and back again to Pilate’s, and from thence out of the city to Gelgotha. The allufion is {till to dogs, who go thro’ a city barking * at perfons, or in queft of what they can get; fo informers and accufers may be called city-dogs, as fome fort of orators are by Demo/tbenes *.

y. 7. Bebold, they belch out with their mouth, &c.} Bark like dogs, fo Aben Ezra; or bubble out", as a fountain bubbles out with water; fo they caft out their wickednefs in great abundance; fee Fer. vi. 7. the phrafe denotes the abundance of evil things, and wicked fpeeches that came out of their mouths, which fhewed the naughtinefs of their hearts; fo David’s enemies bluftered and threatned what they would do to him could they find him; and Chrift’s enemies poured out their wicked charges of blafphemy and fedition againft him, in great plenty, and without proof. Swords are in their lips, the words of their lips were like fharp fwords; fee P/a/.lv. 24. and lvii. 4. threatning the moft fevere and-cruel things: or, befides their lips, and what they belched out with their mouths, they took {words in their hands in a literal fenfe; as Saul’s meflengers did to kill David, and as ¥udas and his band of men, who came to take Chrift as a thief, with fwords and ftaves, Matth. xxvi, 55. For who, fay they, doth bear? what they uttered with their mouths and lips, in a bluftering’ and threatning manner; though they were overheard by men,whocarried what they faid and defigned to do, to Michal, David’s wife. The meaning may be, they would fay what they pleafed, and did not care who heard them, having nothing to fear from any, they having their orders from the king; fee Pal, xii. 4. and fo the Targum, * behold they *¢ belch out with their mouths words which are “* fharp as fwords, and with their lips faying, We *¢ fhall prevail; for who is he that hears, and can “© punifh?” Aben Ezra’s note is, * they thought s¢ that God did not hear their counfels;”? and therefore the next words are in direét oppofition to them; but fo to think is monftrous ftupidity and brutithnefs, P/al. xciv. 49. fome take the words to be the words of David, complaining that the civil magiftrate, none of the judges, took notice of, or punifhed fuch who-belched out their lies and calumnies againft him, faying, For who doth bear 2? no man.

x. 8. But thou; O Lord, shalt laugh at them, &c.] Difappoint their counfels, hinder them from performing their enterprize; fend them back with fhame and confufion, and expofe them to the laughter and derifion of others; as Sau/’s meflengers were, when inftead of David they found.an image in the bed, with a pillow of goat’s hair for its bolfter, 1° Sam. xix. 16. the fame is faid as here with refpect to the enemies of Chrift, P/al. it. 4. Thou Jhalt have all the heathen in derifion; either David’s enemies,-who, though Jjraelites, yet acted like heathens to him, as in y. 5. or the Gentiles that were gathered together againft Chrift; P/al. ii. 1—4. or the Antichriftian {tates and powers, who will be triumphed over at the time of their ruin, Rev. xviii. 20. and even all the wicked at the laft day, Prov. i. 26.

y¥.9. Becaufe of bis Strength will I wait upon thee, &c.| Either becaufe of the ftrength of Sau/, who was ftronger than David, he determined to wait upon the Lord for falvation and deliverance from him; or becaufe of the {trength of the Lord, which he expected from him, and therefore would wait upon him for it. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, and alfo the Cha/dee paraphrale,. render the words, my /trength will I keep for thee or with thee. J afcribe all my ftrength unto thee; T expect every fupply of it from thee, and putmy truft and confidence in thee for it: fo did Chrift as. man, and had ftrength from the Lord, according to his promife, J/a.1.7, 9. P/al. \xxxix. 21. and Ixxxvi. 17. and fo every believer, J/a. xlv. 24. and xl. 31. For God is my defence; or my bigh refuge; or high tower s fee Pfal.ix. 9. and xlvi. 7. where he was defended and exalted, as is petition= ed y. 1. and was fafe and fecure from every enemy.

y. 10. The God of my mercy fhall prevent me, &c.] Or of my grace, or goodnefs, as the Targum; fee 1 Pet, v. 10. God is gracious in himfelf, and he has treafured up a fulnefs of grace in Chrift: he is the donor of all the bleffings of grace in the covenant; and the author of all internal grace in the hearts of his people; and who fupplies them with more grace as they want it; and he is the Father of all temporal and fpiritual mercies. The cetib, or writing, is PION 4is mercy, the keri, or reading, is IDM my mercy; grace, or mercy, is the Lord’s; itis his own, which he difpofes of as he pleafes; being given and applied, it is the believer’s: all the grace and mercy in the heart of God, in his Son, and in his covenant, is the faints, which he kee for them with Chrift for evermore; the God of my mercy, Or grace, is the fame with my merciful, or my gracious Ged; who prevents his people, as he does the Mefliah, with the bleffings of his goodnefs, Pfal xxi. 3. It may be rendered, hath prevented mes; and denote the antiquity of his love, — being before his peoples to him, and the early provifions of his grace and mercy for them: or doth prevent me; exprefling the freenefs of it; he not waiting for any duties, fervices, or conditions to be performed, but beftows his grace and mercy, notwithftanding much unworthinefs: or ball prevent me; defigning the feafonable and timely application of mercy preventing his fears, as it fometimes does the prayers of his people, J/a. lxv. 24. God fhall let me fee my defire upon mine enemies; exprefied in the following verfes, ¥. 1115. or vengeance upon them; as the Targum paraphrafes it; fee P/al. lviii. 10.

y. it. Slay thou not, &c.] Though they deferved to be flain, and the Lord feemed as if he was about to flay them, who was able to do it; he feemed to be whetting his glittering fword, and his hand to take hold of vengeance ready to exe- - cute it; wherefore interceffion is made to fpare them, which agrees with Chrift’s petition on the crofs, Luke xxiii. 34. The Targum adds, immediately; flay them not directly, and at once; give them {pace for repentance; and fo the Jews had > for it was forty years after the death of Chrift ere their deftruction was: or the meaning may be, flay” them not utterly; deftroy them not totally: and fo it was; for though multitudes were flain durir the fiege of Ferufalem, and at the taking of yet they were not all flain: there were many carried captive, and fent into different parts of the world, whofe pofterity continue to this day. The reafon of this petition is, Left my people fe Syriac verfion renders it, left they foould forget my people 3 or my people fhould be forgotten. David's people, the Jews by birth and religion, though

Pfilix.x.12—17, PSALMS, 41% not as yet his fubjects, unlefs in defignation and appointment; and Chrift’s people according to the fleth:_ now if thefe had all been flain at once, they had been forgotten, like dead men out of mind: or Chrift’s fpecial and peculiar people; his chofen, redeemed, and called ones, who truly believe in him, and-are real Chriftians; and then the fenfe is, if full vengeance had been taken of the Jews at once, and they had been cut off root and branch, fo that none of them remained, Chrift’s people would have forgot them, and the vengeance inflicted on them for their rejection of the Meffiah; but now they are a continued and lafting inftance of God’s wrath and difpleafure on that account, and they and their cafe cannot be forgotten. The Arabic verfion renders it, Jeff my people forget the Jaw 5 its precepts and fanction, its rewards and punifhments. Scatter them. by thy power; or let them wander up and down like fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, as Cain did, and as the Jews.now do, being difperfed in the feveral parts of the world; and which was done by the power of God, or thro’ the kingdom of God coming with power uponthat people, Mark ix. 1. or by thine army*; the Roman army, which was the Lord’s, being permitted by him to come againft them, and being made ufe of as an inftrument to deftroy and featter them, Matz. xxii. 7. And bring them down; from their excellency, greatnefs, riches and honour, into a low, bafe, mean and poor eftate. and condition, in which the Jews now are. O Lord, our field; the protector and defender of his people, whilft he is the deftroyer and fcatterer of their enemies.

mouth and lips; becaufe of the calumnies caft.by them on the Meffiah, traducing him as a. finful. man, a blafphemer, ‘a feditious perfon, and. even asone that had familiarity with the devil... Let them even be taken in their pride; in their city and temple, of which. they boafted, and prided themfelves in; and fo they were: orfor their pridein rejecting the Meffiah, becaufe of his mean defcent and parentage, and becaufe his kingdom was not. with outward pomp and obfervation; and being. vain boafters of their carnal privileges, and works. of righteoufnefs, they refufed to fubmit to the righteoufhefs of God, and were neither fubject to. the law of God, nor to. the gofpel of Chrift. for curfing and lying which, they fpeak; for curfing the Meffiah, pronouncing him accurfed, and treating him, as fuch, by hanging him on a tree 5 and for lying againft him, faying, that he was a Samatitan, and had a devil, and caft out devils by Bee zebub and that he was a deceiver of the people, and..a wicked-.man + for thefe things they, were taken in their befieged city, as is here imprecated,. y¥. 13. Confume them in wrath, confume them,) &c.] The repetition. of the requeft fhews the ardour and vehemency of the mind of the petition- ér, and the importunity in which he ‘put up the petition; and. fuggefts, that the perfons defigned were guilty of very great fins, deferving of the wrath of God, and which came upon them to the For uttermoft, 1 The/f- ii. 16... That they may not. «M2 exercitu tuo, Michaelis, Vatablu. either any more in the land of ‘the living; be utter= ly extinét, having no being in this world, Fer. xxxi. 15. Or that they might not be in the glory and grandeur, in the honour, dignity and felicity they once were in; which beft fuits the prefent ftate of the Jews; and this fenfe better agrees with what follows. ad let them know that God ruleth in Facob, unto the ends of the earth. Selab. this is to bé underftood of the Meffiah, who is God over all, blefied forever, and is the ruler in J/rael, King of faints; reigns over the houfe of ¥acod, in his church, and among his people, wherever they are;» even to the ends of the earth, where he has had, or will have fome that are fubjeét to him: for his dominion will be from fea to fea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Pfal. lxxii. 8. and this his government is known to men good and bad, by the judgments which he executeth; and particularly it is apparent, that he is made Lord and Chrift, and that he is come in his kingdom, and with power, by the vengeance taken on the Jewith nation.

y. 14: 4nd at evening let them return, &c.] What in #, 6. is related as matter of fact, is here, and in the following claufes, expreffed by way of imprecation; and what is there taken notice of as their fin, is here wifhed for as their punifhment; unlefs it can be thought that this fhould refer to the converfion and return of the Jews in the evening of the world, and to their humiliation and mourning for piercing Chrift, and to their very diftreffed and uncomfortable condition they. will be in, until they nave fatisfaction that their fins are forgiven them 5 {ee the note on ¥. 6.

y. 12. For the fin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, &c,] The words may be read asone propofition, the words of their lips are the fin mouth”; they {peak nothing but evil 3 whatever, they fay is fin; out of the abundance of their evil. Hearts their mouths fpeak:

y. 15. Let them-wander up and down for meat, of their | &c.} Like hungry dogs. dud grudge if they be sof fatisfed,; or murmur and howl as dogs when hungry, and can find nothing to eat: or whes or for the fin of their.) they: fhall not be fatisfied, and foall. lodge*; when they fhall get nothing to, fatisfy their hungry appetite, and fhall go to bed ‘without a fupper;. and lie all night without food,. The Targum is, “they,‘* fhall wander. about to feize the prey.to.eat, and “ will not reft till they are fatisfied, and will’lie:all “* night;”, that is, in queft of prey.o) «, y. 16, But I will jing of thy power, &c.) vIn /creating all.things out of nothing; in upholdingyall things in being; in the redemption of his peoples in their converfion and vocation; in the prefervas tion of them ‘to eternal happinefs:; in the performance, of his promifes to; them; in the: deftruction) of. their. enemies:; sand in» their protec- 4nd.) tions, Yea, J will fing aloud of thy: mercy in the morning, of providential mercies, which are new every morning;.and of. fpecial mercy’ in the heart of God, in the covenant of his: grace, in redemption, in regeneration, -in'the pardon of ‘fin, -| and in eternal life and falvation.. For thou baft-been 'my.defence; asin y.. 9.-fee the note there... And refuge.in the day of my trouble, whither he: fled, and found protection and fafety; fee the note on Pfal. ix. 9. yodsin ane, @) y..17.. Unto thee, O my ftrength, will I fing, &c.] That is, to God, whom he made his ftrength, and’ put his truft in for ftrength,. and from whom he received it and he therefore determined to fing 'praife to him for it, and give-him the glory of it. God is my defence 5 as before in ¥.9,16.° And be 5 ‘the God, of. my mercy; fee the note on ¥. 10.) ~ «¥ So Gejerus, Schmidt. © 2999997 nec fatiati cubabunt,

To the chief mufician, upoh Shufhanh Eduth, Michtam of David, to teach, when he ftrove with -» Aram Naharaim, and with Aram Zobah, when Joab returned, and {mote of Edom in the valley of Salt, twelve thoufand.

HE words Shufban Eduth ate thought, by

Aben Ezra, to be the beginning of a fong, to the tune of which this pfalm was fet; though others, as he obferves, take them fo be the name of a muftcal inftrument, on which it was fung.

Some take Shufban to be an inftrument of fix

‘fies a teftimony, to be the title of the pfalm, it being a teftimony, or lafting memorial of the victory obtained over the Syrians and Edomites; tho’

rather they may be confidered as exprteffing the fubject-matter of the pfalm; and fo the Targum interprets them, ‘ concerning the antient teftimony of

«« the fons of Facob and Laban,” referring to Gen.

xxxi. 47. they may be rendered, as they are by fome, concerning the lily of the teftimony*; and be applied to the gofpel, the teftimony of our Lord timony it bears to him, his perfon, office, and grace; and particularly to falvation as alone in him, and to which witnefs is borne in this pfalm, y. 11, 12. The pfalm is a Michtam, or golden plalm of David, and its ufe is to teach, It is of the inftructive kind, and teaches where help and falvation are to be expected; fee Col. iii. 16. it was written when David frove, or fought with dram Nabaraim, the Syrians of Mefopotamia, which lay between the two rivers, Zygris and Euphrates, from whence is the name 3 hence the Sep/aagint render it

Mefopotamia of Syria; and the Targum is, “ he “< made war with dram, whichis by Euphrates;’” and at the fame time David alfo fought with Aram Zobab, or the Syrians of Zobab, as they are called in 2 Sam. x. 6. with Fofephus*, Zobab is the fame with Sopbene; but wrongly, as is thought by learned men‘: for though this is a name which fome part of Syria goes by in Mela*; and Ptolemy * makes mention of a place of this name; yet that “was beyond Expbrates, and in Armenia; whereas this mutt be nearer the land of J/rael; for it is faid f that 4ram Zobab is the country of Syria, which David fubdued, and joined to the land of Jfrae?; concerning which the Jews fo often fay, that in fome things it was the fame with it: according to Hillerus *, itisthe fame country which the Arabians call

Kinnofrina, the chief city of which is Haleb, or