Exposition of the Whole Bible

HIS chapter contains a thankfgiving, or a triumphant fong, upon the deftruction of antichrift, and the antichriftian ftates, for benefits and bleffings beftowed upon the church, and for the fetting up of the glorious kingdom of Chrift in the Ferufalem-ftate. It begins with a form of praife, and the reafon of it in general, y. 1. the patticular inftances of wonderful things are, the ruin of a certain city defcribed, ¥. 2. which will iffue in the fear and glory of God, y. 3. the great appearance of the Lord for his poor people, in being ftrength, refuge, and a fhadow to them, y. 4, 5. arich feaft made for them, ¥. 6. the removal of the veil from all people, ¥. 7. the abolition of death, and every affliction, y. 8. the perfonal appearance of Chrift unto falvation, ¥.9. the protection of the church, and the certain and utter deftruction of her énemies, under the name of

~ y.1. O Lord, thou art my God, &c.] Not by Creation and providence only, but by covenant and ace. ‘This is the firft and foundation-bleffing of grace, aud fecures all the reft; in this true happinefs confifts, and is preferable to every other enjoyment; the knowledge of it is come at in effetual vocation, and by the witneffings of the {pitit; it is the higheft attainment of grace, to be affured of it; and tho” it is not always feen and known, it will always remain, and will be the glory of the new Yerufalem-ftate, Rev. xxi. 3, 7. Thefe are the words, 4ben Ezra fays, either of the prophet, or of the antients, before whom the Lord will reign, ch. xxiv. 23. Kimchi fays of the latter, which feems very probable’ thefe are’ the elders and reprefentatives of the church; fee Rev. xi. 16, I 7. and xix. I, 2, 4: I will exalt thee, the Lord God, Father, Son, and Spirit; the Father, by attributing the whole of falvation to his love and free favour; the Son, by afcribing deity to him, making ufe of him in all his offices of prophet, prieft, and king, and by giving him the glory of falyation wrought out by him; the Spirit, in his perfon, and the operations of his grace. Chrift, in particular, will be exalted in this ftate as king of faints, and becaufe of his having taken to ‘himfelf his reigning power, Rev. xi. 15, 17. and xv. 4: T will praife thy name, celebrate his perfections, ‘confefs him before men, praife him for all’ his benefits; this is.one way of exalting him, and is the gr at work of New Teftament-faints, and efpecially in the latter day; fee Rev. xix. 1—6: for thou haft Zone wonderful things, this. refpetts.not fo much the wonderful things in nature and grace, either in creation and providence, or in redemption, and éffeGtual vocation; but what will be done in the latter day; as the converfion of the ‘ews and Gentiles, the deftruction of antichrift, and the glorious appearing of the kingdom of Chrift: thy counfels

of old are faithfulnefi and truth, the decrees and purpofes of God, which are from eternity, “are ‘all truly and faithfully performed; this is an aimplifcation of the wonderful things, which até done, according to the counfel of the divine will; not only the choice of men to falvation, the redemption of them by Chrift, and their effeCtual Voeation; but the calling of the Fews and Gentiles, in’ particular, in the latter day, and all things relating to the church to the end of time; which, as they were fixed in the eternal purpofe of God, they are punctually and exaétly brought about in time; thefe are the true and faithful fayings of God, Rev, xix. g. and xxi. 5.

¥.2. For thou haft made of a city an heap; 8c.) Which is to be underftood, not of Samerit, tor of Ferujalem, rather of Babylon; tho’ it is beft' to interpret it of the city of Rome, as Ferom fays the Jews do; tho’ they generally explain it of many cities, which fhall be deftroyed in the times of Gog and Magog, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and fo the Targum has it in the plural number; perhaps not only the city of Rome, but all the antichriftian ftates, the cities of the nations, all within. the Romijh jarifdiction are meant 3 which fhall all fall by the earthquake, fooner or later, and become an heap: of a defenced city, a ruin; ot, for a fall:; the fame thing is meant as before: it defigns the fall of myftical Babylon or Rome, called the great and mighty city, Rev. xviii, 2, ro: a palace ‘of

Strangers; which Kimchi interptets of Babylon, which, he fays, was-as a palace to the cities of the Gentiles, who atecalled ftrangers 5 and it is faid, that that city was originally built for ftrangers, that dwelt in tents, in Arabia Deferta; but it is béft to underftand it of Rome, as before, which is the palace of fuch who are aliens from thé commionwealth of J/rael, and ftrangers from the covenants of promife; who have introduced a ftrange religion, ‘and are the worfhippers of ftrange’ Gods, Dan. Xi: 38,39. The Targum ‘renders it, “* the _ «< houfe of the Gods of the people in the city of ‘© Ferufalem;” and this: will be made to be no city, it fall never be built; any more, when once it is deftroyed, fignified by the angels caftihg 4 mill-ftone into the fea, which: fhall never be taken up again, or found more, Kev. xviii. 21.

¥. 3. Therefore fhall the firong people glorify thee, &c.] To whom the Lord is ftrength, as in the following verfe; who are flrong in the’ ‘Lord, in the power of his might, and in the grace that is in him’; or fuch of the antichriftian patty as fhalk be awakened and convinced by the judgments of God on antichrift; and fhall be converted, thefé

| fhall give glory to the God of heaven, Rev. xi. 13:

the city of the terrible nations fhall fear thee: or fuch whe have belonged to the city or jurifdiction of Rome, and have been terrible to the people of God, yet now fhall be affrighted themfelvés, and come car ¢ q5555 in lapfum.

fear the Lord, either, with a fervile fear, or fome, to ftand ftrong; he directs them to Chrift, in whom is ftrength, as well as righteoufnefs 5 he ftrengthens them by his fpirit, his promifes, word and. ordinances. Chrift may be more efpecially meant; and it may refer to the ftrength and power h’ell give ‘to his people in the latter day; when a {mall one fhall be a ftrong nation; when the feeble fhall be as David, and the houfe of David as the angel of the Lord; when they fhall have got the victory over the beaft, his mark and image, Jf lx. 21. Zech. xii. 8. Rev. xv. 2: a refuge from the ftorm; or tempeftuous rain, or.overflowing flood; as Chrift is a refuge from the tempeft and ftorm of divine wrath and vengeance, by his fatisfaétion and righteoufnefs, J/: xxxii. 2. fo from the flood of perfecution, by his power and providence, Rev, xii. 15: a foadow from the beat; which gives refrefhment and reft, and is a protection from the fcorching beams of the fun. Chrift, as he is the fhadow from the heat of a fiery law, from the flaming fword of juftice, from the wrath of God, and the fiery darts of fatan’s temptations; fo from the violence of perfecution, which heat fhall now be no more, antichrift being deftroyed, Rev. vii, 15, 16: when the blaft of the terrible ones is as a ftorm againtt the wall; thefe terrible ones are either fatan and his principalities, who are very terrible to the Lord’s people; and whofe temptations are like a ftrong wind, which beat againft them as againft a wall, but they ftand, the Lord being their ftrength, refuge, and fhadow; fee J/. xlix. 24. or rather antichrift and his perfecuting princes, the kings of the earth, that have joined him, and perfecuted the faints, and have been terrible to them; and whofe perfecutions have been like a bluftering ftrong wind, threatening to carry all before them; but the Lord has been their protection, and made “them to ftand as a wall, frm and immoveable, againft them. ‘The Zargum is, ‘*‘ fo the words of «the wicked are to the righteous, as a ftorm that “¢ dafheth againft a wall.” ¥.5. Thou foalt bring down the noife of ftrangers, &c.] Such as are ftrangers to God and godlinefs, to Chrift, his gofpel, and truths, to the {pirit and his operations of grace; the clamour and noife of fuch againft true religion, and the profeffors of it, their perfecuting rage and fury, this the Lord in his own time will bring down, and caufe to ceafe, and it fhall be heard no more; as the beat in a dry place; which parches the earth, and burns and dries up the grafs and fruits of it; to which perfecution is compared: even the heat with the foadow of a cloud, as that is brought down, and caufed to ceafe by the fhadow of a cloud, theltering from the feorching beams of the fun, and by letting

* IY! Yay At cantus fortium humiliabitur, vel humiliabit fe, Vatabliss fee Cant-ii 12, * Focanatie Scacchus, in Sacror. Elaeochr. Myrothec 1.1. ¢.40. col. 205. thinks, that as the prophet fpeaks of the deliverance of trom prefent troubles, and of good things at the coming of the Meffiah, the metaphors are taken from the cuftoms of that in which feafts were not prepared without the beft of ointments; nor in a royal fealt, were the fieh of any animals ufed, nites down rain, which moiftens the earth;.fo the Lord protects his people. from the fury of perfecution, and abates it by the interpofition of: his power and providence; and at laft puts anvend to it: the branch of the terrible ones fhall be made low, meaning the moft eminent of thern;»a branch being put for a moft eminent perfon, ch. iv. 2. Pf Ixxx. 15. perhaps the pope of Rome is meant, the head of the antichriftian party, the principal of therterrible perfecutors, who fhall be brought low sand deftroyed by Chrift, at his coming. Some rendér it, the feng of the terrible ones fhall be brought low; it will be brought a note lower; their triumphing will be at an end; the voice of harpers and:muficians, of pipers and trumpeters, will be heard no more among them; but inftead thereof weeping and howling, Kev. xviii..g, 11, 18, 22, 23.0 90 y. 6. And in this mountain foall the Lord of Ho make unto all people a feaft of fat things, &c. Which is to be underftood, not of the ultimate: glory: of the faints in heaven; which is fometimes.reprefented by a feaft; and the participation of it, by fitting down with the faints at a table in the kingdom of God, and by drinking wine there, to-which {tate the beft things are referved, Mott. viiiax. and xxvi. 29. but rather of the gofpel-difpenfation, which lies in the miniftration of the word and ordinances; and which are compared to a feaft, which confifts of the richeft dainties, for the entertainment of the faith of God’s people;. and this is made | the Lord himfelf, who is fovereign Lord of all, the king of kings; who fits at table himfelf, and welcomes his guefts, and is the fum and fubftance of the feaft: and this is made in his mountain the church, comparable to one for its vifibility and immoveablenefs.; and for all his people, Fews and Gentiles; for all that are made fpiritually alive; and have a fpiritual tafte, and true faith in Chrift, Matt. xxii. 4. Luke xiv..16, 17. particularly the Lord’s fupper itfelf is a feaft, and a feaft of love, comparable to wine; and which is better than wine, and in which wine, in a literal fenfe, is made ufé of; and in which the choiceft and richeft food’ is prefented to faith; the flefh and blood of Chrift, which are meat and drink indeed; here the faints are fed as with marrow and fatnefs, 1 Cor. viv7, 8. Cant.i. 2,4. Fobn vi. 55. Pf. xxxvi. 8. and lxiii. 3 but it feems rather to refpect the marriage-fupper of the Lamb, in the.latter day, when antichrift fhall be deftroyed, and ews and Gentiles be ‘con= verted, and fhall join together in the participation of divine bleffings, Rev, xix, 1; 2, 8,.9. orbeft of all, the glories, joys, and pleafures, of the new Fes rufalem-{tate;. in which the faints fhall drink of the water of life freely, and eat of the fruit of the tre of life, the leaves of which are for the healing 0 the nations, Rev. xxi. 6. and xxii. 1,274 feaft of wines on the lees; that has been long kept on the lees; but now drawn off, and both {trong and fines’ of a banquet of wine fee Zt. vii. 2. this refers to. the wine of the kingdom, Ada¢t. xxvi. 29: of fall) things full of marrow, of wines onthe lees well rem’ jined; this heap of words,. and repetition of themy: fhew the plenty of the provifions, and the richnefé ” and excellency of them; and fat being mentioned, is a proof that the words muft refpect the: times of the Meffiah, fince under the law, fat was not: to be eaten *. vss tn noectaik S081 See aaa on, ¢ r Fe

Dow. 7 And he will deftroy in this mountain the face of the covering caft over all people, &c.] Or, the beavering of the face‘; that which has covered the vface of all people; that darknefs which has been fpread. over them, partly by Mahomet, and his -Alkoran, and partly by the pope of Rome, and his party; the covering of human doétrines and trah.ditionsifeems chiefly intended, which now will be removed, as well as all Pagan and Mahometan darknefs, thro’ the clear miniftration of the everlafting gofpel, which will be fpread with power, -and in its purity, throughout the whole world; fee ff. Ix. 1, 2, 3. more efpecially this may refpect the light and glory of the new Feru/alem-ftate, in which Chrift will be the light thereof, and the nations of them that are faved fhall walk in it, and fatan will ‘be bound a thoufand years, that he may not de- éeive the nations any more, Kev. xxi. 23, 24, 25. and xx. 3: and the veil that is fpread over all nations; meaning ‘the fame as before; the veil or covering of darknefs and ignorance, with which the nations are covered, either Papal, Pagan, and Mahometan; particularly, refpect may be had to the veil that is upon the Fewi/h nation, which remains to this day, and will be taken off when it fhall turn to the Lord, 2 Cor. iii. 13, 14, 15. this may be faid in allufion to the veil on Mojes’s face, when he fpake to the people, Exod. xxxiv. 33. as the former expreffion may be to the covering or wrapper about the face of dead men, ohn xi. 44. for they that fit in fpiritual darknefs, are in the region of the fhadow of death. sory. 8. He will fwallow up. death in viftory, &c.] Or, for ever’. ‘This is to be underftood, not of a fpiritual death, which is fwallowed up in converfion, and of which thofe that are quickened {hall never-die more; nor of the converfion of the Fews, ‘which will be as life from the dead; nor of the civil death of the witneffes, and of their rifing, who afterwards will never die more, in that fenfe; but of a corporal death: this Chrift has fwallowed up in. victory, by dying on the crofs, both with refpect to himfelt, who will never die more, and with refpect to his people, from whom he has abolithed it as a penal evil; but it chiefly refpects the refurrection-ftate, or the perfonal coming of Chrift, when the dead in him fhall rife firft, and fhall never die more; there will be no more death, neither corporal, fpiritual, or eternal to them; on them death fhall have no power, in any fhape; and then will this faying be brought about or fulfilled, as the. apoftle has interpreted it,.1 Cor. xv. 54. fee Rev: xxi. 4. and xx. 6. fo the Jews * interpret it of the future ftate, when thofe that live again thall die no more, and there will be no death; and of the days of the Meffiah, when the dead will be taifed ‘: and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, there are many things now that caufe tears to fall from the faints, as their own fins, indwelling fin, unbelief, carnality, leannefs, backflidings, &%c. and the fins of others, the temptations of fatan, the hidings of God’s face, afflictions of-various forts, and the perfecutions of men; but thefé will.be no more in the new Ferufalem-fate; and, therefore God is faid to wipe them away, having removed the caufe of them, Rev. vii. 17. and xxl. 4. the allufion is, to a tender parent, that takes a handkerchief, and wipes the face of ‘its child, when it has been crying, and quiets and comforts it: and the rebuke of his pecple hall be take away, from off all the earth; all the reproaches and calumnies which have been caft upon: them, and all mifreprefentations of them, fhall be taken away from them every where, and they’ll no longer lie under them, but itand clear of all falfe-charges and accufations; or all perfécution fhall now ceate; there fhall be none to hurt them in all the holy mountain, If, xi. 9: for the Lord hath /poken it and it fhall be done. The Targum is, “ for by ‘* the word of the Lord it is fo decreed.” ¥. 9. And it foall be faid in that day, &c.| When the teaft will be made for all the Lord’s people; when the veil and covering fhall be removed; when death will be fwallowed up in victory; when all tears fhall be wiped away from the faints; when their rebuke fhall be taken away from them } all which will be at the glorious appearing of Chrift. Lo, this is our God and not the idols of the Gentiles, or the works of their hands; but Chrift, who is God over all, bleffed for ever; Immanuel, God with us: the phrafe is expreffive of his true and proper deity, of faith of intereft in him, and of the joy of it: we have waited for bim, and he will fave us; as the Old Teftament-faints waited for his firft coming, and for his falvation, believing that he would be the author of it; fo New Teftamentfaints are waiting tor his fecond coming; and to them that look tor him, and expect his glorious appearing, who have their loins girt, and their lights burning, and wait for their Lord’s coming, will he appear a fecond time without fin unto fal. vation; to put them into the poffeffion of falvation he has obtained for them, of which they are heirs, and is nearer than when they believed: this is the Lord, we have waited for bim, looking, longing, and hafting to the day of his coming; this they will fay, when they fhall fee him coming in the clouds of heaven; whither the living faints being changed, will be caught up to meet him, and upon meeting him fhall thus greet him, and one another: we will be glad, and rejoice in bis falvations fo fuitable to them, fo full, complete, and perfeét, and fo much for the glory of God; which was wrought out by him before, and now poffefled by them; and is what is called the joy of their Lord, they now enter into, Matt. xxv. 21. ¥. 10. For in this mountain fhall the hand of the Lord reft, &c.]) Where he will make the feaft of fat things, ¥.6. even in his church, which is his refting place, and where he delights to dwell; and over whom his hand is, and abides for their protection and fafe-guard; and where he gives reit, as the Septuagint * render it; even {piritual reft to the fouls of his people; and where, as the Targum has it, ** the power of the Lord is revealed;” namely, in the prefervation of his church, and in the de-. ftruction as were well fed and kept, and which, according to the law, were pure and clean; and agreeably he renders the whole verfe thus: and the Lord of Hohe awill make to all people a feaft of ointments; a feaft of thofe (animals) that are kept; of ointments full of marrow a

{the richeft and obferves, that 7 fignifies not fat, p. 868, 872. ‘The Syriac verfion of the latter part of the text, of our heavenly, and moft mighty quickener, referved and fat. 'T ttelt) of thofet bat are kept; pure beatts, well kept and clean, according to the law of Mofes. So Guffetius but oil; and COU" not “es of wine, but bottles in which wine is Aept, Comment. Ebr. tho’ not according to the original, is remarkable: the feaf, 1 /ay, he interpreter feems to have in his view the great matter of the ftruction of its enemies; as follows: and Moab foall be trodden down under him, under the Lord, and his mighty hand of power 3 or wader it, under the mountain, the church; under the feet of the faints; fee. Mal. iv..2. or, in bis place’, as Farchi and Kimchi explain it, wherever he is, or fhall -be found, where he lies, there fhall he be trodden upon. By Moab, the enemies of the church are meant, and is put for them all, even all the antichriftian powers, both Turks and Papifis; their ruin is exprefled by treading down or threfhing, in allufion to the threfhing of corn, as the word ufed moftly fignifies, when the. ftraw is bruifed by the cartwheel, or the feet of oxen; or to the treading of ftraw in the mire, as follows: even as flraw is trodden down for the dunghill; or in it ™; or in the waters of the dunghill", as the Cetih; where being eaft and trodden, it rots, and becomes dung; and fo the Targum, “‘ as f{traw is trodden in the clay;” Farchi interprets it to this fenfe. R. Fofeph Kimchi takes it to be the name of a place, Madmenabh, which was one of the cities of Moab, Fer. xlvili. 2.

y.11. And be foall [pread forth his hands in the midft of them, 8c.] In the midft of Moab, in the midtft of the enemiés of the church of God; and fo it denotes the utter deftruction of them; for the fpreading forth of the hands is to, be underftood of the Lord, that fhould do fo: as he that fwimmeth, {preadeth forth bis bands to fwim; fignifying, that as he would exert the power of his might 1n | the midft of them, he fhould ftrike on both fides, as a fwimmer does; and as eafily and utterly deftroy them as the fwimmer parts the waters, and has the command of them; tho’ fome interpret this of Moaéd ftretching out his hands as the fwimmer, either in a way of fubmiffion and fupplication, or as catching, as men drowning do, at any an to fave them. But the former fenfe agrees”

with what follows: and he fhail bring down their ~ pride; that is, God hall bring down the pride of »

Moab, which was notorious in them, and hateful to God, and was the caufe of their ruin, ch. xvil6. — with this compare the pride of the Romifhanti~.

chrift, which God will humble, Rev. xvii7j) 8? together with the fpoils of their hands; which their hands are full of; and which they have fpoiled' or® robbed others of; or, with the wiles of their handsey as fome, which they had by craft and infidious™ methods taken from others; thefe fhall be taken > from them, and they be ftript of them; or the words may be rendered, with the elbows, or arm=- holes of bis bands; as the fwimmer with his ‘arms keeps the water under him, and himfelf above if, ° fo the Lord with the ftrength of his atm would bring down, and deftroy thofe enemies of hié.

¥.12, And the fortrels of the high fort of thy walls foall he bring down, &c.] ‘That is, their high and fenced walls, which were about their cities; the fortifications of them; thefe fhould be deftroyed by the Lord, be battered and brought down, net being able to ftand againft his mighty power. The Targum renders it, “* the mighty city, the cities of ** the nations;” and may defign the city of Rome,

}and the cities of the nations that fhall fall at the pouring out of the feventh and laft vial, Rev. Xvi. 19. it follows, Jay low, and bring to the ground; even to the duft,; which variety of words, without any copulative, are ufed to exprefs the fudden, quick, certain and irrecoverable deftruction of fuck fortified city, or cities, and their fortifications, i inet: chapter contains a fong- of praife for the fafety and profperity of the church, and the deftruction of its enemies. ‘The church is reprefented as a ftrong city, whofe walls and bulwarks are falvation, ¥. 1. it is faid to. have gates which are to be opened to a righteous nation, ¥. 2. its inhabitants being fach who truft in the Lord, are promifed perfect’ peace, ¥. 3. hence the faints are exhorted to truft in him, ¥. 4. then follows an account of another city, defcribed: as lofty, and its inhabitants as dwelling on high, who are brought down, and trampled on, by the feet’ of the poor and neédy, ¥. 5,6. when the prophet returns to the righteous, and afferts their way to be uprightnefs, becaufe their path is weighed or levelled: by God the moft- upright, ¥. 7. and in the name’ of the church declares that they had waited for the Lord in the way of his judements; and that ‘the defire of their fouls was to his name, and the remembrance of it; and that: they continued, and would continue, to defire hitn, and feek after him, feeing righteoufnefs was to be‘learned by his judgments, ¥. 8, g. and tho’ the wicked would ‘not be brought to repentance and reformation by the goodnefs of God, nor take notice of his hand, yet they fhould fee and be afhamed, and deftroyed at laft, y. 10, rr. but notwithftanding thefe judgments of God in the earth, the church profeflés her faith in the Lord, that he would give her peace and pro- direéts it fhould be read. diis, vel cum infidiis manuum fuarum, Montanus, Pifcator. Tigurine verfion; and Ben Melech, who mentions both fenfes.

fperity, from the confideration of what he had wrought for her, and in her, ¥. 12. and rejects all other Lords but him, y, 13. who were dead, and fhould not live again, but were vifited and deftroyed, and their memory made to perifh, ¥. 14. but the righteous nation fhould be increafed, tho? they fhould meet with trouble, which would caufe them to go to the throne of grace, and there pour out their complaints, exprefs their pain and diftrefles, arid the difappointments ‘they had mer with, ¥. 14,'16, 17, 18. to which an anfwer is returned, ‘promifing a glorious refurré@tion, ¥. 19. and calling upon the people of God to retite to their chambers for protection in the mean while, until the punifhment to’ be inflicted on the’ inhabitants of the earth for their fins was over,

¥. 20, 2r. é bs Na TOMS 2 Pe ¥.412' In that day fall this fong be Jung in the land of ‘fudab, 8&c.] “When great thing all be done for the church, and people of God) antichrift and: all their enemies ate deftroyed, mentioned in the preceding ¢hapter; ‘then this fhall be fuing exprefled in.this throughout; whi the Targum calls a new fong, an excellent one, as the matter of it fhews; and which, will be fun the land of Fudah, the land of praife, in the congregation. of the faints, the profeffors and con- feflors of the name of. Jefus; in mount Ziow, the) Lrg it sol one ae | arch’

P Cum cubitis, Yel ashe manonm fapram Fag uidus, ME theFewifo writers Farchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it; nor the heavenly city, which God ‘has prepared and built, and faints are looking for, and are citizens of; but rather’ the holy city, the new Ferufalem, defcribed in Rev. xxi. 2, 10 11. or however, the church of Chrift, as in the latter day; which will bea /frong one, being of the Lord’s founding, eftablifhing, keeping, and defending; and whofe itrength will greatly Jie in the prefence of God, and his protection of it; in the number of its “citizens, which will be many, when Fews and Gentiles are converted; and in their union one with.another, and the ftedfaftnefS of their faith’ in Chrift; when a fmall one, as the church is ‘now, fhall become a firong nation, If, \x. 22: falvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks, inftead of walls, ditches,” parapets, coéuntet{carps; and fuch like fortifications,; what they are to cities, that is falvation-to the church,’ and ‘people of God; it is their fafety and fecurity:'as God the Father is con- ‘cerned in it, it flows from his Idve, which is un- «changeable;° it is by an appointment of his, which fs-unalterable’; is fecured' by election-grace, which ftands not-upon the works of?men, but the will ‘of God; and by the covénant of grace; ordered ‘in all things, and fure; and by his power the faints ‘are kept unto it: as Chrift is concerned: in it; it ‘is as walls and? bulwarks; “He cis’ the. author of it, has completely finifhed it, “and has overcome} and deftroyed” all. ‘enemies; his righteoufhefs is. a fecurity from all-charges and condemnation’; ‘His fatisfaction a bulwark againft the damning ‘power ‘of fin, the curfes of the law, and the wrath of God;

faints; and his almighty power a guard about them. As the fpirit is concerned in it, who is the applier of it, and evidences intereft in it; it is a bulwark againft fin, againit fatan’s temptations, againft a fpirit of bondage to fear, againft error, and_a final and total falling away; particularly the church’s qails will be /alvation, and her gates praife, of which in the next verfe, in the latter day-glory; to which this fong refers; ‘fee J Ix. 18. 7 _ 9. 2. Open ye the gates, &c.) Not of Feru/falem, literally underftood, nor of heaven; rather of the new Ferufalem, whofe gates are defcribed, Rev. xxi. 12, 13, 21, at leaft of the church in the latter day; the gates or door into which now fhould be, and then will be, open; ‘Chrift the door, and faith. in him, and a profeffion of it, without which none ought to be admitted, and whoever climbs up another way, is a thief and a robber, Yobu. x. 1, 9. thefe words are the words of the prophet; or of God, or of Chrift by him, directed not to the keepers of the gates of Feru/alem, or of the doors of the temple, tho’ they may be alluded to; nor to any fuppofed door-keeper of heaven, angels, or men, there being none fuch; rather to the twelve angels, at the twelve gates of the new Feru/alem, Rev: xxi. 12. or to the minifters of the gofpel, who have the key of knowledge to open the door of faith, and let perfons into the knowledge of divine things; to admit them to ordinances, and receive ‘them into the church by the joint fuffrage of the members of it. The phrafe denotes a large increafe of members, and a free, open, and public reception of them, who are after defcribed; fee J/. Ix. 11, 18: that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in; not all the world, for there is Vop. sve NY g.

none righteous, not one of them naturally, or of themfelves; nor the Fewih nation, for tho’ they fought after righteoufnefs, did not attain it, unlefs when they will be converted in the latter day, and then they, and all the Lord’s people will be righteous, and appear to be a holy nation, and a peculiar’ people, J/: Ix. 21. 1 Pet. ii. 9. and being made righteous by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, imputed to them, and fandtified by the fpirit, will be fit perfons to be admitted thro’ the gates into the city; fee P/- cxviii. 19,20. Rev. xxii. 14. and becaufe there will be great numbers of fuch, efpecially when a nation fhall be born at once, hence they atefo called: and thefe will be a fett of men that will keep the truth, not as the Targuim renders it, ‘* who keep the law with a perfect heait;” for no man ¢an do that; but rather the ordinances of the gofpel, as they were firft delivered by’ Chrift, and his apoftles, and efpecially the truths of it; and the word here uféd is in the plural number, and may be rendered truths; the feveral truths of the gofpel,. which will be kept by the righteous; not in memory only, but in their hearts and affections, and in their purity, and with a puré confcience; and they won’t part with them at any rate, but hold them faft; that no man take their crown; Revi it, “PT,;

« ¥. 3. Thou wilt keep him in perfe peace, &c.} Peace with God in Chrift thro’ his blood, in a way of believing, and as the fruit and effect of his righteoufnefs ‘being received by faith; this is not always felt, received, and enjoyed’in the foul; yet the foundation of it always is, and is- perfect 5 and befides, this peace is true; real, and folid; in which fenfe the word perfec is ufed, in oppofition to a falfe and imaginary one; and it will end in perfect peace in heaven: moreover, the word per- fed is not in ‘the Hebrew text, it is there peace, peace; which is doubled to denote the certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and the conftancy and continuance of it; and as expreffive of all forts of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace with men, peace outward-and peace inward, peace here and peace hereaiter; and particularly it denotes the abundance of peacé that believers will have in the kingdom of Chrift in the latter day; fee Pf Ixxii. 7. Jf ix. ° 7: whole inind is flayed on thee; or fixed on the love of God, rooted and grounded in that, and firmly perfuaded of intereft in it, and that nothing can feparate from it; on the covenant and promifes of God, which are firm and fure; and on the faithfulnefs and power of God to make them good, and perform them;. and on Chrift the Son of God, and Saviour of men; upori him-as a Saviour, laying the whole ftrefs of their falvation on him; upon his righteoufnefs, for their juftification upon his blood and facrifice, for atonement, pardon, and cleanfing; on his fulnefs, for the fupply of their wants; on his perfon, for their acceptance with God; and on his power, for their prorection and prefervation; fee chap. x. 20. and 1. ro. and Pf. cxii. 7, 8; decaufe be trufteth in thee not in the creature, nor in any creature-enjoyment, nor in their riches, nor in their righteoufnefs, nor in their own hearts, nor in any carnal privileges, only in the Lord, as exhorted to in the next verfe; in the word of the Lord, as the Zargum, that is, in Chrift. y. 4. Truft ye in the Lord for ever, &c.] In the word of the Lord for ever and ever, as the Zar- —M m ‘ gum gum again; that is, at all times, in every flate and condition, in times of affliction, temptation, and darknefs; for he’ll fupport under, and in his own time deliver out of every trouble, and caufe all things to work together for good; and truft in him always, for every thing, for all temporal bleffings, and for all fpiritual ones, and for eternal life and happinefs; for he has them, has promifed them, and will give them: for in the Lord fehovab is everlafting firength, Chrift is the Lord Jehovah, which is, and was, and is to come, {elfexiftent, eternal, and immutable; and in him is itrength, as well as righteoufnefS for his people, and that for every thing it is wanted for, to bear up under temptations and afflictions, to withftand every {piritual enemy, to exercife every grace, and difcharge every duty: and this ftrength is everlafting; it always continues in him, and is always.

to be had from him; he is the eterual God, who is the refuge of his people, and his arms of power and might underneath them are everlafting: the words may be rendered, for in Fab is Febovab, the rock of ages*; Jehovah the Son is in Jehovah the Father, according to Fobn x. 38. and xiv. 11. or Fab Febovah is the rock of ages, fo Vitringa; he is the rock on which the church and every believer is built, againft which the gates of hell cannot prevail, and he has. been the rock of his people in ages paft, and will be in ages to come: or of worlds; this world, afid that to come; and fo it is explained in the Talmud‘, he that trufts in the Lord has a refuge in this world, and in the world to come, y. 5. For he bringeth down them that dwell on Ligh, the lofty city, &c.} That dwell on high in the high city, fo the accents require the words to be rendered; and accordingly the Targum is, ** for <° he will bring low the inhabitants of the high <¢ and ftrong city;” fuch that dwell in a city built on high, arid in the high towers and palaces of it; or that fit on high'thrones, are fpiritual wickedneffes in high places, and are of proud and haughty difpofitions and conduct; as the pope of Rome and his cardinals, &c. for not the city of Ferufalem is here meant, as Feron: thinks, whofe deftruétion he fuppofes is foretold, as both by the Babylonians and Romans, and therefore he obferves, the word is doubled in the next claufe; nor the city of Niniveh; nor Babylon literally taken, but myftical Babylon is here meant. Farchi interprets them that dwell on high of Zyre and Greece, but Ferom fays, the Fews underftand by the lofty city the city of Rome; and this feems to be the true fenfe; a city built upon feven hills or mountains; a city that has ruled over the kings of the earth, and whofe prefent inhabitants are proud and haughty: Ae layeth it low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, be bringeth it even to the duft, all which expreffions denote the utter deftruction of it; fee ch. xxv. 12. and Rev. xviii. 7, 8, 21.

¥.6. The foot foal tread it down, &c.] Trample upon it when brought down, laid low, and level with the ground, as mire is trodden in the ftreets, and ftraw for the dunghil; as grapes in the wineprefs, or grafs by the feet of cattel: not the foot of a prince, as Aben Ezra obferves, or of mighty men; but, as follows, the feet of the poor, and the fleps of the needy, thefe are not the Jraelites in a literal fenfe, as Kimchi explains it; but the fpi-

Top yy AL Ay po, in Jah cf Jehovah, ru > wD pay> maw, via juito reétitudines, Vatablus. ingenious friend, the Rev.,Mr. De Dieu.

ritual I/rael of God; the righteous, ‘as the Targuin paraphrafes it; the faints of the Moit High, to” whom the kingdom and dominion under the whole~ heaven will now be given, and who will be juft: come out of great tribulation; for the words fug-~ geft, that the people of God will be a poor and’ afflicted people, and very feeble, and fore diftrefsed, a little before the deftruction of antichrift; but” as God has been always ufed to do his work by’ the poor and weak things of this world, by mean” and feeble inftruments, fo he will now, and raife his poor and needy ones to a very high and exalted” eftate; all their enemies fhall be fubdued-and’ crufhed under their feet; fee Mal. iv. 3. Dan. vii.’ - 27. Farchi interprets the feet of the poor, of the feet of the king Meffiah, according to Zech. ix. 9. > 4 7. The way of the juft is uprightnefs, &c.} Or, the way for the juft is uprightneffes*, moft upright; the way which is appointed for him, and which he is directed to walk in, is a way of righteoufnefs and holinefs, and in which he does walk; he walks uprightly, according to the rules of the word, becoming the gofpel of Chrift, and worthy of his vocation: or, it is evenefes; a moft plain and even way, in which men, tho’ fools, fhall-not err, J/. xxxv. 8. or, the way of the Lord ¢o the juft is uprightneffes, or eveneffes; moft upright, or moft even; there’s no inequality in it, tho’ fome times fo charged, Ezek. xviii. 25, 29. it is entirely agreeable to juftice, equity, and truth; regular and even, and fuited to all his perfections of wifdom, goodnefs, &¢': thou mof upright, thefe words are addreffed to God, and contain an appellation and defcription of him, who is upright, juft, and true, and loves upright and righteous perfons; fo Kimchi and Ben Melech take the word to be in the vocative cafe, and as an addrefs to God; tho” fome render them, 4e is upright *; that is, the juft man is upright, whofe way is uprightnefs; but the former fenfe beft agrees with what follows: thog doft weigh the path of the juft; obferve, confider, and approve of it, as being according to rule, and agreeable to his mind and will, P/ i. 6, or, thou doft level or make even the path of the juft *; remove all impediments and obftru€tions out of it, direét his goings, order his fteps, and caufe him to walk in a ftrait way, wherein he fhall not ftumble, Fer. xxxi. g. and fo this is a reafon given, why the way of the juft is even, becaufe it is made fo by the Lord himfelf. 4 ¥. 8. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lords have we waited for thee, &c.| Meaning by judgments, either the miniftration of the word and ordinances, called ftatutes and judgments, P/, cxlvit. Ig, 20. and xix. 9, 10. an attendance on which is the right way of waiting upon God, and where it may be expected he will be found and manifeft himfelf, and favour with his gracious prefence; or elfe the corrections and chaftifements, which are done in wifdom and with judgment, in meafu and in mercy, and in a fatherly way, and for good; and fo the fenfe is, that they had not only the Lord in a plain and even way, but even in the more rugged paths of afflictive difpenfations; nor did thefe things at all move them from their duty to him, and worfhip of him: she defire b our foul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee pe

't For this note I am indebted to my learned, pious,

God himfelf, and to a remembrance of his nature, perfections, and works; to Chrift, whofe name is as ointment poured forth, and whofe perfon is defirable, becaufe of his glory, beauty, and fulnefs, becaufe of his offices, and bleffings of grace; and to his gofpel, which publifhes and proclaims him, his grace, and falvation; and to his ordinances, which refrefh the memory of his people concerning him, and his love to them fhewn, in what he has done and fuffered for them.

¥. 9. With my foul have I defired thee in the night, éc.] Hither literally, when others were afleep; or figuratively, in the captivity; which, as Farchi fays, was like unto the night; or in the time of Fewifa and Gentile darknefs, preceding the coming of Chrift; or rather in the time of latter daydarknefs, when the church is reprefented as heartily defirous of, and importunately praying for the latter day-glory, the rifing of the fun of righteoufnefs, the fpiritual reign of Chrift, the fpread of his gofpel, and the fetting up of his kingdom and glory in the world;. fo the Targum, “ my foul “¢ defireth to pray before thee in the night;” her defires were exprefied by prayer: yea, with my fpirit within me will I feek thee early; the determines to continue feeking the Lord night and day, with the greateft intenfenefs of {pirit, and eagernefs of; foul, until the obtained and enjoyed what fhe fought for; namely, the prefence of Chrift, communion with him, the difcoveries of his love, and larger meafures of his grace, light, and knowledge: for when thy judgments are in the earth, fuch as peftilence, famine, fword, and the like; efpecially the judgments of God on antichrift, and the antichriftian ftates, which will be juft and righteous; fee Rev. xix. 2: the inhabitants of the world will learn righteoufne/s; not the wicked inhabitants of the world, for the contrary is fuggefted in the following verfes; but the faints that are in the world, the upright ones, the righteous before mentioned, the church and her members; thefe, by the judgments of God in the world, learn what a righteous being he is, how unrighteous men aré, on whofe account thefe judgments come, and themfelves too, as in his fight; and they learn the infufficiency of their own righteoufnefs to juftify them before him, and their need, the worth and value of the righteoufnefs of Chrift; and alfo learn hereby to live foberly, righteoufly, and godly, Pf. cxix. 67, 71. and xciv. 12. they learn to afcribe righteoufnefs to God, and to fear and worfhip him, Rev. xv. 3, 4. and xvi. 5, 6.

¥. 10. Let favour be foewed to the wicked, &c.]} As it often is in a providential way; they have the good things of this life, and fometimes more than heart could wifh for; nor are they in trouble as other men; they have many mercies, and many deliverances; they have their portion here, and are filled with hidden treafure, and are fpared when others are cut off; and befides fparing mercy and providential goodnefs, fometimes enjoy the means of grace, have the word and ordinances: yet will he not learn righteoufnefs; neither repent of fin, nor reform from it; tho’ the goodne/s of God ‘ fhould, yet it does not, /ead him to repentance, he neither learns the righteoufnefs of God, nor of Chrift, nor the infufficiency of his own righteoufnefs, nor to live a truly righteous and godly life;! peace and profperity the church will have

IlAdz4. 138. all means ahd mercies will not do, without the efficacious grace of God: in the land of uprightnefs - will he deal unjuftly; in the land of Fudea, where were the laws and ftatutes of God, which were juft and equitable, the word and worfhip of God, and many good men, who lived uprightly, and fet good examples; and yet wicked men went on in their finful courfes. archi interprets it of Ferufalem, and the temple, and of mens fpoiling, plundering, and deftroying there; and the Talmud * of wicked Efau, by whom the Romans are meant, that fhould deftroy Ferufalem, and the land of J/rael. It feems beft to underftand it of any land or country in later times, or prefent ones, where there is a good polity; good and wholfome laws are enacted, vice is corrected and punifhed, and virtue encouraged, and where alfo the gofpel is preached, and the ordinances of it adminiftered; and yet notwithftanding all laws, inftructions, precepts and precedents, fuch men will go on to live unrighteous and ungodly lives and converfations: and will not bebold the majefty of the Lord; vifible in the government of the world; in the difpenfations of his providence, in protecting and defending his own people, and in punifhing of the wicked; in the gofpel, and in the fuccefs of it; in the effufion of the Spirit; and in the fetting up of the kingdom of Chrift in greater glory in the latter day.

¥. 11. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not fee, 8cc.] Or, thy high band they will not fee’; when it is exalted, and become glorious in power, in punifhing wicked men; tho’ the punifhment is vifible, yet they will not confider that it comes from the hand of God, but attribute it to chance, misfortune, or fecond caufes, P/: xxviii: 5. or when the hand of the Lord is manifeft in doing good to his own people, in delivering them out of their oppreffions, and the hands of their oppreffors; in reviving his caufe and intereft, and enlarging the kingdom of his Son; they will not fee, own, and acknowledge the power and glory of it. TheTargum favours this latter fenfe, ‘* Lord, when thou fhalt ** be revealed in thy power to do good to them “¢ that fear thee, there will be no light to the ene- “¢ mies of thy people:” but they /hall fee; whether they will or no; the judgments of God will be manifeft, both in his vengeance on antichrift, and in glorifying his own people: and be afbamed for their envy to the people, their envy at the happinefs and profperity of the Lord’s people; their malice towards them, and perfecution of them: or, for the zeal of thy people*; not forthe zeal of the people to God, but for the zeal of the Lord to them; when they fhall fee him zealoufly affected to them, and concerned for them’; as they fhall fee it, whether they will or no; they'll then be confounded and afhamed, when he will vindicate his own people, and right their wrongs, and avenge their enemies; fo the Targum, ** the revenge of thy people s¢ fhall cover them:” yea, the fire of thine enemies foail devour them, or, fire foall devour them, thine enemiesff; the wrath of God, which is like unto fire;“or fire out of the mouth of the witnefles, Rev. Xi. 5.

y. 12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, me Difpofe, order, give it to us, outward and in fpiritual and eternal: chiefly refpect is had to that in the win b5 “T1) "29, elatam taam manum non cernunt, Caftalio;

TOY MN3P, zelum populi tui. So fome in Vatablus.

WN; ignis hoftes tuos confamet eos, Pagninus, latter day, which the zeal of the Lord ‘of shofts, before-mentioned, will perform for her, P/- Ixxii. 8. Jfvix: 7. and which fhe expreffés her: faith in; when it goes ill with the wicked, and that for the following reafon: for thou alfo haft wrought all our works in us; or to us, or’ for us”; all that had been done for them before, were done by the Lord, came of his hands, were owing to his’ goodnefs, grace and power, and not to be afcribed:unto themfelves; all their mercies and deliverances,. alb that had been done for them in nature, providence»and grace; all that had been done forthe church and people of God in all ages and periods of time, ‘the glory of all was due to him; and fince he “had done fo many and fuch great things for them, they had reafon to believe he would grant them that peace and profperity promifed and expected in the latter day. The work-of grace upon the heart, is peculiarly the work which God works in his people, and is thought by fome to be here meant; this is God’s work, and. not man’s; and itis an internal one, fomething wrought in the heart, and which being begun, will be performed; and may be expreffed in the plural number, becaufe of the excellency of it, it is the work of works; it includes others, and from whence all good works done by good men {pring; and befides, sit confifts of various parts, each of which is a work; as the work of faith, the labour of love, and: perfect work of patience; and the: fruit of this is peace here, and men on account of it may expect eternal peace hereafter; for this is the. faints’ meetnefs for glory; and which is infeparably connected with it. Abarbinel < interprets this peace of the times of the Meffiah, and of the redemption wrought. out by him; and our works, of the troubles that.came upon the Zews in captivity, which were all from the Lord, as well as their mercies and deliverance. ¥. 13. O Lord our God, other lords befides thee have had dominion over us, &c.| Sin and fatan have the dominion over the Lord’s people, in a ftate of unregeneracy; before the good work of grace is wrought in them, every luft is a lord, and is ferved and. obeyed; and fatan is the god of this world - by ufurpation, and leads men captive at his will. Some think, that the idols the Fews had ferved and worfhipped, called Baalim or lords, are meant, and that this is a confeffion of their fin; but that word is not here ufed. The Targum interprets it of the Fewi/h governors ruling over them, without the Lord; rather the Affyrians and Babylonians are defigned; but it is beft of all to Underftand it of perfecuting tyrants, of antichriftian kings and ftates that have exercifed a tyrannical power over the people of God: but dy thee only will we make mention of thy name; that is, by thy ftrength, and thro’ grace received from thee, we will be only fubject to thee, our king and lawgiver, and obey thy commands, ferve and worfhip thee, knowing that it is right to obey God rather than man; or thro’ the influence of thy grace, and by the affiftance of thy fpirit, we will celebrate thy name, give thee thanks for our deliverance from the fervitude, bondage, and oppreffion of other lords. ¥..14.. They are dead, they foall not live: they are deceafed, they fhall not rife, &c.] The above tyrannical lords, the kings of the earth and their mighty men, affociates of the Romifh antichrift, who thall be gathered together, and flain at the poured out a prayer, or muttering“; they willpray with a low voice, in an humble and fubmiffive battelsat Armageddon, thefe\fhall not live againvin this world, nor sife from their graves, and: return to their!former. ftate, —power, and authority;“ or | tyrannize over; moleit, difturb, opprefs; “and per fecute the people of God any more) tho’ they ‘thall live again‘at the end’ of the thoufand»yearsy and fhallsawake cto evetlafting: fhame and contempt, and come forth tothe refurrection ‘of damnation:

The Targum is,“ they'worthip the dead, wwhowds

** not live; and theirimighty men, who fhall not “< rife 5° and are oppofed to the worthipperstofithe only Lord God » therefore baft thou vifited “and deftroyed them; and madevall their memory to perifh; or, becaufe thou haf vifited, &cc +. for theferwords area reafom why. they ‘are irrecoverably loft; and fhall not live in eternal’ lifep or rife sin: the refurrection of the juft; becaufe'God has vifited them in wrath, deftroyed’ them/in, and for ‘their fins; with fuch an utter deftruétion, that, they fhall be remembered no more. © This vifitation will be) at Armageddon, when >the kings,, and captains;» and great, men will be: flain; the beaft andefalfeyprophet taken, and caftalive:into the furnace of fire; and the reft will be killed by the fword, proceeding out of: the mouth of Chrift, Reve xix. 284227,

The -Yargum interprets it: of God’s cafting ithe wicked into hell. it erie clarer

¥. 15. Thou baft increafed the nation, OnBora, thou haft increafed the nation, &c.| The righteous nation, ¥..2. the church of God, by the numerous converfions of ews and Gentiles; when the nation of the Fews fhall be born at once, andthe fulnefs and forces of the Gentiles.are brought ins when the kingdoms of this world will become the ikingdoms of our Lord, and of his Chrift: thistincreafe is repeated, to denote: the certainty of it;vand becaufe a matter of great moment and importance: thou art glorified’; as by the deftruction»of the antichriftian powers, fo by the enlargement of the church and kingdom ‘of Chrift, for mow’ will the voices be heard in heaven, giving praife and:glory to God; even thofe that are affrighted with» his judgments, as well'as thofe that are saffectediwith his goodnefs, will give glory to: the God» of heaven, Rev. xi. 13, 17..and xix. 1—6 2 \thousbadf removed it far unto all the ends of the earth 3 mot the Fewifh people now fcattered throughout the world, but the righteous nation increafed and enlarged, which now will be fpread to the ends of the world.; for Chrift’s kingdom will be from fea to fea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Pf. \xxii. 8. it may be rendered, thou haft removed afar off all the ends of the earth; fo De Dieu, who interprets it of the great men of the earth, \the excellent in it, the corner-ftones of it; but perhaps it may be better to underftand hereby, every afland and mountain fleeing away at the deftruétion of antichrift, and the enlargement of Chrift’s kingdom, Rev. xvi. 20. ‘ Hoty y. 16. Lord, in trouble have they vifited thee, &c.] This, and the two following verfes, reprefent the troubles and difappointments of the church and people of God, before the deftruétion of antichrift; in which time of trouble,’ they will vifit the Lord, frequent the throne of grace, as faints in affliétions — are wont to do; and fometimes this is the end to be anfwered by affli€tions, Hofiv. 15: they way, as perfons in dejected circumiftances; not a few. words, but many will theywuafe; their petitions willbe numerous; they will continue praying, and be conftant at it, and out of the abundance of their hearts their mouth will fpeak; and they will /pour out their fouls and their complaints to the Lord, tho’ privately, and with a low voice, and with groans unutterable: when thy cha/tening was upon them; the afflicting hand of God, not as a punithment, but.as a fatherly’ chaftifement upon them); fo all their perfecutions from men, are confidered as permitted.by the Lord for their inftruction and correction; and thefe will not drive them from God, but bring them to him, to feek him by»prayer and fupplication.

¥..27. Like as a woman with child, &c.] By this fimile are fet forth the great diftrefles and affiictions the church of Chrift will be in, before redemption and deliverance from the antichriftian yoke comes: that draweth near the time of her de- Avery; when her burden is great and very troublefome: 7s in pain, and cryeth out in her pangs; for her friends to come about her, and give her all the help and affiftance they can: fo have we been in thy fight, O Lord; in great diftrefs and trouble, and crying to him for falvation and deliverance, all,which were well known unto him.

y. 18. We bave been with child, &c.| Like women with child; we have been big with hopes and expectations of gréat things, of deliverance from our enemies, and of the kingdom of Chrift being athand: we have been in pain; in great diftrefs wand anxiety, and in fervent and frequent prayer, travailing in birth, which we looked upon as forerunners of an happy iffue of things: we have as it were brought forth wind; all our hopes have proved abortive, and we have been difappointed in

. our expectations: we have not wrought any “deliverance in the earth, or, falvations have not been <vrought in the earth *, this explaing,what is meant by bringing forth wind; falvation®and deliverance out of the hand of the enemy not being wrought, as was expected: neither have the inhabitants of the orld fallen; worldly men, the great men, the kings of the earth; particularly fuch as commit fornication with the whore of Rome, popifh perfecuting princes;thefe as yet are not fallen, tho’ they fhall in the battel of Armageddon.

y. 19. hy dead men fhall live, &c.] Thefe are the words of Chrift to his church and people, promifing great and good things to them after their troubles are over, thereby comforting them under all their trials and difappointments; as that fuch things fhould come to pafs, which would be as life from the dead; as the converfion of the ews, and of great numbers of the Gentiles, dead in trefpafles and fins; and a great reviving of the intereft of religion, and of profeffors of it, grown cold, and dead, and lifelefs; and a living again of the witnefles, which had been flain. And moreover, this may refer to the firft refurrection, upon the fecond ~ coming of Chrift, when the church’s dead, and -Chrift’s dead, the dead in him, will live again, te eIN Wy bs Dy, res falutum non eft fafla, Vatablus

| 137 and rife firft, and come forth to the refurreétion of life, and live and reign with Chrift a thoufand yeats: together with my dead dody fall they arife, or, arife my dead body; the church, the myftical body of Chrift, and every member of it, though they have been dead, fhall arife, every one of them, and make up that body, which is the fulnefs of him that filleth all in all, and that by virtue of their union to him: there was a pledge and prefage of this, when Chrift rofe from the dead, upon which the graves were opened, and many of the faints arofe,. Matt. xxvii. 51, 52, 53. fee Hof. vi. 2. or, as my dead body fhall they arife*; fo Kimchi and Ben Melech, as fure as Chriit’s dead body was raifed, fo fure fhall every one of his people be raifed; Chrift’s refurrection is the pledge and earneft of theirs; becaufe he lives, they fhall live alfo; he is the firft-fruits of them that flept: or as in like manner he was raifed, fo thall they; as he was raifed incorruptible, powerful, {piritual and glorious, and in the fame body, fo fhall they; their vile bodiés fhall be fafhioned like unto his glorious body. This is one of the places in {eripture, from whence the ews " prove the refurrection of the dead; and which théy apply to the times of the Meffiah, and to the refurrection in his days. Awake and fing ye that dwell in the duft; this is a periphrafis of the dead, of fuch as are brought to the duft of death, and fleep there; as death is exprefied by fleeping, fo the refurrection by awaking out of fleep; which will be brought about by the voice of Chrift, which will be fo loud and powerful, that the dead will hear it, and come out of their graves; and then will they fg, and have reafon for it, fince they will awake in the likenefs of Chrift, and bear the image of him the heavenly one: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs; the power of Chrift will have as great effect upon, and as eafily raife the dead, as the dew has upon the herbs, to refrefh, raife, and revive them; fo that their Jones, as the prophet fays, /hall flourifh like an herb, If. \xvi. 14: and the earth fhall caft out the dead,; deliver up the dead that are in it, at the all-powerful voice of Chrift; fee Rev. xx. 13. The Targum is, *¢ but the wicked to whom thou hatft “* given power, and they have tranfgreffed thy «¢ word, thou wilt deliver into hell;” fee Rev. xx. 14, 15. |

¥. 20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy cham-

-bers, &c.| Thefe words are either to be connected with the preceding verfe, and confidered as a part of the fong; and then the defign of them is, to let the people of God know, that there would be times of great trouble and diftrefs, previous to that glorious one before-mentioned; whether it is to be underftood of a fpiritual refurreétion, the converfion of ‘ews and Gentiles in the latter day, which the judgments on antichrift will antecede, Kev. xix. 2, 7. or of the firft refurfection, upon the coming of Chrift, Dan. xii. 1, 2. and therefore fhould expect fuch a time of trouble, and concern themfelves for fhelter and fecurity: or elfe, the fong being finifhed, as is generally thought, in the laft verfe,; falutes non,fit terra, Montanus; falutes non fatte funt

_ Elias Levita, in his Tifhbi, p. 109 fays, the word —p33 is never ufed in feripture, but of the carcafs of a beaft or fowl that

; and never of a man that is dead, but of him that dies not a natural death, excepting this place, which fpeaks of the

© yefarreétion of the dead; and adds he, “ I greatly wonder at it, how he (the prophet) fhould call the bodies of the pure righte- « ous ones a carcals; no doubt there is a reafon for it, known to the wife men and cabalifts, which I am ignorant of.” But the words are fpoken of one who did not die a natural, but a violent death, even the Meffiah Jefus; and fo juft according to the verfe, thefe words begin a new fubject, and thould

4 new chapter, in which it is foretold what punifhment would be infli€ted on a wicked world, and | therefore, to comfort the Lord’s people that fhould dwell among them, and to let them, know what provifion was made for their retreat and farety, and where they might be fecure during the ftorm, thefe words are delivered out; in which the Lord. addrefits his people in a very kind and tender manner, claiming an intereft in them, and exprefiing great affection for them, and concern for their welfare: my people, whom I have, loved with an everlafting love, chofen to be a fpecial people above all people, made a covenant with them in my Son, and redeemed them by his blood, and called them by my {pirit and grace; come, away from-the wicked, be feparate from them, have no fellowfhip.with.

them; much the fame with that in Rev. xviii. 4. and referring to the fame time, come out of her, my people, &c. or come to me, who have been the dwelling-place of my people in all generations, a ftrong habitation to which they: may continually refort, Pf. xc. 1. and Ixxi, 3. or come along with me, I’ll lead you to a place where you may be fafe; as he did Noah and his family into the ark, to which there may be an allufion,- Gen. vil. 1, 16. enter thou into thy chambers; alluding to perfons abroad in the fields, who when they perceive a ftorm coming, make hafte home, and get into their houfes, and into the more retired and fafer parts of them, till it is over; or to the J/raelites, who kept within the doors, whilft the deftroying angel pafied thro’ the land of Egypt; or to Rabab and her family being within her houfe, when Feré- cho was deftroyed: thefe chambers may be taken literally for places of prayer and devotion; prayer being very proper to have recourfe unto in times of trouble, and which as it fhould be performed by fingle perfons privately, Mat, vi. 6. which text is a comment on this; and perhaps refpect may be had to the manner of the performance of it by focieties, in times of great perfecution; fo it is the fafety of God’s people; and there is nothing better for them in times of trouble, than to commit themfelves to God in prayer, and to his divine protection: ‘and it may be, that God himfelf, and the perfeétions of his nature, are here meant by chambers; his name is a ftrong tower, whither. the righteous run and are fafe, Prov. xviii. 10, and every perfection in him, is as a chamber in this tower, where the faints betaking themfelves, may fecurely lodge, till the trouble is over; as the everlafting love of God, which changes not,,and therefore the fons of Facob ate not confumed; the faithfulnei’ of God, in his covenant and promifes, which never fails; and his power, in which they are kept, as in a garrifon, 1 Pez, i. 5.. and thefe chambers may not ‘be unfitly applied to Chrift, and to his lood and righteoufnefs, who is. an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the, ftorm, a {trong hold for prifoners of hope; in whofe perfon are reft, peace, and fafety in the midit of trouble; whofe righteoufhefs fecures from condemnation and wrath; and not good works, as the Targum, which it fays will protect in a time of diftrefs; but the righteoudnefs of Chrift will, as alfo his precious blood; which was typified by the blood of the paffover-lamb, fprinkled on the door-pofts of the Jjraelites, whereby they were preferved by the! deitroying angel; and was -fignified by the fcarletthread in Rahab’s window, the token by which her houfe was. known, and fo-all in it ‘faved.

ple of God toa Phi “and h find to calny nef, quic ¥ ors. 5

; Oe Sear - TAY RR. Shy xevinaiy general defign of the rds, is to exhort, the ec a 4 judgments of God were pag 3 world; to comm rt upon themfelves'fafe and fecure, und rf dence and proteétion. Some of the a chambers, underftand the graves, by} nota efpecially if the words are to be confidered in, nexion with the preceding, thus, fince, the faints will arife as fure as Chrift is rifen,. like manner as he, and thofe that fleep in th of the earth will awake and fing, then don’

afraid of death and the grave; enter here, ee your bed-chambers; where, being taken away from the evil to come, you’ll enter into peace, lie down and reft on your beds, in the utmoft feer 1 fafety, until the refurrection-morn; whillt- of divine wrath fall upon a wicked and, world; fee J/ Ivii. 1, 2. Fob, xiv..13 2, end, faubwow thy door about thee; a phrafe expreflive Ng ae a and fecrecy, and may be applied to, the feverall«. things above-mentioned: ide thyfelf as it were Fors.

a little moment, until the indignation be over paft $y» not the indignation of fatan, or of wicked perfecu i. tors againft the faints, but the indignation of God3 jas) © and tae not upon his own people, or ont Fewyp ys. nation, but on a wicked world; not in hell», for: 3 that will be everlafting, and never over, and much jos lefs be only for a little moment; but as it will be gon in time, and fall upon all the nations of the world,» to and efpecially the Romi/h antichrift, and the anti- 9 chriftian ftates; and refers chiefly to the feven vials.” of God’s wrath, which will be poured forth upons; them; which when they begin, will foon be over; — fee J/. xxxiv. 2. Rev. xvi. 1. and fo will be, th « burning of the world, the laft inftance of Ged ss indignation on earth, it will foon be at an end:

and in the mean while; the faints will be with Chrife _ in the air; and thofe troubles, in which,the people will be involved before happy times Soiecuaetibane be very fhort; as indeed all their afflictions are but. for a moment, a little moment; the temptation that.. will come upon all the earth, to try the inhabitants of it, will be but an hour; and the laying, of the} witneffes, and their lying flain, will be but three. days and a half; this time of trouble will be fhort-) ~ ened for the elects fake, Matt. xxiv. 21,22. Rev. 7—11. compare with this Pf... Ivii. 1. =a y. 21. For behold, the Lord cometh out of bis placey, &c.] God, as omniprefent, is every, where, and can’t be properly faid to quit one place, and g another; but as heaven is the feat of his, ma and where he more manifeftly difplays his g when he is faid to do any thing remai earth, he is faid to come out of his. ph come down thither, Mc. i, 3. efpecially i ertion of his power and juftice, in a wa nifhment of fin; which is his aét, his and comes off from his throne of ‘grace in which he delights: the allufion is leaving his throne and palace, to. go: an enemy abroad, or to quell and lious fubjeéts: fome reference t nay

Lord’s dwelling in the temple f ward part of it, and comi the difplay of his perfect with which may be compe the earth for their iniquity; <: ya i