Notes on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 65
The lxv. PSALM.
David tells God with what saithfull expectations his people wait upon him for mercies, to the end they might have new occasions to praise him, and though for their sins they deserve no good from God, yet shall be of Free-grace do them good, which is a point of special comfort to the faithfull, to whom God is a sure friend, and ever will be, and an enemie to their enemies, and accordingly will keep and protect them all the world over, for whose sake it is, that mankind, and all creatures enjoy such temporal blessings, and needfull mercies as they do.
To him that is the first and principal of all the Quire, Psalm lxv. To the chief musitian, A Psalm, and Song of David.do I David, that made this Psalm, recommend it for the care and ordering of it, to be both sung and plaid by voices, and instruments.
1 O God,1PRaise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. we desire to be mindfull of thy mercies, and still as thou givest occasion of praise, not to fail to return it, we are ready, O Lord, if thou wilt administer fresh mercies to render thee the thanks of them, and to worship thee for them as thou hast appointed, not onelyonly inwardly in spirit, but also in thine Ordinances, with Sacrifices, and Free-will-offerings, according to thy law will we do it.
2 Thou Lord,2O thou that hearest prayer: unto thee shall all flesh come. art the onelyonly God of thy peoples prayers, Let it more and more appear that thou hearest us, and that our prayers are powerfull with thee for the good of this poor Church, and thy servants, and people under this administration, that it may be upon Scripture-record for thy Church in after-ages to encourage their faith, and to invite them all the world over, to seek unto thee in hope and confidence of like audience, grace, and success from thee.
3Iniquiti…s prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.3 Mine own and my peoples sins are they that stand in the way of our prayers, and hinder good things from us, so that I can neither have what I pray for, nor do what I would successfully, by reason of them: but notwithstanding our sins, yet my prayer shall be, that in mercy thou wilt pardon them, and make us a holy people to thee, and my confidence is, that though our sins do abound, yet thy grace shall super-abound to do this for us.
4Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.4 For were it not for thy Free-grace, and Election, no one man upon the face of the whole earth, much less a nation could ever partake of thy favour, and have their prayers heard; their sins would hinder them. But though all men are deservedly out of favour by sin, yet there is a way of grace to bring even sinners into respect with thee. And for all his sins, yet blessed is such a man (for there are not many of them compared with the world) whom of Free-election thou thus hast made choice of to bestow thy grace upon, and made able by faith to see thee a reconciled, and pardoning God unto him, and willing to receive both his person, and his prayers into acceptance, and audience, and priviledged to frequent thy presence in thy Sanctuary, and perform thy worship there with assurance of welcom, and spiritual imbraces whensoever he comes, the oftner the better. I, and others of this number, I am sure shall find it so, we shall never lose our labour, but when we come to ask grace, we shall have it, and so often as we resort to thy tabernacle, and they in after-ages to thy temple, (signs alike of thy presence) nay, all that are thine, and offer up prayers of faith to thee in heaven, when there shall be neither tabernacle, nor temple, which is their anti-type, and signification, they shall have but what they will of thee, even their hearts desire, what heaven and thy grace can afford them, and us.
5 Such power have thy people,5By terrible things in righteousness, wilt thou answer us, O God, of our salvation: who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are a…ar off upon the seas. and their prayers with thee, as that nothing shall be impossible to them; if thy Church have need, and be in extremity, why, that will be but thine opportunity, miraculously to deliver them by evident judgements upon their enemies, setting forth the power of prayer and thy faithfulness to them, who hast a tender regard of their preservation; and such as thou art now to us, a few faithfull ones in a corner of the world, such shalt thou be when thy Church is enlarged amongst the Gentiles, to all that are thine all the world over, far and near, in Continents, and in Islands, every where, in all places thou shalt be their God, hearing prayer, and yielding salvation to them that trust in thee.
6 For as by the creation,6Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains: being girded with power. thou hast made thy power to appear to all people in all the world, so shall thy grace extend it self, and those that imbrace the tender of it, shall be as firm, & immoveable by any human power, as the mountains, being established and begirt with thine.
7 Who art able to master the most masterful things in the world which generally is enraged at thy Church,7Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. and people, where ever they be in it; they are tossed and turned like a ship at sea in a storm, which as thou canst calm & bring safe to land, so canst thou, yea, & so wilt thou too uphold thy Church in the middest of her tumultuary perplexities, and troubles, which in all places she is exposed unto, & also deliver her out of them.
8 Thy grace to,8They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are affraid of thy tokens: thou makest the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoyce. and protection of thy Church, shall be to all ages, and in all places most observable, as well as here amongst us, for the same thou art now, the same thou shalt ever be to the wicked enemies of thy faithfull people, terrible in thy judgements upon them for their sakes, for whom also it is that thou exerciseth such gracious providence upon the whole earth, continuing the frame of nature which else would dissolve, and ordering each creature in its place, time, and station to do its office; all the world from sun rising to sun setting, fare the better for them.
9Thou visitest the earth and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: tho… preparest them c…rn, when thou hast so provided for it.9 The earth and all things in it, are therefore seasonable, graciously, and plentiously supplied with apt showers in times of need, sent from Heaven down upon it, where thou hast ordained the clouds to store up abundance of water to be at thy dispose for the good of the creature, causing thereby such plenty of corn to grow fit for mans gathering upon the face of the earth, thus husbanded by God.
10Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou setlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers, thou blessest the springing thereof.10 By thy blessing upon mans labour it is, the earth brings forth such plenty, sending seasonable showers upon tillage-land when its drie, and seasonable sun-shine when its wet, so that both ridge and furrow fructifie by interchangeable softnings and hardnings as there is cause, and the corn by this means, from first to last through thy blessing, is made to grow and prosper, which otherwaies would miscarry, and the taste of bread fail.
11Thou crownest the earth with thy goodness: and thy paths drop …atness.11 Thou makest the earth to excel with the beautifull varieties and rich blessings that thou bestowest upon it, and causest it in the summer time to bring forth, when and where thou pleasest to visit it with fruitfull and seasonable showers from above.
12They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoyce on every side.12 Which not onelyonly are bestowed upon the inhabited, and husbanded places of the world, for man to reap the profit of, but also upon the unpeopled places, where wild beasts and such creatures range, there for their use and sustenance dost thou extend thy bounty, making those places also that want the benefit of Art and husbandry, and which in their own nature are less capable, both hills and plains by thy blessing from above to fructifie and flourish in their kind with all needful conveniences for those creatures thou hast appointed to feed thereupon, and inhabit therein.
13 Thus are all places blessed by thee,13The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sung. the wilderness and mountains brings forth plentie of grass and cattel in their kind, and the pasturable grounds which men make use of, they abound with heards and flocks in their kind, the plowed and cultured places also they super-abound in their kind with the abundance of corn and grain of several sorts that grow thereon, so that they seem to be sensible in a kind of thy blessings to and upon them (by the return they make, and bring forth, of plentie and beautie) and thereby to offer their praises to thee again, and do occasion abundance of joy and gladness in the owners and inhabitants that reap the profit of these thy gracious providences.