Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 1 · Psalm 27
The Twenty Seventh Psalm.
A Psalm of David.
Paraphrase. The Twenty Seventh Psalm was composed by David in time of his distress; wherein placing all his trust and confidence in God, he especially expresseth his desire of returning to the participation of Gods publick service.
1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Whatsoever my distresses are, I have a God of might, who will deliver me out of this dark and forlorn condition, will preserve me safe from all the malice of my enemies. It were then great folly in me, to betray any the least fear, or apprehension of the dangers that incompasse me.
2. When the wicked, even mine enemies, and my foes‖came neer upon me, foreign came upon me to eat up my flesh, theya. †or, shall stumble and fall.stumbled and fell.
When ungodly men make their approaches against me, very bloodily resolved to devour and destroy me utterly, then will God certainly interpose his hand, to discomfit and disappoint my sorest enemies, and rescue me out of their hands: for thus he hitherto hath done in my greatest dangers.
3. *If an host incamp, foreign—Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear:‖If warre rise— foreign— though warre should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
Whatsoever the danger be, whether by close siege, or by pitcht battail, yet have I still my reliance firme, in confidence of Gods assistance and relief, and that will keep all fear from me.
4. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life, to behold the†sweetness foreign so the Chald. and Syr. but the Lxxii. foreign, the Lat. voluptatem, pleasantness. beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his Temple.
There is but one thing that I am much sollicitous for, or importunate in my prayers, viz. (not that I be setled in my regal throne, which he*The Lxxii. in the title of the Psalm adde foreign, before he was anointed. seems not yet to be, but) that I may have that benefit of peace to partake of Gods publick service in the assembly, and never to be taken off from it, to injoy that sweetness and transcendent pleasure and delight of conversing daily and frequently with God, and receiving counsel and directions from him in all my doubts. The being but for a time deprived of this felicity is indeed matter of some sadness to me, from which I daily pray to be released. But besides this, I have nothing else to complain of in my present distresses.
5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me, he shall set me up upon a rock.
Were I but returned to the Sanctuary, I should look upon it, and make use of it as of a refuge of perfect safety, to which in any difficulty I might confidently resort, and be secured by God, as in a tower or fortresse.
6. And now shall my head be listed up above mine enemies‖see Psal. xxvi. note d. round about me: therefore will I offer in his Tabernacle sacrificesb. of†jubilation joy; I will sing, yea I will sing praises unto the Lord.
And as now it is, though I am at present withheld from that felicity, yet have I confidence that my prayers shal be heard, that I shall be delivered from mine enemies power, and exalted above them all, and afforded all matter of joy and Sacrifices, when I doe come to Sion, and abundant thanksgivings unto God.
7. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice; have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
And therefore with this confidence I now offer up my prayers to thee, O Lord, for mercy and compassion, and gracious returns to all my wants.
8. ‖To thee said my heart, seek ye my face: Thy—When thou saidest, Seek ye my face,c. my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Whatsoever supply I lack, my heart directs me whither to apply my self, by resounding in my ears those gracious words of thine [seek ye my face,] calling all, that want any thing, to ask it of thee. To thee therefore I make my addresse with thine own words of invitation in my mouth, [Thy face, O Lord, will I seek] making all my application to thee, and to none other.
9. Hide not thy face†from me foreign farre from me, put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my helpe; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Lord, vouchsafe me thy wonted presence and favourable aspect, withdraw all expressions of thy displeasure. Thy former continued reliefs have ingaged me to hope for deliverance from none but thee: O doe not thou leave me, for then I shall be utterly destitute.
10. ‖for my— foreignWhen my father and my mother forsake me,*and the— ו then the Lord will take me up.
It is one of thy wonderfull works of mercy, to provide for those whose parents have exposed and left them helplesse, (the young Ravens, Psalm cxlvii. 9.) And the like I trust thou wilt doe for me, though all humane aids should utterly faile me.
11. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain way, because of mine enemies.
Lord, do thou instruct and direct me what course I shall take, that mine enemies may have no advantage against me, but that I may escape safe out of their hands.
12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies; for false witnesses are risen up against me, andd. such as breath out‖injury, rapine. cruelty.
Permit me not to fall into their power; for as they have begun with slander and calumny, so will they end, if thou doe not divert or withhold them, in injustice and rapine.
13. e.*Ʋnless I had believed—I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Had I not had a full confidence that I should by Gods great mercy be supported in my distresse, and restored to those injoyments of rest and peace, which God had faithfully promised me. (Here the Psalmist abruptly but elegantly breaks off the speech.)
14. *Expect foreignWaite on the Lord; be of good courage,f. and he shall strengthen thy heart: waite, I say, on the Lord.
O my soul, doe thou patiently expect Gods leasure; be not discouraged with thy present evils, but arme thy self with constancy and fortitude, and never doubt of Gods seasonable reliefes.
Annotations on Psalm XXVII.
V. 2. Stumbled] Though foreign foreignand foreign be in the Praeter tense, yet 'tis usual in Prophetick writings, that these should be taken in the future tense, when the context inclines that way. And so here it doth, being a profession of his confidence in God, that he will deliver him out of his present distresses; as both the antecedents v. 1. and consequents v. 3. make evident. And accordingly it is most probable that here thus it should be, v. 2. and so the Jewish Arab reads, they shall stumble, and fall; and so the learned Castellio renders it, si invadant— offensuri sunt atque casuri, If they invade me, they shall stumble and fall. Though it be also possible, that it may reflect upon his past experiences of Gods mercies, as pledges of his future, and then it may retain the preter tense. And therefore I deemed it safest to take that in also in the Paraphrase.
V. 6. Joy] foreign sacrifices of jubilation, foreignare those of the solemn feasts, attended not onelyonly with the harmony and Musick of the Levites, but the Hosannahs and acclamations of the people. Hence Jeremy compares the military clamours of the victorious Chaldeans in the Temple, to those that were formerly made there in the day of a solemn feast, Lam. ii. 7. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in a day of a solemn feast. And this is that foreign or joyful sound, which they that hear, are by David pronounced blessed, Psal. Lxxxix. 15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.
V. 8. My heart] For the meaning of this v. 8. little help will be had from the antient interpreters. The Syriack leave out a part of it unrendred, and have only thus much, My heart saith unto thee, and my face shall seek thy countenance. The Lxxii. (and after them the Latine, Arabick, and Aethiopick,) instead of Seek ye my face,] read, I have sought thy face;] foreign, My heart said to thee, I have sought thy face; thy face, Lord, will I seek: and other copies with some change, foreign &c. My heart hath said to thee, I will seek the Lord; my face hath sought thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. But the Chaldee keeps close to the Hebrew, only for [seek ye] reads in the singular seek thou. The full meaning of it will easily be gathered, by reflecting on Gods mercy and kindness unto men, ready to defend them, if they will but call to him for his help. This is conteined in this supposed speech or command of Gods, [foreign,foreign seek ye my face,] thereby inviting all to addresse their prayers to him. This gracious speech of Gods, David here meditates upon, and on it founds his confidence, and in his addresses to heaven first minds God of this his command, or invitation, or incouragement to all, to seek to him, (that is the meaning of [My soule said to thee, seek ye my face] laying a foundation of claim in Gods own words;) and then he makes use of this priviledge immediately, answers the invitation in the very words wherein 'twas made, [Thy face, Lord, will I seek.] This Castellio hath paraphrastically exprest, sic animo cogito, velle te tuum quaeri conspectum; tuum conspectum, Jova, quaero. I thus think in my minde, that thou wouldest have thy face sought: Thy face, Lord, I seek. The Jewish-Arab hath here another construction, making foreign my face, to govern, and not be governed by the verb, thus; My heart said of thee, O my face, seek him (because saith he, the other members are at the command of the heart, to doe what that bids) therefore will I seek the light of thy countenance, O Lord.
V. 12. Such as breath cruelty] For foreign foreignbreathers or speakers of injury or rapine, (foreign signifying injury or rapine, and foreign to breath or speak) the Lxxii. read foreign iniquity hath lied to, or against it selfe, and the Latine and Aethiopick (and in effect the Arabick) follow them. How they came thus to vary from the original, is not easie to resolve: what is most probable may be briefly noted. Neer unto foreign to breath or speak is foreign and foreign laqueus (from whence is the Greek foreign) a snare. One of these the Lxxii. may have mistaken for the other. So the learned‖Pentagl. p. 1426. c. Schindler supposeth them to have done, Isa. xLii. 22. foreign which he renders, all the young men have been puft at, (foreign in the infinitive to be rendered in the preter tense.) To this the Chaldee paraphrase seems to accord, foreign were covered with shame or confusion: but the Lxxii. read foreign, a snare in their recesses: where as they render foreign, from foreign a secret chamber, frequently rendred foreign, so they took foreign as from foreign and accordingly rendred it foreign the snare. And herein the sense favours them there, and our translation hath followed them. And if as there, so here, they deduced foreign from foreign a snare, then taking foreign for iniquity in the nominative case, they might thus (by periphrasis) expresse its being insnared, by its lying against it selfe.
V. 13. I had fainted] In the Hebrew there is an aposiopesis, foreign.a figure of elegance, purposely breaking off in the midst of the speech; yet so as every man can foresee what kinde of conclusion should follow, if he did not purposely divert to the contrary. As Neptune in Virgil, Hos ego— the begining of a threat, but then artificially breaking off into an exhortation to prevent it,— sed motos praestat componere fluctus, but 'tis your best way to quiet the waves: so here, foreign,foreign except, or unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living— The LXXII. render it foreign I believe to see (and so the Syriack foreign I believed that I should see, and so the Latine &c.) not at all rendring foreign unless, nor taking notice of the figure, or manner of speech, the abrupt breaking off in the midst. But the Chaldee reads just as the Hebrew doth, and thinks not fit to supply what is wanting, but leaves it in suspence. And so sure that is the fullest way of rendring it, that so the figure may be discernible; which consisting wholly in the breaking off, or concealing somewhat, is lost, if the sense be made perfect by addition of any other words. The only difficulty is, what is here meant by foreign foreignthe land of lives, or of the living. foreignAnd the answer will be brief, that though the phrase may very fitly denote (where the context requires it) the future age, whether as that denotes the age of the Messias, or the life eternal after the end of this; and though there is no cause of doubt, but that David believed both these; yet it being the matter of the whole Psalm to express his confidence, that God would not now leave him in his present distress, but deliver him out of his enemies hands, and return him home in safety and peace; in all reason that is to be deemed the meaning of it here also, as the land of the living oft signifies a prosperous life in this world, but this not excluding, but including also his hopes of the other, which much added to his support also.
V. 14. Shall strengthen] foreign foreignis literally to be rendred, he shall strengthen, and may so be applied to God by way of promise, that he shall strengthen his heart that waits on him. But yet it is also to be remembred, that the Hebrews doe oft use to confound conjugations, and use the active in the third person, to denote the passive in some other person: Thou fool, this night shall they take thy soul from thee, i. e. thy soul shall be taken away: So 2 Sam. xxiv. 1. And he moved David, i. e. David was moved (see examples in note on Luk. xvi. b.) and then so it may well be here, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart, i. e. (to continue the construction with the antecedents and consequents) let thy heart be strengthened, (all the imperative) wait on, or expect the Lord. And thus all the antient Interpreters render it: foreign strengthen thy heart, say the Chaldee; foreign, let your heart be strengthened, say the LXXII. and so the Syriack foreign and Latine, & confortetur, and the Arabick so also (only reading it, my heart, instead of your, reading the whole verse accordingly, I hope—) So Psal. xxxi. 24. and thus in both places the Jewish-Arabick Translator renders it.