Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 1 · Psalm 38
The Thirty Eighth Psalm.
A Psalm of Davida. to bring to remembrance.
Paraphrase. The thirty eighth is a mournfull complaint of Davids, reciting his present miseries, and calling to God to remember, and pity, and relieve him.
1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
O God of all justice, and yet of all mercy too, let not thy punishments, though most justly deserved by my sins, break out in extremity against me.
2. For thine arrowsb. ‖are entred deep in me, and thy hand is come down upon me.stick fast in me: and thy hand presseth me sore.
They are already very sharp and heavy upon mee.
3. There is no soundness in my flesh, because of thine anger: neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin.
My sins have most sadly provoked thy wrath, and the effects of that are very sensible: mine estate is become like to those that are under some sore malady, that hath seised on every part of their bodies, and allows them no intermission of pains and misery, no rest or cessation of their anguish;
4. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as an heavy burthen, they are too heavy for me.
Or to those that are plunged deep over head and ears in water, overwhelmed, and ready to be drowned by it; or to those that, under some insupportable weight or burthen, are prest to the ground: the number and weight of my sins is so great, and from thence my punishments so many, and so heavy, that I am opprest and overcharged by them.
5. Myc. ‖bruises.wounds stink, and are corrupt, because of my foolishness.
Or again, to one that hath received many sore blowes and bruises; which as they are very painfull at present, so if they be not well lookt to, and the congeled blood carefully drawn out, they will soon putrifie and grow noisome. And mine own absurd and soule follies have brought all this upon me.
6. Id. am*incur…ate troubled, I am bowed down†to extremity. greatly: I goe mourning all the day long.
Like to one that with some chronicall disease is extremely decayed, and bent down toward the earth, and so is forced to goe continually in that sad mournfull posture, that is wont to be used in time of lamentations.
7. For myc. *flanks.loins are filled with a‖inflammation. loathsome disease; and there is no soundness in my flesh.
Like to one that is full of boyles and swellings in severall parts of his body, and so is very sorely and painfully diseased.
8. I am feeble, and†brought low, or worn away. foreign sore broken: I have roared for the*gre…i…, foreign Lxxii. very disquietness of my heart.
Lastly, like to one that with long and terrible pains, through grieving, and sighing, and roaring for them, is brought into a very weak and low estate, a consumption of the whole body. And all this have my own sins, most absurdly committed, and most bestially continued in for a great space, most justly brought upon me.
9. Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee.
O blessed Lord, thou seest my wants, and the continuall misery that I am in.
10. My heart‖turns round. foreign panteth, my strength faileth me:†and the light of mine eyes they also are not with me. foreign as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
I am as one in an amazement or giddiness, ready to sink or tumble, his eyes dimme, so that he cannot make use of them any more than if he had none.
11. My lovers and my friends stand*on the other side of my bruise. alooff. from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afarre off.
And in all my distress I was so farre from receiving any relief or comfort from man, that they which were neerest knit to me by the tyes of nature and friendship, were some of them afraid of owning me, others never considered me.
12. They also that seek after my life‖use violence against. layg. snares for me; and they that seek my hurt, speak†evill. h.mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
As for mine enemies that projected to take away my life, at least to doe me some great hurt, their actions, their words, their thoughts were continually intent on some kinde of violence, mischief, or deceit, or other.
13. But I as a deaf man heard not, and I was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth.
14. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
And all this I bare with patience; I took no notice of their behaviour toward me, never rebuked the one, nor the other, for what they did or said unto me.
15. For in thee, O Lord, doe I hope; thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
My full trust and dependance is on thee, O Lord, and my assured confidence, that thou wilt in thy good time interpose thy hand and deliver me.
16. For I said,‖lest peradventure they rejoyce. foreign hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoyce over me: when my foot slippeth they magnifie themselves against me.
To thee therefore I make my petition, that thou wilt not leave me to mine enemies will, to rejoyce and triumph over me, as they are very forward to doe, and to make their boasts what victories they have obtained over me, if at any time any the least evill befalls me.
17. For I am ready to†fall: see Ps. xxxv. note f. halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.
And now indeed this is my condition; for I am in continual danger, and expectation of ruine, if thou be not pleased to support me.
18. For I will declare mine iniquity: I willi. be*afraid of- sorry for my sin.
And I must acknowledge and confess, that they are my many grievous transgressions, which have brought this anxiety upon me, given me reason continually to fear, left by them I have forfeited thy protection; and then there is nothing but ruine to be expected.
19. But mine enemies‖live and are— foreign are lively, and they are strong; and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplyed.
And to this my fear agrees the prosperity of my unjust and causeless enemies, who live and increase in strength, their forces are daily multiplyed: And this may well minde me of the increase of my sins, to which this is imputable, for otherwise I am sure I have not provoked them by any injury done to them; only my sins against thee have thus strengthened them.
20. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that good is.
To them I have done nothing but good, and yet they persecute me, and make these unkinde returns for all my kindnesse; having no other matter of quarrel to me, but my doing that which is just and good, and never wronging them, how much soever I am wronged by them.
21. Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
O God of power, doe not thou leave me to their malice; O Father of mercy, and that to me thy sinfull servant, let not my sins remove thee from me.
22. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
O thou, whose title it is to save and deliver those that are in the greatest danger, and even on sinners to have mercy, and rescue them from the due reward of their sins, and hast to me made most gratious promises of his kinde, I beseech thee no longer to deferre, but in my greatest extremity relieve me opportunely and speedily.
Annotations on Psalm XXXVIII.
Tit. To bring to remembrance] It is uncertain what foreign,foreign in the title of this Psalm, signifies. Some of the Hebrews apply it to their Musick, but give no clear account of their reasons, or meaning herein. That which seems most probable, is, that, as the meat-offering Levit. ii. 2.9.16. is called foreign a memorial, an offering of sweet savour to God, and elsewhere foreign for a memoriall, Lev. xxiv. 7. or rather, as Gods remembring any man is his relieving and helping him; so a prayer to God in time of distress, may fitly be stiled foreign, to cause remembrance. Thus this Psalmist elsewhere prayes, Lord, remember David and all his troubles, Psal. cxxxii. 1. and, remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies, Psal. xxv. 6. Remember thy congregation, Psal. Lxxiv. 2. and many the like. And accordingly this Psalm, and the seventieth, which have this title, are most earnest prayers for relief. There, Make hast, O God, to deliver me, make hast to help me, O Lord, &c. and here, O Lord, rebuke me not, &c. in the beginning, and forsake me not, O Lord, O my God, be not farre from me; make hast to help me, O Lord my salvation, in the end. What the distress was, that caused so passionate a prayer for relief, will be hard to define particularly. The outside of the words and expressions signifies a sharpe and noysome disease. And 'tis not improbable that David should have his part in that kinde of affliction, who had so large a portion of other sorts; or that, since his persecutions have furnished the Church with so many excellent pieces of devotion, his bodily afflictions should proportionably doe so to: especially, since we see King Hezekiah, both in his sickness and his recovery, making attempts of this kinde. But 'tis also possible, that Davids other distresses, of which we have more certain evidence in his story, his persecutions under Saul, and from his own son Absalom, might by a Psalmist, in Poetick style, be thus resembled, and compared with the sorest and most noisome diseases. And therefore I deemed it more safe to set the paraphrase, with this latitude of signification, applying the words to his streights in general, store of which it is certain he had; rather then to confine them to noisome diseases, which we read not that he was visited with at any time.
V. 2. Stick] From foreign descendit, are two words in this v. 2. distinguishable by the nouns to which they are applyed. The former foreign,foreign applyed to arrows, signifies going down, i. e. entring deep into the flesh. The LXXII. read foreign, the Latine and Syriack and Arabick, infixae sunt mihi, are fastened in me; which is but a natural consequent of entring deep, and so is set to paraphrase it. The latter foreign,foreign applyed to hand, signifies to come down, or descend, with some weight to fall upon him. This the Chaldee render foreign remained, and the Syriack foreign and did rest, as if they read it from foreign to rest. But the Lxxii. foreign, confirmasti, saith the Latine, thou hast confirmed thy hand upon me, i. e. let it fall hard upon me: the Arabick rightly express their meaning, thy hand is become hard upon me; and so this is a good paraphrastical explication of it.
V. 5. Wounds] From foreign convenit, sociatus est, is foreign foreigna bruise from any blow, because the blood or matur associates and gathers together in that place: it signifies also a boyle or aposteme. Here 'tis in the former sense, as caused by a blow or stroke, (and figuratively signifies any effect of Gods wrath or displeasure;) and it is said to putrifie, and to stink, for so the blood and humors thus congregated, and standing still, doe putrifie immediately, and will be noisome, if they be not drawn out. The Lxxii. therefore fitly render it, foreign, vibices, such as come from blowes; (but the Syriack, foreign boiles, in the other notion of it) and so I suppose the Chaldee also, foreign from foreign and foreign puduit, pudefecit, because such bruised parts look black and blew, and are matter of shame (from whence the Greek foreign to give blowes under the eye, is frequently used for putting to shame;) and accordingly the Chaldee would more fitly be rendered vibices, than cicatrices, scarrs, as the Translation of the Targum and the vulgar Latine have it.
V. 6. Troubled] foreign foreignfrom foreign incurvatus est, is regularly to be rendered, I am incurvate: so the Chaldee foreign, from foreign incurvatus est, signifies. The Lxxii. paraphrase it by foreign, I was afflicted; the Syriack, foreign I was in commotion, I was afraid. But the literal must be reteined, to connect it with foreign foreignI was deprest, or bowed down, that follows; which the Lxxii. rightly renders foreign, I was crookt, or bent down. As for the foreign foreignusque valde, exceeding much, or to extremity, the Lxxii. render it foreign, untill the end: so the Latine, usque in finem; and so the Arabick, for ever, in the notion of foreign for eternity. But in v. 8. where the phrase is used again, they render it foreign, and the Latine nimis, in the notion of that word for very much.
V. 7. Loins] The notion of foreign foreignfor the flank is known in Scripture, Lev. iii. 4. the kidneys and the fat which is upon them, which is over, or by foreign the flanks: so Job xv. 27. fat on his foreign flank. And so here it must be taken for that sinewy part of the body, next under the loynes, the groine &c. wherein boils and plague-sores frequently rise. Some copies of the Lxxii. render it foreign, and those the Latine follow, and read lumbi, loines: but Suidas tells us, what parts of the body foreign (or, in Hippocrates's dialect, foreign) are; foreign, saith he, the kidneys are situate in them. Athenaeus l. ix. out of Simaristus foreign. l. iii. tells, foreign, the word signifies fleshy (in opposition to bony) parts over against the loins; and out of Clearchus foreign l. ii. that they are foreign, musculous parts on each side, adding that some call them foreign. This I see some learned men will have changed into foreign, the wombes of the reins, because as was said, foreign, the kidneys are placed in them. But I conceive that is not the importance of foreign in composition, especially at the end of a word: certainly foreign Exod. xvi. 13. Numb. xi. 31. Psal. civ. 40. Wisd. xvi. 2. and xix. 12. is not the womb of the quails, but a great sort of quails, the mother quaile, as foreign is the great, and so the mother City: and in this sense sure the foreign cannot be called the foreign, the great or the mother-kidneys. I shall therefore adhere to the vulgar reading, that they are in Clearchus called foreign the great, or the mother nerves: for such indeed are the flanks, grissly, or nervous parts, beyond all others in the body; and that makes them very sensible when any inflammation or swelling is in them. Other copies of the Lxxii. have instead of foreign my soule, and the Arabick follows them. But the former is surely the truer reading. Then for foreign foreignwherewith he saith his flank is filled, that from foreign vilipendit, is ordinarily rendered in the notion of soule or vile: the Latine renders it illusionibus, and the Arabick and Aethiopick to the same sense, with reproaches, from the Greek foreign, which the Romane edition of the Lxxii. have. But it must be remembred, that foreign signifies also to rost or burne, &c. and so the noun by analogy may signifie inflammation, (such we know all those boiles and sores are) and the Chaldee here renders it foreign burning, from foreign to inflame or burne, and from thence is both foreign a feaver, or burning disease, and foreign a carbuncle, which as it signifies a gemme, so a coal of fire, and a burning boile, or swelling also. And whereas those editions of the Lxxii. which read foreign (not foreign) read (not foreign, but) foreign, that must needs be a corruption, very probably for foreign inflammations; and then there will be a perfect agreement betwixt the Hebrew and Chaldee and Lxxii. and the rendring be clear, my flanks are filled with inflammations, by those signifying boiles, swellings, carbuncles in those nervous parts, very painfull and sensible by that means.
V. 11. Sore] From foreign foreignto touch, or to wound, or to come near, is foreign here, my wound, or stroke, or bruise, the evils that have befallen me. The Chaldee render it foreign my wound or contusion, the Syriack foreign my grief; but the Lxxii. as reading it foreign the verbe, and in the notion of approaching, render it foreign they came neer, foreign, they came neer me and stood over against me: and by this they have fully, though paraphrastically, exprest the sense of it; as Luk. x. 31, 32. foreign passing by over against him that was wounded, signifies, not taking any care of him.
V. 12. Snares] foreign is certainly from foreign,foreign and that in Piel signifies collisit, concussit, prostravit, to destroy, saith Abu Walid, to lay grins or snares, saith the Jewish Arabick translator, any injurious, or violent usage, toward any; so Psal. cix.ii. foreign let the usurer catch, or take by violence all that he hath. The Chaldee there render it foreign, from foreign, which with them is to levy, take, or exact: and accordingly the Lxxii. here render it foreign, used violence; and the Latine, vim faciebant; the Syriack foreign bound me, laid hold on me; and the Arabick, opprest me. Only the Chaldee that there rendered it rightly, yet here reading it, as from foreign to lay snares, render it foreign laid snares; as on the other side the Lxxii. which duly interpret it here, yet in that of Psal. cix. 11. read foreign search; either taking it for foreign, that so signifies, or respecting the notion wherein the Arabs use foreign, for discovering, or searching out, as it is in Kamus the great Arabick dictionary.
V. 12. Mischievous] From foreign fuit comes the noun foreign foreignfor an evill event, calamity, mischief: so Psal. xci. 3. the pestilence foreign of hurts, we rightly render the noisome or noxious pestilence. So Mic. vii. 3. foreign the mischief of his soule; and so most probably Prov. x. 3. God will overthrow foreign the mischief of the wicked; and Prov. xvii. 4. applyed, as here, to the tongue, foreign we rightly render it a naughty tongue. Now because falseness, and deceit, and lying, is generally the means by which the tongue is enabled to hurt, therefore the Chaldee here render it, foreign a lye; and so the Syriack also, and the Lxxii. foreign vanity, by which they frequently signifie falshood also. But the more general notion of it for any kinde of evill or mischief, seems most proper for it in this place, that of deceits following in this verse.
V. 18. Be sorry] foreign signifies indeed sorrow, foreignbut that for the future, and that is all one with fear or solicitude; so Jer. xvii. 8. shall not be carefull in the time of dearth; Jer. xLii. 16. speaking of the sword foreign ye feared; Jer. xLix. 23. on the sea foreign we render sorrow, it is, fear or sollicitude, to expresse the faintheartedness precedent: so 1 Sam. ix. 5. foreign, and take thought, i. e. be afraid for us. And so here foreign I will be afraid of my sin, sollicitous concerning it, lest it bring mischief upon me, as it justly may.