Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 2 · Psalm 54
The Fifty Fourth Psalm.
TO the ‖Praefect of his stringed instruments see note on Psal. iv, a,chief Musitian on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?
Paraphrase. The fifty fourth Psalm was composed by David at a time of his great distress, and season…ble deliverance afforded him by God, when hiding himself in the wilderness of Ziph, 1 Sam. xxiii. 15. and of Maon, v. 24. the Ziphites made discov… y to Saul, v. 19. and he went with forces to seek him, v. 25. and compassed him round about, v. 26. but was diverted, and called home, and gave over the pursuit, by reason of the Philistims invading his land, v. 27. It was set to the tune of Maschil, and committed to the Pa…fect of the stringed instruments.
1. Save me, O God, by thy name, and†vindicate foreign judge me by thy strength.
2. Hear my prayer, O God; give eare to the words of my mouth.
To thee, O Lord, I address my self in all humility, to thee is my onelyonly resort; that at this time of distress thou wilt take the care and patronage of me, and by thy power and mercy deliver me out of it.
3. For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
For now malitious men have conspired to bring mischief and ruine upon me, and by their discoveries excited those who are now hunting me for my life: they only consider how they may gratify the King, and gain his favour, and have no restraint of conscience or piety to repress them from proceeding to the utmost evill.
4. Behold, God is my helper; the Lord isa. with them that uphold my soule.
But their malice shall not hurt me, as neer a…d close as they are gotten about me: the Lord shall preserve me, and deliver me out of their hands,
5. He shall reward evill unto mine*treacherous observers, spies foreign enemies: cutt them off in thy truth.
And execute vengeance on these Ziphites that have thus been imployed by Saul to observe and betray me, 1 Sam. 23.23. bringing them in his just judgment to utter destruction.
6. Ib. will‖sacrifice to thee a voluntary oblation. freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Lord, for it is good.
This obliges me to make my most solemn acknowledgements, to present, as my free will …fferings, my lauds and praises, which are most due, and a most joyfull imployment to be paid to him that hath dealt so gratiously with me;
7. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble, andc. mine eye†beheld or looked on mine enemy. hath seen his desire upon mine enemy.
Having by a signal act of his special providence diverted and called back my enemies, given me a pleasurable sight of them in their retreat, and so set me safe from this so present a danger.
Annotations on Psalm LIV.
V. 4. With them that uphold] This phrase foreign foreignthe Lord among the susteiners] deserves here to be taken notice of, as a form not unusual among the Hebrews, yet signifying no more than that God is my upholder; and not he as one of many, but my only upholder. So Jud. xi. 35. when Jephtha tells his daughter, thou art among the troublers of me, or one of them that trouble me, the meaning is no more, than that she very much grieved and troubled him. So Isa. xLi. 4. when God saith of himself, I am with the last, the meaning is evident, I am the last simply, as before I am the first. So Hos. xi. 4. I was to them as they that take off the yoke, i. e. I eased them. So Psal. Lv. 18. there were many with me, i. e. God is with me, and that is as good as the greatest multitude. So Psal. Lxix. 26. they whom thou hast wounded, signifies no more than the singular number precedent, he whom thou hast smitten. This idiome we see continued in the New Testament, Joh. xi. 19. many of the Jews came foreign to those about Martha and Marie, i. e. as we render it, to Martha and Marie. So in Greek style foreign is no more than Plato; and foreign to be of the rich, is no more than to be rich. All this is observed by the learned Seb. Castellio, and given as the account of his rendring the words, Dominus is est qui mihi vitam sustentat, The Lord is he that sustains my life: wherein also he agrees with the LXXII. foreign, the Lord is the defender of my soule, and so the Latine, susceptor animae meae, and the Syriack foreign the supporter of my soule or life; and so the Arabick and Aethiopick.
V. 6. Freely sacrifice] foreign foreignis the known style for a free-will offering, the foreign or voluntary oblation so much spoken of, and so, being here joyned with foreign I will sacrifice, it must questionless signifie: and the preposition foreign foreignmay either be a pleonasm, I will offer a free-will offering, or be thus taken notice of in the rendring, I will sacrifice to thee by way of free-will oblation. And thus the Chaldee reads foreign, which their interpreter renders sacrificium sacrificabo, I will sacrifice a sacrifice. In the end of the verse foreign foreignfor it is good] is capable of a double rendring; either thy name is good, or it is good to praise thy name, see Ps. xcii. 1. and Ps. cxviii. 8, 9. But the Jewish Arab confines it to the former sense, paraphrasing it thus, I will praise thy name, and say, The Lord is good.
V. 7. Mine eye] foreign foreignfrom foreign aspexit, will best be rendred beheld, or lookt, and being joyned with foreign on mine enemy, signifies no more but beheld or lookt upon mine enemie. This the Chaldee is willing to supply (as supposing an ellipsis in it) by addition of foreign revenge, mine eye hath seen revenge upon mine enemy, and our English imitating them, reads, his desire. But the simple reading is followed by the Lxxii. foreign, my eye hath looked upon my enemies; and so the Syriack and Latine &c. follow them: and that seems to be the best rendring of the place, for Davids enemies at this time were not destroyed, but only drawn back from pursuing him, by the coming of the news of the Philistims being in the land. The more probable notation of the phrase is, that David was so nigh as to behold them marching away; which he might well doe, having been incompast with them so close, as the story of it expresses v. 26. and but on the other side of the hill Maon, from the top of which he might well behold them in their retreat: and being so neer destruction by them; and yet so safe by this act of Gods providence, recalling them, he might well recount it as an eminent mercy, that his eye thus beheld his enemies, when he was delivered from their pursuit.