Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 2 · Psalm 65
The Sixty Fifth Psalm.
TO the chief Musitian, A Psalm and song of David.
Paraphrase. The sixty fifth Psalm is a thankfull commemoration of Gods mercies and deliverances; probably of his restoring plenty v. 9, 10, 11, 12. after the three years famine, 2 Sam. 21.1. composed by David to be sung by the quire, and to that end committed to the Praefect of his Musick.
1. ‖Praise becometh thee.Praisea. waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion; and unto thee shall the vow be performed.
To thee, O Lord, our solemnest praises are most due, and the richest of our vowed oblations, or free-will offerings.
2. O Thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Thy property it is, to give a favourable audience to all petitions that are duly and faithfully presented unto thee by any obedient servant of thine. This thou hast now most graciously done to me, (see 2 Sam. 21.1. where David enquired, and the Lord answered &c.) And this is an encouragement, and obligation to all such to make their constant addresses to thee, and to all others to hasten to qualify themselves for a capacity of that unvaluable priviledge, to betake themselves to Gods service, that so they may have this freedome and dignity of access unto him.
3. Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
Our sins have justly deserved thy displeasure, and been of force to make a sepa…ation between thee and us; but thou art gratiously pleased to afford us thy free pardon of them, to deal with us and accept our prayers, as if we had not thus provoked thee.
4. Blessed 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.
This is a most blessed condition, to be in the number of those to whom thou art pleased to afford that confidence of presenting their prayers unto thee, and to permit them to come to that place where thou art gratiously pleased to exhibit thy presence, and there to be partakers of all the joyes which are consequent hereto, the offering up prayers, receiving most gratious answers from God, and returning him praises for them. This indeed is a blessed and heavenly portion, sufficient to satisfie any man.
5. †w…nderfull things.Byb. 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*or, of the sea of them that are afarre off. of them that are afarre off upon thec. sea;
And thus art thou pleased to deale with us, to afford us infinite mercy, marvelous exceeding great dignations, and thereby to demonstrate thy selfe to be our only saviour and redeemer; and not of us only but of all the men of the world, of those that inhabite the remotest Islands: there is none to be relyed on for any relief, but only thou.
6. Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains, being girded with power;
Thy strength it is, O thou mighty God, by which only the stablest and firmest parts of the world have their whole stability;
7. Which stillest the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
'Tis thou only that canst restrain the roaring waves and surges of the sea, from being very hurtfull and mischievous: and so in like manner a mad, tumultuous, and rebellious people none can restrain, or return to their obedience, but only thou. And thus thou hast now been pleased to doe.
8. They also that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid at thy tokens: thou makestd. the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoyce.
The illustrious acts of thy providence are such, in dissipating the machinations of wicked men, and protecting, supporting, and delivering those that adhere and keep close to thee, that they extort dread, and joy, awe, and thanksgiving, acknowledgment of thy justice and mercy from all, even the most barbarous men in the world.
9. e.Thou visitest the earth and‖or, makest it thirsty. waterest it; thou greatly inrichest it†the river of God it with the rivers of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn,*for so thou hast founded it. f.when thou hast so provided for it.
Thy gracious providence is discernible, as in the dearths and famines, so in restoring fruitfulness to the land; a work of Gods special care and favour, in opening the clouds of heaven, to water and refresh and inrich the parched earth, and give it all that plenty, those clouds being as it were Gods store-house, and that very richly replenished, and the earth so placed by Gods wisdome in the creation, that they should be ready to answer and satisfie all the wants thereof, whensoever God should see fit to distill and rain them down upon it.
10. g.Thou‖moistnest the ridges thereof, thou depressest her furrows, with showrs thou dissolvest it, thou blessest that which springs …ut of it. waterest the ridges thereof abundantly, thou settlest the furrows thereof, thou makest it soft with showrs, thou blessest the springing thereof.
And indeed by the seasonable dispensing of this it is, that the ground is prepared to send forth increase, when the corn is sowed in it; and by the same again, whereby it prospers and thrives after it is come up.
11. Thou crounest the year with thy goodness, and thyh. paths drop fatness.
Thy bounty it is, by which all the fruits of the seasons of the year are afforded us so plenteously: The clouds, from the rain whereof all this plenty proceeds, are by thy special direction and providence appointed so to doe.
12. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness and the little hills‖shall gird themselves with gladness. i.rejoyce on every side.
They distill and fall on the dry and desert places; and by that supply, the lesser hills, which are at the foot of the greater, become extremely fruitfull.
13. Thek. pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered over with corne: they shout for joy, they all sing.
And so all fertility, both of the slocks and grain, comes down as a gift of thine, a bountifull largess from thy treasury, for which thou art for ever to be magnified.
Annotations on Psalm LXV.
V. 1. Waiteth] From foreign siluit, is foreign foreignsilence, which being applied to man toward God, generally signifies a quiet relyance and dependance on him. And thus the Interlinear rendreth here, tibi silentium laus, silence to thee is praise; & the Chaldee accords, foreign &c. Before thee praise is reputed as silence: It would rather be, silence as praise. And that thus it should signify here, the context enclines, being a solemn acknowledgement of his readiness to relieve all that come to, and wait, and depend on him. And if that be it, than the onelyonly question is, whether being joyn'd to foreign praise, it be to be rendred without, or with a copulative. There is no copulative in the Hebrew, and therefore literally it will thus be rendred, foreign Silence to thee (i. e. A quiet waiting or depending on thee) is praise. But it is so ordinary in the Psalms to omit, and yet understand, the copulative ו and, that there will be no reason to doubt but that so it may be here also, To thee silence and praise, O God— i. e. To thee belongeth, or is due each of these. But the Jewish Arab renders it, praise becommeth thee, O God; and Abu Walid, To thee is praise besitting, becomming, due, convenient for thee, referring foreign to the theme foreign to be like, or agreeable: and in this rendring all the antients (save only the Chaldee) agree, foreign say the LXXII. praise becometh thee; foreign it is decent for thee, the Syriack; agrees to thee, the Arabick; and so the rest.
V. 5. Terrible things] foreign foreignfrom foreign timuit, reveritus est, signifies sometimes terrible, sometimes wonderfull things, any thing that exceeds either in greatness or quality. In the latter we have it Deut. x. 21. speaking of God, He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things; foreign i. e. foreign strong things, saith the Targum, great, exceeding, wonderfull things, and those acts of mercy, and not of justice or punishment; and so here it appears to signifie, being joyned with foreign foreignanswering us, or granting us, in answer to our prayers, (so foreign signifies to answer a request, to hear a prayer) and with foreign foreignin righteousness, which frequently imports mercy. The Lxxii. accordingly read it foreign wonderfull.
V. 5. See] foreign foreignthe sea is frequently set to denote the Islands that are incompast with the sea on every side, and being here opposed to foreign the ends or extreme parts of the earth, i. e. the continent, it is set to signifie all the farthest distant angles or Islands of the world, and so is joyned with foreign,foreign those that are farre removed, and so will best be rendred to the letter, the sea of them that are fa…thest off, and explained by the Chaldee, who read foreign an… o… the Islands of the sea, foreign which are remote from the continent. The Syriack render the sense most fully, foreign the remote nations.
V. 8. Outgoings] From foreign prodiit, processit, is foreign foreignegressio, and is ordinarily applyed to the sun, and then best rendred rising. So Psal. xix. 6. foreign his going forth, i. e. his rising, is from the end of the heavens, i. e. extreme part of the horison. So Psal. Lxxv. 6. For promotion cometh neither foreign from the going out (i. e. from the rising of the sun, the East) nor foreign from the evening, or sun-set, or west. In proportion with which place (where foreign out-going, and foreign evening, or sun-set, or west, are set opposite) it will be most fit to interpret the phrase here, that the out-going of the morning shall be literally the rising of the sun, or morning starre, the forerunner of the sun, and by metonymy, the East, or one extreme part of the world, and again that used for the men that inhabite it; and the evening, on the other side, not the out-going of the evening, or r…si…g of the moon or stars, but literally the place of the suns setting, the west, and so the inhabitants of that other extreme part. And so both together be equivalent with [those that dwell in the utte…most parts of the earth,] in the beginning of the verse.
V. 9. Visitest] That foreign signifies visiting, foreignin the notion either of mercy or punishing, and here belongs to the former in mercy, there is no question. The difficulty is in the following word foreign,foreign which from foreign discurrit cum fremitu, running about with a noise, as an hungry or thirsty Lion, may signify to make thirsty. This word foreign the Arabs use frequently of parcht or dry ground, which opens the mouth as it were, to beg for shours. Thus a dry ground is called foreign Ps. cxLiii. 6. a thirsty land. And thus the longing soule, (in the word here used) foreign, is joyned with the hungry soule, and by that conjunction seems to signify the thirsty soule, Psal. cvii. 9. The Chaldee there renders it foreign empty. And thus is foreign used for appetite or desire, Gen. iii. 16. and Gen. iv. 7. and so the verb is frequently used by the Rabbines. And then as Aben Ezra, and Kimchi prefer this notion, so the rendring, they think, will most probably be, foreign Thou hast visited in mercy, i. e. blessed the earth, or land, foreign after thou hast made it dry, or thirsty, foreign thou hast or dost enrich it greatly; i. e. Thou, the same God, which hast punished and made thirsty, dost again return in mercy, and enrich it also, restorest plenty to it. Thus it was in the story after the three years famine 1 Sam. xxi. 1. and is most probably the m…aning of this passage; as all t…at follows of the plenty. But others interpret it in the notion of watering: foreign, saith the Jewish Arab, thou hast watered; and to that Abu Walid inclines, and so the Chaldee, and Syriack, and Lxxii. whose authority may prevail for that.
V. 9. When] The only difficulty of this v. 9. will be removed by rendring foreign foreignfor, or quandoquidem; for thus it lyes: Thou with thy divine blessing and providence foreign foreignvisitest, i. e. takest care for the earth foreign, all that is here below, particularly the field that bears fruits or corn, foreign foreignand waterest it (from foreign, in Piel foreign rigavit) foreign thou inrichest it exceedingly. Then follows foreign foreign— the river of God is full of water, i. e. the clouds, which God hath prepared to be receptacles of waters, from thence, when he pleaseth, to pour down upon the earth; they are alwayes kept full for any uses. And hereby thou preparest their corne, by the former and the latter raine thou makest fruitfull seasons, foreign foreignfor so thou hast founded it, i. e. the earth; i. e. God hath so placed the earth in the midst of waters, waters in the bowels of it, and waters in the clouds hanging over it, (the keys whereof are peculiarly kept in his hand, say the Jews, as the keys of life and resurrection, see note on Act. xiv. a.) that as he can, if he please, overthrow and destroy it presently, as in the deluge he did, for the sins of the old world, (see 2 Pet. iii. 5.) so, if our provocations doe not withhold his hand, he will replenish, and inrich it constantly by these means. To this sense the antient Interpreters agree: the Lxxii. read, foreign for so is the preparation, the earth was after this manner prepared; and the Syriack, foreign when thou foundedst or establishedst it; and the Chaldee, foreign seeing thou hast so founded it.
V. 10. Waterest] In this v. 10. is set down the way by which the rain enricheth the earth, that is prepared for corne, and makes it fruitfull. First, after ploughing it comes down and moistens the earth, waters the ridges, or ground cast up; so foreign foreignsignifies, foreign from foreign to be watered or moistned and foreign from foreign. Of this saith Abu Walid, that in Arabick with th it signifies a cleft, and with t, that which the plough cleaves in the earth, a furrow. But R. Tanchum saith that with th it is indeed a cleft, by reason of something wanting to fill the place, but with t, it signifies the lines or ridges of earth betwixt two furrows. And whereas the Arabick Lexicographers (by name Al Kamus) render it a furrow, he saith it may be so called from the efficient cause of it, because the making the furrows and turning the earth out of them, occasioneth the raising of the other. The interlinear renders it lira, the Lexicographers porca, the upper and drier ground betwixt the drains or furrows. And this, as it is laid dry, and so fitted for the receiving, and giving root to the corne, so it wants the benefit of showres from heaven to refresh it, and so God bestows them upon it. Then follows foreign. That the Jewish Arab renders, the rain descends on the furrows of it. Abu Walid thinks that foreign foreignhath here the signification of abounding, encrease, flourishing; the Arabick nazeta, which answers it in the sense of descending, signifying that. Then for foreign foreignhe thinks it all one with foreign precedent, and so to signify, as he conceived of that, a furrow; but still this in R. Tanchums notion of that, the mould which, by making the furrow, is cast up, which therefore Castellio reads glebas the clods, of which it is here said, that God depresseth them, so foreign literally signifies, makest them to descend, the earth that is cast up in ridges sinks down and fills up the vacuities, and so is in a fitter posture for the growing of the corne, and is done by God, as here follows, foreign foreignby the shours of rain coming down, & softening and washing it down. And therefore 'tis added foreign foreignthou dissolvest it (from foreign to be melted or dissolved.) All this for the preparing the soile to the due receiving, and sending forth the corne: and then when it is above ground, 'tis called foreign foreigngermen, that which is sprouted out from the earth; and then comes the latter rain, and makes that grow very prosperously: and that is the meaning of the last part of the verse, foreign foreignthou blessest that which sprouts out.
V. 11. Paths] The clouds are here styled foreign foreignthy paths (from foreign round, circular, smooth, because paths are made by cart-wheels turning round upon them) as the places whereon God is Poetically described to walke, or to be carried as in a charriot, Psal. xviii. 9, 10, 11. For to these it is that the dropping of fatness on the earth peculiarly belongs. The antient Interpreters, all but the Chaldee, render this by way of paraphrase, foreign, say the Lxxii. thy fields shall be filled with fatness (by the bounty of the clouds upon them;) and the Latine and Arabick and Aethiopick follow them: but the Syriack, foreign — and thy calves or young cattel shall be filled with grass (as an effect of the bounty of the clouds.)
V. 12. Rejoyce] The phrase here applied to the hills, of foreign foreignthey shall gird themselves (from foreign cinxit) with gladness, is to be judged of by Psal. xxx.ii. where 'tis used and applied to men. It there signifies being clothed with a festival garment (the girdle being that which binds the garment on us, and the girdle or garment of gladness, the festival garment) and is figuratively used to denote Gods blessings abundantly bestowed upon him. And so here, by the like figure, the hills being girded with gladness, denotes being plentifully inricht by God, or made very fruitfull; so as v. 13. their shouting for joy and singing imports. The Lxxii. therefore render it very literally, and very fitly, foreign, the hills shall be girt about with exultation; and the rest of the antients accord.
V. 13. Pastures] The Hebrew foreign,foreign which signifies a pasture, Isa. xxx. 23. signifies also a ramme, Isa. xvi. 1. And so the Lxxii. here render it foreign rammes, and so the Chaldee also. But the elegancy is best preserved by the former notion. The flocks of sheep being fitly styled the clothing of the pasture, which they keep warme, and much inrich by being folded on it. And with that so interpreted the analogy holds in that which follows, the valleys or ploughed lands are covered with corne, as the fields with sheep.