Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 3 · Psalm 77
The Seventy Seventh Psalm.
TO the chief Musitian ‖foreignto Jeduthun, a Psalm of Asaph.
Paraphrase. The seventy seventh Psalm is a pious resolution of affiance in and prayer to God, in all the miseries that befall us in this life, by way of dialogue between diffidence and a well-grounded hope and faith. It seems to have been composed by Asaph in reference to the‖foreign, This Psalm is spoken in the tongue or Dialect of the Captives. Kimchi. captivity, and committed to the Praefect of Musick, to be song to those instruments in which Jeduthun and his posterity were imployed.
1. †My voice was unto God, and I cried, my voice unto God, foreign.I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me.
My distresses were great, and I had none but God to sly to: to him therefore I addrest my request importunately, and he was pleased to relieve me out of them.
2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; a.my*hand was stretcht out …d remitted not. sore ran in the night and ceased not; my soul refused to be comforted.
When any affliction came, this was my constant practice, never to give over praying, never to take any repose by diverting from that imployment.
3. I remembred God,b. and‖tumultuated, or made a wise, or was cla…teus, I meditated,didst held, or keep the watches of mine eyes; I was troubled, and spake not. … prayed— was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was*troubled, agitated. overwhelmed. Selah,
But betaking me to God, and with all importunity making my requests to sound in his ears, I prayed with all the ardency and devotion and affection of my spirit.
4. c.Thou holdest mine eyes waking; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
When I am in the night on my bed, thou, O Lord, seest how I am imployed every minute of it; when any matter of trouble seiseth on me, I betake my self to this kind of silent meditation.
5. I‖consider, or recount. have considered the days of old, the years of†ages, see noted. antient times.
I recount all the eminent passages of thy providence toward this nation of ours, beginning from the first foundation of it.
6. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart, and my spirit*demandeth, asketh. foreign made diligent search,
And thus I think over my own composures in the solitudes of the night, conversing silently with my self, in this form of dialogue betwixt me and my own spirit: And first my spirit or minde asks the question, in this or the like form, reflecting on the distresses that are now upon us,
7. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
God is displeased and chastiseth us severely, as if he would never be attoned,
8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever? ‖is his ward abolished foreignDoth his promise fail for evermore?
9. Hath God forgotten to be gratious? Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.
His mercies and his promimises gave us ground of hope, and will he never remember these? Is he finally resolved never again to turn to us in mercy?
10. And I said,d. this*my desertion is a change of the right— or the years of— is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high.
The continuance and repetition of his judgements for so many years, or in so many forms frequently varied, but still lying heavy upon us, makes this a seasonable fear.
11. I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember†from the antient times of thy wonders, see noted. thy wondrous works.
12. I will meditate also of thy works, and talk of thy doings.
But I soon answered and silenced these my melancholy infidel reasonings, and opposed unto them the acts, the many illustrious miraculous acts of God, in bringing us out of Aegypt, possessing us of Canaan, subduing all our neighbouring enemies, &c. infallible evidences both of his power, and fidelity to all that depend on him; and resolved more reasonably to stay and support my self with the meditation and solemn reflection on these, by his former dealings inviting the continuance of them, and raising to my self confident presages of his future mercies.
13. Thy way, O God, is in‖holiness, foreign the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
And upon an intire survey of all I am forced to acknowledge, that all God's dealings are most just and holy, he never fails the least in the performance of his promises; but, on the contrary, hath magnified his power (as well as justice and fidelity) in a most illustrious manner, in all his dealings with his people.
14. Thou art the God that doest wonders; thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
When thou rescuedst thy people of Israel out of the bondage of Aegypt, the posterity of Joseph all begotten there, and all the rest of the seed of Jacob which came to Aegypt to Joseph (and were at first kindly treated by the King, but after a while opprest and tyrannically inslaved) thou didst it in a most mighty miraculous dreadful manner, so as convinced the very obdurate heathens of thy power and vengeance upon them.
16. the waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid, the depths also were troubled.
And when the Israelites by thy conduct came to the sea side, the very sea, that untamed body way restrained by thee, and as in a frightful dread of thy majesty sled from before them, gave them leave to pass as on dry ground through the chanel of it.
17. The clouds poured out water, the sky sent out a sound;*thy sharp stones foreign thine arrows also went abroad.
18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens, the lightnings lightned the world, the earth trembled and shook.
And on the other side the Lord sent out his judgements upon the Aegyptians, lookt unto their host through the pillar of fire and cloud, and troubled them, Exod. xiv. 24. by which was intimated the tempestuous rain and thunder resounding in the air, and sending out shafts or sharp stones, and again thunders in the clouds, and lightning flashing in their eyes, to the disturbing them extreamly.
19. Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
And thus whilst thy people were conducted and carried safe by thee through the midst of the red sea, the Aegyptians were in no wise able to follow them (but were all first disordered and restrained in the speed of their march, God took off their chariot wheels that they drave them heavily, Exod. xiv. 25. and soon after by Moses's stretching out his hand, swallowed up and destoyed by the sea returning upon them, v. 26.) and so thy works of providence in preserving some, whilst by the same means thou destroyest others, most undiscernible and inscrutable.
20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
And in summe, thy care over thy people, and thy conduct by the hand of Moses and Aaron, hath been experimented to be like that of the most watchful and skilful shepherd over a flock, securing them from all assaults or violence of their enemies. And thy dealings with them there, are a full security to us now, if we continue our faithful dependence on thee, that thou art both able and ready to relieve and rescue us out of the greatest captivities and most present dangers.
Annotations on Psalm LXXVII.
V. 2. My sore ran] foreign foreignfrom protraxit, extendit se, being here applied to foreign my hand, will most probably be rendred, was stretched out, or stretched it self; and to that best agrees foreign foreignand remitted not, gave not over, fell not down from foreign remissum esse. 'Tis true when it is joyned with any fluid thing, it signifies to flow, or run about, as of water, tears, wine, or blood, but here with the hand (if that be the meaning of foreign) the stretching out is the most proper notion of it: and though the Lxxii. for foreign seem to have read foreign over against him, yet they have sufficiently exprest the sense, and restrained it to the notion of foreign foreignfor my hand, foreign, I sought him with my hands by night toward him. The Chaldee having taken foreign by it selfe, and given it a paraphrase remote enough foreign prophecy rested upon me (from one use of the word foreign spoken of God, for the spirit of God 2 King. iii. 15.) do also paraphrase foreign by the eye dropping of tears; but the Syriack reading foreign, as if it had been foreign his hand, convert it to another matter. 'Tis true foreign signifies many things besides an hand, particularly a stroke, or hurt, or wound that befalls any, but this sure respecting him that strikes or inflicts it, whose hand or stroke it is said to be, not his who is striken by it. So Deut. xxxii. 36. where their hand is thus interpreted by the Chaldee, 'tis foreign the stroke of the hater, and Exo. xxiv. 11. where the not laying the hand, is by the Chaldee rendred not hurting, and so foreign interpreted by foreign hurt; yet the foreign his hand or hurt, is not there applied to the patients, but to the agent, God. And Abu Walid, who renders it here a wound or stroke in respect to the sufferer, mentions it as a distinct signification from what it hath in other places. And so still it is most reasonable to understand it in the ordinary sense, foreign my hand, and then foreign must be the extending, holding out, or up, the hand, by which prayer is fitly exprest, whereof that is the solemn gesture.
V. 3. And was troubled] foreign foreign, from foreign sonuit, fremuit, cannot better be rendred than by, I made a noise, which following the remembring of God, and the other phrases v. 1. and 2. of crying, and stretching out the hand, must needs be understood of the voice of his prayers very importunate in Gods ears, (and either very loud or very moanfull) or, as 'tis used Ps. xxxix. 6. very unquiet, and clamorous in Gods ears: and then follows to the same matter, foreign foreignI will or did meditate, either answerable to the remembring God in the beginning of the verse, or else in the notion of praying, as Psal. Lv. 17. it was rendred by the Chaldee foreign I will pray: and here foreign I will speak before the Lord: and lastly foreign my spirit was involved, anxious, troubled; the Syriack render it foreign was rapt, caught into an extasie, as it were, exagitated, or disturbed. And so every part of this verse is an expression of the Psalmists devotion, in the day of his trouble v. 2. but not of his affliction it selfe.
V. 4. Eyes waking] foreign foreign(from foreign custodivit) signifies watches, or vigils, whether the spaces into which the night was divided, the first, second, or third watch, or the office of watching for such a space. Here it seems to be taken in the latter sense, for the office of guarding, watching over; and then foreign joyned with it, holding the watches (parallel to foreign keeping the watches Lu. ii. 8. is the executing of that office.) This is here poetically spoken of God, that he holds the watches of the Psalmists eyes, i. e. sees and knows how they are imployed every minute of the night. And this is here used but as a preface to introduce what follows in the rest of the Psalme, which is made up of the meditations which he had on his bed, and in which he spent the night, supposing God to be present to them. foreign foreignsaith he, I was in perturbation, agitated, disquieted, foreign and spake not vocally, but as in a deep meditation: foreign I recounted or thought on the years that were past—
V. 10. My infirmity] This v. 10. may perhaps be best rendred, if it be taken as the conclusion of the sad hopeless thoughts, set down v. 7, 8, 9. There by way of question his spirit had seemed to say, that there would never be any end of the present afflictions, that Gods mercies were forgotten, and his promises cassate, as if the decree were gone forth, Gods oath in his wrath, a final irreversible sentence, of which he would not repent, saith Rasi: And in the same tenor 'tis here added, I said foreign foreignthis my disease (so the Syriack render it, foreign, from foreign aegrotavit, and so both foreign in Hebrew, and foreign, and foreign, primarily signify) this my wound, or this my dejection, saith Abu Walid, or perhaps this my desertion. (for foreign is used by the Arabs also for desertus fuit, being put away, as in divorce, Mat. xix. 7.) foreign. Here the word foreign is capable of several interpretations, either for changes, or years. In the first sense it will be foreign a change, or changes (from foreign mutavit) of the right hand of the highest, not a mutability in Gods counsels, or providence, but a varied punishment sent by him, foreign a repeated blow or plague, saith the Syriack; and so sure the Chaldee understood it, who render it thus, foreign and I said, foreign this disease foreign a mutation, or, is a mutation foreign of the strong right hand of the most High, a varying of his inflictions, not any inconstancy in his providence and counsels. If it be that, it must be by way of interrogation, And I said this is my infirmity, What? shall the right hand of the most high change? But it may be taken also in the second notion for years, as 'tis evidently used v. 5. and from that verse the sense reacheth down to this place, after this manner, I have considered the dayes of old, foreign foreignthe years of ages, viz. of the several ages, wherein our nation hath been retrenched, and by degrees prepared for this final deportation under Zedekiah, as 1. the captivity of the tribes beyond Jordan, and Galilee, 2 King. xv. then of the remainder belonging to the Kingdome of Samaria, 2 King. xvii. and lastly of Judah, both to Pharaoh Necho, the Aegyptian King, and then to Nebuchadnezzer in his first and second warre 2 Kin. xxiii. and xxiv. In relation hereto the Psalmist asks v. 7. foreign will the Lord cast off for ages, i. e. for several ages; will he be favourarable no more? and so on in divers phrases v. 8. and 9. and then v. 10. And I said this my disease or desertion, foreign is the years of the right hand of the most high, i. e. my captivity is lasting, my sufferings many, the measure of their duration, as the years of eternity. This latter sense seems somewhat more consonant to the genius of these writings. wherein it is customary for the verses to referre by several characters, and allude to each other, and so in likelihood this is the importance of foreign. But the former also will well enough be borne; and in either of them this verse very fitly concludes the first part of this dialogue, which all inclined to the sad part of the reflexion. And then v. 11. follows the second part of it, of a quite contrary resolution, to the end of the Psalm, I will remember the works of the Lord, surely I will remember, foreign from the antient of thy wonders, i. e. I will take up another Epoch, that of all the miraculous deliverances of our nation, when first brought out of Aegypt; I will put the Lord in minde of all his former mercies, and by that recognition endeavour to perswade him to a repetition of them; which belongs clearly to that new matter. The Lxxii. for foreign read foreign now I began, as from one notion of foreign in Hiphil coepit; and herein the Latine follow them: but the Syriack, as was said, forsake them, and adhere to our rendring of that word, my infirmity. Abu Walid, who renders foreign this my disease, or my dejection, being cast down or wounded (as coming, saith he, either from foreign or foreign) and foreign years, will have the whole passage run thus, And if I say this my prostration or distress or suffering shall be for the remainder of time perpetuall, I call to minde thy former benefits to us, and my hope is strengthened, and despaire ceaseth, making this sadder part an introduction to the more chearfull. And so the Jewish Arab, And when I say this is my dejection, prostration, and the space [or duration] of the plague [or punishment] of the most High, I remember &c.