Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 4 · Psalm 97
The Ninety Seventh Psalm.
The ninety seventh Psalm, agreeable to the ninety sixth, is the praising the God of heaven for his works of justice and mercy. 'Tis‖foreign, Lxxii. thought to be composed by David on occasion of his peaceable reestablishment in his kingdome, after the rebellion and destruction of Absolom; but it as literally contains a prediction of the Messias his inauguration to his regal office, and the signal exercise thereof in the destruction of his crucifiers, and all other enemies of his kingdome. See note a.
1. THe Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoyce; let the†many Islands foreign multitude of the Isles be glad thereof.
Paraphrase. God hath subdued all the enemies and opposers of that kingdome which he hath been pleased to erect, to seat his anointed quietly in his throne, an eminent type of the kingdome of the Messias, which is to commence at his resurrection, and to be set up in the hearts of believers, and shall prove matter of all true joy to all the heathen world, and the several nations thereof, as well as to the Jews.
2. Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment area. the*basis habitation of his throne.
His judgments are secret and unsearchable, and so the infinitely wise wayes and depths of his providence; but all founded in, and managed with most perfect justice and rectitude.
3. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
4. His lightening inlightened the world; the earth saw and trembled.
5. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
Those that will not receive him when after his miraculous resurrection and ascension the Gospel is preached to them, shall be soon overwhelmed with signal judgments from heaven, as remarkable and formidable, and as fully evidenced to be the effects of Gods wrath, as if fire from heaven, or flames of lightnings, or Angels the witnesses of Gods presence, should visibly appear in their destruction. (And this first and in the most illustrious manner to be executed on the nation of the Jews the crucifiers, the city and temple of Jerusalem, and after upon heathen Rome, &c.
6. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.
And all Angels and men shall discern and acknowledge and proclaim the great justice of it, and the glorious manifestation of the divine power of Christ in the ruine of his malicious opposers.
7. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him all yeb. ‖Angels.Gods.
This vengeance all are to expect among the nations, who do not presently forsake the worship of their false Gods (see Psal. xcvi. note a.) that still adhere to idols, when the faith of Christ the eternal God, Creator of the world, whom the very Angels adore and obey Heb. 1.6. is preached among them. (There being no way to rescue Idolaters from this ruine, but an hearty speedy acceptation of the Christian faith, as appeared in the Romane Empire.)
8. Sion heard and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoyced, because of thy judgments, O Lord.
This was good news both to Jerusalem, and the villages and towns about, the daughters of that mother city: And all the true children of Abraham, all the believing Jews (and Gentiles, also) shall by this means be delivered from their persecutions, and so obliged to glorify the justice and mercy of God in it.
9. For thou, Lord, art‖most high foreign high above all the earth; thou art exalted farre above all Gods.
For this (Messias whom we have hoped for so long) is the supreme God of heaven and earth, whose creatures they are which all the Idolatrous people of the world have worshipt for Gods; and accordingly at the preaching of the Gospel all their oracles and worships shall vanish.
10. Ye that love the Lord, hate evill: he preserveth the soule of his saints, he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
O let all that pretend to love or honour or serve him, fly from all pollution both of flesh and spirit, all that he hath forbidden, all that may any way provoke his wrath, who is a God of pure eyes, and cannot behold iniquity. And if all their lives be laid out on this one care of approving themselves to him, their time will be well spent in this service; and beside the endlesse reward in another world, they shall not fail of the evidences of his goodnesse and gratiousnesse here in giving them signal preservations and deliverances from all the machinations of wicked men, and in his time rest and cessation of persecutions, peaceable assemblies and opportunities of serving him.
11. c.Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
For though the service of God under the Gospel have an annexation of tribulations, which must be expected, and chearfully supported in this life, being dispensed by the divine providence for many salubrious and beneficial ends; yet is there that seed and foundation of joy and abundant delight to all honest and truly pious hearts sown there, that shall not faile to bring forth all comfortable and blessed effects to them even in this life, by the practice of Christian virtues, by the comforts and peace of conscience, and that lively hope that is afforded to all faithfull obedient disciples, and over and above, after this life, the fruition of endlesse bliss and glory.
12. Rejoyce in the Lord ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
This therefore is matter of the greatest exultation, and thanksgiving, and commemoration of Gods infinite goodness and mercy to all truly pious men.
Annotations on Psalm XCVII.
V. 2. Habitation of his throne] From foreign and foreign prepared, fitted, confirmed, foreignis foreign here, used for a place, seat, but especially a basis whereon any thing is set: from whence the Lxxii. had their foreign (the very Hebrew foreign) for basis, 1 King. vii. 27. The Chaldee here reteins the Original foreign, but the Lxxii. from the notion of the verb for fitting, read foreign the setting right of his throne; the Syriack by way of paraphrase, by equity and judgment foreign thy throne is confirmed: all which concurr to the notion of basis and foundation, which is the thing which gives the rectitude first, and then the stability, to the chair or throne that is set on it. And so that is without question the right, intelligible rendring of the phrase, Righteousness and judgment are the (not habitation, but) basis of his throne, i. e. his sentences, decrees, judicatures are all built upon righteousness and judgment, as a throne is built and established on a foundation. The Jewish Arab renders it foreign the condition, state, or manner.
V. 7. Gods] That foreign sometimes signifies Angels hath been formerly noted.foreign And that in this place it doth so, and not as it doth afterward v. 9. and Psal. xcvi. 4, 5. the Gods of the Gentiles, the Idol false Gods, or as here the Chaldee understand it, foreign all the nations that serve Idols, is manifest not only by the Lxxii. that render it foreign his Angels, and the Syriack foreign to the same sense, and so the Latine &c. but especially by the Apostle Heb. i. 6. where speaking expresly of Christs preeminence above Angels, and bringing testimonies of it out of Scripture, he addes that foreign, when it, i. e. the Scripture, would introduce the first born, i. e. the Messias, into the world, i. e. that superior world call'd foreign the world to come c. 11. 5. foreign, it saith, foreign, and let all the Angels of God worship him. Which words being evidently taken from the Lxxii. in this place, as they convince foreign here to signify Angels, so they are a key to admit us into the full importance of this whole Psalm, that it is the introducing the Messias into heaven, a description of Christs middle coming, so frequently styled in the New Testament foreign the coming or presence (as here v. 5.) of the Son of man, and the kingdome of God, and of heaven, viz. his ascent thither, and so entering on his regal power v. 1. which he was to exercise there. To which therefore are annext the effects thereof on those that would not permit or allow him to reign over them, destroying the obstinate rebels, both Jews and Gentiles, and giving all cause of rejoycing to all that received the faith, and subjected themselves to his Government. That this so usefull a key to this Psalm may not be wrested from us, it is not amiss to take notice, that some shew of probability there is, that the words Heb. i. 6. may be taken from Deut. xxxii. 43. (and not from this Psalm) where the Lxxii. read these very words, foreign, Let all the Angels of God worship him. But first, the Hebrew in that place hath no such words, but only these, foreign, which the Chaldee, and Syriack, and Samaritan, and Arabick, and Vulgar Latine, all with exact accord, render, Praise his people ye Gentiles, (or proclaim, depredicate his people, promulgate Gods special favour to them) for which the cause is rendred in the next words, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, whereas the Lxxii. as our copies now have it, presents us with this great variety, no less then foure express Scholions, for this one plain sense, foreign, Rejoyce ye heavens together with him, and let all the Angels of God worship him; Rejoyce ye Gentiles with his people, and let all the sons of God be strong to him. Of these it may be observed, that as only the first and the third pretend to be rendrings of the Hebrew, and the second and fourth paraphrases or explications of their meaning in them; so the false reading of foreign with him for foreign his people, hath begotten them both. For having rendred that in the former, foreign, together with him, they have converted foreign nations into foreign heavens, then annext the second to render an account of that, let all the Angels of God worship him, signifying the Angels worshipping him to be that which they meant by the heavens rejoycing together with him, and so those heavens, those Angels in them, to be the foreign the nations there called to, to praise or rejoyce with him. In the third they have rendred foreign by foreign, rejoyce ye Nations, (which differs but lightly from praise or proclaim ye Gentiles) but then again for foreign his people, they read foreign with his people, which is the conjunction of foreign and foreign both. As for foreign let all the Angels of God worship him, it is so farre from having any the least affinity with the words in the Hebrew, that 'tis no way probable that it was in the original copies of the Greek, (but only by some scribe cast into the margent, from this Psalm) it being certain that none of those antient translators, which use to follow the Lxxii. do follow it in this. This consideration therefore will render it very unreasonable to fetch those words, (which the Apostle citeth out of the Scripture) from this place of Deuteronomy, where the Original text hath nothing like it, and which the Hebrews, to whom the Epistle was written, did know was not to be found in the Hebrew, when this text in the Psalm in the Hebrew, as well as Greek, did so readily afford it. Secondly, this citation Heb. 1. coming in consort with many other testimonies of the Old Testament, 'tis observable that all the rest of the testimonies (save only that of I will be to him a father, and he shall be unto me a son, which seems to be taken from 2 Sam. vii. 14. where they are spoken of Solomon the son of David, a special type of Christ) are taken out of this one book of Psalms. Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, v. 5. from the express words Psal. ii. 7. Who maketh his Angels spirits, &c. v. 7. from Psal. civ. 4. Thy throne, O God, is for ever, &c. v. 8, 9. from Psal. XLV. 6, 7. Thou Lord, in the beginning, &c. v. 10, 11, 12. from Psal. cii. 25, 26. Sit thou on my right hand, &c. v. 13. from Ps. cx. 1. And therefore in all probability from the same book of Psalms, and therein from the express words in this Psalm, this testimony was cited by the Apostle.
V. 11. Light] R. Solomon reads foreign foreignhere in the notion of a plant, or herbe, as we have it Isai. xxvi. 19. foreign the dew of herbs, and 2 Kin. iv. 39. where the Lxxii. read foreign, a corruption of the Hebrew foreign. If this might be admitted, it would be appliable to the Germen David, which was to spring up as a tender plant. But the conjunction with gladness here, gives it the ordinary notion of light, which is so gladsome, and so fitly used for joy, (as darkness for sorrow) the seed whereof is little, saith Aben Ezra, but the harvest great; which R. Saadiah interprets, the seed is in this world, but the harvest in that to come. The Jewish Arab reads, Light is powred forth to the righteous.