Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 5 · Psalm 122
The Hundred Twenty Second Psalm.
A Song of‖ascents, see note on Ps. cxx. a. degrees of David. The hundred twenty second is an expression of great joy for a returne to the benefits of Gods publick service, together with a prayer for continuance of those peaceable opportunities. It was first composed by David, probably after his returne from his flight from Absolom, and solemnly sung by the Levites upon the returne from the Captivity, (see note on Psal. cxx. a.)
1. I Was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
2. Our feet†have stood foreign shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Paraphrase. Blessed be God for the joyfull news which he hath now afforded us, the liberty to goe to Jerusalem, and to the Arke of Gods presence which is placed there, the most blissfull prerogative of peaceable publick assemblies, from which we have been debarred so long.
3. Jerusalem is builded as a city thata. is*joyned to it selfe together compact together.
Jerusalem is a lovely place, the very buildings, being so uniforme, are very beautifull (and an emblem of that union of minds, both in charity and united intercessions, which is the most amiable gracefull thing in the Church of God.)
4. Whether the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,b. ‖by, or according to the commandment, or testimony to Israel.unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
And nothing more lovely in it, than that it is the place to which all the inhabitants of the land are thrice every year obliged to go up to commemorate the mercies of God afforded to his people.
5. For there†set arec. set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
Yet beside this of the house and service of God, there also the Sanhedrim, or supreme judicature of the nation sitteth, that great court where the highest matters are decided: And there also is the palace where David, and the Kings of Judah descending lineally from David, do and shall constantly reside.
6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.
From all these both civill and Ecclesiastical considerations, it is the duty of all good men to pray for this place, and to love it most affectionately, to beseech God to bestow a quiet injoyment of all these advantages, and therein all manner of prosperity upon it. And they that thus love, and pray, and contribute their utmost to it, shall certainly gain to themselves prosperity and temporal felicity by this means.
7. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
Let this therefore be our united prayer, that God will pour down all his blessings upon this place.
8. For my brethren and companions sakes I will now*speak peace of, or …, say, Peace bed. within thee.
9. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.
And as our prayers, so let our most earnest indeavours be bent this way, to advance the prosperity and tranquillity of it, and so both of Church and state, which are equally concerned in it. And to this all obligations, both humane and divine, charity to our brethren, and piety to that God who is adored and glorified there, most strictly engage us.
Annotations on Psalm CXXII.
V. 3. Compact] This phrase of foreign foreignassociated (from foreign to joyne or associate) or joyned to it selfe together, refers critically to that which the sacred story gives us of that city. The site of it was upon a very unequal ground; the low town was mean and dismantled; the castle on the hill was fortified, and held as a place of strength; which being taken by Joab, David built up the whole, and so made it one city, associated and joyned together. 1 Chron. xi. 7, 8. David dwelt in the castle, and built the city round about, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
V. 4. Unto the testimony of Israel] foreign foreigndoth literally signify, the testimonies (as that imports commands given) to Israel. So foreign the verb, as it signifies to testify, is also to admonish; and so testimonies and statutes and judgments, Deut. iv. 45. are all used in the same sense, for the commands delivered by Moses from God; and so ch. vi. 20. What mean the testimonies— and frequently in this book of Psalms, Gods testimonies, being that which he hath revealed, and thereby testified of his will. So when we read of the Ark of the testimony, 'tis in relation to the Decalogue which was kept in the Ark, Exod. xxv. 16. thou shalt put into the Ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And so here the testimony to Israel is the command given to that people of going up from all parts of the land to Jerusalem three times a year, to the Feasts. That is meant in the beginning of the verse, Thither the tribes go up, not to, but by, or according to the testimony to Israel, the law given to that purpose. The preposition indeed is wanting, and so must of necessity be supplied (rather than to make the testimony the notation of the place, viz. the Ark) the sense being thus most current, Whither, i. e. to Jerusalem, the tribes go up, i. e. all the Jews wheresoever inhabiting, according to the testimony, or law given to Israel (so ל imports) to give thanks unto the name of the Lord, which was the end of their going up, and of the command which required it at the festivals, the solemn times of thanksgiving. The Chaldee have another notion of it, and render it Gods testifying to Israel foreign &c. that his majestatick presence shall abide among them when they come to confess unto the name of the Lord. But the former rendring is more proper and agreeable. And accordingly the learned Castellio reads it, ex edito Israelitis oraculo, from, or by the oracle delivered to the Israelites. The Jewish Arab reads foreign and it is the place of convention to, or for Israel, taking it in the notion that the words derived from foreign have.
V. 5. Thrones of judgment] That the foreign foreignseats for judgment here signify the Sanhedrim, or highest Court of Judicature, there can be no question. These are said to sit (so foreign foreignliterally imports) at Jerusalem, as being the Metropolis of Judea, & so the seat of that greatest councel, as lesser cities are of the Consistories or lesser consessus, called foreign judgments Mat. v. 22. The onelyonly difficulty is, whether foreign the thrones for the house of David, be but another phrase to express the same thing. If it be, then the expression is poetical, to set down the grandeur of that supreme Sanhedrim, that it is a royall judicature, and so as it were the seat of the King himself; as among us the Kings-Bench is the title of our great court of judicature, where in the Kings name judgment is given to the people. But 'tis more probable, that it is added as a third argument of the glory of Jerusalem, that there is the Regal throne, where now David, as after him his successors should reside. The Chaldee read it to this sense, for interpreting the latter part of the house of the sanctuary, they say, that there are seats prepared foreign &c. for the Kings of the house of David.
V. 8. Within thee] The suffix ב is best rendred with, or of, or concerning. The Chaldee retein foreign,foreign but the Syriack read foreign of thee, or on thee, the Lxxii. foreign of, or concerning thee; all of them joyning it with foreign I will now speak peace on thee, or of thee, i. e. bless thee, and pray for all Gods blessings and felicities upon thee. The Jewish Arab, I will speak of thy peace or safety.