Paraphrase Upon the Books of the Psalms, Book 5 · Psalm 108
The Hundred and Eighth Psalm.
A Song or Psalm of David.
Paraphrase. The hundred and eighth Psalm is compiled and very little changed from two branches of two former Psalms; Psal. Lvii. v. 8, 9, 10, 11. and Psal. Lx. v. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. and is a solemn commemoration of Gods mercies to David in the victories obteined by him over his enemies round about, particularly at the taking of Rabba, 2 Sam. 12.29. together with a prayer for continuance of all Gods mercies.
1. O God, my heart is‖prepared, foreign see Ps. 57.7. fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.
2. Awake Psaltery and Harpe;†I will foreign I my selfe will awake early.
Blessed Lord, how am I ingaged to bless and praise thy holy name, to imploy my tongue and all the instruments of musick, and every faculty of my soule, in commemorating thy goodness and signal mercies to me? This is the least that can be deemed incumbent on me; and this I shall most readily, heartily and chearfully performe (see Psal. Lvii. 7, 8)
3. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people, and I will sing praises to thee among the nations.
And 'tis not fit that so great dignations should be acknowledged in the closet or privacy only; 'tis most decent that our tribute of praise for them should be in the midst of the assembly, with the greatest possible solemnity, calling all others to take part in so important an office. (Psalr Lvii. 9.)
4. For thy mercy is greata. ‖from aboveabove the heavens, and thy truth†unto foreign reacheth unto the*skyes: see note on Ps. Lvii. c. clouds.
For thy mercy and fidelity have been magnified toward me in a most eminent manner, and are each of them infinitely great (see Psal Lvii. 10.)
5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory‖or, upon above all the earth.
For which therefore blessed be for ever thy glorious majesty in the highest degree that is possible for us finite and infirme creatures, (see Psal. Lvii. 11.)
6. That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand and answer me.
Who have received such signal assistan…es from thee, evidences of thy speciall favour, and interposition of thine own right hand, in returne and answer to the prayers which we have addrest to thee. (See Psal. Lx. 5.)
7. God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoyce, I will divide Shechem, and meet out the valley of Succoth.
8. Gilead is mine Manasseh is mine: Ephraim also is the strength of my head, Judah is my lawgiver.
God made me a most sure promise, which he hath now most signally performed, and so given me matter of all triumph, and rejoycing and thanksgiving, that I am not only fully and quietly possest of all the kingdome both of Israel and Judah, and delivered from the assaults which were made against me by my malicious neighbours (see Psal. Lx. 6, 7. note d.)
9. Moab is my washpot, over Edom will I†cast my- cast out my shooe, over Philistiab. will I*shout triumph.
but even that they that thus assaulted me are themselves brought down in subjection to me; by name the Moabites, the Edumaeans, and the Philistims, (see Psal. Lx 8. and note d.)
10. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
And now let the Ammonites cast us in the teeth, reproach us as if we should doe nothing of all this, as if their cities were impregnable, or our armies utterly unsufficient to vanquish and subdue them;
11. c.Wilt not thou, O God, who‖Hadst hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, goe forth with our hosts?
That God which for our sins had formerly withdrawn his assistance (and so long we m…st needs be improsperous, having no means left to accomplish any victories) hath now b en g…aciously pleased to returne to us, and assist us, and manage the whole business for us, to give us this last victory over the Regal city and King of the Ammonites, and so to testify by this happy succesie his signal presence with us.
12. Give us help from * trouble,†distress foreign for vain is the help of man.
To him therefore alone is our resort in the greatest distresse, from him must come the relief, or we shall be lost; all other assistances, beside that of heaven, being utterly unsufficient, (see Psal. Lx. 11.)
13. Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
If he interpose his power on our side, no enemy shall be able to stand before us. It is he, and not any strength of ours, that shall worke all our victories for us (see Psal. Lx. 12.) And on this we will confidently depend, through his goodness and mercy to us.
Annotations on Psalm CVIII.
V. 4. Above the heavens] Among the few variations which are made in this Psalm from the several parcels of Ps. lvii. & lx. of which it is composed, it may be observed, that instead of foreign to the heavens Psal. lvii. 10. 'tis here foreign foreignfrom above the heavens; which being designed as an expression to set out the greatness of the extent of Gods mercies, First, it doth that very perfectly, and signifies the infiniteness of it, not onelyonly above the heavens, but from thence continuedly down to us, foreign from above, to the lowest and meanest of us, and to all betwixt: and Secondly, it confirms our rendring foreign both there and here, not clouds, but skyes, meaning the bodies of the heavens, those pure aethereal orbs, where the Sun and Moon and Starrs are (see Note on Ps. lvii. c.) for taking foreign for the regions of the aire, and foreign for the celestial bodies, these two phrases will perfectly accord, foreign from above the lower of them, the aiery regions, and foreign to, or the higher of them, the caelestial orbs; only with this difference, that the former phrase notes the descent from thence hither (not foreign above, but foreign from above) and the latter the ascent from us foreign to, or as farre as to that: the former notes the foreign or depth, the latter the foreign or height of it.
V. 9. Will I triumph] Here is another variation betwixt this Psalm and the copy whence 'tis transcribed, Ps. lx. 8. Here 'tis foreign foreignover the Philistims I will shout, foreign I will jubulate, saith the Chaldee, foreign I will cry or make a noise, give a shout, saith the Syria k, but the Lxxii. by way of paraphrase, foreign, the Phylistins are subjected unto me, the full intimation of that shouting over them. But Ps. lx. 8. 'tis foreign. Of that place we have allready shewed (see Ps. lx. Note c.) that foreign is not to be rendred over me, but simply over, viz. (joyned with that which next follows) over the Phylistims; and that foreign shout thou, was to be applied either as speaking to himself, shout thou, my soule, or to the congregation of Israel, shout thou, ye Israelites, over Philistia. And then, as that was there according to sense rendred by the Syriack, over the Philistims foreign will I shout, so here the Hebrew hath it most expresly, to secure us of the truth of that interpretation there, in both those particulars; there being as little difference between foreign I will shout, and foreign shout thou, my soule, as betwixt foreign, which is acknowledged to signify to more than over (a bare preposition) and foreign which hath the same letters, though it be otherwise pointed. The Jewish Arab Ps. lx. reads foreign the Philistims shall be smitten down by me, and here foreign I will smite down the Philistims, as if he took the Hebrew foreign in the notion of breaking, in these places. R. Solomon here takes it in the notion of shouting, but in the other Psalm in a different, expounding it, joyne thy selfe to my kingdome, by becoming subject to me.
V. 11. Wilt not thou, O God,] This passage though in words (all but foreign foreignthou) the very same with Ps. lx. 10. must yet be understood in somewhat a distant sense. And tis no news in sacred compositions, especially those that are Poetical, to apply words spoken upon one subject to another, to which however they were not at first designed, yet they may be commodiously referred. The occasion of this Psalm seems to be the taking of Rabba, 2 Sam. xii. 30. as the subject of Ps. lx. was the atchievements of Joab, mentioned in the title of it, which all were praeludia and preparative to this great success, the taking a fortified Metropholis, and therewith the King, and possessing the Crown of the conquered nation. So that now all that was said Psal. lx. but in vote, by way of address to God in prayer for his relief and assistance, is here repeated by way of just and solemn triumph, and religious boasting: God hath spoken, v. 7. yea and hath now signally performed; Who will bring me, ver. 10. Let them now ask that question, which formerly they did ask by way of scorne, but now have little reason for; Wilt not thou, O God, who hadst cast us off? It is now apparent by the event, that though for a time God withheld his prospering hand, went not out with our armies, yet he is now graciously pleased to espouse our cause, to give us this great and signal victory. And herein the word foreign foreignthy beloved v. 6. may possibly glance on the name of Solomon, who by the Prophets direction was at this time stiled Jedidiah, 2 Sam. xii. 25. the beloved of the Lord, because of the Lord, or because God was now graciously pleased to be propitiated to David, for his sin with Bathshebah, Solomon's mother, and to prosper his military attempts. The fifty seventh Psalm, from which the former part of this Psalm was taken, was composed by him in the time of his greatest exigence, his flight from Saul; and therefore he being now in a state quite contrary to that, in his highest exaltation, 'twill be most reasonable to understand those words here v. 5. that were then petition and prayer Ps. lvii. 5. & 11. in the notion of lauds and gratefull retribution. Kimchi and Jarchi refer it to the dayes of the Messiah.