Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 102
PSALM CII.
The Title. A Prayer of the afflicted, &c.] Or, for the afflicted. And indeed moſt probable it is, which moſt Expoſitours hold, that this Pſalm was compoſed by Daniel, or ſome other prophet of thoſe times, for the uſe of Gods afflicted and oppreſſed people, a little before the ſeventy years of the Babylonian captivity were expired, teaching them how to pour out their complaints before God, and to ſeek to him for the reedifying of the city and temple of Jeruſalem; as it may be gathered from that verſ. 13. Thou shalt ariſe and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour her, yea the ſet time is come; and many other paſſages in this Pſalm. As for the following words, when he is overwhelmed, ſee the Note Pſal. 61.2: and poureth out his complaint before the Lord; ſee the Note 1 Sam. 1.15.
Verſ. 3. For my daies are conſumed like ſmoke, &c.] See the Note Pſal. 37.20. & Job 30.30.
Verſ. 4. My heart is ſmitten and withered like graſſe, &c.] To wit, like graſſe that is ſmitten with the heat of the ſun, or like graſſe that is mowen down, and then withereth: ſo that I forget to eat my bread; to wit, as being ſo overwhelmed with ſorrow, that I mind not mine ordinary food.
Verſ. 5. By reaſon of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.] That is, By reaſon of my long-continued miſeries, which cauſe me to ſpend my daies in continuall groaning, I am become nothing but skin and bones. See the Note Job 30.29.
Verſ. 6. I am like a pelican of the wilderneſſe; I am like an owle of the deſart.] By comparing himſelf to theſe diſmall birds, that abide uſually in deſolate places, as he would imply his reſtleſſe condition, and his continuall dolefull cries and lamentations, ſo alſo eſpecially his ſolitarineſſe, not only in that he was forſaken of all, but alſo in that through bitterneſſe of ſpirit he declined the ſociety of men, and the very light of the day was irkſome to him. But ſee the Note Job 30.29.
Verſ. 7. I watch, &c.] That is, Through my continuall miſeries & cares and ſorrows, I am ſtill kept waking & cannot take any reſt: & am as a ſparrow alone upon the houſe top; that is, ſad & ſolitary, as a ſparrow that ſits ſolitary & mourning upon the houſe top, being caſt out of her neſt, or that is deprived of her young ones or her mate. But now again ſome underſtand this verſe thus: I watch, that is, I wait for deliverance; but, alas, all in vain, continuing ſtill in a ſad deſolate condition: and am as a ſparrow, &c.
Verſ. 9. For I have eaten ashes like bread, &c.] Having ſaid in the foregoing verſe, mine enemies reproach me all the day, here he ſhews the extreme miſery he was in, which gave his enemies occaſion to inſult over him and reproach him; for I have eaten ashes like bread, that is, I find no more ſavour in my food, then if I fed upon aſhes; as indeed extreme grief will cauſe men even to loath their food, ſo that they ſhall find no reliſh in any thing they eat. Or elſe the meaning may be only, that he lay groveling in aſhes with his face upon the ground, as if he had been feeding upon aſhes, which agrees with that phraſe of licking the duſt, for which ſee the Note Pſal. 72.9; or, that whilſt he lay upon the ground covered with ſackcloth and aſhes, being regardleſſe what he fed on, as he lay in that condition, what he did eat was mingled with aſhes: which ſome Expoſitours do the rather approve, becauſe it ſeems to agree with the following clauſe, and mingled my drink with weeping, for which ſee the Note Pſa. 42.3. The expreſſion here uſed ſeems to be taken from the cuſtome of mens mingling their wine with water.
Verſ. 10. Becauſe of thine indignation and thy wrath, &c.] The meaning of theſe words may be, either that Gods indignation was the cauſe of his miſery; or, that his ſorrow was not ſo much for the diſtreſſe he was in, as from this apprehenſion, that God in his wrath had brought theſe miſeries upon him: for thou haſt lifted me up, and caſt me down; that is, thou haſt daſhed me in pieces with all thy might, as when one lifts up any thing on high, that he may throw it down upon the ground with the greater force and violence; or, having formerly exalted me to a great height of proſperity, thou haſt now caſt me down to a great depth of miſery, which makes my preſent miſery far the more grievous. And doubtleſſe this is ſpoken with reference to that glorious eſtate, whereto God had raiſed the Iſraelites in the daies of David and Solomon, compared with the ſad condition they were then in, being captives in Babylon, according to that Lam. 1.1. How doth the city ſit ſolitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princeſſe among the provinces, how is she become tributary! But ſee alſo the Note Job 30.22.
Verſ. 11. My daies are like a shadow that declineth.] That is, They paſſe apace away, and are almoſt at an end; it fares with me as with the ſhadows when the ſun is going downward, & ready to ſet, which do then decline apace, & are ſtretched forth longer & longer, ſo that every moment there may be a change diſcerned in them, which cannot be at noon-day. Now this he ſpeaks in regard, not of old age, but of the miſeries the people endured in their bondage in Babylon, which brought many of the ſtrongeſt of them to their end; ſo that as the evening ſhadows are then neareſt to an end when they are longeſt, ſo were many of Gods people neareſt to their end, when in the eye of reaſon they ſeemed likelieſt to live long. And this the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks as in the name of all Gods people in Babylon.
Verſ. 12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever, &c.] To wit, without any change; and conſequently, thou art the ſame ſtill in power, and therefore alwaies able to help thy people; and thou art ſtedfaſt and unchangeable in thy goodneſſe and mercy and truth, and wilt not therefore fail to perform the covenant and promiſe whereby thou haſt engaged thy ſelf to them, as that thou wilt be their God, and dwell amongſt them for ever, &c: and thy remembrance unto all generations; that is, thy Name, according to that Hoſ. 12.5. the Lord is his memoriall, and that Exod. 3.15. the God of Abraham, &c. this is my Name for ever, and this is my memoriall unto all generations; or thy fame and renown by reaſon of thy great works ſhall be for ever; or thy word, thy promiſes, thy covenant, and whatſoever thou haſt reve… led to thy Church concerning thy ſelf, whereby they know thee, and are ſtill kept in remembrance of thee, ſhall continue to them unto all generations; thou haſt covenanted with them that thou wilt for ever dwell amongſt them, and this thou, that art a faithfull and unchangeable God, wilt ſurely make good unto them.
Verſ. 13. Thou shalt ariſe, and have mercy upon Zion, &c.] See the Note Pſal. 68.…: for the time to favour her, yea the ſet time is come; that is, the time when thou haſt expreſly promiſed to bring back thy people out of Babylon, to wit, after ſeventy years of their captivity here, is now nigh at hand, yea it is in a manner come already: ſee the Note 2 Chron. 36.21.
Verſ. 14. For thy ſervants take pleaſure in her ſtones, and favour the duſt thereof.] That is, Thy faithfull people do ſtill love and delight in thy Zion, though now it be nothing but heaps of ſtones and rubbiſh, more then they do in all the ſtately palaces of Babylon: and that both as remembring what it hath been, and not doubting but that God according to his promiſe will build it up again: it pities them to ſee her lye in the duſt, and they long to ſee her reared up again.
Verſ. 15. So the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.] That is, When the heathen, and their kings, ſhall ſee how miraculouſly thou haſt delivered thy people out of Babylon, and haſt carried on the building again of thy Zion, they ſhall fear and ſerve thee; at leaſt they ſhall tremble at this diſcovery of thy might and majeſty: which agrees with that Pſal. 126.2. Then ſaid they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them; and was partly accompliſhed in the confeſſions which Cyrus and Darius made of the true God. But yet becauſe this redemption and reedification of Sion was not perfected till Chriſts coming, therefore theſe words may be alſo underſtood of the calling of the Gentiles, which followed thereupon, and ſo may likewiſe the following verſes.
Verſ. 17. He will regard the prayer of the deſtitute.] That is, the poor captives in Babylon.
Verſ. 18. This shall be written for the generation to come, &c.] That is, for all ſucceeding generations, both before and after Chriſt: and the people which shall be created shall praiſe the Lord; that is, the people which ſhall hereafter be born. Yet this may be meant particularly, either 1. of the Jews that were delivered out of Babylon, whoſe reſtitution to their own land might well be tearmed a new creation, becauſe being ſcattered as they were amongſt the heathens, they were as dead men there, in regard of any hope of being brought back to their own kingdome, ſee Iſa. 26.19; or 2. of the Gentiles, which ſhould be effectually called by the preaching of the Goſpel, whoſe converſion might well be looked upon as a new creation; ſee Eph. 2.10.
Verſ. 19. For he hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary, &c.] That is, from his high and holy place; as heaven is called Iſa. 57.15.
Verſ. 20. To hear the groaning of the priſoner, &c.] This may be meant, both of thoſe that are ſet free by Chriſt from their ſpirituall bondage, and of the captives in Babylon: for which ſee the Note Pſal. 79.11.
Verſ. 22. When the people are gathered together, &c.] That is, When the nations are gathered together into one Church with the Jews, under their head the promiſed Meſſiah, ſee Gen. 49.10; or, When the people ſhall meet together to worſhip God, as it is expreſſed in the next clauſe, and the kingdomes to ſerve the Lord.
Verſ. 23. He weakned my ſtrength in the way, he shortened my daies.] I ſee not but that this may be the ſame complaint here again repeated, which we had before ver. 11. (for which ſee the Note there) to wit, that God had wondrouſly weakned them in the courſe of their lives (ſo this word way is taken, for the way of mans life, Pſal. 2.12.) by reaſon of their hard bondage in the land of Babylon, and ſo had by that means cut ſhort many of their daies. But yet indeed the beſt Expoſitours do for the moſt part underſtand this of Gods weakning them & cutting them off in the way of their expectation, either of their promiſed deliverance out of Babylon, o… of that great work of their redemption by the promiſed Meſſiah. So that the meaning of their complaint muſt be taken as if they had ſaid thus; Lord, thou haſt promiſed to bring us back into our own land: how is it that many of us are cut ſhort in the way from enjoying the benefit of this our return? Or, (with reference to the promiſed Meſſiah) thus; Lord, thou haſt promiſed that thy people of Iſrael ſhall continue till thou haſt ſent them a Meſſiah, by whom the glory of this thy kingdome ſhall be wondrouſly advanced; & hitherto thy people have walked on in the way of the expectation of this our promiſed redemption, earneſtly expecting & deſiring the end of this courſe in the accompliſhment of this promiſe; and why then haſt thou brought us into this low & weak condition, as if thou meantſt to cut us off, & wouldſt not bring us to that glorious condition thou haſt promiſed? or, Oh that we might ſee thy Chriſt in the fleſh, & behold the glory of his promiſed kingdome! There are ſome beſides that underſtand theſe words, He weakned my strength in the way, &c. of God, or the enemies, weakning their ſtrength in the way, as they went into Babylon, or in the way as they returned home into their own countrey again. But the former expoſitions are far more probable.
Verſ. 24. I ſaid, O my God, take me not away in the midſt of my daies, &c.] That is before I have accompliſhed little more then half the years which men uſually live; ſee the Note Pſal. 55.23: or rather, according to the expoſition of the foregoing Note, Cut not off thy people before thou haſt made good thy promiſe, of bringing them back with joy into their own countrey; or, before that glorious work of our redemption by the promiſed Meſſiah be accompliſhed. And indeed, becauſe the Church was not come to the ripeneſſe of her age till the coming of the Meſſiah, had ſhe been cut off before that, it might have been ſaid that ſhe was taken away in the half of her daies. Thy years are throughout all generations; that is, thou art an eternall and unchangeable God. And this is here alledged for the ſame end as before verſ. 12. for which ſee the Note there. The moſt Expoſitours take it thus, that becauſe God was eternall, therefore he would unto all eternity preſerve his Church, yea every particular member thereof; according to that Matth. 22.32. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Verſ. 25. Of old haſt thou laid the foundation of the earth, &c.] This which here and in the two following verſes is ſpoken to God, is by the Apoſtle Heb. 1.10, 11. applyed to Chriſt, to prove his Godhead. And indeed by that which is ſaid before verſ. 13, 14, 15. that God ſhould ariſe and have mercy upon Zion, and ſo that the heathen ſhould fear the Name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth his glory, and again verſ. 22. that the people ſhould be gathered together, and the kingdomes to ſerve the Lord, it is evident that the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks of the kingdome of Chriſt; and therefore what is here ſpoken to God, muſt be underſtood as ſpoken to God in Chriſt, and to him therefore theſe words of the Pſalm are by the Apoſtle there fitly applyed.
Verſ. 26. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, &c.] See the Note Job 14.12▪ yea all of them, that is, the heavens and the earth, and all things therein, shall wax old like a garment, that is, ſhall decay by degrees, or rather, ſhall at laſt come to an end: as a vesture shalt thou change them; that is, ſay ſome Expoſitours, as one layeth by an old worn garment, that is no longer fit for uſe, and changeth it for another; or rather, as one alters an old tatter'd garment, and doth ſo furbiſh it, and make it up in another faſhion, that it ſeems to be a new garment; ſo (and as eaſily too as one changeth a garment) ſhall God change the heavens & the earth: though they ſhall not ceaſe to be, and their ſubſtance ſhall be the ſame, yet in regard of their qualities they ſhall be quite changed, of corruptible they ſhall be made incorruptible, &c. ſo that they ſhall be new heavens and new earth, Iſa. 66.22. The new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, ſaith the Lord. It is Heb. 1.12. as a veſture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but that is the ſame in effect; only it implyes either the ſuddenneſſe of the change, that it ſhall be done with as much facility as one folds up a garment; or elſe that they ſhall no longer ſerve for the ſame uſe as formerly; whence this change is alſo compared to the folding up of a book or ſcroll, Iſa. 34.4. the heavens shall be rolled together as a ſcroll, that is, the uſe of them ſhall ceaſe, as when one ſhuts up a book and layes it by, which he means to uſe no longer. As a veſture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed; that is, they ſhall be certainly changed. And now the drift of all this is, 1. to imply the periſhing condition of Gods people, as conſidered in themſelves, poor frail creatures, continually haſting to their end, thereby to move the Lord to take pity of them; if the heavens, that have laſted ſo many years without any apparent decay, ſhall yet at laſt periſh, much more muſt weak frail men periſh: and 2. to ſhew, that yet notwithſtanding the children of God ſhall not periſh, and that becauſe God is eternall and unchangeable, and he hath choſen them to be his for ever; ſo that being begotten again by the ſeed of Gods word, which muſt needs be immortall and incorruptible, as God is, it is not poſſible but that they muſt continue, though the heavens ſhall periſh; which is the concluſion he makes from hence verſ. 28.
Verſ. 28. The children of thy ſervants shall continue, and their ſeed shall be eſtablished before thee.] That is, through thy favour and in thy preſence, both here, and eternally in heaven. See the Notes Pſal. 41.12, and 69.35, 36.