Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 112 – Psalm 114
PSALM CXII.
Verſ. 2. BLeſſed is the man that feareth the Lord.] By deſcribing the bliſſe of thoſe that fear God, the Pſalmiſt ſeems to make good what was ſaid in the cloſe of the foregoing Pſalm, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wiſedome.
Verſ. 2. His ſeed shall be mighty upon earth, &c.] That is, exceeding numerous, and of great power in every regard: the generation of the upright shall be bleſſed; ſee the Note Pſal. 37.26.
Verſ. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his houſe; and his righteouſneſſe endureth for ever.] Severall waies is this laſt clauſe underſtood by Expoſitours. For 1. ſome take it to be added in the praiſe of the man that feareth God; to wit, that notwithſtanding he abounds in wealth, yet he is not corrupted thereby, as many are, but ſtill holds faſt his righteouſneſſe: 2. others underſtand it of his renown amongſt men; to wit, that though men may ſeek to overcloud his righteouſneſſe with falſe accuſations, yet it ſhall ſtill ſhine forth gloriouſly, and be for ever renowned amongſt men: 3. others conceive it is added, as the cauſe why there is ſtill wealth and riches in the houſe of the man that feareth God; to wit, becauſe whilſt the iniquity of the wicked, both in getting and uſing their riches, doth ſoon waſt their great eſtates, his is preſerved by his conſtant righteouſneſſe: and 4. others underſtand it of his perſeverance in the waies of righteouſneſſe, and the never-failing reward thereof.
Verſ. 4. VntoUnto the upright there ariſeth light in the darkneſse, &c.] And that ſeverall waies: as 1. when they are for a time under great diſtreſſe and heavineſſe, and yet then God brings them into a proſperous condition again, or gives them much joy after their heavineſſe; 2. when God keeps them free, in times of ſome common calamity; and 3. when they are inwardly cheared with the conſolations of Gods ſpirit, even in their greateſt afflictions. Wicked men even in the ſun-ſhine of their greateſt proſperity, not having any aſſurance of Gods favour, are indeed under darkneſſe, and in their diſtreſſes they are quite overwhelmed with ſorrow; but then the man that fears God is full of joy, through the light of Gods countenance ſhining into his heart, even under the darkneſſe of his ſaddeſt calamities: ſee the Note Eſth. 8.16. As for the following words, he is gracious, and full of compaſſion, and righteous, though many Expoſitours hold that they are ſpoken of God, and that herein a reaſon is given, why unto the upright there ariſeth light in darkneſſe, namely, becauſe God is gracious, yet methinks, the dependance of this clauſe upon the foregoing words ſhews clearly that it is ſpoken of the upright man there mentioned, this being the reaſon given why light ariſeth to the upright in darkneſſe, namely, becauſe the upright man is gracious, &c.
Verſ. 5. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth; he will guide his affairs with diſcretion.] It is in the Hebrew, with judgement, that is, juſtly and judiciouſly: ſee the Note Pſal. 25.9. But in our Bibles it is rendered, with diſcretion, which conſiſts in many things: as in ordering his affairs and eſtate with ſuch frugality and wiſedome, that he may ſtill have to give to the poor; in conſidering when and where it is fit to give, and when and where to lend; in not being too prodigall, nor too penurious; in proportioning his charity according to the perſons to whom he affords it; and many other particulars of the like nature.
Verſ. 6. Surely he shall not be moved for ever.] See the Notes Pſal. 15.5, and 16.8, and 55.22.
Verſ. 9. He hath diſperſed, &c.] To wit, by diſtributing his alms amongſt many, and that with a full hand and chearfully, as the husbandman ſcatters his ſeed when he ſows his land. And ſo though his alms be given away, yet his righteouſneſſe remains, as it followeth in the next words, he hath given to the poor; his righteouſneſſe endureth for ever: for which ſee the Note above verſ. 3. His horn shall be exalted with honour: ſee the Notes 1 Sam. 2.1. and 2 Sam. 22.3.
Verſ. 10. The deſire of the wicked shall perish.] This may be underſtood generally, of Gods fruſtrating all the carnall deſires of wicked men: yet becauſe in the foregoing words the Pſalmiſt ſpeaks of their fretting at the proſperity of the righteous, The wicked shall ſee it, and be grieved, &c. it is moſt probable, that theſe words are alſo more particularly meant of the diſappointment of all the plots and devices, which the wicked deſired to have effected for the ruine of the righteous.
PSALM CXIII.
Verſ. 1. PRaiſe, O ye ſervants of the Lord.] The Levites may hereby be more peculiarly intended, whoſe ſpeciall office it was continually to ſing forth the praiſes of God; but all the faithfull ſervants of God may be comprehended.
Verſ. 3. From the riſing of the ſun, unto the going down of the ſame, the Lords Name is to be praiſed.] That is, all the world over; to wit, becauſe the glory of God is manifeſtly diſcovered in his works all the world over. Yet herein may alſo be implyed, that all nations were to have the glory of God in the work of mans Redemption diſcovered unto them by the preaching of the Goſpel.
Verſ. 4. The Lord is high above all nations, &c.] See the Note Pſal. 97.9. A chief thing intended is, that God far excels in his majeſty and glory all the great ones that are in the world. And his glory above the heavens: ſee the Note Pſal. 8.1.
Who is like unto the Lord? &c.] See the Note Exod. 15.11.
Verſ. 6. Who humbleth himſelf to behold, &c.] That is, to undertake the care and government of the things that are in heaven; ſo that, as glorious creatures as the angels are, it is an abaſement to the moſt high God to mind or regard them: and in the earth; yea the meaneſt of them, as is expreſſed in the following verſe, He raiſeth up the poor out of the dust, &c.
Verſ. 8. That he may ſet him with princes, even with the princes of his people.] Where it is a greater honour to be a prince, then to be a prince elſewhere, and a greater advantage in other regards; becauſe of Gods ſpeciall favour to them above other princes, and the great things that God uſually doeth for his people above other nations.
Verſ. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep houſe, &c.] To wit, by giving her many children, thereby to make up a full family: ſee the Note Pſal. 68.6.
PSALM CXIV.
Verſ. 1. WHen Iſrael went out of Egypt, the houſe of Iacob from a people of a ſtrange language.] See the Note Pſal. 81.5.
Verſ. 2. Iudah was his Sanctuary, &c.] That is, The children of Iſrael (the chief of the tribes being here put for the whole body of the people) became a holy people unto the Lord, being ſanctified and ſet apart from all other nations to be a peculiar people unto himſelf, in whom he would be glorified, amongſt whom he would make himſelf known, be worſhipped and ſerved, as in his temple and Sanctuary; according to that 2 Cor. 6.16. ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath ſaid, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and Iſrael his dominion; that is, they became a people ſubject unto his dominion, over whom he would rule as their king by his word and ſpirit. And this is ſaid to have been done, when God brought the Iſraelites out of Egypt, becauſe then, by the many miracles which God wrought for them, he made it manifeſt that he had taken them to be a peculiar people unto himſelf, and becauſe by that great work of their Redemption he had indeed purchaſed them to be his people.
Verſ. 4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs,] That is, At the giving of the Law, the mountainous tops of Sinai and Horeb, and the little riſing hills therein, or the mountain of Sinai, and other adjacent mountains and hills, did move and ſhake as apparently, as when the rams and lambs in a flock do leap and skip; and therefore it is ſaid Exod. 19.18. that the whole mount quaked greatly: ſee alſo the Note Pſal. 29.6.
Verſ. 7. Tremble thou earth at the preſence of the Lord, at the preſence of the God of Iacob.] Having demanded in the foregoing verſe, why the mountains skipped like rams, &c. here the Pſalmiſt, as by way of anſwering that queſtion, adds theſe words, Tremble thou earth at the preſence of the Lord, &c. as if he had ſaid, Surely it was becauſe they were afraid of the preſence of the mighty God of Jacob: thus it was then, and thus indeed it ought alwaies to be; Tremble thou earth at the preſence of the Lord, &c.