Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 129 – Psalm 130
PSALM CXXIX.
Verſ. 1. MAny a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Iſrael now ſay, &c.] That is, ever ſince God had firſt a Church upon earth, as was ſeen in the murther of Abel; or rather, ever ſince the ſeed of Iſrael became a people, which was whilſt they abode in Egypt; for indeed the time of their being there, and of Gods delivering them from thence, is often elſewhere in the Scripture called the time of Iſraels youth, as Ezek. 23.3. & Hoſ. 2.14, 15.
Verſ. 3. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.] By the plowers plowing upon their backs is meant, that their enemies had rent and torn them, & grievouſly afflicted them, with all poſſible cruelty, no otherwiſe then as if men lying with their faces upon the earth ſhould have plows again and again driven over their backs; & by making long their furrows is meant, that they had uſed them thus deſpightfully and cruelly a long time together. But yet withall the aim of ſaying that this was done upon their backs, might be to imply, either that this was done by the heavy burthens which their enemies laid upon them; or that the deep ſlaſhes which their enemies by ſcourging them had made in their backs, were like ſo many furrows which the plow makes in the earth. Neither is it altogether improbable which ſome adde, that the Holy Ghoſt might alſo intend covertly to intimate by this expreſſion, that in all this cruelty of the enemy, God made uſe of them as his husbandmen to till his field, the Church, that through theſe afflictions they might be the better prepared to receive the ſeed of his word & ſpirit, & might afterward yield him the more fruit, as a field doth that is well plowed and manured.
Verſ. 4. The Lord is righteous; he hath cut aſunder the cords of the wicked.] That is, even in the heat of their perſecuting Gods people, God hath broken their power, & fruſtrated all their plots & practices, & ſo hath taken them off, that they can proceed no further; & all this on a ſodain, as when one ſhould cut aſunder the harneſſe or plow-gear, wherewith the plow is drawn, the plow muſt needs ſtand ſtill, nor can the husbandman carry it on any further.
Verſ. 5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.] See the Notes Pſal. 35.4. & 40.15.
Verſ. 6. Let them be as the graſse on the houſe tops, &c.] Becauſe the houſes in Judea were built flat on the tops, & ſo out of the clefts & crevices between the ſtones there graſſe or green corn would uſually ſprout out, which yet for want of earth and moiſture was ſoon blaſted by the heat of the ſun, thence is it that the Pſalmiſt uſeth this ſimilitude, praying that the enemies of the Church, even when they were at the greateſt height, might yet be but as ſuch graſſe or green corn on the houſe tops.
Verſ. 7. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves, his boſome.] That is, which never comes to be mowen, nor bound up in ſheaves, as the corn in the fields doth. And in this expreſſion here uſed the reaſon hereof is intimated, namely, becauſe if it ſhould grow up, it would not be worth the reaping and gathering; there is but only a little here & there that ſprouts up, the harveſtman cannot cut it down by handfuls, nor graſp his arms full in his boſome, when he gathers it to bind it up in ſheaves, as he doth in the corn fields. And the ſame is intended in the following verſe.
Verſ. 8. Neither do they which goe by ſay, The bleſsing of the Lord be upon you, &c.] That is, ſuch graſſe or green corn on the houſe tops never comes to be mowen, or gathered in by the harveſt-men, who ſhould thereupon have the prayers of thoſe that paſſe by, as they uſually have when they are working in the field. The drift of all this is, to expreſſe their earneſt deſire that the enemies of Gods people might be ſuddenly deſtroyed.
PSALM CXXX.
Verſ. 1. OVt of the depth have I cried unto thee, O Lord.] That is, out of the depths of ſeeming deſperate tribulations & dangers, & likewiſe of overwhelming ſorrows by reaſon of my ſins; ſee the Notes Pſal. 40.2, & 68.22, & 71.2. ſee alſo the Note upon the Title of the ſixth Pſalm.
Verſ. 3. If thou, Lord, shouldeſt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall ſtand?] See the Note Pſal. 1.5. It is as if the Pſalmiſt ſhould have ſaid, If thou ſhouldeſt take ſtrict notice of the iniquities of men, with a purpoſe to deal with them according to their deſerts, no man could ever eſcape thy juſt vengeance; & if the holieſt of men cannot juſtify himſelf before thy tribunal, alas, what ſhall become of me? For doubtleſſe the Pſalmiſts aim in theſe words is to imply, 1. that he acknowledged that God had juſtly for his ſins caſt him into thoſe depths of miſery wherein he lay, & that he might alſo juſtly upon the ſame ground reject his prayers; and 2. that therefore he did not deſire deliverance out of his miſeries, becauſe of any righteouſneſſe of his own, but only that he ſhould doe it of his own free grace & mercy; as is alſo more fully expreſſed in the following verſe.
Verſ. 4. But there is forgiveneſſe with thee. &c.] That is, Thou art & haſt declared thy ſelf to be a God ready to forgive poor penitent ſinners; or, there is forgiveneſſe to be had from thee, if men ſeek it as they ought to doe: that thou maiſt be feared; that is, that thou maiſt be worſhiped by men in a right manner; for fear here is taken, as it is often elſewhere in the Scripture, for the whole worſhip of God. Gods readineſſe to forgive poor penitent ſinners, & to deliver them out of their troubles, is the great encouragement to draw men to ſerve God, and to pray to him for mercy when they are in miſery (as the Pſalmiſt now did) & that as children ſeek to their father, fearing to offend him, even becauſe of his goodneſſe.
Ver. 6. My ſoul waiteth for the Lord, more then they that watch for the morning, &c.] That is, more eagerly then they that watch in the laſt watch of the night do wait for the firſt breaking of the day: either becauſe they watch abroad in dangerous times, & perhaps too in tedious weather; or elſe merely becauſe being tired with long watching they long for the morning, that then they may goe & take their reſt. See the Note alſo Pſal. 119.148.
Verſ. 7. With the Lord there is mercy, & with him there is plenteous redemption.] That is, He is infinitely gracious to pardon the ſins of his people, though never ſo many & great, and as infinitely able, by innumerable incredible waies and means, to deliver them out of all their troubles and miſeries.
Verſ. 8. And he shall deliver Iſrael from all his iniquities.] That is, He will pardon and deliver them from all their ſins, which have been the cauſes of their ſufferings, and that for the merits of Chriſt their Redeemer; and ſo conſequently he will deliver them alſo from all their ſufferings & ſorrows.