Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 27
PSALM XXVII.
Verſ. 1. THe Lord is my light, &c.] That is, He it is that doth teach me and guide me, and preſerve my life, and deliver me out of troubles; he is my comforter, and the authour of all my happineſſe. See the Notes 2 Sam. 22.29. and Job 29.3. And to the ſame purpoſe is that which he adds, the Lord is the ſtrength of my life; that is, the ſupporter and preſerver of my life.
Verſ. 2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, &c.] That is, as it were to devour me. See the Notes Job 19.22, and 31.31, and Pſal. 14.4.
Verſ. 3. Though war should riſe againſt me, in this will I be confident.] That is, that the Lord is my light and my ſalvation, as he had ſaid before verſ. 1. Yet ſome referre it to the word war; in this, that is, in this war, will I be confident.
Verſ. 4. One thing have I deſired of the Lord, &c] Either this is added as a reaſon why he was ſo confident of Gods protection, to wit, becauſe his only deſire was to enjoy communion with God in the place of his worſhip; or elſe as a reaſon why he deſired that God would ſtill plead his cauſe againſt his enemies, namely, becauſe his great aim was, that he might be ſettled in ſuch a peaceable condition, that he might freely and conſtantly reſort to the houſe of God: One thing have I deſired of the Lord, that will I ſeek after, &c. as if he ſhould have ſaid, Though I be ſpoiled of my eſtate, bereaved of the ſociety of friends, and driven from houſe and home, yet it is not the recovery of theſe things, no nor the obtaining of the kingdome which God hath promiſed me, that I deſire, ſo much as that I may dwell for ever in the houſe of the Lord; concerning which ſee the Note Pſal. 23.6. As for the following words, to behold the beauty of the Lord, thereby may be meant, 1. the attaining of the knowledge, or the meditation of all the glorious excellencies and perfections of God in his attributes, his holineſſe, juſtice, goodneſſe and truth, &c. which by his word he manifeſteth to his Church: 2. the conſideration of Gods wonderfull works, and his bounteous gifts to the ſons of men, which make him glorious in their eyes: 3. the myſteries of our redemption by Chriſt, and the benefits that redound to us thereby, which were ſhadowed forth in the ſacrifices and other ceremoniall rites of the Tabernacle: and 4. the glory of heaven. And doubtleſſe in this expreſſion he alludes to the externall beauty and magnificence of the Tabernacle, or rather the glory of the Temple he intended and foreſaw, which were typicall repreſentations of theſe things. But in the laſt clauſe, and to enquire in his Temple, it is the Tabernacle which he intends by the Temple: of which ſee the Note 1 Sam. 1.9.
Verſ. 5. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the ſecret of his Tabernacle, &c.] That is, God will be graciouſly preſent with me, to ſhroud me and protect me from mine enemies: even as a ſhepheard ſhould ſhelter his ſheep in a tent or tabernacle from the heat of the Sun; or as if a king ſhould undertake to protect one in his pavilion, whence none dare venture to take him; or as men uſe to hide ſome precious thing in ſome ſecret place of their dwelling; or as when men are hid in Gods Tabernacle or Temple, whether they uſed to fly for ſhelter to the horns of the altar; yea as if a man were hid in the moſt holy place, whether none might enter, but only the High prieſt once a year, which is therefore called Gods ſecret place Ezek. 7.22. they shall pollute my ſecret place; for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it. To all theſe there may be an alluſion: yet becauſe of the dependance of this upon that ſaid in the foregoing verſe, concerning his longing after Gods Tabernacle, many think the laſt is rather intended, and ſo conceive the drift of the words to be this; that ſeeing he ſo earneſtly deſired to be preſent with God, God would be alwaies preſent with him to defend him.
Verſ. 6. And now alſo shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about, &c.] That is, I ſhall be out of the reach of mine enemies; it ſhall not be in their power to hurt me: it is the ſame with that in the foregoing verſe, he shall ſet me up upon a rock. See farther alſo in the Note Pſal. 3.3. Therefore will I offer in his Tabernacle ſacrifices of joy; that is, ſacrifices of praiſe, which were offered with great joy, with ſounding of trumpets, Numb. 10.10. and other muſicall inſtruments, 1 Chron. 16.41, 42. And thus we ſee he truſted to come to Gods Tabernacle, and that he meant to expreſſe his joy in a holy manner, and not in that profane jollity wherewith carnall men are wont to triumph.
Verſ. 8. When thou ſaideſt, Seek ye my face; my heart ſaid unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I ſeek.] As if he had ſaid, Againſt all temptations concerning mine own unworthineſſe, the weakneſſe of my faith, and the delay of help, I oppoſe this, that thou haſt commanded us to ſeek thy face, which imports thy readineſſe to help, and gives me encouragement to ſeek and pray unto thee. For this phraſe of ſeeking Gods face, ſee the Note 1 Chron. 16.11.
Verſ. 10. When my father and my mother forſake me, then the Lord will take me up.] That Davids father and mother did never forſake him, is evident, 1 Sam. 22.1. The meaning therefore is, that though thoſe on whom he might moſt juſtly rely, even his father and mother, ſhould forſake him, yet he knew God would never forſake him.
Verſ. 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord, &c.] See the Notes Pſal. 25.4, and 5.8.
Verſ. 12. For falſe witneſses are riſen up againſt me, and ſuch as breath out cruelty.] That is, ſuch as in all their talk diſcover the bloudy intentions they have againſt me: yet this phraſe of breathing out cruelty may have reference to that vehement blowing and breathing, which may be obſerved in men when they are furiouſly enraged.
Verſ. 13. I had fainted, unleſſe I had believed to ſee the goodneſſe of the Lord in the land of the living.] That is, to enjoy the good things that God hath promiſed me here in this world: ſee the Notes Job 7.7, and 28.13. For though heaven may be tearmed in a ſpeciall manner the land of the living, (the grave is the land of the dead, the earth the land of the dying, and heaven is only properly the land of the living) and though, as many learned men hold, the land of Canaan, which was a type of heaven, is ſometimes peculiarly called the land of the living, as in Ezek. 26.20. I shall ſet glory in the land of the living; yet uſually in the Scriptures by the land of the living is meant this preſent world, as Eſa. 38.11. I ſaid, I shall not ſee the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world; and ſo alſo Eſa. 53.8, Pſal. 52.5, and in many other places.
Verſ. 14. Wait on the Lord, &c.] David, as being conſcious to himſelf of his own weakneſſe, and expecting farther tryalls, ſpeaks this to himſelf: yet it may be alſo taken as ſpoken to others, out of a deſire that others by his example would learn to wait upon God.