Annotations Upon the Books of Poetry, Psalms · Psalm 28
PSALM XXVIII.
Verſ. 1. UNto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock, &c.] See the Note Deut. 32.4. be not ſilent to me, that is, refuſe not to anſwer my prayer; or, forbear not to help me, ſee the Note Exod. 14.14: leſt if thou be ſilent to me, I become like them that goe down into the pit, that is, the grave: as if he ſhould have ſaid, for if thou help not (there is none elſe that can doe it) I am utterly undone; ſo great is my danger, that without help from heaven I am but a dead man, even as one that is ready to be carried to the grave. Yet ſome conceive that in this phraſe he alludes rather to thoſe, that going down or falling caſually into ſome deep pit, from whence they cannot get out again, muſt needs there periſh, if there be no bodie to hear their crie, and to help them up.
Verſ. 2. I lift up my hands toward thy holy Oracle.] That is, toward heaven, of which the Oracle was a type; ſee the Note 2 Sam. 22.7: or towards the moſt holy place, where the Ark was, the ſign of Gods preſence. See the Note 1 Kings 8.30.
Verſ. 3. Draw me not away with the wicked, &c.] See the Note Pſal. 26.9. The phraſe that is here uſed ſeems covertly to imply, that when wicked men are cut off, there is a hand of juſtice, dragging them as it were away as malefactours to their deſerved puniſhment; and withall, that when ſuch men die, they are violently and forcibly haled away, their affections being wholly fixt upon the world and worldly things.
Verſ. 4. Give them according to their deeds, &c.] The great queſtion concerning this and ſuch like places is, how it could ſtand with Davids piety thus to pray, that Gods wrath might be poured forth upon his enemies, it being the expreſſe precept of Chriſt Matth. 5.9. Love your enemies, bleſſe them that curſe you. But to this it may be anſwered, 1. that David did not deſire this out of a private thirſt after revenge, but merely out of a zeal for Gods glory, and the good of his people, as having after long experience found that they were implacable enemies of all godlineſſe, and were become by degrees intolerably inſolent; and therefore being grieved that they ſhould proceed ſo far and ſo long without being called to an account, deſired that juſtice might be executed on them: 2. that David penned this Pſalm for the uſe of others, and not only for himſelf: and 3. that theſe expreſſions were in David rather propheſies, then imprecations; he did rather by the inſtinct of Gods Spirit foretell that it ſhould be ſo, then pray that it might be ſo.
Verſ. 5. Becauſe they regard not the works, of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, &c.] This may be meant generally of all the works of Gods providence, wherein the hand of God was apparently ſeen, the good he did for the righteous, and his judgements on the wicked; (for ſo the very ſame words are uſed by the prophet Iſa. 5.12.) but withall it may be more particularly meant of Gods chuſing and anointing David to be king, the many victories he obtained, whereby much good had been done for Gods people, and the Lords delivering him from ſo many deſperate dangers, which were clear proofs of Gods tender care over him, and the precious account he made of him, and that he had determined he ſhould be king; which his enemies not regarding, did as it were obſtinately fight againſt God; for which cauſe, ſaith David, he …hall destroy them, and not build them up, that is, he ſhall deſtroy them without all hope of recovery: for this phraſe of building up men ſee the Note Job 22.23.
Verſ. 8. The Lord is their ſtrength, &c.] Having ſpoken in the foregoing verſe how he had been helped, he adds, The Lord is their ſtrength, that is, the ſtrength of my ſouldiers; and ſo, though they were but few in compariſon of mine enemies, by their help I have been preſerved: or it may be meant of Gods people, as being ſpoken in reference to the following verſe, The Lord is their ſtrength, that is, the ſtrength of his people: (ſee the Note Exod. 15.1.) and he is the ſaving ſtrength of his anointed, that is, of me his anointed; and ſo he tearms himſelf, becauſe that was the ground both of his enemies rage againſt him, and of his confidence in God.
Verſ. 9. Save thy people, and bleſſe thine inheritance, &c.] See the Note Pſal. 25.22. Feed them alſo, or rule them, to wit, as a ſhepheard doth his flock: (ſee the Notes Pſal. 23.1, 2, &c.) and lift them up for ever, that is, exalt them, and make them every way great and glorious, even above other nations; or ſet them in a ſafe condition above the reach of their enemies, and that ſucceſſively in all generations. Some underſtand it alſo of Gods carrying them on, and raiſing them ſtill up to farther degrees of grace, till they were brought at laſt to live for ever with God in heaven.