Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 1 · Psalm 14
PSAL. XIV. Which is, Practical Atheiſts Character.
TWO parts there are of this Pſalm.
1. The Deſcription of the Practical Atheiſt, from ver. 1. to 7.
2. A Petition for the Church, ver. 7.
1. The Atheist is here noted out to us divers wayes.The firſt part. The practical Atheiſt deſcribed.
1. From his name, Nabal, a Fool, or rather a Churle; 1By his name.no natural Fool, but a ſinful; a Fool, in what he ſhould be wiſe.
2. His hypocriſie or cunning; He ſaith, but he will not have it known, 1By his name.'tis to himſelf; he ſaith in his heart; he is a cloſe politick Fool. Ver. 12His hypocriſie.
3. His ſaying, or his chief and prime principle, There is no God.3His principle, No God, which is manifeſted:
4. From his practice, confeſſing God in his words, for ſome politick advantages, yet in his works he denies him; for,
1. His heart is wicked and unregenerate; They are corrupt.1By his corrupt heart.
2. He is guilty of the ſin of Commiſſion in a very high degree; They have done abominable works.2By his works, which are abominable.
3. And he is guilty of the ſin of Omiſſion; There is none that doth good. This in general, after the Prophet deſcends to ſome particulars.3Never good. Davids conviction of the Atheiſt.
2. David demonſtrates what he ſaid, three wayes, and convinceth them.
1. By the teſtimony of God himſelf; for he brings him in as a witneſs againſt them, and ſuch a witneſs that cannot be deceived; for he is,
1. An eye-witneſs; Proſpectat, He looks on.1By God, who is an eye-witneſs.
2. He is in Heaven above them, and by that advantage may ſee all; He looks down from Heaven.
3. And all he ſees, and is diligent to enquire, Ver. 2 He looks from Heaven upon the children of men.From heaven ſees all.
4. And enquires into his actions.And the end is, to enquire into their Religion, To ſee if there were any that would understand, and ſeek after God.
2. Ver. 3 And then he gives his teſtimony in theſe general terms; They are all gone aſide, And gives this teſtimony,they are all become filthy, there is none that doth good, no not one.
3. 1In general, that not one good.And then in the next verſe, he reckons up two eſpecial ſins of which they were guilty, Injuſtice and Impiety.
1. Ver. 4 Injuſtice: For they eat up his people as bread.
2. 2That they are guilty.Impiety: For they call not upon God.
4. 1Of injuſtice.Now that his teſtimony is true, he convinceth them,
1. 2Of impiety.By the light of their own conſcience: An non ſibi ſunt conſcii? Have they no knowledge? Ver. 4 Know they not that all this is true? that they do this and this? 1By the teſtimony of their own conſcience, which is naught, as,Doth not their own heart tell them all this is true?
2. By the effect, that which follows an evil conſcience, an extream fear and horrour: Trepidarunt, trepidatione; They are alwayes in an extream fear; which ſhews, that all is not well: They ſaid there was no God: But for all that, 3The effects ſhew, by which he alſo convicts them.their heart tells them, That God is in the Generation of the Righteous, and they ſhall dearly anſwer for the eating up of his people.
3. Ver. 5 By a ſecond effect, which is, their ſcorn and deriſion of any good counſel, 1An extream fear and horrour.that the man (whom they eſteemed poor and contemptible) gave them: If any man who had the fear of God before his eyes, chanc'd to ſay unto them, 2Their deſperate contempt of good counſel.O my Brethren do not ſo wickedly, they ſcoff'd at it, they made a mock at it, and did all they could to ſhame him for it; if he replied, That God was his Refuge; he, whatever they ſaid to the contrary, 'truſted in God: They made light of it, and were apt to return, He truſted in God, Ver. 6 that he ſhould deliver him, let him deliver him now, Nay, of God himſelf.if he will have him: Ye have ſhamed the counſel of the poor, becauſe the Lord is his Refuge.
The ſecond part of the Pſalm, The ſecond part.contains a Petition for the Church, and an exaltation upon the favour exhibited.
1. Ver. 7 He prayes that God would ſend ſalvation to his people: 2. And that it be, He prayes for the Church.Out of Zion, becauſe Chriſt was ſet a King upon the holy hill of Zion, that is, the Church. O that the ſalvation of Iſrael were out of Zion.
2. Of which the conſequent would be the joy of his people.For then the conſequent would be, the joy and rejoycing of his people for their deliverance from captivity, ſpiritual and temporal.
When the Lord turneth the captivity of his people, then ſhall Jacob rejoyce, and Iſrael ſhall be right glad.
The Prayer out of the fourteenth Pſalm.
O Moſt holy and undefiled Majeſty, in compariſon of whoſe purity, all other things are impure, we miſerable wretches conceived in ſin, and born in iniquity, do confeſs and acknowledge that we are laden with thoſe fruits growing from that bitter root; and that till we are born again by thy Spirit, we are wholly corrupt in thy ſight; the faculties of our ſouls are very much wounded, Ver. 1 ſo fooliſh we are, and blinded in our underſtanding, that we labour to perſwade our ſelves, There is no God; no God that knows, cares for, or will judge the actions of men in this World; ſo averted we are from thée in our wills; that we bear no affection at all to that which is good; though, to compaſs our own ends, we profeſs to know thée in words, yet in déeds we deny thée; Ver. 2 for our lives are corrupt, our works abominable, and ſuch as ſends up a ſtinking ſavour into thy noſtrils; there is not one of us that doth the good thou haſt commanded, not a man that underſtands, as thou haſt revealed thy ſelf in thy Word; or ſéek to honour thée, to fear thée, to put his whole truſt and confidence in thée; not a man that ſhe we that love he ought to his Neighbour.
O Lord, if thou ſhalt look down from Heaven, Ver. 3 and ſhalt ſet thine eyes to conſider the wayes of the children of men, Thou ſhalt not ſée a wiſe man amongſt us; not a man that ſets his heart ſeriouſly to enquire, and religiouſly to ſéek after God: For we are all gone aſide, we have béen ſway'd by our deſires and luſts, and turned from thy wayes to our own; Ver. 4 we are become unprofitable and filthy, and reprobate to every good work: Wo, wo unto us, which are ſuch workers of iniquity, againſt the light of our conſcience; we have oppreſſed thy people, and with delight devoured them, as a man would eat bread, daily, eaſily, gréedily: No religious Bond is able to reſtrain us, for that God whom we ſhould call upon, we invoke not; that God whom we ſhould honour, we worſhip not: Impious wretches we are, and leaving then the Well of living water, we have digg'd to our ſelves Pits that will hold no water, ſacrificing to our own inventions, our own arm, our own net.
For this our wickedneſs, thy juſt judgment hath overtaken us, Ver. 5 and we tremble, and are afraid, leſt thou ſhould utterly forſake us; thy preſence is indéed in the generation and company of the righteous; theſe thou doſt defend, and kéep ſecure from fear; but our conſcience doth ſo ſharply accuſe us, and the guilt of our malicious wickedneſs ſo far load us, that we have juſt reaſon to fear rejection from thy face, and the extreameſt of thy wrath and indignation: Ver. 6 And ſo much the more, becauſe when thy ſervants, thy Miniſters, of whom the World was not worthy, have given us warning to truſt in thée after their example, we have laboured to ſhame them, and derided, and mocked at their counſel.
But O Iuſt God, Ver. 6 though thou doſt poure out the vials of thy wrath upon the wicked, yet in judgment remember mercy, and deliver thy people; be among the generation of the righteous, protect thy ſervants by their refuge, and hide them under the ſhadow of thy wings, till thy anger be over-paſt.
Send thy Iſrael ſalvation out of Zion, that place over which thy Son is King; Ver. 7 Bring back thy people from Captivity, from the priſon and bondage of ſin, and from the cruel yoke which the Oppreſſor hath laid upon their necks; ſo ſhall Jacob rejoyce, and Iſrael ſhall be glad.