Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 1 · Psalm 28
PSAL. XXVIII. A Prayer for Help, and a Thankſgiving.
THREE parts there are of this Pſalm.
1. A Prayer, from ver. 1. to 6.
2. A Thankſgiving, from ver. 6. to 9.
3. A Prayer for the Church, ver. 9.
The firſt part, is a Prayer to God, and he firſt prayes for Audience, ver. 2. The firſt part. He prayes for Audience.Hear me: And his prayer is ſo deſcribed, that it ſets forth moſt of the conditions requiſite in one that prayes.
1. The object, God: Unto thee O Lord I cry. Ver. 2
2. His faith: To thee I cry, who art my Rock. Ver. 1The conditions required in a ſupplicant.
3. His fervour; it was an ardent and vehement prayer, I cry.
4. Humility; it was a ſupplication: Hear the voyce of my ſupplication.
5. His outward geſture: I life up my hands. Ver. 2
6. According to Gods order: Towards thy holy Temple.His Argument to perſwade Audience.
The Argument he uſeth to perſwade Audience, is drawn ab incommodo; Leſt if thou make as though thou heareſt not, Ver. 1 I become like them that go down into the Pit, have no hope of life in me, no comfort, no heart at all; foreign.That he prayes for, is, that he might not partake with hypocrites.
2. Then he expreſſes what he prayes for, which is, that either:
Firſt, He might not be corrupted by the fair perſwaſions of hypocrites.
Secondly, Or that he might not be partaker of their puniſhments: Draw me not away with the wicked, and workers of iniquity; upon whom he ſets this mark, Ver. 3 Who speak peace with their Neighbours, but miſchief in their hearts.Againſt whom he imprecates.
3. Againſt whom he uſeth this imprecation, which is the ſecond part of his prayer: Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedneſs of their endeavours, Ver. 4 give them after the work of their hands, render unto them their deſert. He doth not ſimply pray that puniſhment may overtake them, but that it may be proportionable to their deſert; and he prayes earneſtly for it, as appears by the often repetition of words importing the ſame thing; which that it ſeem not ſtrange, in the next verſe he gives the Reaſon, that they were enemies to Piety, and contemners of God; far from repentance, and any hope of amendment.
Do this unto them, Becauſe they were enemies to piety.Becauſe they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands: And then intimates, that this their puniſhment was juſt, and that it ſhould come from above: Ver. 5 Therefore he ſhall deſtroy them, and not build them up.
Then there follows an excellent form of giving Thanks, The ſecond part. His thankfulneſs.into which he falls by an admirable Acclamation: Bleſsed be the Lord; of which bleſſing he aſſigns the Reaſons, which excellently expreſſeth the chief parts of Thankſgiving.
1. Ver. 6 That God heard him: He hath heard the voyce of my ſupplications.
2. The Reaſons of it.That he would be his Protector: The Lord is my ſtrength and my ſhield.
3. Ver. 7 For his grace of confidence: My heart truſted in him.
4. That from him he had relief: I am helped.
5. The teſtification and annuntiation of his Gratitude: Therefore my heart greatly rejoyceth, and in my ſong will I praiſe him. He remembers the Indenture, I will deliver thee, and thou ſhalt praiſe me; and therefore with heart and tougue he gives thanks.
6. And that God ſhould be ſure to have all the Honour, he repeats what he ſaid before, Ver. 8 The Lord is not my ſtrength, but their ſtrength; i. e. of all thoſe that are with me, and he is my ſtrength alſo; the ſtrength of ſalvation (for there were a plurality of them) of his Anointed.
He concludes the Pſalm with a Prayer, The third part. He commends the Church to Gods care and tuition.in which he commends the whole Church to Gods Care and Tuition.
1. Save thy People in the midſt of theſe Tumults and Diſtractions.
2. Bleſs thine-Inheritance, that they may increaſe in knowledge, piety, wealth.
3. Feed them, and give them a better Shepheard than Saul.
4. Lift them up for ever: Make their name famous among the Gentiles, give them dominion over them, that it may be known they are thy peculiar people.
The Prayer collected out of the twenty eighth Pſalm.
VNLD thée, O Lord, with all intention of heart, and fervour of ſpirit, I cry, forſake me not, and withdraw not thy help from me; be not deaf, and ſtill ſilent to anſwer my prayers, Ver. 1 leſt I become as heartleſs and hopeleſs, as they that deſcend into the grave: Ver. 2 Hear the voyce of my ſupplications when I call unto thee, when with affectionate deſire and heat I lift up my hands to thy Mercy-ſeat, Suffer me not to be corrupted with the fair perſwaſions of hypocrites, Ver. 3 nor to be drawn away and deceived by the flattering lips of the workers of iniquity; leſt I be partaker of their ſin and puniſhment, who give good words, and ſpeak peace to their Neighbours, when yet they imagine miſchief in their hearts.
I know, Ver. 4 O Lord, that thy juſtice will overtake their ſin, and therefore, as thou haſt decréed, Reward them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedneſs of their endeavours; Ver. 5 give them after the work of their hands, pay them what they have deſerved: I know they are malicious ſinners, that break thy Commands, not upon ignorance and infirmity, but preſumptuoufly, and with a high hand: Shew thy great works in the Earth, they regard it not; let thy power of thy hand work wonders, they paſs it by, without the leaſt obſervance; therefore, O Lord, deſtroy them with an irreparable ruine, and never permit them to be raiſed and built again.
Bleſſed, and thrice bleſſed be the Lord, Ver. 6 to whoſe ears this my ſupplication is come, and who I am certain will grant what I have asked of him: The Lord is my ſtrength to confirm me, my ſhield to defend me, in him my heart truſted, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoyceth, my mouth I will open to his honour, my ſong ſhall be of him all the day long, and with a chearful mind, and a grateful tongue, I will praiſe him.
Lor, ſave thy people, and bleſs thine inheritance, ſave them with thy hand; bleſs them, that they may increaſe in knowledge, piety and wealth; feed them with thy Word, and lift up their heads above thoſe that hate them, that it may be known they are thy choſen Iſrael, the people of thy love. Be unto them a Tower of ſtrength againſt the face of their enemy, and ſend them ſalvation by the hand of thy Anointed, and at laſt bring them to eternal life, through Ieſus Chriſt our Lord.
Another out of the ſame Pſalm.
O Heavenly Father, we humbly beſéech thy goodneſs, when we cry unto thée, to hear our ſupplications; for if thou turn away thine ear, and neglect to give us Audience, in theſe our preſſures and afflictions, the men of thy hand will prevail againſt us, and bring down our life unto the pit.
We do acknowledge before thée; that our wayes have béen perverſe, our works wicked, and the imagination of our hearts only vain, and evil continually; yet, O Lord, we deſire to be holy, render therefore not unto us, not according to our deſerts, but according to thy great mercies: Of thy inſinite goodneſs reckon us not with the workers of iniquity, ſuffer us not to be ſeduced by, and puniſhed with wicked men, as we have deſerved; return unto them, O Lord, ſeven-fold into their boſome, but to us thy people be propitious.
Be unto us, O Lord, ſtrength, and a buckler; ſave us in our dangers, féed us in our neceſſities, favour us in our enterpriſes, and give us ſucceſs in our actions. O Lord, we are thine inheritance, the people that thou haſt adopted to be thy children and heirs, heap upon us here thy mercies, and hereafter bring us to an everlaſting inheritance in Heaven, by the precious merits of Ieſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.