Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 1 · Psalm 36
PSAL. XXXVI. foreign.
THE end of this Pſalm, is to implore God, that out of his goodneſs, he would deliver David, and all good men from the pride and malice of the wicked: To this purpoſe,
1. He ſets down a Character of a wicked man, and his grievous eſtate, from ver. 1. to ver. 5.
2. He makes a Narrative in the commendation of Gods mercy, from ver. 1. to ver. 10.
3. He prayeth for the continuance of Gods goodneſs to his people, petitions againſt his proud enemy, and exults at his fall, ver. 10, 11, 12.
1. The firſt part.Howſoever other men may judge of wicked men, bleſs them while they proſper, Ver. 1 and ſpeak well of them, yet my cenſure and judgment of them, is this:
The tranſgreſſion of the wicked ſaith within my heart, A character of a wicked man.that there is no fear of God before his eyes: Sic apud me ſtatuo, ſic decerno. This is Davids poſtulatum, and he firſt ſets it down, as the bitter root from which all the ill fruit following doth grow; and ſo he enters upon an induction of particulars, and by them deſcribes a wicked man.
1. Ver. 2 His firſt note is, the pleaſure, the glory, the boaſting he takes in wickedneſs; He flattereth himſelf in his own eyes: 1He calls evil good.His foreign, love to himſelf is ſo great, that a great ſin in his ſight is no ſin; vice is vertue; falſhood, truth.
2. 2He continues in it.The ſecond, that in this he continues, and will not be perſwaded out of it, untill his iniquity be found to be hateful; till God by ſome heavy judgment, hath paſt his ſentence, and diſlike againſt it.
3. Ver. 3 The third is, his hypocriſie, aliud corde, aliud ore; The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: 2He is an hypocrite.He gives goodly words, but hath war in his heart.
4. 4He is obſtinate.The fourth is, his pertinacy in evil, and his abrenunciation of good: Deſinit adhibere intelligentiam, he hath left off to behave himſelf wiſely; or he will not underſtand, that he may do good.
5. Ver. 4 And in the fifth verſe, he bundles up as it were his ſins. 1. He plots evil, and deviſeth miſchief upon his bed. 5He is ſtudious in wickedneſs.2. He ſets himſelf in the way that is not good. 3. He abhors no evil. He invents wickedneſs, he ſets about it to perfect it; yea, though it be of the higheſt ſtrain; he ſwallows it, and nauſeates it not.
This is the deſcription of a wicked man, which ſome men beholding, begin to wonder at Gods patience, that he will endure this a buſe and affront, and are apt upon it to queſtion his providence; to whom, that David may return an anſwer, he enlargeth himſelf upon Gods mercy and goodneſs, Gods patience and mercy.from which this his longſuffering doth proceed: And two ſtreins there are of it; the firſt abſolute and general, extended to all: 2. The other particular, The ſecond part.which is exhibited to the faithful only.
Firſt, In general: God is good to all, which is ſeen in his bountifulneſs, 1To all, even all creatures.his fidelity, and his juſtice, and his preſervation of all things.
1. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the Heavens: Thou preſerveſt them.
2. Thy faithfulneſs reacheth unto the Clouds: They water the Earth, as its promiſed.
3. Thy righteouſneſs is like the great Mountains, immoveable.
4. Thy judgments are a great deep; unſearchable, paſt finding out.
5. Thou Lord preſerveſt man and beaſt; in thee, we live, move, and have our being.2But particularly to his people, which he admires.
Secondly, But of his ſpecial care and providence, as it ſtands in relation to the faithful, he gives another account; 'tis a precious thing, he ſets a price upon it, and admires it; O how excellent is thy loving kindneſs, O Lord; Ver. 7 Quam precioſa: Of which the conſequent is in the faithful, hope, confidence, Upon which the faithful,comfort in diſtreſs.
1. Therefore the children of men ſhall put their truſt under the ſhadow of thy wings.1Truſt.
2. The effects of it, 2Are ſatisfied.the plenty of all good things prepared for the faithful.
1. They ſhall be abundantly ſatisfied with the fatneſs of thy Houſe.
2. Thou ſhalt make them drink of the Rivers of thy pleaſure.
3. To which he adds the cauſe: For in thee is the Fountaine of life, and in thy light we ſhall ſee light.
He concludes with a Prayer. 1. For all Gods faithful people. 2. For himſelf.The third part. He prayes, that this effect may light,
1. He prayes that this peculiar and precious mercy might light upon the heads of all thoſe that ſerve God in ſincerity: O continue thy loving kindneſs to them that know thee, Ver. 10 and thy righteouſneſs to the upright of heart.1On Gods people.
2. He prayes for himſelf, that he may be defended from the pride and violence of wicked men: Let not the foot of pride come againſt me, 2On himſelf.and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. Ver. 1
3. Laſtly, He cloſes all with this exulting Epiphonema, 3His acclamation upon it.There are the workers of iniquity fallen: There, when they promiſed to themſelves peace and ſecurity, and ſaid, tuſh, no harm ſhall happen to us; there, and then are they fallen: They are caſt down, and ſhall not be able to riſe.
The Prayer collected out of the thirty ſixth Pſalm.
O Omnipotent God, Ver. 5 ſuch is the amplitude of thy mercy, that it extends it ſelf far and wide, ſo that from the loweſt Earth to the higheſt Heaven, there is not any thing which is not partaker of thy goodneſs: Thoſe bottles of Heaven, that continually reſolve, and water the Earth, are expreſſes of thy Conſtancy and Truth. Thy way of ſuffice is incomprehenſible, and thy judgments, by which thou diſpenſeſt all things in the Earth, a great deep, Ver. 6 which no man can ſearch, an abyſſe which no humane underſtanding can find out: Man and Beaſt have their being, life, motion from thée; to man and beaſt thou ſupplieſt wharſoever is neceſſary for food or exiſtence; they are ſuſtained by thy goodneſs, and preſerved by thy mercy.
But thy care, O Lord, and providence over thy people, is far more gracious; Who can, Ver. 7 as it ought, eſtéem it? Who can ſet a ſufficient price upon it? O how excellent is thy loving-kindneſs toward them thou loveſt, and them that love thée? Theſe thou wilt protect, as a Hen doth her Chickens, under the ſhadow of thy wings. Theſe ſhall enjoy, not only temporary good things, common to man and beaſt; but in this preſent life thou wilt give them a taſte of thy heavenly treaſures, by the Holy Ghoſt diffuſed in their hearts, which, as Rivers of pleaſure, will refreſh their thirſty ſouls, and after receive them into a celeſtial manſion, where they ſhall be ſatisfied with the abundance of thy Houſe; that is, with the beatifical viſion, and full fruition of thyſelf; for thou art the fountain of that life which is true life indéed, and perpetual: Thou art the ſpring of light, and when we come to enjoy that light, all darkneſs being diſpelled, we ſhall ſée light indéed.
Till we come thither, we paſs through a vally of darkneſs, and live a life that may rather be called a death, 'tis ſo full of cares, ſo full of miſeries, ſo full of ſin; howſoever in this, let us have a taſte of thy mercies, protect us under thy wings, let us dwell in thy houſe, ſatisfie us with the graces of thy Spirit, let us drink of the Rivers of thy pleaſure, make our life comfortable, and let us enjoy the light of thy countenance. This will be life to us, even when we ſit in this ſhadow of death; this will be light to us, even while we remain in this darkneſs.
Here we are ſubject to many temptations, and the ungodly thruſt ſore at us, that we might fall: But O never let the foot of pride come and prevail againſt us, let not the hand of the wicked remove us: We know, O Lord, that their malice is ſo great againſt thy Truth, that they are not moved with any fear or reverence of thy Name; reſolved they are to pleaſe, and flatter themſelves in their own eyes, till their iniqity be found out, and made apyear to be odious before God and man; whatſoever they ſpeak, is full of iniquity and fraud; they are not only ignorant, but they will not be taught to be wiſe; whoſoever ſhall adviſe them to do good, is accounted their enemy, and hateful in their ſight: In the night-ſeaſon, when the mind is retired, and ſhould meditate on the beſt things, then they faſten it upon the worſt, in their Bed they deviſe miſchief; and ſo hardned in their ſin, that they will not ſet themſelves in any good way, nor abhor even the fouleſt evil.
Therefore, O Lord, for thy mercy and faithfulneſs, for thy loving-kindneſs and righteouſneſs ſake, we beſéech thée, ſuffer not our ſouls to be delivered over as a prey into their hands; and ſince they will not deſiſt from their miſchievous and bloody enterpriſe, let theſe worker of iniquity fall together; for peace, let them find war; for ſecurity, trouble; let them be caſt down from their fancied ſtate of dignity and felicity, and never be able to riſe again, by the power of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt. Amen.