Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 1 · Psalm 41
PSAL. XLI.
IN this Pſalm, David ſhews how men ſhould, and how commonly they do carry themſelves toward men in affliction and trouble.
1. They ſhould carry themſelves compaſſionately and kindly, which would make them happy, and find mercy from God, from ver. 1. to 4. which is the firſt part of the Pſalm.
2. But they commonly carry themſelves unkindly, and afflict the afflicted, of which David complains, from ver. 4. to 10. which is the ſecond part.
3. Upon which unkindneſs he flies to God, and prayes for mercy, ver. 11. ſhews his hope and confidence in God, ver. 11, 12. and bleſſeth him, ver. 13. which is the third part.
1. He begins with an excellent foreign, or a grave ſentence, The firſt part. He is bleſſed,Bleſſed is he that conſidereth the poor and needy; i. e. any man in trouble, want, &c. Ver. 1 This man is a happy man: Now whether he ſpeaks of, That is of compaſſionate bowels.and applies the following particulars to the poor and needy, or to the man that conſiders him, Interpreters are doubtful; the particular comforts are ſix.
1. The Lord will deliver him in time …f trouble. Ver. 2
2. The Lord will preſerve him, that he faint not in his great troubles.The particulars of his bleſſing.
3. The Lord will keep him alive, prolong his life and dayes.
4. He ſhall be bleſſed upon earth, God ſhall enrich him, and bleſs his ſubſtance.
5. Thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies; never to their will, to their full deſire, though ſometimes into their hands.
6. The Lord will ſtrengthen him upon the Bed of languiſhing, Ver. 3 Thou wilt make duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page his Bed in his ſickneſs: He ſhall have comfort in his grief, and aſſurance of Gods favour in his ſick Bed.
Now before he enters upon the ſecond part, The ſecond part. He petitions for mercy.the complaint of the unkindneſs of men to him; he offers a ſhort ejaculation to God, begging mercy, health and pardon, which he asks upon confeſſion of his ſins; health he asks firſt for his ſoul, that being healed from ſin, he doubts not it would go well with his body.
1. Ver. 4 I ſaid, the Lord be merciful to me, merciful to my ſin.
2. Heal my ſoul, in which there is yet the ſenſe of thy wrath.
3. He complains of others malice.And the Reaſon is, becauſe I have ſinned againſt thee.
And the complaint of himſelf being ended, he complains of others.
1. Of their hatred and malice: My enemies speak evil of me.
2. Ver. 5 Of their cruelty, they long for my death, they ſay, When ſhall he dye, and his name periſh? 2Cruelty.They would have no memory left behind of me.
3. 3Perfidiouſneſs.Their perfidious dealing and diſſimulation: They come indeed to viſit me, but it is to fiſh what they can from me, Ver. 6 to make their advantage of it: If he comes to ſee me, he speaks vanity, all vain and feigned words; for his heart gathereth iniquity to it ſelf, fraudulently ſearcheth my counſels; for preſently being gone abroad, he openeth and tells all to my hurt.
4. 4ConſpiraciesOf their plots and conſpiracies: All that hate me, whiſper together againſt me, Ver. 7 againſt me do they deviſe my hurt.
5. 5Joy at his miſeries.Their foreign, or exultation at his miſery: An evil diſeaſe, ſay they, cleaveth unto him; and now that he lieth, he ſhall riſe up no more.
6. 6Of a perfidious friend.Of the perfidiouſneſs of ſome particular friend, perhaps Achitophel: Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I truſted, which did eat of my bread, hath lift up his heel againſt me; I fed and fatted the Beaſt, and he kicked at me.
And then he prayes, The third part. He prayes to God to raiſe him.But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me, and raiſe me up; which prayer he enforceth by theſe Reaſons.
1. That thereby, as a King, he ſhould have power to do juſtice on Traytors, That I may requite them.
2. Ver. 10 By this he ſhould have experience of Gods favour, By this I know thou favoureſt me, &c.
3. Ver. 11 This will be a teſtimony unto me, that thou favoureſt not only my perſon, but my cauſe: Ver. 12 As for me, thou upholdest me in my integrity, and ſe…t…ſt me before thy face for ever.
Then he cloſeth the Pſalm with a Benedictus, And concludes with a Benedictus.Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, from everlaſting to everlaſting. Ver. 13 Amen. Amen.
The Prayer collected out of the forty firſt Pſalm.
O Merciful God, Ver. 1 who ſhewedſt compaſſion toward the compaſſionate, and haſt promiſed mercy to thoſe who are merciful, ſo ſtir my bowels within me, that I may rejoyce with thy ſervants that rejoyce, and mourn with thoſe that mourn; never let me behold any of thy ſervants in want, diſtreſs, miſery, and affliction; but let me conſider it ſeriouſly, and wiſely lay it to heart; make his my own caſe, and chearfully afford him that help and comfort, which I would expect and deſire; my ſelf, if it ſhould pleaſe thée to viſit me with the ſame, or the like affliction.
This very day, is a day of blackneſs and heavineſs, of gloomineſs and ſad affliction unto thy ſervants, and Lord, out of a fellow-feeling I lay it to heart, I pray not for my ſelf alone, but for them alſo: O Lord, deliver them in this time of trouble, preſerve them, and kéep them, that they fall not into evil, nor faint not under their preſſures: Ver. 2 Prolong their dayes, that they may ſée thy revenge upon their enemies, and bleſs to them, good God, that little ſubſtance, which the ſpoiler and deſtroyer hath yet left to them: The malice of their enmies is unſatiable; their deſire is to root them out, that they may be no more a people, O never deliver them to their will, nor leave them in their hands, into which thou haſt now brought them, for ſome reaſons beſt known to thée: When thou ſhalt caſt any of theſe upon his ſick bed, then ſtand by him, and ſtrengthen him, and comfort him; though his body languiſh, yet let thy conſolations refreſh his ſoul; if it ſo ſéems good to thée, make him whole again, however ſoften under him his Bed, eaſe his pain, and let him reſt ſwéetly and quietly in thy arms; Make thou for him his Bed in all his ſickneſs; Lord, be merciful unto him, heal his ſoul, and let it not be wounded with a deſperate ſenſe of thy hot diſpleaſure: As thou haſt made him an object of pity to us, ſo make him an object of mercy to thée; and in confeſſing his ſin, let him find eaſe and aſſurance of pardon.
Thou Lord, knoweſt our enemies, how many they are, and how they bear a tyrannous hate againſt us; they ſpeak evil of us, they imprecate evil againſt us: The prolongation of our life is an eye-fore to them, and the lengthning of our dayes a corroſive to their hearts: They long for our death, and wiſh the abolition of our names and memory from under Heaven: They may come indéed ſometimes to viſit us, and inſinuate themſelves into our company, but it is not out of any good will; for even then they lay ſnares for us: The kind words they uſe, are full of falſhood and diſſimulation, their intent is thereby to dive into the counſels of our hearts, that they make ſome narrative to our deſtruction: They whiſper, and lay their heads together with one conſent, all that they deviſe, is to do us miſchief; under their power and command they have brought us, and now that we are down, their plot is, that we never riſe again: Yea, and how many of us may juſtly ſay, which is a great corroſive to our ſouls, My own familiar friends whom I truſted, which did eat of my bread, whom I have fed at my Table, and ſuſtained with my meat, this man, or this beaſt rather, hath lift up his heel againſt me, and kick't at me.
And I among others, oppreſſed with theſe evils, do here proſtrate my ſoul before thée, O Lord, be merciful unto me, raiſe me up from this calamitous condition, and make me know by this expreſſion of thy mercy, that thou favoureſt me, and wilt never ſuffer mine enemies to triumph over me. By this I ſhall know, That thou wilt uphold thy ſervants in their integrity, and wilt ſet them in thy preſence, and before thy face forever: Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, from everlaſting to everlaſting. Amen. Amen.
Here ends the firſt Book of the Pſalms, as the Jewes divide them; and ſo alſo Junius and Tremellius, Moller. and Bellarmine.