Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 2 · Psalm 59
PSAL. LIX. foreign.
THE Argument of this Pſalm is the ſame with ſome of thoſe before; but the occaſion particular, Saul's purpoſe to kill him in his houſe; againſt whoſe treachery and cruelty he here complains, and prayes.
The Contents of this Pſalm are four.
1. His prayer for deliverance, ver. 1, 2. and againſt them, ver. 5.
2. He complains of, and expreſſeth his enemies cruelty and improbity, from ver. 3. to 8.
3. He comforts himſelf, being confident of his own preſervation, from ver. 8. to 10.
1. And of their puniſhment, for which he prayes, from ver. 11. to 14.
2. And of their vain endeavours, for which he inſults, ver. 14, 15.
4. He concludes with thanks, ver. 16, 17.
1. He begins with a Petition for deliverance, defence, ſalvation, and perſwades it from the qualities of his enemies.The firſt part. His Petition for defence.
1. Deliver me, defend me, ſave me from
2. Ver. 1 Mine enemies: 1. Them that riſe up against me: 2. From the workers of iniquity: 3. From bloody men. Theſe conſiderations made him pray, O my God deliver, &c.
2. He aggravates his enemies cruelty, &c. The ſecond part.And yet more particularly he expreſſeth their cruelty and treachery, to aggravate which, he pleads his own innocency in reſpect of them.
1. Their cruelty was, Lo, they lie in wait for my ſoul.
2. Their treachery this, The Mighty men are gathered againſt me. They run and prepare themſelves.
3. They are diligent about it, They return at Evening: 2. Mad, and ſet to do it, they make a noiſe like a Dog, and threaten boldly: 3. Unwearied, and obſtinate in their purpoſe, They go round about the City: 4. Impudent, and brag what they will do to me; Behold, they belch out with their mouth: 5. And their words are bloody, Swords are in their lips; foreign.
4. And the cauſe of this is, that they are proud and atheiſtical: Who, ſay they, doth hear? Secure they think themſelves, ſuppoſing they may contemn God and man; neither regard what's done, or what becomes of poor David. Ver. 3, 4.
5. In the mid'ſt of which aggravations, he inſerts his own innocency: Expreſſeth his own innocencyThey gather themſelves together; not for my tranſgreſſion, nor for my ſin, O Lord; they run and prepare themſelves without my fault.
And upon this he renews his Petition. Ver. 4
1. Awake to help me, and behold:He renews his Petition.
1. Thou therefore the Lord God of Hosts, the God of Iſrael, the Lord God of Hosts, therefore powerful.
2. The God of Iſrael, therefore merciful.
2. Awake to viſit all the Heathen: i.e. Puniſh the Heathen, and the Iſraelites in this no better.
3. And be not merciful to any wicked Tranſgreſſors: i. e. malicious, obſtinate.
To this rage and implacable hatred of his enemies, The third part. Comforts himſelf in Gods promiſes.he now begins to oppoſe the comfort he had upon the aſſurance of Gods promiſes; this I know:
1. Thou, O Lord, ſhalt laugh at them; as it were, in ſport deſtroy them, be their power never ſo great, yet thou wilt laugh them to ſcorn.
2. Them, and all that are like them; Thou ſhalt have all the Heathen in deriſion.
3. I confeſs that Saul's ſtrength is great, but my Protector greater; Becauſe of his ſtrength I will wait upon thee, for God is my defence.
4. This I am aſſured alſo, That the God of my mercy, that hath hitherto ſhewed me mercy, ſhall prevent me, come in feaſon to my help: 2. Expreſſeth his deſire about his enemies.And God ſhall let me ſee my deſire upon mine enemies.
And to the 16th. verſe, he expreſſeth what his deſires were.
1. Negatively: He would not have them ſlain and eradicated, He would not have them ſlain.and be gives his Reaſon for it: Slay them not, leſt my people forget; for a dead man is quickly out of mind, and his puniſhment out of mind, and ſo few are the better for it.
2. Poſitively: The firſt degree of which, is diſperſion, But, 1. S…attered.vagrancy and baniſhment: Scatter them; which, how heavy a judgment it is, let the Jewes be witneſs.
2. The ſecond degree, is Humiliation: Bring them down, O Lord, our ſhield. 2Humbled.Bring them from their power, command, honour, to a low degree, which is no ſmall heart-breaking to a great ſpirit: Fuimus Troes, is never remembred without a groan.
And now he aſſigns the cauſe why he would have them ſcattered and brought low, The cauſes.that their blaſphemies and lies may never be forgotten, but they ſtand as a terrour to all lyars and blaſphemers.
1. For the ſins of their mouths, and the words of their lips, 1Taken in their own ſna…e.let them be taken in their pride: The Jewes cryed Beelzebub, Nolumus hum, and taken they were.
2. And for curſing and lying, which they ſpeak: They curſed themſelves, his blood be upon us, and upon them it is with a witneſs.
3. He goes on in his deſires: Conſume them, O Lord, emphatically, conſume them in wrath that they may not be; which at firſt ſight ſeems contrary to his firſt deſire, Slay them not: But it is not ſo, 4Conſumed.for he ſpeaks not of their life, as if he would have them ſo conſumed, that they ſhould not remain alive; but he deſires only a conſumption of their power, royalty, command; &c. And ſo theſe words are a farther explication of his ſecond deſire, Bring them down: He would have them ſo brought down and conſumed in their ſtrength, dignity, command, wealth, riches, that made them proud, that they never be able any more to oppoſe God, hurt his people, trample upon Religion, and his Church; he would have them live.
4. The final cauſe to deter others.And ſhews the end why he would have them live and remain ſtill, it is ut cognoſcant, that they might know by their calamities and miſeries, That it is God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the Earth; that he doth wonderfully govern and preſerve his Church that is ſcattered over all the Earth.
5. His inſultation over them by a Sarcaſm.And now by a bitter Epitrope or Synchoreſis rather, he inſults over them; before at the 6th. verſe, he ſhewed their double diligence, threats, malice to do miſchief.
1. They return at Evening: Well, esto, be it ſo; And at Evening let them return.
2. They make a noiſe like a Dog: Well, Let them make a noiſe like a Dog.
3. They go round about the City: Well, Let them go round about the City.
So withall, they know that they ſhall be but in a miſerable, poor, mean condition.
1. Let them wander up and down for meat: Let them find no ſetled habitation, but wander among ſtrange Nations to ſeek for neceſſary food.
2. And grudge if they be not ſatisfied: Let them be famelici, ſo hungerbit, that is, nor little that will ſatisfie them, let them be alwayes grudging, if they have not content; ſo that if they be not ſatisfied, they will ſtay all night, be importunate and unmannerly Beggars, vexed with a foreign.
4. The fourth part The Doxology.The Concluſion is a Doxology, and contains Davids thanks, in which he acknowledgeth, That God is his defence, his refuge, his ſtrength; of him therefore he would make his ſong.
1. But I will ſing of thy power.
2. I will ſing of thy mercy: 1. Aloud: 2. In the morning.
3. The Reaſon he gives: For thou haſt been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Both he repeats again.
1. Ʋnto thee, O my ſtrength, will I ſing.
2. The Reaſon.The Reaſon: For God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.
And he joyns theſe two Attributes, strength and mercy very well; for take away strength from him, and he cannot; remove morcy, and he will not protect; both muſt go together in any one that will defend: Power, that he can; mercy, that he will; otherwiſe 'tis but in vain to hope for help from him. David found God to be both, and for both he extolls him.
The Prayer collected out of the fifty ninth Pſalm.
OMy God, Ver. 1 whom only I ſerve, on whom alone I do depend, deliver me, I beſéech thée, from the hands of my enemies; defend me from the malice of thoſe that riſe up againſt me. Wicked men, theſe are corrupters of all Truth and Religion: Blood-thirſty men theſe are, that thirſt after the blood of thy Saints, and uſe all their force, power, and conſpiracies to root them out of the Earth; they lie in wait for our ſouls, they are gathered together for our ruine; O ſend us help from thy holy Heaven, and ſave us from the rage of them who would eat us up.
Many, many grievous offences we have committed againſt thée our God; but it is not for theſe crimes they at this time invade us, but they are haters of true Religion, and implacable enemies to true Piety; which, becauſe we maintain, therefore they craftily take counſel, and wiſely they work to our deſtruction. O Lord, Thou knoweſt that without any fault or offence of ours, they run and prepare themſelves to Battel.
Therefore, O juſt God, who art a witneſs of our innocency, and their cruelty, be not like one that ſléeps, ariſe to help us that ſéek thée, behold our miſeries, and ſtand up for us, that ſtand for thée; and ſince thou art the Lord of Hoſts, who haſt all Armies at thy Command; and the God of Iſrael, whom thy people ſerve, ſuffer not thy choſen to be thus oppreſſed by wicked men, whoſe pride excéeds that of the Heathen; Viſit them in anger, O Lord, and be not merciful to them that offend of malicious wickedneſs, they are an object of vengeance, not of mercy, execute then thy ſevere wrath upon them.
Are not their works altogether the ſymptoms of an obſtinate and hard heart? Earneſt they are to execute their plots, they run too and fro. In the Evening when good men are at reſt, then they ariſe for miſchief; mad as Dogs to bring their purpoſes to paſs: They grinne, they threaten, they walk round the City, obſerving where they may take their Prey: Boldly they ſpeak with their mouth, what their heart intends, and the words that procéed from thence are very Swords, breathing to us nothing but death, and utter extirpation. Thy Majeſty they regard not; and as for man, their pride and power is ſo great, they care not who hears them; for they know that few are able, and fewer willing to help us.
But thou, O Lord, ſitteſt in Heaven upon thy Throne, and heareſt and ſéeſt all things, both our oppreſſions, and their inſultations; fruſtrate their attempts, evacuate their endeavours, have their perſons in deriſion, and laugh all their projects to ſcorn.
Let them not be viſited with the viſitation of all men: Slay them not, leſt the people forget it, but ſcatter them among the people; make them for their flagitious lyes and perjuries, become Wanderers and Beggars; Let them run here and there for meat, and grudge if they be not ſatisfied.
Conſume them, O Lord, conſume in thy wrath; bring them down from their Throne, out them from their power and dignity, let their unjuſt gotten goods periſh, and their great wealth come to nought, that they may know that it is God that rules in Jacob, and unto the end of the World.
The ſin of their mouth is impudent, the words of their lips blaſphemy; Ver. 12 their very preaching is curſing and lyes, therefore ſpare them not, but let them be taken by the pride of their words, and fall into that ſnare of deſtruction in which they were wont to boaſt, that they would catch other innocent men.
Make us ſo happy, O our Eod, that we may ſée our deſires upon thy enemies, ſo ſhall we ſing of thy power, and praiſe thy mercy aloud in the Morning; and all ſhall know that thou art a ſtrong Tower of defence, and a ſure refuge to all that in ſincerity of heart in the day of trouble call upon thée.
Unto thee, O Lord, will I ſing, for thou, O God, art my Refuge, and the God of my Mercy: Thou alone haſt mercy on me, and to thée alone will I call for mercy through Ieſus Chriſt my Lord. Amen.