Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 2 · Psalm 61
PSAL. LXI. foreign.
IT is probable that this Pſalm was compoſed by David, when he was forced from Jeruſalem by Abſolon: As therefore in other calamities, ſo now he prayes, and vowes perpetual ſervice.
Two parts.
1. His prayer, ver. 1, 2, 3.
2. His vow, from ver. 3. to 8.
1. He begins with a prayer, in which he begs,The firſt part. His prayer for 1. Audience.
1. Audience; Hear my cry, O Lord, attend my prayer, ver. 1.
2. The Reaſon to enforce it. Ver. 1
1. He was in baniſhment, in the farther part of the Land of Judah: The Reaſon.From the farther part of the earth will I cry to thee. Ver. 2
2. He was in great extremity; when my heart is over whelmed.
3. For defence; Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I: That is, 2For defence and protectionto ſome ſafe and defenſed place, to which my enemies may have no acceſs; whither without thy help, I cannot aſcend. And he adds a Reaſon alſo of this part of his prayer, Ver. 3 drawn from his own experience: For thou haſt been a ſhelter for me, The Reaſon.a ſtrong Tower from the enemy.
2. His faith now preſents him as delivered, and therefore he vows.The ſecond part. He vows.
1. I will abide in thy Tabernacle for ever: I will return, and adore thee in thy Temple. Ver. 4
2. I will truſt under the Covert of thy wings: He alludes to the Cherubims, whoſe wings covered the Ark.
And of this he aſſigns divers Reaſons alſo,
1. For thou, O God, haſt heard my vows: i. e. my prayers.His Reaſons.
2. Thou haſt given me the heritage of thoſe that fear thy Name; made me King over thy people, and more fully performed to me the promiſe made to Abraham of the Land of Canaan.
3. Thou wilt prolong the Kings life; make me longaevus.
4. And his years, viz. in his poſterity, as many Generations; of which, the beginning of the next verſe is the foreign He ſhall abide before God for ever.His Vote for eſtabliſhing his Throne.
And now David aſſuring himſelf of his Crown, and that his poſterity ſhould inherit it, puts forth an earneſt Vote for that which ſhould eſtabliſh it: O prepare thy Mercy and Truth which may preſerve him: i. e. Me thy King: for theſe two vertues, Mercy, i. e. Clemency and Truth, do commend a King, and make him dear to his Subjects; for in the practice of theſe, 'tis not poſſible that his Government ſhould be harſh, unjuſt, or tyrannical.
Which if it pleaſe God to beſtow on him, then he makes a new vow, So will I ſing praiſe unto thy Name for ever.
Which, Upon which he renews his vow.however it ſeems to be a new vow here, yet it was that he had vowed before, and ingaged to diſcharge; for in ſinging praiſe to Gods Name, he ſhould but pay what by vow he had often undertook. I will ſing praiſe to thy Name for ever, that I may daily perform my vowes.
The Prayer collected out of the ſixty firſt Pſalm.
O Bleſſed Lord God, when now I am oppreſſed with bitterneſs of ſoul for the grievous tentations that lie upon me, to thée I flie, upon thée I call; and as thou art a merciful Father, Ver. 1 and a gracious God, I beſéech thée, hear my cry, and attend unto my prayer.
At this time I live in a ſtrange land, Ver. 2 baniſhed from my friends, an exile from thy houſe, and yet even there with an ardent affection, and a loud voyce, I invoke thy mercy, Ver. 3 even here my heart is overwhelmed with ſorrow; lead me then to ſome Rock, to which my enemies may have no acceſs; and whither, without thy help, I ſhall never be able to aſcend: Thou haſt been heretofore, and I beg of thée to be ſo ſtill, a ſhelter for me, and a ſtrong Tower againſt the enemy.
I have indéed broken thy Law, and polluted the holy ſociety of thy Saints, and deſerved to féel what I now ſuffer; viz. to be driven from that holy fellowſhip; but reſtore me once more, O Lord, to that ſociety; and then I will abide in thy Tabernacle for ever, and prize abode all other things, that protection which I ſhall find under the ſhadow of thy wings: Safer I am aſſured to be under thy feathers from the improbity of wicked men, than the poor Chicken can be under the wings of the tender Hen, from the beak and talent of the Vultur.
Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear the vows of thy Servant, and reſtore Him to His inheritance, ſuffer Him not for ever to live in a ſtrange Land, but as he was born to be, ſo conſtitute Him to be Supreme over thoſe that fear thy Name.
Prolong the Kings life, and to His dayes, and lengthen His years from Generation to Generation; let Him ſée His ſéed, and let His ſéed ſit upon His Throne, till the Heavens paſs away with a noiſe, the Elements melt with fervent heat, and this Earth; with the works that are therein, be burnt up: O let Him abide before thee His God for ever; never let Him in His own perſon fall out of thy favour, nor his Poſterity from the light of thy countenance; eſtabliſh His Throne in mercy and truth, and let thy loding-kindneſs alwayes preſerve Him; His heart is in thy hand, melt it into clemency, affect it with mercy; that He may be a Father unto thy people, and mourn with thoſe that mourn, and lament with thoſe that lament; yet affect Him ſofar with the love of Truth, that he be zealous for the Truth of Religion, earneſt to promote thy worſhip in ſincerity, and reſolute to adminiſter true judgment unto thy people, let him bring the whéel upon the wicked, and extend the bowels of compaſſion to the innocent and oppreſſed.
A mercy this is (when we caſt our eye upon the preſent calamities and ſtate of things) even beyond hope, beyond expectation; but thou our God art Almighty and All-ſufficient, ſtir up thy ſtrength then, and come and help us, where the help of man is in vain, then let thy power be manifeſt; which thing if thou wilt grant us, Then will I ſing praiſe unto thy Name for ever; I will return unto thée every day that Thankſgiving which I have vowed, which is due, and which I doubt not thou wilt accept through the Name of Ieſus Chriſt my Lord and only Saviour. Amen.