Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, Book 4 [i.e. 5] · Psalm 119 · Stanza 11
11. CAPH.
IN this Section, The Contents.David firſt laments, being grieved with ſome inward anguiſh. Secondly, Complains to God of his enemies. Thirdly, Expreſſes his hope and conſtancy. Fourthly, And prayes to God for comfort and grace.
1. David complains of his heavy caſe.David being in diſtreſs, and deferr'd of help, was ſore dejected and caſt down, his ſoul fainted, his eyes failed, and his body pined, withered and ſhrunk away, ver. 1, 2, 3. He begins in ſad words.
1. 1Within.My ſoul fainteth for thy ſalvation. As the body wanting natural helps to refreſh it, Ver. 1 becomes faint; ſo doth the ſoul, deſtitute of heavenly comfort, languiſh. This was Davids caſe.
2. Yet he deſpairs not.Yet he deſpairs not: Yet I hope in thy Word. The delaying of thy ſalvation makes me faint, but the aſſured hope I have in thy Word and Promiſe, keeps my heart alive, and ſtrengthneth me, and comforts me.
3. Ver. 2 My eyes fail for thy Word.
1. My eyes eſpecially, thoſe of my mind are ſtill looking up to Heaven for help, and they are ready to fail, becauſe the help comes not; as the eyes do that long looks after any thing.
2. Saying, When wilt thou comfort me, how long Lord? how long doſt thou delay me? when will the comfort come? God delayes the prayers of his ſervants, and his promiſes, that they ſhould be the fitter to receive.
4. Ver. 3 I am become like a bottle in the ſmoke; That is dried up, extenuated, and worn away to nothing, ſhrunk into wrinkles, being deſtitute of the comforts of thy Spirit.
5. Yet do I not forget thy statutes. I mortifie my fleſh ſtill, and therefore being obedient, 2From without by enemiesI have reaſon to expect comfort and eaſe from thee.
2. Ver. 4 This diſtreſs he found within, but he had vexation alſo from without, bitter enemies, And thinks the time long, till God take revenge on them.of which he complains, asking firſt:
1. How long he ſhould ſuffer under them? How many are the dayes of thy ſervant? How long ſhall this affliction endure? when ſhall the dayes of this tentation and miſery be at an end, this perſecution be over?
2. When wilt thou execute judgement, he means temporal puniſhments, on them that perſecute me? O let me not dye comfortleſs, but let me ſee, that thou art a God of judgement, and men behold, that there is a reward for the righteous.
3. And in the next verſe he deſcribes them from their qualities. Vers. 5
1. They were proud. Men that would endure no yoke of God, Who are, 1. Proud.of man.
2. Subtile. They digg'd pits. For their advantage, 2Subtile.ſubmit to any baſe office, crouch and bow, Pſa. 104.10. Abſolon abaſed himſelf.
3. Impious men, for the courſes they took againſt him, 3Impious.were not according to Gods Word, They digg'd pits for me, which were not after thy Law. 'Tis ſome comfort yet, that we have thoſe men our enemies, that are enemies to God, and whoſe actions are diſpleaſing to him.
4. For they are contrary to thy Law. For all thy Commandments are true, nay truth it ſelf, and they a falſe generation.
5. And yet theſe are the men that perſecute me, He prayes for ſeaſonable help.but they do it wrongfully.
6. Therefore, O Lord, help me. Help me againſt their treachery.
7. And it is but time. For their malicious cruelty is unſatiable, they have not only troubled me, but had almoſt conſumed me upon earth.
8. The comfort yet is, that it is not done, becauſe I forſook not thy precepts.
3. He ſhuts up all with a Petition that he makes often in this Pſalm.3He petitions for ſtrength.
1. Quicken me. And it may ſeem ſtrange, that ſo often he ſhould acknowledge himſelf, as it were, a dead man, and deſire God to put life into him. But to a child of God every deſertion and decay of ſtrength, ſeems a death, ſo deſirous they are to live to God, that when they fail in it, and are diſmabled, they account themſelves, as it were, dead, and pray the Lord for life. Quicken me.And promiſeth obedience.
2. Quicken me after thy loving-kindneſs, he oppoſeth Gods kindneſs to his enemies malice, and it is comfortable, I am troubled with their malice for thy ſake; and therefore I crave to be refreſhed by thy kindneſs. In that there is comfort enough, Pſa. 52.1.
3. So ſhall I keep the Teſtimonies of thy mouth. So, that is, quickned by thee, for otherwiſe there was in him no ſtrength to obey, no more than a dead man doth the actions of a natural life.
The Prayer.
O Merciful God, while that help and ſalvation, Vers. 1 which we alone expect from thée, is delayed and with-held from us, our very ſouls have fainted within us. To thée we look day and night, and our eyes are bent toward heaven in expectation of thy promiſes. O Lord, when wilt thou comfort us? Our body languiſheth, our ſkin is furrowed into wrinkles, no bottle in the ſmoke is more dryed up, than is our fleſh, while we look and long for help from thy hand.
Proud men, the ſons of Belial, that have ſhaked off the yoke, have digg'd pits for our life. They wrongfully perſecute us; They have almoſt conſumed us upon the earth. O Lord, how many are the dayes of thy ſervants? How long ſhall this affliction endure? when ſhall the dayes of this tentation and miſery be at an end? when wilt thou execute jugement on them that perſecute us? Help us, O Lord, for we hope in thy Word; ariſe and deliver us, for we have not forgotten, nor yet will forſake thy Statutes. This we have reſolved on, Vers. 3.7. this we have decréed, but to perform this reſolution of our ſelves we are not able, no more than a dead man is to execute the actions of the living. Quicken us then with thy Grace according to thy loving-kindneſs, and infiniteneſs of thy mercy, and ſo will we kéep thy Teſtimonies, which thou haſt made known unto us by thine own finger, and left unto us by the mouth of thy own Son, Ieſus Chriſt our Lord.