Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, 4 [i.e. 5] (cont.) · Psalm 136
PSAL. CXXXVI.
THIS Pſalm is of the ſame Argument that the former. For in it all men are call'd upon to praiſe God for his greatneſs and goodneſs, his providence and mercy in creating; governing, and ordering the world, but eſpecially his love ſhew'd to his people the Church. All which works, becauſe they proceeded from his Mercy, therefore that Attribute is made the burden of the Pſalm, and the cloſe in every verſe. And this was a Solemn form in uſe in the Jewiſh Church, as is apparent, 2 Chron. 7.3, 6. & 20, 21.
The parts of this Pſalm are,
1. A general exhortation to praiſe God for his goodneſs, Majeſty, verſ. 1, 2, 3.
2. A declaration of his goodneſs and Majeſty by the effects.
1. Of his Creation, from verſ. 4. to 10.
2. Of his Providence eſpecially in conſerving his Church, and exerciſing his judging toward her enemies, from verſ. 10. to 25.
3. That his Providence extends to all creatures, verſ. 25.
3. A concluſion fit for the exordium, for it calls us up to praiſe God, verſ. 26.
1. The firſt part. An invitation to praiſe God.In the three firſt verſes the Prophet invites to praiſe God for his goodneſs and mercy.
1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; For his Mercy endureth for ever.
2. O give thanks to the God of Gods; For his Mercy endureth for ever.
3. O give thanks to the Lord of Lords. For his Mercy endureth for ever.
In theſe verſes Expoſitors find the Trinity.
1. In the firſt, Jehovah. God the Father, who is the fountain of Being.
2. In the ſecond, God the Son, who is the God of Gods, whether Angels or Princes, who are called Gods, but he is over them.
3. In the third, the Holy Ghoſt, who is Lord of Lords, who, as the wind, blows where, when, and on whom he will. Other Lords have not Free-will, but, as Servants, muſt do his pleaſure. Bellarmine.
His reaſons are, The chief reaſon, becauſe good, merciful for ever.that we give thanks to him, becauſe he is good, becauſe merciful, and his mercy endures for ever. For 'tis his mercy, that we ſhall live for ever; ſo that his mercy is extended to us both while we live on earth, and when we live with him in heaven. It is no improbable conjecture of Muſculus, that this Pſalm was ſung by the Quire, and that the people at the end of every Ʋerſicle, ſung this Reſponſory. For his Mercy endureth for ever. Which was no Battology neither, ſaith Moller, for it follows and applyes every particular benefit.
2. The ſecond part.The Prophet now begins to praiſe God for his great and wonderful works, which he alone was able to do, ſuch as was the work of Creation, in which he uſed not the power of Angels, And farther, for his works.but his own only. Give thanks to the Lord,
1. Who hath done wonderful things. His inſtance is preſently in the Creation.1Of Creation, in all which he ſhews his mercy.
2. For his Mercy endureth for ever. His Mercy was conſpicuous in this work, for he made not any thing of neceſſity, as if he needed the creature, Ver. 4 but meerly out of his ineffable good-will, and Mercy.
Of theſe wonderful things, Inſtance firſt.the Prophet his
1. 1The heaven.Firſt inſtance in the heavens. To him, give thanks, that by wiſdom made the heavens. It was his firſt work, Gen. 1. For whether we look upon the magnitude, the figure, the beauty, the motion, the order of the Orbs, the ſplendor, the influence, the effects of the celeſtial bodies, there is a ſtrange and wonderful evidence of wiſdom and power in them, not unitable by any creature.
2. For his mercy endures for ever, becauſe it pleaſed him to create theſe heavens out of nothing, to be an eternal habitation for Men and Angels.
2. Ver. 5 His ſecond inſtance is in the earth. In the beginning God made heaven and earth; 2The earth.Heaven to be the Palace of immortal Citizens: The Earth to be the Manſion of Mortals.
1. Give thanks to him, that ſtretch'd out the earth above the waters: So naturally it could not be, becauſe it is the heavier element: but he furrowed the earth, and let into the concavities thereof, the water, that men and beaſts might live upon it.
2. For his mercy endureth for ever. In this there was a threefold mercy.
1. In reſpect of the earth, to make it ſomething of nothing.
2. In reſpect of the water, to which he prepared a ſetled place.
3. In reſpect of man, to whom he gave the earth uncovered, and ſafe from the waters, yet watered with rivers, that he might live in it, till it, and reap the fruit of it.
3. Ver. 6 The third inſtance is the two great Luminaries, and the Stars, in the three following verſes.3The Sun and Moon.
1.
Ver. 7 Given thanks to him, who made great lihts. For his Mercy endureth for ever.
The Sun to rule by day. For his Mercy endureth for ever.
The Moon and the Stars to rule the night. For his Mercy endures for ever.
Theſe do wonderfully adorn the heaven, and profit the earth. For theſe lights eſpecially, by illuminating the earth, do comfort us, and are over our works by night and day. And he inſtanceth in theſe, rather than in other works of God, becauſe theſe ſhine to all the world, and therefore every man is unexcuſable, if by them they acknowledge not Gods wiſdom.
3. From the wonderful works of Gods Creation, The third part. 2. Of providence to Iſrael before.he deſcends to ſpeak of the works of his Providence, in preſervation of his Church, and inſtanceth in his people Iſrael, whom he delivered from Aegypt with a mighty hand, as if he had been a man of War; and this, in reſpect of Iſrael was an act of mercy, though on the Aegyptians an act of juſtice.
Ver. 10 Give thanks to him that ſmote Aegypt in their firſt-born: for his mercy endureth for ever.
And brought out Iſrael from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever.
With a ſtrong hand, and stretched-out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.
To him which divided the red Sea: for his mercy, &c.
And made Iſrael to paſs through the midſt of it: for his mercy, &c.
But overthrew Pharaoh and his Host in the red Sea: for his mercy, &c.
Give thanks to him which led his people through the Wilderneſs: for his mercy, &c.
To him which ſmote great Kings: for his mercy, &c.
And ſlew famous Kings: for his mercy, &c.
Sihon King of the Amorites: for his mercy, &c.
Ver. 20 And Og the King of Baſhan: for his mercy endureth for ever.
And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy, &c.
Even an heritage to Iſrael his ſervant: for his mercy, &c.
He performed unto them all the Offices of a good Captain, Guide, Leader, nay, Father; for he took care for food for them, fed them with bread from Heaven, brought for them waters out of the Rock, cured their ſick, defended them, and avenged them on their enemies, &c. But the whole Hiſtory is ſo plain in Moſes, that it needs no explanation.
4. All this was done for them before they entred the land of Canaan; 2After they entred Canaan.the Prophet goes on to remember what was done for them after: They proved a rebellious people, for which God humbled them, and brought the Philiſtins, and the Babylonian Kings againſt them, who conquered them, and kept them under, and in ſubjection: But God in this their oppreſſion, when they cryed and turned to him, forſook them not, but raiſed up ſome Judge, King, or other, to deliver them, as Gideon, Sampſon, David, Cyrus, &c. which the Prophet mentioneth in the next verſes.
Ver. 23
Who remembred us when we were in our low estate: for his mercy, &c.
And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy, Pſal. 135.14.
5. Laſtly, That this goodneſs is not extended only to his people, 3And his providence to all creatures.but even to all Creatures, is manifeſt, in that he provides for, nouriſhes and conſerves every living creature; for Caro, here ſignifies every thing that hath life, and bread, all kind of nouriſhment by which the life is ſuſtained. Ver. 25
Who gives food to all fleſh: for his mercy endures for ever.
6. He concludes as he begun, O give thanks unto the God of Heaven, The concluſion that we praiſe him.for his mercy endureth for ever. And he calls him the God of Heaven, becauſe he only made the Heaven, and hath his Throne in Heaven, Ver. 26 having the whole World under him, and in his power, that preſerves, moderates, governs all things by his wiſdom power, mercy.
The Hymn collected out of the One hundred and thirty ſixth Pſalm.
O Omnipotent God, ſo great is thy goodneſs, ſo infinite is thy mercy to the ſons of men, that we are not able to expreſs it, becauſe we cannot comprehend it: Whatever we enjoy is from thy mercy, whatever we hope to enjoy is thy mercy; Thy mercy endures for ever, and therefore we will ſing of thy mercies from everlaſting to everlaſting. Ver. 5 Whetherſoever we caſt our eyes, we find objects of thy mercy; whether we behold the Heavens, framed by thy wiſdom, and adorned with great lights, the Sun to rule the day, or the Moon and Stars to govern the night; or whether we look down upon the earth, ſtretched out above the waters, that it might be the habitation, and yield food for all creatures, in both theſe, nay, in all places they occur unto us ample Teſtimonies of thy bounty and mercy; all which, ſhould we conſider with a pious and ſerious mind, we muſt néeds with an inflamed heart, and free tongue, never ceaſe to ſing with the Prophet, Ver. 25 Thy mercy endureth for ever.
In the Creation of all things, From Ver. 10. To Ver. 22.in giving food to all fleſh, thy mercy hath been wonderful: But in the chooſing, gathering, conſerving, revenging the wrongs, and pardoning the ſins of thy people more wonderful; our hearts were as hard and as cold as a ſtone, ſhould we not conſider what thou didſt for thy people Iſrael, which is an engagement to us, what thou wilt do for thy Church: For thy mercy endures for ever; Thou ſmoteſt Aegypt, and ſlew mighty Kings for their ſakes; Thou didſt lead them as a Captain, and provide Manna and Quails, and waier for them, as a father; defend them from their enemies, and never ceaſe to proſecute them with mercy, till thou giveſt them the heritage of the Heathen; yea, when they were brought to any low eſtate, Thou redeemeſt them from their enemies: for thy mercy endures for ever.
Thou therefore who art rich in bounty, clemency and mercy, that never can have an end, behold, we beſéech thée, thy Church, and remember it now in a low eſtate; remit our ſins, pardon our tranſgreſſions, repent concerning thy ſervants, and redeem us from our enemies: for thy mercy endures for ever. Thou which giveſt food to all fleſh, Ver. 25 féed our ſouls with the celeſtial Manna, thy Word and thy Sacraments: for thy mercy endures for ever.
So ſhall we give thanks to thee, O Lord, becauſe thou art good, and thy mercy endureth for ever. Ver. 1 So ſhall we give thanks to the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. So ſhall we give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. We will give thanks to the God of Heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. Ver. 26