Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, 4 [i.e. 5] (cont.) · Psalm 139
PSAL. CXXXIX.
IN this Pſalm, David having aſperſions laid upon him by his enemies, appeals to God in juſtification of his innocency, and he deſires of God to be his Witneſs and Compurgator, ver. 23.
Now that this his Appeal be not thought unreaſonable, he preſents God in his two eſpecial Attributes, Omniſcience, and Omnipreſonce: Then he ſhewes how free he was like to be from the faults with which he was charg'd, in that he loved goodneſs, and good men, and hated the wayes of wickedneſs, and wicked men: This is the Sum.
The parts are:
1. A Deſcription of Gods Omniſcience, from ver. 1. to 7.
2. The Deſcription of his Omnipreſence, from ver. 7. to 18.
3. Davids hatred of evil and wicked men, from ver. 19. to 23.
4. The Proteſtation of his own innocency, which he offers to the Teſt and Tryal of God, ver. 23, 24.
1. He begins with Gods Omniſcience, The firſt part. Gods Omniſcience. He,and takes upon him the perſon of mankind; for what he ſaith of himſelf, is as true of all men; for we are all known to God. Ver. 1
1. O Lord, Thou haſt ſearched me out, proved, examined, Knowes:tryed me by an exact ſearch or ſcrutiny; it needed not, but he would have us know, that God moſt accurately ſearcheth into all our wayes, not the leaſt thing we do is hid from him. Thou ſearchest me out, and knoweſt me: Now what he ſaid in general, he opens in particulars. Ver. 2
2. As firſt for our Actions, he ſearches and knowes them.1Our actions.
1. Thou knoweſt my down-ſitting, and my upriſing; when, where, and for what cauſe I ſit down or riſe.
2. For our thoughts, he ſearches them alſo: 2Our thoughts.Thou understandeſt my thoughts afar off, from all eternity; Thou knoweſt my counſels, my cogitations, even before I began to think them. Ver. 3
3. The intents and purpoſes of our thoughts and actions, 3Our intents.the ends we aim at: Thou compaſſeſt my path, and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my wayes.
4. Yea, and our words too: There is not a word in my tongue, but, Ver. 4 O Lord, Thou knoweſt it altogether.4Our words.
And of this, he gives this Reaſon, becauſe God is our Maker, Ver. 5 toti quanti quanti ſumus, we are his work: Thou haſt beſet me behind and before, The Reaſon is, becauſe he is our Maker.and laid thy hand up… me. The Vulgar reads this verſe thus, Ecce Domine, tu cognoviſti omnia, noviſſima & antiqua mea, tu formaſti me, & poſuiſti ſuper me manum tuam; where Bellarmine ſaith, there be two Arguments to prove that God knowes all things that belong to us.
1. Becauſe God knowes all things paſt and future; antiqua, noviſſima, before, behind us, and therefore no wonder, if he know all the actions of men.
2. Becauſe he hath made man, he governs him: Thou, O Lord, madeſt man, and after haſt put thy hand upon him, to order him; Thou beareſt him, as it were, in thy hands, and muſt therefore of neceſſity know his wayes.
The Prophet concludes this Attribute of Gods Omniſcience with an Epiphonema: Such knowledge is not in man.Such knowledge; to know the hearts, thoughts, actions, words of all men, is too wonderful for me, it is a property that belongs to God alone; It is high, Ver. 6 I cannot attain unto it; it paſſeth my Reach and Capacity.
2. The ſecond part. His Omnipreſence.From Gods Omniſcience, David deſcends to ſpeak of his Omnipreſence, and by it ſhewes, That no man can hide himſelf from the eye and knowledge of God, becauſe he is preſent in every place.
1. Ver. 7 Whither ſhall I go from thy Spirit? i.e. That I may be hid from thy knowledge.No place can hide us from his preſence.
2. Or whither ſhall I go from thy preſence? i. e. From thy eye, face.
Say, I ſhould think of ſome lurking place to hide my ſelf in, it muſt be in Heaven, Hell, the Sea, the utmoſt part of the earth; or elſe I muſt be hid from thee by ſome dark night: But none of theſe will do it; For thou art preſent in all theſe places, and beholdeſt in the thickeſt darkneſs.
1. Ver. 8 If I aſcend up to heaven thou art there.
2. Ver. 9 If I make my bed in heſt, thou art there.
3. If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermoſt parts of the Sea, even there ſhall thy hand lead me; ut cuſtos captivum, and thy right hand ſhall hold, arreſt me, and keep me under reſtraint.
4. If I ſay, Surely the darkneſs ſhall cover me, even the light ſhall be about me; yea, the darkneſs hides not from thee, but the night ſhineth as the day, the darkneſs and light are both alike to thee.
3. His inſtance to prove both, is mans formation in the womb,And among many inſtances that might be given to declare Gods Omniſcience and Omnipreſence, omitting other, he makes choice of one only, viz. the formation of a child in the womb. God, ſaith he, forms the child in the belly of the mother, makes the ſeminal veſſels, which are deſtined for generation, ſees how to work, and how to join all parts together, in that dark Cell; and therefore night, day, darkneſs and light are all one to him: He is preſent in that abſtruſe and ſecret place, and ſees how to knit bones and ſinewes, and nerves together; to form the vital parts, endue them with faculties, cauſe fleſh to come upon them, and till all be perfected, to wrap up the Embrio in it Secundine. But to the words.
1. The excellency of the Authour is commended. Thou haſt poſſeſſed my Reins: Ver. 13 The Reins are Organs ordained for generation; the Reins are again, the moſt ſecret and hidden parts of the body, Pſal. 26.2. The ſenſe then is, Thou haſt undertaken wholly to frame me, as I lay hid in the womb, and there haſt cheriſhed me, being formed.
2. Thou haſt covered me in my mothers womb, cloathed me with fleſh, skin, bones, and incloſed me with a Secundine.
And here the Prophet, Which the Prophet admires.before he proceeds in his deſcription of the childs formation in the womb, breaks off the courſe, and falls in admiration of Gods work, and ſings praiſe for it.
1. I will praiſe thee, and extoll thee my Maker.
2. Ver. 14 For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It is enough to ſtrike any man into a reverential fear of thee, and a wonder, that ſhall conſider ſe… ouſly this work.
3. Marvellous are thy works, all are marvellous, and that my ſoul knoweth right well, but none beyond this.
And now he goes on, He continues his Narration of a childs formation in the womb.and continues his Narration of the formation of the Embrio, and deſcends to ſpeak of ſome parts.
1. My ſubſtance, (Vis mea, robur meum, oſsatio mea, oſſium & artuum compages, eſſentia mea; for Interpreters differ in the reading) is not hid from thee. Ver. 15
2. When I was made in ſecret, in the dark and ſecret Cell of my mothers womb.
3. And curiouſly wrought. The word in the Hebrew, as Moller obſerves, ſignifies, aca pingere, vestes auro, & variis filis diverſorum colorum intexere. Man indeed is a curious piece, and the variety of faculties; Organs, parts, ſhew him to be ſo.
4. In the loweſt parts of the earth. Not that man was made in infinis terrae, but in his mothers belly, in which yet the work is as ſecret and remote from us, as if God did it in the lower parts of the earth, 2 Maccab. 7.22, 23.
5. Thy eyes didst ſee my ſubſtance being yet imperfect. When I was an Embrio, in which there appeared no form, or diſtinction of parts. Thy eyes ſaw what all would come to, that from that imperfection time would produce a perfect child, and alſo cauſed it to be ſo.
6. And in thy book of preſcience and providence were all my Members written: The Idea of them was with thee. Ʋt pictura in mente pictoris.
7. Which in continuance were faſhioned, mora tempores, He again admires Gods works.when as yet there was none of them perfect.
He cloſeth this part with an foreign, in which he doth admire the wiſdom of God in his counſels, and in his works. Two things he ſaith of them.
1. That they are dear, and of eſteem to him. How precious alſo are thy thoughts to me, O God. Not only in the formation of man, but in other things.
2. That they are infinite, as indeed they are to any man that ſhall reflect upon the kinds, the Species, the Individua's in the world. David might well ſay, O how great is the Summe of them? If I ſhould count them, they are more in number than the ſand. For they are indeed innumerable.
3. For this cauſe, When I awake, I am preſent with thee. I never awake, and riſe, but ſome new matter or other of thy providence, wiſdom, is offer'd to my mind to meditate on, which puts me into an admiration of thy power, which ſhould be the uſe that every man ought to make of Gods: works, from the conſideration of them ariſe to conſider the Creator This is to be preſent with God.
3. The third part. David purgeth himſelf from ambition and blood.And ſo David having ended his Theis of the Omniſcience and Omnipreſence of God, comes up cloſer to that, for which he ſaid all this, which was to juſtifie himſelf before Gods Tribunal. It is objected againſt me, that I am a bloody man, a man of Belial, and that out of ambition I have invaded the Kingdom. But thou, Lord, art Omniſcient, and knoweſt all things; thou art Omnipreſent, and at all my actions; if therefore I be ſuch a man, execute juſtice upon me. For,
1. Surely thou wilt ſlay the wicked, thou wilt execute vengeance upon them: I dare not then be of their ſociety, Will not have to do with ſuch men.or embrace their friendſhip.
2. Depart therefore from me, ye bloody men. Joab, Doeg, Shimei, Saul, avaunt.
3. Beſides, I deſire none of their company and acquaintance, for they are not only enemies to me, but thee alſo; they ſpeak not only ill of me, but they blaſpheme; For they ſpeak againſt thee wickedly, and thy enemies take thy name in vain.
4. And yet he deals more roundly with them, that he was ſo far from ſhewing them any love, and giving them the right-hand of fellowſhip, that he hated them, Which hatred aroſe from their hatred of God, their impiety was the cauſe of it, and to that he oppoſeth himſelf, even with a perfect hatred.
1. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Such he hates.and am not I grieved with thoſe that riſe up againſt thee? The interrogatory makes it the more quick.
2. And to himſelf he returns this anſwer, Yea, I hate them with a perfect hatred, I count them my enemies. I cannot then be the man they would make me: ſo far I am from the imputed crimes, that no man condemns them more than my ſelf.
4. The laſt part. And ſets himſelf before Gods TribunalLaſtly, for his more full purgation, and ſets himſelf before Gods Tribunal. It ſeems his conſcience was very clear, and his heart ſincere, that he durſt abide that Trial. If I be ſuch as they ſay, I refuſe no puniſhment, but if otherwiſe, ſhew ſome teſtimony of my innocency in this matter.
1. Search me, O God, and know my heart. What in the beginning of the Pſalm, he ſaid, God did, now he intreats him to do, and to do it with effect.
2. Try me, and know my thoughts; examine my heart, my wayes, my thoughts, my progeſs, my actions.
3. And ſee if there be any wicked way in me; i.e. any malicious, bloody, preſumptuous way.Prayes for Gods direction.
4. And lead me in the way everlaſting. This, this, was the end he propoſed of his trial, That if God ſaw any way of wickedneſs in him, that might ſeduce him, he would withdraw him from that way, and lead him to think, deſire, and do thoſe things which would bring him to eternal life.
The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and thirty ninth Pſalm.
SO great is thy knowledge, Ver. 1 providence, and perſpicality, O Almighty God, Ver. 2 that nothing can be hid from thy eye, Thou haſt ſearched and known my actions, my thoughts, my motions, and my intentious: There is not a word in my tongue, but thou know'ſt it altogether. Whither then ſhall I go from thy Spirit? Ver. 7 or whither ſhall I go from thy preſence? Could I aſcend to Heaven, Thou art there? ſhould I make my bed in Hell, Thou art there alſo? Nor Eaſt, nor Weſt, nor Sea, nor Land, nor Night, nor Day, are able to conceal us from thée; for thou knoweſt all, and art preſent at all our ſecrets: So awe us then, O God, nay, over-awe us by the preſence of thy eye, that in fear and reverence we may walk before thée, as wary to offend the eye of holineſs, and to provoke the ear of jealouſie.
I never caſt my eye ſeriouſly upon my ſelf, but I find matter of wonder and fear; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Thou wert preſent with thoſe ſeminal veſſels, when I was framed in ſecret, and faſhioned in my mothers womb. Thy work then was curious, the formation ſtrange, the ſymmetry wonderful, the harmony admirable, the proportions ſutable; in thy Book, were all my members written, which in continuance were faſhioned; from an imperfect Embrio, Thou brought'ſt me to the ſhape of a perfect child, and gaveſt me life and being.
O how precious are all thy thoughts unto me, O God? how great is the ſum of them? If I ſhould go about to count them, they paſs my capacity; for they are more in number than the Sand; and therefore ſo often as I take thy wayes and works into conſideration, I awake out of the lethargy of a ſecure and careleſs mind, and am preſent with thée in my thoughts and meditations, as deſirous only to live to thée, and to pleaſe thée alone.
Thy wiſdom, thy knowledge, thy preſence doth over-awe me in all my wayes; for I am aſſured, that thou looksſt into the very ſecret receſſes of the heart, and that thou wilt ſlay the wicked, and all them that ſpeak againſt thee wickedly, and who take thy Name in vain: Theſe thou counteſt for thy enemies, and they never ſhall be eſtéemed for my friends: Depart therefore from me you bloody men. Thou, Lord, which knoweſt all things, and ſearcheſt the ſecrets of all hearts, art my witneſs, That I hate them that hate thee, and that I am grieved with thoſe that riſe up againſt thee; yea, I hate them with a perfect hatred; becauſe they are enemies to thée, therefore I count them my enemies.
They lay to my charge many grievous crimes, for I am a man of contentions, they charge me as a peſtilent Fellow, a ſon of Belial, a troubler of Iſrael: But' Lord, Thou knoweſt my Innocency, and integrity of my heart; to thée there fore I appeal, who art an infallible Witneſs and Iudge of my Converſation. Search me then, O my God, and know my heart; try me, and examine my thoughts; and ſee if there be any wicked way, any action, or progreſs of any wickedneſs in me: And if (as by the teſtimony of a good conſcience I am firmly perſwaded) no ſuch guilt can be found upon me, leave we not then to periſh with wicked men, but lead me conſtantly in the way of Virtue and Religion (in which, without thy conduct, I cannot walk) lead me, I ſay, in that way, by thy Word and Spirit, which will bring me to everlaſting life, through the merits of Ieſus Chriſt our Lord. Amen.