Davids Harp Strung and Tuned, 4 [i.e. 5] (cont.) · Psalm 140
PSAL. CXL.
DAVID being perſecuted by Saul, Doeg, and the men of Ziph, prayes to God for his ſafety and defence from their evil tongues: But the Fathers apply it more largely, and make it a prayer of the Church in perſecution, againſt the Devil, and wicked men, which are his inſtruments to perſecute Gods people.
The parts of the Pſalm are:
1. A Petition to be delivered from his enemies, whom he deſcribes, from ver. 1. to 6.
2. A Proteſtation of his confidence in God, ver. 6, 7.
3. A prayer againſt them, ver. 8, 9, 10, 11.
4. A manifeſtation of his hope, that God will uphold him in a juſt Cauſe, ver. 12, 13.
1. He firſt ſummarily propoſeth his Petition.
1. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; Doeg, or the Devil; The firſt part. David prayes for deliverance from wicked men.qui inimious home, Mat. 13.
2. Preſerve me from the violent man. Two qualities he had, Malice and Violence.
And the effects were conſonant to theſe qualities; of which, Ver. 1
1. The firſt was, evil counſels, meditations of deceitfulneſs, 1Who plotted miſchief.and wicked ſtratagems.
Which imagine miſchief in their heart; it is their ſtudy. Ver. 2
Continually are they gathered together for War. There was no Truce with them, no peace to be had without any intermiſſion, they fought againſt me.
The Prince of darkneſs thus moleſts us continually, offering to us unchaſte deſires, tentations to infidelity, ſcruples and perplexities, &c.
2. The ſecond, was the evil of their words; 2And calumniated him.for their words were correſpondent to their thoughts.
1. They have ſharpned their tongues, with calumnies, de tractions, Ver. 3 reproaches, frauds, &c.
2. Likea Serpent, Adders poyſon is under their lips. They ſhoot out their Arrowes, even bitter words, as the Viper and Adder doth his poyſon, which, without pain, extinguiſheth life, which cauſeth a dead ſleep to fall on the man, and the ſenſes to fail. Sycophants wound and kill inſenſibly. The tongues of Hereticks do the like, diſtil, by fair words poyſon, and ſo kill.
2. He repeats his petition and adds. To be delivered.He repeats his petition, and deſires a protection, as before from their thoughts and words, ſo now from their actions alſo.
1. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked, preſerve me from the violent man.
2. Ver. 4 And that he might move God the eaſier to grant his deſire, he ſhews their intentions.From their hands. For 1. They ſupplant him in his wayes.
1. They have purpoſed to overthrow my goings. They ſupplant, precipitate me, which is the Divels work, who labours to ſupplant us in our wayes, that we ſhould not walk at all, or walk ſlowly, or fall in the wayes of God, or elſe forſake, or turn back from them. Ver. 5
2. 2They lay ſnares.The way they took to compaſs their ends. The proud have laid a ſnare for me, and cords, they have ſpread a net by the way-ſide, they have ſet gins for me. Selah. As hunters and fowlers do for birds and beaſts. So the Divel ſhews the bait, but conceals the hook. He ſhews us pleaſure, or profit, but conceals the bitterneſs of ſin, and loſs of Gods favour and eternal life. Theſe are his ſnares in our way.
2. The ſecond part. He flyes to God.Againſt the evil and danger he proteſts his confidence in God, and implores his aid.
1. Conſtant he is to his principles, notwithſtanding all their malice, violence, machinations, pride, impiety. I ſaid unto the Lord: Thou art my God. I do not caſt away my confidence, I fly to thee. Thou art my Lord, I am thy ſervant, and therefore,
2. Hear the voice of my ſupplications, O God.
3. And that he might the better ſhew the ground of his Conſtancy, he ſhews,
1. What eſteem he had of his God. Thou art the ſtrength of my ſalvation; the vertue, power, fortification, by which I may be ſafe from my enemies.
2. What he had formerly done for him, and therefore he doubted not, but he would do it again. Thou haſt covered my head in the day of battel; foreign. God alwayes does good.
3. The third part. Prayes againſt them.This is the other part of his Petition. For as before he deſired to be delivered and defended from his enemies, ſo now he begins to pray, that their plots and conſpiracies might never have any good ſucceſs, but both they and their counſel… periſh together.
1. Ver. 8 Grant not, O Lord, the deſires of the wicked, let them not have their wiſhes.
2. Further not his wicked device. Give no proſperity to what they undertake.
3. Leſt they exalt themſelves. Leſt they triumph, glory, and exult, that they have not conquered me, but with thy help. And ſo their fury, rage, and blaſphemy fall upon thy people, and prove deſtructive to them.
And after in plain terms he prayes againſt them, He proceeds in his prayer.and predicts their puniſhment. As for the head of thoſe that compaſs me about,
1. Ver. 9 Deal with them, Lege talionis, Let the miſchief of their own lips cover them. Meo arbitratu delatores linguis, auſcultatores auribus pendeant. Let them periſh by their own counſels and lies. Let them be taken in their own Craftineſſe.
2. Deal ſeverely with them. Let hot burning coles fall upon them, let them be caſt into the fire. Let them ſuffer extreme puniſhment. Let them fall from above, from thy juſtice. Let them be caſt into the pits, that they never riſe up again: without any hope of recovery.
3. Let not an evil speaker, a lyar, a flatterer, a detractor, be eſtabliſhed, proſper, or his houſe continue in the earth.
4. Evil ſhall hunt, give no reſt, but purſue till he take, the violent man, thoſe who write their counſels and decrees in blood, and by force and armes perſecute Gods Church: To overthrow him, to his utter ruine.The laſt part. He promiſes ſafety to the righteous.
4. To the Commination of puniſhment to the wicked, he ſubjoyns by an Antitheſis the promiſe of God for the defence and ſafety of the righteous, and ſo concludes.
1. I know, and am certainly perſwaded, both my own experience, and the example of my forefathers whom thou haſt delivered in their trials and tentations.
2. That the Lord will maintain the cauſe of the afflicted, and the right of the poor; he may defer his help, and their deliverance, but he will not take it from them. For he is a juſt Judge, and therefore no doubt he will be an encouragement to the good, and a terror to the evil doer; he will defend the poor afflicted innocent, and will revenge their wrongs upon their perſecutors.
3. And this he confirms and amplifies from the final cauſe, which is double.
1. That they praiſe him. The end of it. 1. That they praiſe him.Surely the righteous ſhall give thanks to thy Name: being delivered, they attribute the honour not to themſelves, or their own innocency or merits, but give the glory to his grace, love and good will.
2. That they remain before him in his Church militant, and triumphant. 2That they dwel in his preſence.Delivered they ſhall be, that they may dwell in his preſence, or, coram vultu ejus, be in his favour, dwell in his houſe, walk before his face here, and enjoy the beatifical viſion hereafter. By the face a man is known fully, not ſo by other parts; & vultus animi index, the favour a man bears to another, is known by his countenance very often. In that then the upright ſhall dwell coram facie, it is an argument they ſhall enjoy his favour in this life; and that they ſhall fully enjoy his countenance, and know him, as they are known in the life to come.
The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and fortieth Pſalm.
O Merciful Father, it is not unknown to thée, with how many evils, tentations, and preſſures thy poor children are beſet, by the malice of the Devil, the pride and violence of men, and the impetuous incurſions of their own carnal hearts.
We therefore humbly beſéech thée good Father, Ver. 1 deliver us from the evil man, that enemy of our happineſſe, Ver. 2 and preſerve us from the plots and conſpiracies of the violent man. Which imagine miſchief in their heart, Ver. 3 and without intermiſſion continually have and do yet gather themſelves together to oppoſe and make war againſt us. Flatterers, diſſemblers, and detractors theſe are; and as the Serpent by ſhooting out his tongue, whets it, that it may the farther pierce and hurt, ſo their ſerpentine malice hath ſharpned their tongues to ſpeak moſt pernicious lies and falſhoods to our ruine. For with a ſharp ſting they have ſent forth poyſon, Adders poyſon out of their lips, by which they might kill thoſe that are true of heart.
Thou therefore, O Lord, who art a lover of truth and equity, Ver. 4 and a hater of lies and injuſtice, keep me, Ver. 5 that I fall not into the hands of theſe wicked men, preſerve me from their fraud and violence. Many are the ſnares, the cords, the nets, the gins which theſe proud men have hid, have ſpread, have ſet for me. Their purpoſe is to ſupplant, or precipitate me in my way, that either I may not walk in thy Commands, or walk ſlowly, or fall in them, or turn back from them. Be therefore, O Lord, my ſtrength, and my ſalvation, and in that day when the aſſaults of tentation are moſt furious, be my ſhield, my umbrage, and cover my head, that I take no harm. O Lord, grant not the deſires of the wicked, further not his wicked devices, let them not be maſters of their own wiſhes, leſt they boaſt, glory, and blaſphemouſly triumph that they have not conquered thy Church, but thée alſo which art the Protector of it.
O Lord, deal with them, as they have dealt with us. Let the miſchief of their own lips fall upon the head of them, let the hot burning coles of thy anger fall from heaven upon them, let them be caſt into a fiery furnace of troubles, and into a deep pit of dangers, that they never riſe again to trouble thy Church. Let not a man, who hath a tongue prepared to detract, and iſſue forth lies againſt his neighbour proſper, or be eſtabliſhed on the earth: Let his own wickedneſſe hunt and purſue the violent man, till it hath overthrown him.
Which if thou ſhalt do, thou wilt ſhew thy ſelf merciful as ever thou haſt béen in maintaining the cauſe of the afflicted, and the right of the poor, for which the righteous ſhall give thanks to thy Name, and with an upright heart ſhall dwell in thy preſence in this life, and hereafter appear before thée, and enjoy the contemplation of thy face for ever and ever. Amen.