Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 25
PSAL. XXV.
A Pſalm of David] An excellent Pſalm; the ſecond of thoſe ſeven called by the Ancients penitentiall; and ſuch as may well ſerve us for a pattern of our daily prayers;Beza. as wherein David beggeth three things (anſwerable to thoſe two laſt petitions in the Lords prayer) firſt, Pardon of ſin; ſecondly, Guidance of Gods good Spirit; thirdly, Defence againſt his enemies. It appeareth, that this Pſalm was made by David, when hee was well in years, verſ. 7. after his ſin in the matter of Ʋriah (that great iniquity as hee calleth it, verſ. 11. ſaith Vatablus) and ſome gather from verſ. 19. that hee framed this Pſalm, when Abſolom was up in armes againſt him, verſ. 19. (compared with Pſal. 3.1.) See alſo verſ. 15. & 22. It may ſeem therefore that when hee came to Mahanaim, a Sam. 17.24, 27. (where God ſhewed him marvellous loving kindneſſe in a ſtrong City, Pſal. 31.21. and where-hence hee was at the peoples requeſt, to ſuccour them, or to cauſe them to bee helped, viz, by his hearty prayers for Gods aſſiſtance, 2 Sam. 18.3.) he compoſed this Pſalm with more than ordinary artifice, viz. in order of Alphabet, as hee hath done alſo ſome few others, both for the excellencie of the matter, and likewiſe for help of memory; for which cauſe alſo St. Matthew ſummeth up the genealogie of Chriſt into three fourteenes; all helps being but little enough. Nazianzen and Sedulius, have done the like; the former in his holy Alphabet, foreign, &c. and the latter in his Hymn, A Solis ortus cardine Beatus au…tor ſaeculi, &c.
Verſ. 1. Ʋnto thee O Lord, do I lift up my ſoul] i. e. Praeparo cor meum, Ad te orand non ad Idola.ſaith R. Solomon. My heart maketh its faithfull addreſſes to thee (and not any other) with ſtrength of deſire and delight, with earneſt expectation and hope of relief. See Jer. 22.27. Deut. 24.15. Pſal. 86.5. Cyprian ſaith, that in the primitive times the Miniſter was wont to prepare the peoples minds to pray,Cyp. de orat. by prefacing Surſum corda, Lift up your hearts. The Jews at this day write upon the walls of their Synagogues theſe words, Tephillah belo cavannah ceguph belo neſhamah. That is,Buxtorf, abbreviar. A prayer without the intention of the affection, is like a body without a ſoul; and yet their devotion is a meer out-ſide, ſaith One, a brainleſſe head, and a ſouleleſſe body;Spec. Eu…. Antiquum obtinent, Iſa. 29.13. This people draweth nigh to mee with their lipps, but their heart is farre from mee. A carnall man can as little lift up his heart in prayer, as a moul can flye. A David finds it an hard task; ſith the beſt heart is lumpiſh, and naturally beareth downward, as the poiſe of a clock, as the lead of a net. Let us therefore lay aſide every weight, and the ſin that doth ſo eaſily beſet it; and pray God to draw us up to himſelf, as the load-ſtone doth the Iron, &c.
Verſ. 2. O my God, I truſt in thee] I pray in faith, which is as the fire, and my prayer as the flame that ariſeth out of it. Faith is the foundation of prayer; and prayer is the fervency of faith. Now David knew that the hand of faith never knocketh at the gate of grace in vain.
Let mee not bee aſhamed] Shame is the Daughter of diſappointment. This David deprecateth; Quae que repulſa gravis; ſee Job 6.20.
Let not mine enemies triumph over mee] By ſaying, that I pray to no purpoſe, as Rabſhakeh did, Iſa. 35.6. I ſay (ſaith Hezekiah) I have words of my lipps, prayer; prayer? but alaſſe, what's that more than empty words, an aiery nothing? Counſel and ſtrength are for the battel. Thus Hee.
Verſ. 3. Yea let none that wait on thee bee aſhamed] Be noſed and twitted with my diſappointments, as they are ſure to be, if I be repulſed by thee, and worſted by mine enemies; all thy praying people ſhall have it caſt in their teeth, and laid in their diſh.
Let them bee aſhamed which tranſgreſſe without cauſe] Let ſhame bee ſent to the right owner, even to thoſe that deal diſloyally, unprovoked on my part. And ſo it was; for Achitophel hanged himſelf; Abſo…om was truſſed up by the hand of God, and diſpatcht by Joab; the people that conſpired with him, partly periſhed by the ſword, and partly fled home much aſhamed of their enterprize. Oh the power of prayer! what may not the Saints have for asking?
Verſ. 4. Shew mee thy wayes O Lord] q. d However other men walk towards mee, yet my deſire is to keep touch with thee; for which purpoſe I humbly beg thy beſt direction. See Exod. 33.13. Iſa. 2.3.
Teach mee thy paths] Aſſueſ ac me; inure mee to thy paths, Sicut parvulus ad ambulandum aſſuetus, ſaith Kimchi, as a little one is taught to find his feet.
Verſ. 5. Lead mee in thy Truth, and teach mee] i. e. Aſſiduè doce & urge. David was a great proficient in Gods School, and yet he would learn more: ſo ſweet is divine knowledge. Four times together here, prayeth. David to bee further inſtructed. See Moſes in like manner holily encroaching upon God, Exod. 33.12, 13, 16, 18. as if his Motto had been that of Charles the fiſth, Vlterius, More yet.
For thon art the God of my ſalvation] Perfect therefore that which concerneth mee; Thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever; forſake not the works of thine own hands, Pſal. 138.8. Thou haſt written mee down in thy book of preſervation with thine own hand; oh read thine own hand-writing and ſave mee, ſaid Queen Elizabeth in her troubles.
Verſ. 6. Kemember O Lord thy tender mercies] Heb. Thy bowels, which thou mayeſt ſeem to have loſt, but I ſhall find them for thee. Where are thy bowels and thy compaſſions? are they reſtrained? If thou haſt forgotten them (but that cannot be) I ſhall bee thy Remembrancer, and read them over unto thee out of the Regiſter of a ſanctified memory.
For they have been ever of old] Etiam ad Adamum, qui vixit quaſi mille annis, Ever ſince Adam, and ſo onward ſaith R. Solomon; and why not then to mee, who am one of thine, to whom mercy ſucceſſively belongeth in my generation, as it did to mine Anceſtors in theirs?
Verſ. 7. Remember not the ſins of my youth] Which, though long ſince committed, muſt not bee remembred without remorſe; ſith for them God often puniſheth men in their age, Job 13.26. Jer. 3.25. It is not the laſt ſand that emptieth the hour-glaſſe, nor the laſt blow that throweth down the Oak. Sin may ſleep a long time, like a ſleeping debt, not called for of many years; as Sauls ſin in ſlaying the Gibeonites, not puniſhed till forty years after; as Jo…bs killing of Abner ſlept all Davids dayes, &c. It is not ſafe to bee at odds with the Ancient of dayes. This David knew, and therefore was willing to clear all old ſcores, to get pardon of youthfull luſts; leſt they ſhould put a ſting into his preſent ſufferings. And that being thorowly done, as hee could expect mercy and direction from God, ſo if any ſhould maliciouſly upbraid him with his by-gone iniquities, hee could anſwer as Auſtin did in like caſe, Quae tu reprehendis, ego damnavi, What thou reprehendeſt in me, I have long ſince condemned in my ſelf. And as Reverend Beza, when a ſpitefull Papiſt hit him in the teeth with his wanton poems ſet forth in his youth, and long before repented of, Hic homo invidet mihi gratiam Chriſti, This fellow ſaid hee, envieth mee the grace of Jeſus Chriſt.
Nor my tranſgreſſions] Or, prevarications, In perſonam Vriae, In the matter of Vriak, ſaith R. Obadiah; the ſins of mine age, ſaith Kimchi; all my faults of former and later time, ſaith another. David was well in years, when hee defiled himſelf with Bathſheba. In many young men, the Roſe is cankered in the bud. And again, as the canker ſooneſt entreth into the white Roſe; ſo doth corruption eaſily creep into the white head. David prayeth God to forgive him his ſins, both of former and of latter time; and not to forgive them only, but to forget them too; Remember not the ſins, &c. And as hee fitly joyneth memorie of mercies and forgetfullneſſe of ſins, ſo hee forgetteth not to ſubjoyn
According to thy mercy remember thou mee, for thy goodneſſe ſake, O Lord] Do all of free grace, not for any motive or merit of mine. Lorinus a Jeſuite here bringeth in ſundry paſſages (as well hee may) Pſal. 6.8. & 51.3. & 69.14. & 86.5.15. & 106.45. & 119.156. & 136.7. Dan. 9.18. Iſa. 55.7. to prove that all is of mercy, and not of merits.
Verſ. 8. Good and upright is the Lord] i.e. Gracious, and righteous,' or faithfull; and hence it is, that our God is mercifull, as Pſal. 116.5. hence it is, as that we poor Creatures are not overwhelmed, aut magnitudine peccatoram, aut male calamitatum, either with the greatneſſe of our ſins, or the multitude of our miſeries.
Therefore will hee teach ſinners in the way] i.e. Senſible ſinners, meek and mortified, as in the next verſe, ſelf-judging, and ſelf-outed; thoſe will hee teach to turn to him, and to walk before him in all well-pleaſing; and this Doctrin of direction muſt needs bee good, becauſe hee is good, and certain, becauſe he is upright.
Verſ. 9. The meek will hee guide in judgement] Or, the poor (viz. in ſpirit) will he make to tread in judgment, to foot it aright, to walk judiciouſly, to behave themſelves wiſely as David did, 1 Sam. 10.14. ſo that Saul feared him 1 Sam. 23. 22. Naturall conſcience cannot but ſtoop to the image of God, ſhining in the hearts and lives of the really Religious.
And the meek will hee teach his way] Such as lye at his feet, and ſay, Speak Lord for thy ſervant heareth, ſuch as whoſe hearts are ſupple and ſoluble, tractable and teachable, ſo as that a little child may lead them, Iſa. 11.6. Auſtin was ſuch an one, En adſu… ſenex, Aug. Epiſt. 75. ad Auuil, Epiſ.ſaith he, à juvene coepiſoop… Epiſcopus tot annorum, à collega nondum anniculo paratus ſum diſceer, i.e. I am here an old man ready to learn of a young man, my coadjutour, in the miniſtry, who hath ſcarce been one year in the ſervice.
Verſ. 10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth] All the paſſages and proceedings, both ordinantiall and providentiall whereby he cometh and communicateth himſelf to his people, are not only Mercy (though that's very ſweet) but Truth; they come to them in a way of a promiſe from God, as bound to them by covenant, this is ſoul-ſatisfying indeed; this turns all that a man hath to cream, when every mercy is a preſent ſent him from Heaven by vertue of a promiſe.
Ʋnto ſuch as keep his Covenant, and his Teſtimonies] i.e. His Law (that ſingular Teſtimony of his goodneſſe towards them) called a Covenant, becauſe hee bargaineth with us, as it were, that wee ſhould keep it; which becauſe wee can never do, he undertaketh to perform his own part, and ours too. Lex jubet, gratia juvat, he worketh all our works in us, and for us; he giveth us to be what he biddeth us to be; this is the everlaſting Covenant, and the fruits of it are ſure mercies, compaſſions that fail not.
Verſ. 11. For thy names ſake, O. Lord, pardon mine iniquity] Never did priſoner at the barre beg more earneſtly for his life, than David did for pardon of his great offence, eſpecially in the matter of Ʋriah; for that lay heavieſt.Peccatum … Bathſheba … jus petii … hac … nem, & … repeto. Could he but get off the guilt of that, it were an eaſie matter for him to glory in tribulations with Paul, Rom. 5.3. and to cry out with Luther, Feri Domine, feri; nam à peccatis abſolutus ſum; Smite Lord, ſmite; for I am a pardoned ſinner, and therefore all is in mercy,R. David. and for good.
For it is great] But that's nothing to ſo great a God, who delighteſt in mercy, and makeſt thy power appear in pardoning the many and horrid ſins of thy poor penitents. The high Heaven covereth as well tall Mountaines, as ſmall molehills. The vaſt Ocean ſwalloweth up huge Rocks, as well as little pibbles. St. Paul was (for the firſt table) a Blasphemer, and (for the ſecond table) a Perſecuter, and injurious; but I obtained mercy, ſaith Hee; and why? that the grace of our Lord might appear to bee exceeding abundant, even to an over flow, 1 Tim. 1.13, 14. and that the glory of free grace might be ſo much the more manifeſted, Rom. 5.20. The more deſperate was my diſeaſe, the greater is the glory of my Phyſician, who hath fully cured mee, ſaid Auſtin once to one, who upbraided him with his former looſe living.
Verſ. 12. What man is hee that feareth the Lord?] This queſtion implieth, firſt, a paucity of ſuch, as Hoſ. 14. ult. ſecondly, the felicity of ſuch as out of a reverentiall fear of God, ſue to him for pardon of ſin, and ſeek to bee made his ſervants.Vatah. Utitur exclamatione Mol. O quanta eſt felicitas iſtius viri! O the heaped up happineſſe of ſuch a rare man! David admireth it here; and well hee may; for hee hath cloſe communion with God, and ſweet communication of Chriſts ſecrets, as followeth.
Him ſhall hee teach in the way that hee ſhall chuſe] i.e. That the good man ſhall pitch upon. God will direct him in all dealings to make a good choice; and will give good ſucceſſe. This is not in a mans own power to do, Jer. 10.23. But the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and hee delighteth in his way, Pſal. 37.23. Hee was a pillar of fire, and cloud to the Iſraelites, Exod. 14.19. and carefully choſe out their way for them; not the neareſt alway, but yet the ſafeſt.
Verſ. 13. His ſoul ſhall dwell at eaſe] Heb. ſhall lodge in good, Conquieſcet quemadmodum de nocte quie… ci ſolet.even then when his body happily is toſſing on his ſick bed, and at great unreſt. One being asked how hee did? anſwered, My body is weak, my ſoul is well. Hee ſhall be freed from the Devill of diſcontent, and have a bleſſed ſelf-ſufficiency; ſuch, and better than hee had, whom Horace deſcribeth Ephod. 2. Beatus ille qui procul negotiis, &c. ſuch as good Jacob had, when hee ſaid, I have enough my Brother, &c. Tremel.Godlineſſe only hath ſuch a contentedneſſe, 1 Tim. 6.6.
And his ſeed ſhall inherit the earth] Gods love dieth not with the Parents; but reviveth in their poſterity, 2 Sam. 7.12.
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It would bee a great ſtay of mind to us, if God ſhould ſay of our Children, as once David did of Mephiboſheth, and afterwards of Chimham; I will take care of them, and ſee them well provided for. Hee doth upon the matter ſay as much and more, to every Beleever.
Verſ. 14. The ſecret of the Lord is with them that fear him] It is neither learning nor labour that can give inſight into Gods ſecrets, thoſe Arcana imperii, Mat. 13.12. the Myſteries of the Kingdome of Heaven, the mind of Chriſt, 1 Cor. 2. ult. theſe things come by revelation, rather than diſcourſe of reaſon, and muſt therefore bee obtained by prayer. Thoſe that diligently ſeek him, ſhall bee of his cabi net counſel, ſhall know his ſoul-ſecrets, and bee admitted into a gracious familiarity and friendſhip, Joh. 15.15. Henceforth I call you not ſervants, for the ſervant knoweth not what his Lord doth; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.
And he will ſhew them his Covenant] As having no greater ſecret to impart to them, than by ſhewing them the Covenant of Grace, his good pleaſure and purpoſe of their eternal Salvation: to make them know the love of Chriſt which paſſeth knowledge, that they may be filled with all the fulneſs of God, Epheſ. 3.19. The Jews bragged much of Gods Covenant, but here they are given to underſtand, that only ſuch as fear God are Covenanters. Acts 13.16. Men of Iſrael, and yee that fear God, give audience.
Verſ. 15. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord] I look him full in the face, and confidently expect deliverance. This he ſpeaketh, ſaith one, in reference to the Army that he had ſent out to meet Abſolom, 2 Sam. 18.1. nothing doubting of getting the day.
For he ſhall pluck my feet out of the net] Of evil concupiſcence, ſaith Aben-Ezra; rather of my foes, thoſe crafty and cruel Fowlers.
Verſ. 16. Turn thee unto me] Heb. Face about towards me.
And have mercy upon me] There being no ſuch mercy, as to have thy favour. This is a voluminous mercy.
For I am deſolate and afflicted] As all Creatures flag and hang the head, when the Sun is eclipſed. Miſery is an object of Mercy; as it was to the compaſſionate Samaritan.
Verſ. 17. The troubles of my heart are enlarged] Whereby my heart is ſorely ſtraitned, ſo that I can hardly breath: Oh, hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry,R. Obad. Cor vix capax tribulationum mearum. Vat. Lam. 3.56. En patet in curas area lata meas: all afflictions enter into mine heart, as by a wide gate.
Out of my diſtreſſes] Where with I am pent up, and pinched; as afterwards Paul was pricked with the meſſenger of Satan.
Verſ. 18. Lóok upon mine affliction, and my pain] My griefs under which I groan and labour; my concupiſcence, ſaith Aben-Ezra, againſt which I ſtrive, but prevail not.
And forgive all my Sin] Heb. Lift up, take away; lay them on the true Scape-goat, on that Lamb of God who taketh away the ſins of the World, Joh. 1.29.
Verſ. 19. Conſider mine enemies, for they are many] This was to David half a promiſe, and a whole reaſon that he ſhould be helped; ſith it was come to an extremity. If God but look out of the pillar of Cloud upon the Egyptian Army, it is enough for their utter confuſion, Exod. 14.24.
And they hate me with cruel hatred] Of their craft he had complained, verſ. 15. now of their cruelty. Theſe are never ſundred in the Churches enemies; as the Aſp, they ſay, never goeth without his mate. See Eſai. 34.16.
Verſ. 20. O keep my Soul] The repetition of the ſelf-ſame Petition argueth earneſtneſs, and is not always battologie.
Let me not be aſhamed] rendred ſcornful and ſcandalous.
Verſ. 21. Let integrity and uprightneſs preſerve me] Integrity of Conſcience, and uprightneſs of converſation.
For I wait on thee] viz. For the accompliſhment of thy promiſe, That with the upright thou wilt ſhew thy ſelf upright, Pſal. 18.11.
Verſ. 22.R. David. Redeem Iſrael, &c.] In vita vel poſt mortem means, Either whiles I live, or after my death. This is every good mans care, and prayer. None is in caſe to pray for the Church, that hath not firſt made his own peace with God.