Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 49
PSAL. XLIX.
VErſ. 1. Hear this all ye people] This that is of ſo great conſequence, and univerſall concernment, viz. that the Saints ſhould not be frighted nor perplexed at the preſent proſperity of graceleſſe perſons; but conſider that death at utmoſt ſhall render them extreamly miſerable, and at the day of Judgement men ſhall retutn and diſcern a manifeſt difference betwixt the Righteous and the Wicked, betwixt him that ſerveth God, and him that ſerveth him not, Mal. 3. ult.
Give ear all ye Inhabitants of the World] Hear and give ear, be not proud, for the Lord hath ſpoken it, Jer. 13.15. The Inhabitants of the World (Heb. of the tranſitory World) are like men in a Mill, through hurry of buſineſſe; or as one that is running a race, to whom though never ſo good counſell be given, he cannot ſtay to hear it. Of ſuch we uſe to ſay, that they hear with their harveſt-ears (harveſt it is a time of great pleaſure, and of great buſineſſe) and hence it is that we have ſo ill a feed-time for the Word. Wee had need to wiſh (as Harding once did) that wee could cry out againſt ſin as loud, as the bells of Oſeney; yea as thoſe Catholick Preachers, whoſe voice is heard in all ſpeeches, and languages, Pſal. 19.3.
Verſ. 2. Both low and high, rich and poor together] Heb. Both ſons of Adam, or earthy-man, and ſons of Iſh, or noble-man
quorum
Exmeliore lute finxit pracordia Titan.
Diogenes once made a like out-cry at Athens, foreign, Hear Oyemen; and when a company came about him expecting what he would ſay to them, he looked upon them and ſaid, foreign, I called for men, and not for Ʋarlets.
Verſ. 3. My mouth ſhall speak and wiſdome] Heb. Wiſdomes and underſtandings; and yet the matter of this Pſalm was nothing extraordinary for the main of it; ſo that a profane perſon would have come out with his Quid dignum tanto tulit hic promiſſor hiatu?
But good points are not therefore to be …ighted, becauſe commonly handled; but therefore the better to be heeded, and proof to be made by practice, what that good and holy and acceptable will of God is, that is ſo much preſſed upon, as Rom. 12.2.
Verſ. 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable] q. d. I deſire you to do no more than I will do my ſelf. I …, therefore have I ſpoken; I have wrought my Doctrin upon mine own affections firſt, and ſhalt digge it out of mine own boſome for your benefit. It is a Parable I muſt tell you, or a Maſter-ſentence, yea it is a Myſtery, a Riddle, as the other word here ſignifieth.
I will open my dark ſayings] The doctrine of Life Eternal, and the Judgement to come, here more clearly deliy ered than any where elſe almoſt in the Old Teſtament, is a myſtery.
Verſ. 5. Wherefore ſhould I fear in the days of evil?] All the days of the afflicted are evil, Prov. 15.15. But why ſhould either …, or any other afflicted Servant of God be over-muchtroubled, as if ſome ſtrange thing had befaln us; or ſtaggered at the better condition of worſe men, all things conſidered?
When the iniquity of my heels] Or, of my Supplanters, mine enemies, thoſe naughty men (called here iniquity in the abſtract) who ſeek to trip up my heels, and do ſurround me with their ſnares for that purpoſe. See Pſal. 56.7. Or thus, When the iniquity of my heels, &c. That is, as ſome will have it, when my ſins come to my remembrance, or are chaſtened upon me. Every mans heel hath ſome iniquity. As we ſhall have ſome dirt cleaving to our heels whiles we walk in a dirty world: ſo there is ſome defilement upon all our actions, which wee may call the iniquity of ourheels. He that is waſhed, ſaith our Saviour to Peter, needeth not ſave to waſh his feet, but is clean every whit, Joh. 13.10. The compariſon ſeems to be taken from thoſe that waſh in Bathes; for although their whole bodies are thereby made clean, yet going forth they touch the earth with their feet, and ſo are fain to waſh again: ſemblably the Saints, though bathed in that bleſſed Fountain opened for ſin, and for uncleanneſs, Zech. 13.1. and thereby freed from the ſtain and reign of ſin; yet their feet or heels have ſome filth on them, ſome reliques of corruption do ſtill cleave to them, and cauſe them ſome ſorrow; yet ought they not to fear, or be diſmayed, but by the practice of mortification purge themſelves daily from all filthineſs of fleſh and ſpirit, perfecting holineſs in the fear of God, 2 Cor. 7.1.
Verſ. 6. They that truſt in their wealth] which was never yet true to thoſe that truſted in it: And yet it is wondrous hard to have wealth, and not in ſome meaſure to truſt in it, that is, to think our ſelves ſimply the better, and the ſafer for it, as our Saviour ſheweth, and this Diſciples after ſome wonderment, at length underſtood him; ſo Mark 10.23, 24. Hence that ſtrict charge, 1 Tim. 6.17.
And boaſt themſelves in the multitude of their riches] Contrary to Jer. 9.23. This Pſalm ſets forth the better gloriation of a Beleever in the grace of God, and in his bleſſed condition, wherein he is lifted up above the greateſt Worldings.
Verſ. 7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother] And therefore all Mony that hath been given for Maſſes, Diriges, Trentals, &c. hath been caſt away: ſeeing Chriſt is the only Redeemer, and in the other World Mony beareth no Maſtery, neither can a man buy off death, though hee would give never ſo much. Death will not regard any Ranſome, neither will he reſt content though thou giveſt many gifts, as Solomon ſaith in another caſe, Prov. 6.35. Fye quoth that great Cardinal Beanford, will not Death be hired?Act. & Mon. in H. 6. Will Mony do nothing? Wherefore ſhould I dye, being ſo rich? If the whole Realm would ſave my life, I am able either by policy to get it, or by riches to buy it, &c. Lewis the Eleventh would not hear of death all the time of his laſt Sickneſs, but when he ſaw there was no remedy, he ſent for the Holy Water from Rhemes, together with Aarons rod, as they called it, and other holy Reliques,Epit. Hiſt. Gall. Balth. Exner. Val. Max. Chriſt, p. 391. thinking therewith to ſtop Deaths mouth, and to ſtave him off; but it would not be. O Miſer (ſaith one thereupon) hoc aſſidue times quod ſemel faciendum eſt.? Hoc times quod in tua mann eſt ne timeas? Pietatem aſſume, ſuperſtitionem omitte; mors tua vita erit, & quidem beata at que eterna.
Verſ. 8. For the redemption of their ſoul is precious] i.e. the price of life is greater than that any man, how wealthy ſoever, can compaſs it. Mony is the Monarch of this World, but not of the next.
And it ceaſeth for ever] i.e. The purchaſe of a longer life ceaſeth, there is no ſuch thing, beleeve it, Job 36.18, 19. Deut. 23.22. Zech. 11.12. To blame then were the Agrigentines, who did eat, build, plant, &c. as though they ſhould live for ever.
Verſ. 9. That be ſhould ſtill live for ever]. As every wicked man would, if it might be had for mony; for he knoweth no happineſs but to Have, and to Hold; on the tother ſide the Grave, he looketh for no good; whereas a godly manholdeth mortality a Mercy, as Phil. 1.23. he hath, Mortem in deſiderio & vitam in patientin, as Fulgentius ſaith, he deſireth to dye, and yet is content to live: accepting of life, rather than affecting it, enduring it, rather than deſiring it.
And not ſee corruption] Heb. The pit of corruption. The Chaldee underſtandeth it of Hell: to the which the wicked mans death is as a trap-door.
Verſ. 10. For he ſeeth that wiſe men dye, likewiſe the fool] This to be a truth, etiam muta clamant cadavera, the dead Corpſes of both do preach and proclaim, by a dumb kinde of eloquence.foreign. Death maketh no difference: Pallida mors equo, &c. It is appointed for all men once to dye. It lieth as a mans Lot, as the word ſignifieth, Heb. 9.27. and all men can ſay, We are all mortal; but alas, we ſay it for moſt part, Magis uſ… quam ſenſu, more of cuſtom than feeling; for we live as if our lives were rivetted upon Eternity, and we ſhould never come to a reckoning.
Heu vivunt homines tanquam mors nulla ſequatur,
Ant velut infernus fabula vana foret.
And the bruitiſh perſon periſh] His life and his hopes ending together. But it would be conſidered,foreign. that wiſe men dye as well as fools, good men dye as well as bad, yea good men oft before the bad, Iſa. 57.1. Jeroboams beſt Son dyed before the reſt, becauſe there was ſome good found in him.
And leave their wealth to others] Nec aliis ſolùm, ſed & alienis, to meer ſtrangers; this Solomon ſets forth as a great vanity. It was therefore a good ſpeech of a holy man once to a great Lord, who had ſhewed him his ſtately Houſe, and pleaſant Gardens; You had need make ſure of Heaven, or elſe when you dye, you will be a very great loſer.
Verſ. 11. Their inward thought is, that their houſes, &c.] Some joyn this verſe to the former, and read the words thus; Where as each of them ſeeth that wiſe men dye, likewiſe the fool, &c. yet their inward thought is, &c. they have a ſecret fond conceit of their own immortality, they would fain beleeve that they ſhall dwell here for ever. The Hebrew runneth thus, Their inwards are their houſes for ever; as if their houſes were got within them, as the Phariſees goods were, Luke 11.14. foreign. So here, Internum vel interiora; not the thoughts only, but the very inmoſt of the thoughts of wicked Worldlings, the moſt retired thoughts and receſſes of their ſouls are about theſe earthly things: theſe lye neareſt to their hearts; as Queen Mary ſaid when ſhe dyed, Open me, and you ſhall find Calice at my heart. It was a pittiful caſe, that a rotten town lay where Chriſt ſhould, and yet it is ordinary.
They call their Lands after their own names] So to make them famous and to immortalize them at once. Thus Cain called his new-built City, Enoch, after the name of his Son, whom he would thereby have to be called Lord Enoch of Enoch. This is the ambition ſtill of many, that take little care to know that their names are written in Heaven; but ſtrive to propagate them, as they are able, upon Earth, Nimrod by his Tower, Abſolom by his Pillar, Alexander by his Alexandria, Adrian by his Adrianople, &c. But the name of the wicked ſhall rot, Prov. 10.7. and thoſe that depart from God ſhall be written in the earth, Jer. 17.13, &c.
Verſ. 12. Nevertheleſs man being in honour abideth not] Howſoever he think to eternalize himſelf, and be grown never ſo great, dye he muſt, whether Lord or Loſel; and dye like a beaſt, a carrion beaſt (unleſs he be the better man) but only for his pillow and bolſter. At one end of the Library at Dublin was a Globe, at the other a Skeliton; to ſhew, that though a man was Lord of all the World, yet hee muſt dye, his honour muſt be laid in the duſt. The mortal Sythe (ſaith one) is maſter of the royal Scepter, and it moweth down the Lillies of the Crown, as well as the Graſs of the field. Perperam accommodatur bic verſiculus, ſaith another: this verſe is not well interpreted of the firſt man Adam, to prove that he ſinned the ſame day wherein he was Created, and lodged not one night in Paradiſe.
He is like the beaſts that periſh] Fecoribus, morticiuis, ſaith Junius, the Beaſts that dye of the Murren, and ſo become Carrion, and are good for nothing.
Verſ. 13. This their way is their folly] This their fond conceit of an immortality is an egregious folly, fully confuted by every days experience; for the longeſt liver dieds at laſt, as did (beſide the Antediluvian Patriarches) Jounnes de Temporibus, Armour-bearer to Charls the Great, who dyed Anno Dom. Aſteds Chronol. 475. Naucler. Purchas, Pil… p. 481.1139 aged three hundred ſixty one years. So the old man of Bengala in the Eaſt-Indies, who was three hundred thirty five years old when he came to the Portugals, from whom for his miraculous age, he received a yearly ſtipend till he dyed. He that lived in our days till one hundred and fifty years, or thereabouts, yeelded at length to Nature; and yet men doat and dream ſtill of an immortality. The firſt doom that ever was denounced was Death, Thou ſhalt ſurely dye; and the firſt doubt that ever was made was concerning Death, ye ſhall not ſurely dye; ever ſince which time there is ſomething of the ſpawn of that old Serpent left in our natures, prompting us to doubt of that whereof there is the greateſt certainty; and although every man granteth that he ſhall dye, yet there is ſcarſe any man that futureth not his death, and thinketh that he may live yet, and yet, and ſo long: this is folly in an high degree, and we ſhould be ſenſible of it, labouring to become neither fond of Life, nor afraid of Death.
Yet their poſterity approve their ſayings, Selah] Heb. Delight in their mouth, are as wiſe as their Anceſtors, tread in their tract, take up their inward thoughts, ver. 11. obſerve the ſame lying vanities, and ſo forſake their own Mercies, Jon. 2.8. Selah, q.d. O wonderful, for, ſee the iſſue of their folly.
Verſ. 14. Like ſheep they are laid in the Grave] Theſe fatlings of the World, theſe brainleſs yonkers, that will not be warned by other mens harms, but walk on in the ſame dark and dangerous ways, whatever cometh of it, theſe chop into the grave (as a man that walketh in the Snow may do ſuddenly into a Marl-pit, and there be ſmothered) or rather are there pent up, as Sheep are thruſt up in a ſtall, or ſtable, to be ſlaughtered there (and in Hell their ſouls) they lye as Grapes in a Wine-preſs, pickled Herring in a Barrel, Stones in a Lime-furnace, Tiles in a Brick-kiln, &c. Tanquam pecudes, like ſheep, ſaith the Pſalmiſt here; and Junius his Note is, Morticinas puta in cloacis, exquiliis vel puticulis project as 3 like ſheep, that dying of the Murrain, are thereupon caſt into Ditches, Jakes, Boggs.
Death ſhall feed on them] They ſhall be meat for Worms, yea they ſhall be killed with death, Rev. 2.23. which is worſe than all the reſt: ſin, as an heavy graveſtone, preſſeth them to death, &c.
And the upright ſhall have dominion over them in the morning] i.e. at the Reſurrection, when the Saints ſhall ſhare with Chriſt in his Kingdom (when the wicked ſhall be his foot-ſtool) and ſhall judge the World, yea the Angels. Others, by morning underſtand ſuddenly, or ſeaſonably, as Pſal. 46.5.
And their beauty ſhall conſume in the Grave] All their pomp and bravery wherein they came abroad whiles alive (as Agrippa, and Bernice came to the Tribunal with a great deal of phancy, Acts 25.23.) and with which they affect to be buried in ſtate; Sic tranſit gloria mundi, 1 Cor. 7.31.
From their dwelling] Whence they are carried to the Grave, that dark houſe of all living, Job 30.23. Some render the text thus, Infernus habitaculum ipſis, Hell ſhall be their habitation. Tremellius thus, Et formam corum conſumat infernus receptam exhabit aculo ejus, and Hell conſume their ſhape (that is, their bodies now re-united to their ſouls) received out of its Houſe, that is, out of the Grave.
Verſ. 15. But God will redeem my ſoul from the power of the grave] Heb. From the hand of Hell, q.d. I am, and ſhall be in far better condition both in life, at death,Spe bona Do… ab indoctis di… forunt, disis… Chilo. and after death, than any of the Worlds darlings: why then ſhould I fear, as verſ. 51. why ſhould I envie their ſeeming happineſs, which will have ſo ſad a Cataſtrophe, as verſ. 14? I ſhall have heaven, and that is more worth than all.
For he ſhall receive me; Selah] A notable Text indeed, and well worthy of a Selah: a clear teſtimony for the immortality of the ſoul, and for a better life after this, as is well obſerved. He ſunt parabola, & hac ſunt anigmasa, ſaith a good Interpreter. Theſe are thoſe Parables, and theſe are thoſe dark ſayings, mentioned verſ. 4. riddles to the wicked, but cordials to the faithful.
Verſ. 16. Be not thou afraid] David was comforted, and ſo he would have others to be: for as it was ſaid of a certain Biſhop of Lincoln, that he held nothing his own but what he had beſtowed upon others, Hoc babeo quodcun que dedi: ſo the Saints think their comforts nothing ſo comfortable, unleſs others may ſhare in them, and fare the better by them.
When the glory of his houſe is increaſed] viz. By a numerous Off-ſpring, ſtately building, gay furniture, great rents and revenues; for as they ſay of the metal they make glaſs of, it is neareſt melting when it ſhineth brighteſt; ſo are the wicked neareſt deſtruction when at greateſt luſtre.
Verſ. 17. For when he dyeth he ſhall carry nothing away] Nothing but a Shrowd, as that great Emperour cauſed to be proclamed at his Funeral. He was a fool that on his Death-bed clapt a peece of Gold into his mouth, and ſaid, Some wiſer than ſome; I will take this with me. See Job 1.21. 1 Tim. 6.7. with the Notes there.
His glory ſhall not deſcend after him] No, nor be able to breath one cold blaſt up-on him, when he is burning in Hell. O that wicked rich men would think of this, before the cold Grave hold their bodies, and hot Hell hold their ſouls.
Verſ. 18. Though whilſt be lived he bleſſed his ſoul] As that rich fool did, Luk. 12. and that King of France, who puffed up with the Marriage of his Siſter to the King of Spain, called himſelf by a new title, Treſ-bureuſe Roy, the thrice happy King; but was ſoon after accidentally ſlain by the Captain of his Guard running at Tilt with him, at the ſolemnizing of that ſame Marriage, in the very beginning of his ſuppoſed happineſs.
And men will praiſe thee when thou doeſt well to thy ſelf] Feathering thine own Neſt, and pampering thine own Carcaſs; thou ſhalt bee ſure of Paraſites, and Trencher-flies, who will highly commend thee, though againſt their own Conſciences, Rom. 1. ult. The world generally admireth the happineſs of ſuch as live at full, and ask what ſhould ſuch a one ayl? The Iriſh ask what they meant to dye?
Verſ. 19. He ſhall go to the generation of his fathers] i.e. To the grave, or albeit he come to the age of his Fathers, that is, live here very long,
They ſhall never ſee light] Either have any ſound comfort at death, or any part in Gods Kingdom.
Verſ. 20. Man that is in honour and underſtandeth not] Verſus amabeus. See ver. 12. there is but little difference: Stultitians patiuntur opes. The more a man hath of worldly wealth, and the leſs of Spiritual, and heavenly underſtanding therewith, the more beſtial he is, and ſhall be more miſerable. Caligula called his Father-in-law Marcus Silanus, foreign, a golden brute, Quid cervo ingentia cornua, cum deſit animus?
Vel mihi da clavem, vel mihi telle ſeram.