Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 56
PSAL. LVI.
VPonUpon Jonath Elens Rechakim] Meaning himſelf, who had wiſhed before the wings of a Dove, Fatua columba. Hoſ. 7.11.Pſal. 55.6. and was now the Dove of dumbneſs among Foreiners, Philiſtines, thoſe ravenous Hawks that were ready to ſeize and tear him. Dumb he was fain to feign himſelf, and worſe amongſt them. See Pſal. 34. the title, 1 Sam. 21.17. &c. and therein was more of the Serpent than of the Dove.
Michtam of David] Davidi inſigne aureolum, Davids Jewel, or golden ingot. See Pſal. 16. title. This Michtam he made likely (as alſo Pſal. 34.) when gotten away from Gath, he came into the Cave of Adullam, 1 Sam. 22.1.
Carmina ſeceſſum ſcribentis & otia quaerunt.
Verſ. 1. Be mercifull unto me, O God: for man would ſwallow me up] Soop me up (as the Hebrew word ſoundeth) make but one draught of mee, or ſuck mee in as a Whirlpool, ſwallow mee up as a ravenous wild Beaſt. The Devil is ſaid to ſeek whom he may ſwallow down (1 Pet. 5.8.) at a gulp, as it were; and his Imps are as greedy, but that they are gagg'd by God. The man here mentioned is Iſhbibenob the brother of Goliah, ſaith the Chaldee: but they do better, who underſtand it of Saul, and his complices.
He fighting daily oppreſſeth me] Pliny ſaith of the Scorpion, that there is not one minute, wherein it doth not put forth the ſting: The like do Satan and his Inſtruments.
Verſ. 2. Mine enemies (or obſervers) would daily ſwallow me up] Anhelant obſervatores mei. To ſet forth the indignity of the thing, he repeateth the ſame ſentence again in the plural number; noting, that there were not a few of them bitterly bent by might and main to miſchief him, a poor forlorn friendleſs man.
For there be many that fight againſt me, O thou moſt High] Or, though there be many that fight for me from on high, that is the Angels, as Aben-Ezra rendreth and ſenſeth the Text.
Verſ. 3. What time I am afraid, I will truſt in thee.] This was bravely reſolved; Quid timet hominem homo in ſinn Dei poſitus? Faith quelleth and killeth diſtructful fear; but awful dread, it breedeth, feedeth, foſtereth, and cheriſheth.
Verſ. 4. In God I will praiſe his Word] Having placed my confidence in God, I will take his bare word for my ſecurity. He hath promiſed to make mee King, 1 Sam. 16.13. and he will not ſuffer his faithfulneſs to fail, or alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth, Pſal. 89.33. the Word of God cannot bee broken, John 5.35. David once doubted of it, but hee ſoon took himſelf up for halting, Pſal. 116.11.
I will not fear what fleſh can do unto me] Fleſh is terminus diminuens: what can proud fleſh do againſt the God of the ſpirits of all fleſh? Man is but deſpicable fleſh at the beſt.
Verſ. 5. Every day they wreſt my words] Or, my matters; they diſtort and pervert every thing I ſay, or do, from the true intention, and all to make a Traitour of me. That I carried my ſelf wiſely in the Court, valiantly in the Field, faithfully toward Jonathan, cautelouſly for the ſafe-guard of mine own life, ſhifting as I could from one place to another; all this they ſay was done out of affectation of the Kingdom, and as ſeeking Sauls death. So they dealt by our Saviour in the Goſpel, taking that with the left hand, which he tendered with the right, and many times marring a good Text by an ill Gloſs put upon it. So Simon the Loper ſerved that good Woman, who made an Ewer of her eyes, and a Towel of her hair, Luke 7.34. Men ſhould interpret every thing the beſt way, and not as Logicians do, Sequi partem deteriorem.
All their thoughts, &c.] See the Note on verſ. 1.
Verſ. 6. They gather themſelvee together] They convene and combine to do me miſchief: and ſhould not Gods people meet often together to counterplot ſuch Malignants, and to pray them down?Apol. adverſ. gentes, cap. 39, Num. 520. Cum boni, cum probi coeunt, cum pii, cum caſti congregantur, non eſt factio dicenda, ſed curia: Et è contrario, illis nomen factionis accommodandum eſt, qui in odium bonorum & proborum conſpirant, ſaith Tertullian.
They mark my ſteps] They ſpy and pry into my practices, that they may take any advantage: this calls for careful and exact walking, 1 Pet. 2.21. Heb. 12.13.
Verſ. 7. Shall they eſcape by iniquity?] q. d. No let them never think it, their ſin will ſurely finde them out, as cunning as they are, and ſith they are ſo fool-hardy, as to walk upon iniquities Fire-works, let them look to bee blown up; and they ſhall have my prayers to that purpoſe.
In thine anger caſt down, &c.] It is Prophetical, as well as Optative.
Verſ. 8. Thou telleſt my wanderings] Or, thou ciphereſt up my ſtittings, and haſt them in numerato, ready told up; my vagaries whilſt hunted up and down like a Partridge, and huſhed out of every buſh, ſo that I have not where to ſettle. Saint Paul was at the ſame paſs, foreign ſaith he, we have no certain abode, 1 Corin. 4.11. and ſo were ſundry of the holy Martyrs and Confeſſors, who wandred about in Sheep-skins, and Goat-skins, &c. driven from poſt to pillar, from one Country to another, God all the while noting, and numbring all their flittings, yea all their footings, Bottleing up their tears, booking down their ſighs, as here,foreign. and Mal. 3.16. See Mat. 10.30. The Septuagint for my wandrings, or flittings have my life; to teach us, ſaith one, that our life is but a flitting.
Put thou my tears into thy Bottle] Heb. My tear, that is, every tear of mine; let not one of them be loſt, but kept ſafe with thee, as ſo much ſweet water. It is a witty obſervation of one, That God is ſaid in Scripture to have a Bag and a Bottle, a Bag for our ſins, a Bottle for our tears; and that wee ſhould help to fill this, as we have that. There is an alluſion here in the Original, that cannot bee Engliſhed.
Are they not in thy Book?] ſc. Of Providence; where they cannot be blotted out by any time, or tyrants.
Verſ. 9. When I cry unto thee, then ſhall mine enemies turn back] For how ſhould they ſtand before ſo mighty a God? Of the power of Prayer, for the beating back of enemies, beſides the Scripture, Hiſtories are full; that famous Victoria Halle…iatica for inſtance.
Verſ. 10. In God will I praiſe his word] The Jew-Doctours obſerve that Elohim, God, is a Name importing Juſtice; and that Jehovah, Lord, holdeth out mercy, according to that Exod, 34.6. Jehovah, Jehovah Merciful, Grac…us, &c. But if God ſhould foem neither to ſhow his Mercy upon us, nor his Juſtice upon our enemies, we muſt nevertheleſs adhere to his Word, or Promiſe, and patiently wait his performance; which will be as ſure as he is God and Lord. See the Note on verſ. 4.
Verſ. 11. In God have I put my truſt, I will not be afraid, &c.] When news came to Luther, that both the Emperour and Pope had threatned his ruine, he bravely anſwered, Contemptus eſt à me Romanus & favor & furor; I care for neither of them, I know whom I have truſted. See verſ. 4.
Verſ. 12.Sunt tua poſt. quam Vori. Arab… Thy Vows are upon me, O God] I am a Votary ever ſince I was at Gath, there and then I vowed, that if the Lord would vouchſafe to bring me out of that brake, I would do as became a thankful man every way. And now I am Damnatus votorum, as the Latine expreſſion is; Vow I muſt, and pay to the Lord my God; Ecce ego Domine, Lord I am ready, do thou but ſet me up an Altar, and I will offer a Sacrifice; reſtore me to thy Sanctuary, and I will do it exactly, in the Ceremonies and Formalities thereof: Mean while, mine heart and lips ſhall not be wanting to give thee praiſe in ſpirit and truth, I will render praiſes unto thee.
Verſ. 13. For thou haſt delivered my ſoul from death] Which was the very thing I begged of thee when I was at worſt, viz. that thou wouldeſt ſave my life, which then lay at ſtake; I alſo then ſolemnly took upon me ſuch and ſuch ingagements, which lye upon me as ſo many debts, and I am in pain till I have paid them. This if I ſhall do effectually,
Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling?] Yea, I know thou wilt, Lord, for every former favour of thine is a pledge of a future.
That I may walk before God in the light of the living] Called elſe-where the Land of the living; that is in this preſent life, ſpending the ſpan of it in thy fear, and labouring to be every whit as good as I vowed to be when I was in great diſtreſs and danger. Pliny in an Epiſtle of his to one that deſired rules from him how to order his life aright, I will, ſaith he, give you one rule that ſhall be inſtead of a thouſand, Ut tales eſſe perſeveremus ſani, quales nos futuros eſſe profitemur infirmi; i. e. That you hold out to bee ſuch when well, as you promiſed to bee when weak and ſick, &c.