Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 75
PSAL. LXXV
TO the chief Muſician Al-taſchith] That is, Deſtroy not; The Chaldee paraphraſeth, In the time when David ſaid, Deſtroy not the people. The Pſalm ſeemeth to have been made either by Aſaph in Davids name, or by David himſelf (and by him committed to Aſaph) at ſuch time as the difference depending betwixt him and Ishoſheth, many were ſlain on both ſides: This drew from David an Al-taſchith, not long before he was anointed King over all Iſrael, 2 Sam. 5.1, &c.
Verſ. 1. Unto thee O God, do we give thanks] Heb. Wee celebrate thee, O God, we celebrate thee; viz. both for mercies and croſſes ſanctified; for theſe alſo are to be reckoned upon the ſcore of Gods favours.
For that thy Name is near] Nomen, id eſt numen, Thy Name, that is, thy ſelf are near, ad liberandum invocantem, as Aben-Ezra expoundeth it, to deliver thoſe that call upon thee.
Verſ. 2. When I ſhall receive the Congregation] i. e. The government of all the twelve Tribes, as I beleeve I ſhall do ſhortly, according to Gods promiſe to mee by Samuel.
I will judge uprightly] That a man is in truth, that he is his own particular place and ſtation; that he is really, that he is relatively.
Verſ. 3. The earth, and all the inhabitants thereof are diſſolved] Both Church and Common-wealth here are utterly out of order; I ſhall indeavour mine utmoſt to ſet all to rights, and ſo to preſerve the World from ruine, which ſubſiſteth by and for the ſake of Gods Iſrael. Abſ que ſtationibus non ſtaret mundus.
I bear up the pillars of it] Semen ſanctum ſtatumen terrae, Iſa. 6.13. The holy ſeed upholdeth the State. David did (as Lucan ſaith of Cato) toti genitum ſe credere mundo. Jeſus Chriſt much more; he is the true Atlas, upholding all things by the word of his power, Heb. 1.3.
Verſ. 4. I ſaid unto the fools, deal not fooliſhly] Boaſt not your ſelves ſo proudly and petulantly, but ſubmit to Gods decree, and my government; how much more to Chriſts?
Lift not up the horn] Metaphor a à tauris cornupetis.
Verſ. 5. Lift not up your horn on high] Againſt the High God; ſo Tremellius rendreth it.
Speak not with a ſtiff neck] Some render it with an old neck, let old things paſs, and now ſpeak with a new and humble throat. Hard words and ſtout ſpeeches uttered from a mind vehemently moved out of its plate (as the word here uſed, importeth) ſhall be one day dearly anſwered for, Jud. 15.
Verſ. 6. For Promotion commeth neither from the Eaſt] Dignitatis nullum eſt … porium. Ambitioniſts uſe to look this way and that way how to advance themſelves, but all in vain. Hiſpanic Monarchia Cathalica debetur divinitus, ſod in Utopia, ſaith One,
Nor from the South] Where the warm ſunſhine is.
Verſ. 7. But God is the Judge] He ſitteth at the ſtern, and ordereth all human affairs, according to the good pleaſure of his will.
He putteth down one, and ſetteth up another] As we ſeen in Saul, and David, in the four great Monarchies, in Bajaz…t and Tamerlan; beſides many others. Vertue exalteth the meaneſt, when villany tumbleth down the mightieſt. Agathocles the ſon of a Potter became King of Sicily. Valentinian the ſon of a Rope-maker became Emperour of Rome. Justinus was firſt a Swineheard, then an heardſman,Anno. Chr. 518. then a Carpenter, a ſouldier, and after all, an Emperour. If Alexander, to ſhew his greatneſſe, advanced Abdilominus from a poor Gardiner, to be King in Sidon, What cannot the Lord do? Tamerlan having overcome Bajazet, asked him whether ever he had given God thanks for making him ſo great an Emperour? who confeſſed ingenuouſly he never thought of it; To whom Tamerian replyed,…. that it was no wonder ſo ungratefull a man ſhould be made a ſpectacle of miſery. For you, ſaid he, being blind of one eye, and I lame of a leg, was there any worth in us, why God ſhould ſet us over two great Empires of Turks and Tartars, to command many more worthy than our ſelves?
Verſ. 8. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup] A cup of affliction, whereof all muſt drink more or leſſe. The Chaldee calleth it a cup of curſe; Affliction is in it ſelf a fruit of ſin, and a peece of the curſe.Prov. 23.31, 32.
And the wine is red] And ſo more powerfull, and peircing. That is an affliction, and grievous, that God maketh to be ſo.
It is full of mixture] i. e. Ready prepared, as Prov. 9.2. Rev. 14.10.… arc…aticu…. or mingled with ſpices to make the wine more hot and inebriating.
And he poureth out of the ſame] The Saints ſip of the top only, they drink illud ſolum quod eſt ſuavius & limpidus, the ſweeter and clearer part of Gods cup. Excellently Mr. Bradford Martyr, in a certain letter of his, Drink, ſaith he, of Gods cup willingly, and at the firſt when it is fulleſt, peradventure if we linger,Act. & Mou…. fol. 1487. we drink at length of the dregs with the wicked, if at the beginning we drink not with Gods Children.
But the dregs thereof] The full vialls of divine vengeance.
All the wicked of the earth ſhall wring them out and drink them] They ſhall drink them every drop, yea though it be eternity to the bottom. This ſhall be worſe to them than was that ladle-full of ſcalding lead poured down the throat of a dr…nken man, by the command of a Turkiſh Baſhaw.
Verſ. 9. But I will declare for ever] viz. Gods great goodneſs in mine advancement to the Kingdome, and the reſt of thoſe wonderful works, verſ. 1.
I will ſing praiſes, &c.] This thankfull man was worth his weight in the gold of Ophir.
Verſ. 10. All the hornes of the Wicked alſo will I cut off] By promiſing the due adminiſtration of vindictive and remunerative Juſtice, hee ſeeks to inſinuate into the peoples affections, who, after Iſhboſheths death, came in to make him King.
But the horns of the Righteous ſhall be exalted] Dignity ſhall wait upon deſert, which ſhall cauſe it again to be waited upon by reſpect. Thus it ſhould be in the Courts of all Princes. In Cyrus his Court, though a man ſhould ſeek or chu…e blindfold, he could not miſſe of a good man, ſaith Xenophon.…yropaed. …. 8.