Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 86
PSAL. LXXXVI.
A Prayer] Left for a form, for a help to devotion, as was alſo, Pſal. 1…2. Title.
Verſ. 1. Bow down thine …, O Lord] As the careful Phyſician doth to his feeble Patient: ſo Baſil gloſſeth here.
For I am poor, and needy] Having nothing to live on but what my friends privily ſend me, or what I can get by boot-haling from the Lords enemies, 1 Sam. 30.26.
Verſ. 2. Preſerve my ſoul, for I am holy] Or, a …, a Saint, merciful, ſuch an one as upon whoſe heart the tender mercies of the Almighty … forth abundantly, do leave a compaſſionate frame. David had the Divine Nature transfuſed into him, he was holy, as God is holy; and merciful, as God is merciful (in quality though not in equality) but all of free grace; and this he plead… for his own ſafety.
Save thy ſervant] Serva ſervum tuum, thy devoted ſervant, and not thy beneficiary only.
Verſ. 3. Be merciful unto me] Leſt any ſhould by the former … (I …) ſuſpect him to be a merit-monger, he beggeth mercy, with inſtancy and conſtancy of requeſt.
Verſ. 4. Rejoyce the ſoul of thy ſervant] True and ſolid joy entreth …, by the door of ſervent prayer. Pray that your joy may be fell.
I lift up my ſoul] In prayer,Pſal. 25.1 and confident … of an … carrying return thereof …. 24.….
Verſ. 5. For thou Lord are good, ….] Lord, I am …ell, … are Heaven, ſaid God by prayer.
And plenteous in mercy] Both to … ſin, and to give good Hoſ. 14.….
Verſ. 6. Give ear, O Lord &c.] The hearing of our ſutes is earneſtly to be ſought and reckoned among our chiefeſt ….
Verſ. 7. In the day of my trouble, &c.] Gods Petitioners muſt pray and beleeve, and beleeve and pray …. David had ſaid verſe … God is man in mercy to all that call upon him. Here he … and con…th , … in the day of my trouble will call upon him, therefore he will anſwer mee.
Verſ. 8. Among the Gods] Whether deputed or reputed.
There is none like unto thee] Either in eſſence, or in operation. See … 15.11.
Verſ. 9. As Nations whom thou haſt … come, &c.] I were … they ſhould, Rev. 4. ult. 'tis to be hoped they ſhall, Iſa. 11. & 43. not by …hange of …race, but …, respon…ing their irreligions, and yeelding unto Chriſt the … of faith. Some underſtand this Text of that generall Aſſembly at the ….
Verſ. 10. For thou are gr… ] Great is the Lord without quantity, good without quality, everlaſting without time, omni preſent without place, containing all things without extent; within all things, and contained of nothing; without all things, and ſuſtained of nothing, &c. Now the leaſt … of this knowledge is worth all the gleams of human wiſdome.
And doeſt wondrous things] The Schools have laid down a threefold way of knowing God; Firſt, Negation of Imperfections. Secondly, Affirmation of Perfections. Thirdly, Cauſation of great works.
Verſ. 11. Teach mee thy way] David knew much of God, and yet he deſireth to be taught more; delivering himſelf up to Gods diſcipline, and ſaying as once Solon did foreign.
Unite my heart to fear thy name] i. e. To ſerve thee with ſimplicity and godly … 2 Cor. … cleav… to thee with full purpoſe of heart, Act. 11.23. and attending upon thee without diſtraction, 1 Cor. 7.35. As thou a… God alone (verſe 10.) ſo let my heart be towa…d thee alone. Behold I find it divided, disjoynted, and ſo diſabled for duty (for anima diſper ſa fit minor) Oh do thou unite it I beſeech thee, giving mee that one heart thou haſt promiſed, until we all come unto that oneneſs of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, &c. Epheſ. 4.13.
Verſ. 12. I will praiſe thee] While he prayed, he found his prayer anſwered; and therefore thus breaketh forth into praiſes.
Verſ. 13. … delivered my ſoul from the loweſt hell] That is from deadly and deſperate dangers. Some underſtand it of the damnation of hell which David had deſerved by his ſins. The Rabbines gloſs is, A loco adulter is appropriate.
Verſ. 14. O God, the proud] The ſtrangers ſome read it (by the change of a letter in the original) who are commonly cruel.
And the aſſemblies of violent men] Nebulonum, ſome render it, ſturdy varlets, ….
Verſ. 15. But thou O Lord art a God full, &c.] Theſe are part of thoſe thirteen Attributes of Almighty God, ſet down and proclaimed by himſelf, Exod. 34.6. Middoth the Rabbines call them, that is, Properties.
Verſ. 16. O turn unto mee] Or, Look toward mee; the life of a beleever conſiſteth in the light of Gods countenance.
Give thy ſtrength unto thy ſervant] Maſter, pray lend me your hand, ſaith the ſervant to his Master,, when he wants help.
… ] q. d. I was both in thy houſe, came religious Parents, &c. therefore do mee good for their ſakes at leaſt, as Iſmael was bleſſed for Abrahams.
Verſ. 17. Shew mee a token for good] Make mee King as thou haſt promised; and mean while to deliver mee, that my greateſt adver…, may be convinced of their malice and madneſs. At the death of ſome tokens were flown …, for inſtance …, and the Sun …hope of a da… cloud ſo full,Act. & Mon 1544, 1547. 1398. that he was forced to look another way.