Works Volume 4, Book 3 · Psalm 84
The Eighty Fourth PSALM.
TO the chief Muſitian upon Gittith, A Pſalm for the ſons of Coreh.
Paraphrase. The eighty fourth Pſalm is the panting of a pious ſoul toward God, a pathetical expreſsion of the benefits and joy of his publick ſervice, and an encouragement of the people to make the ways of paſſage thither from all quarters fair and paſſable. It ſeemeth to have been compoſed in ſome time of detention from, and deprivation of thoſe advantages and priviledges. It was ſet to the tune called Gittith, (ſee note on Pſal. 8. a.) and committed to the Praefect of the Muſick to be ſung by the poſterity of Coreh, (ſee Pſal. 42.1.)
1. How amiable are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of hoſts!
Paraphrase. 1. O omnipotent Lord, thou that ruleſt and diſpenſeſt all things by thine own power and wiſdom, yet uſeſt the miniſtery of thy celeſtial Angels herein, and haſt whole armies of them perpetually ready for thy ſervice, and moſt peculiarly makeſt uſe of their miniſtery in the place of thy publick worſhip, there to preſentiate and exhibit thy ſelf to thy ſervants, to teſtify by them that thou reſideſt there, as it were in thy Majeſty, to ſet up a glorious tent among us (a type of thy promiſed Incarnation, inhabiting and pitching thy tent in humane fleſh, John. 1.14.) what condition can be ſo deſirable or valuable, ſo honourable or joyous, as this, to be thus admitted unto thy preſence, and injoy the divine effects and benefits of it?
2. My ſoul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord: my heart and my fleſh ‖ſhouteth …crieth out for the living God.
Paraphrase. 2. Of this none is more ſenſible than thoſe which are deprived of theſe felicities: and this is our portion at this time, which raiſeth our deſires to an holy impatience, and vehement panting thirſt (ſee Pſal. 42.1.) a moſt earneſt purſuit of this ſo great a dignity, of being, after ſo long an excluſion, admitted to this thy throne of grace, thy divine moſt comfortable preſence, without which we faint and are ready to die, our life is no life, but a melancholy image of death without it. To this therefore we aſpire with all our moſt ardent affections, and as with a ſhout or jubilation excite one another to the moſt paſſionate purſuit of it.
3. Yea the ſparrow hath found an houſe, and the ſwallow a neſt for her ſelf, where ſhe may lay her young, even thy altars, O Lord of hoſts, my King and my God.
Paraphrase. 3. Now that we are deprived of this felicity, the ſilly birds (whoſe happineſs we have reaſon to envy) are permitted to inhabit there; no place that they ſeem ſo ambitious to chooſe, to build their neſt and lay their young ones in, as thoſe which were wont to be honoured with thy preſence among thy ſervants (as if the protection which was wont to be afforded us upon our addreſſes to God, were by them eſpecially hoped for there.) O that thou wouldeſt be pleaſed of thine infinite power and goodneſs, to afford us that dignity which thoſe little birds, the ſparrow and ſwallow, are now principally partakers of.
4. Bleſſed are they that dwell in thy houſe; they ſhall be ſtill praiſing thee, Selah.
Paraphrase. 4. O what a bleſſedneſs do they enjoy, that are allowed thoſe celeſtial priviledges of thy conſtant ſolemn ſervice, to divide their years betwixt praying and praiſing, petitioning and receiving thy mercies, and then returning their devouteſt acknowledgments to thee at the ſolemn feſtivals;
5. Bleſſed is the Man ‖Who hath ſtrength in thee,whoſe ſtrength is in thee, †the high wayes are in their hearts, or in the midſt of them.in whoſe heart are the ways of them:
Paraphrase. 5. Who place all their truſt and confidence in thy aids, and ſeek them from thee in thy Temple, the place of thy peculiar reſidence; who are always full of devout thoughts of going up thither to the ſacred ſolemnities, and of fitting the high ways for commodious paſſage to themſelves and others, (or that have free liberty to reſort thither.)
6. Who paſſing through the *Mulberry-valley, or valley of weeping, turn it into a ſpring, even when the rain filleth, or covereth—valley of Bacha, make it a well, the rain alſo filleth the pools.
Paraphrase. 6. Which by trenching and draining the moſt wet and watery valleys, make the way very paſſable, in the moiſteſt ſeaſon, from every corner of the land to Jeruſalem.
7. They go from ‖valley to valley, the God of Gods ſhall appear in Sion. (ſee note c.ſtrength to ſtrength; every one of them in Sion appeareth before God.
Paraphrase. 7. And ſo go up cheerfully and unanimouſly and devoutly on their road, from one ſtage to another, and at length come to that amiable and deſirable place, where God is ſo graciouſly pleaſed to exhibit and preſentiate himſelf. (And ſo in the antitype of the Sanctuary, the Chriſtian Church, there is no doubt but he will give grace, and that abundantly, to all that ask and knock, and perſevere in an holy obedience to his directions, to ſeek and beg it of him in Chriſt.)
8. O Lord God of hoſts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah.
Paraphrase. 8. Thou therefore that fitteſt and ruleſt in the midſt of all thine armies of Angels, and by them ſendeſt down thy bleſſings, as oft as they bear up our prayers to thee. that haſt obliged thy ſelf in a peculiar manner to protect this thy choſen people, and in token thereof vouchſafeſt to be called their God; I beſeech thee to hearken to and grant this prayer of mine for the free and cheerful return of thy people to the place of thy ſolemn and holy worſhip.
9. Behold, O God our ſhield, and look upon the face of thine Anointed.
Paraphrase. 9. Thou art our onelyonly God, our onelyonly protector and defender, we beſeech thee in mercy to behold and receive the petition, to grant the prayer of our Soveraign whom thou with thine holy oyle haſt inaugurated, and by thy ſpecial providence appointed to be King over us.
10. For a day in thy Courts is better then a thouſand: I had rather †lye at the threſhold.be a dorekeeper in the houſe of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedneſs.
Paraphrase. 10. It is infinitely more deſirable and valuable to ſpend one day in thy preſence, and ſervice in the place where thou art pleaſed peculiarly to exhibit thy ſelf, than a thouſand days in any other condition, deprived of this priviledge and advantage; more eligible to lye at the threſhold, in the moſt abject condition of neerneſs to this palace of thine, than to have all the pompe and glory of any the moſt ſplendid worldly condition, and to be withheld from this liberty, as men excommunicated and ſeparated from thy preſence.
11. For the Lord God is a ſun and ſhield; the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
Paraphrase. 11. For this God of ours, that there exhibits himſelf, is the ſpring of all light and ſtrength, directs us in our way and defends us in it; he will not only pity and deliver, but even advance and dignifie▪ and heap all abundance of bleſſings, both corporal and ſpiritual in this life, and eternal in another life, on all thoſe that faithfully adhere to him, and conſtantly obſerve his commandments. (Surely God heareth not ſinners, but him that is a worſhipper of God, and doth his will, him he heareth, denyeth him no requeſt which is truly for his avail to have granted him.)
12. O Lord God of hoſts, bleſſed is the man that truſteth in thee.
Paraphrase. 12. O thou bleſſed omnipotent Lord of all Majeſty, how unſpeakably great and valuable is that one felicity, which conſiſts in a conſtant adherence to and dependance on thee? He that is thus united to the fountain of all good things, can never ſtand in need of any thing that is truly profitable or deſirable.
Annotations on Pſalm LXXXIV.
foreignV. 3. Cryeth out] From foreign to cry aloud, vociferate, or jubilate, is foreign here, and it is uſed either for grief, but eſpecially for joy and exultation: the LXXII. fitly render it by foreign, exceeding joy. And being here joyned with foreign to, it hath a ſpecial notation, ſuch as is taken from the cuſtom of Mariners, or Soldiers, or husbandmen; the firſt of which when they looſe from land into the ocean, ſet ſail with a ſhout; the ſecond when they aſſault their enemies, incourage one another with a ſhout, when they have gotten the victory, expreſs their joy with a ſhout; the third when they conclude their harveſt, do it with a ſhout, called therefore proverbially (Iſa. 9.3.) the joy in harveſt: And ſo when they went up to the feaſts at Jeruſalem, they went with an holy jubilation, or ſhout. And this ſeems to be the full importance of the phraſe in this place, My heart and my fleſh, my rational, and even carnal ſenſitive faculties ſhout to the living God, are ardently deſirous of thus going up to the Sanctuary, are ready with their foreign, ovations, and vociferations (when they be allowed that favour) to go up to the preſence of this living God, the joy of their very life, whoſe gratious aſſiſtance and exhibition of himſelf is the only tenure they have in all kind of proſperity.
foreignV. 5. Hearts] The difficulties of this verſe may poſſibly be removed by remembring the notion of foreign and foreign, not only for the heart, but by metaphor (being oft applyed to thoſe things that have no heart) for the middle. So foreign Jon. 2.3. not into the heart, but the midſt of the Seas. So Deut. 4.11. the mountain burnt with fire to the foreign (not heart, but) midſt of heaven, 2 Sam. 18.14. Abſolom was alive foreign in the midſt of the Oake. So Jer. 51.1. inhabitants of the foreign (not heart, but) midſt of them that riſe up againſt me. And if foreign may thus,foreign with the learned Grotius, be rendred here in the midſt of them, then the paſſage will be clear, Bleſſed is the man foreign,foreign literally ſtrength, or (as the LXXII. and Syriack and Latine foreign—) help to him in thee, i. e. which hath in thee ſtrength, help, or protection, being allowed liberty (as the former part of the Pſalm determins the ſenſe) to reſort to Gods Sanctuary, which is ſometimes called foreign, and from whence that protection and aid in all exigencies may be had. Then follows to the ſame ſenſe foreign paths, foreignor highwayes, foſſeways, or cauſeys (from foreign to raiſe, or pave a way with ſtone) foreign, aſcents, i. e. wayes of going up to the Sanctuary, in the midſt of them, i. e. who have ſuch highways, free liberty to go up to the holy aſſembly in the midſt of them; or (if foreign muſt ſignifie their hearts) who take care and look to the maintenance of theſe cauſeys, in order to the ſacred aſſemblies, which they that are deprived of that priviledge of going up to them moſt ſadly bemoan the want of. When Jeruſalem became the Metropolis of Judaea, the roads to it, upon civil grounds, were to be made large and paſſable; but when the Temple was built there, and by the Law the whole nation obliged thrice every year to reſort thither, this was now, upon weightier reaſons, to be provided for. Eſpecially conſidering that Judaea was a mountainous, uneven Countrey, where the brooks in the valleys upon any fall of rain were apt to ſwell, ſo as to be hardly paſſable. And therefore among the cauſes for a foreign intercalation of a month, and alteration of the ſeaſons of the feſtivals thereby, the chief that are ſet down by †Hilch. Kid.Maimonides, are foreign becauſe … wayes, (when in reſpect of them occaſion requires it,) foreign and becauſe of the bridges. And the ſame Maimonides tells us, Hilch. Roths. c. 8. that for the maintenance of the wayes every year at the 15. of the Month Adar, Commiſſioners were ſent out to look to the repairs of bridges, cauſeys, &c. This makes it not unreaſonable to ſuppoſe that the wayes to the Temple ſhould here be mentioned, in reference to thoſe ſacred ſolemnities, as when Lam. 1.4. 'tis ſaid, The wayes of Zion mourn, becauſe none come to the ſolemn feaſts. And then as it is a felicity to have the uſe of theſe wayes, ſo muſt it alſo have been an act of piety in any to take care of them, that they might be ſerviceable to this end, for themſelves and others. And to this purpoſe alſo the next verſe will be beſt interpreted: ſee note c. Abu Walid ſeems to take foreign for ſtrengths, and interprets it of ſtrong and firm reſolutions. Kimchi in his roots renders it high praiſes. The Jewiſh Arab expreſſes the whole paſſage by foreign whoſe hearts are ſincere.
6. Valley of Bacha] From foreign flevit, is foreign weeping, and in Arabick foreign. And from this notion of the word the LXXII. read foreign, the valley of weeping, and the Vulgar, Lachrymarum, of tears; and the Chaldee ſeems to follow that ſenſe. Our later interpreters here make uſe of the notion foreign for a Mulberry-tree (and the Jewiſh Arab telling us in a note that it is a valley in Syria Damaſcena, yet renders it foreign, as much as to ſay,foreign the valley of Plumb-trees) ſo 2 Sam. v. 23. over againſt foreign the mulberry-trees; and ſo again, v. 24. where the Chaldee reads foreign trees. The uſe of the word muſt probably be deduced from the ſort of the ſoile where mulberry-trees grow. For of them it is obſervable that they uſe to grow (not in dry and waterleſs ſoils, as vulgar Interpreters would fanſy, but) peculiarly in low grounds or valleys (non temere in montibus, ſaith Pliny, l. 16. c. 18.) in a fat and moiſt ſoile, ſay the Herbaliſts. And ſo, if that were the rendring here, the paſſing through the mulberry valley would fitly ſignifie paſsing through a low and wet and moiſt place, which according to the notion of foreign is by us called, a weeping ground. The Syriack here read, foreign, which will beſt be rendred, they paſſed through, or by, or into profound weeping; yet thereby meaning not tears from mens eyes, ſo probably as waters overflowing the ground by which they paſt, for ſo Job. 28.11. foreign he bindeth the floods from weeping, is by us duly rendred from overflowing. So again, Job. 38.16. we have foreign (from the ſame theme) the Interlinear reads fletus maris, the weeping of the ſea: It ſignifies moſt probably the waters that diſtill from thence (as tears from the eyes) and paſs by ſecret meatus in the earth. The LXXII. reads foreign, the ſpring of the ſea. And then by analogy with theſe, we ſhall beſt render the Hebrew foreign through the valley of weeping, or the moiſt and weeping valley. And to make or turne that into a ſpring (ſo foreign ſignifies,foreign they make it a well, or turn it into a ſpring) is by caſting up earth and trenching it (as the Fens with us are drained) to render it a ſpring, the water whereof having gained a regular courſe, becomes a ſtream, paſſable in the deep of winter, when, as here it follows, the rain covers or fills the pools. So thoſe words will beſt be rendred foreign yea, foreignor though, or even where the rain covers the pools. The ambiguity of the words foreign and foreign have cauſed very various rendrings of theſe words. But as foreign from one notion of foreign in Hiphil, for teaching, ſignifies a law-giver, and ſo is by the LXXII. rendred foreign, ſo from another notion of it for watering, it certainly ſignifies rain, ſo Joel 2.23. he will give foreign the rain, and again, foreign the early and latter rain; and ſo in proportion with the valley, and the weeping, or waterineſs foregoing, it muſt be thought to ſignifie here. And ſo likewiſe as foreign from foreign benedixit, foreignſignifies benediction, and is rendred by the LXXII. foreign, bleſſing; ſo not only the Chaldee foreign, but with the ſame points as here, the Hebrew foreign is uſed for a pool, Jud. 1.15. give me foreign not a bleſſing, but the pool, for thou haſt given me a ſouth land, or dry land; and ſo it there expreſly follows, give me alſo foreign ſprings of waters. And ſo this well connects with the former part of this verſe, they ſhall make the mulberry-valley, or weeping-valley a ſpring, drain it and make it paſſable in a channel or water-courſe, and that even after the fall of the greateſt rains, when the pools are ſwolne and fill'd higheſt; this being the benefit of the foſſe-ways, forementioned, v. 5. This is the moſt probable interpretation of the verſe, in perfect accord with the former, and the deſign of the Pſalm in magnifying the felicities of thoſe that are allowed the liberty of the ſacred aſſemblies at Jeruſalem. And to the ſame ſenſe follows in the next verſe,foreign foreign they ſhall walk or proceed from valley to valley (ſo foreign ſignifies 1 King. 21.23. foreign in the valley of Jezreel: ſo in the Targum, Iſa. 28.2. foreign the valley of fatneſs) or perhaps from trench to trench (for ſo foreign,foreign Pſal. 122.7. is rendred by the Interlinear, in antemurali tuo, in thy trench, without the wall: ſo Lam. 2.8. Nahum. 3.8.) expreſſing the convenience of their journey through all thoſe moſt ſuſpected, and naturally impaſſable places, by the help of trenches, or by means of theſe foſſe-ways, foreigntill at length foreign the God of Gods ſhall appear, or be ſeen, or beheld in Sion, i. e. ſhall ſhew or reveal himſelf gratiouſly to them there; or as Jehovah jire ſignifies, Gen. 22.8. ſhall provide, and take care of them, as he will be ſure to do of all faithful ſervants of his, that addreſs themſelves to him there, in his Temple or Sanctuary.
V. 11. foreignDoor-keeper] From foreign threſhold is foreign to ſit, or ly at, or on the threſhold, when one is not admitted into the houſe, in a vile and abject condition. The LXXII. here renders foreign, to be caſt down in the houſe of God, to lie as a Lazar at the door, or as the foreign, in the antient Church, which lay proſtrate without the door of the Church, to beſeech the prayers of them that enter there, being themſelves unworthy to be admitted thither. The Targum reads foreign to cleave to the houſe, i. e. to lie faſtened to the door of the houſe, which is not the office of the Nethinim or door-keepers, that were admitted in, but the condition of the vileſt perſon that is ſhut out of the Temple, only is admitted to lie and beg mercy at the entrance into it. And this the Pſalmiſt much prefers before any the moſt flouriſhing worldly condition of thoſe that are kept at a greater diſtance from it.