Works Volume 4, Book 4 · Psalm 99
The Ninety Ninth PSALM.
The ninety ninth Pſalm, anciently ‖foreign A Pſalm of David. LXXII. Syr. Lat. &c.attributed to David, ſeems firſt to refer to his quiet eſtabliſhment in that Throne to which God had choſen him, but prophetically alſo (as the former) to the kingdom of the Meſſias.
1. THE Lord reigneth, let the people †be unquiettremble: he *that ſittethſitteth between the Cherubims, let the earth be moved.
Paraphrase. 1. The omnipotent God of heaven, that God that hath promiſed to be preſent in his ſanctuary, and appointed the Cherubims to be placed covering the propitiatory, thereby to denote his preſence there to all that ſeek him and pray to him, hath at length been pleaſed to ſhew forth his power in behalf of his ſervant David, hath diſcomfited the Canaanites and Jebuſites, and other his heathen enemies, and now quietly ſeated him in his throne (a lively image of his erecting the Meſſias's kingdom in mens hearts) and ſo ſhall firmly continue in deſpite of all commotion or oppoſition whatſoever. (The gates of hell ſhall not prevail againſt the Church, the ſpiritual kingdom of Chriſt here.)
2. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all people.
Paraphrase. 2. And herein hath God magnified himſelf in the …ight of all the people round about, the God that is worſhipt and preſentiates himſelf in the Ark, now placed in Zion, is diſcerned even by heathen men to be far too ſtrong for any nation to reſiſt or oppoſe.
‖They ſhall confeſs foreign3. Let them praiſe thy great and terrible name, †thatfor it is holy.
Paraphrase. 3. This they now are forced to acknowledge, to dread his power and vengeance, and confeſs that it is moſt juſtly evidenced on them, to the ſubduing of them, and magnifying his people. (This was more eminently fulfilled in the converſion of the Gentiles to Chriſt.)
4. The King's ſtrength alſo loveth judgment: thou doeſt eſtabliſh equity, thou executeſt judgment and righteouſneſs in Jacob.
Paraphrase. 4. All the ſtrength and ability that David hath had to bring him to this height and peace and ſtability, he hath received wholly from God: and that God which hath thus holpen him, hath done it to this great end, to puniſh ſin, and ſet up all manner of vertue, caſting out and deſtroying the deteſtable idolaters, ſeverely viſiting their unnatural ſins upon them, and by excellent Laws, and Rulers after his own heart, indeavouring to advance the practice of all purity and juſtice and charity among the Jews.
5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worſhip at his footſtool; for he is holy.
Paraphrase. 5. O let us all make our humbleſt united approaches unto him: and as they that petition a Prince on earth, uſe to caſt themſelves proſtrate at his feet, ſo let us be proſtrate in his ſanctuary (ſee v. 9.) that place of his peculiar reſidence, where we are appointed to aſſemble; and let us there uniformly adore, and praiſe, and magnifie him for this ſignal act of his glorious goodneſs and mercy toward us, and offer up our prayers and ſupplications unto him, as to one that never fails to make good his promiſe of hearing and anſwering the prayers of his faithfull ſervants, which are ardently addreſt to him.
6. Moſes and Aaron among his ‖chief menprieſts, and Samuel among them that call upon his name: they called upon the Lord, and he anſwered them.
Paraphrase. 6. Thus hath he conſtantly diſpenſed his mercies to his people at the prayer of thoſe holy men whom he hath ſet over them. Three eminent inſtances there are of it recorded. One Exod. 32.11. when at the prayer of Moſes God was propitiated after the great provocation of the golden calf. A ſecond Numb. 16.46. when upon Aaron's making the atonement for the people in the buſineſs of Coreh, the plague was ſtayed. A third 1 Sam. 7. where upon Samuel's burnt-offering v. 9. and prayer v. 5. and crying importunately and conſtantly to God for the people v. 8. the Lord heard him v. 9. and the Philiſtims were diſcomfited v. 10.
7. He ſpake unto them in the †pillar of cloudcloudy pillar: they kept his teſtimonies, and the ordinances that he gave them.
Paraphrase. 7. With every one of theſe God was pleaſed to commune and talk, as a friend with a friend, giving them vocal anſwers out of a bright cloud which incompaſſed them, a wonderfull dignation of God's to thoſe faithfull ſervants of his which obeyed and obſerved his commands.
8. Thou anſweredſt them, O Lord our God; *O God thou wert prop…iated for their ſakes, even puniſhing, or when thou wert puniſhing their …ctinati… ▪thou waſt a God that forgaveſt them, though thou tookeſt vengeance of their inventions.
Paraphrase. 8. And when the people had provoked God, and God's wrath was already gone out againſt them for their crying ſins, theſe mens prayers were ſo effectual with him, as to avert the plagues, and obtain remiſſion for them.
9. Exalt the Lord our God, and worſhip at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.
Paraphrase. 9. O let theſe unſpeakable dignations of his, and ſignal anſwers unto the prayers of his ſervants, bring us all to his ſanctuary on our knees, to praiſe and adore his ſacred and glorious majeſty, and offer up our continual and ardent prayers unto him.
Annotations on Pſal. XCIX.
foreignV. 1. Tremble] Of foreign we have ſpoken before (ſee note on Pſal. 4. e.) and obſerved the notion of it, as for anger ſo alſo for fear (ſo ſaith Abu Walid of this root, that in the Arabick it ſignifies trembling and commotion, and is ſometimes from anger, ſometimes from fear, and other occaſions) the word generally ſignifying motion or commotion, either of body or of mind, and both theſe being equally commotions of mind. Here the context may ſeem to direct the taking it in the notion of commotion ſimply, as that ſignifies foreign ſedition or tumult of rebels or other adverſaries. And then the ſenſe will lye thus, The Lord reigneth, foreignforeign let the people be moved, i. e. Now God hath ſet up David in his Throne, and peaceably ſettled the Kingdom on him, in ſpight of all the commotions of the people. The LXXII. render it to this ſenſe (as Pſ. 4.4.) foreign, let the people be angry or regret it, as much as they will. The Chaldee and Syriack uſe the ſame word foreign, from foreign to be moved, which competently agrees to this notion, as alſo the latter part of this verſe; for as foreign in the participle,foreign he that ſitteth on or inhabiteth the Cherubims, is all one directly with foreign the Lord, ſo foreign from foreign, which, as foreign alſo, ſignifies motion and agitation, is exactly the ſame with foreign, and accordingly the Chaldee renders it foreign, the former word foreign or foreign reduplicated, and ſo to the very ſame ſenſe; the LXXII. have foreign be ſhaken, the Latin moveatur be moved, the ſame alſo. Yet may it alſo be read as in the future, and in the notion of fearing and quaking; The nations ſhall tremble, and the earth ſhall be moved, as appearances of God are wont to be received with trembling and amazement, and at the giving the law, the people trembled and the earth ſhook, and this will be a fit expreſſion of the ſubjecting the heathen world to Chriſt's Kingdom. Abu Walid doubts whether foreign ſhould be referred to foreign to ſignifie let the earth be moved, the ſame with foreign, or whether to God, and ſo be of the ſignification with foreign in Arabick, to hang, making the earth the accuſative caſe, he that ſitteth between the Cherubims hangeth (faſt) the earth, according to that of Job 23.7. and hangeth the earth upon nothing. And thus in an Hebrew-Arabick gloſſary it is rendred foreign hanging.
V. 6. Prieſts] foreign, from foreign to miniſter, foreignis a common title of Civil as well as Eccleſiaſtical Officers. Hence it is that Exod. 2.16. where the Hebrew hath foreign, the Chaldee reads foreign the Prince of Midian. So Exod. 19.22, 24. foreign clearly ſignifies, not the ſons of Aaron, but the firſt-born or chief of the families. So 2 Sam. 8.18. David's ſons were foreign, not Prieſts, but Princes or chief Rulers; foreign great men, ſaith the Chaldee, the ſame, called foreign principal or chief men at the hand of the King, 1 Chron. 18.17. Of which ſort was Ira, called foreign, not a Prieſt, but a chief Ruler about David, 2 Sam. 20.26. And in the more general notion of the word, as it comprehends both Civil and Eccleſiaſtical Rulers, it is evident that Moſes as well as Aaron are here rightly recited foreign among God's Rulers or chief men.
V. 7. foreignCloudy pillar] What foreign ſtation or pillar of cloud here ſignifies, as far as refers to Moſes and Aaron, there is no difficulty. For as in their paſſage out of Aegypt, God conducted and protected them by a bright cloud, Exod. 13.21. which is there, as here, called foreign a pillar, ſignifying thereby the form or ſimilitude of an hollow pillar, or concave body over their heads, coming down to the ground on every ſide of them, and ſo like wings incompaſſing and ſhielding them (ſee note on 1 Cor. 10. a.) ſo when 'tis added c. 14.1. that the Lord ſpake unto Moſes, ſaying, that Lord that in the verſe immediately foregoing went before them in a pillar of cloud, there can be no doubt but God, as here is ſaid, ſpake unto them in a pillar of cloud. So Exod. 16.10. the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud, and the Lord ſpake unto Moſes ſaying: ſo Exod. 17.6. when God ſaith unto Moſes, I will ſtand before thee upon the rock in Horeb, and thou ſhalt ſmite, and water ſhall come out, this is again this foreign pillar, or (according to the notion of the theme foreign ſtetit) ſtanding of the cloud on Horeb. So Exod. 19.9. Lo I come to thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I ſpeak with thee, and believe thee for ever: and ſo v. 16. as there were thunders and lightnings, ſo there was a thick cloud upon the mount, and the Lord deſcended v. 18. and anſwered Moſes by voice v. 19. and to this commerce Aaron was admitted v. 24. So c. 20. v. 21. Moſes drew near to the thick darkneſs (all one with the cloud) where God was, and the Lord ſpake unto Moſes v. 22. All the difficulty is, what relation this of the pillar of cloud can have to Samuel, in whoſe time this is not reported. To this the anſwer might be, that although the anſwering them v. 6. were common to all the three perſons, Moſes and Aaron and Samuel, yet there is no neceſſity that the pillar of cloud ſhould be common to them all; 'twere ſufficient that it is applicable to Moſes and Aaron, though not to Samuel. But yet even of Samuel it is evident, that (as 'tis here) God ſpake unto him, calling him by his name, 1 Sam. 3. and 'tis there ſaid at the fourth time of calling, when he proceeded to ſpeak and reveal himſelf to him, v. 10. the Lord came, and ſtood, and called, Samuel, Samuel. This muſt certainly ſignifie the ſame thing that was ſaid of God's appearing to Moſes, Exod. 17.6. I will ſtand before thee upon the rock. And that being reaſonably reſolved to be this of the pillar of cloud, in probability this to Samuel being parallel to that, may be conceived to be this pillar of cloud alſo, though at three former calls 'tis certain it appeared not. So again at the time when Samuel's offering and prayers were ſo ſignally heard at Mizpeh, 1 Sam. 7. it is ſaid v. 9. the Lord anſwered him, and v. 10. the Lord thundred with a great thunder; where God's voice, and thunder, were queſtionleſs like that of Exod. 19.16. where the cloud is mentioned as well as the thunder; and indeed where thunder is, a cloud is ſuppoſed to be▪ and ſo this anſwering of Samuel with thunder, muſt be God's ſpeaking to him at this time (if not before) out of the cloud alſo. Thus in the New Teſtament we ſo frequently have the voice of God out of a cloud, that when the voice is mentioned without the mention of the cloud, the cloud is yet to be ſuppoſed, as that from whence the voice came.
foreignV. 8. Them] The difficulty of this v. 8. will beſt be cleared by obſerving the notion of foreign, not to them, or barely as a dative caſe (forgaveſt them) but for them, i. e. for their ſakes. The Chaldee render it foreign for, or becauſe of them. And then God's being foreign pardoning or propitiated (ſo foreign oft ſignifies remiſſion, foreignpropitiation) foreign for them, is his ſparing the people for their prayers, as he certainly did in all the examples of Moſes and Aaron and Samuel; for all their prayers being for the averting of God's wrath from the people, God's being propitiated for them (or as the LXXII. foreign, eaſily propitiated by them) is God's pardoning not them, but the people for their ſakes, or at their requeſts. This ſignal dignation of God's to them, in being thus propitiated and reconciled to the people for, or by their prayers, is here farther ſet of by the addition of foreign— (literally,foreign) and revenging their inventions, i. e. when thou wert revenging or puniſhing their wicked deeds, when thou wert juſt entring on the work, then thou wert propitiated. Thus in the firſt example, that of Moſes, it is viſible; The people had terribly provoked God, and God was juſt puniſhing them, and he was ſtayed onelyonly by Moſes's prayers, Exod. 32.10. Now therefore let me alone, ſaith God, that my wrath may wax hot, and that I may conſume them, and I will make of thee a great nation; i. e. God's wrath was gone out againſt them to the deſtroying of ſome of them, for this idolatry of theirs: ſo it appears V. 35. the Lord plagued the people becauſe they made the calf— i. e.foreign the Lord was foreign, avenging, or acting revenge on their deeds or machinations, and ſome of the people were already fallen by God's hand, and three thouſand in one day were ſlain by the Levites at Moſes's command v. 28. and if Moſes would have let God alone, they had been all utterly conſumed: and now, when God's wrath was thus high, and ingaged in the execution, Moſes beſought the Lord V. 11. and God repented him of the evil which he thought to doe unto this people v. 14. So in the ſecond example, that of Aaron, Num. 16. God ſaith to Moſes v. 45. Get you up from this congregation, that I may conſume them as in a moment, and it follows, they fell upon their faces (and prayed to God) then v. 46. Moſes ſaid to Aaron, Take a Cenſer, and put fire therein from off the Altar; and put on incenſe, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the Lord, the plague is begun, and v. 47. behold the plague was begun among the people: (and ſo God was literally foreign avenging or puniſhing their deeds) and he, i. e. Aaron, put on incenſe, and made atonement for the people, and ſtood between the dead and the living, and the plague was ſtayed. The like is alſo intimated in the third inſtance, that of Samuel, 1 Sam. 7. For there 'tis evident the Iſraelites were ſore preſt and worſted by the Philiſtims, and afraid of them v. 7. and Samuel tells them, that if they do return unto the Lord with all their hearts, then they muſt put away their ſtrange gods — and God will deliver them out of the hand of the Philiſtims, v. 3. And they do as he bid them v. 4. and kept a ſolemn fast v. 6. (certainly for the averting ſome judgment under which they were) and they ſaid to Samuel v. 8. Ceaſe not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will ſave us — And juſt then it was, that God was propitiated by Samuel's prayers, Samuel took a lamb and offered it, and cryed unto the Lord for Iſrael, foreign and the Lord anſwered him, as here in the beginning of the verſe, foreign thou anſweredſt them, O Lord our God. And ſo in every of the examples here ſpecified, this appears to be the full and ready importance of this paſſage.