Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 133 – Psalm 134
The Hundred and Thirty Third PSALM.
A Song of Degrees of David.
The hundred thirty third is the magnifying the felicities of holy peaceable fraternal communion, and was fitly accommodated to the return from the captivity, and their uniform conjunction in the ſervice of God.
1.BEhold how good and how pleaſant it is for brethren to dwell ‖even as one foreigntogether in unity.
Paraphrase. 1. There is nothing that is more acceptable to God, and matter of greater joy and preſent delight to the perſons themſelves, than a peaceable friendly converſation of pious men, with a perfect union of minds, and communion in devotions, and joint endeavours of doing, and helping one another to doe, thoſe things that are moſt excellent.
2. It is like the precious oyntment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments.
Paraphrase. 2. It cannot be more fitly compared to any thing than to the unction of Aaron the high-prieſt of God, the oyntment of a moſt precious ſort, very fragrant and odoriferous. It was by order to be poured upon his head, and in that plenty, that being ſo poured, it diffuſed it ſelf not onelyonly on his face and beard, but ran down alſo upon the upper part or collar of his garments, (ſee note a.) and this whole ceremony inſtituted by God himſelf, thereby to conſecrate Aaron and his ſucceſſors after him to the high-prieſts office, to offer ſacrifice to God, and bleſs the people. And in all theſe particulars the proportion holds. This of fraternal charity, union and communion is 1. very precious, highly valued; 2. very gratefull and welcome, a pleaſant and refreſhing ſpectacle to all beholders, to God, Angels and men; 3. it is ſo rich and plentifull a grace, that it communicates it ſelf to all the meaneſt perſons in the ſociety, not onelyonly to ſuperiour and more eminent parts, but to every inferiour member of the community, making ſupplies to all ſorts of all their wants; and 4. no grace or vertue more ſignally commanded and recomended by God; or 5. more required to make our prayers acceptable to God, or our offices uſefull to others or our ſelves.
3. As the dew of Hermon, ‖that deſcendedand as the dew that deſcended on the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the bleſſing, even life for evermore.
Paraphrase. 3. And accordingly God hath promiſed abundant bleſſings to thoſe that thus live, all happineſs here, and all glory in another world. And in that reſpect it is moſt fitly compared to the innumerable drops of dew that fall in a morning upon many ſeveral and diſtant hills, Hermon on one ſide of Canaan, and Zion on the other; or to that cloud of dew which is ſeen hanging as ſuch on the higheſt hills, but diſſolves in ſhowers of rain upon the lower, which cheriſh and refreſh whereſoever they fall; For ſo do God's bleſſings ſeverally deſcend in great abundance upon every member of ſuch a peaceable united community, be they in their condition as diſtant as Hermon and Zion in place, yet the goodneſs of God finds them out, and rewards them ſeverally, beſtows all benedictions upon them.
Annotations on Pſal. CXXXIII.
foreignV. 3. Zion] It is here thought very difficult to reſolve what is the meaning of the phraſe foreign which deſcended on the hill of Zion. For if it be ſpoken of the dew of Hermon foregoing, then 'tis not imaginable how that ſhould deſcend on the hills of Zion, Zion being very diſtant from Hermon, Zion at Jeruſalem, and Hermon on the other ſide of Jordan, on the utmoſt part of Canaan toward the Eaſt, and ſo oppoſed to Tabor, Pſal. 89.12. as Eaſt to Weſt. This hath put ſome learned men on a conjecture, that foreign Zion here ſhould be changed into foreign Schion, which is another name of Hermon. But this is not found in any ancient or later copy, nor yet favoured by any of the ancient Interpreters, who uniformly reade it Zion, and not Schion; nor hath any the leaſt ground, but that of the nearneſs of the words, and the conceited difficulty of the matter, that the dew of Hermon ſhould deſcend on Zion at that diſtance. But for theſe, 1. It is moſt unſafe to uſe that liberty of conjecture, thereby to change words at pleaſure into any that have affinity with them. 2. By this conjecture the difficulty is but changed, not taken away; for it would then be ſtill difficult, and but little more reaſonable, to ſuppoſe that the dew of Hermon ſhould be ſaid to deſcend from Hermon upon Schion, i. e. upon it ſelf, than that it ſhould from Hermon deſcend upon the moſt remote mountain. 'Tis therefore moſt ſeaſonable to take notice of that which hath here occaſioned the difficulty, or ſeeming improbability of interpreting the words of Zion at Jeruſalem. The ſimilitude in the former verſe of the oyntment falling directly and by deſcent from the head to the beard, hath led men to conceit a falling of that in like manner from a higher to a lower place; which indeed cannot in any ſenſe be applied to mount Hermon and the hills of Zion, whereas in the truth this of the dew, were the hills never ſo near and ſubordinate one to the other, would ſtill be a ſimilitude unfit for that turn: for dew is not like rain, which ſtreams down from hills to valleys, or from an higher to a lower hill, but remains in the place where it falls, be it high or low. The dew therefore in this place may poſſibly be ſet to expreſs onelyonly the plenty of that which is ſpoken of (as elſewhere the dew of the morning is proportionable to the ſand of the ſea in reſpect of the numerouſneſs, (ſee note on Pſal. 110. a.) and the bleſſing and refreſhing quality thereof, and ſo to uſher in God's commanding a bleſſing and life for evermore, in the end of the verſe. If that may be allowed, then the clear way of underſtanding this paſſage is, either to ſever and reade by it ſelf foreign as the dew of Hermon, foreigni. e. as the dew that lies thick and numerous on the hill called Hermon, and then again to repeat, as the dew which fell on the hills of Zion; or elſe, joyning them together, to reade by appoſition, foreign that deſcends or falls, foreigni. e. as the dew that falls upon the hills of Zion. Thus 'tis certain, that as the dew falls on Hermon, ſo it falls on the hills of Zion, yea and at the ſame time; and though not the ſame individual drops, yet the ſame ſpecifical dew, with the ſame bleſſing, refreſhing quality, and in the like plenty on the one and on the other. And therefore though the literal rendring of the Hebrew be, As the dew of Hermon which fell on the hills of Zion; yet our Engliſh, to avoid the miſtake to which thoſe words are ſubject, have not done amiſs to make that ſupply as of an Ellipſis, adding and as the dew, above what is in the Original: without which addition yet the words may very intelligibly be rendred, As the dew of Hermon, which (dew) falls on the hills of Zion, ſo they be taken in this ſenſe which we have here expreſt, the dew which lies in great abundance on Hermon, and yet falls in the like plenty on hills very diſtant, thoſe of Zion alſo. Or if we deſire to make the reſemblance and correſpondence between the oyntment and the dew more compleat, it may be obſerved that Hermon, called foreign, and foreign, from its high top ſtill covered with ſnow, was one of the greateſt land-marks of Paleſtine. Now of ſuch hills we know that the miſt or dew of them is rain in lower places, there being no more ordinary indication of future rain, in all countreys, than when the high hills are capt with a cloud of dew. And ſo to ſay this dew of Hermon, or that firſt formature of rain, which was on the top of that but as a dew, ſhould after fall in ſhowers of rain on the adjacent countrey will be very intelligible. And then for the choice of Zion for the other term on which the rain is here ſuppoſed to fall, there is this reaſon of analogy,foreign that the foreign which we render skirts of Aaron's garment, is by Kimchi and Jarchi affirmed to be the upper part, the collar of his garment, it being neither uſefull, nor convenient, nor conſequently probable, that the anointing ſhould be ſo liberal as to run over all his cloaths: and then Zion, by being thus lower than Hermon, will bear a fit analogy with that.
The Hundred and Thirty Fourth PSALM.
A Song of Degrees.
The hundred thirty fourth is the incouraging the Prieſts in their conſtant offices, in the publick worſhip and praiſing of God in the Sanctuary, and is the laſt of thoſe which were accommodated to the return from the Captivity.
1. BEhold, bleſs ye the Lord, all ye ſervants of the Lord, which by night ſtand in the houſe of the Lord.
Paraphrase. 1. Now is God in an eminent manner to be bleſſed and praiſed for all his mercies, that eſpecially of giving liberty for the continual offices of the Temple, of which we were ſo long deprived, and to which being now reſtored, all that attend that ſervice by day and night, the Prieſts in their courſes, are obliged moſt diligently to perform it, and affectionately and devoutly to magnifie his holy name.
2. Lift up your hands ‖or, in holineſsin the Sanctuary, and praiſe the Lord.
Paraphrase. 2. Remembring always, that the ceremony of waſhing, which is conſtantly obſerved herein, is an Emblem of the gre… ſanctity of lives that is required of thoſe that thus wait on the Altar, that offer up any ſacrifice to God, eſpecially that of praiſe and thankſgiving; and that therefore they are moſt nearly concerned to be thus qualified, whenſoever they come to officiate.
3. The Lord that made heaven and earth bleſs thee out of Zion.
Paraphrase. 3. And the great omnipotent Creatour and Governour of the whole world, that hath his peculiar bleſſing reſidence in mount Zion, thence to hear and grant the petitions that are made unto him there, bleſs and proſper, receive, and graciouſly anſwer all the requeſts which his people ſhall there at any time addreſs unto him.
Annotations on Pſal. CXXXIV.
foreignV. 1. Stand] foreign ye that ſtand ſeems here to have a critical notation, for Aben Ezra obſerves that the high prieſt onelyonly ſat in the Temple, the reſt ever ſtood; which ſeems to have been imitated in the primitive Chriſtian Church, that the Biſhop ſhould ſit, and the inferiour Clergy ſtand.
foreignV. 2. In the Sanctuary] The Hebrew foreign ſignifying holineſs as well as the holy place, the Temple or Sanctuary, may here be taken in the former ſenſe, the latter having been ſufficiently expreſt, v. 1. by the houſe of the Lord (to which alſo the LXXII. adds there, above the Hebrew, foreign, in the courts of the houſe of the Lord ▪) For the Prieſts (which are here ſpoken to) before their officiating, which is here expreſt by lifting up their hands, were obliged to waſh their hands, and that waſhing is ſtyled foreign ſanctification: (ſee note on Joh. 13. b. and on Pſal. 26. d.) And to this refers the lifting up holy hands, 1 Tim. 2.8. the bringing this purity to our officer of devotion. Of the Prieſt we reade in Joma c. 3. § 3. that the High Prieſt on the day of Expiation waſhes five foreign and ten foreign ſanctifications, i. e. five waſhings of his whole body, and ten waſhings of his hands and feet. And ſo here lifting up the hands foreign in or with holineſs, or ſanctification, will be the lifting up theſe holy hands, qualifying themſelves thus for the diſcharge of their office, which was ſignified by their waſhing before their officiating. The LXXII. indeed reade foreign to the ſanctuary, but the Syriack foreign, either to holineſs (as their Latin reade ad ſanctitatem) or to the ſanctuary, and ſo the Jewiſh Arab; but the Chaldee, to ſecure this ſenſe, reads foreign, in, or with, holineſs to the holy place.