Works Volume 4, Book 3 · Psalm 85
The Eighty Fifth PSALM.
TO the chief Muſitian, A Pſalm for the ſons of Korah.
Paraphrase. The eighty fifth Pſalm is a thankful acknowledgment of Gods mercy in returning their captivity, and an humble importunate prayer for the confirming, continuing, and perfecting this mercy to them. It hath ſome degree of propriety to Davids return to Jeruſalem after his flight from Abſolom, but much more to the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, after the captivity. It was committed to the Praefect of the Muſick, to be ſung by the poſterity of Coreh.
1. Lord, thou haſt been favourable to thy Land; thou haſt brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2. Thou haſt forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou haſt covered all their ſin. Selah.
3. Thou haſt taken away all thy wrath, thou haſt turned thy ſelf from the fierceneſs of thy anger.
Paraphrase. 1, 2, 3. It is thy ſpecial mercy and compaſſion to us, O Lord, that we that were chaſed and carried captive from our countrey, are now reſtored to it again. Our ſins that brought theſe ſad effects of thy diſpleaſure upon us, thou haſt now been pleaſed to pardon, and ſo being reconciled to us, of thine own abundant free grace and mercy, to releaſe us from thoſe ſevere puniſhments, which have moſt juſtly lain upon us for our provoking offences.
4. Turn us, O God of our ſalvation, and cauſe thine anger toward us to ceaſe.
Paraphrase. 4. From thee, O bleſſed Lord, all our deliverance proceeds, be thou pleaſed to interpoſe thy hand, to perfect this work of mercy and reconciliation and reſtauration, which thou haſt ſo gratiouſly begun for us, and pardon the deviations that ſince our return we have moſt unexcuſably been guilty of.
5. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thy anger to all generations?
6. Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoyce in thee?
Paraphrase. 5, 6. We have long been exerciſed under thy ſharp hand of puniſhments, and allmoſt been tempted to deſpair of any releaſe either to our ſelves or our poſterities; and ſince thou haſt brought us back to our countrey, our new freſh provocations have again withheld thy loving kindneſs from us, caſt back the work of rebuilding thy Temple. O be thou now pleaſed, as thou haſt begun to give us ſome eſſay of thy mercy, to perfect and complete it to us, to reſtore unto us that life and pleaſure and joy, which we were wont to enjoy in approaching to and attending on thee in thy Sanctuary.
7. Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy ſalvation.
Paraphrase. 7. This is a divine work of mercy and deliverance, O Lord, be thou gratiouſly pleaſed to afford it us.
8. I will hear what God the Lord will ſpeak, for he will ſpeak peace unto his people, and to his ſaints: ‖and they ſhall not, or let them not—but let them not turn again to folly.
Paraphrase. 8. And this I am confident thou wilt now do in return to our prayers, if we be but duly qualified to receive, ſo great a mercy, ſincerely penitent for our former ſins, faithfully reſolved on a new and holy life, and continue conſtant in theſe vows of never relapſing to our former provoking ſins: All which we ſhall, after ſuch correction, certainly be careful to performe; if we be not the moſt ſtupid Tools in the world.
9. Surely his ſalvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
Paraphrase. 9. God certainly on his part will be moſt ready to perfect this mercy to us, that thy Temple may be rebuilt, and the glorious majeſtatick preſence or inhabitation of God may return and be reſetled in Jeruſalem; if we only be on our parts careful to qualifie our ſelves for the receiving it, by ſincere reformation, and perſevering obedience to his divine precepts.
10. Mercy and truth are met together; righteouſneſs and peace have kiſſed each other.
Paraphrase. 10. Let us be careful to approve the ſincerity of our obedience to God, and he will certainly crown that with his mercies, all felicity and proſperity.
11. Truth ſhall ſpring out of the earth, and righteouſneſs ſhall look down from heaven.
Paraphrase. 11. Let our hearts fructifie in good works, and God will cheriſh and reward them.
12. Yea the Lord ſhall give that which is good, and our land ſhall yield her increaſe.
Paraphrase. 12. Theſe two things ſhall never be ſeparated, our bringing forth fruits of righteouſneſs, and Gods heaping all manner of good upon us.
13. Righteouſneſs ſhall go before him, and ‖he ſhall ſet his ſteps in, or to the way: ſee note c.ſhall ſet us in the way of his ſteps.
Paraphrase. 13. Our duty it is to walk obediently before him, and then he will follow in performing his part of the Covenant of mercy, bring us to all that is deſirable or valuable to us.
Annotations on Pſal. LXXXV.
foreignV. 2. Forgiven the iniquity] foreign, literally thou haſt born, or taken away iniquity, is by the Chaldee rendred foreign pardoned, (and ſo by the Syriack) by the LXXII. foreign, remitted. And this, with all that follows, of covering their ſin, taking away his wrath, &c. a lively expreſſion of what went before, v. 1. the bringing back their captivity. It is a maxim among the Jewiſh Doctors, that Captivity is one way of expiation, and ſo to return from thence was a ſure indication that the ſin, for which it was inflicted, was remitted, or done away. This, ſaith †on Levit. ….Abarbanel, was obumbrated in the Azazel, or ſcape-goat, which, as the other that was ſlain, was a ſin-offering, as appears, Lev. 16. v. 5. He ſhall take—two kids for a ſin-offering— And then the confeſſing the ſins over him, mentioned, v. 21. (Aaron ſhall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confeſs over him all the iniquities of the children of Iſrael, &c. putting them on the head of the goat: And the goat ſhall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land of ſeparation, v. 22.) ſhews that they were to carry their ſins with them into the land of their captivity, meant by the foreign the land of ſeparation, that land, whatſoever it was, whither the divine providence had deſigned their deportation. From whence therefore being now returned, their ſins for which they were thus puniſhed, are ſuppoſed to be left behind them, no more to be laid to their charge, if their return to their former ſins do not cauſe them to be called to remembrance. Thus indeed they did, as appears by the books of Ezra, chap. 9.1. and Nehem. chap. 5. and chap. 13. and that gave ſufficient occaſion as for the Faſt, Ezra 9.3. and Nehem. 9.1. ſo for the earneſt deprecations here following in this Pſalm, v. 4.
foreignV. 8. Not turn to folly] For foreign and they ſhall not, or, and let them not return to folly, (which the Chaldee and Syriack render to that ſenſe) the LXXII. have foreign, and to them that turn their heart to him, and the Latine, & ad eos qui convertuntur ad eor, and to them that are converted or returned to their heart. This they ſeem to have drawn from ſome affinity of the Hebrew words, which with ſome light changes produce this, reading for foreign not, foreign to, and ſo joyning it in conſtruction with foreign (twice foregoing;) and for foreign to folly, foreign the heart, Selab: which becauſe it ſtill makes an imperfect ſenſe, and to them that turn the heart, Selah: they have therefore ſupplied the ſeeming Ellipſis▪ the LXXII. by addition of foreign, to him, i. e. to God, the Latine by inſerting ad before cor▪ returning to the heart, which is a phraſe to ſignifie repentance or reſipiſcence, growing wiſe again (and ſo better agrees with the Hebrew, which indeed ſignifies, not returning to folly.) That they thus did read the Hebrew words, is not ſo likely, as that by occaſion of this affinity of phraſes they thus thought fit to paraphraſe the Hebrew, which is not unuſual with them in other places. And in this place, though the words be quite changed, the ſenſe doth not ſuffer much by this paraphraſe, this being on both ſides the condition of Gods removing his judgements, that they which receive them be ſincerely penitent, and then they will not return again to the folly of their former ways of ſin.
V. 10. Mercy and truth] foreign truth, foreignfrom foreign fidus fuit, is frequently uſed for fidelity, and is all one with foreign, in the paſſive ſenſe for faithfulneſs, and in that notion doth well agree with foreign righteouſneſs in the latter part of the verſe (and is by the LXXII.foreign rendred foreign, righteouſneſs, Gen. 24 49. Iſa. 39.19.) as foreign mercy, and foreign peace (all proſperity given us by God) are in effect all one alſo.foreign And then the meeting of theſe pairs, mercy and truth, or fidelity, and (by way of foreign, very frequent in Scripture) of righteouſneſs and peace, will ſignify the performance on Gods part proportionable to the qualification on ours: where truth or fidelity is made good towards God, there mercy will undoubtedly be had from him; where righteouſneſs on our part, there peace on Gods, i. e. all the felicity and proſperity imaginable. This rendring of the place is moſt agreeable to the matter here in hand, the confidence that God will pardon their ſins which unfeignedly return to him, v. 7, 8, 9. And to the ſame purpoſe is that which follows, v. 11. As truth or uprightneſs (ſincere reformation) ſprings out, and aſcends from the earth, the hearts of men, the proper ſoil for it to grow in; ſo ſhall foreign righteouſneſs in the other notion, very frequent, that for mercy (and to paſs from one notion of a word to another is an elegance, and no rarity in theſe writings) look down from heaven, as the Sun doth upon the World, when it ſheds its influences upon it, and cheriſhes the germina or ſprouts, all productions of the earth here below. And ſo again, v. 12. to the Lords giving foreign the good, foreignindefinitely, i. e. all good things, is annexed, our land ſhall give foreign.foreign The word ſignifies from foreign in Hiphil, produxit, all the ſorts of fruits which the earth brings forth, and by analogy with v. 11. where Truth was to ſprout out of the earth, muſt ſignifie that ſort of fruit or productions, i. e. truth, or ſincerity of obedience to God; and ſo that again (by way of regreſſus, naming that firſt which had been laſt, and that laſt which had been firſt) is all one with v. 11. in the notion we have aſſigned it. And once more, v. 13. Righteouſneſs, in the notion of v. 10. uprightneſs and fidelity, foreign ſhall go, foreignor walk foreign before his face, i. e. the face of God, mentioned in the former verſe; foreign and he, i. e. God,foreign ſhall ſet foreign his feet foreign to the way, foreign, into the way, ſay the LXXII. i. e. ſhall follow after, where righteouſneſs goes before; having ſuch a Prodromus or Ʋſher, to prepare the way before him, God will ſolemnly and in ſtate come on in the Proceſſion, as Pſal. 89.14. mercy and truth are ſaid to go before the face of God, as Heralds to engage his following after. The Chaldee read foreign ſhall ſet him foreign in a good way, i. e. ſet him at liberty, in a proſperous condition, reſcue, and return the captivity of them that walk uprightly before him. All theſe but various expreſſions (as in a Poem it is ordinary) of the ſame thing, Gods never failing to return in mercy to them that ſincerely convert to him by repentance. The Jewiſh Arab reads this laſt verſe in another ſenſe, They that ſeek equity or juſtice, ſhall walk before him, and ſhall ſet their ſteps in his ways; as likewiſe before, v. 10. the people of goodneſs and truth have met together, &c. But the former ſenſe is more probable.