Works Volume 4, Book 3 · Psalm 76
The Seventy Sixth Pſalm.
TO the ‖Maſter of the ſtringed inſtruments. (ſee Pſ. 4. note a.)chief Muſitian upon Neginoth, a Pſalm or Song of Aſaph.
Paraphrase. The Seventy ſixth Pſalm▪ is a commemoration of the power and Majeſty, and merciful preſence of God unto his people, in hearing and anſwering them, and executing judgments on their enemies, overthrowing their †foreign, An ode on the Aſſyrian, LXXII. foreign &c. of Senacherib and his company Jarchi.heathen invaders, It was compoſed by Aſaph, and committed to the Praefect of the ſtringed inſtruments.
1. In Judah is God known, his name is great in Iſrael.
Paraphrase. 1. Though God have done abundantly ſufficient to reveal his power and glorious attributes to all the men in the world, yet in a moſt ſignal manner hath he exhibited himſelf to the people of the Jews:
2. In Salem alſo is his Tabernacle, and his dwelling in Sion.
Paraphrase. 2. And that eſpecially in the holy place of publick aſſembly, where when pious men meet devoutly to offer up their ſacrifices and requeſts to him, they receive certain anſwers of mercy from him, moſt evident demonſtrations of his peculiar preſence and audience there.
3. There brake he the †or lightnings, or fires.arrows of the bow, the ſhield, and the ſword, and the battel. Selah.
Paraphrase. 3. *So the Chald.Whilſt we kept cloſe to his ſervice there, we never failed to receive portentous aids from him, to obtain the moſt illuſtrious victories over our enemies, to ſecure our ſelves, and deſtroy them in their moſt furious and formidable aſſaults; and whatſoever we have at any time atchieved in this kind, it hath been no ſtrength of ours, but his peculiar interpoſition.
4. Thou art more glorious and excellent then the mountains of prey.
Paraphrase. 4. Thy preſence, O God, in this hill of Sion hath a far greater and more glorious vertue for the guarding of us, and overcoming our oppoſers, than the mountains of moſt ſtrength and advantage, where our malicious enemies in their ſiege and deſigns of taking our City, make their randezvous, are for the fortifying themſelves, or annoying of us.
5. The ſtouteſt-hearted ‖have deſpoiled, or diſarmed themſelves, … they ſleep—are ſpoiled, they have ſlept their ſleep, and none of the men of might have found their hands.
Paraphrase. 5. The ſtouteſt and moſt able men in the world, the moſt warlike and victorious Aſſyrians, have by this means without any conſiderable ſtrength of ours, been utterly diſcomfited, when they had betaken themſelves to their reſt, 2 Chron. 32.21. in the midſt of their ſecurity the Lord ſent an Angel, and cut off all their mighty men of valour, they ſlept but never waked again; and ſo their whole Army (ſee Iſa. 37.36. like men aſleep, have been able to do nothing, not ſo much as to move an hand to hurt us.
6. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horſe are caſt into a dead ſleep.
Paraphrase. 6. 'Twas the ſecret interpoſition of thy power, O Lord, that wrought this ſignal deſtruction upon ſo potent and numerous an Army.
7. Thou, even thou art to be feared, and who may ſtand in thy ſight ‖from the minute of thy anger foreignwhen once thou art angry?
Paraphrase. 7. Thou art moſt terrible and irreſiſtible in thy judgments, and conſumeſt all before thee in the firſt minute that thou art pleaſed to execute them.
8. Thou didſt cauſe judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was ſtill,
9. When God aroſe to judgment, to ſave all the meek of the earth. Selah.
Paraphrase. 8, 9. When thou, though in heaven, didſt pleaſe to interpoſe for thy oppreſſed people, in imminent preſſing danger, to deliver them from the violences of men, and to puniſh thoſe that injured them, then thy Angels came forth on thy meſſages, with thunder and lightning and earthquakes; by theſe the proudeſt ſinners were ſtricken with horror, dreaded theſe thy thunderbolts, and had no means imaginable to ſecure them from them, were all deſtroyed and put to flight, and ſo left thy people to their reſt and quiet, whom they came to beſiege and conquer.
10. Surely the wrath of man ſhall †or confeſs.praiſe thee; the remainder of wrath ſhalt thou *or gird on.reſtrain.
Paraphrase. 10. And thus art thou praiſed and acknowledged, and in ſome degree honoured by the miſcarriage and fruſtration of unjuſt and wicked men, and occaſionally by their very ſin, their cruelty and blaſphemies, when they came to be reſtrained and quelled, and remarkably puniſhed by thee: or, Againſt their rage thou prepareſt rage; they begin in fury againſt pious blameleſs men, afflicting and oppreſſing them, and thou in thy time dealeſt with them in wrath, repayeſt them, as they have deſerved.
11. Vow and pay unto the Lord your God: ‖alllet all that be round about him bring preſents to †the terrible. foreignhim that ought to be feared.
Paraphrase. 11. Our God is a gratious and dreadful God, gratious to us in defending us againſt the moſt ſavage oppreſſors, dreadful to them that continue thus to provoke and blaſpheme him. O let us all, that profeſs his ſervice, conſecrate (and performe) to him the fruits of our lips, all poſſible praiſes and thankſgivings, all works of piety and charity. And let thoſe that have provoked, make ſpeed to atone him by reformation, and the meet fruits thereof.
12. He ſhall *bring down.cut off the ſpirit of Princes, he is terrible to the Kings of the earth.
Paraphrase. 12. Elſe be they never ſo great and proſperous, never ſo proud and ſtout, God will in a moſt terrible manner deal with them, and at length be ſure to bring them low enough, as he hath done the proud Senacherib, and Rabſhakeh, and the whole Aſſyrian Army.
Annotations on Pſal. LXXVI.
foreignV. 3. Arrows] The Hebrew foreign ſignifies fire, Job, v. 7. where ſparkes that fly upward are poetically expreſt by foreign the ſons of the fire. So Pſal. 78.48. it is uſed not for thunderbolts or lightnings, as our margin reads, but ſimply for fire, ſhot out of the clouds, and running along upon the ground, Exod. 9.23. And from thence by metaphor it is applied to an arrow or dart, ſhot out of a bow, and by the ſwiftneſs of the motion ſuppoſed to be inflamed, ſee Cant. 8.6. where of love it is ſaid, that foreign (not the Coals, but) the arrows thereof are arrows of fire, it ſhoots, and wounds, and burns a mans heart, inflames it vehemently by wounding it. Here we have the word twice, and if the former of them do not ſignifie arrows ſimply, it will not be found in that ſenſe in the Bible: nor do the LXXII. render, it in the notion of an arrow, but in this place expreſs it by a general word, foreign, the ſtrengths of the bowes, referring to that which is ſuppoſed to be the cauſe of inflaming the arrows, the ſtrength of the bow from which they are ſhot out. The Syriack in ſome degree of complyance with them render it foreign the armes of the bow, that which the bow reacheth out as a man doth his arme, and by which, as by an arme, it reacheth to, and forcibly ſeiſeth on that which is diſtant from it. The poetical expreſſion will beſt be conſerved by reteining ſome notice of the primary ſenſe in the rendring of it, fires or lightnings of the bow, i. e. thoſe hoſtile weapons which are moſt furious and formidable, as fire ſhot out from a bow.
V. 5. Found their hands] foreign may be rendred, have not found their hands, i. e. have not been able to uſe them for reſiſtance, for the offending others, or even for their own defenſe; the Hebrew foreign (as the Syriack foreign by which they here render it) ſignifying as to find, foreignor get, ſo to have in readineſs, in their power, to be able to uſe. To this the Chaldee look in their paraphraſe, foreign they could not take their weapons in their hands, i. e. they could not uſe their hands to manage their weapons. The LXXII. have but little varied the phraſe, foreign, they found nothing with their hands, i. e. they were able to do nothing with them, (their vaſt army atchieved nothing, but returned with ſhame of face to their own land, 2 Chron. 32.21.) Which the Latine ſeems to have a little miſtaken, when they add the prepoſition in] to what they found in the LXXII. nihil invenerunt in manibus, they found nothing in their hands; but that ſtill interpretable to the former ſenſe, they found nothing, i. e. they had neither weapons nor ſtrength in their hands, their whole Army was utterly routed and diſcomfited, without ſtriking a ſtroak; for which the Syriack read, foreign, their hands were not able, or impotent. And this well agrees to the beginning of the verſe;foreign foreign they have been cut off, or periſhed, they are gone, ſaith Abu Walid, or have deſpoiled themſelves, (the reciprocal from foreign praeda…us eſt,) they have caſt away their weapons, ſaith the Chaldee; foreign, they were troubled, ſay the LXXII. as when in a Panick terror men are amazed, diſcomfited, throw away their weapons, and fly, and by that aſtoniſhment are like men in a ſleep, their ſtrength and ſenſe tyed up; but it more punctually refers to the time wherein the Angel ſmote the Aſſyrian Army, in the deep of the night, when they had put off their garments and weapons both, were faſt aſleep in their tents, and at once 85000. of them ſlain, Iſa. 37.36. This is poetically deſcribed by ſleeping their ſleep; and as is added, v. 6. foreign men in a dead ſleep, dura quies, ferreus ſomnus, an hard and thorny ſleep. Were they never ſo ſtrong or valiant, had they never ſuch ſtrength of body, skill in armes, courage of mind, and all that was neceſſary for a conqueſt, in the midſt of their ſecurity, they were ſmitten, and ſo utterly vanquiſht, and returned re infectâ, without doing of any thing.
V. 8. foreignFeared] What is meant by the earths fearing here, muſt be judged by proportion with the judgments being heard from heaven in the former part of the verſe. In the hiſtory, 2 Chron. 32.21. the Angel of the Lord wrought that great execution on the Aſſyrians Army. Now the deſcent of an Angel, when he came commiſsioned for any act of power, was generally furniſhed by God with ſome ſenſible atteſtation from nature, thunders and earthquakes, neither of which would probably be wanting in ſo eminent a work as the ſlaughter of eighty five thouſand. Of the thunder there can be no doubt,foreign the judgments being heard from heaven, refers to foreign, which indifferently ſignifies voice, and thunder, which is a vocal, and ſo audible judgment, coming out of the aire, which in ſcripture is ſtiled heaven. And then for the earthquake, that that is ſignified by the foreign the earths fearing, may be gueſſed from 1 Sam. 14.15. There was trembling in the hoſt, in the field, and among all the people, the garriſon and the ſpoilers they alſo trembled, and the earth quaked, ſo it was a very great trembling, or a trembling of God. Here a trembling of God, or ſuch as is cauſed by the appearance of Angels ſent by God, is made up not only of the trembling of men, but of the earth it ſelf. And ſo Matth. 28.2. at the appearance of Angels there was a very great earthquake. And this to very good purpoſe, that they that oppoſed Gods people might evidently perceive that it was not chance, or ordinary ſickneſs, or ſudden infection, that cut them off, but the diſpleaſure of an omnipotent Deity. Now becauſe among us trembling is an effect of fear, and where trembling is viſible outwardly, fear is ſuppoſed to be within, therefore it is here an eaſie poetick figure, to expreſs an earthquake by the fearing of the earth. And then that which follows,foreign foreign and was ſtill, as it is elegantly oppoſed to the trembling, or fear forementioned, ſo it imports the effect of this earthquake to the children of Iſrael, this ſhort commotion gave reſt and quiet to the land: as Jud. 3.30. foreign (juſt the ſame phraſe as here) the land had reſt eighty years, and ſo ch. 5.31. and 8.28. and in ſeveral other places, the land had reſt, or the countrey was in quiet. And ſo in St. Paul, foreign, reſt] is quiet from the perſecutors of the Chriſtians▪ (ſee note on Heb. 3. c.) Abu Walid, from its conjunction with foreign fearing here, would make it one of thoſe which have contrary ſignifications, and ſo to ſignifie here ſtirred or moved. But the Jewiſh Arab renders it, ſome of the people of the earth feared, and ſome were ſtill, i. e. ſaith he, the oppreſſors feared, and the oppreſſed had reſt.
V. 10. Reſtrain] What foreign ſignifies here, foreignis not agreed among the Interpreters, the word ſignifying 1. to gird, and 2. to reſtrain. In the notion of reſtraining it will have a very commodious ſenſe, applyed to Senacherib to whom this Pſalm belongs. For as by the ſlaughter of the eighty five thouſand in his army, he was forced to depart, and dwell at Niniveh, 2 King. 19.36. ſo after his return thither, there be ſome remainders of his wrath on the Jews that dwelt there. We may ſee it, Tob. 1.18. If the King Senacherib had ſlain any, when he was come and fled from Judaea, I buried them privily, (for in his wrath he killed many) &c. This was the racemation, as it were, or gleanings of his wrath, and this was reſtrained by God; for he ſoon falls by the hands of his ſons Adramelech and Sharezer, as he was worſhipping in the houſe of Niſroch his God, 2 King. 19.37. And to this ſenſe Kimchi interprets it, thou ſhalt ſo repreſs the malice of our enemies, that the other nations ſhall not dare to fight againſt us: ſo likewiſe Aben-Ezra. And thus it muſt be, if the remainder of wrath, be mans wrath, as the former part of the verſe inclines it, Surely the wrath of man, &c. But foreign in the primary notion ſignifies girding, or putting on, araying ones ſelf; cinxit, accinxit, praecinxit. Girding, we know, ſignifies putting on, and is applied to garments, ornaments, arms; foreign Gird thy ſword upon thy thigh, Pſal. 45.3. and frequently elſewhere: and ſo girding with gladneſs, is putting on feſtival ornaments. And agreeable here in a poetical phraſe, thou ſhalt gird on the remainder of wrath, parallel to putting on the garments of vengeance for clothing, Iſa. 59.17. will ſignifie Gods adorning and ſetting out himſelf by the exerciſe of his vengeance, vulgarly expreſt by his wrath, and the word foreign wrath, foreignmoſt fitly uſed with reflexion on foreign the wrath of man in the beginning of the verſe. Mans wrath is the violence and rage and blaſphemy of the oppreſſor, upon the meek or poor man foregoing. This begins, goes foremoſt, in provoking God;foreign and then foreign the remnant or ſecond part of wrath is ſtill behind for God, and with that he girds himſelf, i. e. ſets himſelf out illuſtriouſly and dreadfully, as with an ornament, and as with an hoſtile preparation, in the eyes of men. And ſo in this ſenſe alſo it is agreeable to the context. The wrath of man, Rabſhake's railings and blaſphemies,foreign foreign ſhall confeſs or praiſe thee, as being brought down by God, and ſignally refuted by him, (for then after ſo eminent a vindication of Gods honour, his oppoſition and reproaches did but illuſtrate that glory which he endeavoured to ecclips, and become a kind of confeſſion to him.) One of the Targums read foreign they ſhall convert, and confeſs to thy name, and praiſe thee, in reference to other men that look on, and admire, and give honour to God, who thus ſeaſonably interpoſes, and girds on the remainder of wrath, comes in opportunely to reſcue the oppreſſed, and execute judgment on the oppreſſor. And ſo in either ſenſe the parts of this verſe are perfectly anſwerable the one to the other. To this latter rendring of foreign the Chaldee inclines us, paraphraſing it by foreign thou haſt girded on, or prepared, or made ready the remainder of fury (meaning Gods fury) for the deſtroying of the nations. And ſo the Interlinear, reſiduum irarum accinges, thou ſhalt gird on thee the reſidue of wraths; and Caſtellio, exuberantibus furoribus decoraris, thou art adorned with exuberant furies, in the notion of an ornament or feſtival garment; to which alſo if the LXXII. refer by their foreign, the remnant of wrath ſhall celebrate to thee a feaſt, it will be hard to gueſs what they meant by it. This the Latine render from them, reliquiae cogitationis diem feſtum agent tibi, the relicks of thought (ſo interpreting foreign) ſhall keep an holy-day to thee.
V. 12. Cut off] foreign ſpirit, foreignſeems here to denote the proud, and cruel and faſtuous ſpirit of oppreſſing Nimrods (ſuch Senacherib was) lifted up with the ſucceſſes of their impiety; ſo the Chaldee foreign he ſhall repreſs the groſſneſs, or elation, or pride of the ſpirit of the great ones (ſo foreign ſignifies, the ſame phraſe by which they paraphraſe the pride of the countenance, Pſal. 10.4.) And Gods cutting it off, bringing it low, foreign(ſo foreign from foreign minuit, ſignifies) is his not only repreſſing, and not permitting it to proceed farther, but his inflicting ſevere puniſhments upon it, cutting off the tyrant in his bloody purſuits, as it fared with Senacherib (ſee note d.) The LXXII. as we now read it, having foreign, taking away the ſpirits of Princes, may be thought by ſpirits to ſignifie no more than their lives: but the Latine reading ſpiritum in the ſingular, and ſo the Syriack foreign; ſpirit, ſhew that foreign not foreign is the right reading; and then nothing hinders, but that they might take it in this ſenſe for pride and elation of ſpirit, which as it may be taken away by other means of humbling, beſide that of death, ſo it is then ſurely ſubdued and brought low, when it brings deſtruction on him in whom it is. Abu Walid here renders foreign ſhall exalt, and hinder the enemies from them; and ſo Kimchi in his Roots ſhall exalt them, and ſtrengthen them. But withall he ſaith, it may be interpreted, ſhall cut off, or bring low, the radical ſignification being, as he reſolves, the notion of hindering, keeping in, or reſtraining.