Works Volume 4, Book 4 · Psalm 91
The Ninety Firſt PSALM.
The ninety firſt Pſalm is a meditation of the ſpecial ſecurity of the truly pious man, who relies on God alone for it, together with all other bleſſings of this world, as the reward of his firm adherence to God. ('Tis affirmed by the Chaldee and LXXII. and Latine to have been compoſed by ‖foreign David ſaid, v. 2. foreign, Laus Cantici David, A laud of Canticle of David, tit.David, in reference perhaps to Gods being intreated for the land, and removing the peſtilence, 2 Sam. 24.25. juſt as it was ſeizing on Jeruſalem, ſee note b. and hath its moſt eminent completion in the Meſſias.)
1. HE that †remains in the protection—dwelleth in the ſecret place of the moſt High, ſhall abide under the ſhadow of the Almighty.
Paraphrase. 1. He that adheres to God, that ſeeks and expects all his ſafety from his ſole protection, (and accordingly qualifies himſelf for a capacity of that, keeps in thoſe ways to which God hath promiſed his ſafeguard) ſhall be ſure never to fail of receiving it; His tenure cannot fail, as being founded on ſo ſure a title, as is the promiſe of him that hath all power and dominion over all creatures in the world, and can certainly, and as undoubtedly will perform, whatſoever he hath promiſed.
2. I will ſay of the Lord, he is my refuge, and my fortreſs, my God; in him will I truſt.
Paraphrase. 2. This general neverfailing axiom gives me confidence chearfully to repoſe my whole truſt and affiance in God, as the moſt ſacred inviolable ſanctuary, the moſt ſtrong, provided, impregnable fort, the ſupreme and divine power, that governs and over-rules the whole world, and hath by his promiſe obliged himſelf never to deſtitute me that thus hang on him.
3. Surely he will deliver thee from the ſnare of the fouler, and from the noyſome peſtilence.
Paraphrase. 3. In this ſafeguard I ſhall be ſecured from thoſe dangers that are in the eye of man moſt unavoidable, the moſt ſecret ambuſh that is moſt cunningly laid, and the moſt killing poyſon that propagates it ſelf moſt inſenſibly.
4. He ſhall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings ſhalt thou truſt; his truth ſhall be thy ſhield and buckler.
Paraphrase. 4. For as an Eagle or other bird doth with her wings protect and ſecure her feeble young ones from all approaching dangers, and to that ſafeguard they confidently reſort, without ſeeking or ſolliciting any other, (from whence, and by analogy with which it is, that in the Holy of holies the Cherubims with their wings overſhadow the mercy-ſeat, to ſignifie Gods gratious care and protection over all that there addreſs themſelves to him) ſo ſhall God guard and defend me, and in his protection will I repoſe all my hope and truſt, the power of the Almighty being abundantly ſufficient, and (upon his promiſe given) his fidelity ingaged to afford his continual defenſe to all that are thus qualified for it.
5. Thou ſhalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day,
6. Nor for the peſtilence that walketh in darkneſs, nor for the deſtruction that waſteth at noon-day.
Paraphrase. 5, 6. To this it is conſequent, that I have no cauſe to apprehend with terrour either the moſt ſecret or the moſt open dangers, the moſt unavoidable evils that can threaten deſtruction or miſchief to me, either by night or day.
7. A thouſand ſhall fall at thy ſide, and ten thouſand at thy right hand, but it ſhall not come nigh thee.
Paraphrase. 7 Thoſe judgments which ſeiſe on multitudes of wicked men, on every ſide of me, ſhall (like the plagues that ſwept away the Egyptians, but paſt over the Iſraelites, or the plague that ſlew ſeventy thouſand from Dan to Beerſheba, but fell not on Jeruſalem) be forbidden to ſeiſe on me.
8. Only with thine eyes ſhalt thou behold, and ſee the reward of the wicked.
Paraphrase. 8. All the ſenſe of evil which I need fear, is in its ſeiſing on others, not on my ſelf, the beholding the untimely deaths of many others, ſuch as is by the law denounced to ungodly men, (but in time of epidemical diſeaſes, oft ſeiſes upon others as well as them.)
9. Becauſe thou ‖O Lord, art my hope, thou haſt made the moſt High thy help or refuge (ſee Pſal. 90. a.)haſt made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the moſt High thy habitation.
Paraphrase. 9. I have placed all my affiance in the Lord, and thereby ſecured my ſelf of all the protection and ſafeguard that the Omnipotent Monarch of heaven and earth can beſtow on me.
10. There ſhall no evil befall thee, neither ſhall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Paraphrase. 10. By ſtrength hereof no kind of miſchief ſhall by any miſhap befal or approach me.
11. For he ſhall give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Paraphrase. 11. God having ſet a guard of his about me, given charge to the holy Angels, that always attend and execute his commands, that as long as I cleave faſt unto him, they ſhall ſecure me from all manner of evil that his providence ſhall permit to approach me.
12. They ſhall †carry thee foreignbear thee up in their hands, leſt thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone.
Paraphrase. 12. When any ſuch approacheth, thoſe holy officers of his ſhall be ready with their aid, and preſerve me ſafe from it.
13. Thou ſhalt tread upon the Lion and *Aſp or Baſilisk, foreign, LXXII.Adder; the young Lion and the Dragon ſhalt thou trample under feet.
Paraphrase. 13. The moſt ravenous and venemous beaſts, which prey on and miſchief all they meet, ſhall not be permitted to annoy me, but as ſo many conquered creatures acknowledge my power over them. (This was moſt eminently to receive its completion in the Meſſiah, here typified by the Pſalmiſt in the miraculous power which he had over the whole creation, healing all manner of diſeaſes, and caſting out devils, and communicating this power to his Diſciples, (ſee Mar. 16.18.)
14. Becauſe he hath ‖delighted in me foreignſet his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will ſet him on high, becauſe he hath known my Name.
Paraphrase. 14. I have placed my whole joy and delight in God, moſt faithfully obſerved all his commands, and revealed them to others, given them knowledge of his will, how he expects to be ſerved by them; (This had its eminent completion in Chriſts eſpouſing the will of his father, and preaching it to the world) and this ſhall be ſure to be rewarded by him with preſervation or delivery from all danger, if any approach and involve me, he ſhall be ſure to reſcue me out of the power of it. (This was moſt literally verified in the reſurrection and aſcenſion of Chriſt.)
15. He ſhall call upon me, and I will anſwer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him.
16. With long life will I ſatisfie him, and ſhew him my ſalvation.
Paraphrase. 15, 16. God hath obliged himſelf by promiſe, and ſhall certainly perform it, whatſoever requeſt I addreſs to him, ſhall certainly be granted me; when any affliction comes, I am ſecured of his ſupport under it, reſcue out of it, and higher degree of exaltation attending it, great length of days in this world, (This belonged not to Chriſt, but was abundantly made up by his reſurrection) even as great as I can deſire, and then a joyful viſion of him in another world.
Annotations on Pſal. XCI.
V. 5. Night] In this verſe, ſaith the learned Joſeph Scaliger, Ep. 9. is an enumeration of the ſeveral ſorts of evils that humane life is ſubject to, and thoſe diſtinguiſht by the ſeveral parts of the natural day, by the viciſſitude of which our time and whole age is made up. The parts, ſaith he, are four, midnight, and midday, the beginning of night, and beginning of day. The two former here expreſt by, 1. foreign night, foreign2. foreign midday; the two latter by, 1. foreign duskyneſs or twilight, (fit to denote the evening which is ſuch) and 2. foreign interdiu, the day-time. To theſe four, ſaith he, are appointed four ſorts of evils, 1. foreign fear, terrour, conſternation, (thoſe dangers or evils, that falling out in the night, are by the darkneſs and ſolitude of that much improved, as ſuddain aſſaults, or fires, &c.) 2. foreign the arrow flying by day, foreign(any diſeaſe or open aſſault, any calamity that uſually befals men.) 3. foreign the peſtilence, (any infectious diſeaſe, that inviſibly diffuſeth it ſelf, and can no more be prevented than an aſſault in a miſt or twilight.) 4.foreign foreign a waſting ſlaughter, (when with all the advantages that midday can give to an open aſſault of over-powering enemies, an utter deſolation and ſpoil is wrought.) This the LXXII. renders foreign, a midday accident and devil; for which Scaliger there profeſſes to know no reaſon, (it is no doubt according to their cuſtom of taking one word for ſome other that hath affinity with it, for foreign reading foreign, which they render elſewhere foreign, Pſal. 106.37. and Deut. 32.17.) But after all his care in approving this his critical obſervation, he hath not made it probable that foreign in the day-time ſhould have any propriety to the morning, the fourth part of his foreign, (not otherwiſe accounted for) which indeed upon all occaſions is oppoſed to foreign the night, and never to the crepuſculum, or evening. 'Tis therefore much more probable, (and agreeable to the practiſe of poetick writers) that the two latter, the darkneſs and noon-day, ſhould be but an explication of the two former, by night and by day, and ſo but the two known parts of the foreign be referred to, the night and the day; and proportionably the evils here mentioned by the Pſalmiſt will be at moſt but of two ſorts, the night terrour being no more than the peſtilence that walketh in darkneſs, and the arrow that flyeth by day the ſame thing with the deſtruction that waſteth at noon-day. But indeed both theſe in effect but one, the deſtroying angel, which by the peſtilence ſwept them away both by night and day: and accordingly the Chaldee interpret the terrour by night, the fear foreign of the devils that walk in the night; the arrow by day, the arrow foreign of the Angel of death; the deſtruction that waſteth at noon, foreign, a company or troop of devils; all three, as well as the peſtilence, named, to ſignifie the deſtroying angels, inſtruments of thoſe Epidemical diſeaſes ſent from God. That the Pſalmiſt here principally pitcheth on this inſtance of peſtilential diſeaſes, or deſtroying angels, may probably be in reference to that plague, which for the ſins of the people firſt, 2 Sam. 24.1. and then for David's ſin in numbring the people, fell upon Iſrael, and deſtroyed ſeventy thouſand from Dan to Beerſheba, v. 15. but when it was ready to fall on Jeruſalem, the angel ſtretching out his hand upon that to deſtroy it, v. 16. the Lord repented, and ſaid to the angel that deſtroyed, It is enough, ſtay now thine hand; and the Prophet Gad coming to David, and directing him to rear an altar, and offer burnt-ſacrifice to God in Araunahs threſhing floor, v. 18. (the place where the Angel ſtood, 1 Chron. 21.15.) upon the humiliation of David and the Elders of Iſrael, 1 Chron. 21.16. and calling upon God, and offering burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, v. 26. God was intreated, and propitiated, and the plague was ſtayed, and fell not on Jeruſalem at all. On this occaſion it follows, that David ſacrificed there on that threſhing-floor of Araunah; (the tabernacle and the altar of burnt-offering, which Moſes made in the Wilderneſs, being at this time in Gibeon, v. 29.) and ſo deſigned that place for Gods houſe, ch. 22.1. and there the Temple was afterwards built by Solomon, 2 Chron. 3.1. This then being ſo remarkable a paſſage of Gods providence, and mercy in ſparing Jeruſalem, when ſeventy thouſand were ſlain in other places round about it, it might very fitly be referr'd to by the Pſalmiſt, as a ſignal inſtance of Gods mercy, and care, and remarkable preſervations over his people, and an evidence that there is no means of ſecurity, no way to avert or remove any, though but temporal evils, diſeaſe, and the like, but that one of applying ones ſelf to God by humiliation, and reformation, and ſacrifice, i. e. ſolemn interceſſion: and then as when Saint James, ch. 6.14. gives the like directions in time of ſickneſs, and promiſeth that the prayer of faith ſhall ſave the ſick, and the Lord ſhall raiſe him up, it is not yet to be imagined, that no ſuch perſon, which obſerved ſuch directions, ſhould ever die, but that generally this ſhould be a ſucceſsful way, and that no means ſhould have that aſſurance of being effectual as this; ſo in this Pſalm, the promiſes of immunity from dangers, peſtilential diſeaſes, &c. made to thoſe that remain in the protection of the moſt High, v. 1. i. e. to pious men in the uſe of theſe means, thus adhering to, and not departing from God, are not ſo to be interpreted, that no pious man ſhall die of any Epidemical diſeaſe, any more than that he ſhall not die at all, but that this of adherence and addreſs to God with humiliation and interceſſion, is the only means either to preſerve ſingle perſons, or multitudes, whole nations at once; which is the full importance of Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, 1 King. 8.31. &c. which may be taken as a comment on this Pſalm: whereas wicked men, that have no right to any part in this promiſe, are to expect exciſion, whole multitudes of them together, thouſands and ten thouſands, v. 7. and that as the juſt reward of their impiety, v. 8.
foreignV. 9. That foreign thou muſt here in the beginning of the verſe be underſtood of God, is moſt evident, and ſo the rendring clear foreign for thou, O Lord, art my hope; and ſo all the antient Interpreters have underſtood it: foreign —thou thy ſelf, O Lord, art my truſt, ſay the Chaldee; and the LXXII. exactly accord, foreign, thou, O Lord, art my hope— and ſo the Syriack and Latine, &c. But then that which follows, foreign the moſt High haſt thou ſet or made thy help or refuge, is a part of a ſoliloquie between the Pſalmiſt and his own ſoul, i. e. himſelf. And though the Chaldee feigning the Pſalm to be (in ſtead of a ſoliloquie) a Dialogue betwixt David and Solomon, underſtand this, as the former part of the verſe, of God alſo, that he hath ſet the houſe of his Majeſty on high, and ſo the Syriack alſo, thou haſt ſet thy houſe on high; yet the LXXII. and Latine, not diſcerning two perſons in the Pſalm (beſide God) but only the Pſalmiſt and his own ſoul, have agreed to underſtand it of the ſoul making God her refuge, foreign, altiſſimum poſuiſti refugium tuum, thou haſt ſet, or made, the moſt High thy refuge. And indeed in this manner hath the whole Pſalm proceeded, ſometimes in the firſt perſon, ver. 2. foreign I will ſay of the Lord, foreignHe is my refuge— then in the ſecond perſon, ver. 3. Surely he ſhall deliver thee— i. e. thee, my ſoul, which is in effect my ſelf: and ſo the moſt perſpicuous way of paraphraſing the whole Pſalm is, by underſtanding it throughout in the ſame, i. e. firſt, perſon; but that ſo, as to extend it as appliable to all other pious men, as well as the Pſalmiſt, (according to the general Aphoriſm in the firſt verſe, He that dwelleth —) and in a moſt eminent manner to the Meſſiah, to whom the devil applies it Matth. 4.6. If thou be the ſon of God, &c. for it is written (v. 11. and 12. of this Pſalm) he ſhall give his Angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands ſhall they bear thee up, leſt at any time thou daſh thy foot againſt a ſtone. And ſo ſaith Aben Ezra of the laſt verſe, and ſhew him my ſalvation, it refers foreign to the days of the Meſſias. And ſo R. Gaon, and Kimchi alſo. And ſo eſpecially the latter part of the Pſalm, though in a lower ſenſe it may agree to David, yet hath its fuller completion in Chriſt. The Jewiſh Arab takes the whole Pſalm for a Colloquie, or diſcourſe by David directed to a godly man: and therefore as he reads the firſt verſe of the Pſalm, O thou that ſitteſt under the covert of the High, &c. I ſay of the Lord, &c. v. 2. ſo he renders this ninth verſe, Becauſe thou haſt ſaid to the Lord, Thou art my refuge, and haſt made the High thy habitation.