Works Volume 4, Book 4 · Psalm 94
The Ninety Fourth PSALM.
The ninety fourth Pſalm is an earneſt prayer to God, and a confident aſſurance of him, that he will diſſipate the attempts of wicked men, and uphold the righteous. 'Tis †So R. Gaon, Sol. Jarchi, and Kimchi.thought to have been compoſed in Babylon, for redemption from thence.
1. *O Lord, thou God of revenges, thou God of revenges foreignO Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth, O God to whom vengeance belongeth, ſhew thy ſelf.
Paraphrase. 1. Thou Lord of heaven and earth, to thee only pertains that great judicial office of diſtributing puniſhments and rewards in the world; we that are injured and oppreſt, as we are not able, ſo neither is it our duty to avenge our ſelves; this is the divine prerogative annext to thy ſoveraignty. Be thou now pleaſed to interpoſe on our ſide, and teſtifie to all, that at length thou takeſt the matter into thine own hands.
2. Lift up thy ſelf, thou judge of the earth, render a reward to the proud.
Paraphrase. 2. Thou art the one ſupreme Governour of the world, againſt whoſe Edicts it is that theſe proud oppreſſors exalt themſelves. It is juſt with thee to depreſs thoſe that exalt themſelves, to puniſh the injurious; O be thou now pleaſed to execute thy juſtice upon them.
3. Lord, how long ſhall the wicked, how long ſhall the wicked triumph?
4. How long ſhall they utter and ſpeak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boaſt themſelves?
Paraphrase. 3, 4. Wicked men, if they be long permitted to thrive and proſper in their courſe, are apt to talk Atheiſtically, to perſwade themſelves and others that they have maſtered heaven, that there is no power ſuperior to theirs, that they can carry all before them. Bleſſed Lord, permit them not to go on in this proud errour; ſubdue at length and humble, and let them no longer continue under ſo dangerous a temptation to impiety and profaneneſs, as their proſperities have proved unto them.
5. They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.
6. They ſlay the widow and the ſtranger, and murther the fatherleſs.
7. Yet they ſay, The Lord ſhall not ſee, neither ſhall the God of Jacob regard it.
Paraphrase. 5, 6, 7. When they oppreſs and grind the faces of the people and ſervants of God, riot and glut themſelves with the blood of thoſe whom by all obligations of charity they ought to relieve and ſupport, tyrannizing over all that are weaker than they, they flatter themſelves that God either doth not ſee, or will not call them to any account for all this.
8. Underſtand, O ye bruitiſh among the people; and ye fools, when will ye be wiſe?
Paraphrase. 8. This is a ſtrange, brutiſh, irrational, mad folly, for any that hath the underſtanding of a man to be guilty of.
9. He that planted the ear, ſhall he not hear? he that formed the eye, ſhall he not ſee?
10. He that ‖inſtructs the nations, he that teacheth man knowledge, ſhall not he rebuke?chaſtiſeth the heathen, ſhall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, ſhall not he know?
Paraphrase. 9, 10. Certainly the Creator of eyes and ears, he by whoſe only power it is that any creature is indued with thoſe faculties, cannot be imagined to want himſelf, or not to poſſeſs in a more eminent manner what he out of his own fulneſs hath derived in ſome lower degree to others. 'Twere hard to think that the ſole omnipotent Creator ſhould want any power or excellence which he alone hath imparted to his creatures: And ſo there can be no queſtion of his moſt exact ſeeing and knowing all which is here done by wicked men. And as ſtrange it were, that having taken ſuch care as God hath done to reveal his will, to give laws to the ſons of Adam and Noah, and after by Moſes to the Jews, (and at laſt to ſend his own Son and Spirit, and by thoſe divine means to diſperſe his commands of tranſcendent purity and charity to all the men in the world) he ſhould not after all, demand exact obedience to theſe commands, and chaſtiſe and puniſh all diſobedience.
11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
Paraphrase. 11. Let thoſe that th…s flatter themſelves and blaſpheme God, and think that they ſhall carry it away unpuniſhed, know this, that even theſe very thoughts of theirs, ſo falſe, ſo fooliſh and Atheiſtical, are perfectly diſcerned by God the ſearcher of all hearts, and ſhall one day be ſeverely puniſht by him.
12. Bleſſed is he whom thou chaſteneſt, O Lord, and teacheſt him out of thy law.
Paraphrase. 12. The proſperity of impious men is ſo far from being a felicity to them that injoy it, (as theſe men deem) that the direct contrary to it, viz. to be puniſht and rebuked by God for all that we do amiſs, and by that means to be reduced to the ſenſe and practice of our duty, is indeed the greateſt favour and mercy of God, and ſo the moſt valuable felicity, and evidence of Gods tender care of us, (whereas they that are left in their ſins unpuniſhed, permitted to go on ſecurely in their courſe, have reaſon to look on it as an act of the ſevereſt vengeance from God, a leaving them and delivering them up unto themſelves.
13. That thou mayeſt give him reſt from the days of adverſity, †whilſtuntill the pit *isbe digged for the wicked.
Paraphrase. 13. And withal makes us capable of Gods farther mercies, in removing afflictions and perſecutions, when they have obtained their deſired end upon us, rectified and reformed what was amiſs: for then without queſtion God will at once reſtore reſt and tranquility to the oppreſt pious man, and deſtroy and conſume the ungodly oppreſſor, caſt the rod into the fire, when his children have been ſufficiently corrected by it.
14. For the Lord will not caſt off his people, neither will he forſake his inheritance.
Paraphrase. 14. For though God may and ſometime will fatherly correct and chaſtiſe his children, and permit them a while to abide under ſharp oppreſſions; yet will he not utterly forſake them, but in his own choſen ſeaſon reſtore their proſperity, and ſubdue their enemies.
15. But judgment ſhall return ‖even tounto righteouſneſs, and †after it all the upright in heart.all the upright in heart ſhall follow it.
Paraphrase. 15. The time ſhall certainly come, that all wrong judgments ſhall be reverſt, that the ſufferings of good men ſhall be turned into their greateſt advantages, that the righteous and truly pious man ſhall be the moſt thriving and proſperous even in this world, and all impious oppoſers and oppreſſors the moſt improſperous: (This was eminently fulfilled in the deſtruction of Jeruſalem and heathen Rome, the crucifiers of Chriſt, and bitter perſecutors of Chriſtians, and the halcyonian days that the Chriſtians had after each of theſe, ſee Pſal. 96.13. and Iſai. 42.1. and Rev. 1.6.) and then ſhall good men have all kind of incouragements to follow and adhere to goodneſs, (hereby the profeſſion of Chriſtianity ſhall be propagated over all the world) as that which (though with ſome mixture of perſecutions, hath the promiſe, and is ſure to be rewarded even in this life, Matth. 19.29. and 1 Tim. 4.8. (and not only in that which is to come.)
16. Who will riſe up for me againſt the evil doers? or who will ſtand up for me againſt the workers of iniquity?
17. Unleſs the Lord had been my help, my ſoul had almoſt dwelt in ſilence.
Paraphrase. 16, 17. But this is to be wrought, not by any humane aids or means, by armies raiſed to defend piety againſt impiety; when theſe are wanting, and impiety is backt with the greateſt viſible ſtrength, then ſhall God himſelf by his own ways and means in his due time interpoſe, and reſcue his faithful people from the utmoſt imminent deſtruction.
18. ‖If foreign Chald. foreign LXXII. foreignWhen I ſaid, My foot ſlippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
Paraphrase. 18. If at any time the danger appear greater than ordinary, that the pious man is ready to think himſelf loſt, then is Gods ſpecial ſeaſon to interpoſe his hand for his relief.
19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts †have cheriſhed or refreſheddelight my ſoul.
Paraphrase. 19. When he is in the greateſt anxiety and ſollicitude, incompaſt with apparent hazards on every ſide, and from thence diſquieted and troubled, God then chooſeth moſt ſeaſonably to interpoſe, to deal with him as a tender parent with a querulous child, provides for him whatſoever may be moſt grateful and ſatisfactory in this condition.
20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowſhip with thee, which frameth miſchief by a law?
Paraphrase. 20. Let men ſin never ſo confidently, make laws for impiety, as *So Sol. Jarchi expounds it.Nebuchadnezar did for the worſhipping his golden image, Dan. 3.4. and ſet up wickedneſs on the throne or tribunal, confound all juſtice, and ſubſtitute oppreſſion and rapine in ſtead of it; the comfort is, God will never be drawn to take part with them, to favour or countenance their impiety.
21. They gather themſelves together againſt the ſoul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22. But the Lord *to me for a defenſe foreignis my defence, and my God ‖for a rock of my truſt foreignis the rock of my refuge.
Paraphrase. 21, 22. Be they never ſo violent and unanimous in their purſuit of the life of blameleſs pious men, and their forms of proceſs never ſo ſolemn and legal, there is yet an appeal behind to the unerring ſupreme tribunal, and my reſort to that ſhall never fail to bring me a reſcue from their bloudieſt ſentence; God ſhall reverſe that, and protect me, and all that chearfully depend on him.
23. And he ſhall †render or return foreignbring upon them their own iniquity, and ſhall cut them off in their own wickedneſs; yea the Lord our God ſhall cut them off.
Paraphrase. 23. And he ſhall moſt certainly requite and puniſh the wicked oppreſſors, return that miſchief on them which they deſigned to bring on others, and by making their ſins their own ſcourges and certain ruine, manifeſt his fatherly care and providence over his obedient faithful ſervants.
Annotations on Pſalm XCIV.
foreignV. 10. He that chaſtiſeth] foreign, from foreign to inſtruct and inſtitute, (as well as to correct) is in all reaſon ſo to be underſtood and rendred here, he that inſtructs foreign the nations, all the people in the world. The LXXII. duly render it foreign, he that inſtructs the nations; but the Chaldee more fully foreign — he that gives the law to his people. This is here ſaid of God, as in the end of the verſe to the ſame ſenſe foreign he that teacheth Adam or man (all the men in the world) knowledge: the firſt man, ſaith the Chaldee, referring to thoſe precepts which were given in the Creation, called the precepts of the ſons of Adam, (as after of Noah.) Now theſe two being the attributes of God, (as well as that of planting and forming the eye and ear in the Creation, and ever ſince in Procreation, v. 9.) that which is in the midſt, foreign ſhall not he rebuke or puniſh? foreignfrom foreign increpavit, corripuit) muſt in all reaſon belong foreign, to both thoſe, and to that purpoſe be beſt rendred in the end, after both, He that inſtructeth— and he that teacheth— ſhall not he rebuke or puniſh? Is it poſſible, ſaith the Chaldee, that God ſhall have given law, foreign and when they have ſinned, ſhall they not be rebuked or puniſhed? what is added by the Engliſh tranſlation in the end of the verſe, ſhall not he know? is not in the Hebrew, but was added as a ſupply to a ſuppoſed Ellipſis. But the right rendring of the verſe hath no need of that aid, the ſenſe is much more perſpicuous without it.
foreignV. 11. Vanity] From foreign which firſt ſignifies to vaniſh or come to nought, (Jer. 2.5. they walked after foreign vanity, foreign and vaniſht, or came to nought) is foreign here; and if in that notion, then it muſt ſignifie vaniſhing, tranſient, that ſoon comes to nothing: and ſo the Syriack renders it, foreign a vapour, (as they do Jam. 4.14. where our life is called a vapour) and thus we have it, Pſal. 144.4. man is like foreign to a vaniſhing tranſitory thing, for as it follows, his days are as a ſhadow that paſſeth away. But there is another notion of foreign, by metaphor lightly varied from hence, for ſtulteſcere, growing fooliſh; ſo Pſal. 62.11. it is beſt rendred from the Hebrew, truſt not in oppreſſion and rapine, foreign become not vain, foreigni. e. fools, to ſignifie that thoſe that ſo truſt, that depend on unlawful means for the enriching themſelves, will certainly be deceived, find this the moſt perfect folly in the event. And this of folly being that by which the Atheiſt is moſt frequently expreſt in Scripture, will be moſt agreeable to this place, where the Atheiſts cogitations are deſcribed, v. 7. confident of Gods not ſeeing, not regarding; which thoughts of his, as they are Atheiſtical, and ſo falſe, and ſo fooliſh in one ſenſe, as folly is ignorance, ſo are they moſt impudent, (which is practical and the greateſt folly) will never ſecure his wicked actions of impunity, but on the contrary will betray him to all the ruine in the world. And to this ſenſe it is, that verſe 8. we find in the like ſtyle, Ʋnderſtand, O ye bruitiſh; and ye fools, when will ye be wiſe? and ſo this is the adaequate notion of the word here.
foreignV. 13. Ʋntil] The rendring of foreign until, in this place, may much diſturb the ſenſe, and make it believed that the reſt foreign from the evil days, i. e. from perſecution (ſee Epheſ. 5.16.) which God gives to good men, is to continue till the pit be digged up for the ungodly, i. e. till the meaſure of their ſins be filled up, and ſo deſtruction be ready for them: whereas the contrary to this is evident, that either the deſtruction of the wicked is firſt, and the quiet and reſt of the good, (oppreſſed by them) a natural effect of that, and ſo ſubſequent to it; or that both of them are of the ſame date, at once tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled, reſt, 2 Theſſ. 1.6, 7. And this is evidently the meaning of it here, and ſo will be diſcerned, if only the foreign be rendred dum, whilſt, (as it is. elſewhere uſed, Jon. 4.2. foreign whilſt I was, Job 1.16. foreign whilſt he was ſpeaking) for then thus it will run very fitly, That thou mayſt give him reſt—whilſt the pit is digged—
V. 15. foreignƲnto righteouſneſs] The notion of foreign righteouſneſs for charity and mercy hath oft been obſerved; only the Emphaſis of the prepoſition foreign unto here offers it ſelf to conſideration, which will beſt be expreſt by even unto, as when Gen. 14.23. we read, from a thred foreign even to a ſhooe latcher, and Gen. 7.23. Every living ſubſtance was deſtroyed from man to beaſt, to creeping things, foreign & uſque ad, ſaith the Interlinear, and even to the fowls of heaven (which were in leaſt danger to be deſtroyed with water.) And thus here it ſeems to import, that the preſent rigour of their enemies ſhall by Gods judging, or taking their part, not only be removed, but be even converted into the greateſt mercies. Thus in every revolution of ſtate it is ordinary, none are ſo likely to eſcape and be favoured by the conquerer, as they that were oppreſt by the former government. And ſo was it to the Jews of the Captivity (of whom the learned Jews underſtand this Pſalm) when the Perſian executes judgment on the Babylonian, when the ſacrilegious drunken Tyrant is taken in his city, as in a pit or ſnare, v. 13. the Jews then are no loſers by their former oppreſſions, but receive preferments in the commonwealth, Dan. 6.5. and licence to return to their own countrey. And the ſame obſervation held both in the deſtruction of the Jewiſh and Heathen enemies of Chriſt, the Chriſtians were not only freed from their perſecutions, but became moſt flouriſhing. And this is the full importance of judgments returning even to righteouſneſs; God not only pleading their cauſe and delivering them (which is meant by judgment) but even converting their former ſufferings into their greateſt advantages. To this is added foreign and after it all the pure in heart. foreignWhat foreign ſignifies, may be learned from Jud. 5.14. foreign after thee Benjamin, i. e. ſaith the Chaldee, Saul the ſon of Benjamin ſucceeded Joſhuah, noted before by Ephraim. And ſo after this all the upright in heart, i. e. to this ſhall immediately ſucceed the flouriſhing proſperous condition of all pious men: foreign they ſhall be redeemed, ſaith the Chaldee; but it is ſomewhat more, they ſhall return to a flouriſhing condition; and ſo this very fitly agrees to what went before, and is as the proof of it. The ſeverity of their enemies is turned into mercy, and then follows the proſperity of all pious men.
V. 19. Delight] foreign, foreignfrom foreign to look upon with delight, is in Piel doubled, and uſed for looking kindly and lovingly, imbracing, and making much of, doing any thing that is grateful to another. So the Chaldee underſtood it, rendring it foreign, from foreign to make much of: ſo they uſe the word Prov. 29.21. for that which we render, delicately bringeth up. And hence it is that the LXXII. render it here foreign, have loved, i. e. behaved themſelves in a loving manner, ſo as they which love are wont to do. Iſa. 11.8. it is uſed for playing or ſporting, dealing friendly and with confidence with any; and Iſa. 66.12. for being dandled on the knees like a child by the nurſe or parent: and by analogy with all theſe, being here applied to Gods conſolations, it will moſt ſignificantly be rendred, have cheriſhed, or refreſh't, careſſed, or gratified my ſoul.