Works Volume 4, Book 4 · Psalm 96
The Ninety Sixth PSALM.
The ninety ſixth Pſalm is a form of common thankſgiving and praiſing of God for all his works of grace and mercy, as the great Creatour and Preſerver, Redeemer and Judge of the world. It was firſt compoſed by David, and, among others, delivered into the hand of Aſaph and his Brethren, at the carrying up of the Ark from the Houſe of Obed-Edom to Zion, 1 Chron. 16.23, &c. and afterward lightly changed, and ‖ſee the LXXII. their title of the Pſalm.ſaid to have been uſed at the re…building the Temple after the Captivity: And is in the prophetick ſenſe very appliable to Chriſt's ſpiritual Kingdom and the effects thereof in the converſion of the Gentiles, &c. (ſee note c.)
1. O Sing unto the Lord a new ſong; ſing unto the Lord all the earth.
2. Sing unto the Lord, bleſs his name, ſhew forth his ſalvation from day to day.
3. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. O let all men in the world acknowledge and bleſs and magnifie the Lord of heaven, and this in the utmoſt chearfull joyous manner, every day of their lives; but more peculiarly we at this time, who have this preſent ſignal addition to his wonted mercies, commemorating all the glorious works and mighty deliverances which he hath wrought for his people.
Paraphrase. 3. Let this zeal of ours indeavour to extend it ſelf to the benefit of all the heathen people in the world, thoſe that know not God; and by proclaiming the glorious miraculous acts of his power and goodneſs to his faithfull ſervants, invite and perſwade all to become proſelytes to his ſervice.
4. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praiſed: he is to be feared above all Gods.
Paraphrase. 4. For certainly his power and goodneſs, his majeſty and his mercy is moſt worthy to be adored by all rational creatures; and his divine vengeance (ſo lately felt by the Philiſtims, whoſe Gods were plagued by him, as well as their votaries, and by the Jews themſelves, in that breach upon Uzza, 1 Chron. 13.11.) ought in all reaſon to be admired, and reverenced, and trembled at by all oppoſers, much more than all the feigned deities that are feared and worſhipped among men, and are not able to ſecure their worſhippers or themſelves.
5. For all the Gods of the nations are idols; but the Lord made the heavens.
Paraphrase. 5. The choiceſt of thoſe that the heathen people of the world have adored for Gods, are but either Angels, or ſouls of men, or celeſtial bodies; and what are theſe but the creatures of God? (who is the Creatour of the higheſt heavens, and of all that inhabit there) and are therefore in all reaſon to give place to the kingdom of the Meſſias, which is to be erected in mens hearts:▪ (ſee note c.)
6. †ſplendor foreignHonour and majeſty are before him, ſtrength and beauty are in his ſanctuary.
Paraphrase. 6. The ſanctuary or holy place appointed for the aſſembly to whom God will powerfully preſentiate himſelf, is the moſt glorious majeſtick place in the world; the Angels, thoſe ſplendid miniſters of his, reſide there, and by their miniſtery our prayers are heard, our wants ſupplied, and ſo ſufficiency of ſtrength imparted to thoſe that ſtand in need of it, and there petition for it. And this an image and imperfect type of what ſhall be at the coming of Chriſt, that ſpiritual kingdom of his among us, by the efficacy of his grace in his Church.
7. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and ‖power, or empire.ſtrength.
Paraphrase. 7. O let all the nations and people of the world acknowledge him the great and glorious Creatour and ſupreme ſole Governour of all.
8. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, bring an offering, and come into his courts.
Paraphrase. 8. Let them pay to him thoſe acknowledgments which his all-wiſe and gracious providence and diſpoſals, and the redemption which he hath wrought for the whole world, exact from all, and offer up themſelves and their prayers (thoſe their ſpiritual ſacrifices) together to him in his Church.
9. O worſhip the Lord in †or, his holy majeſty, ſee Pſ. 29.6.the beauty of holineſs: fear before him all the earth.
Paraphrase. 9. Let them magnifie and adore him in all his glorious attributes, revere and obey him in all his commands, and never fall off or apoſtatize from him.
10. Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth; the world alſo ſhall be eſtabliſhed, that it ſhall not be removed: he ſhall judge the people righteouſly.
Paraphrase. 10. Let his people of the Jews inſtruct the heathen world in theſe great Articles of their Creed, not onelyonly that the God of Iſrael, the Creatour of the world, is alſo the ſole Governour of it, but farther that the Meſſias his eternal Son having conquered death, ſhall have all dominion over his Church committed to him by his Father; that by his divine providence and power he ſhall ſo over-rule, and ſettle, and compoſe the diſturbances and oppoſitions among men, that he ſhall plant miraculouſly, and then powerfully ſupport his Church againſt all the enemies thereof, deſtroying in a remarkable manner thoſe that hold out againſt him, and will not be ſubject to his kingdom.
11. Let the heavens rejoyce, and let the earth be glad; let the ſea *make a loud noiſe foreignroar, and the fulneſs thereof;
12. Let the field be joyfull, and all that is therein; then ſhall all the trees of the wood ‖cry vehemently foreignrejoyce,
13. †At the preſence of —foreignBefore the Lord, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he ſhall judge the world with righteouſneſs, and the people with his truth.
Paraphrase. 11, 12, 13. And this is matter not of mourning, but of joy to the whole heathen world, who upon this act of divine vengeance and judicature, Chriſts deſtroying their falſe Gods, and caſting them out of their Temples, and by their forſaking thoſe ridiculous deteſtable idol-worſhips and all the pollutions annext to them, and receiving the Chriſtian faith, and with it mortification of luſts, practice of all Chriſtian vertues, and taſting the inward joys and comforts of theſe, ſhall be obliged to bleſs and praiſe and magnifie God, and acknowledge this ſovereign mercy far beyond all that ever they aſpired to, and admire his juſtice and wiſedom in this bleſſed turn of his providence, and withall the uprightneſs of his judgments, the exact juſtice thereof in diſpenſing both his puniſhments and rewards to all the people in the world, protecting thoſe that by adhering to him take care of their eternal welfare, and eminently and ſignally deſtroying thoſe that will not permit ſo gracious a Saviour and Redeemer (with his eaſie and pleaſant yoke, and not onelyonly light, but beneficial burthen) to rule and reign over them.
Annotations on Pſal. XCVI.
foreignV. 5. Idols.] From foreign not, is foreign a thing of nothing, that which profits not: Job 13.4. foreign Phyſicians that profit not, are not eſteemable, are not able to cure or help. So a falſe viſion or prophecy, not fit to be heeded, or depended on, is called foreign a nothing, Jer. 14.14. and a ſhepherd that leaveth the flock, that inſtead of viſiting, healing, feeding, devoureth and teareth the flock in pieces, Zach. 11.16. is called a paſtor foreign of nothing. From this notion, is the word uſed of the falſe Gods of the heathens, which Heſth. 14.11. are ſtyled foreign, things that are not, and of which therefore the Apoſtle pronounceth that an Idol is nothing, 1 Cor. 8.4. Not ſimply nothing, for that phyſician was not nothing, nor that viſion, nor that ſhepherd, but, as the context there inclines to interpret, we know an Idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one; that the Idol-God is foreign ▪ not a God, there being in the whole world but one ſuch, the Creatour and firſt cauſe of all other foreign thoſe that are called Gods; and again that the Idol-Gods are not able to profit, to preſerve or defend their worſhippers. So Deut. 32.16. they provoked me to jealouſie foreign with that which was not God, and Jer. 2.9. they walkt after foreign thoſe that profit not; where the notion of the heathen Gods is, that they are not Gods, and that they profit not. In which reſpect they are Eſth. 14.10. called foreign vain things, and 3. Mac. both foreign and foreign, empty and vain. And ſo here, when the Gods of the heathen are ſaid to be foreign, the meaning is clear, they are not Gods, but creatures of God's making; for be they Angels of heaven, or the ſouls of eminent men, ſuppoſed to be aſſumed thither, or the Sun, Moon, and Stars, it is the Lord that made the heavens (as here it follows) and conſequently all that is comprehended in them; and being creatures they are not able to profit their worſhippers. 'Tis here obſervable with what variety the ancient Interpreters in this place have expreſt this word. The Syriack have foreign (from foreign vain or empty) the vain things, as foreign in Heſter and 3. Mac. The Chaldee have foreign from foreign to erre, and to fornicate, either as a wandring from the true to falſe Gods, or elſe as the worſhips of them had all manner of filthineſs joyned with them. The Jewiſh Arab reads Idols. Abu Walid, as he puts the ordinary interpretation of the name, as denoting things of no poſſibility ▪ and vain, ſo he commends another reſpect to be had in the underſtanding of it, according to the uſe in the Arabick of the word foreign, in the notion of grief and dolour, as things bringing and cauſing grief, and ſo may be compared with that other name given to an Idol, foreign from trouble or moleſtation. But the LXXII. and Latin have foreign daemonia, which elſewhere they uſe alſo, Iſa. 65.11. for fortune (ſo the Jews expound Gad there) Iſa. 34.14. for foreign the wild beaſts of the deſert, Satyrs, &c. Deut. 32.17. and Pſal. 105.35. Pſal. 90.6. for foreign and foreign the deſtroyer or evil Angel, as again Tob. 3.8.6.17.8.2. and Iſa. 13.21. for foreign the Satyr again, and Bar. 4.7, 35. for the falſe Gods promiſcuouſly, as they are there v. 7. oppoſed to the one true God. By all which it appears that the foreign in the LXXII. and the Helleniſts ſignifie neither evil ſpirits (or devils) alone, as it is vulgarly thought, nor peculiarly the ſouls of men departed (as others conceive of the word) but more comprehenſively all ſorts of falſe heathen Gods, as they are oppoſed to the true God, whatſoever creatures have by the errours of men been deified and worſhipt, in the notion wherein Plato uſes foreign Gods in the plural, when, in Timaeo, he ſaith that the ſupreme God, the parent of all things, created all the reſt of the Gods. See Auguſtin de Civit. Dei li. 9. c. 23. Of the original of this creature-worſhip, as far as it concerns the ſtars of heaven, Maimonides hath ſpoken at large, l. 1. de Idololat. and in oppoſition to thoſe foreign no Gods, it is here literally to be underſtood, the Lord made the heavens; theſe viſible ſpheres which they ſo admire and adore as Gods, the one God of the Jews did make. As for that of deified men, Iſtiaeus Mileſius hath as clearly deduced the ſtory of it, (ſee Euſeb. Chron. l. 1.) that of the line of Japhet came Zerug, foreign — who firſt began the Graecian or heathen worſhip; for, ſaith he, Zerug and they that were with him did with ſtatues of pillars honour thoſe which had anciently been warriours or Captains, or that did any vertuous or valiant act in their lives worth the commemorating, and worſhipped and ſacrificed to them as Gods. After them others ariſing, and not knowing their predeceſſors intention, viz. that they honoured them as their anceſtours and inventours of good things with memorials onelyonly, they worſhipt them as Gods of heaven, and ſacrificed to them. And this was their form of making Gods of them. After their deaths they put their names in the Books of their Prieſts, and ſolemnized a feaſt to them at a ſet time, ſaying that their ſouls were gone to the fortunate Iſlands, &c. In this relation thus ſet down in thoſe fragments ſet out by Scaliger, there is certainly a foul miſtake, an foreign not left out. For when of the firſt inſtitutours it is here ſaid, that they honoured thoſe Heroes foreign with memorials onelyonly, how can it be imagined that in the relation of that very paſſage foregoing, Iſtiaeus ſhould ſay, foreign, they adored them as Gods and worſhipt them? It muſt therefore of neceſſity be thus read, that Zerug — did with ſtatues of pillars honour their Captains — foreign, and did not worſhip them as Gods, or ſacrifice to them, as others ariſing afterward did. And of theſe again it is as clear, that theſe deified men, who were ſuppoſed to be aſſumed to heaven, and were no doubt many of them truly gone thither in their ſouls, were yet but foreign not Gods, but creatures of that one ſupreme Jehovah, who foreign made the heavens, and thoſe moſt eminent ſaints that dwelt there. And this ſeems to be the fulleſt importance of this verſe.
foreignV. 7. And ſtrength] As (from foreign fortis fuit) is foreign ſtrength; ſo doth the ſame word ſignifie what the Greeks call foreign power, dominion, empire. In the notion of ſtrength or robur it may probably be uſed v. 6. where as beauty, ſo ſtrength is ſaid to be in his Sanctuary; beauty in reſpect of the glory of the divine preſence, by the guard of Angels that attend there, and ſtrength in reſpect of the aſſiſtance that is by God provided and furniſhed there to all that ſeek it by prayer. But the latter notion is fitter for this place, where it is joyned with glory and attributed to God; and ſo 1 Pet. 5.11. which ſeems to be taken from hence, it is foreign to him be glory and dominion; and the Arabick there reade foreign, a light variation from the foreign here: and from hence Gods title of foreign is beſt rendred (not almighty, or he that hath all ſtrength, but) he that hath the foreign or foreign dominion or empire over all. And thus in the Doxology annext to the Lord's Prayer, kingdom as well as power is joyned with glory, when they are attributed to God. And to this accord the LXXII. which here render it foreign honor, or dignity, referring to the royal power, to which that dignity belongs. And ſo their giving him the power or empire here, is agreeable to the proclaiming v. 10. that the Lord reigneth.
foreignV. 10. Lord reigneth] That the Lord in this place is the Meſſias, is the reſolution generally of the ancients, both Jews and Chriſtians. Of the Jews, R. Solomon affirms this is ſpoken of the days of the Meſſiah, and gives it for a rule, that whereſoever 'tis ſaid foreign a new ſong, 'tis meant of the future age, (and thus indeed Rev. 5.9. and 14.3. the new ſongs are ſung unto Chriſt) And R. Gaon renders the reaſon, becauſe then there ſhall be a new heaven and new earth. Kimchi alſo ſaith the Pſalm concerns the days of the Meſſias. And to this foreign v. 2. hath a great propriety, having a particular notion of good tidings, or Goſpel, and is duly rendred by the LXXII. foreign Evangelize, or as a piece of Goſpel preach, declare his ſalvation; foreign his redemption, ſaith the Chaldee. Of the Chriſtians ſee Juſtin Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew p. 298. &c. And the Pſalm being (as appears 1 Chr. 16.23.) firſt compoſed on occaſion of the bringing of the Ark to Sion (though afterward lightly changed and fitted, if we believe the Greek title of it, to the re-building of the Temple after the captivity, foreign) may thus fitly be underſtood in its prophetical extent to embrace Chriſt's aſcending to heaven in his humane nature: By his aſſumption of humanity he did truly dwell among us, and that much more eminently than ever he did in the Ark or Sanctuary; and the carrying of this to heaven was anſwerable to the bringing up the Ark, and placing it ſolemnly in Sion. Now to this exaltation of his, the Croſs was the fore-runner, and ceremony, as it were, of his inauguration, his Kingly Office commencing at his reſurrection from the grave, to which the Croſs conveyed him, foreign, God after his death upon the Croſs having given him the Kingdom of all the Earth, ſaith Juſtin p. 300. A. This is the meaning of the words, and of that ancient Scholion which S. Auguſtin on the Pſalms, and Arnobius and ‖Fortunatus in Hymn. Impleta ſunt quae concinit David fideli carmine, Dicens in nationibus, Regnavit à ligno Deus.others after him, and (of the moſt ancient) †Apol. 11. p. 80. A. & Dial. cum Tryph. p. 298, 299.Juſtin Martyr, and *Adverſ. Judaeos c. 10. & 13. & adverſ. Marc. l. 3. c. 19, 21.Tertullian recite, as from this place, foreign ▪ The Lord hath reigned from the wood or tree, i. e. from the Croſs. That theſe words foreign from the wood, or Croſs, were once in the Text, and by the Jews taken out from thence, though it have the authority of Juſtin, and be eagerly defended by Lindanus, hath no degree of probability in it. The very LXXII. (which alone are concerned in the charge) in the Copies which have come down to us, have it not, nor the vulgar Latin, nor yet the Arabick, nor Aethiopick, which all follow the LXXII. no nor the verſion of S. Jerom, much leſs the Chaldee or Syriack, from all which it cannot with any ſhew of reaſon be pretended that the Jews have raſed or ſtoln it out; (for how was it poſſible for them to corrupt the Greek Bible throughout the world, many of which were in the hands and Libraries of heathens?) or that the univerſal Church, which for many hundred years hath allowed of and confirmed the Original Copies, and all theſe Tranſlations, hath joyn'd with the Jews in their ſacriledge, and oppoſition to Chriſtianity, and that after it had received warning from ſo great a perſon as Juſtin was. Many other evidences are produced to this purpoſe by our learned Country-man Nicholas Fuller, Miſcell. l. 3. c. 13. and his concluſion is unqueſtionable, that it was but a Scholion of ſome of the ancients written in the margin of his book, (as the reſult of his obſervation of the Kingdom of Chriſt, diſcernible in this prophecy) which after by ſome unskilfull Scribe was inſerted in the Text, and ſo perhaps in more than one, found by Juſtin, and by his writings communicated to others, who examin'd not the truth by the Hebrew Text, or more ancient Copies of the LXXII. Meanwhile by this gloſs, and the reception of it with Juſtin, and Tertullian, and Auguſtin, &c. it competently appears to have been the opinion of the firſt Chriſtians, thoſe before as well as after Juſtin, that theſe words the Lord reigneth, and ſo this Pſalm, belonged to the reſurrection of Chriſt, and the regal power wherein that inſtalled him (and accordingly it was uſed in the Eaſtern ſervice) and this Kingdom of his ſet up here in this world, in converting both Jews and heathens, and bringing them into the Church. This is the ground of the ſtyle wherein the verſe begins, and this his Kingdom is mentioned, Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth; as before v. 6. that all the Gods of the heathens are Idols or no Gods, but 'tis God that made the heavens, i. e. that this God, that made the heavens, ſhould caſt out all the heathen Gods out of their Temples, and ſet up his ſpiritual Kingdom in its ſtead, throughout the heathen world, which is the interpretation of his coming to judge the earth, v. 12. thus exerciſing his regal power, to which he was inaugurated, in deſtroying idolatry through the world. From this and the like predictions it was, that as Tacitus Hiſt. l. 5. c. 13. Sueton. in Veſpaſ. c. 4. and Joſephus de Bell. Judaic. l. 5. c. 12. tell us, there was an univerſal belief and rumour ſcattered through the Eaſt, before the reign of Veſpaſian (ſoon after the reſurrection of Chriſt) that a King ſhould come thence and reign over the whole world; which the heathen ignorantly applied to Veſpaſian, but was thus verified in Chriſt; not in his birth, but in this ſpiritual exerciſe of his regality, partly in converting Jews and Gentiles to the Faith, and partly in deſtroying their worſhip, the Moſaical Rites, together with the Temple on one ſide, and the heathen Temples and Oracles on the other ſide.
foreignV. 11. The heavens] The heavens, and earth, and ſea, and fields, and trees, are here put together (after the Scripture-ſtyle, which uſeth by the enumeration of parts, to ſignifie the whole) to denote the whole inferiour world, which (interpreting the heavens of the aiery regions) is made up of theſe, ſee note on 2 Pet. 3. e. Then for that phraſe, the whole world, that in the ſacred dialect alſo, as foreign, every creature, ſignifies the whole heathen world, ſee note on Mar. 16. b. and Rom. 8. d. and ſo theſe two v. 11. and 12, 13. are but a poetical expreſſion of the great cauſes of joy that this Kingdom of Chriſt (expreſt by the Lord's reigning, v. 10. and coming to judge the world, v. 13.) which ſhould be ſpiritually erected among them, ſhould bring to the heathen world.