Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 121
The Hundred and Twenty Firſt PSALM.
A Song of ‖Aſcents▪ ſee note on Pſal. 1…0.….Degrees.
The hundred twenty firſt is a repoſe in God, and a confident expectation of ſuccour and ſafety under his protection.
1. I Will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.
2. My help cometh †from before, or from the preſence of the Lord.from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. Whatſoever, or how great ſoever my diſtreſs or preſſure be, whether bodily or ſpiritual, I have no other ſanctuary or refuge to which to apply my ſelf, but that one ſupreme of heaven, (the image of which is the Ark on Zion, that holy hill or mount where God is pleaſed to preſentiate himſelf) even to the all-ſufficient omnipotent Creator, Ruler and Governor of the world. To him I can confidently addreſs my prayers, and chearfully expect a ſeaſonable aid, which he by his holy Angels ſhall graciouſly afford me, (by the interceſſion of his own Son, who hath aſſumed my nature.)
3. He will not ſuffer thy foot to be moved; and he that keepeth thee will not ſlumber.
4. Behold he that keepeth Iſrael ſhall neither ſlumber nor ſleep.
Paraphrase. 3, 4. All other guards may fail; either through the ſtrength of a more powerfull aſſailant, or being at ſome time overtaken with ſleep or wearineſs: But the watch that God affordeth us is impregnable; neither he nor his Angels, to whom he aſſigns this office of guarding, under him, all his faithfull ſervants, can ever be ſurpriſed by any ſuch advantage.
5. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy ſhade upon thy right hand.
6. The ſun ſhall not ſmite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
Paraphrase. 5, 6. The omnipotent Lord of heaven and earth ſhall be †Nigher than thy ſhadow at, or from thy right hand, Jewiſh Arab.preſent to thee, and overrule all his creatures, and keep thee from being miſchieved by them; his protection, as the cloud to the Iſraelites, or as a faithfull ſecond in a duel, ſhall defend thee from all approach of danger: Neither the open aſſaults in the day-time from enemy or devil, nor the ſecret ambuſhes in the night from any treacherous underminer either of the temporal or ſpiritual eſtate, (the former fitly compared to the ſcorching of the Sun, the latter to the malignant influences of the Moon) ſhall be able to doe thee any hurt.
7. The Lord ſhall preſerve thee from all evil; he ſhall preſerve thy ſoul.
Paraphrase. 7. This Lord ſhall aſſuredly defend thee from any real miſchief, of what kind ſoever, that can approach thee.
8. The Lord ſhall preſerve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and even for evermore.
Paraphrase. 8. He ſhall keep thee under the ſhadow of his own wings, and in the beginning, progreſs, and end of thy undertakings and deſigns, when thou goeſt out to work, or comeſt home to reſt, in thy buſineſs, or in thy retirement, his guard ſhall continually attend thee, and (if thou continue to adhere to him) never forſake or deſtitute thee.
Annotations on Pſal. CXXI.
foreignV. 2. From the Lord] The Hebrew is foreign from with or before, the Lord; which the Jewiſh Arab reade foreign from at, or with the Lord. The LXXII. reade onelyonly foreign before the Lord; but the Chaldee and the Syriack agree in foreign from before, or from the ſight or preſence of the Lord, referring hereby more generally to the good Angels (ſtiled the Angels of his preſence, thoſe that ſtand before the Lord, and always behold the face or God, and where they appear, there God is ſaid to be in a peculiar manner) by whoſe miniſtery mercies and deliverances are ſolemnly conveyed to godly men; or rather to Chriſt incarnate, with whoſe Humanity the Deity being inſeparably united, God is always preſent with him, and through him with us, for whom ſitting at God's right hand, he conſtantly maketh interceſſion: But more immediately referring to the Ark of God, where he is pleaſed to exhibit his preſence, and audience to the prayers of his ſervants, who there addreſs them to him; which being placed on mount Zion, that ſure is the meaning of foreign to the hills, foreignv. 1. to which as they then came when they could to offer up their prayers, ſo when they were hindred and detained from that perſonal addreſs, they yet turned their faces, and lift up their eyes that way, as here it is ſaid. See Dan. 6.10. This for the full and ultimate importance of the words. But for the immediate ſenſe of them, the ſcheme ſeems to be military. The beſieged perſon daily looks to the hills, to ſee if any relief be coming from any quarter, any ſignal by fire or the like, giving intelligence of ſuccour approaching; ſo ſaith Aben Ezra as men doe in a ſiege, and ſo Kimchi alſo. And then by this ſcheme the Pſalmiſt expreſſes his own repoſe to be in God, that dwelleth above in heaven, and preſentiates himſelf to his ſervants in Zion; Our help cometh from a place higher than any earthly hill, from a more ſure deliverer.
V. 8. Going out and coming in] foreign going and coming, or going out and coming in, being, foreignas here, uſed by it ſelf, without any addition, hath a different importance from what it hath when it is uſed with foreign before the people, 1 Sam. 18.13. and the like. For then it imports governing or ruling onelyonly. So v. 16. all Iſrael and Judah loved David, becauſe he went out and came in before them. So Act. 1.21. all the time that Jeſus went in and out among us, i. e. taught us, ruled us his diſciples here on earth. But in this place, without that addition, it ſignifies more generally, doing any thing of what ſort ſoever, all actions being comprehended under one of theſe two ſorts, going out to more publick, and coming in to more private affairs; or again, going out to begin, coming in at the end of the work. The Chaldee here paraphraſe it, by going out foreign (a corruption of the Greek foreign) to affairs, to negotiation, and coming in foreign to the ſtudy of the Law.