Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 123
The Hundred and Twenty Third PSALM.
A Song of ‖aſcents,Degrees.
The hundred twenty third is a prayer for deliverance from proud inſulting enemies, and an act of full affiance and dependence on God for it.
1. UNto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwelleſt in the heavens.
Paraphrase. 1. O thou ſupreme God of heaven, to thee I addreſs my prayers, on thee I wholly depend for a gracious anſwer to them in this time of diſtreſs and calamity.
2. Behold, as the eyes of ſervants look unto the hand of their Maſters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her Miſtreſs, ſo our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, untill that he have mercy upon us.
Paraphrase. 2. Whatſoever miſery is now upon us, comes certainly from thy juſt chaſtening hand; to that we look, and wait, and begg, and beſeech. As ſervants or handmaids, when they are chaſtened by their Lords or Miſtreſſes, bear it with all meekneſs, without murmuring or repining, onelyonly look to the hand that ſmiteth them, and beſeech and importune for releaſe, and patiently expect that good time, when the offended Lord ſhall ſay, that it is enough, and ſo withdraw his ſcourge, and return to mercy: ſo have we under all the inflictions that our ſins have juſtly brought upon us from thee, behaved our ſelves under the diſcipline of thy rod, acknowledging the moſt juſt original, and authour of all our miſeries, our ſelves the original, and thy juſtice, provoked by our ſins, the authour of them; not looking ſo much to the inſtruments or executioners of thy wrath, as to that ſupreme divine hand that ſmiteth, and accordingly applying our ſelves onelyonly to thee in our prayers and petitions for releaſe, when thou ſhalt ſee it moſt expedient for us.
3. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us; for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4. Our ſoul is exceedingly filled with the ſcorning of †the inſolent,thoſe that are at eaſe, and with the contempt of the *proud oppreſſours.proud.
Paraphrase. 3, 4. Be thou therefore now pleaſed, if it may be thy will, at length to withdraw thy chaſtening hand from us, to conſider the weight of the calamity and tyranny that lies upon us from contumelious and inſolent oppreſſours, and now ſeaſonably to ſend us relief, and deliver us out of their hands.
Annotations on Pſal. CXXIII.
foreignV. 2. Look unto the hand] What ſort of looking it is which is here meant, muſt be judged by the foreign to the hand. For indeed the original ſtyle is elliptical, and the word look is not there to be found, but is ſupplied by the ſenſe, the eyes of ſervants to the hand of their lords, or maſters. Now of ſuch lords it is certain, as alſo of the miſtreſs of a family over the foreign inferiour maid-ſervant, that they had power not onelyonly of commanding, but of chaſtiſing; and the latter of theſe is more frequently expreſſed by the hand, the former more ſignificantly by the eye, or tongue; the one directing, the other commanding. And ſo the eyes of the ſervant or handmaid to the hand of the lord or miſtreſs may very fitly note the ſervant under chaſtiſement turning the eyes and looking to the hand that ſtriketh, and beſeeching, importuning mercy. And this as an argument of a meek, patient, and reforming diſpoſition. So Iſa. 9.13. it is objected unto the people, that they turned not to him that ſmiteth them, neither do they ſeek the Lord of hoſts. And to this ſenſe the context doth wholly incline it, for in the application ſo it lies, even ſo our eyes foreign to the Lord our God, i. e. look, or wait, or are turned to the Lord our God, untill he have mercy upon us: and then follows the importunate prayer, Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,; where the mercy that is waited for, and the mone and importunity for mercy, is juſt the deſcription of one that is under chaſtiſement, and ſo determins the ſenſe to that.
V. 4. Thoſe that are at eaſe] From foreign and foreign to be quiet, at eaſe, foreignis the noun foreign uſed not onelyonly for quiet, ſecure, in the original notion, but, by metonymie of the Cauſe for the Effect, for inſolent, ſcornfull, becauſe eaſe and ſecurity makes men ſuch: foreign, ſaith Ariſtotle in his Rhetoricks, riches and worldly felicity makes men inſolent and contumelious deſpiſers of others. The Syriack renders it foreign contemners, ſcorners, deriders, from foreign to ſcorn, to mock.
Ibid. Proud] The Hebrew foreign here, foreignſeems to be no ſimple, but compound word, made up of foreign or foreign proud, and foreign from foreign to afflict, and ſo to ſignifie proud oppreſſours. The Chaldee ſeem to take notice of this, rendring it by two words, foreign ſcorners, from foreign to contemn, foreign and proud. The Jewiſh Arab reads, of mocking with, or from the armies, and contempt from the ſtout, or from the armies. Beſides this active notion of the ſcorning and contempt, the paſſive may alſo be conſidered, for the word foreign is the Epithe… of excellent perſons. So R. Shererah Gaon, R. Saadias Gaon, &c. and the Talmudiſts that lived ſtreight after the cloſe of the Gemara, were called foreign as a mark of honour; and if that were the word here, the deſpight of them muſt be deſpight which they ſuffered, and the reproach of the quiet ſo alſo, taking foreign, as frequently 'tis, in a good ſenſe; but taking foreign as a compound, the high or great oppreſſours, it muſt be active deſpight, that which they doe to others.