Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 142
The Hundred and Forty Second PSALM.
Maſchil of David, A prayer when he was in the Cave.
The hundred and forty ſecond is a prayer of David for deliverance in his helpleſs ſtate, when having eſcaped the treachery of the Keilites, he was now in the Cave of Engedi, 1 Sam. 24.1. It was ſet to the tune called Maſchil (ſee not on Pſal. 32. a.)
1. I ‖will cry foreigncried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord †will (ſo the Jewiſh Arab)did I make my ſupplication.
2. I *will pourpoured out my complaint before him: I ‖will ſhewſhewed before him my trouble.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. In the diſtreſs wherein now I am, this ſtate of abſolute deſtitution, there is none to whom I ſhould reſort but to thee, O Lord, who art able and willing to relieve thoſe that in their greateſt ſtraits apply themſelves to thee. To thee therefore I moſt humbly and devoutly addreſs my petitions, beſeeching thee favourably to behold and reſcue me.
3. When my ſpirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou kneweſt my path: in the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a ſnare for me.
Paraphrase. 3. I am in great perplexity, not knowing which way to turn my ſelf: I am even at the laſt gaſp of earthly hopes, my treacherous enemies being very ſolicitous to inſnare and betray me. Thou ſeeſt, O Lord, the ſadneſs of my ſtraits, and withal knoweſt the ſincerity of my heart: To thee therefore do I make my ſupplication, v. 1. that thou wilt now take my part, own, and defend me.
4. †look (ſo the Jewiſh Arab)I looked on my right hand, *behold, and there is none that will—and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge ‖is loſt from—failed me, no man †vindicatethcared for my ſoul.
Paraphrase. 4. I have no human ſtrength to defend or patronize me, all worldly friends and auxiliaries have utterly forſaken me; my life is left as an orphan, deſtitute and helpleſs, to him that will be ſo bloody as to take it away from me.
5. I cried unto thee, O Lord; I ſaid, thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living.
Paraphrase. 5. To thee therefore I pour out my prayers, O God of all power and grace, on thee do I wholly depend for my ſuccour and preſervation, as on the onelyonly ſanctuary of my life, as on the onelyonly inheritance that is left me in this world.
6. Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very low: deliver me from my perſecutors, for they are ſtronger than I.
7. Bring my ſoul out of priſon, that ‖or, theyI may praiſe thy name: †through me ſhall the righteous come about, when thouthe righteous ſhall compaſs me about, for thou ſhalt deal bountifully with me.
Paraphrase. 6, 7. I am now very fitly qualified for thy ſovereign hand of relief to interpoſe: my perſecuting enemies are much too hard for me; I am now ſhut up in a cloſe Cave, as in a priſon. O do thou in this my time of diſtreſs ſend me thy relief, and it will be a means of bringing in much honour to thy name, may proſelytes to thy ſervice, when by thy dealing with me they are ſo fully convinced of thy power and protection over all that rely on thee.
Annotations on Pſal. CXLII.
foreignV. 3. Thou kneweſt] What foreign ſignifies here will be judged by Deut. 2.7. He hath known thy walking through this great wilderneſs, i. e. hath preſerved thee in all thy journying; and ſo it agrees with what went before, for the Lord hath bleſſed thee in all thy works. So Pſal. 31.7. Thou haſt known my ſoul in adverſity, i. e. taken notice of me, patronized me. And ſo here, thou kneweſt my path, i. e. haſt taken notice of me, to defend and ſecure me.
foreignV. 4. Cared for my ſoul] The Hebrew hath foreign ſeeking for my ſoul. The word foreign, to ſeek, is ſometimes uſed for vindicating, avenging, taking part, or defending any. So Gen. 42.22. Reuben ſaith of Joſeph, behold his blood foreign is required, i. e. avenged and puniſht upon us; and Gen. 9.5. foreign I will require the life of man, i. e. avenge it on him that kills any man; and in Ezekiel oft, his blood will I require — Thus when God is ſaid to require ſimply, without any addition, the meaning is, to avenge and puniſh. And proportionably here, requiring or ſeeking foreign for my ſoul, moſt probably ſignifies vindicating or puniſhing another for the evil deſigned by him unto my ſoul. For this is the part of a Goel, an avenger of blood (ſuch was the next of kin to him that was ſlain) to require juſtice for his ſoul, or blood, or life; and ſo foreign to require, by which the LXXII. here render it, frequently ſignifies. And to this the Syriack directs the interpretation, foreign and there is no avenger for my ſoul; vindex animae meae, vindicator of my ſoul, ſaith their Latin Tranſlatour; and ſo the word ſignifies, from foreign to avenge, which the Chaldee alſo uſeth in this place, foreign there is none to vindicate or avenge my ſoul. That this is the meaning of the phraſe, beſide the authority of thoſe Interpreters, ſeems farther evident by the beginning of the verſe,foreign foreign look (or looking) on the right hand, and ſee (or ſeeing) (ſo the words in the Imperative or Infinitive are literally to be rendred, and not, as the Interpreters more paraphraſtically reade, foreign, I looked) foreign and there is not for me that knows me, i. e. acknowledges me, none that takes my part. The Advocate was wont to ſtand at the right hand of his Client (ſee Pſal. 109.31. Note i.) And to this the phraſe ſeems to refer, look, or looking, on my right hand, where the Patron or Advocate uſeth to ſtand, and there is no man that acknowledges or takes my part. So again foreign refuge is loſt or gone from me, foreignto the ſame ſenſe, there is none to whom I can fly to take my part; and then in the concluſion, none that requireth or avengeth for my ſoul, none that defends or vindicates it.
V. 7. That I may praiſe] The Hebrew foreign ad laudandum, to praiſing, foreignmay indifferently be rendred, either in the firſt perſon, that I, or in the third plural, that they may praiſe, i. e. the juſt in the next words. And to that latter ſenſe the following words ſeem to incline it,foreign foreign in me ſhall the righteous come about: in me, foreign for my cauſe, ſaith the Chaldee, ſhall they come about, foreign the juſt ſhall make thee a crown of praiſe, ſay they, not, come about me (or, as the LXXII. foreign, they watch for me, in the notion wherein they render foreign by foreign, expect, wait for, Job 36.11.) but foreign as that ſignifies for me, foreignor for my cauſe, on occaſion of me, come about, incompaſs God, believe in him, praiſe his name,foreign when (ſo foreign is to be rendred) they ſee how graciouſly God hath dealt with me. The Jewiſh Arab reads, And the righteous ſhall take me for a crown (to them.) The word foreign ſignifies ſo to incompaſs or come about, as when a multitude of people aſſemble on any occaſion: ſo Prov. 14.18. the ſimple inherit folly, but the prudent foreign ſhall incompaſs knowledge, i. e. ſeek it, and follow it with all diligence: and ſo to incompaſs God, is to frequent his ſanctuary▪ devoutly and diligently to make addreſſes to him. The word alſo in Arabick dialect ſignifies …o be multiplied, and ſo it will commodiouſly be rendred, on occaſion of me the righteous ſhall be multiplied, when they ſee thy mercifull returns, or dealings toward me.