Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 143
The Hundred and Forty Third PSALM.
A Pſalm of David.
The hundred forty third is a mournfull ſupplication for deliverance from powerfull enemies, and was compoſed by David, ‖foreign, whe… his ſon purſued him, LXXII.as ſome think, at the time of Abſalom's rebellion; as †R. Ki… chi.others more probably, and in harmony with the two former, at the time of his being purſued by Saul, in the Cave of Engedi.
1. HEar my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my ſupplications; in thy faithfulneſs anſwer me, *inand in thy righteouſneſs.
Paraphrase. 1. O Lord, I beſeech thee to hear and anſwer my requeſts which my preſent diſtreſſes force me to preſent to thee, and thy abundant grace and promiſes of never-failing mercy give me confidence that thou wilt favourably receive and perform unto me.
2. And enter not into judgment with thy ſervant; for in thy ſight ſhall no man living be juſtified.
Paraphrase. 2. I know my ſins have juſtly provoked and brought down theſe preſſures on me; but thou art graciouſly pleaſed to be reconciled with humbled penitent ſinners, thou haſt promiſed by a covenant of mercy not to charge on ſuch, with ſeverity, all the ſins of which they have been guilty: and were it not for that covenant, 'twere impoſſible for any frail imperfect ſinfull creature, ſuch as every meer man is, to appear with hope or comfort before thine exact tribunal. To this thy promiſed mercy mine onelyonly appeal lies; and having ſincerely vow'd to perform unto thee all faithfull (be it never ſo mean and imperfect) obedience, I can put in my claim, founded on thy faithfull promiſe (v. 1.) and hope and beg for this ſeaſonable mercy and deliverance from thee.
3. For the enemy hath perſecuted my ſoul, he hath ‖beat—to foreignſmitten my life down to the ground, he hath made me to dwell in darkneſs, as †the dead of the age.thoſe that have been long dead.
Paraphrase. 3. For my malicious enemies have calumniated firſt, then perſecuted me, and now at length brought me to a very ſad and dejected eſtate, forced me to hide my ſelf under ground, to fly from one cave to another, from the cave of Adullam, 1 Sam. 22. to the cave of Engedi, ch. 24.
4. *And וTherefore is my ſpirit overwhelmed within me, my heart within me is deſolate.
5. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works, I muſe on the work of thy hands.
Paraphrase. 4, 5. This hath caſt me into great perplexity (ſee Pſal. 142.3.) filled me with a moſt anxious horrour, wherein yet I have been able to ſupport my ſelf by reflecting on thy former mercies and deliverances which thy acts of power have been ſignally interpoſed to work for me.
6. I ſtretch forth my hands unto thee: my ſoul ‖is to thee as— foreignthirſteth after thee, as a thirſty land, Selah.
Paraphrase. 6. To thee therefore I addreſs my prayers with all the earneſtneſs which my diſtreſſes can infuſe into me. The ground that is parcht with heat and drought, and gaſpes for ſome ſhowre from the clouds to refreſh it, is an emblem of me at this time, who pant and gaſp and call importunately for ſome refreſhment and relief from thee, having no other means in the world to which I can apply my ſelf.
7. Hear me ſpeedily, O Lord, my ſpirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, leſt I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
Paraphrase. 7. O Lord, I beſeech thee, haſten to my relief, my preſent exigences challenge and importune it from thee: If thou do not interpoſe in my behalf, I ſhall ſuddenly be overwhelmed by mine enemies and deſtroyed.
8. Cauſe me to hear thy loving kindneſs in the morning, for in thee do I truſt: cauſe me to know the way wherein I ſhould walk, for I lift up my ſoul unto thee.
Paraphrase. 8. O be thou graciouſly pleaſed to ſhew forth thy pity and thy bounty timely and ſpeedily to me, who have no other refuge to reſort to, but that of thine overruling ſovereign aid: in this is my confidence, for this I offer up the humbleſt devotions of my ſoul. O be thou my guide, to direct me to that courſe, whatever it is, which thou ſhalt chuſe, and wilt proſper to me.
9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.
Paraphrase. 9. Lord, to thee do I betake my ſelf, as to mine onelyonly refuge; under the ſafeguard of thy protection I deſire to ſecure my ſelf: O be thou graciouſly pleaſed to afford me that mercy, and thereby to reſcue me out of mine enemies hands.
10. Teach me to doe thy will, for thou art my God: †let thy good ſpirit lead me foreignthy ſpirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightneſs.
Paraphrase. 10. Above all, by thy paternal goodneſs I beſeech thee, be thou pleaſed ſo to conduct me in all my ways, that I may doe nothing but what is perfectly good and acceptable in thy fight. To which end, Lord, let thy gracious and ſanctifying ſpirit, the onelyonly fountain and author of all goodneſs and holineſs, direct and aſſiſt me in every turn and motion of my life, and bring me into a ſteady conſtant courſe of all ſtrict and righteous living, (that antepaſt or firſt part of heaven on earth, which thou wilt be ſure to crown with a ſtate of …fect purity and impeccability hereafter.)
11. ‖Thou ſhalt—Quicken me, O Lord, for thy names ſake: for thy righteouſneſs ſake †thou ſhaltbring my ſoul out of trouble.
12. And of thy mercy *ſhalt thoucut off mine enemies, and deſtroy all them that afflict my ſoul; for I am thy ſervant.
Paraphrase. 11, 12. And thus, O Lord, I truſt thou wilt anſwer my requeſts, reſtoring to me that chearfull and comfortable ſtate of which theſe my ſad diſtractions have deprived me. Two ingagements thou haſt to this, the honour of thy Name, which is concerned in thy protecting thy ſervants and ſuppliants, and thine own gracious and mercifull diſpoſition, which inclines thee to relieve and aſſiſt thoſe that moſt ſtand in need of it. And the ſame goodneſs of thine and mercy to me, as to one who am reſolved for ever to continue thy conſtant ſervant, doth oblige thee to take my part againſt theſe my malicious adverſaries; and accordingly thy power will certainly interpoſe, and magnifie it ſelf in their utter exciſion and deſtruction.
Annotations on Pſal. CXLIII.
foreignV. 1. And in thy righteouſneſs] The Hebrew reads foreign in thy righteouſneſs, without any Copula, and neither the Chaldee nor LXXII. think fit to ſupply it. And this ſeems to be the truer rendring. For taking foreign righteouſneſs in the notion frequently exemplified, of mercy or favour, 'tis an act of that in God, viz. of divine mercy and grace, to anſwer in faithfulneſs, i. e. to perform his promiſe: for the promiſe of God being free, but yet conditional, and ſo not due by any tenure or claim (but that of his promiſe) to be performed to any, and not ſo alſo to any but him that performs the condition, and our ſins and frailties being ſuch, that we ſtand in need not onelyonly of God's grace, but alſo his mercy and foreign, his moderation of ſtrict right, v. 2. his grace to qualifie us for a due performance of that condition, and his mercy to make us capable of being accepted in the number of thoſe who have performed the condition; it follows, that it muſt be an act of God's meer mercy and goodneſs to perform to any man that which he hath promiſed to his faithfull ſervants, and ſo it muſt be foreign in God's righteouſneſs or mercy that he anſwers the Pſalmiſt foreign in thy, i. e. God's, truth or faithfulneſs. And this is moſt fully expreſt by reading in thy righteouſneſs, without any copula or form of conjoyning it to faithfulneſs.
V. 3. foreignLong dead] What foreign here ſignifies, is not clear. The LXXII. render it, foreign, as the dead of the age; the Syriack foreign for ever. The Chaldee hath foreign as they that lie along (ſee Pſal. 88.5.) in, or of that age. What they mean by that ſtyle, may perhaps be gueſt by other parts of their dialect. The grave or ſepulchre they uſually ſtyle foreign the houſe of the age, (as we ordinarily ſtyle it our long home.) So Iſa. 14.18. where from the Hebrew we render, all of them lie in glory, every one in his houſe, the Chaldee reads foreign in the houſe of his age; and this from the deſcription of death, Eccl. 12.5. foreign to the houſe of his age, which the Chaldee there render foreign to the houſe of his ſepulchre. To this belongs the phraſe Tob. 3.6. of foreign, eternal place, for the grave, juſt anſwerable to foreign the houſe of the age, for which the Hebrew of Paulus Fagius's edition (for Munſter's leaves it out) hath foreign the houſe appointed for every one living. So Ezek. 26.20. I will bring thee down with them that deſcend unto the pit, foreign to the people of the age. And the ground of the phraſe is there expreſt, I will place thee foreign in the infernal land, foreign in the ſolitudes from the age, i. e. in thoſe infernal vaſt receſſes, whither from the beginning of the world all men have deſcended, and there remained in condition of deſolation, though the number of them that are there be never ſo great. In proportion to which dialect foreign will here be literally rendred, as the dead of the age (by the age meaning the place or ſtate of the dead, hades, or ſcheol) but according to ſenſe, as the dead in the grave, the very ſame which Pſal. 88.5. is expreſt by foreign they that lie in the grave.
foreignV. 9. I flee unto thee to hide me] So we paraphraſtically render foreign. The LXXII. reade foreign, I have fled to thee as to a refuge. The Chaldee foreign thy word have I ſet up for my redeemer. The Radix foreign ſignifies to hide, and ſo in Piel (as here it is) Pſal. 32.5. foreign, I have not hid, Pſal. 44.15. foreign hath covered me, and 69.7. foreign hath covered my face. Accordingly the Inter…ear render it, ad te abſcondi me, to thee have I hid me. The learned Val. Schindler ſuppoſes an Ellipſis, thus to be ſupplied, tibi revelavi quod homines celavi, I have revealed to thee what I have concealed from men, ſo Kimchi, to thee alone have I cried, or made my petition in ſecret, viz. not revealing his caſe to men, as not hoping in them for help. And if this notion for hiding muſt be reteined (as 'tis in all other places wherein 'tis uſed in the Bible, and ſo generally and conſtantly rendred by foreign and the like) then the rendring muſt be, to, or at thee I have hid my ſelf; as thoſe things which we are afraid to loſe, we hide in a ſure place; and thus it is all one with depoſiting in God's hands. So the Jewiſh Arab, With thee have I ſought to be hid, or for an hiding place, or refuge. So Abu Walid, To thee have I fled for refuge, and with thee ſought for an hiding place, making it contrary to Iſa. 57.8. foreign which the Interlinear renders, quia à me diſcooperuiſti & aſcendiſti, and our Engliſh, thou haſt diſcovered thy ſelf to another than me and art gone up. But 'tis not unuſual with Hebrew words to enlarge their ſignifications, and ſo it is reaſonable to believe (though it cannot be demonſtrated from any other place of the Bible) that foreign to hide, may in Piel ſignifie to fly unto as a refuge, becauſe ſuch foreign refuges are either really or metaphorically hiding places. And then the LXXII. their foreign, I have fled, will be a literal rendring of foreign, and ſo the Latin confugi.
V. 10. foreignLand of uprightneſs] foreign is literally to be rendred to or in a ſtraight ground: ſo the Chaldee, foreign into a ſtraight ground, and the Jewiſh Arab, in a right or ſtraight region, and ſo the Latin in terram rectam; by which we are to judge of the reading of the LXXII. foreign, in the right, that it ſhould be undoubtedly, as Aſulanus's copy hath it, foreign, in a ſtraight ground. By this ſtyle is metaphorically ſignified a regular courſe of life, in obedience to all the commands of God, the onelyonly rule of the good man's walking. The Syriack have duly explain'd it by foreign into thy way of life, that courſe of living which thou requireſt, or which may be acceptable to thee.