Works Volume 4, Book 5 · Psalm 145
The Hundred and Forty Fifth PSALM.
David's Pſalm of Praiſe.
The hundred forty fifth is a form of ſolemn Thankſgiving to God, deſcanting on all his glorious attributes. It was compoſed by David, and is one of thoſe wherein every verſe begins with a ſeveral letter of the Hebrew Alphabet.
1. I Will extol thee, my God, my King; and I will bleſs thy name for ever and ever.
2. Every day will I bleſs thee, and I will praiſe thy name for ever and ever.
Paraphrase. 1, 2. The Lord of heaven is my onelyonly God and King, a gracious Father, and a vigilant guide and conductor of me in all my ways; I am infinitely obliged to praiſe and magnifie his holy name, and never to intermit that office till I come to heaven, there to ſing continual Hoſannahs and Hallelujahs to him.
3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praiſed; and his greatneſs is unſearchable.
Paraphrase. 3. He is a God of a vaſt unfathomable power and dignity, his excellencies, and the effluxions thereof toward us, not to be traced or meaſured by humane faculties: But the leſs they are comprehended, the more are they to be admired, and adored, and magnified by us.
4. One generation ſhall praiſe thy works to another, and ſhall declare thy mighty acts.
Paraphrase. 4. Every age of the world, and perſon that lives in that age, hath new and freſh experience of the goodneſs and power of God in his gracious and glorious diſpoſals, every where illuſtriouſly diſcernible, and ſo every age is obliged to make their acknowledgments, to record to poſterity, and ſo to incite and call up all that live after them to the diligent and devout and vigorous performance of this duty.
5. I will ſpeak of the ‖beauty or ſplendor of the glory foreignglorious honour of thy majeſty, and of thy wondrous works.
Paraphrase. 5. Whether I conſider the infinite incomprehenſible beauty and ſplendour of his divine eſſence and attributes, or the moſt admirable operations and productions thereof in the framing and governing of the world, there is matter of all praiſe and thankſgiving to me, and to every other man living.
6. And men ſhall ſpeak of the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy greatneſs.
Paraphrase. 6. And accordingly both they and I, even all of us, with united hearts and voices, will proclaim and promulgate the wonderfull and admirable acts of his power and glory.
7. They ſhall †iſſue or pour outabundantly utter the memory of thy great goodneſs, and ſing of thy righteouſneſs.
Paraphrase. 7. And therein moſt peculiarly ſhall we count our ſelves obliged to magnifie and recount with the moſt exuberant joy the diſpenſations of his moſt abundant graces and mercies toward us, eſpecially that towards our ſouls. Theſe flow every minute from him, as from an inexhauſtible fountain and abyſs of goodneſs. O let our hearts learn of thoſe fountains, continually to pour forth at our mouths the praiſes that are proportionably due to him.
8. The Lord is gracious and full of compaſſion, ſlow to anger, and of great mercy.
9. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.
Paraphrase. 8, 9. 'Tis the title by which he was pleaſed to make known and proclaim himſelf to his people, Exod. 34.6. The Lord, the Lord God, mercifull— very forward and willing to pardon repentant ſinners, and not denying them that grace, or proceeding in judgment againſt them, till he be provoked to it by great ingratitude and obdurations: and this mercy of his is not incloſed to a few ſpecial favourites of his, but inlarged and vouchſafed to all and every man in the world, upon the title of his fatherly mercy to his creature, till by their impenitence perſiſted in, againſt his means of grace, they render themſelves incapable of it.
10. All thy works ſhall praiſe thee, O Lord, and thy ſaints ſhall bleſs thee.
11. They ſhall ſpeak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
Paraphrase. 10, 11. And proportionably according to the juſt merit of it, all the men in the world are obliged to pay thee the acknowledgments of thy ſupereminent tranſcendent mercy, but eſpecially thoſe that are ſo qualified by the power of thy grace obediently received by them, as to have a more particular intereſt therein.
12. To make known to the ſons of men his mighty acts, and the *glory of the ſplendor of foreignglorious majeſty of his kingdom.
Paraphrase. 12. Theſe ſhall never ſatiſfie themſelves that they have ſaid enough in depredicating the inward beauties, and felicities, and admirable excellencies of the kingdom of God in mens hearts, that ſtate of ſouls, when by the divine and ſanctifying power of his grace the dominion of ſin and Satan is ſubdued, and the kingdom of heaven erected in the ſtead of it, and all the faculties of the ſoul voluntarily and chearfully and conſtantly ſubjected to it. The ſweetneſs and comforts of this ſhall ſo tranſport and raviſh them that have a vital taſte of it in their own hearts, that they ſhall earneſtly deſire and endeavour to diſcover and recommend it to others, and bring all men to a ſenſe and acknowledgment, how deſirable a thing it is to be the ſubjects of this kingdom.
13. Thy kingdom is an everlaſting kingdom; and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
Paraphrase. 13. The magnificence and glory of any other the greateſt kingdom is but finite and tranſitory, and ſo oft in few years is removed and deſtroyed: but the kingdom of God is as durable as God himſelf, and the comforts of ſubjection and obedience thereto, which all pious men injoy, have never any end, but are ſwallowed up in the ocean of eternal bliſs and glory, the never failing portion of all ſuch.
14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiſeth up all thoſe that be bowed down.
Paraphrase. 14. And one ſpecial act of this his kingdom, one exerciſe of this power of his grace it is, that thoſe which are ſincere faithfull ſubjects thereof, ſhall never want a ſufficient ſupply of ſtrength from him for all their wants, whether of ſouls or bodies: Be they never ſo weak in themſelves, never ſo near falling, and unable to ſupport themſelves, and ſtand by their own ſtrength, they ſhall yet be ſure of a ſufficiency in him; he will ſupport them in the moſt infirm, feeble, tottering condition; and when through humane frailty they are brought low, and actually fallen, he will not deny them grace to get up again, but afford them effectual means of recovery, if by humble confeſſion of their lapſes they beg and ſolicit it, and induſtriouſly make uſe of it when it is given them. And ſo for outward diſtreſſes, he will either preſerve them from them, or ſupport them under them, and in his good time deliver them out of them.
15. The eyes of all wait on thee, and thou giveſt them their meat in due ſeaſon.
16. Thou openeſt thy hand, and ſatisfieſt the deſire of every living thing.
Paraphrase. 15, 16. This mercy and benignity of his is a ſpring inexhauſtible of all kinds of good things, a treaſure of abundant ſupply to all the creatures in the world, which conſequently attend and wait his pleaſure, and never fail to receive from him timely and ſeaſonably to their neceſſities, whatſoever they really ſtand in need of.
17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and ‖mercifullholy in all his works.
Paraphrase. 17. In ſum, all God's diſpenſations and dealings with us are made up of abundant mercy and compaſſion, charity and liberality to all our wants; and ſo are to be acknowledged and devoutly praiſed by all the men in the world.
18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Paraphrase. 18. Whoſoever addreſſes his prayers to God, and faithfully adheres to him, that flies not to any indirect courſe for aids, but keeps faſt to him in conſtant obedience, and waits God's time with patience, and perſeverance in prayer, ſhall be ſure never to fail of anſwers of mercy from him.
19. He will fulfill the deſire of them that fear him: he will hear their cry, and will ſave them.
Paraphrase. 19. If they faithfully ſerve and obey him, he will not be wanting to them in their greateſt wants, but will ſeaſonably grant them their requeſts, and deliver them out of all dangers.
20. The Lord preſerveth all them that love him: and all the wicked will he deſtroy.
Paraphrase. 20. Thoſe that love God and keep his commandments, have by his promiſe a claim and right to his protections and preſervations; but for tranſgreſſours, which are accounted haters of him, he will certainly pour out his vengeance upon them.
21. My mouth ſhall ſpeak the praiſe of the Lord: and let all fleſh bleſs his holy name for ever and ever.
Paraphrase. 21. All this exacts the moſt ſolemn acknowledgments, all the praiſes and Hallelujahs that our hearts or tongues can expreſs. O let all the men in the world joyn to perform this duty, and never give over praiſing and glorifying his holy name.
Annotations on Pſal. CXLV.
foreignV. 7. Abundantly utter] The Hebrew foreign is from foreign to bubble, to iſſue, to ſend out as a ſpring or fountain iſſues out water: and though here it be metaphorically uſed of ſpeaking, yet it muſt in reaſon be rendred with reſpect to the original uſe of it. The LXXII. therefore render it foreign, the Latin eructabunt; for which our Engliſh yielding no proper word, we muſt be content with that …f iſſuing or pouring out, or ſending forth. The Chaldee, which reads foreign (the ſame word with their termination) is rendred by the Latin Tranſlator perſonabunt, ſhall ſound forth, as if it were from foreign which ſo ſignifies, and is by the Greek lightly changed into foreign, to proclaim.
V. 9. To all] In this place the reading of the LXXII, both in the Roman Edition and others, is undoubtedly corrupted.foreign The Hebrew reads foreign to all, and ſo is followed by the Chaldee and Latin and Arabick (the Syriack omitting it wholly) and onelyonly the copies of the LXXII. (and from them the Aethiopick) reade foreign, to them that expect, and others add foreign, that expect him. But Aſulanus's reading is doubtleſs here to be preferred, which hath foreign, to all; which being the original reading, and ſo followed by the Latin and Arabick, was changed by the ſcribe into foreign, and ſo taken up by the Aethiopick.
foreignV. 16. The deſire] In this place it is doubtfull to what ſubject foreign, the laſt words of the verſe, belongs. From foreign voluit, placuit, the noun ſignifies will, good pleaſure, benevolence, favour. With thy favour foreign haſt thou defended me, Pſal. 5.12. ſo Iſa. 49.8. I have heard thee in the time foreign of favour, we render it acceptable time, parallel to a day of ſalvation that follows; where, as the ſalvation is the deliverance wrought by God, ſo the favour muſt be God's alſo. And thus the word may probably ſeem to be uſed here, he ſatisfieth every living thing (ſo foreign muſt be rendred) foreign with or by his favour: foreign, ſay the LXXII. thou filleſt every living thing with thy good pleaſure; the Latin have benedictione, with thy benediction (perhaps reading foreign for foreign) and the Aethiopick more expreſly, according to thy decree or good pleaſure: the Jewiſh Arab reads every living thing with favour, good will, or complacency, from thee. But the Chaldee reads foreign in the plural, which cannot belong to God, thou ſatisfieſt all living with their will, or deſire; and the Syriack, foreign thou ſatisfieſt the deſire of all living. And ſo the learned Caſtellio, optatis ſatias, thou ſatisfieſt them with their deſires, i. e. with the things which are deſired by them. And to this ſenſe the uſe of the ſame word v. 19. inclines, where of God it is ſaid, foreign he will doe or perform the will of them that fear him.
foreignV. 17. And holy] Of foreign there can be no queſtion but 'tis to be rendred, when ſpoken of God, mercifull, abundantly good; and ſo 'tis here joyned with foreign righteous, in the notion thereof frequently exemplified for foreign pitifull, or charitable, or liberal: for both theſe are here clearly inferred from the three laſt verſes, which are inſtances of his mercy and bounty. In this place is fit to be obſerved what we find in the LXXII. their tranſlation, after v. 13. and before v. 14. foreign, The Lord is faithfull in his words, and holy in all his works. The ſame we have in the Syriack, and Latin, and Arabick, and Aethiopick, and onelyonly miſs it in the Original and in the Chaldee. And that it is not added ſuperfluouſly by the reſt, but really wanting in theſe, we have this argument of ſome appearing force; Becauſe the Pſalm being Alphabetical, and exactly ſo in all other parts, is yet deficient in the letter Nun, as now we have it in the Hebrew, which yet from this reading of the LXXII, &c. is ſo readily ſupplied, [foreign] that there ſeemeth little cauſe of doubt but this was the ancient reading, and ſo continued to the time when the LXXII. firſt, and after when the Syriack made their tranſlations. If thus it were, the occaſion of the omiſſion ſeems moſt probably to be taken from this v. 17. the words whereof being of ſo great affinity with thoſe others, might by unskilfull ſcribes be confounded, and conceived to be the ſame with them, and ſo on that conceit deliberately left out in one place, to avoid that which they deemed a Tautology. But if this were it, then herein they erred more than one way. For firſt, it is no news for this Pſalmiſt in his lauds of God, to repeat the ſame expreſſion more than once, witneſs that ſolemn Epiphonema, His mercy endureth for ever. 2. Theſe two verſes, if they be better conſidered, are not the ſame, but perfectly different, and each of them, according to that difference, fitted to the place wherein according to the alphabetical order they ought to ſtand. The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth verſes are ſpent in admiration of the power and glory of God's kingdom, and that is fitly concluded with an Epiphonema of God's fidelity in performing of all his promiſes, and perfect juſtice and holineſs, and other divine excellencies, in all his diſpenſations toward men. And that is the ſum of the letter Nun (which therefore with very good harmony follows the thirteenth verſe, and ſo will put forward the fourteenth, which now is Saniech, unto the fifteenth, which is the proper place for it) foreign— The Lord is faithfull in his words, and holy in all his works, i. e. veracity and holineſs are two great inſeparable attributes of God; the one in his words, he never affirmeth what is not moſt true, or promiſeth what he doth not perform; the other in his actions, and works of providence, wherein he is ſo far from having any real cauſality in the ſins of Angels and Men, that he doeth all that reaſonably can be done by a God of holineſs and purity toward any rational and free agents, whom he means to puniſh and reward according to their works, to prevent them, and aſſiſt them, and inlighten their minds, and ſanctifie their hearts, thereby to keep them from ſinning, or to return them by repentance to that innocence (as near as may be) from which they are fallen. And this, as the chief exerciſe of his kingdom of grace, the glories whereof are ſet out in thoſe three verſes immediately foregoing. Whereas this which is now the ſeventeenth (but in that other account ought to be the eighteenth) verſe, as it is introduced by the three verſes more, which are all ſpent in the view of the tranſcendent compaſſion, mercy and liberality of God, ſo being duly rendred, it is a very proper Epiphonema, to conclude and ſhut up the praiſes of God in that behalf, The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and mercifull in all his works. foreignWhere foreign righteous and mercifull, are but two words ordinarily uſed in ſcripture to ſignifie charity and compaſſion: the former, not that righteouſneſs which we ſtyle juſtice, but that charity which is by the law of God due to all men, and ſo in us is our righteouſneſs, and in God is his goodneſs and charity to mankind, and the latter a more abundant degree of that, ſtyled goodneſs, graciouſneſs, bowels of compaſſion in man, and the moſt tranſcendent degree of infinite mercy and pity in God. The LXXII. render the former of theſe foreign, the Latin juſtus, and that being underſtood in our ordinary notion of juſtice, was apt to be conceived all one with faithfull or true in that former verſe. And the LXXII. again render the latter of theſe by foreign, which Greek word indeed oft ſignifies holy, and ſo is interpreted ſanctus by the Latin; but being but lightly changed by cutting off the laſt letter from the Hebrew foreign, and giving it the Greek termination foreign (for ſo both foreign and foreign are deemed to come from that original) in this place and many others it is ſurely taken in the Hebrew notion of it, i. e. for mercifull and pitifull, and ſo ſhould better be rendred in Latin pius, than ſanctus, (as in Salvian and other good Authours pietas piety in God ordinarily ſignifies mercy.) However, this equivocalneſs of that word foreign, taken by readers for holy, when it ſignifies mercifull, and the miſinterpreting foreign for juſt, when it imports mercifull, may well be deemed to have contributed occaſionally to the leaving v. 14. out of our Bibles. Of which the learned H. Grotius asks a queſtion, Quomodo ad hoc reſpondebunt — What anſwer will be given to this by thoſe men which require us in all things to ſtand to the decrees of the Maſorites, which by their fence have hedged this verſe out of the ſcripture? The onelyonly anſwer to the queſtion, which I ſhall offer, is this, 1. That it is no news that one letter or more ſhould be left out and miſſing in an Alphabetical Pſalm, eſpecially Pſal. 25. where ר being twice repeated, ק is certainly omitted. 2. That the LXXII. and the tranſlations that depend on them, have admitted ſeveral verſes and larger additions, which are not in the Hebrew text. But then 3. ſince 'tis certain the Pſalms received divers alterations, and both copies were tranſmitted to the uſe of the Temple, the anſwer will be ſatisfactory, that ſo it was here. And that will both juſtifie the Jews from negligence, in looſing part of the ſcripture, and the other tranſlatours from preſumption, in adding to it.
V. 18. In truth] The notion of foreign in truth, foreignin this place, being the qualification required in prayer to make it effectual, is fit to be obſerved. The word ſignifies truth, firmneſs, fidelity, conſtancy, ſtability; ſo Jer. 14.19. foreign the peace of truth is a ſtable firm conſtant durable peace. And then that truth or conſtancy may be applied either to the perſon praying, or to the prayer it ſelf. Firſt, if to the perſon, then it ſignifies his firmneſs of adherence to God, ſtyled fearing him v. 19. conſtancy in his ſervice, keeping cloſe to God, and making good his dependence on him, and not applying himſelf to any indirect means to obtain what he prays for, but waiting onelyonly on God, from him in his good time to receive it. Secondly, in reſpect of the prayer it ſelf, it ſignifies the continued conſtancy of addreſs, not giving over the petition when it is not immediately granted, but inforcing it with importunity. And the union of theſe two is that to which the promiſe is here made, that the prayers ſo qualified ſhall certainly in God's due time be anſwered by him. And this, ſpecially the former part, Saint James ſtyles asking in faith, the Hebrew foreign ſignifying both faith and truth. See note on Jam. 1. a. The Chaldee here reads foreign; the word ſignifies truth, rectitude, integrity; and ſo the Syriack alſo. The LXXII. foreign in truth, but that capable of this ſame notion, as when foreign true is oppoſed to foreign unrighteous. See note on Luke 16. a.