Works Volume 4, Book · Psalm 11
The Eleventh PSALM.
TO the chief Muſitian, a Pſalm of David.
Paraphrase. The Eleventh Pſalm is a declaration of Davids full confidence in God, in deſpight of all diſcouragements, and was by him compoſed, and committed to the prefect of his Quire.
1. In the Lord put I my truſt: how ſay ye then to my ſoul, flee as a bird to ‖theyour mountain.
Paraphrase. 1. My full truſt and confidence is in God, not in any ſtrength or preparations of my own: and therefore their advice is very unreaſonable, that as in a ſtate of deſtitution and deſpair, counſel me to retire to ſome remote place of ſolitude, for fear of mine enemies forces; as when fearful birds flie to the tops of Mountains, out of the foulers reach.
2. For loe, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready the arrow upon the ſtring, that they may privily ſhoot at the upright in heart.
Paraphrase. 2. They are daily diſcouraging me, with the approach, and preparations of mine enemies, and the cloſeneſs, and unavoidableneſs of their deſigns againſt me.
3. ‖For the ſtrong holds will be demoliſhed.If the foundations be deſtroyed, what can the righteous do?
Paraphrase. 3. Aſſuring me, that within a while all my preparations and Forces will be routed, and then 'tis not my righteouſneſs will give me any ſupport or ſecurity.
4. The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lords throne is in Heaven; his eyes behold, his eye-lids try the Children of men.
Paraphrase. 4. But my full reliance and confidence in God, arms me againſt all theſe temptations to fear and deſpair. Let the ſtrength, and preparations of my enemies be what they will, and my condition as low and deſtitute, in the eye of man, as is poſſible; yet I am ſure God ſits in Heaven, as in a ſanctuary, and on a throne: ſo that I have my double appeal, and reſort, to his mercy and his juſtice; the former to ſecure the righteous, the latter to ſubdue and deſtroy the wicked oppreſſor: and from theſe two I have grounds of aſſured confidence, that that all-ſeeing Majeſty, that knoweth and judgeth the actions of men, will not fail to judge on my ſide, to ſecure me, and deſtroy my proudeſt adverſaries,
5. The Lord tryeth the righteous; *or, and the wicked, and he that loveth violence hateth his own ſoul.but the wicked and him that loveth violence his ſoul hateth.
Paraphrase. 5. For as it is moſt infallibly certain, that God doth overlook and ſentence all and every action of all ſorts of men, both good and bad, and approves, and juſtifies, and acquits, and withall maintains the cauſe, undertakes the patronage of the ſincerely upright perſon, and though he permit him to be under ſome temptations▪ and ſeeming deſtitutions for a while, yet finally delivers him, and vindicates his integrity, and ſuffers not any thing which is truly ill to befall him, but converts all into good to him; ſo on the other ſide, he abhors violence and injuſtice, and permits not that finally to proſper, ſave to the deſtruction and endleſs miſchief of the Authors of it.
6. Upon the wicked he ſhall rain Snares, fire, and brimſtone, and ‖a tempeſtuous wind ſhall be foreignan horrible tempeſt: this ſhall be the portion of their Cup.
Paraphrase. 6. Be their Forces and preparations never ſo ſtrong, God can and will defeat them all: when man cannot intrap them, or overcome them by his policy, God will do it for him, bring them into ſome trap or other, that ſhall keep them faſt enough from injoying their projected prey, from hurting the righteous; and this oft ſo unexpectedly and ſo ſtrangely, as that it ſhall be acknowledged the immediate work of God, as much, as if it came down in a ſhowre of rain, viſibly from Heaven. And ſo when men cannot by their own ſtrength reſiſt them, God will deſtroy them by his interpoſition, and that ſo obſervable to pious conſidering ſpectators, that it ſhall be attributed to him as immediately and ſignally, as was the deſtruction of Sodom by fire and brimſtone, or. of the Aegyptians by means of the ſtrong Eaſt-wind, Exod. 14.21. which drowned them, c. 15.10. and ſecured the Iſraelites. Thus ſhall God finally deal with the wicked oppreſſors, though he bear patiently with them for a while.
7. For the righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Paraphrase. 7. For as God is moſt juſt and upright in himſelf, and perfectly abhors all the injuſtices and oppreſſions of wicked men; ſo doth he think himſelf obliged to favour and protect innocence, whereſoever it is, and accordingly conſiders and regards, and with his own eye of ſpecial watchful providence, defends, and ſecures all thoſe that walk uprightly.
Annotations on Pſal. XI.
foreignV. 1. Your mountain] where the Hebrew now reads foreign to your mountain a Sparrow, all the antient interpreters uniformly read, to the mountain as a Sparrow: foreign ſay the Chaldee, foreign, and ſo the reſt, and ſo the ſenſe exacts, and ſo it is poſſible the reading antiently was, without the foreign to the mountain as a Sparrow, as Pſal. 102.7. we have foreign as a Sparrow upon the houſe top. However, if it be, flie Sparrow to your Mountain, the ſenſe will be the ſame, as a Sparrow to the Mountains (your] being redundant in ſenſe) ſo the Jewiſh-Arab, to ſome of the mountains.
V. 3. If the foundations] It is not certain, what foreign ſignifies here. The word is once more found, Iſa. 19.10. where we read purpoſes, and in the margin, foundations, and by ſome learned men 'tis rendred nets, by others, more agreeably to the context, dammes, or pool-heads. The Radix foreign poſuit, denotes promiſcuouſly to make or prepare, or raiſe, whether a damme, a work, a fortreſs, and rampart of any kind, or a family, or an Army, &c. From the firſt of theſe (wherein 'tis uſed, Iſa. 26.1. God ſaith foreign he will found or caſt up Salvation for walls and bull-warks) the noun may here ſignifie a refuge or place of ſtrength, ſuch as were, ordinarily built on hills, which were mention'd v. 1. from the ſecond is Seths name, Gen. 4. becauſe, ſaith Eve, God foreign hath prepared me another ſeed for Abel; hath given me, ſaith the Chaldee; foreign, raiſed up, ſay the LXXII. In the third ſence 'tis uſed Pſal. 3.6. for laying ſiege, foreignincamping, raiſing an army, foreign aſſembling, ſaith the Chaldee, in a militarie manner: ſo Iſa. 22.7. foreign ſhall ſet themſelves in array. And it is moſt probable that here in, a diſcourſe of enemies and hoſtility, it ſhould be uſed either in that firſt or in this third ſenſe, either for fortreſſes or ſtrong holds, or elſe for other forces and preparations military. It is thought alſo capable of another notion, for laws, the foundations of Government, and the defences, or bulwarks of every mans right, which, by another word foreign, are ſo ſtiled, Pſal. 82.5. ſpeaking of Judicature perverted, All the foundations of the earth are out of courſe. But the context here ſpeaking of David and his enemies, and uſing another word, doth not ſo well allow of this. To that of fortreſſes the ſtory agrees not, for David had none ſuch. To the latter of forces or preparations military the LXXII. (and the other interpreters following them) beſt agree, foreign, they have deſtroyed what thou haſt prepared; and the Syriack yet more fully foreign what thou haſt prepared, they have diſſipated. The Latine not ſo fully, yet to the ſame ſenſe, qua perfeciſti deſtruxerunt, they have deſtroyed what thou haſt done, i. e. (the preter for the future) they will ſoon ſcatter and diſſipate all thy preparations; and when they have done ſo,foreign foreign what hath the righteous done? i. e. what can or will he do? His righteouſneſs will ſtand him in little ſtead. And thus it is fitly a part of the ſpeech of the diſtruſtful friends of David, that diſcouraged him, and bid him flie to the hills, places of ſtrength or ſafety, v. 1. (and it may be farther obſerved, that in Scripture ſtile we frequently read of the foundations of the mountains, or hills, Deut. 32.22. Pſal. 18.7.) and ſo ſtill inſiſt here, telling him that the enemy will deſtroy all his forces, and then a righteous man or cauſe, without any other defence, will ſoon be taken, and ruined. And therefore this is moſt probably the meaning of it.
V. 5. Soul hateth] The different ſignifications of the particle ו have made this verſe capable of ſeveral interpretations. For if as a Copulative it be rendred [And] then the firſt part of the verſe runs thus, The Lord trieth the righteous, foreign and the wicked, i. e. examines the actions and thoughts of both: and this ſeems moſt probable, as beſt connecting with V. 4. his eye-lids try the children of men, i. e. all men in the latitude, righteous and wicked, good and bad. And then, as a conſequent of that, it fitly follows, And he that loveth violence hateth his own ſoul, i. e. doth inſtead of oppreſſing others, miſchief himſelf; he is ſure to have the worſt of it; when God comes to examine it, his unjuſt dealing will be the greateſt cruelty to his own ſoul: and for this the ו before foreign he that loveth violence] may be indifferently rendred, [and] or [but] but moſt fitly [and.] This ſenſe the LXXII. have imbraced foreign, but he that loveth iniquity hateth his own ſoul; and from them the Latine, qui autem diligit iniquitatem, odit animam ſuam; and ſo the Arabick and Aethiopick: and there is only this prejudice againſt it, that foreign is in the feminine, and ſo more fitly agrees with foreign his ſoul in the nominative caſe. On the other ſide then, if ו in the firſt place ſignifie [but] then it will disjoyn foreign the wicked, from the former part of the verſe, and make it begin the latter part; and then our ordinary rendring of it, which is favoured by the Chaldee, will be moſt commodious, ſo as to make an oppoſition betwixt the fate of the righteous on one ſide, and the wicked and violent on the other; that God trieth the one, and then trying muſt ſignifie either permitting to be tempted and afflicted for a while, or elſe (as foreign, to trie ſometimes ſignifies) approving the former, and abhorreth and deteſteth, and ſo will ſeverely puniſh the latter. And the only exception againſt this underſtanding of it is, that foreign trieth, is in the 4th verſe uſed in another ſenſe, for a judicial examination of mens actions, ſuch as is common to the ſons of men indefinitely, i. e. to all ſorts of them, good and bad, and not peculiar to the righteous; as in the notion either of tempting for a while, or of approving, it muſt be. In this uncertainty I thought it beſt, that the Paraphraſe ſhould not be confined to one, but inlarged ſo as to take in both of them.
V. 6. Fire, brimſtone] This verſe is beſt divided, foreignby making the pauſe after foreign ſnares, thus, Ʋpon the wicked he ſhall rain ſnares; putting all that follows [fire and brimſtone, and wind of tempeſts or tempeſtuous winds] into one alſo, of all which together it is affirmed, that they are the portion of his Cup. And thus the LXXII. read it, foreign, and ſo the Syriack and Latine; and thus there is no ellipſis to be ſupplied, but only of the verb, are, or ſhall be, thus, Fire and brimſtone and a tempeſtuous wind ſhall be the portion of their Cup: foreignwhich laſt phraſe [portion of Cup] is proverbial in Scripture. Gods gifts and diſpenſations, good and bad, are ordinarily expreſt by a Cup poured out, and given men to drink; thus 'tis very frequently in Scripture. And even the Heathen had the ſame expreſſion of their Gods; foreign— in Homer, there be two Cups of the Gods, one of good things, another of bad. And then foreign portion from foreign numeravit, to tell out, foreignſignifies either a payment, or that which is deſtin'd to any, as his foreign, or portion, in a diviſion.