Works Volume 4, Book · Psalm 21
The Twenty Firſt PSALM.
TO the ‖Prefect of his Muſick.chief Muſitian, a Pſalm of David.
Paraphrase. The Twenty firſt Pſalm was indited by David himſelf, and committed to the Prefect of his Muſick, to be ſung by the quire, in the aſſembly of the people, as a form of thankſgiving to God, upon occaſion of any victory over his and Gods enemies.
1. The King ſhall joy in thy ſtrength, O Lord; and in thy ſalvation how greatly ſhall he rejoyce?
Paraphrase. 1. O bleſſed Lord, thou haſt gratiouſly interpoſed thy hand of power for our ſoveraign thine anointed, thou haſt delivered him out of all his dangers; in this thy gratious and ſeaſonable exhibition of thy ſelf, he hath all cauſe to rejoyce and triumph exceedingly. (This hath a more eminent completion in the Reſurrection of the *foreign the King Meſſias Chald.Meſſias.)
2. Thou haſt given him his hearts deſire, and haſt not with-holden the †pouring out, or perhaps eſpouſal—requeſt of his lips. Selah.
Paraphrase. 2. Thou haſt given him a moſt liberal return to all the moſt earneſt requeſts, that with tongue or heart he hath addreſt to thee.
3. For thou *haſt met himpreventeſt him with the bleſſings of goodneſs, thou ſetteſt a crown of pure gold on his head.
Paraphrase. 3. Thou haſt beſtowed on him, of thine own free bounty, all ſorts of the moſt valuable mercies, thy ſpecial favour, and all the effects thereof▪ and as thou didſt firſt advance him to the regal throne, ſo haſt thou now moſt eminently ſecured him in it, and made his crown more illuſtrious, his glory more conſpicuous than ever.
4. He asked life of thee, and thou gaveſt it him; even length of days for ever and ever.
Paraphrase. 4. He beſought thy defence, that thou wouldſt preſerve his life, and not ſuffer his enemies to prevail againſt it; and thou haſt heard him abundantly, granted him a very long, and peaceable, and proſperous reign, and by thy faithful promiſe ſecured the Crown to his poſterity, to the time of the coming of the Meſſiah, who muſt be born of his ſeed, and when he comes, be inſtall'd in a glorious kingdom, that never ſhall have an end.
5. His glory is great in thy ſalvation: honour and majeſty haſt thou laid upon him.
Paraphrase. 5. Thou haſt, by interpoſition of thy hand for his deliverance, brought great glory and dignity to him, made all men ſee, how he is valued by thee, and thereby exalted him to the greateſt honour and majeſty of any man in the world.
6. For thou haſt ‖ſet him bleſſings foreignmade him moſt bleſſed for ever; thou haſt made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
Paraphrase. 6. Thou haſt bleſſed him in ſuch a degree, that, as it was promiſed Abraham, Gen. 12.2. thou ſhalt be a bleſſing, ſo it is now performed to this ſon of Abraham, they that will bleſs any, ſhall uſe this form for time to come, Let him be bleſſed by God as David was, thy ſpecial favour and kindneſs toward him hath been matter of moſt triumphant joy, and exultation to him.
7. For the King truſteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the moſt High he ſhall not be moved.
Paraphrase. 7. And as he hath always repoſed his truſt and affiance in God, ſo hath he never miſcarried in his undertakings; Gods moſt powerful hand hath been moſt ſeaſonably and mercifully reacht out to him, and ſecured him in all his dangers.
8. Thine hand ſhall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand ſhall find thoſe that hate thee;
9. Thou ſhalt make them as a fiery oven in time of thine anger: the Lord ſhall ſwallow them up in his wrath, and the fire ſhall devour them.
Paraphrase. 8, 9. Thoſe that oppoſe or ſet themſelves againſt God, ſhall be ſure to be brought down and diſcomfited by him. They that hate God ſhall meet with effects of his hatred. Gods diſpleaſure is very heavy, and flaming, and inſupportable, and the effects of it no leſs than a moſt formidable and utter deſtruction.
10. Their fruit ſhalt thou deſtroy from the earth, and their ſeed from among the children of men.
Paraphrase. 10. And this ruine that falls on them ſhall proceed to their poſterity, even to the utter eradication of their families.
11. For they ‖bent or ſpreadintended evil againſt thee; they imagined a miſchievous device †they prevailed not foreignwhich they were not able to perform.
Paraphrase. 11. And this is a juſt vengeance on them, for the evil deſigns which they had againſt him whom God had ſet in the throne: The malignity of their purpoſe is thus puniſht, though they were not able to bring it to effect, God thus blaſting and fruſtrating them.
12. Therefore ſhalt thou *ſet them a ſhoulder, or make them as one ſhoulder, on thy ſtrings ſhalt thou prepare againſt—make them turn their back, when thou ſhalt make ready thine arrows upon thy ſtrings againſt the face of them.
Paraphrase. 12. In reward to their evil intentions God ſhall ſet them in a ba…talio before him, and then aſſault them moſt hoſtilely, and with the weapons of his ſharp diſpleaſure moſt ſadly infeſt and deſtroy them
13. Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own ſtrength; ſo will we ſing and praiſe thy power.
Paraphrase. 13. And this his vengeance on his enemies, as it is an exalting of his almighty power in the ſight of all men, ſo is it that for which we, that receive the advantage by it, are eternally obliged to rejoyce, and bleſs and magnifie his holy Name.
Annotations on Pſalm XXI.
foreignV. 2. Requeſt] The Hebrew foreign ſignifies to eſpouſe, Deut. 21.7. he that foreign hath eſpouſed a woman; ſo Exod. 22.15. foreign a virgin eſpouſed, and Deut. 22.23. foreign. And ſo the Chaldee foreign in the ſame ſenſe. And if from that root came the noun foreign here with foreign, it would elegantly be rendred the eſpouſal of his lips, i. e. his moſt important conſiderable deſire, which he had ſet his heart upon, and ſo often begg'd of God. What that was, appears v. 3. ſetting the crown upon his head, ſetling him peaceably in the throne. Thus Cant. 3.11. Solomons day of Coronation is called poetically the day of his eſpouſals, and the day of the gladneſs of his heart, i. e. the day that he deſired ſo earneſtly, ſet his heart on, and was ſo glad when it came. But if the roots be diſtinguiſhed by the poſition of the point over ש, then as the word foreign, is not elſe-where to be met with in Scripture; ſo there may be place for conjecture, that foreign had originally the ſame ſenſe, that now foreign in Chaldee and Syriack hath for effudit, pouring out. For the Lexicographers (that render it elocutio and expoſitio, and yet produce no other place but this, wherein they pretend it to do ſo) are well reconcileable with this, and ſo are moſt of the antient Interpreters, though they have rendred it variouſly; the LXXII. foreign, the will, or as other copies foreign, the prayer of his lips, that which the lips pour out in prayer; and the Chaldee foreign the interpretation or expoſition of the lips, agreeable to the Arabick notion of foreign (from foreign) for indicium. But the Syriack have foreign the preparation of his lips, that which he hath firſt prepared in the heart by meditation, and then poured out at the lips.
foreignV. 2. Preventeſt] From foreign the word foreign in Piel hath ſeveral ſignifications; ordinarily to prevent or anticipate, but withal to meet. Deut 23.4. foreign we render, they met you not with bread and water; and ſo the Chaldee renders it foreign occurrerunt me, and the LXXII. foreign: ſo Nehem. 13.2. they met not— ſo Iſai. 21.14. we read they prevented not; it ſhould be, they met not with bread him that fled: In all which the LXXII. read foreign, to meet. So Mich. 6.6. wherewithal foreign ſhall I meet the Lord? and again, foreign ſhall I meet him with burnt-offerings? we read, come before; which if it be in the notion of preventing, certainly belongs not to that place. And thus it moſt probably ſignifies here, thou ſhalt meet him with benediction of good, as when Melchizedeck met Abraham, and brought forth bread and wine, and bleſſed him: So Gods coming out to meet us with bleſſings is a very proper expreſſion of his bounty in obliging and loving us firſt; as Job 41.2. who foreign hath begun any kindneſs to me, obliged me firſt, and I will repay him? The rendring of Caſtellio is here moſt perſpicuous, and fully expreſſive of the ſenſe, cum egregiis affeciſti beneficiis, thou haſt beſtowed moſt eminent favours on him.
foreignV. 11. Intended] The Hebrew foreign from whence is foreign here, ſignifies two things; 1. to incline or decline, and 2. to ſtretch out, extend, diſtend. But how in either of theſe notions it ſhall be joyned with foreign here, it will not be eaſie to judge. The LXXII. render it in the former notion, foreign, they bow'd down evil things on thee; and the Latine, declinaverunt in te mala; and the Syriack ſeems to accord, rendring it foreign and the Arabick, they bow'd down. If this be the notion of the word, then it will beſt be rendred, they wreſted, or perverted evil things againſt thee, (as Exod. 23.2. foreign to decline, and foreign to pervert, is uſed, and again v. 6. foreign thou ſhalt not pervert) i. e. by perverting or diſtorting thy words, framed accuſations, calumnies (which are ſtiled foreign, evil or wicked words or things, Matth. 5.2.) againſt thee. In the ſecond notion it is ordinarily applied to lines and curtains; and then to ſpread evil againſt any, may be a phraſe taken from the ſpreading of nets, (as Pſal. 140.5. they ſpread a net with cords) for the inſnaring of any. But the Chaldee, which render it by foreign from foreign which ſignifies firſt to beat out and compreſs, and thence to machinate, contrive, or forge in the brain, (in which ſenſe it beſt agrees with imagining, that follows) make it probable to be taken from the Metalliſts, who beat out, and ſo extend or diſtend their metals, and ſo frame them into any faſhion: from whence, by an eaſie metaphor, it may be drawn to that of deſigning, or forging any evil againſt another.
V. 11. foreignMake them turn their backs] That foreign ſignifies a ſhoulder or ſhoulder-blade, there is no queſtion, Scapula, that part of the body which from the neck reacheth on both ſides, before, and behind, to the arm. But what the meaning is here of the Poetical phraſe foreign thou ſhalt ſet them a ſhoulder, foreignis not ſo eaſie to reſolve. The Chaldee reads it, Thou haſt ſet them to thy people foreign one ſhoulder. The ſenſe of it ſeems to be beſt fetcht from that which follows, foreign to thy ſtrings, foreignfrom foreign nervous, a bow-ſtring, Pſal. 9.2. The LXXII. ſeem not to have underſtood it, rendring it foreign, in thy remainders, as if it were from foreign reliquus fuit. But ſure it ſignifies the ſtrings of a bow, as the inſtrument of ſhooting or wounding: and then whether we joyn that to the precedent words, Thou ſhalt ſet them a ſhoulder for thy bow-ſtrings,] or to the ſubſequent words, Thou ſhalt ſet them a ſhoulder, with thy bow-ſtrings thou ſhalt prepare againſt the face of them,] the latter part muſt have ſome influence on the former; and then either way, the ſetting them a ſhoulder] will be either the ſetting them in aray, drawing them up in a full and fair battalio, that ſo his arrows may freely play upon them, which in the end of the verſe are ſaid to be prepared againſt the face of them; or, to the ſame ſenſe, thou ſhalt make them as one neck (ſo the Jewiſh Arab. renders it) for ſlaughter. Somewhat parallel to this we have Hoſ. 6.9. where it is ſaid of the Prieſts foreign they killed ſhoulder-wiſe, or by the ſhoulder. The Chaldee render it foreign one ſhoulder, in the ſame words, as here they uſe to expound foreign ſhoulder: which ſhews it to be a proverbial form, to ſignifie ſure, and uniform ſlaughter. This the learned Caſtellio ſaw, and paraphraſtically, but very ſignificantly, expreſt; Nam tu eis pro ſcopo collocatis, rectâ in eos tuis nervis collineabis, For thou ſhalt ſet them as thy butt or mark, and with thine arrows aim ſtraight at them. And this ſure is the perſpicuous meaning of this dark place. For the Souldier in procinctu, both in the antient and modern wars, was, and is wont to oppoſe only the ſhoulder to the enemy, that being the moſt commodious poſture both for defence and offence. Thus the Phalanx was drawn up; thus our ſtand of Pikes are accuſtomed to charge; thus the Archers draw the bows, the Musketiers give fire; ſo the Swordmen receive the enemy, covering the left ſhoulder with the buckler, and they that uſe no buckler, yet ſtand upon a guard of like nature, and hold it for a rule, never to leave open the whole body to the oppoſite. All which gives the account clearly, why the phraſe of ſetting them a ſhoulder] is here uſed, becauſe that was the military poſture. Abu Walid interprets it, thou ſhalt ſet them as one ſide, or on one ſide, viz. to deal with them all alike, comparing the uſe of it here with that in Hoſeah c. 6.9.