Works Volume 4, Book · Psalm 28
The Twenty Eighth PSALM.
A Pſalm of David.
Paraphrase. The Twenty Eighth Pſalm was compoſed by David in time of his diſtreſs, and is a fiducial prayer for deliverance.
1. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock: be not ‖or, deaf foreignſilent to me; left †thou be ſilent, and I be likened—if thou be ſilent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
Paraphrase. 1. O Lord, I have no ſtrength or power to defend my ſelf, but that which wholly deſcends from thee. To thee therefore I make my humble and moſt importunate addreſs: be thou pleaſed to hear and anſwer it gratiouſly; leſt, whilſt I call to thee, and am neglected by thee, my enemies begin to inſult, and account of me, as of a deſtitute loſt perſon.
2. Hear the voice of my ſupplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
Paraphrase. 2. Lord, anſwer my petitions, which ardently and ſolemnly I addreſs unto thee, and ſo, as thou haſt promiſed gratiouſly to anſwer them.
3. *Seiſe not on me.Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity; which ſpeak peace to their neighbours, but miſchief is in their hearts.
Paraphrase. 3. And let not me be handled in that manner, as wicked unjuſt oppreſſors, and treacherous deſigners are wont to be handled, periſhing in their injurious attempts.
4. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedneſs of their endeavours; give them after the work of their hands, render to them their ‖rendring.deſert.
5. Becauſe they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he ſhall deſtroy them, and not build them up.
Paraphrase. 4, 5. For them, it is moſt juſt that they ſhould be dealt with as they have dealt, that the ſame meaſure that they have meted to others ſhould be meted to them again. That as they have not heeded God, and his actions, and works of providence, but lived in oppoſition to all his precepts; ſo he, in ſtead of proſpering them as they expect, ſhould remarkably blaſt all their attempts, and at length utterly deſtroy them, (ſee note on Pſal. 10.50.) (But thus ſure thou wilt not deal with me, who have kept cloſe to thee in all my undertakings, have dealt uprightly with all, and attempted nothing but what I have thy warrant for.)
6. Bleſſed be the Lord, becauſe he hath heard the voice of my ſupplications.
Paraphrase. 6. On which grounds I come confidently to thee with my requeſt, and am ſo aſſured of thy hearing and anſwering it graciouſly, that I have nothing to do, but to acknowledge and magnifie thy mercies, as if they were already poured down upon me, ſaying.
7. The Lord is my ſtrength and my ſhield; my heart truſted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoyceth, and with my ſong will I praiſe him.
Paraphrase. 7. The Lord of heaven is my only fortification and defence. I placed my full truſt in him, and never made applications to any other aids, that humane wiſdom might ſuggeſt, and I am aſſured I ſhall reap the fruit thereof, aſſiſtance and deliverance in due ſeaſon; and therefore I am tranſported with joy, and cannot chuſe but triumph, and exult, and make and ſing hymns for the acknowledging of his mercy.
8. The Lord is their ſtrength, and he is the *fortreſs of deliverances.f ſaving ſtrength of his anointed.
Paraphrase. 8. Thoſe that adhere to God ſhall certainly be protected by him: he will never fail to come ſeaſonably to the reſcue of him, whom he hath by his own appointment advanced to the Kingdom.
9. Save thy people, and bleſs thine inheritance: feed them alſo, and lift them up for ever.
Paraphrase. 9. O be thou now pleaſed to ſtretch forth thy hand, to reſcue thy faithful ſervants whom thou haſt choſen for thy ſelf, to be owned by thee in a peculiar manner be thou their paſtor to take care of them, as of thy flock, and for ever to ſupport them, and raiſe them up, when they are fallen.
Annotations on Pſalm XXVIII.
foreignV. 1. Leſt if thou] The Hebrew idiome is here obſervable. The words are literally thus, foreign Leſt thou be ſilent, or, hold thy peace from me, (from foreign ſiluit) foreign (from foreign to ſpeak by parable.) Yet here the adverb foreign hath no influence on that which immediately follows, for thus the ſenſe bears not, [be not ſilent, leſt thou be ſilent;] but on that only which is farther off, [leſt I be likened—] that in the midſt being only taken in, in paſſage to the latter, and is beſt rendred in ſenſe, left thou being ſilent, or leſt whilſt thou art ſilent, I be likened. (This idiome frequently occurs in the ſacred writings, and will be uſeful to be remembred from hence.) The LXXII. render it literally, as it lies in the Hebrew, foreign, leſt thou be ſilent to me, and I be likened; and ſo the Latine and Syriack alſo, and ſo it muſt be rendred; the other by [if, or, whilſt] being the paraphraſe, and not the verſion, and ſo uſed only by the Chaldee, which profeſſeth paraphraſing.
foreignV. 2. Oracle] From foreign to ſpeak is foreign, uſed for the place wherein the Ark was, the holy of holies in the Temple, and ſo proportionably in the Tabernacle, before the Temple was built: ſo ſtiled not only from the Decalogue, or ten foreign words, which were put into the Ark; but ſpecially becauſe from the midſt of the Cherubim, God was wont to give anſwer to the Prieſt, when he inquired of ought, and ſo to ſpeak there. From this uſe of it 'tis ordinarily ſtiled the Oracle, 1 King. 6.5, 16, 19, 20, 22, 30. and 8.6, 8. in all which the LXXII. retain the Hebrew word, and render it foreign: and ſo 2 Chron. 3.15. and 4.20. and 5.6, 8. only here they render it foreign, not as the Latine takes it in the notion of Templum, foreign.but as foreign may beſt be rendred the Tabernacle, (of the notion of foreign ſee note on Act. 19. e.) or Sanctuary, a part of that, as in the Chriſtian Church foreign is but a part of the foreign or foreign, by which words foreign, the whole Church or Temple is ſignified) and that part particularly, foreign, in which the table of the holy myſteries is ſet, called alſo the foreign, or altar-place, as we learn from the Scholiaſt of Nazianzen foreign. This therefore is the meaning of foreign thy holy Oracle, in this place, (ſo Symmuchus and Aquila read it, foreign, oracle) the Tabernacle, or Sanctuary wherein the Ark was placed, toward which they uſed to pray, and expect Gods anſwers from thence, viz. the granting of their prayers: as when in matters of doubt they ſought to the oracle for the reſolution of it, the Prieſt ſolemnly gave them reſponſes from thence, called alſo foreign,foreign. oracles, anſwerable to the origination of foreign here, from foreign to ſpeak, (ſee note on Rom. 3.1.)
foreignV. 3. Draw] foreign from foreign that ſignifies both to draw and apprehend, will be beſt rendered here, ſeize not on me, as he that ſeizeth on any to carry or drag him to execution. The Syriack reads foreign Number me not with the wicked, ſeeming to transfer the phraſe foreign Pſal. 26.9.foreign hither, for ſo that is to be rendred, number not my ſoul with ſinners. In like manner the LXXII. which there read foreign, deſtroy me not together with— do here, after they have literally rendred the Hebrew by foreign, draw not together, add, foreign, and deſtroy not together; hereby evidencing, 1. that the phraſe here, and [number not] Pſal. 26. are all one; and 2. that the meaning and full importance of both is, deſtroy me not with the wicked, or in ſuch manner as the wicked are deſtroyed.
V. 4. Deſert] From foreign to retribute, or render, foreignforeign here muſt moſt probably be rendred, their retribution, or rendering, i. e. according as they have rendred to others. In v. 3. 'tis ſaid, they ſpeak peace to their neighbour, but imagine miſchief, i. e. deſign the hurt of them that are their neighbours, and deſerve no ill of them, and to whom they profeſs great kindneſs. This therefore is their foreign their rendring, as much unkindneſs and rudeneſs as can be, and that as little expected from them. And then for God to render them their rendering, (which the LXXII. exactly tranſlate foreign, render to them their retribution, and ſo the Chaldee and Latine) is to deal the like meaſure to them, to bring miſchiefs on them unexpectedly; and this, as the clear explication of what is in the beginning of the verſe, give them according to their deeds— And thus it belongs to Davids argument to God in the whole Pſalm, that he ſhould not be uſed as wicked men are uſed, that as he hath dealt unkindly, or treacherouſly with none, ſo he ſhould not be forſaken by God, when he ſtands in moſt need of the completion of his promiſe to him.
V. 7. With my ſong] In this place the Hebrew being very perſpicuous, and void of ambiguity, the LXXII. (and from them the Syriack, Latine, Arabick, and Aethiopick) have very far departed from it. The account of it is very hard to be given, unleſs we ſuppoſe them to have read the words otherwiſe placed, than now they are. We now read foreign and my heart exults, and in my ſong I will praiſe him: but the LXXII. foreign, and my fleſh hath reflouriſhed, and from my will I will confeſs unto him. Here the only way of according this vaſt difference ſeems moſt probably this; to ſuppoſe foreign and foreign tranſpoſed, foreignforeign ſet fore-moſt, and lightly changed into foreign, and my fleſh, foreignwhich being joyned with foreign from foreign was merry, (and being applied to plants, flouriſhed, or looke green, and ſo metaphorically applied to a body, when it returns to …erdure again) ariſeth that part of their rendring, foreign, my fleſh reflouriſhed. foreignAnd then foreign the heart being not unfitly taken for the will, the other two words foreign with my heart will I praiſe him, will be naturally enough rendered foreign, from my will I will confeſs to him; foreign in Hiphil, foreignwhich we render praiſe, ordinarily ſignifying to confeſs, and that oft taken in the notion of praiſing.
V. 8. Saving ſtrength] From foreign was ſtrong, and foreign ſtrength, is foreign a ſtrong place, or fortification. foreignSo Jud. 6.26. build an altar in the top of this (rock, we read but in the margine) ſtrong place. So Dan. 11.7. and ſhall enter foreign into the fortreſs or ſtrong hold; and ſo it ſignifies here, and with foreign ſalvations added to it, muſt be rendered, the fortreſs or ſtrong hold of deliverances.