Works Volume 4, Book 2 · Psalm 63
The Sixty Third PSALM.
A Pſalm of David when he was in the Wilderneſs of Judah.
Paraphrase. The ſixty third Pſalm was compoſed by David in a condition of great ſadneſs, when not daring to adventure himſelf in Kellah, which he had reſcued from the Philiſtims, 1 Sam. 23.5.12. he got into ſtrong holds in the wilderneſs. v. 14 viz. the wilderneſs (not of Idumaea, as the LXXII, &c. read, but) of Judaea, 1 Sam. 22.5. in the foreſt of Hareth.
1. O God, thou art my God, early will I ſeek thee. My ſoul thirſteth forthee, my fleſh ‖fainteth, grows dim-ſighted, is i… anguiſh.longeth for thee, in a dry and thirſty land, where no water is;
Paraphrase. 1. O Gracious Father, I have no other ſanctuary but thee; I will make all ſpeed to implore thy mercy; my condition is moſt ſad and deplored; the wide and ſqualid deſert, in which now I am, is the livelieſt emblem of it: O that thou wilt pleaſe to ſuccour and relieve me.
2. †So as I have ſeen thee in the Sanctuary, to ſee thy ſtrength and glory.To ſee thy power and thy glory, ſo as I have ſeen thee in the Sanctuary.
Paraphrase. 2. To reſtore me to that dignity and comfort of ſerving thee in the Sanctuary, where the Cherubims ſpreading abroad their wings for a covering, are a ſignal emblem of thy preſence.
3. Becauſe thy loving kindneſs is better than life, my lips ſhall praiſe thee.
Paraphrase. 3. That mercy of thine which gives a value to life it ſelf, and without which that which is moſt pretious and deſirable is nothing worth. For this, I that have ſo often taſted, and ſo know the value of it, ſhall be for ever obliged to magnify thy bleſſed name.
4. Thus will I bleſs thee while I live; I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Paraphrase. 4. And this will I do conſtantly and continually to the end of my life, and in the experience of thy paſt mercies, make my humbleſt addreſſes to thee for all that I can want for the future.
5. My ſoul ſhall be ſatisfied as with marrow and fatneſs; and my mouth ſhall praiſe thee with joyful lips.
Paraphrase. 5. And thus, by thy great mercy, ſhall my life be divided betwixt imploring thy aids, and receiving abundant ſatisfaction to all my wants, and paying my chearfulleſt acknowledgments to ſo liberal a donor.
6. When I remember thee in my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Paraphrase. 6. And for this, beſide the offerings of the day, frequently repeated, the ſeveral diviſions, or watches, or hours of the very night ſhall afford me fit ſeaſons, when after a little repoſe and ſleep, I frequently rouſe my ſelf, and divert to that more divine and chearful imployment, the meditation of thy manifold mercies toward me.
7. Becauſe thou haſt been my help, therefore in the ſhadow of thy wings will I rejoyce.
Paraphrase. 7. And thus conclude, to my own unſpeakable comfort, and thy honour, that that God which hath thus conſtantly relieved and ſupported me, will for ever continue his watchful providence over me, from which as I receive all ſecurity, ſo I am in all reaſon to return him continual praiſe.
8. My ſoul *hath adhered, kept cloſe foreignfolloweth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
Paraphrase. 8. As I have cordially adhered to my obedience, and faithful performance of all duty to thee, ſo haſt thou with thine eſpecial care and providence ſupported me in all my diſtreſſes.
9. But thoſe that ſeek my ſoul to deſtroy it, ſhall go into the lower parts of the earth.
Paraphrase. 9. As for my enemies that purſue me with mortal hatred, and deſire to take away my life, they themſelves ſhall fall into the deſtruction they deſigned to me.
10. They ſhall ‖pour them out.fall by the ſword; †the foxes portion ſhall they be.they ſhall be a portion for Foxes.
Paraphrase. 10. They purſue me to death, as hunters do their game, and they ſhall fall by the ſword, and be devoured by thoſe wild beaſts that others hunt and purſue; or they ſhall be driven to deſolate places, as the moſt noxious beaſts, the foxes (and wolves) are, when they are hunted and purſued.
11. But the King ſhall rejoyce in God; every one that ſweareth by him, ſhall glory: but the mouth of them that ſpeak lies ſhall be ſtopped.
Paraphrase. 11. Mean while I ſhall have all cauſe to bleſs and magnifie the name of God, and not I only, but every truly pious man, who, as he ſwears by the name of God, ſo is moſt ſtrictly careful to perform his oaths: whereas on the other ſide, all falſe perjurious men ſhall be deſtroyed.
Annotations on Pſal. LXIII.
foreignV. 1. Longeth] foreign is not elſewhere uſed in the Bible: 'tis here by the Chaldee paraphraſtically rendred foreign deſireth, by the Syriack foreign from foreign intuitus eſt, expectavit, expecteth. The LXXII. read foreign, as if it were foreign quantum. The fulleſt rendring of it may be had from the Arabick uſe of it, among whom, ſaith Golius, 'tis uſed not only for the dimneſs of the eyes, (which the Arabick Grammarians eſpecially interpret of one born blind) but alſo for faintneſs: ſo when Kamus explains it by changing of colour, mutabit colorem, and abiit, vel defecit intellectus, his underſtanding was gone, or failed; both which change of colour, and failing of underſtanding, are tokens of faintneſs, and being in ill condition for want of due nouriſhment. And ſo it will here moſt fitly be rendred (with analogy to the thirſting of the ſoul foregoing) my fleſh fainteth in a dry and thirſty land, &c. But from that other ſignification of blindneſs or dimneſs, it may alſo here be taken according to that tranſlations uſe mentioned by Alzamach-ſhari, of being in a maze, erring, ſo as not to know whither to go, or what to do. The Jewiſh Arab here renders it foreign, which agrees with foreign in the notion of changing colour, growing wan, as alſo of great anguiſh, being ſick at heart.
foreignV. 2. Sanctuary] foreign holineſs] is evidently uſed for the Ark or Sanctuary, 1 King. 8.8. compared with a Chron. v. 9. And therefore the thing ſo vehemently here deſired by David, is to ſee (and ſerve God) in the Sanctuary: And the ſame is the importance of ſeeing foreign thy ſtrength and glory, for ſo both thoſe words are uſed for the Ark, Pſal. 78.61. he delivered his ſtrength into captivity, and his glory into the enemies hand.
foreignV. 10. Fall] foreign from foreign fluxit, effuſus eſt, ſignifies in Hiphil, they ſhall cauſe to be poured out, or ſhall poure out.) The word is ordinarily applied to water, 2 Sam. 14.14. Lam. 3.49. But here, by the immediate mention of the ſword, it is reſtrained to the effuſion of blood, and being in the third perſon plural, in the active ſenſe, it is after the Hebrew idiome, to be interpreted in the paſſive ſenſe, they ſhall poure out by the hand of the ſword,] i. e. they ſhall be poured out by the ſword, the hand of the ſword being no more than the edge of the ſword. As for that which follows, foreign,foreign it may poſſibly be rendred the portion of foxes they ſhall be, i. e. they ſhall be that which ſo frequently befalls foxes, viz. hated and purſued, and deſtroyed; that which befalls that ſubtle and noxious creature, ſhall befall them, to periſh by their wickedneſs; or they ſhall be in the ſame condition with them, driven forth into deſolate places, ſuch as foxes uſe to walk in: ſo Lam. v. 18. the mountain of Zion is laid deſolate, the foxes walk on it; ſo Jarchi here interprets it; and ſo the phraſe is uſed, Mat. 24.51. foreign— he ſhall ſet him his portion with hypocrites, aſſign him the ſame condition that ſuch have. But the portion of foxes] may more probably ſignifie the prey of thoſe wild creatures, there being a ſort of larger foxes in thoſe countreys, called uſually Jackales. which feed on dead men, and will dig them out of their graves to eat them; and ſo to be left unburied, or buried at large in the field, will be to be made a portion for ſuch beaſts. The Syriack that reads foreign meat to, or for the foxes, underſtood it thus, and the LXXII, and vulgar, foreign, partes vulpium erunt, the foxes portions ſhall they be, i. e. caſt out for theſe wild beaſts to feed on. The Jewiſh Arab hath another underſtanding of theſe two verſes; thoſe that ſeek after my ſoul to deſtroy it ſhall go down into the lower parts of the earth, i. e. ſeek into holes and caves after my ſoul, deſcend in their ſearch after it under the mountains of the earth, intending to draw it out to the edge of the ſword, and make it a portion for foxes.
V. 11. Sweareth] 'Twas an ordinary token of reſpect to Kings, foreignfor their ſubjects in ſwearing to mention their names: ſo 1 Sam. 1.26. and 20.3. and 2 Sam. 15.21. and in ſeveral other places. And 'tis Solomon Jarchie's gloſs, that this is meant here.