Works Volume 4, Book 2 · Psalm 71
The Seventy Firſt Pſalm.
THe ſeventy firſt Pſalm is a prayer for deliverance in time of diſtreſs, probably of Abſolom's conſpiracy, which happened to him in the latter end of his life, referred to v. 9. & 18.
1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my truſt; let me ‖not be put to ſhame for ever. foreignnever be put to confuſion.
Paraphrase. 1. Lord, all my repoſe and confidence is in thee, I have not forſaken this my hold to catch after any other ſecular aid; O let not my reliance on thee be ſtill diſappointed and fruſtrated.
2. Deliver me in thy righteouſneſs, and cauſe me to eſcape; encline thine ear unto me, and ſave me.
Paraphrase. 2. Thou art the patron of all that are in diſtreſs, and thou haſt promiſed thy certain relief to all that conſtantly wait on thee, and in thoſe thy promiſed mercies I have a peculiar portion: Thy juſtice therefore and fidelity, as well as thy mercy, are concerned in granting me a ſeaſonable deliverance at this time.
3. Be thou †to me for a rock of repoſe foreignmy ſtrong habitation whereunto I may continually reſort: thou haſt given commandment to ſave me, for thou art my rock and my fortreſs.
Paraphrase. 3. O be thou my ſure place of retreat, whither I may conſtantly betake my ſelf in in time of diſtreſs or danger. This thou haſt promiſed, O Lord, and therefore on thee I confidently depend for the performance of it.
4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
Paraphrase. 4. Lord, ſuffer not injurious wicked men to ſucceed in their projected violences and cruelties againſt me.
5. For thou art my hope, O Lord God; thou art my truſt from my youth.
Paraphrase. 5. To obtain thy audience to this requeſt, I have this argument of all others moſt forcible with thee, viz. that I am one that have ever depended and relied on thee, as thy creature and peculiar client.
6. By thee have I been holden up from the womb, thou art he that took me out of my mothers bowels: my praiſe ſhall be continually of thee.
Paraphrase. 6. Who acknowledge it thy work of continued protection, by which I have been ſupported every hour of my life, as of thy primary gift that I ever had any being in the world, and ſo am obliged to bleſs and magnifie thy Name continually for both.
7. I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my ſtrong *hope foreignrefuge.
Paraphrase. 7. I am vilified, and ſcoffed, and reproached by many, that I can talk of relief from heaven, when in the eye of man I am ſo low, and in ſuch a deplored and loſt condition; but yet am I not diſheartned or amated by this, I know whom I have truſted, and that there is no ſecurity like that of relying and depending on thee.
8. ‖my mouth ſhall— foreign ▪Let my mouth be filled with thy praiſe and with thy honour all the day.
Paraphrase. 8. O be thou now pleaſed to haſten to my relief, that I may be able to refute theſe ſcoffers, and divulge and proclaim to others the glorious advantages of thy ſervice, beyond any other courſe that can be received in competition with it.
9. Caſt me not off in the time of old age, forſake me not when my ſtrength faileth me.
Paraphrase. 9. When I am in the wane of mine age, and moſt feeble and deſtitute of ſtrength, I have none to fly unto but thee only; O be thou pleaſed not to reject or deſpiſe me.
10. For mine enemies ‖ſay to me foreignſpeak againſt me, and they that lay wait for my ſoul take counſel together,
11. Saying, God hath forſaken him; perſecute him and take him, for there is none to deliver him.
Paraphrase. 10, 11. But refute the obloquies of my enemies, who rejoyce and triumph over me, and reſolve and aſſure one another that I am forſaken by God, and may now be ſecurely aſſaulted and deſtroyed by them.
12. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haſte for my help.
Paraphrase. 12. Let this their impiety excite and provoke thee ſpeedily to ariſe to my relief, who have no other to depend on but thee only.
13. Let them be confounded and conſumed that are adverſaries to my ſoul; let them be covered with reproach and diſhonour that ſeek my hurt.
Paraphrase. 13. And ſo ſhall my triumphant enemies be brought to ſhame, ſeeing themſelves thus fruſtrated and diſappointed in their malicious deſigns and attempts againſt my life.
14. But I will hope continually, and will †add unto, or over and above all thy praiſe. foreignyet praiſe thee more and more.
Paraphrase. 14. But whatever their triumphs and ſcoffs are, they ſhall not drive me from my faſt and ſure hold, nor yet from proclaiming to all men the exceeding goodneſs of that God on whom I wait; but the more they ſcoff, the more will I magnifie his greatneſs, and profeſs my dependance on him,
15. My mouth ſhall *recountſhew forth thy righteouſneſs and thy ſalvation all the day; ‖thoughfor I know not the numbers thereof.
Paraphrase. 15. And continually declare, and depraedicate his mercy and fidelity, (that never fails to deliver thoſe that relie on him) And when I have ſpent my whole life on this task, I ſhall juſtly think that I have come far ſhort of giving him his due praiſes, whoſe abundant excellencies and goodneſs toward his ſervant are infinitely above my imperfect meaſures either of valuation or expreſſion.
16. I will †go in in the ſtrengths—go in the ſtrength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteouſneſs, even of thine onelyonly.
Paraphrase. 16. Whatſoever I undertake, ſhall not be in any confidence of mine own, but in full reliance on Gods ſtrength alone, and never talk of any ſecurity, but that which I hold by his free mercy and fidelity which obligeth him to perform his promiſe, and never to forſake thoſe that depend on him.
17. O God, thou haſt taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
Paraphrase. 17. O bleſſed God, I have had experience of thy wonderful acts of power and goodneſs from the firſt part of mine age, and accordingly I have made declaration of them.
18. Now alſo when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forſake me not, until I have ſhewed thy ſtrength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
Paraphrase. 18. Do not thou now that my years increaſe, and therewith my wants of thy ſupport, withdraw it from me, but afford me matter of continual acknowledgments, that I may yet proclaim thy attributes to many more than yet I have done, that I may live to be an inſtrument of bringing in many proſelytes to thy ſervice, who as yet are not born, or know nothing of thee.
19. Thy righteouſneſs alſo, O God, is very high, who haſt done great things: O God, who is like unto thee?
Paraphrase. 19. O how great is thy bounty, how infinitely great? how glorious are thy works of power and goodneſs? There is none that can in the leaſt be compared with thee.
20. Thou which haſt ſhewed me great and ſore troubles, ſhalt quicken me again, and *return foreignſhalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Paraphrase. 20. Though thou haſt permitted me to fall into very ſharp afflictions and diſtreſſes, yet I doubt not either of thy power or will to reſtore me again, and reſcue me out of the loweſt and moſt diſconſolate ſtate.
21. Thou ſhalt increaſe my greatneſs, and ‖return and comfort me.comfort me on every ſide.
Paraphrase. 21. And having done ſo, exalt me higher than I was before the turning of thy face from me.
22. I will alſo praiſe thee with the Pſaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I ſing with the harp, O thou holy one of Iſrael.
Paraphrase. 22. And for this thy conſtant performance of promiſe to me, and all thy rich mercies, I will in the ſolemneſt manner exalt and praiſe thy Name, O thou great and only God of heaven, who haſt revealed thy ſelf to thy people.
23. My lips ſhall greatly rejoyce, when I ſing unto thee; and my ſoul, which thou haſt redeemed.
Paraphrase. 23. And this ſhall be to me the joyfulleſt imployment in the world; joy to my tongue, that is above meaſure honoured by being the inſtrument of thy praiſes, and joy to my very life, which hath been reſcued by thee from ſuch preſent dangers.
24. My tongue alſo ſhall talk of thy righteouſneſs all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto ſhame that ſeek my hurt.
Paraphrase. 24. And therefore being the pleaſanteſt, it ſhall alſo be the moſt conſtant imployment of my life, to depraedicate thy mercy, and performance of all thy gratious promiſes, who haſt ſecured me, and diſappointed and fruſtrated all mine enemies.
Annotations on Pſalm LXXI.
foreignV. 15. The numbers] foreign, from foreign numeravit, regularly ſignifies numbers, and ſo the Chaldee renders it foreign the numbers of them; and Symmachus accordingly, foreign, I know not how to number. The LXXII. now read foreign, I know not tradings, negotiationes ſaith the Roman Pſaltery. But the Latine, reading literaturam, makes it more probable that the more antient reading of the LXXII. was not foreign, but foreign. The Syriack retein the Hebrew foreign the numbers thereof, and is not ſo well rendred by the Latine, Scripturam. The elegancy is here obſervable, foreign my mouth ſhall number or recount thy righteouſneſs, foreign though I know not the number of them, they being ſo numerous that 'tis not poſſible to count them.
V. 16. I will go] foreign to go, or go in, foreignſignifies (among many other things) the adminiſtration of any publick office; See Numb. 27.16, 17. where to go out and foreign to go in before them, is to govern the people, and ſo oft elſewhere: and ſo alſo of more private actions, Deut. 28.6. Thou ſhalt be bleſt foreign in thy going out, i. e. in all thy undertakings. And thus (without the addition of going out) it is here uſed for any action of his life.
V. 21. Comfort] foreign, foreignfrom foreign converſus fuit, doth regularly ſignifie ſhalt return; ſo all the antient Interpreters ſeem to underſtand it, (and not in the notion of circuivit:) foreign, thou haſt returned and comforted, ſay the LXXII. and ſo the Latine reverſus, the Chaldee, foreign from foreign to return.