Works Volume 4, Book 2 · Psalm 48
The Forty Eighth PSALM.
A Song and Pſalm for the ſons of Corah.
Paraphrase. The forty eighth Pſalm is a Hymn in honour of Jeruſalem, as particularly choſen for the place of Gods worſhip, and ſo defended by his more immediate care from all hoſtilities of invading enemies; a chearful form of ſinging lauds to God, particularly for that mercy of permitting men to meet in his ſolemn ſervice, (and ſo in the myſtical ſenſe, an acknowledgment of his glorious mercies afforded to the Church of Chriſtians under the Goſpel) the greateſt dignation in the world. It ſeems to have been compoſed after ſome ſignal defeat of an invading army, v. 4. and was appointed to be ſung by the poſterity of Coreh, in the †foreign, LXXII.Munday ſervice.
1. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praiſed in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holineſs.
Paraphrase. 1. The God of Iſrael is a God of all power and Majeſty, and ſo hath illuſtriouſly ſhewed himſelf to that people which he hath choſen to himſelf; and therefore ought in all reaſon to be ſolemnly adored and magnified by all the inhabitants of this land, by bringing up their offerings to Jeruſalem, that place where he hath ordained to be worſhipt.
2. Beautiful for ſituation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion, ‖on the North ſide foreignon the ſides of the North, the city of the great King.
Paraphrase. 2. The hill of Sion, where the Ark is now placed, and the ſervice of God is performed, is in it ſelf a moſt pleaſant delightful place; the ſituation very advantageous for beauty, the moſt delectable of any in the whole land. It is on the North ſide of Jeruſalem, and ſo fenceth it from the moſt boyſterous winds; and God the King of all the earth in a moſt ſignal manner inhabites and preſentiates himſelf there. And ſo in the myſtical ſenſe, the being a member of the Church of Chriſt is in many regards a delightful ſtate, much more prizable by any rational conſidering man, than all the pleaſures and advantages of ſin; 'tis a guard from the fierceſt temptations, and hath the bleſſing and gratious preſence of God always adjoyned to it.)
3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.
Paraphrase. 3. Here in this fort of Sion, this high and fair building, is the ſolemn reſidence of the Ark of the Covenant, and ſo of God himſelf, who it to be worſhipt and conſulted there, and from thence gives relief to all that addreſs themſelves to him there.
4. For lo the Kings were aſſembled, they paſſed by together.
Paraphrase. 4. Of this we have had a late eminent experience. For when the Kings of the heathens round about us confederated, and joyned both their counſels and forces againſt the people of God, in fine they departed without any attempt. (See note on Pſal. 42. c.)
5. They ſaw it, and ſo they marvelled: they were troubled, and †affrighted foreignhaſted away.
Paraphrase. 5. They ſoon diſcerned Gods taking our parts, were aſtoniſhed at it, and in great perturbation and diſorder fled away, ſeeing the *Chald.wonders and ſigns that were wrought by God for us, and againſt them.
6. Fear took hold upon them *there was pain foreignthere and pain, as of a woman in travel.
Paraphrase. 6. The terrors that vehemently and ſuddenly ſurpriſed them, cannot better be expreſt, than by the pangs and throws of a woman bringing forth.
7. Thou breakeſt the ſhips of Tarſhiſh with an Eaſt wind.
Paraphrase. 5. Thus when thou pleaſeſt; thou diſappointeſt the Tyrian merchants, when they come home with their lading of gold and ſilver, and other metals, as rich as the moſt proſperous voyage can make them; a wind of thy ſending ſhatters their fleet, and caſts them away, and their wealth with them.
8. As we have heard, ſo we have ſeen in the city of the Lord of hoſts, in the city of our God: God will eſtabliſh it for ever. Selah.
Paraphrase. 8. And ſo in all other things God doth magnifie his power and mercy to his people: the promiſes which he hath made to Abraham are fulfilled on us, and ſo will certainly be performed to all that follow and adhere to the faith of Abraham, to the Jewiſh firſt, and (on their defection) to the Chriſtian Church to the end of the world.
9. We have ‖awaitedthought of thy loving kindneſs, O God, in the midſt of the Temple.
Paraphrase. 9. To thee, whenſoever we have wanted any thing, hath been our conſtant reſort and addreſs; we have diligently made our prayers to thee in thy appointed place of hearing requeſts, and then quietly attending thy time, with full confidence of a ſeaſonable audience from thee, we have never been diſappointed.
10. According to thy Name, O God, ſo is thy praiſe unto the ends of the earth: †or righteouſneſs conſecrateth thee.Thy right hand is full of righteouſneſs.
Paraphrase. 11. Thy Name is ſpoken of over all the world, and where-ever the mention of it is come, men admire and celebrate thy glorious works of mercy to thy people, Innumerable are the acts of goodneſs which have been wrought by thy right hand, through the ſpecial interpoſition of thy power for us thy unworthy ſervants, and thereby art thou ſet out moſt holy and moſt renowned in the eyes of all men, thy juſtice and thy mercy being for ever diſcernible in the exerciſe of thy power.
11. Let mount Sion rejoyce, let the daughters of Judah be glad, becauſe of thy judgments.
Paraphrase. 11. Let Jeruſalem the Metropolis, and all the leſſer cities of Judah, and the people therein, joyn all in a feſtival celebration of thy great and wondrous works of deliverance, and all ſorts of bleſſings which God hath afforded them.
12. Walk about Sion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof.
Paraphrase. 12. There is nothing ſo deſerving our ſolemneſt meditations as this goodneſs of God unto his people, exhibited in his Sanctuary, in anſwer to their prayers. A man may very comfortably and profitably ſpend all his time in contemplation of it, walking about the city, and ſeeing whether God have not exactly guarded it, not any one tower of it demoliſht; but eſpecialy conſidering this his Sanctuary on the hill of Sion, ſurveighing the very external fabrick, numbring the towers of it as emblems, but very imperfect ones, of the luſtre and magnificence of that God that inhabits there, and from thence ſignally anſwers the prayers of his people.
13. Mark ye well her bulwarks, ‖divide, ſever, diſtribute.conſider her palaces, that ye may †number them foreigntell it to the generations following.
Paraphrase. 13. Spend your time in a diligent conſideration of the fortifications and ſtately lofty buildings thereof, ſurvey them ſeverally; that ye may be able perfectly to decipher them to poſterity: and by that imperfect meaſure, think what a powerful and admirable Deity it is that inhabits there, and what a glorious Church he will provide himſelf in the days of the Meſſias, of which this is but a dark, feeble adumbration.
14. For this God is our God for ever and ever; he ſhall be our guide unto death.
Paraphrase. 14. Let us therefore all praiſe and magnifie this glorious God of Iſrael, and adhere conſtantly to him, in deſpite of whatſoever temptations to withdraw us from him, and he guided and ruled by him to the end of our lives.
Annotations on Pſalm XLVIII.
foreignV. 2. Beautiful for ſituation] For foreign fair in ſituation, (in the notion of foreign for a clime, or province, or tract of ground) the Roman LXXII. reads foreign, ſome other antient Copies foreign, for ſo Apollinaris hath it; and (as the Latine of that) S. Auguſtine and S. Ambroſe read dilatans, dilating. This latter may not improbably have reſpect to a notion of foreign, uſual in the Miſneh for the boughs or top branches of a tree; which ſome of the Jews alſo would have take place here, as comparing Sion to a beautiful well-ſpreading tree. But the vulgar hath fundatur: which though it imperfectly expreſſeth foreign, yet it ſeems rather to reſpect that then foreign, and gives us reaſon to read it otherwiſe than the ordinary copies now will have it, neither foreign with the Roman, nor foreign with *Concord. T. 11. p. 286.Kircher, but foreign, an adjective neuter, agreeing with [foreign, the hill of Sion] for which again the ordinary copies read corruptly foreign, the hills. That theſe two errors of the Scribe are thus to be amended, appears by the Latine, Fundatur — mons Sion, the mount Sion is founded, rooting and founding being ſo neer in ſenſe, that there can be no doubt, but they thus rendred foreign. And of this rendring the account alſo may moſt probably be fetcht from the forementioned notion of foreign, for boughs: for though the boughs be contrary to the root, and ſo foreign to foreign, yet the well ſettling of the roots being the cauſe of the flouriſhing of the boughs, the one may paſs for a periphraſis of the other. But the other notion of foreign, for a clime, or tract of ground, may well be accepted; and then foreign will be no more then among us Bellofitum, faire in ſituation. And to this alſo the Greek foreign may well accord, the ſituation being not unfitly expreſt by foreign, root, and the foreign being a denotation of the beauty. But of this the Latine fundatur] is not expreſſive. Here follows in our reading of the LXXII. foreign, imitated alſo by the Latine exultatione. But here alſo 'tis not improbable the Copies of the LXXII. are corrupt, being ſo eaſily changed from foreign, or foreign, a rejoycing, or a kind of rejoycing of the whole earth, as the Syriack, as well as the Chaldee, literally render. And that being admitted, the LXXII. which are now remote enough, will be exactly anſwerable to the Hebrew, foreign, The hill of Sion is well rooted, or well ſeated, the perfection of beauty, Pſal. 50.2. Lam. 11.15. (built very advantagiouſly in reſpect of Situation) the joy of the whole land; ſo again Jeruſalem is ſtiled Lam. 11.15. the ſides (literally according to the original foreign of the North, foreigni. e. on the north ſide of Jeruſalem—
foreign Phalag. l. 3. c. 6. and Canaan l. 1. c 34.V. 7. Tarſis] Of Tarſis, what place it is, and how variouſly interpreted by the Antients, is ſet down at large by the learned Bochart, whoſe opinion of it he hath ſolemnly confirmed ▪ viz. that it belonged to Spain neer to Gadir or Gades (now ſoftned into Cades) and was the ſame that Authors call Tarteſſis or Tarteſſus, a moſt opulent place (by the Poets therefore turned into the Elyſian fields) and by Geographers called Hercules pillars, beyond which was no Paſſing. That in this place were foreign mines of Gold and Silver, ſee Stephanus Byzant. foreign. in the word foreign, a city of Tarteſſia, ſaith he, i. e. Tarſhis, who adds Tinn alſo in the word foreign and Strabo both braſs and iron, of which ſorts, as alſo of ſilver, Geogr. l. 3.foreign, ſaith he, there is neither ſo much, nor ſo good as yet diſcovered to be in any part of the earth. Hence was i… that the Phoenicians, i. e. the old inhabitants of Canaan, ejected by Joſuah, and retired up to the Sea ſide, to Tyre and Sidon, and ſetting up for Navigation and Merchandize, made their very ſucceſsful Voiages thither,Bib. l. 5. foreign, ſaith Diodorus Siculus out of Poſidonius, buying Silver at the very cheap rate of other mean Commodities which they carried with them. The one known place in Ariſtotle, *Baſil. Ed. p. 553. e.foreign. will make all farther Teſtimonies unneceſſary: foreign· They ſay the firſt Phoenicians (which he carefully by the word [firſt] diſtinguiſhes from thoſe which in the following words he ſtyles foreign, the Phoenicians that inhabit Gadir or Gades, i. e. Cades, for this was after theſe firſt Phoenicians made theſe ſucceſsful Voiages) ſailed to Tarteſſus, and brought back their Ships fraught with ſo much Silver, which they bought for Oil, and other ſuch mean lading, that they could neither carry nor would receive any more, but were forced at their departure to make all their Ʋtenſils of Silver, and even their very Anchors. This which hath been ſaid, as it gives a clear account of that Character of Tarſhis given Ezech. 27.12. Tarſhiſh was thy merchant (with whom thou, i. e. Tyre or Phoenice tradedſt) by reaſon of the multitude of all kind of Riches, with Silver, Iron, Tin and Lead they traded in thy Fairs; ſo it renders us the reaſon of this phraſe here, the Ships of Tarſhis, viz. thoſe that the Phoenicians or Tyrians, the next borderers on Iſrael, uſed in fetching in all their wealth from thoſe remote parts, and therefore were excellently well built by thoſe great Navigators, (foreign, in Homer. Odys. 15. foreign— ſaith *foreign. p. 117.Dionyſius, the Phoenicians famous for ſhipping, who firſt exerciſed that trade of Navigation, and ſo of merchandiſe by Sea. Ibid.foreign.) Theſe Ships of theirs, the only tools and inſtruments of their wealthy trading, God when he pleaſes, ſplits upon a rock, toſſeth and breaks to pieces by a contemptible deſpicable means, by a winde, which no man knows whence, or on what errand it comes, which there is no preventing, or appeaſing, or flying from, but comes of a ſudden, and ſhatters the Ships, doth great execution among them: foreign, ſaith the LXXII. a violent blaſt, ſuch, it ſeems,foreign the Eaſt wind was wont to be in thoſe parts; ſo we have Exod. 14.21. a ſtrong Eaſt wind, ſuch as made the Sea go back, and turned the Channel into dry land, as there it follows. And Job 27.21. with the tempeſts and ſtorm hurling him out of his place, is joyned, the Eaſt wind carrieth him away, and he departeth. So Jer. 18.17. I will ſcatter them as with an Eaſt wind, to note a moſt violent ſcattering; as Iſai. 27.8. the day of the Eaſt wind is a terrible day, and Hab. 1.9. they ſhall come all for violence, they ſhall ſup up as the Eaſt wind. All evident teſtimonies, that the LXXII. their paraphraſe was very reaſonable, whilſt for foreign the Eaſt wind, they read, a violent blaſt, the means by which God thus diſappoints the greedy Phoenician merchants.
V. 9. foreignHave thought] The Hebrew foreign and foreign and foreign belong all to the ſame ſignification, of quiet, reſt, ſilence, patient expecting, thinking, conſidering, and muſt be determined to any of theſe ſenſes by the context. And here that of expecting or patient waiting with affiance in him, and without all diſtruſt or repining at his delays, ſeems to be moſt proper for it. For coming to the Sanctuary to pray for mercy, 'tis moſt agreeable to ſay, we wait for it there, as in the place where he hath promiſed to afford it, in return to prayers. The Syriack renders it, we hoped; the LXXII. foreign, we expected. What follows in their ordinary Coples, foreign, in the midſt of the people, and ſo is followed by the Arabick and Aethiopick, is doubtleſs an errour of the Scribe, for foreign, Sanctuary; and ſo appears by the Latine and Syriack, who both ſeem to follow the LXXII. and yet render it Temple.
V. 10. foreignRighteouſneſs] The acception of foreign righteouſneſs for charity and mercy and loving kindneſs, is ſo ordinary, that it needs only to be mentioned here, for the clearing the ſenſe of this verſe, (which then flows currently) foreign righteouſneſs fills thy right hand, foreignor conſecrates thee, for ſo filling the hand conſtantly ſignifies in the Hebrew idiome, (from that ceremony in the Law at the conſecration of a Prieſt to fill his hands with parts of the ſacrifices) and is oft rendred foreign, to conſecrate, Exod. 29.9. and 35. and elſewhere.
V. 13. foreignConſider] The Hebrew foreign ſignifies to exalt, but in the Chaldee notion of it, to divide or diſtinguiſh; and ſo the LXXII. here render it, foreign, diſtribute, ſeparate each from other, which in things that cohere, is neceſſary to be done, or elſe it will be impoſſible to number them exactly.
foreignV. 14. Ʋnto death] There is little reaſon to doubt, but the right reading here is foreign till death. Yet 'tis probable the Chaldee, who render it, foreign in the days of our childhood, did read it in one word foreign which ſignifies childhood. But the dividing it into two words, which is exactly rendred, to or till death, is acknowledged by Kimchi among the Jews, and followed by S. Jerome, and beſt accords with the antecedent, he is our God for ever: and 'tis poſſible, the Chaldee being not a verſion but a paraphraſe, might from the affinity of theſe two, foreign, and foreign, make choiſe of this expreſſion, not as a literal rendring of the word, but as that which competently ſecured the ſenſe, [from our youth] ſignifying [from the beginning to the end of our life;] and ſo likewiſe, that the LXXII. who read foreign, did not read either foreign ſecula, as 'tis conceived, or foreign, in the faeminine, to that ſenſe, but indeed rendred foreign till death] by that other phraſe foreign, for ages, or for ever, the end of our life being the concluſion of our foreign, our age, or our ever. Yet after all this, the Jewiſh Arab Interpreter doth profeſtly take it for one word, deriving it from foreign or foreign, and renders the paraphraſe, he ſhall reduce or reſtore us to the ſtate foreign of childhood or youth, i. e. return us to the condition from whence we are fallen. But the whole Pſalm being an foreign, or ſong of triumph, and having nothing of ſadneſs in it, cannot ſo fitly end with ſuch hopes of reſtitution only. The confidence of perſevering in their preſent ſtate of joy, and ſo of Gods guidance foreign till death, is more agreeable to it. The Syriacks reading is more plauſible, he ſhall lead us, foreign above from death.