Psalms 139:1 «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known [me]. _A Psalm of David_] There is not in all the five books of psalms so notable a one as this, saith Aben Ezra, concerning the ways of God and the workings of conscience. It was penned, saith the Syr... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Ver. 2. _Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising_] All my postures, gestures, practices, _sive sedeam, sive surgam,_ whether I sit, stand, walk, lie; thou searchest and knowest all. Some search, but know no... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted [with] all my ways. Ver. 3. _Thou compassest my path_] Or, Thou winnowest; if there be any chaff or trash, thou wilt make it fly; thou art at both ends of all my works and enterprises, both by day and by night, _Perdius et pernox._ Neith... [ Continue Reading ]
For [there is] not a word in my tongue, [but], lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Ver. 4. _For there is not a word in my tongue_] Though not yet uttered, or but whispered only. _ Thou knowest it altogether_] Every tittle of it; thou understandest the language of men's hearts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Ver. 5. _Thou hast beset me behind and before_] As a beast that is pursued, as an enemy that is begirt and environed; and lest I should think by some means to make escape (as David did from Saul and his host, by a providence, 1 Samu... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 139:6 [Such] knowledge [is] too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot [attain] unto it. Ver. 6. _Such knowledge is too wonderful for me_] I can hardly conceive of this thine omniscience and omnipresence, but am ready to measure thee by myself, and according to mine own model. And, indeed, f... [ Continue Reading ]
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Ver. 7. _Whither shall I go from thy spirit?_] Here he argueth God's omniscience from his omnipresence; and this the heathens also had heard of, as appeareth by their _Iovis omnia plena; _ and - _quascunque accesseris or... [ Continue Reading ]
If I ascend up into heaven, thou [art] there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou [art there]. Ver. 8. _If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there_] That is thy proper place; and there Aristotle, in his Book of the World, _ad Alexandrum_ affirmeth that God is only _essentialiter et actu._ This w... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 139:9 [If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Ver. 9. _If I take the wings of the morning_] The morning light is diffused in an instant all the whole welkin over. If I could fly never so swiftly from one end of the heaven to the other, saith David... [ Continue Reading ]
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Ver. 10. _Even there shall thy hand lead me_] _i.e._ Thy power and providence shall dispose of me; I shall flee but from thy hand to thy hand, as guilty Jonah did.... [ Continue Reading ]
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Ver. 11. _The darkness shall cover me_] The Hebrew phrase is taken from beasts that lie a-squat, saith Diodati, _Nocte latent mendae, sed non Deum._ The guilty conscience sharketh up and down for comfort, but gett... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light [are] both alike [to thee]. Ver. 12. _Yea, the darkness hideth not_] Heb. darkeneth not from thee, because thine eyes are fiery, Revelation 1:14, such as need no outward light; they are more light a... [ Continue Reading ]
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. Ver. 13. _For thou hast possessed my reins_] The seat of mine affections. Thoughts kindle affections, and these cause thoughts to boil; they are causes one of another, and both well known to God. For who possesseth lands or... [ Continue Reading ]
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well. Ver. 14. _I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made_] _Mirificatus sum mirabilibus operibus tuis,_ saith Montanus; neither can I wonder enough at thy w... [ Continue Reading ]
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, [and] curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Ver. 15. _My substance was not hid from thee_] _Ossatio mea, id est, ossium et artuum compages,_ the structure of my bones and joints. But was not he a wise man (and yet wise eno... [ Continue Reading ]
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all [my members] were written, [which] in continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of them. Ver. 16. _Thine eyes did see my subtsance_] _Galmi; est semen coagulatum ante formationem membrorum,_ saith Kimchi; when... [ Continue Reading ]
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! Ver. 17. _How precious also are thy thouyhts unto me_] _i.e._ The thoughts of thy wisdom, power, and goodness, clearly shining in these wondrous works of thine; it does my heart good to think and speak of them. _ How... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 139:18 [If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Ver. 18. _If I should count them, &c._] _q.d._ They are infinite and immmerable. Archimedes, that great mathematician, bragged, that he could number all the sands in the habitable and... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. Ver. 19. _Surely thou wilt slay the wicked_] Those that traduce and slander me for a hypocrite and a Belialist. Some render it, Oh that thou wouldest slay them! inasmuch as they hate me for my zeal, and forwardness to... [ Continue Reading ]
For they speak against thee wickedly, [and] thine enemies take [thy name] in vain. Ver. 20. _For they speak against thee wickedly_] Inasmuch as they speak against me; _Tua causa erit inca causa,_ Your cause will be my cause, said Charles V, emperor, to Julius Pflugius, who complained he had been wr... [ Continue Reading ]
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? Ver. 21. _Do not I hate them, O Lord_] And therefore hate them because they hate thee? This the Hebrews understand of heretics and apostates. See a like zeal in that angel of Ephesus, Revelation 2... [ Continue Reading ]
I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Ver. 22. _I hate them with a perfect hatred_] That is, unfeignedly, and with a round heart (saith one), for this only cause, that they are workers of iniquity. It was said of Antony, he hated a tyrant, not tyranny; and of Crassus, he hated... [ Continue Reading ]
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: Ver. 23. _Search me, O God, and know my heart_] Look into every corner and cranny, and see whether it be not so as I say, viz. that I hate wicked men merely for their wickedness; and for no self-respect have I thus cast down the gau... [ Continue Reading ]
And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ver. 24. _And see if there be any wicked way in me_] Heb. any way of pain, or of grief, or of provocation; any cause of sin that is grievous to God or man, _quae spiritum tuum vexat, ut Psalms 78:1,72_ (Aben Ezra). A sa... [ Continue Reading ]