Psalms 69:1 «To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David. » Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto [my] soul. _A Psalm of David_] _Quando rebellabat Sheba,_ saith the Syriac, made upon the occasion of Sheba's rebellion presently after Absalom's. Hence he cries out, as one alm... [ Continue Reading ]
I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Ver. 2. _I sink in deep mire_] Heb. in the mire of depth, or gulf, as Babylon was afterwards called, Isaiah 44:27. Here he stuck, and under water, and so must perish, if he had not present h... [ Continue Reading ]
I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. Ver. 3. _I am weary of mg crying_] As a drowning man, while he can be heard, crieth for help. _ My throat is dried_] Or, parched, _raucitate laborant fauces._ Mine eyes fail] With much weeping and long looking. T... [ Continue Reading ]
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, [being] mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I took not away. Ver. 4. _They that hate me without a cause, &c._] Christ, besides his inward fears and griefs caused by the... [ Continue Reading ]
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Ver. 5. _O God, thou knowest my foolishness_] _Secundum dici, non secundum esse; ironica enim est locutio._ Thou knowest mine innocence, and how free I am of that folly, and those foul faults, wherewith they falsely charge me.... [ Continue Reading ]
Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Ver. 6. Let not them … be ashamed for my sake] Give me not up to passions of dishonour, to opprobrious practices, whereby religion might be reproache... [ Continue Reading ]
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. Ver. 7. _Because for thy sake I have borne reproach_] Whatever mine enemies pretend, they strike at thee, Lord, through my sides; and for thy sake alone it is that I am so bespattled, that I am even ashamed to look any one in t... [ Continue Reading ]
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. Ver. 8. _I am become a stranger unto my brethren_] No otherwise than as if I were a mamzer (so the Hebrews call a bastard), that is, a strange blot to the family. Christ came to his own, but they received him not; yea,... [ Continue Reading ]
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. Ver. 9. _For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up_] _Non amat qui non zelat._ David's love to God (much less the Lord Christ's) would not suffer him to bear with God's dishonour and... [ Continue Reading ]
When I wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. Ver. 10. _When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting_] That I might thereby beat down my body, and tame that rebel flesh of mine. _ That was to my reproach_] They said I did it in hypocrisy and design. So they dealt b... [ Continue Reading ]
I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. Ver. 11. _I made sackcloth also my garment_] A fashion at solemn fasts among the Easterlings; as if they thought the coarsest clothing too good for them; and but for shame would have gone stark naked. _ I became a proverb to them_]... [ Continue Reading ]
They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I [was] the song of the drunkards. Ver. 12. _They that sit in the gate_] Men of authority and dignity, who should have showed more grace and gravity. The saints are sure of enemies of all sorts. David was traduced at public and private meetings, _seri... [ Continue Reading ]
But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O LORD, [in] an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Ver. 13. _But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord_] So St Paul, "Being defamed," saith he, "we pray." Christ in like case committed himself to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters._ Ver. 14. _Deliver me out of the mire_] _i.e._ _De civitate Gehennae,_ from the state of hell, saith the Hebrew scholiast; _a_ out of that deadly danger whereof he had complaine... [ Continue Reading ]
Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Ver. 15. _Let not the waterflood overflow me_] See Psalms 69:1 . _ Let not the pit shut_] Leave me not helpless and hopeless. _ Vivere spe facias qui moriturus eram._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness [is] good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies._ Ver. 16. _Hear me, O Lord, for thy lovingkindness is good_] It is not like the winter sun, that lighteth but heateth not; it is like the summer sun, that doth both.... [ Continue Reading ]
And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Ver. 17. _And hide not thy face from thy servant_] Who am devoted to thy fear, and do, therefore, implore and expect thy favour. _ For I am in trouble_] And so a fit object of thy pity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Draw nigh unto my soul, [and] redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. Ver. 18. _Draw nigh unto my soul_] Who seemest to be afar off; so the flesh suggesteth when help is any whit deferred. _ Because of mine enemies_] Who else will excessively insult.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries [are] all before thee. Ver. 19. _Thou hast known my reproach_] That is enough for David, that God taketh cognizance of the injuries and indignities cast upon him; for he will surely right him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked [for some] to take pity, but [there was] none; and for comforters, but I found none. Ver. 20. _Reproach hath broken mine heart, &c._] He knew his own innocence, and yet it much grieved him to be so defamed; for he knew that a g... [ Continue Reading ]
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Ver. 21. _They gave me also gall for my meat_] _Venenum vel eicutam; _ and so showed themselves miserable comforters. _ And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink_] This befell David in figure, but Christ in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Let their table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap. Ver. 22. _Let their table become a snare before them_] Let them eat their bane, and drink their poison; while all their cares are sauced with the wrath of God: _Quoniam hoe mod... [ Continue Reading ]
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Ver. 23. _Let their eyes be darkened_] Let them be infatuated and besotted, that they may go hoodwinked to hell. _ And make their loins continually to shake_] _Ne fugiant,_ saith R. Obadiah Gaon, that they ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Ver. 24. _Pour out thine indignation upon them_] By indignation, saith Basil, we are to understand speedy vengeance; by wrath, durable. This is befallen the nation of the Jews to the utmost, 1 Thessalonians 2:14,16,... [ Continue Reading ]
Let their habitation be desolate; [and] let none dwell in their tents. Ver. 25. _Let their habitation be desolate_] Heb. their palaces, or castles, so named of being fair and high built, in row and order. It is here put not only for their habitation, but for their function. See Acts 1:20 . _ And l... [ Continue Reading ]
For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Ver. 26. _For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten_] Christ was "stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted," Isaiah 53:4. Him they persecuted to the death, and abused, when he was at the... [ Continue Reading ]
Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Ver. 27. _Add iniquity unto their iniquity_] Punish one sin with another (by giving them up to a reprobate sense, to an incurable hardness), and plague them soundly for their sin. The same Hebrew word signifieth both si... [ Continue Reading ]
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Ver. 28. _Let them be blotted out, &c._] Wherein they were never indeed written among those living in Jerusalem, Isaiah 4:3, those firstborn whose names are written in heaven, Hebrews 12:23, but they accounted... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I [am] poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high._ Ver. 29. _But I am poor and sorrowful_] The Church is usually so, and may sing, as here, _Vaani gnani, &c., _ but her comfort is, 1. That Christ saith unto her, as Revelation 2:9, I know thy sorrow and poverty (but that i... [ Continue Reading ]
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. Ver. 30. _I will praise the name of God_] _i.e._ _Agnitmn Deum._ I will thankfully agnize and recognize God's great goodness to me in this deliverance, with mine uttermost zeal and skill.... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 69:31 [This] also shall please the LORD better than an ox [or] bullock that hath horns and hoofs. Ver. 31. _This also shall please the Lord better, &c._] True thankfulness is _opimum et optimum saerificium,_ those calves of our lips, Hosea 14:3 Hebrews 12:15. These calves or bullocks (as in... [ Continue Reading ]
The humble shall see [this, and] be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. Ver. 32. _The humble shall see this and be glad_] David's great care was for others' confirmation and comfort; much more Christ's, witness that holy prayer of his, John 17:9 _ Your heart shall live_] Which before wa... [ Continue Reading ]
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Ver. 33. _For the Lord heareth the poor_] He is the poor man's king, the wronged man's refuge; Trajan the emperor is renowned for this, that when he was mounted for a battle, he alighted again to bear the complaint of a poor woman that... [ Continue Reading ]
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein. Ver. 34. _Let the heaven and earth praise him_] As they do in their kind; and have good cause so to do for their restoration by Christ, Romans 8:21 .... [ Continue Reading ]
For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. Ver. 35. _For God will save Zion_] _i.e._ The Church universal. _ And will build the cities_] The particular Churches. _ That they may dwell there_] viz. The seed of his servants, Psa... [ Continue Reading ]
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Ver. 36. _The seed also of his servants shall inherit_] The faithful and their posterity after them shall be incorporated into the Church, and partake of all good things to all perpetuity.... [ Continue Reading ]