Psalms 73:1 «A Psalm of Asaph. » Truly God [is] good to Israel, [even] to such as are of a clean heart. _A Psalm of Asaph_] Who was not only an excellent musician, but a prophet also, an orator, and a poet; not unlike (for his style) to Horace, or Persius. This, and the ten next psalms, that bear t... [ Continue Reading ]
But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. Ver. 2. _But as for me, my feet were almost gone_] _i.e._ I was well nigh brought to believe that there was no Divine providence; as the Athenians did when their good General Nicias was worsted and slain in Sicily (Thucyd.); a... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I was envious at the foolish, [when] I saw the prosperity of the wicked._ Ver. 3. _For I was envious at the foolish_] Heb. at the _braggadocios,_ the vain glorious, the mad boasters; _factabundis,_ I emulated, and stomached their prosperity, compared with mine own far worse condition. Godly me... [ Continue Reading ]
For [there are] no bands in their death: but their strength [is] firm. Ver. 4. _For there are no bands in their death_] Or, no knots and knarls; they die without long sickness, or much pain, or trouble of mind. If a man die like a lamb, and pass out of the world like a bird in a shell, he is certai... [ Continue Reading ]
They [are] not in trouble [as other] men; neither are they plagued like [other] men. Ver. 5. _They are not in trouble as other men_] But live in a serene clime, under a perpetual calm; as he did of whom the story is told, that he never had any cross, but at last was nailed to a cross, Polycrates I... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them [as] a garment. Ver. 6. _Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain_] The pride of their hearts breaketh forth in their costly habits, while they are _torquati, et auro ac gemmis amicti,_ setting up their plumes, as peac... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish._ Ver. 7. _Their eyes stand out with fatness_] The Chaldee hath it, the similitude of their face is changed through fatness. See Job 15:27. The Greek, for the wealth which they have, their eyes are lifted up. The Latin, their... [ Continue Reading ]
They are corrupt, and speak wickedly [concerning] oppression: they speak loftily. Ver. 8. _They are corrupt, and speak wickedly_] Their pride, before taxed, Psalms 73:6, buddeth, and budgeth, Ezekiel 7:10; like a foul swelling in the body, it breaketh out into sores of all sorts, odious words and d... [ Continue Reading ]
_They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth._ Ver. 9. _They set their mouth against the heavens_] They howl upward, as wolves; bark at the moon, as dogs; piss against the sun; belch out blasphemies against God, as did Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, D... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full [cup] are wrung out to them. Ver. 10. _Therefore his people return hither_] _i.e._ Some good men are as wise (or rather as foolish) as I have been, to miscensure on this manner, and to repent me of my repentance, or to say, as Psalms 73:11, ... [ Continue Reading ]
And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? Ver. 11. _And they say, How doth God know?_] Even the godly, through infirmity, are drawn sometimes to doubt God's providence and government, because of the inequality of events in human affairs. It had like to have cost the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, these [are] the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase [in] riches._ Ver. 12. _Behold, these are the ungodly_] _q.d._ If God do take knowledge of things here below, and ordereth all events, how is it that the ungodly prosper, while better men suffer? _ Who prosper in the world_]... [ Continue Reading ]
Verily I have cleansed my heart [in] vain, and washed my hands in innocency. Ver. 13. _Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain_] For all is to little purpose, if the cards play on this fashion, if the good must be thus extremely under, and the bad on top of the wheel. Surely I have troubled myself... [ Continue Reading ]
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. Ver. 14. _For all the day long have I been plagued_] God's best-beloved are most afflicted, neither have any out of hell ever suffered more than the heirs of heaven. See my treatise called God's Love tokens. _ And chastened eve... [ Continue Reading ]
If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend [against] the generation of thy children. Ver. 15. _If I say I will speak thus_] If I should give way to such a wicked thought, &c. Here the Spirit beginneth to get the upper hand, to gain the wind and the hill of the flesh. The Spirit would alwa... [ Continue Reading ]
When I thought to know this, it [was] too painful for me; Ver. 16. _When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me_] Heb. it was labour in mine eyes, labour in vain, I could do no good on it, _sed labyrinthis et Maeandris inextricabilibus implicabar,_ I did but tread a maze, for God's judgm... [ Continue Reading ]
Until I went into the sanctuary of God; [then] understood I their end. Ver. 17. _Until I went into the sanctuary of God_] And there consulted with the Scriptures, heard the lectures of the law, prayed, went through all the exercises of God's school. _ Then understood I their end_] To be such as Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. Ver. 18. _Surely thou didst set them in slippery places_] Where they can have no more certainty than if they went upon the smoothest ice, or walked upon a mine of gunpowder. The Turks, seeing so few of their vi... [ Continue Reading ]
How are they [brought] into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. Ver. 19. _How are they brought into desolation! &c._] Such as the psalmist expresseth by an exclamation, caused by an admiration at God's dreadfull judgments which his faith beheld as present and unavoid... [ Continue Reading ]
As a dream when [one] awaketh; [so], O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Ver. 20. _As a dream when one awaketh_] Such is the wicked man's pomp and bravery, know, what are dreams but pleasant follies and delusions, the empty bubbles of the mind, children and tales of fancy, id... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. Ver. 21. _Thus my heart was grieved_] Heb. leavened and soured, _sc._ with the greatness of godly sorrow, _et quasi aceto acri perfundebatur,_ it was steeped, as it were, in vinegar. So Peter wept bitterly; waters of Marah flowed from his ey... [ Continue Reading ]
So foolish [was] I, and ignorant: I was [as] a beast before thee. Ver. 22. _So foolish was I and ignorant_] By this befooling and be beasting himself, he retracteth and bewaileth his former fluctuation and folly, Psalms 73:2,3. This is the proper fruit of his godly sorrow, Psalms 73:12 . _ I was a... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless I [am] continually with thee: thou hast holden [me] by my right hand. Ver. 23. _Nevertheless I am continually with thee_] Or, yet I was always with thee, _sc._ when at worst. Infirmities discard us not. The marriage knot is not dissolved by every falling out; nor the league between pri... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me [to] glory. Ver. 24. _Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel_] We had his repentance, Psalms 73:21,22, his faith, Psalms 73:23, and here we have his hope of safety here and salvation hereafter. _ And afterwards receive me_] As thou didst... [ Continue Reading ]
Whom have I in heaven [but thee]? and [there is] none upon earth [that] I desire beside thee. Ver. 25. _Whom have I in heaven but thee?_] I would I were in heaven with thee, so Aben Ezra rendereth it; and to the same sense Beza paraphraseth, _Apage terra, quod utinam Deus in coelo iam et tecum esse... [ Continue Reading ]
_My flesh and my heart faileth: [but] God [is] the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever._ Ver. 26. _My flesh faileth, and my heart faileth_] Some think that the psalmist, through egression of affection unto God, having spent and exhaled his spirits, fell into a swoon; out of which he recov... [ Continue Reading ]
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. Ver. 27. _For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish_] How can they do otherwise, when as salvation is far from them? Psalms 119:155. And upon this ground it is that I do so earnestly... [ Continue Reading ]
But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. Ver. 28. _But it is good for me to draw nigh to God_] To hang ever upon thee (in this general defection of others) by the faith of the gospel, Hebrews 7:19, by putting my trust in the... [ Continue Reading ]