Psalms 78:1 «Maschil of Asaph. » Give ear, O my people, [to] my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. _Maschil of Asaph_] _Ode didasealiea Asaphi._ The six first verses are proemial, wooing attention from the dignity, difficulty, antiquity, certainty, &c., of the matter in this psalm dis... [ Continue Reading ]
I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Ver. 2. _I will open my mouth in a parable_] I will speak freely and plainly (I will open my mouth, Mat 5:2 Act 10:34), and yet acutely and accurately. See Psalms 49:4, _See Trapp on "_ Psa 49:4 _"_ I will utter dark sayings of o... [ Continue Reading ]
Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. Ver. 3. _Which we have heard and known_] Hearing and seeing are the two learned senses, whereby knowledge, yea, life, entereth into the soul, Proverbs 2:2; Pro 2:10 Isaiah 55:3 . _ And our fathers have told us_] Have delivered down to us... [ Continue Reading ]
We will not hide [them] from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. Ver. 4. _We will not hide them from their children_] The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with, 1 Corinthia... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:_ Ver. 5. _For he established a testimony in Jacob, &c._] Lest any should attribute too much to ancient traditions, and to show that antiquity... [ Continue Reading ]
That the generation to come might know [them, even] the children [which] should be born; [who] should arise and declare [them] to their children: Ver. 6. _Who shall arise and declare them_] _i.e._ Succeed their parents both in their place and office of teaching their posterity; not suffering the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: Ver. 7. _That they might set their hope in God_] _Summa legis divinae et scopus,_ this is a brief of the Bible, viz. to believe in God and obey his law; both which men shall the better do, if they for... [ Continue Reading ]
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation [that] set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God. Ver. 8. _And might not be as their fathers_] Fathers are not always to be followed, Ezekiel 20:18,19. He zealously affected his father... [ Continue Reading ]
The children of Ephraim, [being] armed, [and] carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. Ver. 9. _The children of Ephraim being armed, &c._] This the Rabbis interpret of eight thousand Ephraimites, who would needs break prison, as it were, out of Egypt (before the time that God had set for th... [ Continue Reading ]
They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; Ver. 10. _They kept not the covenant, &c._] And so betrayed themselves into the hands of divine justice, they were worthily worsted. See 2 Chronicles 15:2 . _ And refused to walk in his law_] They were set upon it, and would not be... [ Continue Reading ]
And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. Ver. 11. _And forgat his works, and his wonders_] Forgetfulness is a grave; _et ingrato quicquid donatur, deperditur,_ all is lost that is conferred on an ungrateful person.... [ Continue Reading ]
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, [in] the field of Zoan. Ver. 12. _Marvellous things did he, &c._] Whereof they were eye-witnesses, and therefore could not plead ignorance or excuse. The Hebrew hath it, a marvel, or a miracle, collective. _ In the field... [ Continue Reading ]
He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap. Ver. 13. _He divided the sea_] Making it fordable for them, and fixing those fluid waters, like stone walls, on each hand of them, while they passed through with ease and safety. Every main affliction i... [ Continue Reading ]
In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. Ver. 14. _In the daytime also he led them with a cloud_] This cloud not only conducted them, but also compassed them in on every side, both to keep them from the parching heat of the sun, and to save them from the... [ Continue Reading ]
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave [them] drink as [out of] the great depths. Ver. 15. _He clave the rocks_] And set them abroach, both that in Rephidim, Exodus 17:1,8, and the other in Kadesh, Num 20:1-13 Moses Nehamides, on Exodus 17:1,8, saith, that the old Jewish doctors held that t... [ Continue Reading ]
He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. Ver. 16. _He brought streams also out of the rock_] _Idem enuntiat per Epexegesim, ad miraculi magnitudinem ostendendam._ The same again, to set forth the greatness of the miracle. This was a standing miracle, as wa... [ Continue Reading ]
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. Ver. 17. _And they sinned yet more against him_] The better he was to them the worse were they toward him, as if God had hired them to be wicked; and this was ordinary with them, and is still among us. Oh the Divine... [ Continue Reading ]
And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Ver. 18. _And they tempted God in their heart_] In their hearts first, but afterwards also with their lips. The psalmist here striketh at the root of their wickedness. _ By asking meat for their lust_] Not for their necessity (that... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Ver. 19. _Yea, they stake against God_] Their villanous and foul thoughts blistered and brake out at their lips. _ Can God furnish a table?_] This was a blasphemous question. God can do more than he will; but whatso... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? Ver. 20. _Behold, he smote the rock, &c._] And so showed his power; we cannot deny it; but now for his will. _ Can he give bread also?_] They should have... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; Ver. 21. _Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth_] _Efferbuit, excanduit._ Anger is a kind of fire, a boiling of the blood about the heart, through desire of revenge. "B... [ Continue Reading ]
Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: Ver. 22. _Because they believed not in God_] As faith is a radical and complex grace; so is unbelief a radical sin, a teeming vice, Hebrews 3:12, a wellspring of wickedness; many sins are bound up in it, as Cicero saith of parricid... [ Continue Reading ]
Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, Ver. 23. _Though he had commanded the clouds_] Though he had served them as never prince was served in his greatest state, yet all served not turn. _ And opened the doors of heaven_] _Rupturas nubium,_ raining down upon... [ Continue Reading ]
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Ver. 24. _And had rained down manna upon them_] Manna signifieth, What is this? whereunto in the allegory answereth, This is my body. Or, according to others, it signifieth a prepared portion, prepared by God, so... [ Continue Reading ]
Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full. Ver. 25. Man did eat angels' food] Heb. the bread of the mighty, _Pan de nobles_ (Hispan.); (Angels are called mighties, Isa 10:34 Rev 18:21); such delicate bread as might beseem angels to eat, if they did eat any at all; such as the poets fe... [ Continue Reading ]
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. Ver. 26. _He caused an east wind to blow_] _Pergere,_ to go, to pass away, and to give place to the south wind. _ And by his power he brought in the south wind_] That it might bring in the quails. Now Plin... [ Continue Reading ]
He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: Ver. 27. _He rained flesh also upon them as dust_] _Dapibus illos compluit._ This he had done once before for them; see Exodus 16:12,13, with Numbers 11:18,21; Numbers 11:31,33; their unbelief, therefore, and i... [ Continue Reading ]
And he let [it] fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. Ver. 28. _And he let it fall in the midst of their camp_] A day's journey on each side, and about two cubits above the earth, Numbers 11:31, in such abundance, that Moses could not believe it were possible to be done, t... [ Continue Reading ]
So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; Ver. 29. _So they did eat, and were well filled_] But better they had fasted. Many eat that on earth which they must digest in hell; these here were murdering morsels. _ He gave them their own desire_] They were heard, _ad v... [ Continue Reading ]
They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat [was] yet in their mouths, Ver. 30. _They were not estranged from their lust_] Satiated they were, but not satisfied. It is as easy to quench the fire of Aetna as the thoughts set on fire by lust.... [ Continue Reading ]
The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen [men] of Israel. Ver. 31. _The wrath of God came upon them_] Heb. ascended, as a flame, which the bigger it groweth the higher it getteth. _ And slew the fattest of them_] Those that had glutted and stuffed th... [ Continue Reading ]
For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. Ver. 32. _For all this they sinned still_] They utterly lost the fruit of their calamities; which godly men hold a very great loss. _ And believed not_] Neither mercies nor crosses duly affected them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. Ver. 33. _Therefore their days did he consume in vanity_] So that they never saw the promised land, for the which they came out of Egypt; but their carcasses fell in the wilderness. Who knoweth, saith a reverend man, whether... [ Continue Reading ]
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. Ver. 34. _When he slew them, then they sought him_] _Fictis scilicet, quibusdam et fucatis pollicitationabus,_ with a few dissembled devotions. So many now, when deadly, sick, will be wondrous good. _Nuper me a... [ Continue Reading ]
And they remembered that God [was] their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Ver. 35. _And they remembered_] Misery is the best art of memory. But this remembrance of God was but as letters written in the sand, or as a picture drawn on the ice, that long continueth not; it was but a flash, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. _Ver 36. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth_] They looked pitifully, as the fox caught in a gin doth, but it is only to get out; they spake God fair, as the devil in the Gospel did our Sav... [ Continue Reading ]
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. Ver. 37. _For their heart was not right with him_] It was still the old heart, without any sincere change, and that can never hold out the hardships of holiness, but will deviate and falsify; the rack may make it ro... [ Continue Reading ]
But he, [being] full of compassion, forgave [their] iniquity, and destroyed [them] not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. Ver. 38. _But he, being full of compassion_] Not standing upon terms nor taking advantages; a sin pardoning God, whose mercy rejoicet... [ Continue Reading ]
For he remembered that they [were but] flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. Ver. 39. _For he remembered that they were but flesh_] _i.e._ Frail and feeble, full of sin and misery., _see _ Gen 6:3 altogether unable to grapple with God's wrath. _ A wind that passeth away, &c._] _Et... [ Continue Reading ]
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, [and] grieve him in the desert! Ver. 40. _How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness_] _Exclamatio pathetica._ Ten times at least in the first two years, Numbers 16:1,50; Numbers 17:1,13; Numbers 18:1,32; Num 19:1-22 What, then, in all the rest? _... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. Ver. 41. _Yea, they turned back and tempted God_] They did it afresh, and after some resolutions and short winded wishes of doing better. _ And limited the Holy One_] _Designarunt,_ they prescribed to him, and set him his b... [ Continue Reading ]
They remembered not his hand, [nor] the day when he delivered them from the enemy. Ver. 42. _They remembered not his hand_] Forgetfulness is the root of rebellion and of all vice, as the Genevists well note here. Eaten bread is soon forgotten, _Nihil citius senescit quam gratia_ (Seneca). _ Nor th... [ Continue Reading ]
How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: Ver. 43. _How he had wrought his signs in Egypt_] That stage of wonders. See Psalms 78:12 . _ In the field of Zoan_] A great city in Egypt, whereof read Isaiah 19:11; Isaiah 19:13; Isa 30:4 Ezekiel 30:14. Josephus, Antiq.... [ Continue Reading ]
And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. Ver. 44. _And had turned their rivers into blood, &c._] Seven of those ten plagues of Egypt are here instanced, to aggravate the forgetfulness or perfidy of the Israelites. Good turns aggravate unkindness, and our... [ Continue Reading ]
He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. Ver. 45. _He sent divers sorts of flies among them_] _Miscellam muscarum venenatarum,_ venomous flies and flying serpents, whose poison and sting did even corrupt the land, Exodus 8:24. The Greek rendere... [ Continue Reading ]
He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust. Ver. 46. _He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar_] Together with the grasshopper, Exodus 10:12,15, God's great army, Joel 2:11 _ And their labour_] _i.e._ The fruits of the earth, which they had laboured... [ Continue Reading ]
He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost. Ver. 47. _He destroyed their vines with hail_] Heb. He killed, _Quia planta habet animam vegetativain, ut_ Job 14:8, saith Kimchi. _ And their sycamores with frost_] Or, with great hailstones mingled with fire, running along... [ Continue Reading ]
He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. Ver. 48. _He gave up their cattle also to the hail_] Moses saith men also, who were brained and burned by it.... [ Continue Reading ]
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels [among them]. Ver. 49. _By sending evil angels among them_] _i.e._ Some messengers of his wrath and displeasure, whether good or evil angels it skills not.... [ Continue Reading ]
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; Ver. 50. _He made a way to his anger_] Heb. He weighed a path, recompensing their unjust stiffness with his just judgments, and proceeding in his anger from lighter plagues to that heaviest... [ Continue Reading ]
And smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of [their] strength in the tabernacles of Ham: Ver. 51. _And smote all the firstborn in Egypt_] _Certo pestis genere perniciocissimo et acutissimo._ The Rabbis say that in each house was a dead corpse, viz. the chieftain of the family, whether there w... [ Continue Reading ]
But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. Ver. 52. _But made his own people to go forth like sheep_] _i.e._ _Tuto et lente,_ softly and safely, as Genesis 33:13, tending them with all tenderness, and providing for their necessities.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. Ver. 53. _And he led them on safely, so that they feared not_] Or, if they did, it was without cause, _Cur enim metuat hominem homo in sinu Dei positus._... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased._ Ver. 54. _And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary_] _i.e._ Of Judea, which country he had consecrated to himself for the place and chief seat of religion; whence it is cal... [ Continue Reading ]
He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Ver. 55. _He cast out the heathen also before them_] _i.e._ In their sight, and for their sake. _ He divided them an inheritance by line_] Not a material line,... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: Ver. 56. _Yet they tempted and provoked, &c._] Neither God's judgments on their enemies nor his mercies to themselves could keep them within the bounds of obedience; but in a land of uprightness they would deal unjustly,... [ Continue Reading ]
But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. Ver. 57. _But turned back, &c._] They had a kind of willingness and velleity, a kind of wambling, as one speaketh, but it boiled not up to the full height of resolution for God. _ They were tur... [ Continue Reading ]
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. Ver. 58. _For they provoked him to anger with their high places_] After the manner of the heathens; yet with a good intention, as they called it; because God is to be everywhere worshipped. Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
When God heard [this], he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: Ver. 59. _When God heard this_] Sin crieth aloud in God's ears, though it be never so closely and cunningly carried. _ And greatly abhorred Israel_] As appeareth all along the Book of Judges, whereof this verse is a summary.... [ Continue Reading ]
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent [which] he placed among men; Ver. 60. _So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh_] Whither it had been brought from Gilgal, and where it had rested a long while, but was forsaken of God when once idolized, 1 Samuel 4:3,5 _ The tent which he p... [ Continue Reading ]
And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. Ver. 61. And delivered his strength … his glory, &c.] _i.e._ His ark, which is elsewhere called the strength of God, 1Ch 16:11 2 Chronicles 6:41, and the glory of God, Psalms 26:8; Psalms 63:3, because out of it he was... [ Continue Reading ]
He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. Ver. 62. _He gave his people also unto the sword_] _sc._ Of the Philistines, who slew thirty thousand of them in one battle, 1 Samuel 4:10, they lost him and themselves too; the ark having been a far better defence to... [ Continue Reading ]
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. Ver. 63. _The fire consumed_] The fire of warlike force, which quickly licketh up all, and layeth waste. _ And their maidens were not given in marriage_] Heb. praised, as they were wont to be at their weddings with nu... [ Continue Reading ]
Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. Ver. 64. _Their priests fell by the sword_] Hophni and Phineas did, 1 Samuel 4:11, both in one day, as had been foretold, 1 Samuel 2:34 . _ And their widows made no lamentation_] As being themselves either killed with grief, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, [and] like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine._ Ver. 65. _The Lord awaked as one out of sleep_] _Humanitus dictum; _ the Philistines haply had such bald conceits of him, that either he slept, or, if awake, that he was overcome with wine.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. Ver. 66. _And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts_] viz. With emerods, 1 Samuel 5:6; 1 Samuel 5:9; 1 Samuel 5:12, _infami podicis ignominia affecit illos,_ he punished them, as we do puny boys on their posterior... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: Ver. 67. _Moreover he refused, &c._] He would dwell no longer at Shiloh, which was in the tribe of Ephraim.... [ Continue Reading ]
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. Ver. 68. _But chose the tribe of Judah_] He chose it for his love, and then loved it for his choice. The word tribe we borrow from the Romans, who at first divided the multitudes into three parts, called thereof tribes. The Hebrew name si... [ Continue Reading ]
And he built his sanctuary like high [palaces], like the earth which he hath established for ever. Ver. 69. _Like high palaces_] Not places, as some books absurdly have it. Like the earth, there shall be a Church to the world's end.... [ Continue Reading ]
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: Ver. 70. _He chose David also_] God chooseth not as man doth, 1 Corinthians 1:26, yet Alexander the Great advanced Abdolominus, a poor gardener, to be king in Sidon. _ And took him from the sheepfolds_] The art of feeding cattle an... [ Continue Reading ]
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. Ver. 71. _From following the ewes_] So Saul from seeking asses, Agathocles from making pots, Valentinian, ropes, &c. Placilla called upon her husband Theodosius, the emperor, to remember fr... [ Continue Reading ]
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. Ver. 72. _So he fed them, &c._] See Psalms 78:70. He was not _malus vir bonus princeps_ (as is said of our Richard III), but every way accomplished, and active for the good of his subjects.... [ Continue Reading ]