These are the especial objects of grace and favour. I shall explain the words as I go over the several branches.
First, I begin with the petition, ' Look thou upon me.' The Sep- tuagint reads it, eV/'/SXeTre eVl e'/ie'. Other translations, aspice one, or respice me. Ainsworth, Turn thy face unto me: Ps. xxvi. 16, ' Turn thou unto me, and have mercy upon me ; for I am desolate and afilicted.' God seemeth now and then to turn away from his people in their distresses, to turn the back upon them, and not the face ; as it is, Jer. xviii. 17, ' I will scatter them as with an east-wind before the enemy ; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.' They had dealt so first with God : Jer, ii, 17, ' Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in tliat thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God when he led thee by the way ? ' So David, God might have seemed to have turned the back upon him. Our translation cometh to the same effect, ' Look upon me.' God's looking implieth two things, viz., his favour and his providence.
1. His favour ; as Isa. Ixvi. 2, ' To this man will I look, that is of a contrite heart ; ' that is, I will be gracious unto him, smile upon him, give him evidences of my love.
2. His providence. The providence of God is usually set forth by his eye : Prov. xii. 3, ' The eyes of the Lord are in every place, behold- ing the evil and the good.' Now God hath a double eye — an avenging eye and a gracious eye. The avenging eye : Amos ix. 4, ' I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.' The other : 2 Chron. xvi. 9, ' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.' Accordingly this act of looking is either —
[1.] With a revengeful eye. So upon their enemies : 1 Chron. xii. 17, ' The God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it ;' 2 Chron. xxiv. 22, ' The Lord look thereon, and requite it,' said Zachary the son of Jehoiadah the priest. This is the look of anger. But —
[2.] There is the look of love and benign aspect, as astrologers speak. So Exod. iii. 7, ' I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows ;' and Lam. iii. 50, ' Till the Lord look down and behold from heaven.' So doth he besr "here that God would look upon lum with a gracious eye. In this gracious aspect two things are notable, viz., his observation and his compassion.
(1.) His observation. He taketh notice of their condition and oppressed innocency : ISTeh. i. 6, ' Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night.' What have eyes to do with
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hearing ? To beliold their pitiful and desolate condition. So 2 Sam. xvi. 12, ' It may be that the Lord will look upon mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.'
(2.) His compassion. God doth take to heart the distresses of his people, and hath a tender pity and compassion over them : Ps. xxv, 18, ' Look upon mine affliction, and my pain.' He doth not only take notice of, but take to heart their sorrows, as appeareth by some gra- cious effect and deliverance wrought for them. So looking implieth both his affection and actual providence for them.
Doct. The children of Grod apprehend it as a great favour if he will but look upon them.
So saith David, ' Look thou upon me.' Which request expresseth liis modesty ; one short glimpse of God's favour, a look of kindness, would be a great matter to him in this vale of tears. A look is wel- come to a broken and contrite heart ; they are thankfully affected with the least discoveries and manifestations of God's love to the soul. If they could have but the least glimpse of his love, it would be very reviving : Ps. Ixxxvi. 17, ' Show me a token for good." The returning prodigal could go no higher than, ' Make me as one of thy hired ser- vants,' Luke XV. 19, any place in the family, so he might be no more absent from his father. God's people would have a nail in his holy place. This shows—
1. His necessity. God seemed to look from him, no sign of his favour appeared. Thus it is often with God's children here in the world ; the sense of his love is gone and lost, we sometimes have not so much as a look from him : Isa. lix. 2, ' Your sins have hid his face from you.' In heaven our communion is more full, and it is uninter- rupted : 1 Cor. xiii. 12, ' For now we see through a glass darkly, then face to face.' Here God often hideth his face, and we ' walk in dark- ness, and see no light ; ' Ps. civ. 29, ' Thou hidest thy flice, they are troubled ; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.'