Paul seems to have exjiressed this word to the full, Rom. viii. 19, by drroxapadoKia, — an intent or earnest expectation, expressing itself by putting forth the head, and looking round about with earnestness and diligence. And this is also signified expressly by this word, Ps. Ixix. 21, ^^3? n^pN^ • — " And I looked for some to take pity.'' " Hue illuc anxie circumspexi, siquis forte me commiseraturus esset;" — " I looked round about, this way and that way, diligently and soli- citousl}^, to see if any would pity me or lament with me."
Thus, " I have waited," is as much as, " I have diligently, with in- tension of soul, mind, will, and affections, looked unto God, in ear- nest expectation of that from him that I stand in need of, and which must come forth from the forgiveness that is with him."
2. " I have," saith he, " waited for, or expected Jehovah." He uses the same name of God in his expectation that he first fixed on in his application to him.
And it is not this or that means, not this or that assistance, but it is Jehovah himself that he expects and waits for. It is Jehovah himself that must satisfy the soul, — his favour and loving-kindness, and what flows from them; if he come not himself, if he give not himself, nothing else will relieve.
3. " My soul doth wait," or expect ; — " It is no outward duty that I am at, no lip-labour, no bodily work, no formal, cold, careless per- formance of a duty. No; ' my soul doth wait.' It is soul- work, heart-work I am at. I wait, I wait with my whole soul."
4. " In his word do I hope," or " wait." There is not any thing of difficulty in these words. The word used, ''^^0^'^, is from ^^l, " sunt qm, quod affine sit verbo ' -'/O ,' velint anxietatem et nisum inclu- dere, ut significet anxie, seu enix^ expectare, sustinere, et sperare;" — It signifies to hope, expect, endm'e, and sustain with care, solicit- ousness, and endeavours. Hence the LXX. have rendered the word by v'xlfj.smv, and the Vulgar Latin " sustinui;" — " I have sus- tained and waited with patience."
And this on the word; or, he sustained his soul with the word of promise that it should not utterly faint, seeing he had made a discovery of grace and forgiveness, though yet at a gi'eat distance ; he had a sight of land, though he was yet in a storm at sea; and therefore encourageth himself, or his soul, that it doth not despond.
But yet all this that we have spoken reaches not the intenseness of the soul of the psalmist, in this liis expectation of Jehovah. The
608 AN EXPOSITION UPON PSALM CXXX. [Ver.5,6.
earnest engagement of his soul in. this duty riseth up above what he can express. Tlierefore he proceeds, verse 6 : " My soul," saith he, " for the Lord" (that is, expects him, looks for him, waits for him, waits for his coming to me in love and with forgiveness), " more than the watchers for the morning, the watchers for the morning."
Tliese latter words are variously rendered, and variously expounded. The LXX. and Vulgar Latin render them, " From the morning watch until night;" others, " From those that keep the morning watch, unto those that keep the evening watch;" " More than the watchers in the morning, more than the watchers in the momincj."
The words also are variously expounded. Austin would have it to signify the placing of our hopes on the morning of Christ's resurrection, and continuing in them until the night of our own death.
Jerome, who renders the words, " From the morning watch to the morning watch," expounds them of continuing our hopes and expec- tations from the morning that we are called into the Lord's vineyard to the morning when we shall receive our reward; as much to the sense of the place as the former. And so Chrysostom interprets it of our whole life.
It cannot be denied but that they were led into these mistakes by the translation of the LXX. and that of the Vulgar Latin, who both of them have divided these words quite contrary to their proper dependence, and read them thus, " My soul expected the Lord. From the morning watch to the night watch, let Israel trust in the Lord ;" so making the words to belong to the following exhortation unto others, which are plainly a part of the expression of his OAvn duty.
The words, then, are a comparison, and an allusion unto watch- men, and may be taken in one of these two senses : —
1. In things civil, As those who keep the watch of the night do look, and long for, and expect the morning, when, being dismissed from their guard, they may take that sleep that they lieed and de- sire; which expresses a very earnest expectation, inquiry, and de- sire. Or,
2. In things sacred, with the Chaldee paraphrast, which renders the words, " More than they that look for the morning watch," which they carefully observe, that they may offer the morning sacrifice. In this sense, " As," saith he, " the warders and watchers in the temple do look diligently after the appearance of the morning, that they may with joy offer the morning sacrifice in the appointed season ; so, and with more diligence, doth my soul wait for Jehovah."