"* and have not ſet thee before them x. x They have no reverence nor regard for thee, neither for thy Word which hath conferred the Kingdom upon me ; nor for thine All-ſeeing Eye, which beholds all their wicked devices and pra- &ices againſt me; nor for thy Juſtice which will undoubtedly ' Fxod. bring their miſchief upon their own heads. my 15 * But thou, O LORD, art a God full of com- Ns.1418. paſſton, and gracious: long-ſuffering and plenteous in Neb 917- mercy y and cruth. Ml. 103-3 , Towit, to thy people, and to me in particular ; and therefore thou wiltit forger and forgive my manifold fins for which thou ' mighreſt juſtly reje& me, and make me to know thy breach of Pro- mie; and therefore thou wiltſt ſave me from my cruel enemies. 16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me : give ' thy ſtrength z unto thy ſervant, and fave * the fon of thine hard-maid z To aſſt}, tupport and ſave me. {| Me, who by thy graci- ous Providence was born not of Heathen, bur pof 1jraeliriſh Parents, ad therefore was in Covenant with thee from my Birth. and whoſe Mother was thy faithful Servant, and did intirely de- vote me to thy Service. 17 Snew me atoken for good, + that they which hate me may ſee zr, and be aſhamed : becauſe thou, LORD,
*haſt bolpen me, and comforted me. T Vouchſiafe unto me ſome evident and eminent token of thy good will to me, for the conviction of mine Enemies, and mine
own Comfort, PSA I, LAXXVIL
The ARGUME N T.
His Pſalm was doubtleſs compoſed after the building of the
-. Temple; and as Learned Men think, and it ſeems pro- bable, when the peop:c were newly returned out of Babylon, and laboured under many Diſcouragements, about the return of moſt of their Breth:en and the Difficulties which they met with in the rebuilding of their Temple and City.
A ila.m or Song || for the Sons of Korah.
The Propher ſpeaketh of the Nature and Gl ry of the Church, and God's love ro it, 3. Of the Increaſe, Honour and Comfort of the Mem bers thereof, + v.
1 S foundation & is * in the holy moun-
rains'b. a Whoſe Foundation ? Either, r. The Foundation, 1. e. the argument or matter of this Pialm or Song. So theſe words are thought to be a part of the Title, the words lying thus in the He- brew Text, Fir the Sons of Korah a Pſalm or Song, whoſe foundation #5 in the koly Mountains, But 1. The Hebrew word rendred founda- "fon, is no' where uſed in thar ſenſe. 2. There is no example of a- ny ſuch ike Tirle in the Book of the Pſalms. Or rarher, 2. Of the City or Temple of God, of which he ſpeaks in the folowing Yerſes. And whereas :he beginuing is fome-what abrupr, which ſeems to be the only ground «t the foregoing Expoſition, that is no unulſual thing in. Scripture, and the Provoun Relative, ſuch as this Is, is oft put without any foregoing Antecedent, and the Antece- _dentis to be fetched out of the following words or verſes: As Num. f.... 24. 17. I ſball ſce him, or it, to wit, the Star, which follows after- -, ward ; Pſalm 105. 19. his word, i. e. the Lords, Prev. 7.8. to her houſe, i &. the Harlots mentioned verſe 10. And eſpecially Cant. L 2. Let him kiſs, to wit, my beloved, who is there underſtood, but nor expreiled till verſe 14. And the ground of that abrupt and imperfet& ſpeech there, ſeems to be the ſame with this here: For as the Church was there in deep meditation, and a great paſſion dbout her beloved, which cauſed that abruptneſs of ſpeech, which is uſual in ſuch caſes, ſo the Pſalmiſt's thoughts were ſtrong'y fixed upon the Temple and City of God; and therefore this Relative hu had a'certain Antecedent in his thoughts, though nor in his words. The word fo:ndations may poſſibly ve emphatical, becauſe rhis Pſalm might probably be compoſed when the foundations of the ſecond Temple were newly laid, and the old Men who had ſeen the Glory of the former Houſe were deje&ed at the fight of this, of which 1ce Ezra 7 11, 12. And {o the meaning of this paſſage may be this, Be not diſcouraged; O ye Jews, that your Temp:e 15 not yet erefted and built, bur only the foundations cf it Jaid, and thoſe too arc m-an and obſcure in compariſon of the Magnificence ef your former Temple, but take comtort in this, that your Tem- Ple hath its foundations laid, and thoſe ſure and firm, ſure in themſelves, becauſe they are not laid in rhe ſand, nor in boggy or nny grounds,but in_the mountains ; and ſure by divine Eſtabliſh» Ment, becauſe thoſe Mountains are holy, conſecrated to God, and - therefore maintained and eſtabliſhed by him. Or, he may uſe this word Frundations in opyolition to the Tabernacle, which was move- able,and without foundations,to nore the jtabiliry & perpetuity of this Building. þ Or, Among, or within th? holy Mountains, to wit, 1n « Jeruſalem, which was encompaſſed wirh' muuntains, Pſaln 125. 2. | and in which were two famous Mountains, to wit, Ziez and M- |
[Or, of
Pq. L.
L M Ss.
|
do. x (1i.e.) In Zion or the Church _ The
Plal. LXXXV riah, Orthe plural Number 1s here put for the ſingular, whereof we have ſeen examples formerly, and Mauntains are put for the Moun« tain ; Either for Mount Moriah, upon which the Temple ſtood : Or for Mount Zien, which is mentioned in the next ans; which 1s often taken in a large and comprehenſive ſenſe, ſo as to include Moriah ; in which ſenſe the Temple is faid ro be in Zion, Pſalm 74. 2. and 76. 2. 1/a.8. 18.
2 The LORD loveth the gates c of Zion 4 more than all the'dwellings of Jacob. e.
c1.e. The City gates being oft pur for cities, as Deur. 15. 7. and 16. 5. Pſalm 9. 14. &d Largely ſo called, as was now ſaid, ro wir, of Jeruſalem, which was built upon and near Mount Zion. He ſaith Zion rather than Jeruſalem, to intimate that he loved Jer»ſalem for Zion's ſakey or for the Temple which is oft ſaid to be in Zion; which place he Joved and choſe for his peculiar dwelling place. e More than all other places of the Land of Canaan in which the Iſraelites dwelt. For although the Tabernacle was for a ſeaſon in {ome other parts of the Land, yet the Temple, the place of God's fixed Reſidence, was no where bur in this City. : 3 Glorious things are ſpoken of thee, O city of God 7
elah. | |