Annotations upon the Holy Bible. Vol. I wherein the sacred text is inserted, and various readings annex'd, together with parallel scriptures, the more difficult terms in each verse are explained, seeming contradictions reconciled, questions and doubts resolved, and the whole text opened / by the late reverend and learned divine Mr. Matthew Poole.

PSAL. XCII.

A psalm or song for the sabbath-day a 1.1.

1 IT is a * 1.2 good thing b 1.3 to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.

2 To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness † 1.4 every night c 1.5.

3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and up∣on the psaltery; ‖ 1.6 upon the harp † 1.7 with a so∣lemn sound.

4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands d 1.8.

5 * 1.9 O LORD, how great are thy works! and * 1.10 thy thoughts e 1.11 are very deep.

6 * 1.12 A brutish man f 1.13 knoweth not: neither doth a fool understand this g 1.14.

7 * 1.15 When the wicked spring as † 1.16 the grass, and when all the the workers of iniquity do flou∣rish: it is that they shall be destroyed for ever h 1.17.

8 But thou, LORD, art most High for ever∣more i 1.18.

9 For lo k 1.19, thine enemies, O LORD, for lo, thine enemies shall perish: all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

10 But my horn shalt thou exalt l 1.20, like the horn of an unicorn m 1.21: I shall be anointed n 1.22 with fresh oil o 1.23.

11 Mine eye also shall see my desire p 1.24 on mine enemies: and mine ears shall hear q 1.25 my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

12 * 1.26 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree r 1.27: he shall grow like a cedar s 1.28 in Leba∣non.

13 Those that be planted t 1.29 in the house of the LORD u 1.30, shall flourish in the courts x 1.31 of our God.

14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age y 1.32: they shall be fat, and † 1.33 flourishing:

15 To shew that the LORD is upright z 1.34: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Notes

• a 1.1

  To be sung upon the Weekly Sabbath. To which the matter of this Psalm very well agrees. For it celebrates the works of God, both that first and great work of Creation, and that succeeding and no less wonderful work of his Providence by which he upholds and governs all his Creatures, and espe∣cially that by which he ruleth all sorts of men, both good and bad, and that by which he preserveth and manageth his Church and People.
• * 1.2

  Psal. 147. 1.
• b 1.3

  It is a good work and a just debt to God.
• † 1.4

  Heb. in the nights.
• c 1.5

  To adore and celebrate thy goodness and truth continu∣ally, and especially at those two solemn times of Morning and Evening, which on every day, and especially upon the Sabbath day, were devoted to the worship and service of God.
• ‖ 1.6

  Or, upon the solemn sound with the harp.
• † 1.7

  Heb. Hig∣gaion.
• d 1.8

  Which thou didst create by thine Almighty power, and dost still govern with infinite wisdom, one instance whereof we have in the following Verses.
• * 1.9

  Psal. 40. 5.
• * 1.10

  Rom. 11. 34.
• e 1.11

  Thy counsels and methods in the government of the World and of thy Church.
• * 1.12

  Psal. 94. 8.
• f 1.13

  Who cannot or doth not seriously consider things, whose mind is corrupted by his sensual and brutish appetites, who is led by sence and not by reason and faith.
• g 1.14

  The depth of Gods counsels and works mentioned, v. 5. or that particular work of God •…•…escribed v. 7.
• * 1.15

  Job 12. 6. Jer. 12. 1, 2. Mal. 3. 15.
• † 1.16

  Heb. herbs. Psal. 104. 14.
• h 1.17

  Their present worldly prosperity is a presage and occa∣sion of their utter and eternal ruine.
• i 1.18

  So this Verse is added by way of opposition to the for∣mer, They shall perish, but thou shalt endure, as is said in a like comparison Psal. 102. 26. they flourish for a season, but thou rulest for ever to judge and punish them. Or, For (as this Hebrew Particle is not seldom used, whereof instances have been formerly given) thou, Lord, art, &c. So this Verse gives a reason of the former, as well as the first branch of it, why God suffers the wicked to flourish so long, because he is not like man of short and uncertain continuance here, to whom a little time is long and tedious, who therefore impatiently expects the time of vengeance and fears lest the offender should escape it; whereas God is unchangeable and ever∣lasting, and therefore long-suffering without any inconveni∣ence, and the longest time of the prosperity of the wicked is but short and inconsiderable in his Eyes, a thousand years be∣ing in his sight but as yesterday when it is past, Psal. 90. 4. and they can never escape out of his hands: as also of the latter branch of the Verse, why the wicked shall be destroyed for ever, because God lives and reigns for ever to execute that just sentence of everlasting punishment which he hath pronounced against them.
• k 1.19

  He represents their destruction as present, and as cer∣tain, which the repetition of the words implies.
• l 1.20

  But as for me, and other righteous persons (of whom he saith the same thing, v. 12.) we shall be advanced to the height of honour and true and lasting felicity.
• m 1.21

  Of which see on Deut. 33. 17.
• n 1.22

  I shall have great cause of rejoicing and testifying my joy by anointing my self as the manner was in Feasts and all joyful solemnities.
• o 1.23

  Sweet and uncor∣rupted.
• p 1.24

  To wit, in the ruine of thine and mine incorrigible E∣nemies.
• q 1.25

  What I do not see my self, I shall understand by the certain reports of others.
• * 1.26

  Hos. 14. 5.
• r 1.27

  Which is constantly green and flourishing, and fruitful, Cant. 7. 8. and growing even when it is pressed down; and so is a fit Emblem of a just mans person and condition. See Revel. 7. 9.
• s 1.28

  Which spreads it self wide and grows very high and strong, and is very durable, and in some sort incor∣ruptible.
• t 1.29

  Whom God by his gracious providence and holy spirit hath planted or fixed there.
• u 1.30

  i. e. In its Courts, which are a part of the House and oft come under that name in Scrip∣ture. And by this House he means the Church of God, where∣of all just persons are real and living members.
• x 1.31

  Which he mentions rather than the House, because he speaks not here of the Priests, but of all just men, who were permitted to come no further than into the Courts.
• y 1.32

  When their natural strength decayeth, it shall be renew∣ed; their last days shall be their best days, wherein as they shall grow in grace, so they shall increase in comfort and bles∣sedness.
• † 1.33

  Heb. green.
• z 1.34

  This glorious work of God in compensating the short prosperity of the wicked with everlasting punishments, and of exchanging the momentany afflictions of the just with eter∣nal glory and happiness, doth clearly demonstrate that God is just and blameless in all the dispensations of his Providence in the World.