PSAL. LVII. Ne Perdas,〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, aut Deprecatoriùs.
THIS Psalm was composed by David, when he hid himself from Saul in the Cave, 1 Sam. 24.
The contents of it are:
- His Petition, ver. 1.
- The Reasons that perswaded him to it, from v. 1. to 6.
- His profession of thanks, ver. 5, 7, 8, &c.
1. His Petition is ardent, the Epizeuxis shews it, * and it is for grace and pro∣tection: Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me.
2. And he presently subjoins his Reasons to perswade God to be merciful. [ 1]
- 1. From his faith and confidence he had in God alone: *For my soul trusteth in thee, and under the shadow of thy wings, as the Chicken doth under the wing of the Hen, shall be my refuge untill this Tyranny be over-past.
- 2. From the sufficiency and efficiency of God: I will call upon God. [ 2]
- 1. The most High; sufficient then he is, and able to deliver me.
- 2. That performeth all things for me; and will therefore effect it. 2
And upon this Argument he insists in the following verse.
He shall send from Heaven, some miraculous way he shall do it; [ 3] send from Heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his Mercy and Truth; perform his word, and mercifully save me.
3. The third Reason of his Petition, was, 3 the extream danger he was then in by a cruel and merciless enemy.
- 1. My soul is among Lyons; a ravenous, bloody creature. [Ver. 4]
- 2. I lie even among those that are set on fire; their anger and hatred to me is implacable.
- 3. Even among the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp Sword: They calumniate me, and wound deeper than these weapons: A Spear wounds near, an Arrow afar off, a Sword at hand; near or far off, they spare not to disgrace me, fortiter accusant.
4. And now he draws an Argument more strong than all the rest; for he puts God in mind of that which he will not part with, 4 his Glory: A glory it would be to him to be merciful, to save and deliver, and therefore he prayes:
Be thou exalted, O God, above the Heavens, and let thy Glory be above all the earth; that is, shew thy Power, and assert thy Glory, let not the wicked thus exult, which if thou shalt do, thy Glory will be conspicuous above in Heaven, and below over all the earth.
And then he falls again upon his complaint, [ 6] describing the practises of his ene∣mies.
- 1. *They have prepared a Net for my steps; insidiantur, as Fowlers.
- 2. So that my soul is bowed down; my life is in great danger.
- 3. They have digged a Pit before me, intending to take me, as some wild Beast; but praised be God, I foresee the event; They are fallen into the Pit themselves.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
Ne{que} enim lex justior ulla est, quam necis artificem arte perire suâ.
Upon the confidence of which David gives thanks, * which also may be a fourth Argument; for no such way to procure a new favour, as to be thankful; and by his example we may learn how to give thanks, two especial points our thanks∣giving must consist of, and we meet with both of them here; the first is, Com∣memoration; the second, Annunciation.
- 1. [ 7] He that will be thankful, must treasure up in his heart and memory, the courtesie that is done him; 1 so had David done, and therefore he mentions his heart; and to make it more emphatical, he names it again, My heart.
- 2. 2 After he remembers it, he must be affected with it, and resolve upon it; so doth David, My heart is ready, or else, My heart is fixed, confirm∣ed, I am in it to be thankful, and I cannot be altered.
- 3. 3 'Tis not enough that a man carry about with him a thankful heart, he must anunciare, tell it abroad, and make it known publickly what God hath done for him; 1 yea, and do it joyfully too: I will, saith David, sing and give praise.
- 4. [ 8] He must use all means he can to make it known, Tongue, Psaltery and Harp, 2 are all little enough; whence by an Apostrophe, David turns to these, Awake my Glory; i.e. Tongue awake, Lute and Harp, I my self will awake.
- 5. 3 He must not do it in a sleepy manner, but with contention, and earnest∣ness of spirit: Awake, awake, I will awake.
- 6. 4 He must take the first opportunity to do it, and not hang off, and de∣lay it: I will awake early.
- 7. 5 He must do it in such a place, and such an Assembly, as may most redound to Gods honour: [ 9] I will praise thee, O God, among the people; I will sing of thee among the Nations.
Now that all this be done, * David, ver. 10. gives a sufficient Reason, that which may move any man to do it, [ 10] Gods Mercy and Truth; his Mercies, his infinite Mercies in promising; his Truth in performing, For thy Mercy is great to the Heavens, and thy Truth to the Clouds.
And then, as is usual in Poesie, he repeats the verse before, in which we meet with this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, [ 11] Be thou exalted Lord, above the Heavens, and thy Glory above the Earth.
The Prayer collected out of the fifty seventh Psalm.
O Lord, our enemies are many and mighty, [ 4] they roar against us like Ly∣ons, they are set on fire to devoure us; their teeth are as spears and ar∣rows, and their tongue a sharp sword, to wound us in our good name; [ 6] crafty they are, for they have digged a Pit; and cunning they are, for they have spread a Net to ensnare, to take us.
O Lord be merciful, O God be merciful unto us, send down, we beséech thée, [ 1] help from Heaven, and save us from the reproach of them that would eat us up. [ 3] Declare thy power, O Lord, and come amongst us, and send forth thy Mer∣cy and Truth for our deliverance; thy Mercy is infinite, thy Word is past, [ 1] and in that my soul trusteth, and in the shadow of thy wings; in thy protection only, shall be my Refuge, till these calamities be over-past.
Continually, and with an ardent soul, [ 2] I will call upon that God which is the most High, most potent; that God that hath so often done me good, and I doubt not but be will perform his word, and make perfect his salvation.
Do thou, O Lord, declare thy power, [ 5] and shew that thou art the Lord of the whole Earth, get thy self a Name by the punishment of these wicked men, that all things both in Heaven and Earth may exalt thy justice, and give thée the glory.
To do this, O Lord, my heart is ready, my heart is fixed, [ 7] for thy benefits shall never slip out of my memory, nor thy goodness recede from my heart; neither will I remember them alone, but they shall be my song in the house of my pilgrimage; I will compose Hymns to the honour of thy Name, and in my song praise thée.
I will say to my heart and tongue, which art my glory, [ 8] awake out of thy bed of forgetfulness, shake off this dulness in which thou hast slept so long, and readily and chearfully sing Hymns to the honour of thy Saviour; and that the praise may be the fuller, call for thy Harp and Psaltery, and all other instruments of Musick, which in these troublesome times have béen broken and cast by; call for these, I say, and make a melodious sound in the ears of the God of Jacob.
Come along with me, [ 9] and we will enter together into the house of our God, then before the morning Sun, that we may praise him early with joy∣ful lips: There will we praise thee, O Lord, in the Assembly of many people; there will we chant Hymns to thy honour before many Nations.
For thy mercy is so great, That it reacheth to the very Heavens; [ 10] and thy faithfulness in keeping thy promises such, That it extends above the Clouds; for both these mount up to the Heavens above, and pass through the Earth be∣neath; both these are so high and wonderful, that they can never be compre∣hended by us.
Therefore I pray, and I pray again, [ 11] that thou wouldst shew thy self Lord of the Heaven, and that thou wouldst shew thy Glory in the whole Earth; which, though thou dost eminently, when thou dost frée the innocent from the hand of the Oppressor, yet then thou shalt perfectly bring it to pass, when the goodness and mercy, and glory of thy justice being divul∣ged through the World by the preaching of thy Gospel, all false-worship being destroy••, thou shalt drow all men unto thy self.
Arise therefore, O good Father, Be thou exalted, and make thy glory il∣lustrious, convert all Nations to the Truth; break the Nets, fill up the pits, make the craft and subtilty of Antichrist and his Followers of none effect, which they use to eclipse the light of thy Gospel; so shall our hearts be every day more and more confirmed to confess, praise, and celebrate thy Name, and to exalt it above all things, through Iesus Christ thy only Son, and out only Saviour. Amen.
