David's harp strung and tuned, or, An easie analysis of the whole book of Psalms cast into such a method, that the summe of every Psalm may quickly be collected and remembred : with a devout meditation or prayer at the end of each psalm, framed for the most part out of the words of the psalm, and fitted for several occasions / by the Reverend Father in God, William ... Lord Bishop of Gloucester.

PSAL. LXXX. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

THE occasion of this Psalm, is the same with the former, viz. An oppres∣sion of Israel, and devastation, as is most likely by the Assyrians.

The parts are,

• 1. A Prayer, vers. 1, 2, 3.
• 2. A complaint by way of expostulation, from vers. 3. to 8.
• 3. In the twelve last verses, to move God to commiseration, He
  • 1. First reckons up Gods love to Israel, under the Allego∣ry of a vine, from vers. 8. to 12.
  • 2. Deplores the waste made upon it, vers. 12, 13.
  • 3. Prayes that God would return, look upon, and restore the vine, from vers. 13. to 18.
  • 4. Makes a vow of perpetual service, vers. 18.

1. In the beginning of this Psalm, the Prophet offers up his Petition for audience, for help, for favour, for repentance, and remission of sin.

• 1. [Vers. 1] For audience. Give ear. For if God will not hear, 'tis to no end to pray. 1
• 2. [Vers. 2] For aid, assistance, help. Stir up thy strength, and come and save us, shine forth, 2 shew us a favourable countenance.
• 3. [Vers. 3] For amendment, which is the essense of repentance. Turn us again, and cause thy face (which seems to us cloudy, 3 angry now) to shine, and we shall be saved. Vere faelices.

And the Argument he useth to perswade this, is from the person of God, and his former administration; 1. He shew'd himself a shepherd. 2. He was glorious in Israel.

• 1. O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Free us from these Wolves.
• 2. Thou that fitt'st between the Cherubims, hast taken up thy seat a∣mong us, and shew'd thy glorious presence by the Ark that the Cherubims cover. Shine forth, and shew thou hast not left us. 2. Shew thy self before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, i.e. before all Israel.

2. To his Prayer, as ardent Petitioners use, he adjoins his Complaint. Of which the particulars are these.

• 1. He complains that God was angry, and shews his anger in this, that a prayer would not be heard. O Lord, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? [unspec 4] A sad case this, when God, who hath commanded, Call on me in trouble, and I will hear thee, yet will not hear. No marvel if he began the Psalm with, Give ear, O Lord.
• 2. [unspec 5] He complains of their lamentable condition, their grief and cala∣mity was so great, 2 that they eat nor drank without tears, no pleasane meat came in their mouths. Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

• 3. He complains of the ill usage they found from all, [Vers. 6] both Neighbours and enemies. 3
  • 1. Thou makest us a strife, i.e. an occasion of strife to our Neighbours, for they contend about us, striving who shall reign and domineer over us.
  • 2. And our enemies laugh among themselves. Make a mock, and scorn of us.

After which complaint, the Prophet ingeminates his principal Petition.

• 1. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts. Make us penitents, Converts, new men.
• 2. And cause thy face to shine. Clear up thy countenance, [unspec 7] and frown no more.
• 3. And then we know the effect. We shall be saved, q.d. Vivemus, reg∣nabimus, faelices erimus, nullo bono destituti.

3. And that he might the sooner move God to commiseration, under the Metaphor of a Vine,

• 1. First he puts God in mind, what he had done for his people Israel.
  • 1. He brought this Vine out of Egypt. A choice Vine then, transla∣ted thence. [unspec 8]
  • 2. Thou castest out the heathen. Purgest, as it were, the ground for it.
  • 3. Thou plantest it. A plant it was of thy own, and men love their own plants.
  • 4. Thou preparest room before it. Removedst all impediments, [unspec 9] that might hinder the growth.
  • 5. And didst cause it to take root. Else the planting, the making room had been in vain.
  • 6. And it fill'd the Land. The Vine, that is, the people grew and multiplyed. Which is amplified in the two following ver∣ses, in which the Amplitude and Glory of the Kingdom is declared.
    • 1. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, [unspec 10] and the boughs thereof like the goodly Cedars.
    • 2. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, [unspec 11] and her branches to the ri∣ver, i.e. Euphrates.
• 2. The Prophet deplores the waste now made upon the Vine, 1 and that by God. For he faith,
  • 1. Why hast thou broken down her hedges? The fence being bro∣ken down, the Vine cannot be safe. [unspec 12] This the Prophet la∣ments, that God had said flat. Whether Angels, or Laws, or his Statutes were the Hedge, all was gone. Or if the Kings power, that was taken away.
  • 2. And upon the remove of the Hedge, there followed a Triple mischief.
    • 1. All those that pass by the way, do pluck her. [unspec 13] Every one that would, made havock of the Clusters.
    • 2. The Boar out of the wood doth waste it. Some home-bred ene∣my in power, enters and spoils it.
    • 3. The wild beasts of the field devoure it. Tyrants from abroad.
  • 3. He prayes to God to have compassion, 2 and look upon his Vine again.
    • 1. Return, we beseech thee, O Lord God of hoasts. Thou art the Lord of Armies, return then and fight for us. [unspec 14] We neglected thee, when present, but once more return, and we shall more esteem thy favour, and beware how we drive thee from us.

• ...
  • ...
    • 2. Look down from heaven. Thence protect us. For earth can∣not help us.
    • 3. Behold, and visit this Vine. Take it once again into thy care. For he that will not visit his Vine, is not like to have any care of it.
  • 4.
    • He prayes for the whole Land, the Vineyard. And visit the Ʋineyard that thy right-hand hath planted, [Vers. 15] i.e. thy power. And the branch, i. e. people, that thou madest strong (by thy promise and Covenant, that it should grow into an ample and great Kingdom) for thy self, i. e. for thy glory, for thy ser∣vice. To bring forth grapes for thee.
    • And now once more he interserts and repeats his complaint.
      • 1. [unspec 16] It is burnt with fire. 2. It is cut down, Igne, & ferro grassantur hostes.
      • 2. They, i. e. the boughs, branches, shoots of the Vine, perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. It is not the enemies swords, but thy rebuke of us for our sins, that hath brought upon us this devastation.
  • 5.
    • He prayes again almost in the same words of the 15. verse, Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right-hand, [unspec 17] and upon the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thy self.
    • In the interpretation of this verse, Interpreters agree not. For by the son of man,
      • 1. Some understand Christ, who is often call'd the son of man, and is the man on Gods right-hand.
      • 2. The Jews, Zerobabel, or some other chief Leader. Which Jansenius saith, is the more probable opinion.
      • 3. Others, the Jewish Nation, and the whole body of that people, whom God is pleased to call His Son. Israel is my first-born, who was the man of his right∣hand, because grown strong by his power. To this opi∣nion Musculus and Moller encline.

According to the first interpretation, which is Basils, the sense is this. Let thy hand and power be shew'd by the man of thy right-hand, thy Son, and for his sake spare thy Vineyard, and let not the enemy utterly waste it. 2. Accor∣ding to the second, he prayes that God would send them some strong and mighty Saviour or Deliverer. 3. According to the third, he prayes, that God would shew his power and might, and not suffer his people, whom he had taken unto him in the place of a Son, and to the glory of his name, join'd to himself by the right-hand of his power and strength of Covenant, now (to the ignominy of his name) to perish by the cruelty of wicked men.

4. The last part of the Psalm, contains a promise of Gratitude. That they would revolt and rebell no more, but constantly adhere to God, and renounce their Idols.

• 1. [unspec 18] So will not we go back from thee. We will no more be back∣sliders.
• 2. Quicken us. Revive us from this death, this calamity. Or, Quicken us by thy Spirit and Grace.
• 3. And we will call upon thy name. We will serve thee, and not any strange god.

And so he concludes the Psalm, with that verse twice before set down and ex∣plain'd, vers. 3. vers. 7. now repeated.

[unspec 19] Turn us again, O Lord God of hoasts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

The Prayer collected out of the eightieth Psalm.

O Almighty and Merciful God, [Vers. 1] who hast béen accustomed to be present with thy people, and to lead them and féed them as a good Shepherd doth his flock, give ear at this time to our prayers, and graciously hear, now we call on thée. Thou, who art the Lord of all Spirits, [Vers. 2] and sits invisibly above the Cherubims, manifest now thy power, turn away thy srowning coun∣tenance, and let the gracious light of thy face once more shine upon us. Stir up thy strength, which thou hast séemed to withdraw, and come and save us from those evils, with which we are at this present compassed, and deliver us from those oppressors and oppressions we are forced to endure.

For those iniquities and grievous sins we have committed against thée, [Vers. 3] we do acknowledge, that thou hast justly rejected us from thy grace and fa∣vour, and, as it were, turn'd thy back upon us; But gracious God, turn us from our ungracious and malicious wayes, and turn us unto thée, that so thou may'st furn from thy sterce anger, and turn unto us; Assured we are, that upon our turning, thou wilt refurn, and we shall revive, we shall live the life of grace, we shall be prosperous, we shall be happy. For so efficacious is the light of thy countenance, that upon the least shine thereof upon us, all our enemies will be put to flight, and we shall be safe.

O Lord, in this needful time of trouble, we have, as thou hast commanded, [unspec 4] called and cryed unto thee, but thou séemest not to hear, nor yet to answer our Petitions, than which there cannot be a greater sign of thy displeasure. O Lord God of hoasts, that commandest all the Armies of heaven and earth, vow down thine ear and hear us, look down from heaven and consider our af∣flictions. O Merciful and Almighty God, how long wilt thou be angry a∣gainst the prayer of thy people? They know no other way to paci ••••ée, no other way to recover thy favour. If thou reject our supplications, we are undone for ever.

Heavy are the things, which we now suffer; so heavy, [unspec 5] that the bread we cat, is soaked in tears, and the drink we drink, mingled with tears, and that not sparingly, but in a very great measure; [unspec 6] so that when we are to take our ordinary repast, we have more mind to wéep, than to take these refreshments, for thou hast brought us to that low condition, that our Neighbours, who were wont to stand in feare of us, strive who shall trample upon us, and our enemies provoke and load us with ill words, insult over and deride us. [unspec 7]

But, O Lord God, thou which hast the power over all Armies, now at length convert us unto thée, by thy grace draw us from our evil wayes, and receive us to thy favour, which for some years thou hast with-held, which if in mercy thou shalt vouchsafe, then we shall be saved.

Thou, Lord, [unspec 8] hast béen heretofore very gracious and indulgent to thy Church. She is the Vine, and we are the branches. [unspec 9] This Vine thou hast brought out of Egyptian darkness, thou hast called it thy choice Vine, [unspec 10] thou hast planted it in a very fruitful hill, thou hast fenced it, [unspec 11] and gathered out the stones thereof, thou hast prepared room for it, and caused it to take root, and it flourished so much, that it filled the Land, the shadow thereof covered the Mountains, and the boughs thereof were tall and spreading as the Ce∣dars, the branches reached from Sea to Sea, and her green Cyences to the end of the earth. In a word, thou hast chosen, planted, senced, rooted, hus∣banded, propagased, extended this Vine, Kings became her Nursing fathers, and Queens her Nursing mothers.

O then, why hast thou broken down the Hedges, [unspec 22] with which she was for∣merly secured? Why hast thou withdrawn thy protection, under which she was so safe? To that pass, being destitute of thy savour, we are

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brought, that all that pass by, every one that lists, now enters into thy Vineyard, and without any prohibition, pluck off the grapes. The Boare out of the Wood doth unroot it, the wild beasts out of the field, crop, devour, and trample upon it, [Vers. 13] cruel and prophane tyrants, more like beasts than men, do riot in, and depopulate thy Vineyard.

O thou Lord of hoasts, [unspec 14] who being angry, hast turned away thy face from us, take pity of thy own plant, look down from heaven thy dwelling place, and send us help from thence, for vain is the help of man; behold, and visit yet once more this thy Vine with a pleasing countenance. That Vine, which not with another, [unspec 15] but with thy own right-hand thou hast vouchsafed to plant, that Vine I beséech thée to restore to its former beauty, look upon that people, which thou hast call'd thy Son, thy first-born, a weak and unable people to help it self, and subsisting only by thy strength, that power, with which, to the honour of thy name, [unspec 16] thou hast fortified them against their enemies. And now upon the withdrawing of thy hand, the merciless enemy burns it with fire, and hacks and hews it, and cuts it down with the sword, all which is befallen to it, at the rebuke of thy countenance, which angry look, if it please thée to turn upon our enemies, they also shall easily perish. One an∣gry and frowning look of thy face will do it, O let them féel this rebuke and perish.

Shew thy power and might, [unspec 17] and suffer not thy people, whom thou hast a∣dopted, and joyned to thy self, and strengthned by thy promise and Co∣venant, to the ignominy of thy name, to perish by the pride of a cruel e∣nemy.

Vpon which favour and help, [unspec 18] O Lord, we will constantly adhere unto thee, and never more depart from thee. When thou shalt quicken us from this death, and free us from these evils, renouncing all other false and strange gods with all humane imaginations, we will worship thee alone, and call upon thy name for ever.

Turn us then again, [unspec 19] O Lord God of hoasts, cause thy face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved. Grant us this mercy, good Lord, for Iesus Christs sake, thy only Son our Saviour. Amen.

Notes

• The first part. His Petition.
• 1

  For audi∣ence.
• 2

  For assi∣stance.
• 3

  For grace to amend.
• His Argument to perswade it, Gods love to his Church.
• The second part.
• His complaint. 1. For Gods∣anger.
• 2

  For the mise∣ry the Church was in.
• 3

  By the ill u∣sage of their oppressors.
• Upon which he redoubles his prayes.
• The third part. And puts God in mind, what he had done for his people.
• Under the Me∣taphor of a Vine.
• 1

  And he de∣plores the waste made upon it.
• 2

  Prayes that God would have compassi∣on on the Vine.
• And on the Vineyard.
• He repeats the complaint.
• And again prayes.
• The fourth part.
• A vow of Gra∣titude.