Ver. 1. My heart is inditing a good matter] Heb. frieth, sicut quae in sartagine friguntur, as things are fried in a frying pan, Leviticus 7:9. The prophet, being to sing of such a sublime subject, would not utter anything but what he had duly digested, thoroughly thought upon, and was deeply affected with, Exordium ut vocant floridum. What a high pitch flieth St Paul whenever he speaketh concerning Christ? See Ephesians 1:6 2:4,7 3:19. The like is reported of Origen: Nusquam non ardet, saith Erasmus; sed nusquam est ardentior quam ubi Christi sermones actusque tractet; that he was ever earnest; but most of all when he discoursed of Christ (Praefat. ad Origen. Opera). Of Johannes Mollias, a Bononian, it is said, that whensoever he spake of Jesus Christ his eyes dropped; for he was fraught with a mighty fervency of God’s Holy Spirit; and, like the Baptist, he was first a burning (boiling or bubbling), and then a shining light. Ardor mentis est lux doctrinae. Zeal of mind is the light of doctrine. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king] Or, I will speak in my works, that is, in this psalm, concerning the king, viz. Solomon, and him that is greater than Solomon in all his glory, Christ, the King of the Church. Works he calleth this poem, not for the greatness, but for the exquisiteness thereof; it being breve et longum planeque aureum; utpote in quo universa pane salutis nostrae mysteria continentur, as containing almost all the mysteries of man’s salvation. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer] i.e. I will roundly and readily relate what I have so well ruminated; and dexterously deliver my most mature meditations concerning the mystical marriage of Christ and his Church. This is a good precedent for preachers. Demosthenes would have such a one branded for a pernicious man to the commonwealth who durst propose anything publicly which he had not beforehand seriously pondered. And Aristides, being pressed to speak to something propounded extempore, answered, Propound today, and I will answer tomorrow; for we are not of those that spit or spun up things, &c.
Ver. 2. Thou art fairer than the children of men] Heb. Thou art double fairer. The Hebrew word is doubled, ad corroborandum, saith Kimchi; Valde Pulchruisti (Vat.). It may very well be that Solomon was, for his beauty, another Nireus; and for his eloquenee, another Nestor; wisdom might make his face to shine. Of Christ we are sure, that his body, being of the finest temperament, and no way diseased, could not be but very beautiful. The Roman register reporteth him to have been of a reverend countenance, his stature somewhat tall, his hair after the colour of the ripe hazel nut, his forehead smooth and plain, his face without wrinkle, mixed with moderate red, his eyes grey, various, and clear (Lentulus ad Senat. ap. Magdeb. Cent. 1). Surely if Stephen’s face was “as the face of an angel,” and if with his bodily eyes he could pierce the heavens, and see there what he would; how much more could the Lord Christ, whose very manhood came the nearest unto God of any that ever was or could be? His very countenance did express a Divinity in him. And what if to the Jews, who esteemed him not, but maligned him, and crucified him, he had “neither form nor beauty?” Isaiah 53:2; what if he were so broken at thirty-three years of age, with continual pains and grief for them, that they judged him well-nigh fifty? John 8:57; yet he was every way complete and comely above all the children of men; yea, above all the angels in heaven; for in him the “Godhead dwelt bodily,” Colossians 2:9, and we “beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14. His soul was like a rich pearl in a rough shell; like the tabernacle, goat’s hair without, but gold within; or as Brutus’s staff, cuius intus solidum aurum corneo velabatur cortice (Plutarch). He was all-glorious within; had a fulness of grace above that of Adam, John 1:16, as much as a creature was capable of; and more near familiarity with the Godhead than any creature. Grace is poured into thy lips] So that thou canst gracefully deliver thyself in a set speech. Solomon could, no doubt, as another Phocion or Pericles; in whose lips, πειθω τις επεκαθηρο, said Eupolis, sat a strange persuasive faculty; so that he could prevail with the people at his pleasure. Jesus Christ could much more do so; for together with his words there went forth a power; he spoke as never man spake; he spoke with authority, and not as the Scribes; all that heard him wondered at the words of grace that proceeded out of his mouth, Luke 4:22 Isa 50:4. Therefore God hath blessed thee] Or better, because that God hath blessed thee, and endowed thee with such gifts and graces.
Ver. 3. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty (O Heros).] This is one of Christ’s titles, Isaiah 9:6, the giant, or the mighty strong God, the valiant champion of his Church. And his sword is the word of his mouth, Revelation 1:16 Heb 4:12 Isa 49:2. All the wars in the conquest of Canaan were types of the spiritual wars under the gospel, whereby the nations were subdued to the obedience of the faith, 2 Corinthians 10:4 Eph 6:11. Christ hath his sword then, a two-edged sword; and he is here called upon to gird it to his thigh (after the manner of those easterns, as we do our skins, hangers, wood-knives), that is, to take unto him his authority, and to exercise it for the conversion of his people and confusion of his enemies. Additur ei gladius quem non ostentet velut ειδωλον, sed quem etiam destringat: A sword he hath, not for show, but for service; whence it is added, “with tby glory and thy majesty.”