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Ver. 13. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord] So St Paul, “Being defamed,” saith he, “we pray.” Christ in like case committed himself to God in well-doing, 1 Peter 2:15 In an acceptable time] Or, there will be an acceptable time. Flebile principium melior fortuna sequetur.
Ver. 14. Deliver me out of the mire] i.e. De civitate Gehennae, from the state of hell, saith the Hebrew scholiast; out of that deadly danger whereof he had complained, Psalms 69:2. Alphonsus, king of Arragon, by a gracious condescension, helped a laden ass out of the mire with his own hand, and is renowned for it in history (Val. Max. Christ. 41). God helpeth his out full oft, and little notice is taken of it. One who writes explanatory notes upon an author; esp. an ancient commentator upon a classical writer.
Ver. 15. Let not the waterflood overflow me] See Psalms 69:1. Let not the pit shut] Leave me not helpless and hopeless. Vivere spe facias qui moriturus eram.
Ver. 16. Hear me, O Lord, for thy lovingkindness is good] It is not like the winter sun, that lighteth but heateth not; it is like the summer sun, that doth both.
Ver. 17. And hide not thy face from thy servant] Who am devoted to thy fear, and do, therefore, implore and expect thy favour. For I am in trouble] And so a fit object of thy pity.
Ver. 18. Draw nigh unto my soul] Who seemest to be afar off; so the flesh suggesteth when help is any whit deferred. Because of mine enemies] Who else will excessively insult.
Ver. 19. Thou hast known my reproach] That is enough for David, that God taketh cognizance of the injuries and indignities cast upon him; for he will surely right him.
Ver. 20. Reproach hath broken mine heart, &c.] He knew his own innocence, and yet it much grieved him to be so defamed; for he knew that a good man should be as much as might be not only without fault, but without suspicion of a fault, as Augustus Caesar was wont to say of his house. Howsoever, it is happy that a true Christian hath always his cordial by him, 2 Corinthians 1:12. Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience. And I looked for some to take pity] Heb. to lament with me, or to shake the head over me as mourners use to do, to run to my comfort, and to condole with me. David’s friends failed him in this office also. But that was not all.
Ver. 21. They gave me also gall for my meat] Venenum vel eicutam; and so showed themselves miserable comforters. And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink] This befell David in figure, but Christ in the letter, Matthew 27:34. It were happy if the vinegar given him might melt our adamantine hearts into godly sorrow.
Ver. 22. Let their table become a snare before them] Let them eat their bane, and drink their poison; while all their cares are sauced with the wrath of God: Quoniam hoe mode cibarunt me, saith Kimchi, because they have served me on this sort. By “table,” saith another interpreter, we are to understand all means of comfort and refreshing, both of body and soul, which turn to the ruin of the wicked, even an odour of death unto death, 2 Corinthians 2:15,16. And that which should have been, &c.] Tremellius rendereth it, Pro retributionibus, pro tendicula ipsis, for recompenses, for a trap to them Romans 11:9; others, Pacifiea in rete! others again, Et ubi pacem sperant, illic impingant, Where they hope for peace let them fall.
Ver. 23. Let their eyes be darkened] Let them be infatuated and besotted, that they may go hoodwinked to hell. And make their loins continually to shake] Ne fugiant, saith R. Obadiah Gaon, that they may not be able to fly, or otherwise to help themselves; for in the loins and reins of a man lieth his strength, Deuteronomy 33:11. The Syriac hath it, Lumbi eorum sint curvi, viz. under their enemies’ burdens. See Romans 11:10, bow down their backs.
Ver. 24. Pour out thine indignation upon them] By indignation, saith Basil, we are to understand speedy vengeance; by wrath, durable. This is befallen the nation of the Jews to the utmost, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, or to the end, as some render it.
Ver. 25. Let their habitation be desolate] Heb. their palaces, or castles, so named of being fair and high built, in row and order. It is here put not only for their habitation, but for their function. See Acts 1:20. And let none dwell in their tents] Lege et luge, Read and lament, saith one, speaking of the ruin of Jerusalem by the Romans, under Vespasian, and again under Hadrian, by whom all Judaea was left almost uninhabited, the Jews utterly banished, and forbidden upon pain of death to look toward their own country (Dio in Hadrian). At this day there be not to be found in Jerusalem itself a hundred households of Jews. Behold the severity of God for the contempt of Christ and his people (Breerwood’s Enquirer).
Ver. 26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten] Christ was “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted,” Isaiah 53:4. Him they persecuted to the death, and abused, when he was at the greatest under, with bitter taunts and Satanical sarcasms; so the pagans and Papists dealt by the dying martyrs; and so profane persons and malicious miscreants do still by God’s poor afflicted; falling as cursed curs upon the dog that is worried; and as when a deer is shot the rest of the herd push him out of their company: so here. Now, if it could be said of Mithridates, that he hated such as maliciously persecuted virtue forsaken of fortune; much more may we think doth God abhor such cruel criminals as are here spoken of. See Isaiah 47:6 Ob 1 Zec 1:15. And they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded] Narrationes contexunt, they frame discourses to the grief of thy wounded ones, pouring into their wounds not oil, or balsam, but vinegar, or salt water, Heb. they number, or cipher up the grief; that is, saith one, they study and devise new ways of torturing them, so that he who would speak of them all, must keep a remembrance of their number.
Ver. 27. Add iniquity unto their iniquity] Punish one sin with another (by giving them up to a reprobate sense, to an incurable hardness), and plague them soundly for their sin. The same Hebrew word signifieth both sin and punishment; these two are tied together with chains of adamant. And let them not come into thy righteousness] i.e. Hold them not righteous, nor bestow upon them thy crown of righteousness.
Ver. 28. Let them be blotted out, &c.] Wherein they were never indeed written among those living in Jerusalem, Isaiah 4:3, those firstborn whose names are written in heaven, Hebrews 12:23, but they accounted themselves of that number, and were so esteemed by others. This was a mistake, and the psalmist prayeth God to make it appear so, Ne videantur in albun tuorum relati quibus verae vitro donum destinasti.
Ver. 29. But I am poor and sorrowful] The Church is usually so, and may sing, as here, Vaani gnani, &c., but her comfort is, 1. That Christ saith unto her, as Revelation 2:9, I know thy sorrow and poverty (but that is nothing), thou art rich. 2. That her poverty is not penal, but medicinal; God’s dispensation to fit her for better riches; as a wise physician purgeth a foul hody till he bring it almost to skin and bone; but why? that, having made it poor, there may be a spring of better blood and spirits.
Ver. 30. I will praise the name of God] i.e. Agnitmn Deum. I will thankfully agnize and recognize God’s great goodness to me in this deliverance, with mine uttermost zeal and skill.
Ver. 31. This also shall please the Lord better, &c.] True thankfulness is opimum et optimum saerificium, those calves of our lips, Hosea 14:3 Heb 12:15. These calves or bullocks (as in the text) must, 1. Have horns and hoofs, be young and tender, the very best, of the best. 2. They must be slain; our thanks must proceed from a mortified mind. 3. They must be sacrificed; where is required, (1.) An altar, our praises must be tendered in the mediation of Christ. (2.) Fire, our hearts must be inflamed with zeal and ardency. (3.) Our hands must be laid on the head of the bullock; that is, we must in all humility confess our unworthiness, &c. This will surely please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
Ver. 32. The humble shall see this and be glad] David’s great care was for others’ confirmation and comfort; much more Christ’s, witness that holy prayer of his, John 17:9 Your heart shall live] Which before was all lifeless. Pray that ye may joy. David did so often, Psalms 6, &c.
Ver. 33. For the Lord heareth the poor] He is the poor man’s king, the wronged man’s refuge; Trajan the emperor is renowned for this, that when he was mounted for a battle, he alighted again to bear the complaint of a poor woman that cried unto him for justice (Aeli. Spart.); and our Edward VI for this, that he would appoint certain hours to sit with the master of the requests, only to despatch the causes of the poor. God is much more to be magnified.
Ver. 34. Let the heaven and earth praise him] As they do in their kind; and have good cause so to do for their restoration by Christ, Romans 8:21.
Ver. 35. For God will save Zion] i.e. The Church universal. And will build the cities] The particular Churches. That they may dwell there] viz. The seed of his servants, Psalms 69:36.
Ver. 36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit] The faithful and their posterity after them shall be incorporated into the Church, and partake of all good things to all perpetuity. A Psalm of David] Made, likely, or rather made use of from Psalms 40:14,15, &c., when Sheba, the son of Bichri, was up in rebellion after Absalom’s death, 2 Samuel 20:1, &c. See Psalms 69:1, title. To briny to remembrance] Worthy to be remembered, and followed as a pattern of prayer. Some make this psalm an appendix to the former, as Psalms 43., is to Psalms 42. Others make it a part of the next psalm; which is, therefore, say they, without a title.