Psalms 87
PATmen (2 Sam. xv. 1, 2, &c.) have made an insurrection against me, and raised a most formidable army, (ver. 12, 13.) to take away that life, which thou hast so miraculously preserved: having no regard to thy providence; nor refusing any means whereby they may satisfy their unjust desires. It is as uncertain when this Psalm-Song (see lxvii.) was composed, as which of the sons of Korah was the author of it. But it is manifest enough, that it was written in commendation of Jerusalem, situate in the holy mountains of Zion (where David built his palace, and afterward settled the ark) and of Moriah, where Solomon built the temple. There arc those that think it was composed upon the anniversary of the birth or coronation of some great prince, such asHezekiah: in whose days this city was made more famous, by the glorious deliverance which God gave it, from the power of the king of Assyria’s army. But this is a mere conjecture; and I shall follow the vulgar opinion: according to which, the beginning of this Psalm must be looked upon as very abrupt; but expresses the greater rapture of joyful admiration, wherein the Psalmist was.
Psalms 87:1
JlL IS foundation is in the holy mountains. Great is the strength and beauty of this place, which is founded by God in the high mountains; which he hath peculiarly chosen for the seat of his kingdom, and of his priesthood. \J LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.’] O mighty Lord, by whose gracious care and good providence I have been hitherto preserved, and on whom all my hopes of safety still depend; I have not failed in this sore affliction to implore thy mercy, with most earnest cries, without any intermission.
Psalms 87:2
Ttie Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Though the Lord loves all the* habitations of his people, yet none are so dear unto him as those within the gates of Jerusalem: a principal part of which is Zion. Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear • unto my cry.,] Let them at last prevail, I beseech thee; and do not reject -my petition, accompanied with sad moans and doleful lamentations; but vouchsafe a favourable answer to it.
Psalms 87:3
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. There is no city in the world, of which such glorious things are foretold, or of which any thing can now be said, comparable to what we can truly boast of thee, that art the city which God himself hath separated for his own habitation. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draiveth nigh unto the grave.] For my soul is overcharged with great variety of long-continued evils; which have brought f mc so low, that there is but a step between me and the grave.
Psalms 87:4
Iivill make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. I do not deny the due praises which belong to other places and countries; but rather am wont to make honourable mention among my acquaintance and familiars, of Egypt and Babylon; anil t)f those who are nearer to.us, the Philistines, Tyrians, and Arabians: bidding them observe, that such a notable person was born among them. lam counted with them that go down into the pit: lam as a man that hath no strength.] All that know my condition look upon me as utterly lost; and I have no reason to think otherwise, being quite spent, and having no power at all to help myself.
Psalms 87:5
And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her. But what is this to Zion? of whom it shall be said in future times, that (not such a single person, but) this and that man; a great many worthies, and far more eminent, both in learning and in arms, but especially in piety, were born in her; for she hath no meaner instructor than the Most High; who shall settle her in a flourishing estate, by educating and forming her inhabitants to the most excellent qualities. Free among the dead, like the. slain that lie in the * grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.] I am no longer one of this world, from whose society I am quite separated; (here is little difference between me and those, who, being slain in a battle, and cast all together into one common grave, are no farther regarded; or those whose families are so wholly extirpated, that there ate none left to preserve their memory.
Psalms 87:6
TJie Lord shall count, tvhen he ivriteth up the people, that this man urns born there. Selah. So that when he himself, whose eyes nothing can escape, shall look over the register of those nations, and count the famous men they have produced; he shall find only some one great man, and he comparatively of no great value, was born among them. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.] For thou hast thrust me down into a deep and dismal dungeon (which I can compare to nothing but a grave); wherein I lie neglected, and sec no hope of being delivered.
Psalms 87:7
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my spnngs are in thee. But in thee, O city’ of God, he shall find multitudes of excellent persons, all eminent in their kind, even among those of lower rank, as well as in the higher. And there shall be a constant succession of such, as there is of water in the spring. PSALM LXXXV1II. A Song or Psalm for theSons ofKorah; to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. *: ARGUMENT. Who this Heman was, is uncertain. Not he who was the famous singer in David’s time; for he was of the tribe of Levi: (1 Chron. vi.-32. xv. 17.) whereas this was descended from Zerah, who was one of the sons of Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 6. where we find, indeed, not only Heman, but Ethan (to whom the next Psalm is ascribed), mentioned as two of Zerah’s sons: but we cannot reasonably think that they were, in those early times, the authors of these two Psalms; because Ethan plainly makes, mention of David, and the promise which God had passed to him of a perpetual kingdom. It remains, therefore, that these two here mentioned were of the posterity of those sons of Zerah (and thence called Ezrahites), and had the names of their noble an- Microsoft® Z2 [psalm lxxxviii. cestors given them, to perpetuate the memory of those who were so famous for wisdom, (1 Kings iv. 31.) But in what time they lived cannot bo certainly determined. It is probable, when Jeconiah, otherwise called Jehoiachin (or after him Zedekiah) was taken, and carried captive to Babylon, together with abundance of the nobility, and the principal commanders and artisans, (2 Kings xxiv. 14—16.) In some of which ranks I suppose this Hcman was; who being cast into a dark prison, (which hath made some fancy Jehoiachin himself to have made it, ver. 6. 8.) or otherwise as miserably treated as if he had been in a dungeon, bewails his private calamity: as Ethan in the next Psalm doth the public. Why it is called a Song-Psalm, see upon the title of Psal. Ixvii. It was to be sung by the sons of Korah interchangeably, which is the meaning of Leannoth, upon a flute, or pipe, (see Psal. liii.) to the known tune of Maschil; (see Psal. xxxii.) Some passages in it maybe applied to our Saviour’s death and burial in his grave, which the prophet Isaiah compares to a prison; and so is used by our church upon Good-Friday. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selalu] My spirit is ready to sink under the weight of thy displeasure, while my calamities fall upon me so fast, and so heavily (like the mountainous waves of the sea), one after another, that it is im? possible to express the soreness of my affliction.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: lam shut up, and I cannot come forth. I am not allowed to have any familiarity with my friends or acquaintance, no more than if I were in another world; and as for other men, they abominate to come into such a loathsome place; where I am kept so close, that I have no means of getting out.
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, J have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out mine handsfunto thee. Nor can I do any thing there but weep, till I am almost blind, by reason of the miseries I endure: only I cease not to look up unto thee, O Lord, continually, who art my only companion in this solitary and helpless condition; imploring thy aid Avith fervent prayers, and longing expectations; saying,
Wilt thou sheiv wonders to the dead? shall tJte dead rise and praise thee? Selah. Make haste, good Lord, to deliver me, if thou intendest any kindness to me; otherwise I shall presently perish; and then, without the greatest miracle, there is no help for me: for can I with any reason expect, that thou shouldest do wonders for mo among the dead, when thou wouldest do nothing for me while, I was alive? and raise me out of my grave, when thou wouldest not bring me out of prison.
Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?. Now is the time to declare the love thou bearest tome; and to perform the promise thou hast made to them that faithfully serve thee; for if thou dost defer thy relief, I die; and wiiat can I hope for, w r hen I am rotten in my grave? <
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?. Shall thy power be apparent there where nothing is seen? and wilt thou convince men how good and how just thou art to thy servants, in the place where they are no more remembered?
But unto thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. Thus, O Lord, I cry unto thee in the anguish of my soul; which keeps me awake to present my prayers unto thee, before the morning light. Ver..14. Lord, why easiest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face front me?] Though, alas! they have no effect; but I see myself deserted, notwithstanding all my prayers, in these miserable. straits; wherein I lie sighing, to think what the reason should be that thou deniest me thy help, •and takest no notice of me.
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, (and gracious; long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. All our comfort is, that thou, not they, dost govern the world: who art no less compassionate, than thou art powerful; readily forgiving offences, of bearing long before thou puuishest them; choosing rather to heap thy benefits upon us, and never failing to perform thy faithful promises. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.] Which is the more strange, because I faint away under my misery, which hath continued many years, and under the sad prospect I have before me of more dreadful calamities; which so astonish me, that I know not what to do with myself.
O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. In confidence of which, I humbly beseech thy favour and gracious pardon, though I have highly offended thee: assist thy poor servant, by thy irresistible power, against those mighty forces, which are ready to assault me: O deliver me, who am here humbled in the lowest manner before thee; looking upon myself as more absolutely thine, than any slave that is born in our house can be ours. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.] I only bemoan over again my forlorn estate, which grows still more deplorable; I suffer not merely the effects of thy anger, (ver. 7.) but of thy severest and most terrible displeasure; wherewith I am so overwhelmeTl and oppressed, that I am scarce able to fetch my breath.
Sheiu me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed; because thou Lord hast holpen me, and comforted me. Vouchsafe me now in this great distress such manifest tokens of thy favour towards me, that I may not only be delivered, but all may take notice of it: and good men thereby be encouraged to hope in thee; but they that hate me be utterly confounded, to see him whom they intended to destroy, not only preserved, but blessed with comforts proportionable to the sorrow he hath endured. PSALM LXXXVII. ■ A Psalm or Song for the Sons ofKorah. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.] Which way soever I turn myself, I find that I am environed with them; and