Psalm XVIII.517    Lat. XVII.

To the end, for the servant of the Lord, David himself.

1. That is, for the strong of hand, Christ in His Manhood.518    Secundum Hominem. “The words of this song which he spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him out of the hands of his enemies, and of the hand of Saul; and he said, On the day when the Lord delivered him out of the hands of his enemies and of the hand of Saul:” namely, the king of the Jews, whom they had demanded for themselves.519    1 Sam. viii. 5. For as “David” is said to be by interpretation, strong of hand; so “Saul” is said to be demanding. Now it is well known, how that People demanded for themselves a king, and received him for their king, not according to the will of God, but according to their own will.

2. Christ, then, and the Church, that is, whole Christ, the Head and the Body, saith here, “I will love Thee, O Lord, My strength” (ver. 1). I will love Thee, O Lord, by whom I am strong.520    [2 Sam. xxii.—C.]

3. “O Lord, My stay, and My refuge, and My deliverer” (ver. 2). O Lord, who hast stayed Me, because I sought refuge with Thee: and I sought refuge, because Thou hast delivered Me. “My God is My helper; and I will hope in Him.” My God, who hast first afforded me the help of Thy call, that I might be able to hope in Thee. “My defender, and the horn of My salvation, and My redeemer.” My defender, because I have not leant upon Myself, lifting up as it were the horn of pride against Thee; but have found Thee a horn indeed, that is, the sure height of salvation: and that I might find it, Thou redeemedst Me.

4. “With praise will I call upon the Lord, and I shall be safe from Mine enemies” (ver. 3). Seeking not My own but the Lord’s glory, I will call upon Him, and there shall be no means whereby the errors of ungodliness can hurt Me.

5. “The pains of death,” that is, of the flesh, have “compassed Me about. And the overflowings of ungodliness have troubled Me” (ver. 4). Ungodly troubles521    Or, “crowds.” stirred up for a time, like torrents of rain which will soon subside, have come on to trouble Me.

6. “The pains of hell compassed Me about” (ver. 5). Among those that compassed Me about to destroy Me, were pains of envy, which work death, and lead on to the hell of sin. “The snares of death prevented Me.” They prevented Me, so that they wished to hurt Me first, which shall afterwards be recompensed unto them. Now they seize unto destruction such men as they have evilly persuaded by the boast of righteousness: in the name but not in the reality of which they glory against the Gentiles.

7. “And in Mine oppression I called upon the Lord, and cried unto My God. And He heard My voice from His holy temple” (ver. 6). He heard from My heart, wherein He dwelleth, My voice. “And My cry in His sight entered into His ears;” and My cry, which I utter, not in the ears of men, but inwardly before Him Himself, “entered into His ears.”

8. “And the earth was moved and trembled” (ver. 7). When the Son of Man was thus glorified, sinners were moved and trembled. “And the foundations of the mountains were troubled.” And the hopes of the proud, which were in this life, were troubled. “And were moved, for God was wroth with them.” That is, that the hope of temporal goods might have now no more establishment in the hearts of men.

9. “There went up smoke in His wrath” (ver. 8). The tearful supplication of penitents went up, when they came to know God’s threatenings against the ungodly. “And fire burneth from His face.” And the ardour of love after repentance burns by the knowledge of Him. “Coals were kindled from Him.” They, who were already dead, abandoned by the fire of good desire and the light of righteousness, and who remained in coldness and darkness, re-enkindled and enlightened, have come to life again.

10. “And He bowed the heaven, and came down” (ver. 9). And He humbled the just One, that He might descend to men’s infirmity. “And darkness under His feet.” And the ungodly, who savour of things earthly, in the darkness of their own malice, knew not Him: for the earth under His feet is as it were His footstool.

11. “And He mounted above the cherubim, and did fly” (ver. 10). And He was exalted above the fulness of knowledge, that no man should come to Him but by love: for “love is the fulfilling of the law.”522    Rom. xiii. 10. And full soon He showed to His lovers that He is incomprehensible, lest they should suppose that He is comprehended by corporeal imaginations. “He flew above the wings of the winds.” But that swiftness, whereby He showed Himself to be incomprehensible, is above the powers of souls, whereon as upon wings they raise themselves from earthly fears into the air of liberty.

12. “And hath made darkness His hiding place” (ver. 11). And hath settled the obscurity of the Sacraments, and the hidden hope in the heart of believers, where He may lie hid, and not abandon them. In this darkness too, wherein “we yet walk by faith, and not by sight,”523    2 Cor. v. 7. as long as “we hope for what we see not, and with patience wait for it.”524    Rom. viii. 25. “Round about Him is His tabernacle.” Yet they that believe Him turn to Him and encircle Him; for that He is in the midst of them, since He is equally the friend of all, in whom as in a tabernacle He at this time dwells. “Dark water in clouds of air.” Nor let any one on this account, if he understand the Scripture, imagine that he is already in that light, which will be when we shall have come out of faith into sight: for in the prophets and in all the preachers of the word of God there is obscure teaching.

13. “In respect of the brightness in His sight” (ver. 12): in comparison with the brightness, which is in the sight of His manifestation. “His clouds have passed over.” The preachers of His word are not now bounded by the confines of Judæa, but have passed over to the Gentiles. “Hail and coals of fire.” Reproofs are figured,525    Read “full lightning-charged reproofs.” whereby, as by hail, the hard hearts are bruised: but if a cultivated and genial soil, that is, a godly mind, receive them, the hail’s hardness dissolves into water, that is, the terror of the lightning-charged,526    Fulguratæ. and as it were frozen, reproof dissolves into satisfying doctrine; and hearts kindled by the fire of love revive. All these things in His clouds have passed over to the Gentiles.

14. “And the Lord hath thundered from heaven” (ver. 13). And in confidence of the Gospel the Lord hath sounded forth from the heart of the just One. “And the Highest gave His voice;” that we might entertain it, and in the depth of human things, might hear things heavenly.

15. “And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them” (ver. 14). And He sent out Evangelists traversing straight paths on the wings of strength, not in their own power, but His by whom they were sent. And “He scattered them,” to whom they were sent, that to some of them they should be “the savour of life unto life, to others the savour of death unto death.”527    2 Cor. ii. 16. “And He multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.” And He multiplied miracles, and troubled them.

16. “And the fountains of water were seen. And the fountains of water springing up into everlasting life,”528    John iv. 14. which were made in the preachers, were seen. “And the foundations of the round world were revealed” (ver. 15). And the Prophets, who were not understood, and upon whom was to be built the world of believers in the Lord, were revealed. “At Thy chiding, O Lord:” crying out, “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”529    Luke x. 9. “At the blasting of the breath of Thy displeasure;” saying, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”530    Luke xiii. 5.

17. “He hath sent down from on high, and hath fetched Me (ver. 16): by calling out of the Gentiles for an inheritance “a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle.”531    Eph. v. 27. “He hath taken Me out of the multitude of waters.” He hath taken Me out of the multitude of peoples.

18. “He hath delivered Me from My strongest enemies” (ver. 17). He hath delivered Me from Mine enemies, who prevailed to the afflicting and overturning of this temporal life of Mine. “And from them which hate Me; for they are too strong for Me:” as long as I am under them knowing not God.

19. “They have prevented Me in the day of My affliction” (ver. 18). They have first injured Me, in the time when I am bearing a mortal and toilsome body. “And the Lord hath become My stay.” And since the stay of earthly pleasure was disturbed and torn up by the bitterness of misery, the Lord hath become My stay.

20. “And hath brought Me forth into a broad place” (ver. 19). And since I was enduring the straits of the flesh, He brought Me forth into the spiritual breadth of faith. “He hath delivered Me, because He desired Me.” Before that I desired Him, He delivered Me from My most powerful enemies (who were envious of Me when I once desired Him), and from them that hated Me, because I do desire Him.

21. “And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness” (ver. 20). And the Lord shall reward Me according to the righteousness of My good will, who first showed mercy, before that I had the good will. “And according to the cleanness of My hands He will recompense Me.” And according to the cleanness of My deeds He will recompense Me, who hath given Me to do well by bringing Me forth into the broad place of faith.

22. “Because I have kept the ways of the Lord” (ver. 21). That the breadth of good works, that are by faith, and the long-suffering of perseverance should follow after.

23. “Nor have I walked impiously apart from My God.” “For all His judgments are532    Oxford mss. “are always.” in My sight” (ver. 22). “For” with persevering contemplation I weigh “all His judgments,” that is, the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the ungodly, and the scourges of such as are to be chastened, and the trials of such as are to be proved. “And I have not cast out His righteousness from Me:” as they do that faint under their burden of them, and return to their own vomit.

24. “And I shall be undefiled with Him, and I shall keep Myself from Mine iniquity” (ver. 23).

25. “And the Lord shall reward Me according to My righteousness (ver. 24). Accordingly not only for the breadth of faith, which worketh by love; but also for the length of perseverance, will the Lord reward Me according to My righteousness. “And according to the cleanness of My hands in the sight of His eyes.” Not as men see, but “in the sight of His eyes.” For “the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal:”533    2 Cor. iv. 18. whereto the height of hope appertains.

26. “With the holy Thou shalt be holy” (ver. 25). There is a hidden depth also, wherein Thou art known to be holy with the holy, for that Thou makest holy. “And with the harmless Thou shalt be harmless.” For Thou harmest no man, but each one is bound by the bands of his own sins.534    Prov. v. 22.

27. “And with the chosen Thou shalt be chosen.” (ver. 26). And by him whom Thou choosest, Thou art chosen. “And with the froward Thou shalt be froward.” And with the froward Thou seemest froward: for they say, “The way of the Lord is not right:”535    Ezek. xviii. 25. and their way is not right.

28. “For Thou wilt make whole the humble people” (ver. 27). Now this seems froward to the froward, that Thou wilt make them whole that confess their sins. “And Thou wilt humble the eyes of the proud.” But them that are “ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seek to establish their own,”536    Rom. x. 3. Thou wilt humble.

29. “For thou wilt light My candle, O Lord” (ver. 28). For our light is not from ourselves; but “Thou wilt light my candle, O Lord. O my God, Thou wilt enlighten my darkness.” For we through our sins are darkness; but “Thou, O my God, wilt enlighten my darkness.”

30. “For by Thee shall I be delivered from temptation” (ver. 29). For not by myself, but by Thee, shall I be delivered from temptation. “And in my God shall I leap over the wall.” And not in myself, but in my God shall I leap over the wall, which sin has raised between men and the heavenly Jerusalem.

31. “My God, His way is undefiled” (ver. 30). My God cometh not unto men, except they shall have purified the way of faith, whereby He may come to them; for that “His way is undefiled.” “The words of the Lord have been proved by fire.” The words of the Lord are tried by the fire of tribulation. “He is the Protector of them that hope in Him.” And all that hope not in themselves, but in Him, are not consumed by that same tribulation. For hope followeth faith.

32. “For who is God, but the Lord?” (ver. 31) whom we serve. “And who God, but our God?” And who is God, but the Lord? whom after good service we sons shall possess as the hoped-for inheritance.

33. “God, who hath girded me with strength” (ver. 32). God, who hath girded me that I might be strong, lest the loosely flowing folds of desire hinder my deeds and steps. “And hath made my way undefiled.” And hath made the way of love, whereby I may come to Him, undefiled, as the way of faith is undefiled, whereby He comes to me.

34. “Who hath made my feet perfect like harts’ feet” (ver. 33). Who hath made my love perfect to surmount the thorny and dark entanglements of this world. “And will set me up on high.” And will fix my aim on the heavenly habitation, that “I may be filled with all the fulness of God.”537    Eph. iii. 19.

35. “Who teacheth my hands for battle” (ver. 34). Who teacheth me to work for the overthrow of mine enemies, who strive to shut the kingdom of heaven against us. “And Thou hast made mine arms as a bow of steel.” And Thou hast made my earnest striving after good works unwearied.

36. “And Thou hast given me the defence of my salvation, and Thy right hand hath held me up”