Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_144.TXT

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that for every thing it is wanted for, to bear up under
iemptations and afflictions, to withstand every spi-
ritual enemy, to exercise every grace, and discharge
every duty: and this strength is everlasting; it always
continues in him, and is always to be had from him;
he is the eternal God., who is the refuge of his people,
and his arms ofp0wer and might underneath them are
everlasting: the words may be rendered, for in Jab is
Jehovah, the Rock ofages{q}; Jehovah the Son is in Je-
hovah the Father, according to John x. 38. and xiv. 1l.
or Jah Jehovah is the Rock of ages, so Vitringa; he is
the Rock on which the church and every believer is
built, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail;
and he has been the Rock of his people in ages past,
and will be in ages to come: or of worlds; this world,
and that to come; and so it is explained in the Tal-
mud{r}, he that trusts in the Lord has a refuge in this
world, and in the world to come.
Ver. 5. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high,
the lofty city, &c.] That dwell on high in the high
city, so the accents require the words to be rendered;
and accordingly the Targum-is, "for he will bring
"low the inhabitants of the high and strong city ;"
such that dwell in a city built on high, and in the
high towers and palaces of it; or that sit on high
thrones, are spiritual wickednesses in high places, and
are of proud and haughty dispositions and conduct; as
the pope of Rome and his cardinals, &c.; for not the
city of Jerusalem is here meant, as Jerom thinks,
whose destruction he Supposes is foretold, as both by
the Babyloninns and Romans; and therefore, he ob-
serves, the word is doubled in the next clause; nor
the city of Nineveh; nor Babylon, literally taken; but
mystical Babylon is here meant. Jarchi interprets
them that dwell on high of Tyre and Greece; but Je-
rom says, the Jews understand by the lofty city the
city of Rome; and this seems to be the true sense;
a city built upon seven hills or mountains; a city that
has ruled over the kings of the earth, and whose pre-
sent inhabitants are proud and haughty: he layeth it
low: he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it
even to the dust; all which expressions denote the
utter destruction of it; see oh. xxv. 12. and Rev.
xviii. 7, 8, 2l.
Ver. 6. The foot shall tread it down, &c.] Trample
upon it when brought down, laid low, and level
with the ground, as mire is trodden in the streets, and
straw for the dunghill; as grapes in the wine-press, or
grass by the feet of cattle: not the foot of a prince, as
Aben Ezra observes, or of mighty men; but, as fol-
lows, the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy;
these are not the Israelites in a literal sense, as Kim-
chi explains it; but the spiritual Israel of God; tim
righteous, as theTargum paraphrases it; the saints of
the most High, to whom the kingdom and dominion
under the whole heaven will now be given, and who
will be just come out of great tribulation; for the
words suggest, that the people of God will- be a poor
and afflicted people, and very feeble, and sore dis-
tressed, a little before the destruction of antichrist;
but as God has been .a|wa.ys used to do his. work by
the poor and weak things of this world, by mean and
feeble instruments, so he will now, and raise his poor
and needy ones to a very high and 'exalted estate; all
their enemies shail be subdued and crushed  under
their feet; see Mai. iv. 3. Dan. vii. 27. Jarchi inter-
prets the feet of the poor of the feet of the King Mes-
siah, according to Zech. ix. 9.
Ver. 7. The way of the just is uprightness, &c.] Or,
the way for the just is uprightnes. ses{s}, most upright;
the way which is appointed for him, and which he
directed to walk in, is a way of righteousness and ho-
liness, and in which· he does walk; he walks uprightly,
according to the rules of the word, becoming the Gos-
pel of ChristY, and worthy of his vocation: or, it is
evennesses; a most plain and even way, in which men,
though fools, shall not err, Isa. xxxv. 8. or, the way
of the Lord to the just is uprightnesses, or evennesses
most upright, or most even; there's no inequality in it,
though sometimes so charged,' Ezek. xviii. 25, 29. it
is entirely agreeable to justice, equity, and truth;
regular and even, and suited to all his perfections of
wisdom, goodness, &c.t: thou most. upright; these
words are addressed to God, and contain an appella-
tion and. description of him, who is upright, just, and
true, and loves upright and righteous persons; so
Kimchi and Ben Melech take the word to be in the
vocative case, and as an address to God; though soma
render them, he is uprights; that is, the just man is
upright, whose wayis uprightness; but the tbrmer sense
best agrees with what follows: thou dost weigh the path
of the just; observe, consider, and approve of it, as being
according to rule, and agreeable to his mind and will,
Psal. i. 6. or, thou dost level or make even the path of the
just"; remove all impediments and obstructions out of
it, direct his goings, order his steps, and cause him to
walk ina straight way,wherein he shall not sturnble,Jer.
xxxi. 9. and so this is a reason given why the way of the
just is even, because it is made so by the Lord himself.
Ver. 8. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, 0 Lord,
have we waited for thee, &c.] Meaning by judgments
either the ministration of the word and ordinances,
called statutes and judgments, Psal. cxlvii. 19, 20. and
xix. 9, 10. an attendance on which is the right way of
waiting upon God, and where it may be expected he
will be found and manifest himself, and fayour with
his gracious presence; or else the corrections and
chastisemerits, .which are done in wisdom and with
judgment, in measure and in mercy, and in a fatherly
way, and for good; and so the sense is, that they had
not only followed the Lord in a plain and even way,
but even in the more rugged paths of affiictive dispensa-
tions; nor did these things at all move them from their
duty to him, and worship of him: the desire of our
soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee; to
God himself, affd to a remembrance of his nature, per-
fections, and works; to Christ, whose name is as oint-
ment poured fbrth, and whose person is desirable, be-
cause of his glory, beauty, and fulness, because of his
offices, and blessings of grace; and to his Gospel,
friend, the Rev. Mr. Hervey~ see Theroa and ispas~o, vol.
Dialog. ~ 3. p. ees. Ed. 3.

{q} \^Mymlwe rwu hwhy hyb\^ in Jah est Jehovah, rupes saeculorum.
{r} T. Bab. Menachot, foi. 29. 2.
{s} \^Myrvym qydul xrwa\^ via justo rectitudines, Vatablus.
{t} For this note, I am indebted to my learned, pious, and ingenious
friend, the Rev. Mr. Hervey; see Theron and Aspasio, vol 2.
Dialog 13. p. 225. Ed 3.
{u} \^rvy\^  rectus est, De Dieu.
{w} \^olpt\^ aequabis, Vatablus. So Ben Melech explains it by \^rvwy\^,
making a thing plain and even.