Psalms · Chapter 14

V. 1. The fool-The wicked man. Good-That is, actions really good or pleasing to God.

Verse 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.] lbn nabal, which we render fool, signifies an empty fellow, a contemptible person, a villain. One who has a muddy head and an unclean heart; and, in his darkness and folly, says in his heart, “There is no God.” “And none,” says one, “but a fool would say so.” The word is not to be taken in the strict sense in which we use the term atheist, that is, one who denies the being of a God, or confounds him with matter. 1. There have been some, not many, who have denied the existence of God. 2. There are others who, without absolutely denying the Divine existence, deny his providence; that is, they acknowledge a Being of infinite power, &c., but give him nothing to do, and no world to govern. 3. There are others, and they are very numerous, who, while they profess to acknowledge both, deny them in their heart, and live as if they were persuaded there was no God either to punish or reward. They are corrupt] They are in a state of putrescency; and they have done abominable works-the corruption of their hearts extends itself through all the actions of their lives. They are a plague of the most deadly kind; propagate nothing but destruction; and, like their father the devil, spread far and wide the contagion of sin and death. Not one of them does good. He cannot, for he has no Divine influence, and he denies that such can be received.

Verse 1. The fool hath said in his heart — In his secret thoughts, or within himself, what he is afraid or ashamed to utter with his lips; There is no God — Or none that concerns himself with the affairs of mankind, none that governs the world, and observes and recompenses men’s actions according to their quality. And a fool indeed he must be who says or thinks so, for, in so doing, he speaks or thinks against the clearest light, against his own knowledge and convictions, and the common sentiments of the wise and sober part of mankind. Indeed, no man will say, There is no God, till he is so hardened in sin that it is become his interest there should be none to call him to an account. What St. Paul says of idolaters is equally true of atheists. Their foolish heart is darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they show that they are become fools, utterly destitute of true wisdom, as devoid of reason as of grace. They are corrupt — In practice as well as principle. “Infidelity is the beginning of sin, folly the foundation of infidelity, and the heart the seat of both.” — Horne. There is none — None of the fools here spoken of, and none of mankind by nature, none without supernatural grace; that doeth good — From a right principle, to a right end, and in a right spirit. None of their actions are really and thoroughly good and pleasing to God. For if some of them be good, as to the matter of them, as when they do an act of justice or charity; yet those actions are corrupt in their principles or ends, not being performed out of love to God, and a conscientious desire and care to please him, or with a view to his glory, for then they would do other good actions as well as these: but in hypocrisy, or vain glory, or for some other sinister and unworthy design.

Verse 1. The fool, the Nabal, devoid of foresight, says, there is no God; no governor, no providence, no judge. The happiness of man, like that of the brute, consists in the gratification of appetite, passion, and desire.

1. Fool—The word never means idiot, or one deficient in natural ability, but always one who has cast off the fear of God, and acts from pride, selfish passions, and self-conceit. Said in his heart— “Heart,” here, as often in the Scriptures, denotes the centre of the sympathetic system, the seat of the desires and affections, as distinct from the cerebral or intellective faculty. This atheism, hence, was not founded in reason, but in impure and selfish desires. Corrupt… abominable—This gives the moral cause and fruit of atheism, and defines nabal, or fool.

V. 2. Looked-God knoweth all things without any enquiry: but he speaks after the manner of men. Upon-Upon the whole Israelitish nation, and upon all mankind for he speaks of all except his people, and the righteous ones, who are opposed to these, ver. 4,5.

Verse 2. The Lord looked down from heaven] Words spoken after the manner of men. From this glorious eminence God is represented as looking down upon the habitable globe, to see if there were any that did understand that there was a Supreme Being, the governor and judge of men; and, in consequence, seek God for his mercy, support, and defence.

Verse 2. The Lord looked down from heaven — God knows all things without any inquiry: but he speaks after the manner of men. Upon the children of men — Upon the whole Israelitish nation, and upon all mankind; for he speaks of all except his people, and the righteous ones, who are opposed to these, verses 4, 5. If there were any that did understand, &c. — That did truly know God, namely, so as to fear, love, trust in, and obey him, (all which particulars are frequently included in the Scriptures, under the expression of knowing God,) and seek God — Did diligently endeavour to learn his mind and will, that they might do it, and to seek his grace and favour.

Ver. 2. The Lord looked down from heaven, as in the days of Noah, when all flesh had corrupted its way. He now saw that all were become unprofitable, a rancid heap, a putrid mass. wjlan ne-elachu, as in the next verse. Their throat is an open sepulchre; that is, their heart and mouth are full of rottenness. This, as a general description of the wicked, is a just censure on times of irreligion, dissipation, and profligacy of manners.

2, 3. The Lord looked down… to see—An anthropomorphism, simply denoting that he made special judicial inquiry; that is, that he took accurate judicial knowledge of men’s acts, such as we arrive at only by a process of close investigation. Understand, and seek God—This was the test of character, the issue between God and men. The quotation of this by the apostle applies to the universal race, “both Jews and Gentiles.” Romans 3:9-12. They are all reckoned in sin, and as the argument is addressed to the Jews, it shows that this was the sense in which they understood the text. The same universality is expressed in the text by children of men, (Hebrews sons of Adam,) and in verse 3 by the terms all, together, none, no, not one. The bearing of this upon the historical occasion of the psalm shows that it was such as could not be limited to the dominance of a corrupt Jewish party, but included the Gentile nations as well, who now held sway. As a proof of universal, and hence hereditary, depravity, it is decisive.

V. 3. Gone-From God, and from the rule which he hath given them. Filthy-Loathsome and abominable to God.

Verse 3. They are all gone aside] They will not walk in the straight path. They seek crooked ways; and they have departed from truth, and the God of truth.

They are all together become filthy] wjlan neelachu. They are become sour and rancid; a metaphor taken from milk that has fermented and turned sour, rancid, and worthless.

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.] This is not only the state of heathen Babylon! but the state of the whole inhabitants of the earth, till the grace of God changes their heart. By nature, and from nature, by practice, every man is sinful and corrupt. He feels no good; he is disposed to no good; he does no good. And even God himself, who cannot be deceived, cannot find a single exception to this! Lord, what is man? The Vulgate, the Roman copy of the Septuagint, the Æthiopic, and the Arabic, add those six verses here which are quoted by St. Paul, Romans 3:13-18. See the notes on those passages, and see the observations at the end of this Psalm. See Clarke “Psalm 14:7”.

Verse 3. They are all gone aside — From God and the rule he hath given them to walk by, from truth into error, and from duty into sin; from the paths of wisdom and righteousness. They are altogether become filthy, loathsome, and abominable before God.

Ver. 3. After this verse, you may read Romans 3:13-15. These verses are found in the Hebrew text of Montanus, in the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, and they are admitted from the Vulgate into the English version in the common prayer. St. Paul seems to have collected this just portrait of human nature in its unregenerate state, from various parts of the old testament. How essential therefore are the aids of grace for the renovation of the heart. Man in this awful state can never enter heaven, as is farther illustrated in the ensuing psalm.

2, 3. The Lord looked down… to see—An anthropomorphism, simply denoting that he made special judicial inquiry; that is, that he took accurate judicial knowledge of men’s acts, such as we arrive at only by a process of close investigation. Understand, and seek God—This was the test of character, the issue between God and men. The quotation of this by the apostle applies to the universal race, “both Jews and Gentiles.” Romans 3:9-12. They are all reckoned in sin, and as the argument is addressed to the Jews, it shows that this was the sense in which they understood the text. The same universality is expressed in the text by children of men, (Hebrews sons of Adam,) and in verse 3 by the terms all, together, none, no, not one. The bearing of this upon the historical occasion of the psalm shows that it was such as could not be limited to the dominance of a corrupt Jewish party, but included the Gentile nations as well, who now held sway. As a proof of universal, and hence hereditary, depravity, it is decisive.

V. 4. Bread-With as little remorse, and with as much greediness. Call not-They are guilty not only of gross injustice towards men, but also of horrid impiety and contempt of God.

Verse 4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?] Is there not one of them who takes this dreadful subject into consideration? To their deeply fallen state they add cruelty; they oppress and destroy the poor, without either interest or reason.

Who eat up my people as they eat bread] Ye make them an easy and unresisting prey. They have no power to oppose you, and therefore you destroy them. That this is the meaning of the expression, is plain from the speech of Joshua and Caleb relative to the Canaanites. Numbers 14:9: “Neither fear ye the people or the land; for they are bread for us.” And call not upon the Lord.] They have no defence, for they invoke not the Lord. They are all either atheists or idolaters.

Verse 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? — Have they lost their senses? Have they neither religion nor common discretion, either of which might teach them not to fight against Omnipotence, not to seek death, everlasting death and destruction, in the error of their life, not to rush voluntarily into the wrath of God, and provoke the vengeance of eternal fire. Who eat up my people — Who devour and destroy them, meaning God’s people, the poor and godly Israelites; as they eat bread — With as little regret or remorse, and with as much greediness, delight, and constancy also, as they use to eat their meat. They call not upon the Lord — They are guilty, not only of gross injustice toward men, but also of horrid impiety and contempt of God, denying his providence, and wholly neglecting, if not despising, his worship. Strange! that they should all be thus senseless, as not only to injure and oppress my poor innocent people, but to be cruel and void of all pity toward them, and to throw off likewise all religion!

4. Who eat up my people—God is introduced as speaking. “Who devour the righteous with the same unconsciousness with which they would take their accustomed meal.”—Perowne. The spirit that “calls not upon the Lord,” that says, “There is no God,” has been in all ages a spirit of persecution of God’s people and of inhumanity to man. “My people” must be understood of the covenant people, specially of those who adhered to the spirit of the covenant.

V. 5. There-Upon the spot, where they practised these insolences, God struck them with a panick fear. For-God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have cause to tremble.

Verse 5. There were they in great fear] This is a manifest allusion to the history of the Canaanitish nations; they were struck with terror at the sight of the Israelites, and by this allusion the psalmist shows that a destruction similar to that which fell upon them, should fall on the Babylonians. Several of the versions add, from Psalm 53:5, “Where no fear was.” They were struck with terror, where no real cause of terror existed. Their fears had magnified their danger.

For God is in the generation] They feared the Israelites, because they knew that the Almighty God was among them.

Verse 5. There were they in great fear — In the place, or upon the spot where they practised these insolences: or, then, that is, in the height of their tyranny and prosperous impiety, when they seemed to have no cause for it, God struck them with a panic fear. Hebrew, djp wdjp, pachadu pachad, they feared with fear, that is, vehemently, namely, from their own guilty consciences and the just expectation of divine vengeance. Or, they shall be greatly afraid, the past tense being put for the future prophetically. Thus Bishop Patrick understands it, whose paraphrase on the words is, “What a terror will it be to them to see the divine vengeance seize on them when they think themselves most secure!” For God is in the generation of the righteous — He, who is the righteous Judge, will not desert those that are faithful to him, but will graciously deliver them. Or, God is for the generation, &c., as the Hebrew particle b, here used, often signifies: that is, God is on their side, and therefore their enemies have great cause to tremble.

5. There were they in great fear—Literally, afraid with fear. The form is intensive. It would seem that the allusion is to some interposition of Jehovah, which had checked the heathen and wrought consternation, as in Daniel 3:24-27. Several such instances occurred during the captivity. But the adverb may denote time instead of place, and read, then were they in fear, etc.; that is, when God arose to judgment. Generation… righteous— “Generation,” here, means not only the people living at any one time, but, as a moral designation, as in this place, all people of a given sort or quality in any age. See note on Psalm 12:7.

V. 6. Because-This was the ground of their contempt, that he lived by faith in God’s promise and providence.

Verse 6. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor] Instead of wvybt tabishu, “Ye have shamed,” Bishop Horsley proposes to read תבישם tabishem, and translates the clause thus: “The counsel of the helpless man shall put them to shame.” But this is not authorized by MS. or version. There is no need for any change: the psalmist refers to the confidence which the afflicted people professed to have in God for their deliverance, which confidence the Babylonians turned into ridicule. The poor people took counsel together to expect help from God, and to wait patiently for it; and this counsel ye derided, because ye did not know-did not consider, that God was in the congregation of the righteous.

Verse 6. You have shamed the counsel of the poor — Ye have desired and endeavoured to bring to shame, or to disappoint, the course which the godly poor man takes, and the resolution which he adopts, which is to trust in God, call upon his name, and proceed on in his way, which is a course and counsel very different from yours. Or, ye have reproached, or derided his counsel, as a foolish thing. Be cause the Lord is his refuge — This was the ground of their contempt and scorn, that the godly man lived by faith in God’s promise and providence. Or, but the Lord, &c. You reproach them, but God will own and protect them, and justify their counsel, which you deride.

6. Shamed—Not only frustrated, but, by treating with derision, caused it to become reproachful. Counsel of the poor—God’s afflicted ones. Their counsel, like that of the pious in all ages, was to fear Jehovah, to obey and trust him. It is the counsel of the suffering, witnessing Church to the proud and atheistic world, and it is a warning as well. The verse is regarded as elliptical, and should be read: “Ye may shame the counsel of the poor, [but in vain,] because the Lord is his refuge.”

V. 7. O that-These words immediately concern the deliverance of Israel out of that sinful state, in which they now were; which having described, he concludes, with a prayer to God to help them out of Zion, where the ark then was, but principally they design the spiritual redemption and salvation of all God’s Israel by the Messiah. The captivity-His captive people. The children of Jacob, as Aaron is named for his sons, 1 Chronicles 12:27.

Verse 7. O that the salvation] Or, more literally, Who will give from Zion salvation to Israel? From Zion the deliverance must come; for God alone can deliver them; but whom will he make his instruments?

When the Lord bringeth back] For it is Jehovah alone who can do it. Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. That is, according to Calmet, the remains of the kingdom of Israel, and those of Judah, shall be rejoined, to their mutual satisfaction, and become one people, worshipping the same God; and he has endeavoured to prove, in a dissertation on the subject, that this actually took place after the return from the Babylonish captivity. Many of the fathers have understood this verse as referring to the salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ; and so it is understood by my old MS. Psalter, as the following paraphrase will show: Qwa sal gyf of Syon hele til Israel? qwen Lord has turned a way the captyfte of his folk, glad sal Jacob, and fayne be Israel. Qwa bot Crist that ge despyse, qwen ge wit nout do his counsaile of Syon fra heven, sal gyf hele til Israel? that es, sal saf al trew cristen men, noght als ge er that lufs noght God. And qwen our Lord has turned o way the captyfte of his folk: that es, qwen he has dampned the devel, and al his Servaundes, the qwilk tourmentes gude men, and makes tham captyfs in pyne. Then glade sal Jacob; that es, al that wirstils o gayns vices and actyf: and fayne sal be Israel: that es, al that with the clene egh of thair hert, sees God in contemplatyf lyf. For Jacob es als mikil at say als, Wrestler, or suplanter of Syn. Israel es, man seand God.

Of the two chief opinions relative to the design of this Psalm: 1. That it refers to Absalom’s rebellion. 2. That it is a complaint of the captives in Babylon; I incline to the latter, as by far the most probable. I have referred, in the note on Psalm 14:3, to that remarkable addition of no less than six verses, which is found here in the Vulgate, the Vatican copy of the Septuagint, the Æthiopic, and the Arabic, and also in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Romans 3:13-18, which he is supposed to have quoted from this Psalm as it then stood in the Hebrew text; or in the version of the Seventy, from which it has been generally thought he borrowed them. That they are not interpolations in the New Testament is evident from this, that they are not wanting in any MS. yet discovered; and they exist in all the ancient versions, the Vulgate, Syriac, Æthiopic, and Arabic. Yet it has been contended, particularly by St. Jerome, that St. Paul did not quote them from this Psalm; but, being intent on showing the corruption and misery of man, he collected from different parts several passages that bore upon the subject, and united them here, with his quotation from Psalm 14:3, as if they had all belonged to that place: and that succeeding copyists, finding them in Romans, as quoted from that Psalm, inserted them into the Septuagint, from which it was presumed they had been lost. It does not appear that they made a part of this Psalm in Origen’s Hexapla. In the portions that still exist of this Psalm there is not a word of these additional verses referred to in that collection, neither here nor in the parallel Psalm 53.

The places from which Jerome and others say St. Paul borrowed them are the following:—

Romans 3:13: “Their mouth is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit.” Borrowed from Psalm 5:10. “The poison of asps is under their lips.” From Psalm 140:3. Romans 3:14: “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” From Psalm 10:7.

Romans 3:15: “Their feet are swift to shed blood.” From Proverbs 1:16, or Isaiah 59:7.

Romans 3:16-18: “Destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known, and there is no fear of God before their eyes.” From Isaiah 59:7, 8.

When the reader has collated all these passages in the original, he will probably feel little satisfaction relative to the probability of the hypothesis they are summoned to support.

These verses are not found in the best copies of the Vulgate, though it appears they were in the old Itala or Antehieronymain version. They are not in the Codex Alexandrinus of the Septuagint; nor are they in either the Greek or Latin text of the Complutensian Polyglot. They are wanting also in the Antwerp and Parisian Polyglots. They are neither in the Chaldee nor Syriac versions. They are not acknowledged as a part of this Psalm by Theodoret, Chrysostom, Euthymius, Arnobius, Apollinaris, the Greek Catena, Eusebius, of Cæsarea, nor Jerome. The latter, however, acknowledges that they were in his time read in the churches. I have seen no Latin MS. without them; and they are quoted by Justin Martyr and Augustine. They are also in the Editio Princeps of the Vulgate, and in all the ancient Psalters known. They are in that Psalter which I have frequently quoted, both in the Latino-Scotico-English version and paraphrase.

Of this version the following is a faithful copy, beginning with the third verse of the fourteenth Psalm:—

Al tha helddid togyher; thai er made unprofytable:

Thar es none that dos gude; thar es none til one.

A grave opynnand, es the throte of tham.

With thaire tunges trycherusly thai wroght

Venym of snakes undir the lippis of tham.

Qwhas mouth es ful of werying and bitternes:

Swyft thaire fete to spil blode.

Brekyng and wikednes in thair waies:

And the way of pees thai knew noght:

The drede of God es noght byfore the eghen of thaim.

There is a good deal of difference between this, and that version attributed to Wiclif, as it stands in my large MS. Bible, quoted in different parts of the New Testament, particularly in 1 Corinthians 13:1, &c. I shall give it here line for line with the above.

Alle boweden aweye to gydre: thei ben maad unprofitable:

There is not that doith good thing, ther is not to oon.

A Sepulcre opnyng is the throote of hem:

With her tungis thei diden gylinly; or trecherously:

The venym of eddris, that is clepid Aspis, under her lippis: The mouth of whom is ful of cursing, or worrying and bittrenesse: The feet of hem ben swift to schede out blood:

Contricion or defouling to God, and infelicite or cursidnesse, the wayes of hem; And thei knewen not the weyes of pees;

The dreed of God is not bifore her ygen.

The words underlined in the above are added by the translator as explanatory of the preceding terms. It is worthy of remark that Coverdale inserts the whole of the addition in this Psalm, and Cardmarden has inserted it in his Bible, but in a letter different from the text. It is now time to state what has been deemed of considerable importance to the authenticity of these verses; viz., that they are found in a Hebrew MS., numbered by Kennicott in his catalogue 649. It is in the public library at Leyden; contains the Psalms with a Latin version and Scholia; and appears to have been written about the end of the fourteenth century, and probably by some Christian. I shall give the text with a literal translation, as it stands in this MS., line for line with the preceding:—

גרונם פתוח rbq

An open sepulchre is their throat;

ˆwyqyljy לשונם

With their tongues they flatter;

לשונם תחת bwvk[ tmj

The venom of the asp is under their tongue;

מלא ומרמה אלה פיהם אשר

Whose mouth of cursing and bitterness is full;

דם Ëwpvl רגליהם wlq

Swift are their feet to shed blood;

בדרכיהם [r [gpw [r lzm

An evil aspect, and an evil event, in their ways:

ידעו al שלום Ërdw

And the way of peace they know not.

µhyny[ לנגר אלהים פחד אינ

No fear of God before their eyes.

It would be easy to criticise upon the Hebrew in this long quotation. I shall content myself with what Calmet, who received his information from others that had inspected the Leyden MS., says of this addition: “Les seavans, qui ont examine ce manuscrit, y ont remarque un Hebreu barbare en cet endroit; et des facons de parler, qui ne sentent point les siecles ou la langue Hebraique etoit en usage.” “Learned men, who have examined this MS., have remarked a barbarous Hebraism in this place, and modes of speech which savour not of those ages in which the Hebrew language was in use.”

If this be an interpolation in the Psalm, it is very ancient; as we have the testimony of Jerome, who was prejudiced against it, that it was read in all the churches in his time, and how long before we cannot tell. And that these verses are a valuable portion of Divine revelation, as they stand in Romans 3:13-18, none can successfully deny. See Rosenmuller, Kennicott, and Deuteronomy Rossi.

Verse 7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion — These words, considered in connection with the context, do not appear to be intended of any mere temporal salvation of Israel, whether from the rebellion of Absalom, or any other calamity brought upon them as a punishment of their sins. They rather seem directly and immediately to refer to the deliverance of that people from those corrupt principles and practices which the psalmist describes and laments in the preceding part of the Psalm. This is evidently the salvation which he has first in his view, and which he prays might come out of Zion, where the ark then was, where God was wont, in an especial manner, to manifest his presence, and whence he was supposed to hear and answer his people’s prayers. The words, however, have certainly a further design: they ultimately and principally respect the spiritual redemption and salvation of all God’s Israel by the Messiah. Thus the ancient Jews understood them, as appears from Jonathan’s Targum, or paraphrase, which expounds the passage in this manner, with which agrees the Targum of Jerusalem. We know the ancient patriarchs and prophets in general, and David in particular, well understood, and firmly believed, the doctrine of Israel’s redemption and salvation by the Messiah; and ardently expected, nay, and comforted themselves under their troubles, with the expectation of this great event, which they termed the consolation of Israel. And thus David seems to have comforted himself now in this dark time of ignorance and vice, of infidelity and sin, which he here deplores. To this also agrees the mention of Zion, because the prophets knew and foretold that the Messiah, or Deliverer, should first come to Zion, and should set up his throne there, and from thence send forth his laws and edicts to the Gentile world; as is positively affirmed, Psalm 2:6, and 110:2; Isaiah 2:3, and 59:20, compared with Romans 11:26, and in many other places. To this may be added, that the following words agree only to this event, in which he speaks of bringing back the captivity of the Lord’s people, with the universal joy of Jacob and Israel; which cannot agree to David’s time, wherein there was no such captivity of the people, but only a civil war and mutual slaughter, which is quite another thing, nor to the time of the Jews’ return from Babylon, when there was no such return of all Israel, but only of a part of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and some few of the other tribes; and the joy which the returning Jews then had was but low, and mixed with many fears, and dangers, and reproaches, as we see in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And therefore these words of the psalmist must belong to the times of the Messiah, by whom this promise was fulfilled to the true Israel of God, who were delivered from that most dreadful of all captivities, the captivity of sin and Satan, as is declared Luke 1:68-75, and 4:18; Ephesians 4:8. And they shall be literally accomplished to the natural seed of Jacob, or Israel, according to the expectation and belief of all the Jews in their several ages, and of most Christian writers. The Redeemer shall come to Zion by his Word and Spirit, by his gospel and his grace, as he before came in the flesh, and shall turn away all ungodliness from Jacob. For this time of universal reformation the psalmist longs and prays now in the time of universal corruption; as if he had said, Those will be glorious times, as the present are melancholy ones; for then Jacob, that is, the seed of Jacob, shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The triumphs of the king of Zion will be the joy of Zion’s children. And at the second coming of Christ, finally to extinguish the dominion of sin and Satan, this salvation will be completed, which, as it is the hope, so will it be the joy, of every true Israelite.

Ver. 7. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. Seeing Saul’s court was bloody and wicked, the prayer is, in a subordinate sense, that God would raise up a reformer. But the true and ultimate spirit of the prayer is, for the speedy advent of Christ. The apostle Paul, citing the words of Isaiah, says, “There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Isaiah 59:20. Romans 11:25. Jeremiah 14:8, prayed in the same sense. “Oh the hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble. Why shouldst thou be as a stranger in the land?” To whom could the prophets appeal in the time of trouble, but to the only Hope of Zion.

7. Oh that the salvation of Israel—Or, who will give the salvation of Israel. It is a form of ardent wish that by some one deliverance might be given, as Psalm 55:6. Out of Zion—Here meaning the Jewish Church, as the depositary of God’s truth. The true Hebrew looked for national blessings only from this source, as the New Testament saint expects all public prosperity through the Church. Even during the exile, when Jerusalem, of which Zion was a part, was in ruins, prayer was made with the face thitherward, (1 Kings 8:44, 48; Daniel 6:10,) and all hope of the nation was associated with its restoration. Psalm 102:13, 16; 129:5. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah abundantly show this. The passage in question has also been considered Messianic, a reference to the salvation of spiritual Israel by Christ. See Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:26. When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people—To bring back the captivity is to return the captives to their own country and national rights, and is the standing formula for the returning of the Babylonian exiles, as in Psalm 126:1; Jeremiah 30:3; Joel 3:1; Zephaniah 3:20. It is a political, implying a moral, restitution. The force and transitive form of the verb, with twbv, (shebooth,) captivity, admits no other sense. Jacob shall rejoice—See Psalm 126 and Hosea 6:11. So shall the Church of Christ rejoice in the gathering of her converts and her full restoration. Isaiah 12; 35:8-10.