Ver. 10. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord reft, Chapter and Moab fhall be troden down under him, even as ftraw is tro- XXV. den down for the dunghil.] That is, the Lord will be prefent in Jerufalem to protect his own Sanctuary; tho' other Parts of the World may now and then have fome extraordinary Tokens of his Power, here it fhall always refide, and be conftantly employ'd in the Protection of his Darling Nation; the Children of Moab were fworn Enemies to the Jews, and may be fuppos'd' either to have join'd with the Affyrians, or to have infulted the Jews on their fide while the Affyrian was ravaging the Country on the other, for which Hezekiah, very probably after the Overthrow of Sennacherib, made them fmart, tho' we have nothing of it in the History; Forerius owns that at the Delivery of this Prophecy the Jews were engag'd in War with the Moabites, and had the better of them, yet fays we must understand it in general of the Enemies of the Church, according to which loose way of Interpretation Mr. Whiffon might have put this Chapter under the Title of Prophefies relating to the Deftruction of the Turks at Hermageddon, as well as under that of the future Restoration of the Jews to their own Land; and if Moab may fignify any Enemy of the Church, it may as well be expounded of the driving of the Moors out of Spain, or the Goths and Vandals out of Europe; and we shall never be able to know who is in the right and who in the... wrong. Ver. 11. And he fhall spread forth his hands in the midft of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to fwim: and he fhall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. Some understand thefe Words of Moab, he shall ftrive and endeavour by all means to get out of the Calamities which fhall come upon him, as one in danger of drowning strives to keep his Body from finking by stretching out his Hands; others of God, who, like a Swimmer ftretching out his Arms, fhall fpread them forth with a prodigious Strength, and fmite down his Enemies on every fide, and this the next Verfe feems to countenance. Ver. 12. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls fhall be bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the duft.] Notwithstanding his Pride and Haughtiness, and the Strength of his fortify'd Towns, Moab fhould find God Chapter too strong to be refifted, the Walls he might be apt to reXXV. ly on fhould be levell'd with the Ground. (a) Hierony mus, Haymo, Adamus, Sasbout, A Lapide. The ARGUMENT of Chapter XXVI. Tho' the Prophet one would think had taken care to prevent any Mifapplication of his Words by mentioning the Land of Judah, in which this Song was to be fung, yet (a) fome will · have it that he must be understood of the heavenly Jerufalem, when there is not one Word I think which can with any Propriety be apply'd to Heaven, nor the leaft Difficulty in applying it to Jerufalem in the Time of Sennacherib's Invasi on, to which it must be referr'd; in the first Verfe he makes the Inhabitants of Jerufalem break forth into Foy, in full affurance of God's Protection; then he calls on them to open their Gates to their Brethren, who fhould flee for Shelter to Jerufalem, as to a Place fecure from the Enemy, tells them they may fafely rely on God, who has Power to exalt and to pull down, and fo he goes on, fometimes Speaking in his own Perfon, expreffing his Confidence in God, fometimes in the Perfon of a Jew, in one Verfe fpeaking of the Befieged, and in another of the Befiegers, and at last advises them to retire into their Chambers, and there wait with Refignation of Mind till God fhould be pleas'd to appear and fcatter their Enemies before them without any Concurrence of theirs; the Two laft Verfes Mr. Whifton applies to the Destruction of the Turks at Hermageddon, if he had been pleas'd to have added the Reafons which prevail'd on him to think the Prophet had the Mahometans in his Eye, I might have been of the fame Opinion, or given my Reafons to the contrary, but at prefent can Say no more, but that I have examin'd every Word with all the Application I am Master of, and cannot find the leaft Temptation to think that the Turks or Hermageddon were ever in Ifaiah's Thoughts. СНАР. CHA P. XXVI. Verfe 1. N that day fall this fong be fung in the land of I Judah, We have a strong City, Jalvation will God Ver. 2. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.] He fpeaks of those faithful Jews, who dwelling in open Towns and Villages, fhould flee to Jerufalem for Refuge; or by the Gates he may mean the Gates of the Temple, that the People fo lately preferv'd from fo great a Danger may praife God for their Deliverance; it is not eafy to imagine what should induce St. Jerom to think thefe are the Words of our Saviour, commanding the Angels to open the Gates of Heaven to his Followers, unless we impute it to the Warmth of the Zeal of thofe early Ages of Chriftianity, which, whereever the Word Salvation occur'd, concluded that of the Meffiab must needs be understood.. Ver, 3, 4, 5. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whofe mind is stayed on thee: because he trufteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting trength. For he bringeth down them that dwell on high, the Lofty city he layeth it low, he layeth it low, even to the ground, be bringeth it even to the dust. Having advis'd them in the foregoing Verfes to put their Truft in God, he gives them affurance of his being able to protect them who truft in him, from the Confideration of his Power, which was fo great that he could pull down the greateft Potentates,' and humble their strongest Cities about their Ears." Ver. 6. The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.] That is, they, who of themselves are able to do nothing, fhall, with the Affiftance of God, humble the Pride of the greateft Monarch, as Chapter as eafily as a Man treads down a Flower of the Field with XXVI. his Foot. Ver. 7, 8. The way of the juft is uprightness: thou most upright, doft weigh the path of the juft. Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the defire of our foul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.] Having prov'd that they may fafely rely on God, because he was able to defend them, he proceeds to infer the fame thing by an Argument a minori ad majus. The way of the just is uprightness, he does no Injury to any one, Equity is the Rule of his Actions, which he never tranfgreffes; Thou, O Lord, doft infpire this Honefty into his Soul; Thou governeft his Steps, and markeft out his Way, as it were, with confpicuous Lines, that he cannot go wrong. What fhall we think then of God's Judgments? How equi table muft they needs be? How can he fail of defending those who, encourag'd by his gracious Promifes, rely upon him for Protection? Thus far Forerius, who, pleas'd with the Light he thinks he has given this obfcure Verfe, cannot forbear applauding himself with Certo fcio quod Viri Docti hanc elucidationem probabunt. But I think the following Interpretation more natural; The way of thefe juft Men, who, for fear of the Affyrians, flee to Jerufalem, is Uprightness, they love God fincerely, and obey him religioully; for Thou, O God, most upright, doft approve their Actions; yea, in the way of thy judgments do they wait upon thee, the defire of their foul is to thy name: He fpeaks of the Afflictions God fent upon them by the Affyrians, under which they bore up with Conftancy, looking to God only for Deliverance, comforting themfelves with the Refleation, that in his good Time he would change the Scene, and make them hear of joy and gladness; this he mentions to fhew their Integrity, and their Integrity to fhew they were fuch as were worthy of the Salvation of God; here we find a Change of the Number and Perfon, for he fpeaks, of the Juft in the Plural, whereas in the Verfe before he fpoke of the fame Perfons in the Singular, and here he fpeaks of them in the First, there in the Third Perfon. Ver. 9, 10. With my foul have I defired thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will feek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn learn righteousness. Let favour be fhewed to the wicked, yet will Chapter he not learn righteousness in the land of uprightness will be deal XXVI. unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.] This may be understood of the Prophet himself, or one of the religious Jews in the Time of the Siege; I thought on Thee, O Lord, as I lay waking on my Bed at Night, and in the Morning as foon as I awoke my Thoughts immediately took Wing and flew to Thee; in the midst of a Thousand Dangers I ftill kept Thee in mine Eye, in doing of which I pretend to no Merit, becaufe 'tis natural in the midst of terrible Judgments to fly to God for Refuge, all who have any Confideration, any Love for God or themselves, will at fuch Times behave themselves fo as to engage him on their fide; but 'tis otherwife with the Wicked, who will not be reform'd by God's Judgments unless they feel the fmart of them, no, though they live in the Land of Uprightness, among Men of regular Lives and holy Converfations, whofe Example might move them to the like decent Behaviour. Ver. 11. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up they will not fee: but they shall fee, and be ashamed for their envy at the people, yea, the fire of thine enemies fhall devour them. This may be tranflated to more Advantage, and more agreeably with the Original, O Lord, thy hand is fo exalted, that is, thy Power is at fo great a diftance, that they who hate thy People cannot discover it; but they fhall fee it, that is, feel the dreadful Effects of it, and be confounded, yea, the fire fhall devour them, that is, they shall be destroy'd in a Moment, as if ftruck dead by Lightning; the Expreffion the Prophet all along ufeth when he speaks of the Overthrow of Sennacherib's Army. Ver. 12. Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also baft wrought all our works in us.] This fome expound of God's working by his Spirit in the Hearts of his People; but the genuine meaning of it is, We are fure, O Lord, thou wilt ordain Peace for us, free us from our Enemies, and make us fee happy Days, for all the Deliverances of thy People have been effected by thee alone. Ver 13 O Lord our God, other lords befides thee have had dominion over us but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.] Thou haft fuffer'd us for a time to be opprefs'd by Cc cruel |