Habakkuk 3 commentary

The word prayer seems used here for an act of devotion. The Lord would revive his work among the people in the midst of the years of adversity. This may be applied to every season when the church, or believers, suffer under afflictions and trials. Mercy is what we must flee to for refuge, and rely upon as our only plea. We must not say, Remember our merit, but, Lord, remember thy own mercy.

God's people, when in distress, and ready to despair, seek help by considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times, and by pleading them with God in prayer. The resemblance between the Babylonish and Egyptian captivities, naturally presents itself to the mind, as well as the possibility of a like deliverance through the power of Jehovah. God appeared in his glory. All the powers of nature are shaken, and the course of nature changed, but all is for the salvation of God's own people. Even what seems least likely, shall be made to work for their salvation. Hereby is given a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thine anointed. Joshua who led the armies of Israel, was a figure of Him whose name he bare, even Jesus, our Joshua. In all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon Christ the Anointed, and brought deliverances to pass by him. All the wonders done for Israel of old, were nothing to that which was done when the Son of God suffered on the cross for the sins of his people. How glorious his resurrection and ascension! And how much more glorious will be his second coming, to put an end to all that opposes him, and all that causes suffering to his people!

When we see a day of trouble approach, it concerns us to prepare. A good hope through grace is founded in holy fear. The prophet looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and observed what great things God had done for them, and so was not only recovered, but filled with holy joy. He resolved to delight and triumph in the Lord; for when all is gone, his God is not gone. Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease. But those who, when full, enjoyed God in all, when emptied and poor, can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of the ruins of their creature-comforts, and even then praise the Lord, as the God of their salvation, the salvation of the soul, and rejoice in him as such, in their greatest distresses. Joy in the Lord is especially seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may be supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit. Then we shall be strong for spiritual warfare and work, and with enlargement of heart may run the way of his commandments, and outrun our troubles. And we shall be successful in spiritual undertakings. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, ends it with joy and triumph. And thus faith in Christ prepares for every event. The name of Jesus, when we can speak of Him as ours, is balm for every wound, a cordial for every care. It is as ointment poured forth, shedding fragrance through the whole soul. In the hope of a heavenly crown, let us sit loose to earthly possessions and comforts, and cheerfully bear up under crosses. Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and where he is, we shall be also.

There is no doubt but that the Prophet dictated this form of prayer for his people, before they were led into exile, that they might always exercise themselves in the study of religion. We indeed know that God cannot be rightly and from the heart worshipped but in faith. Hence, in order to confine the dispersed Israelites within due limits, so that they might not fall away from true religion, the Prophet here sets before them the materials of faith, and stimulates them to prayer: and we know, that our faith cannot be supported in a better way than by the exercise of prayer.

Let us then bear in mind, that the way of fostering true religion, prescribed here to the miserable Israelites while dispersed in their exile, was to look up to God daily, that they might strengthen their faith; for they could not have otherwise continued in their obedience to God. They would, indeed, have wholly fallen away into the superstitions of the Gentiles, had not the memory of the covenant, which the Lord had made with them, remained firm in their hearts: and we shall presently see that the Prophet lays much stress upon this circumstance.

He calls it his own prayer, The more correct rendering here would be, “A Prayer (or rather, An Intercession) by Habakkuk the Prophet;” that is, It was a prayer composed by him. The preposition [ל] before Habakkuk, as often before David in the Psalms, would be better rendered in this way, than by “of;” for the meaning is, not that it was his prayer, that is, one offered up by him, but that it was composed by him. “A Psalm of David,” ought to be, “A Psalm by David.” — Ed. not because he used it himself privately, or composed it for himself, but that the prayer might have some authority among the people; for they knew that a form of prayer dictated for them by the mouth of a Prophet, was the same as though the Spirit itself was to show them how they were to pray to God. The name, then, of Habakkuk is added to it, not because he used it himself, but that the people might be more encouraged to pray, when they knew that the Holy Spirit, through the Prophet, had become their guide and teacher.

There is some difficulty connected with the word שגינות, sheginut. The verb שגג, shegag, or שגה, shege, means, to act inconsiderately; and from שגה, shege, is derived שגיון, shegiun. Many render it, ignorance; some, delight. Some think it to be the beginning of a song; others suppose it to be a common melody; and others, a musical instrument. Thus interpreters differ. In the seventh Psalm David, no doubt, calls either a song or some musical instrument by the word שגיון, shegiun. Yet some think that David bears testimony there to his own innocency; and that, as he was not conscious of having done wrong, his own innocency is alone signified by the title: but this is a strained view. The word is taken in this place, almost by common consent, for ignorances: and we know that the Hebrews denominate by ignorances all errors or falls which are not grievous, and such things as happen through inadvertence; and by this word they do not extenuate their faults, but acknowledge themselves to be inconsiderate when they offend. Then שגיון, shegiun, is no excusable ignorance, which men lay hold on as a pretext; but an error of folly and presumptions, when men are not sufficiently attentive to the word of God. But perhaps the word שגינות, sheginut, being here in the plural number, ought to be taken for musical instruments. Yet as I would not willingly depart from a received opinion, and as there is no necessity in this case to constrain us to depart from it, let us follows what had been already said, — that the Prophet dictates here for his people a form of prayer for ignorances, that is, that they could not otherwise hope for God’s forgiveness than by seeking his favor. This explanation, adopted by Calvin, is derived originally from Aquila and Symmachus, who rendered the phrase, ἐπι ἀγοηματων, — respecting oversights or errors: and they have been followed by Jerome, Vulgate, etc. The prior version of the Septuagint is, μετ ᾿ ὠδδης, — with an ode that this prayer is composed in metre, is evident from the word, “Selah,” and from the conclusion of the chapter. The most probable meaning of the word is what Drusius has suggested, and adopted by Grotius, Marckius, and Henderson, and that is, that it refers to a peculiar metre, a kind of composition, which from its irregularity is called erratica cantio, an erratic verse. “The prayer of Habakkuk,” says Drusius, “was to be sung according to the odes which they called Sigionoth.” To the same purpose is what Grotius says, that is, it is “a song according to the notes of an ancient ode which began with this word.” It is derived from [שגה], to go astray, to wander, that is, in this instance, from the regular metre of an ode. It is an erratic ode, that is, one containing varieties. It may be thus paraphrastically expressed, “According to the notes of the irregular ode;” or, as it is in the margin of our Bibles, “According to variable songs or tunes.” — Ed. And how can we be reconciled to God, except by his not imputing to us our sins?

But the Prophet, by asking for the pardons of ignorances, does not omit more grievous sins; but intimates that though their conscience does not reprove men, they are yet not on that account innocent and without guilt; for they often inconsiderately fall, and their faults are not to be excused for inadvertence. It is, then, the same thing as though the Prophet reminded his own people, that there was no remedy for them in adversity but by fleeing to God, and fleeing as suppliants, in order to solicit his forgiveness; and that they were not only to acknowledge their more grievous sins, but also to confess that they were in many respects guilty; for they might have fallen through error a thousand times, as we are inconsiderate almost through the whole course of our life. We now, then, perceive what this word means, and why the Prophet spoke rather of ignorances than of other sins. But I shall not proceed farther now, as there is some other business.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast deigned to make thyself known to us by thy word, and as thou elevates us to thyself in a way suitable to the ignorance of our minds, — O grant, that we may not continue fixed in our stupidity, but that we may put off all superstitions, and also renounce all the thoughts of our flesh, and seek thee in the right way; and may we suffer ourselves to be so ruled by thy word, that we may purely and from the heart call upon thee, and so rely on thine infinite power, that we may not fear to despise the whole world, and every adversity on the earth, until, having finished our warfare, we shall at length be gathered into that blessed rest, which thine only-begotten Son has procured for us by his own blood — Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Fifteenth

Habakkuk 3:2

2. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

2. Jehova, audivi vocem tuam (auditum tuum, ad verbum, [דעמש]; The verb, "territus sum, — I feared,” has been omitted. It is even omitted in the French version. — Ed. ) Jehova, opus tuum in medio annorum vivifica illud (sed relativum pronomen abundat;) in medio annorum notum fac; in ira misericordiae recorderis.

The Prophet says here, in the name of the whole people, that he was terrified by the voice of God, for so I understand the word, though in many places it means report, as some also explain it in this place. But as the preaching of the Gospel is called in Isaiah 53:1, שמעה, shemoe, report, it seems to me more suitable to the present passage to render it the voice of God; for the general sentiment, that the faithful were terrified at the report of God, would be frigid. It ought rather to be applied to the Prophecies which have been already explained: and doubtless Habakkuk did not intend here to speak only in general of God’s power; but, as we have seen in the last lecture, he humbly confesses the sins of the people, and then prays for forgiveness. It is then not to be doubted but that he says here, that he was terrified by the voice of God, that is, when he heard him threatening punishment so grievous. He then adds, Revive thy work in the middle of the years, and make it known. At last, by way of anticipation, he subjoins, that God would remember his mercy, though justly offended by the sins of the people.

But by saying, that he feared the voice of God, he makes a confession, or gives an evidence of repentance; for we cannot from the heart seek pardon, unless we be first made humble. When a sinner is not displeased with himself, and confesses not his guilt, he is not deserving of mercy. We then see why the Prophet speaks here of fear; and that is, that he might thus obtain for himself and for others the favor of God; for as soon as a sinner willingly condemns himself, and does not do this formally, but seriously from the heart, he is already reconciled to God; for God bids us in this way to anticipate his judgement. This is one thing. But if it be asked, for what purpose the Prophet heard God’s voice; the obvious answer is, — that as it is not the private prayer of one person, but of the whole Church, he prescribes here to the faithful the way by which they were to obtain favor from God, and turn him to mercy; and that is, by dreading his threatening and by acknowledging that whatever God threatened by his Prophets was near at hand.

Then follows the second clause, Jehovah! in the middle of the years revive thy work. By the work of God he means the condition of his people or of the Church. For though God is the creator of heaven and earth, he would yet have his own Church to be acknowledged to be, as it were, his peculiar workmanship, and a special monument of his power, wisdom, justice, and goodness. Hence, by way of eminence, he calls here the condition of the elect people the work of God; for the seed of Abraham was not only a part of the human race, but was the holy and peculiar possession of God. Since, then, the Israelites were set apart by the Lord, they are rightly called his work; as we read in another place,

“The work of thine hands thou wilt not despise,” Psalm 138:8.

And God often says, “This is my planting,” “This is the work of my hands,” when he speaks of his Church.

By the middle of the years, he means the middle course, as it were, of the people’s life. For from the time when God chose the race of Abraham to the coming of Christ, was the whole course, as it were, of their life, when we compare the people to a man; for the fullness of their age was at the coming of Christ. If, then, that people had been destroyed, it would have been the same as though death were to snatch away a person in the flower of his age. Hence the Prophet prays God not to take away the life of his people in the middle of their course; for Christ having not come, the people had not attained maturity, nor arrived at manhood. In the middle, then, of the years thy work revive; that is, “Though we seem destined to death, yet restore us.” Make it known, he says, in the middle of the years; that is, “Show it to be in reality thy work.” The view given of “the middle of the years,” is ingenious and striking; but the common interpretation is, that “the years” of calamity, allotted to the Jews, are meant. The Septuagint version of this verse is so extremely wide of the original, that none can account for the differences. There are no various readings of any moment; and the literal rendering of this verse, and of the former part of the following, I consider to be this, —

2. O Jehovah! I have heard thy report; I feared, O Jehovah! Thy work! in the midst of the years revive it; In the midst of the years make it known; In anger remember mercy:

3. May God from Teman come And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.

It is called “thy report,” as it was a report which came from God; the allusion is to the threatenings in chapter 1. “The report from thee,” would convey the sense. The third line is a prayer; and so are the following lines, though all the verbs are in the future tense, while that for “revive” is in the imperative mood. The third verse ought to end with the word “Selah.” What follows in the other part and in the subsequent verses, is a relation of what took place when God had formerly interfered in behalf of Israel; while here, and in the latter part of the preceding verse, the Prophet expresses a prayer to God in reference to his people, and borrows his language from the past interpositions of God. — Ed.

We now apprehend the real meaning of the Prophet. After having confessed that the Israelites justly trembled at Cod’s voice, as they saw themselves deservedly given up to perdition, he then appeals to the mercy of God, and prays God to revive his own work. He brings forward here nothing but the favor of adoption: thus he confesses that there was no reason why God should forgive his people, except that he had been pleased freely to adopt them, and to choose them as his peculiar people; for on this account it is that God is wont to show his favor towards us even to the last. as, then, this people had been once chosen by God, the Prophet records this adoptions, and prays God to continue and fulfill to the end what he had begun. With regard to the half course of life, the comparison ought to be observed; for we see that the race of Abraham was not chosen for a short time, but until Christ the Redeemer was manifested. Now we have this in common with the ancient people, that God adopts us, that he may at length bring us into the inheritance of eternal life. Until, then, the work of our salvation is completed, we are, as it were, running our course. We may therefore adopt this form of prayer, which is prescribed for us by the Holy Spirit, — that God would not forsake his ohm work; in the middle of our course.

What he now subjoins — in wrath remember mercy, is intended to anticipate an objection; for this thought might have occurred to the faithful — “there is no ground for us to hope pardon from God, whom we have so grievously provoked, nor is there any reason for us to rely any more on the covenant which we have so perfidiously violated.” The Prophet meets this objection, and he flees to the gracious favor of God, however much he perceived that the people would have to suffer the just punishment of their sins, such as they deserved. He then confesses that God was justly angry with his people, and yet that the hope of salvation was not on that account closed up, for the Lord had promised to be propitious. Since God then is not inexorable towards his people — nay, while he chastises them he ceases not to be a father; hence the Prophet connects here the mercy of God with his wrath.

We have elsewhere said that the word wrath is not to be taken according to its strict sense, when the faithful or the elect are spoken of; for God does not chastise them because he hates them; nay, on the contrary, he thereby manifests the care he has for their salvations. Hence the scourges by which God chastises his children are testimonies of his love. But the Scripture represents the judgement with which God visits his people as wrath, not towards their persons but towards their sins. Though then God shows love to his chosen, yet he testifies when he punishes their sins that iniquity is hated by him. When God then comes forth as it were as a judge, and shows that sins displease him, he is said to be angry with the faithful; and there is also in this a reference to the perceptions of men; for we cannot, when God chastises us, do otherwise than feel the accusations of our own conscience. Hence then is this hatred; for when our conscience condemns us we must necessarily acknowledge God to be angry with us, that is with respect to us. When therefore we provoke God’s wrath by our sins we feel him to be angry with us; but yet the Prophet collects together things which seem wholly contrary — even that God would remember mercy in wrath; that is, that he would show himself displeased with them in such a way as to afford to the faithful at the same time some taste of his favor and mercy by finding him to be propitious to them.

We now then perceive how the Prophet had joined the last clause to the foregoing. Whenever, then, the judgement of the flesh would lead us to despair, let us ever set up against it this truth — that God is in such a way angry that he never forgets his mercy — that is, in his dealings with his elect. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:3

3. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.

3. Deus de Theman veniet, et Sanctus e monte Paran. Selach. The word [סלה] is found 70 times, as Parkhurst says, in the Psalms, and thrice in this chapter. “It was most probably,” he adds, “a note of music, or a direction to the singers in the temple service to raise their voices or instruments where it is inserted.” The opinion of Gesenius is the same, it being a direction, as he says, “to repeat the preceding verse in a louder strain.” It is always rendered by the Septuagint Διαψαλμα, which means a variation in singing.

Some have rendered the word pause, but it cannot be so considered, for it occurs at the end of at least three of the Psalms. There seems to be no regularity in its adoption in some of the Psalms it occurs once, in some twice, in others thrice, and in one psalm four times.

Calvin has not referred, in his comment, to the latter part of this verse, which, according to his Latin, may be thus translated, —

Cover the heavens did his glory; With his praise full was the earth.

Both glory and praise here are to be taken as signifying their manifestations. The reference is made to the displays of divine majesty on mount Sinai. The original may be thus rendered —

Cover the heavens did his shining, And his lustre filled the earth. — Ed. Operuit coelos decor (vel, gloria) ejus; laude ejus plena est terra.

This verse interpreters explain in two ways. Some construe the verb in the future tense in the past time — “God went forth from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran”; for a verb in the past tense follows. But others consider it to be in the optative mood — “May God come, or go forth, from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran;” as though the Prophet prayed God to come as the defender of his people from mount Sinai, where the law was promulgated and the covenant ratified, which God had formerly made with Abraham and his posterity. I rather subscribe to their opinion who think that the manifestation of God, by which he had testified that he was the guardian of that people, is repeated by the Prophet. As, then, God had so made known his glory on mount Sinai, that it was evident that that nation was under his protection, so the Prophet, with the view of strengthening himself and others, records what was well known among the whole people — that is, that the law was given on mount Sinai, which was a testimony of singular favor; for God then by a new pledge testified, that the covenant formerly made with Abraham was firm and inviolable. The reason why Habakkuk does not mention mount Sinai, but Teman and Paran, seems to some to be this — because these mountains were nearer the Holy Land, though this view, I fear, will appear too refined; I therefore take this simple view — that instead of mentioning mount Sinai, he paraphrastically designates it by mount Paran and the desert of Teman. Some suppose these to be two mountains; but I know not whether Teman ought to be understood only as a mountain; it seems on the contrary to have been some large tract of country. It was a common thing among the Jews to add this name when they spoke of the south, as many nations were wont to give to winds the names of some neighboring places; so when the Jews wished to designate a wind from Africa, they called it Teman. “It is a Teman wind;” and so when they spoke of the south, they said Teman.

However this may be, it is certain that the desert of Teman was nigh to Sinai, and also that mount Paran was connected with that desert. As then they were places towards the south, and nigh to mount Sinai, where the law had been proclaimed, the Prophet records here, in order to strengthen the faith of the whole people, that God had not in vain gone forth once from Teman, and there appeared in his celestial power; for God then openly showed, that he took under his guardianship the children of Abraham, and that the covenant which he had formerly made with him was not vain or of no effect. Since, then, God had testified this in so remarkable and wonderful a manner, the Prophet brings forward here that history which tended especially to confirm the faith of the godly — God went forth once from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran.

For it was not God’s will that the memory of that manifestation should be obliterated; but he had once appeared with glory so magnificent, that the people might feel assured that they would ever be safe, for they were protected by God’s hand, and that full of power, as the fathers had once known by manifest and visible evidences; and hence the Prophet represents God’s going forth from mount Paran as a continued act, as though he rendered himself visible chiefly from that place. Nor is this representation new; for we see, in many other places, a living picture, as it were, set before the eyes of the faithful, in order to strengthen them in their adversity, and to make them assured that they shall be safe through God’s presence. The Lord, indeed, did not daily fulminate from heaven, nor were there such visible indications of his presence as on mount Sinai; but it behaved the people to feel assured that he was the same God who had given to their fathers such clear evidence of his power, and that he is also at this time, and to the end of the world, endued with the same power, though it be not rendered visible.

We now then apprehend the design of the Prophet: God then came from Teman, and the holy one from mount Paran. We must also observe, that the minds of the godly were recalled to the spectacle on mount Sinai, when they were drawn away into exile, or when they were in the power of their enemies. They might indeed have then supposed, that they were wholly forsaken. Obliterated then must have been the memory of that history, had not this remedy been introduced. It is, therefore, the same as though the Prophet had said — “Though God now hides his power, and gives no evidence of his favor, yet think not that he formerly appeared in vain to your fathers as one clothed with so great a power, when the law was proclaimed on mount Sinai. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:4

4. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.

4. Et splendor quasi lux fuit; cornua e manu ejus ei, et ibi absconsio fortitudinis ejus.

He confirms the declaration which I have explained that God, when he intended his presence to be made known to his people, gave evidences of his wonderful power, capable of awakening the minds of all. He then says, that the brightness was like light. By the word אור, aur, is doubtless meant the light, which diffuses itself through the whole world, and proceeds from the sun. Then he says, that the brightness which appeared on mount Sinai was equal to the light of the sun, capable of filling the whole world. He adds, that horns were to him from the hand. Some render it, splendor; but קרן, coren, properly means a horn, and קרנים, corenium, is here in the dual number: it is therefore more probable, that the Prophet ascribes horns to God, carried in both hands; and it more corresponds with what immediately follows, that “there was the hiding of his strength,” or that “there was his power hidden.” They who render the word, splendours, think that what had been said is repeated, that is, that the brightness was like light; but they are mistaken, for we may collect from the verse that two different things are expressed by the Prophet: he first speaks of the visible form of God; and then he adds his power, designating it metaphorically by horns, which is common in Scripture. Indeed this mode of speaking occurs often. He then says, that God came armed with power, when he gave the law to his people; for he bore horns in his hands, where his strength was hid. That [קרז] means to irradiate or to shine, is clear from Exodus 34:29,30,35; “for shine did the skin of his face,” [כי קרז עור פניי]. Most critics consider that the noun here, though in this sense in no other instance, means rays, or beams of light; and this corresponds with the description given elsewhere of God’s appearance on mount Sinai. Drusius, Marckius, Newcome, and Henderson, render it “rays.” The line then would literally be —

Rays from his hand were to him.

or, to retain the English idiom.

He had rays from his hand.

To render the line, “Rays streamed from his hand,” is to give a paraphrase.

The objection of Calvin as to the next line, seems not valid; for the hiding of strength may refer to the hand, or to the place, Sinai, whether we render the previous word, rays or horns; — to the place, if we retain our present reading, [עזה], “of its strength;” but to the hand, if we adopt the reading of many copies, [עזו] “of his strength,” which is perhaps the most accordant with the passage. — Ed.

As to the word hiding, some indeed give this refined view, that God then put forth his strength, which was before hidden. But this is a very strained explanation. To me it seems evident, that the Prophet in the first place says, that God’s glory was conspicuous, capable of irradiating the whole world like the light of the sun; and he then adds, that this splendor was connected with power, for God carried horns in both his hands, where his strength was laid: and he says, that it was hid, because God did not intend to make known his power indiscriminately throughout the world, but peculiarly to his own people; as it is also said in Psalm 31:20, that

“the greatness of his goodness is laid up for the faithful alone, who fear and reverence him.”

As then it is said, that the goodness of God is laid up for the faithful, for they enjoy it as children and members of the household; so also the power of God is said to be laid up, because he testifies that he is armed with power to defend his Church, that he may render safe the children of Abraham, whom he has taken under his protection. It afterwards follows —

Habakkuk 3:5

5. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

5. Coram facie ejus ambulavit pestis, et egredietur carbo ignitus (vel, ustio) ad pedes ejus.

The Prophet repeats here, that God came armed to defend his people, when he went forth from Teman; for he connects with it here the deliverance of the people. He does not indeed speak only of the promulgation of the law, but encourages all the godly to confidence; for God, who had once redeemed their fathers from Egypt, remained ever like himself, and was endued with the same power.

And he says, that before God’s face walked the pestilence; this is to be referred to the Egyptians; and that ignited coal proceeded from his feet. Some render רשף, reshoph, exile; but its etymology requires it to be rendered burning or ignited coal, and there is no necessity to give it another meaning. Most agree in the view given of this verse, only there is some shade of difference as to the word [רשף]; but though Calvin renders it carbo ignitus — ignited coals, yet in his exposition he seems to regard it with many others as a burning disease. In the six other instances in which the word occurs, it certainly has not this sense, except it be in Deuteronomy 32:24, which is doubtful. It signifies not a burning coal, but a glowing fire, burning or lightening. Compare Exodus 9:23,25, with Psalm 78:48; where it designates the fires or lightnings produced by thunder, which accompanied the hail. Lightning would be its mot proper rendering here; for instead of referring this verse to the plagues in Egypt, it may be considered as a continuation of what is contained in the foregoing verse; and the Septuagint and Theodotion have rendered [דבר] in the preceding clause, not pestilence, but word — λογος, its most usual meaning. This makes the whole to comport to what we read of God’s appearance on mount Sinai. See Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 33:2. The version then would be this —

From before him proceeded the word (i.e. the law;) And forth came lightning at his feet.

Most of the ideas in this, and in the two preceding verses, seem to be similar to those we find in Deuteronomy 33:2,3. — Ed.

The import of the whole is — that Cod had put to flight all the enemies of his people; for we know that the Egyptians were smitten with various plagues, and that the army of Pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea. Hence, the Prophet says, that God had so appeared from Teman, that the pestilence went before him, and then the ignited coal; in short, that the pestilence and ignited coal were God’s officers, which were ready to perform his commands: as when a king or a judge, having attendants, commands them to put this man in prison, and to punish another in a different way; so the Prophet, giving us a representation of God, says, that all kinds of evils were ready to obey his orders, and to destroy his and their enemies. He does not then intend here to terrify the faithful in mentioning the pestilence and the ignited coal; but, on the contrary, to set before their eyes evidences of God’s power, by which he could deliver them from the hand of their enemies, as he had formerly delivered their fathers from Egypt. By God’s feet, he then means his going forth or his presence; for I do not approve of what some have said, that ignited coals followed, when pestilence had preceded; for both clauses are given in the same way. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:6

6. He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.

6. Stetit et mensus est terram; aspexit et dissolvit gentes; et afflicti sunt montes aeterni; incurvati sunt colles seculi; itinera seculi ei.

He says that God possessed every power to subdue the earth to himself, and that he could at his will destroy it, yea, dissolve mountains as veil as nations. Some of the Jews understood this of the ark, which stood at that time in Gilead. They then suppose that the Prophet meant this in short — that when God chose a place for the ark of the covenant in Gilgal, that he determined then what he would do, and that he then in his secret counsel divided the land, so that each should have his portion by lot. This, it is true, was accomplished shortly after, for Joshua, as we know, divided it by lot between the tribes. But what the Jews affirm of the ark seems to me strained and frigid. Habakkuk, on the contrary, means by the word stand, that God was openly conspicuous, like him who assumes an erect posture, so that he is seen at a distance. In this sense we are to take the expression that God stood.

The measuring, of the earth is not to be confined to Judea, but is to be extended to the whole world. God, he says, has measured the earth. To measure the earth is what properly belongs to a sovereign king; and it is done that he may assign to each his portion. Except God, then, had a sovereign right over the earth and the whole world, Habakkuk would not have ascribed to him this office; and this we learn from the verse itself, for he immediately subjoins, that the nations, as it were, melted away, that the mountains were destroyed, that the hills were bowed down

We hence see that by earth we are not to understand Judea only, but the whole world; as though he had said, that when God appeared on mount Sinai, he made it fully evident that the earth was under his power and authority, so that he could determine whatever he pleased, and prescribe limits to all nations. For he does not speak of God here as having, like a surveyor, a measuring line; but he says, that he measured the earth as one capable even then of changing the boundaries of the whole world; nay, he intimates that it was he himself who had at first created the earth and assigned it to men. It is indeed true that the nations did not then melt away, nor were the mountains demolished, nor the hills bowed down; but the Prophet simply means, that God’s power then appeared, which was capable of shaking the whole world.

But he calls these the mountains of eternity and the hills ages, which had been from the beginning fixed on their own foundations. For if an earthquake happens on a plain, it seems less wonderful; and then if any of those mountains cleave, which are not so firmly fixed, it may be on account of some hollow places; for when the winds fill the caverns, they are forced to burst, and they cleave the mountains and the earth. But the Prophet relates an unusual thing, and wholly different from the ordinary course of nature — that the mountains of eternity, which had been from the beginning, and had remained without any change, were thus demolished and bowed down. In short, the Prophet intended by all means to raise up to confidence the minds of the godly, so that they should become fully persuaded that God’s power to deliver them would be the same as that which their fathers had formerly experienced; for there is no other support under adverse, and especially under despairing circumstances, than that the faithful should know that they are still under the protection of that God who has adopted them. This is the reason why the Prophet amplifies, in so striking a manner, on the subject of God’s power.

And hence also he subjoins, that the ways of ages are those of God. Some render the clause, “the ways of the world.” The word עולם, oulam, however, means properly an age, or perpetual time. The Prophet, I have no doubt, means by ways of ages, the wonderful means which God is wont to adopt for the defense of his Church; for we are ever wont to reduce God’s wonder to our own understanding, while it is his purpose to perfect, in a manner that is wonderful, the work of our salvation. Hence the Prophet bids the faithful here to raise upwards their thoughts, and to conceive something greater of God’s power than what they can naturally comprehend. If we take the ways of eternity, in this sense, then they are to be understood as in opposition to those means which are known and usual. They are his daily ways, when the sun rises and sets, when the spring succeeds the winter, when the earth produces fruit; though even these are so many miracles, yet they are his common ways. But God has ways of eternity that is he has means unknown to us by which he can deliver us from death, whenever it may please him.

But yet, if any prefer taking the ways of eternity as signifying the continued power of God, which has ever appeared from the beginning, the sense would be appropriate and not less useful: for it especially avails to confirm our faith, when we consider that God’s power has ever been the same from the creation of heaven and earth, that it has never been lessened or undergone any change. Since, then, God has successively manifested his power through all ages, we ought hence to learn that we have no reason to despair, though he may for a time conceal his hand; for he is not on that account deprived of his right. He ever retains the sovereignty of the world. We ought, then, to be attentive to the ways of ages, that is, to the demonstration of that power, which was manifested in the creation of the world, and still continues to be manifested. This verse is explained in a very striking manner, but the version is not so strictly correct It may be thus rendered: —

6. He stood, and measure the earth; He looked, and agitated the earth; And burst themselves open did the perpetual mountains, Bend down did the hills of ages; The going of ages were his.

“The perpetual mountains” are literally “the mountains of perpetuity,” which had remained the same from the beginning. “The hills of ages” might be rendered the hills of antiquity or of old time, [עולם], an indefinite past time. “The goings of ages,” are God’s proceedings, that is, in his works, and may therefore be rendered “deeds;” and they are said to be deeds “of ages,” i.e., of old time, with reference probably to the creation of the world: for he who makes perennial mountains to burst, and perpetual hills to bend downwards, must be their first creator. — Ed. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:7

7. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

7. Pro iniquitate (vel, pro nihilo, alii vertunt) vidi tentoria Chusan (vel, Aethiopiae;) contremiscent cortinae (vel, pelles) terrae Madian.

The Prophet relates here, no doubt, whatever might bring comfort to the miserable Jews, as they thought themselves rejected and in a manner alienated from God. Hence the Prophet mentions here other deliverances, which were clear evidences of God’s constant favor towards his chosen people. He had hitherto spoken of their redemption, and he will presently return to the same subject: but he introduces here other histories; as though he had said, that it was not only at one time that God had testified how much he loved the race of Abraham, and how inviolable was the covenant he had made; but that he had given the same testimonies at various times: for as he had also defended his people against other enemies, the conclusion was obvious, that God’s hand was thus made manifest, that the children of Abraham might know that they were not deceived, when they were adopted by him.

Hence Habakkuk mentions the tents of Chushan as another evidence of God’s power in preserving his people, and the curtains of Midian; for we know how wonderful was the work, when the Jews were delivered by the hand of Gideon; and the same was the case with respect to the king of Chosen.

We now, then, understand the design of the Prophet: for as he knew that the time was near when the Jews might succumb to despair in their great adversities, he reminds them of the evidences of God’s favor and power, which had been given to their fathers, that they might entertain firm hope in time to come, and be fully persuaded that God would be their deliverer, as he had been formerly to their fathers.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we have a continual contest with powerful enemies, we may know that we are defended by thine hand, and that even thou art fighting for us when we are at rest; so that we may boldly contend under thy protection, and never be wearied, nor yield to Satan and the wicked, or to any temptations; but firmly proceed in the course of our warfare: and however much thou mayest often humble us, so as to make us to tremble under thine awful judgement, may we yet never cease to entertain firm hope, since thou hast once promised to be to us an eternal Father in thine eternal and only-begotten Son, but being confirmed by the invincible constancy of faith, may we so submit ourselves to thee, as to bear all our afflictions patiently, till thou gatherest us at length into that blessed rest, which has been procured for us by the blood of thine own Son. Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Sixteenth

We said yesterday that the Prophet spoke of the king of Chusan and of the Midianites, in order to strengthen the minds of the godly, and to set before their eyes the continued aid of God, so that they might venture to feel assured that he would not act otherwise towards the Church to the end of the world, then what he had done from the beginning. The meaning, then, is sufficiently evident. We must now consider the words.

Some understand by the word, און, aun, nothing, or vanity; as though the Prophet had said, that the tells of Cushan had been reduced to nothing: but another sense is more probable; I have seen the tents of Cushan on account of his iniquity; The word [אוז] not only means iniquity, but also what iniquity produces, labor, trouble, affliction; and this latter meaning, as allowed by Newcome and Henderson, is most suitable to it here. The word is so taken in Genesis 35:18; Deuteronomy 26:14; Hosea 9:4. Besides, this meaning makes a correspondence between this and the following line, as will be seen by the following version —

Under trouble have I seen the tents of Cushan, Tremble did the curtains of the land of Madian.

The "curtains” were those used in forming tents, and are used here to designate them. The most obvious reference here is to Cushan, mentioned in Judges 3:8,10, as Calvin states; yet some consider that it stands for Cush, as Lotan, in Genesis 26:20, is put for Lot: and some, as Gesenius, say, that the African Cush is meant, and others, as Henderson, think, that it is the Arabian Cush, especially as Madian is also mentioned. Still the events recorded in Judges, nearly connected together, favor the opinion adopted by Calvin. — Ed. that is, the reward which God had repaid, for the iniquity of the king of Cushan had been made manifest. The Prophet says that he had seen it, because it was evident and known to all. We now perceive what is meant that God had been a just judge against the army of Cushan; for as they had unjustly assailed the Israelites, so a just reward was rendered to them. The account of this we have in Judges 3. Chusan, the king of Mesopotamia, had well-nigh destroyed the Israelites, when the Lord put him to flight with all his forces. Some render the words, “The tents of Ethiopia,” as though it was written thus; but this is strained, and contrary to the rules of grammar; and besides, the following clause confirms what I have said; for the Prophet mentions the slaughter with which God destroyed the Midianites, who had also nearly overwhelmed the miserable people. He says that their curtains trembled, or their dwellings: for God, without the hand or sword of men, drove them into such madness, that they slew one another, as the sacred history testifies. See Judges 6:1, 7:1. It now follows —

Habakkuk 3:8

8. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?

8. An contra fluvios iratus es, Jehova? an contra fluvios indignatio tua? an contra mare furor tuus (vel, ira tua)? quia equitasti super equos tuos; quadridge tuae salus.

The Prophet here applies the histories to which he has already referred, for the purpose of strengthening the hope of the faithful; so that they might know these to be so many proofs and pledges of God’s favor towards them, and that they might thus cheerfully look for his aid, and not succumb to temptation in their adversities. When he asks, was God angry with the rivers and the sea, he no doubt intended in this way to awaken the thoughts of the faithful, that they might consider the design of God in the works which he had already mentioned; for it would have been unreasonable that God should show his wrath against rivers and the sea; why should he be angry with lifeless elements? The Prophet then shows that God had another end in view when he dried the sea, when he stopped the course of Jordan, and when he gave other evidences of his power. Doubtless God did not regard the sea and the rivers; for that would have been unreasonable. It then follows that these changes were testimonies of God’s favor towards his Church: and hence the Prophet subjoins, that God rode on his horses, and that his chariots were for salvation to his people. The two first lines present a difficulty in their construction. The most literal is this rendering of Junius —

Did against rivers kindle, O Jehovah — Against rivers, thy wrath;

Our language will admit of a similar construction in another form, by inverting the order —

Did thy wrath against rivers, O Jehovah, Did it kindle against rivers?

Some connect the two last lines of the verse with the previous one, thus —

Was thine indignation against the sea, When thou didst ride on thy horses, On thy chariots of salvation?

But Calvin considers them rather as an answer to the previous questions, or as explanatory; and they may be thus rendered —

When thou didst ride on thy horses, Thy chariots were those of salvation.

It is observed by Henderson, that “there is no necessity for our understanding either the angels or thunder and lightning by ‘horses’ and ‘chariots.’ They are,” he adds, “merely figurative expressions, designed to carry out the metaphor adopted from military operations.” Or it may be, that the horses and chariots of the Israelites are here meant, as in the 11th verse, the arrows and spears of the people are spoken of as those of God. — Ed. We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning, which interpreters have not understood, or at least have not explained.

We now, then, see why the Prophet puts these questions: and a question has much more force when it refers to what is in no way doubtful. What! can God be angry with rivers? Who can imagine God to be so unreasonable as to disturb the sea and to change the nature of things, when a certain order has been established by his own command? Why should he dry the sea, except he had something in view, even the deliverance of his Church? except he intended to save his people from extreme danger, by stretching forth his hand to the Israelites, when they thought themselves utterly lost? He therefore denies, that when God dried the Red Sea, and when he stopped the flowing of Jordan, he had put forth his power against the sea or against the river, as though he was angry with them. The design of God, says the Prophet, was quite another; for God rode on his horses, that is, he intended to show that all the elements were under his command, and that for the salvation of his people. That God, then, might be the redeemer of his Church, he constrained Jordan to turn back its course, he constrained the Red Sea to make a passage for his miserable captives, who would have otherwise been exposed to the slaughter of their enemies. There was indeed no hope of saving Israel, without a passage being suddenly opened to them through the Red Sea.

Hence all these miracles were designed to show that God had become the redeemer of his Church, and had put forth his power for the salvation of those whom he had taken under his protection: and it is easy from this fact to conclude, that the same help ought to be expected from God by posterity; for God was not induced by some sudden impulse to change the nature of things, but exhibited a proof of his favor: and his grace is perpetual, and flows in an even course, though not according to the apprehension of men; for it suffers some interruptions, because God exercises the faithful under the cross; yet his goodness never ceases. It hence follows that the faithful are to entertain hope; for God, when he pleases, and when he sees it expedient, will really show the same power which was formerly exhibited to the fathers. It now follows —

Habakkuk 3:9

9. Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

9. Nudando nudatus fuit (vel, manifestatione manifestus fuit) arcus tuus; juramenta Tribuum, sermo: Selach: fluviis scindes terram.

The Prophet explains the same thing more clearly in this verse — that the power of God was formerly manifested for no other reason but that the children of Abraham might be taught to expect from him a continued deliverance: for he says that the bow of God was made bare. By the bow, he means also the sword and other weapons; as though he had said, that God was then armed, as we have found declared before. God therefore was then furnished with weapons, and marched to the battle, having undertaken the cause of his chosen people, that he might defend them against the wicked. Since it was so, we hence see that these miracles were not to avail only for one period, but were intended perpetually to encourage the faithful to look ever for the aid of God, even in the midst of death; for he can find escapes, though they may not appear to us.

We now see the import of the text; but he emphatically adds, The oaths of the tribes; for hereby he more fully confirms that God had not then assisted the children of Abraham, so as to discard them afterwards; but that he had really proved how true he was in his promises; for by the oaths of (or to) the tribes he means the covenant that God had made not only with Abraham, but also with his posterity for ever. He puts oaths in the plural number, because God had not only once promised to be a God to Abraham and to his seed, but had often repeated the same promise, in order that faith might be rendered more certain, inasmuch as we have need of more than one thing to confirm us. For we see how our infirmity always vacillates, unless God supplies us with many props. As, then, God had often confirmed his servant Abraham, the Prophet speaks here of his oaths: but then as to the substance, the oath of God is the same; which was, that he had taken the race of Abraham under his protection, and promised that they should be to him a peculiar people, and, especially, that he had united the people under one head; for except Christ had been introduced, that covenant of God would not have been ratified nor valid. As, then, God had once included every thing when he said to Abraham, “I am God Almighty, and I shall be a God to you and to your children;” it is certain that nothing was added when God afterwards confirmed the faith of Abraham: but yet the Prophet does not without reason use the plural number; it was done, that the faithful might recomb with less fear on God’s promise, seeing, that it had been so often and by so many words confirmed.

He calls them too the oaths to the tribes: for though God had spoken to Abraham and afterwards to Moses, yet the promise was deposited in the hands of Abraham, and of the patriarchs, and afterwards in those of Moses, that the people might understated that it belonged equally to them; for it would have been no great matter to promise what we read of to a few men only. But Abraham was as it were the depository; and it was a certain solemn stipulation made with his whole race. We hence see why the Prophet here mentions the tribes rather than Abraham, or the patriarchs or Moses. He had indeed a special regard to those of his own time, in order to confirm them, that they might not doubt but that God would extend to them also the same power. How so? Because God had formerly wrought in a wonderful manner for the deliverance of his people. Why? That he might prove himself to be true and faithful. In what respect? Because he had said, that he would be the protector of his people; and he did not adopt a few men only, but the whole race of Abraham. Since it was so, why should not his posterity hope for that which they knew was promised to their fathers? for the truth of God can never fail. Though many ages had passed away, the faith of his people ought to have remained certain, for God intended to show himself to be the same as he had been formerly known by their fathers.

He afterwards adds אמר, amer, which means a word or speech; but it is to be taken here for a fixed and an irrevocable word. The word, אמר, amer, he says; that is, as they say, the word and the deed: for when we say, that words are given, we often understand that those who liberally promise are false men, and that we are only trifled with and disappointed when we place confidence in them. But the term, word, is sometimes taken in a good sense. “This is the word,” we often say, when we intend to remove every doubt. We now then perceive what the Prophet meant by adding אמר, amer, the word. “O Lord, thou hast not given mere words to and people; but what has proceeded from thy mouth has been found to be true and valid. Such, therefore, is and faithfulness in thy promises, that we ought not to entertains the least doubt as to the event. As soon as thou givest to us any hope, we ought to feel assured of its accomplishment, as though it were not a word but the exhibition of the thing itself.” In short, by this term the Prophet commends the faithfulness of God, lest we should harbour doubts as to his promises. This clause has been variously explained: the interpretation here given has been mostly adopted. In the Barberinean manuscript the whole of this prayer is given in many respects different from the present received text of the Septuagint, and this clause is thus found in it — ἐχορτασας βολιδας της φαρετρας ἀυτου. It is evident that this idea falls in more with the preceding clause than any other; and the Hebrew will admit of a sense bordering on this with less alteration than any other that has been offered. No version has been given without supposing somethin to be understood. Newcome says, that sixteen MSS. read [שבועת]; by leaving out the [ו], it may be a verb in Kal in the past tense, as rendered above, and writers might have easily put down [אמר] for [אזור]. Then the line in Hebrew would be,

[שבעת מטות אזור]

“Thou hast filled with arrows the girdle.”

It is a description of one equipped for battle; his bow was made ready, and he had filled his girdle, that is, his military guide, with arrows; for this girdle the preceding Greek version introduced the quiver, in which arrows were commonly carried. The word [מטות], means rods or staves, that is, of arrows, as we may take it here. This is the most satisfactory solution of the difficulties connected with this line, of which there have been, as Henderson says, more than a hundred interpretation.

The last clause of the verse is thus rendered by Newcome, —

Thou didst cleave the streams of the land;

and by Henderson, —

Thou didst cleave the earth into rivers.

The words will not admit the first version; the genitive case in Hebrew is always by juxtaposition; here “streams” and “earth” are separated by the verb. The other version contains hardly a meaning. The most literal rendering is that given by Calvin, and it affords the best sense. The words will admit of the following, which is materially the same, —

By streams didst thou cleavest the earth.

The allusion evidently to the streams of that water which miraculously issued from the smitten rock, and followed the Israelites in the wilderness. — Ed.

He then says, that by rivers had been cleft the earth. He refers, I doubt not, to the history we read in Numbers 14; for the Lord, when the people were nearly dead through thirst, drew forth water from the rock, and caused a river to flow wherever the people journeyed. As then he had cleft the earth to make a perpetual course for the stream, and thus supplied the people in dry places with abundance of water, the Prophet says here, that the earth had been cleft by rivers or streams. It was indeed but one river; but he amplifies, and justly so, that remarkable work of God. He afterwards adds —

Habakkuk 3:10

10. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.

10. Viderunt me, timuerunt montes; inundatio (vel, gurges) aquarum transivit; dedit abyssus vocen suam; in altum manus suas sustulit (vel, altitudo, [םור]; potest tam in casu nominandi legi quam in accusative.)

Habakkuk proceeds with the history of the people’s redemption. We have said what his object was, even this that the people, though in an extreme state of calamity, might yet entertain hope of God’s favor; for he became not a Redeemer to the race of Abraham for one time, but that he might continue the same favor to them to the end.

He says that mountains had seen and grieved. Some explain this allegorically of kings, and say, that they grieved when envy preyed on them: but this view is too strained. The Prophet, I have no doubt, means simply, that the mountains obeyed God, so as to open a way for his people. At the same time, the verb חול, chul, signifies not only to grieve, but also to bring forth, and then to fall and to abide in the same place. We might then with no less propriety read thus — see thee did the mountains, and were still, or fell down; that is, they were subservient to thy command, and did not intercept the way of thy people. I think the real meaning of the Prophet to be, that God had formerly imprinted on all the elements evident marks of his paternal favor, so that the posterity of Abraham might ever confide in him as their deliverer in all their distresses: and even the context requires this meaning; for he subjoins -

The stream or the inundation of waters, etc.: and this second part cannot be explained allegorically. We then see, that the import of the words is — That God removed all obstacles, so that neither mountains, nor waters, nor sea, nor rivers, intercepted the passage of the people. He says now, that the inundation of waters had passed away. This applies both to Jordan and to the Red Sea; for God separated the Red Sea, so that the waters stood apart, contrary to the laws of nature, and the same thing happened to Jordan; for the flowing of the water was stayed, and a way was opened, so that the people passed over dryshod into the land of Canaan. Thus took place what is said by the Prophet, the stream of waters passed away. We indeed know that such is the abundance of waters in the sea and in the rivers, that they cannot be dried up: when therefore waters disappear, it is what is beyond the course of nature. The Prophet, therefore, records this miracle, that the faithful might know, that though the whole world were resisting, their salvation would still be certain; for the Lord can surmount whatever impediments there may be.

He then ascribes life to waters; for he says, that the abyss gave its voice, and also, that the deep lifted up its hands; or that the abyss with uplifted hands was ready to obey God. It is a striking personification; for though the abyss is void of intelligence, and it cannot speak, yet the Prophet says, that the abyss with its voice and uplifted hands testified its obedience, when God would have his people to pass through to the promised land. When anxious to testify our obedience, we do this both with our voice and in our gesture. When any one is willing to do what is commanded, he says, “Here I am,” or “I promise to do this.” As, then, servants respond to others, so the Prophet says, that a voice was uttered by the abyss. The abyss indeed uttered no voice; but the event itself surpassed all voices. Now when a whole people meet together, they raise their hands; for their consent cannot be understood except by the outstretching of the hands, and hence came the word hand-extending, χειροτονια. This similitude the Prophet now takes, and says, that the abyss raised up its hands; that is, shows its consent by this gesture. As when men declare by this sign that they will do what they are bidden; so also the abyss lifted up its hands. If we read, The deep raised up its hands, the sense will be the same. Most critics have overlooked the peculiar construction of this verse; but it presents a striking instant of the order in which the Prophets often arrange their ideas. There are two things referred to — the mountains and the waters — and the first verb regards both; the nominative case being anticipated, and the first of the two last lines refers to the waters, and the last to the mountains. This is the literal version, —

They saw thee, — in pain were the mountains, The flood of waters passed away, Utter did the deep its voice, The height its hands lifted up.

To construe [רום] adverbially, “on high,” does not so well comport with the characters of the Hebrew language; and it evidently here refers to the “mountains,” as the “deep” refers to the water. — Ed. Let us proceed -

Habakkuk 3:11

11. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

11. Sol, luna stetit in habitaculo, ad lucem sagittarum tuarum ambulabunt, ad splendorum fulguris hastae tuae.

Here the Prophet refers to another history; for we know that when Joshua fought, and when the day was not long enough to slay the enemies, the day was prolonged according to his prayer, (Joshua 10:12.) He seems indeed to have authoritatively commanded the sun to stay its course: but there is no doubt, but that having been answered as to his prayer, when he expressed this, he commanded the sun, as he did, through the secret impulse of the Holy Spirit: and we know that the sun would not have stopped in its course, except the moon also was stayed. There must indeed have been the same action as to these two luminaries.

Hence Habakkuk says, that the sun and moon stood still in their habitation; that is, that the sun then rested as it were in its dwelling. When it was hastening in its course, it then stood still for the benefit of God’s people. The sun then and the moon stood, — How? At the light of thy arrows shall they walk. Some refer this to the pillar of fire, as though the Prophet had said, that the Israelites walked by that light, by which God guided them: but I doubt not but that this is said of the sun. The whole sentence is thus connected — that the sun and moon walked, not as from the beginning, but at the light of God’s arrows; that is, when instead of God’s command, which the sun had received from the beginning as its direction, the sun had God’s arrows, which guided it, retarded its course, or restrained the velocity which it had before. There is then an implied contrast between the progress of the sun which it had by nature to that day, and that new direction, when the sun was retained, that it might give place to the arrows of God, and to the sword and the spear; for by the arrows and the spear he means nothing else but the weapons of the elect people; for we know, that when that people fought under the protection of God, they were armed as it were from above. As then it is said of Gideon, “The sword of God and of Gideon;” so also in this place the Prophet calls whatever armor the people of Israel had, the arrows of God and his spear; for that people could not move — no, not a finger’s breadth — without the command of God. The sun then was wont before to regard the ordinary command, of which we read in Genesis; but it was then directed for another purpose: for it had regard to the arrows of God flying on the earth as lightning; and it had regard to the arrows, as though it stood astonished and dared not to advance. Why? because it behoved it to submit to God while he was carrying on war. There is much beauty and force in this explanation: and accordant with it is the version of Henderson. But that of Newcome is somewhat different —

The sun and the moon stood still in their habitation: By their light thine arrows went abroad; By their brightness, the lightning of thy spear.

To avoid the insertion of so many words in italics which are not in the original, I would render the verse thus —

The sun! the moon! — it stood — she remained stationary, For light to thine arrows which went forth, For brightness to the flashing of thy spear.

The genitive case is often to be rendered as a dative, as in Jeremiah 31:35, [לאור לילה], “for the light of the night;” that is, “for light to the night.”

There are twelve MSS. which have “and,” [ו], before “moon:” but it is not wanted, the verb “stood” being singular; and it is followed, as I conceive, by another verb in the singular number, and in the feminine gender, while “stood” is in the masculine, and refers to the moon, and the last refers to the sun; which is sometimes feminine, while moon is ever the masculine. The verb [זבל] is not properly to dwell, but to continue fixed, or to remain stationary. The order in our language would be this —

The sun remained stationary, the moon stood.

— Ed. We now then perceive how much kindness is included in these words.

What, therefore, we have already referred to, ought to be borne in mind — that in this place there is no frigid narrative, but such things are brought before the faithful as avail to confirm their hope, that they may feel assured, that the power of God is sufficient for the purpose of delivering them; for it was for this end that he formerly wrought so many miracles. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:12

12. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

12. In ira calcasti terram (vel, ambulasti super terram; [דעצ] enim significat ambulare;) in ira (est tamen aliud nomen, ergo vertamus uno loco, indignationem, vel, furorem, — in furore) triturasti gentes (vel, triturabis.)

The Prophet relates here the entrance of the people into the land of Canaan, that the faithful might know that their fathers would not have obtained so many victories had not God put forth the power and strength of his hand. Hence he says, that God himself had trampled on the land in anger. For how could the Israelites have dared to attack so many nations, who had lately come forth from so miserable a bondage? They had indeed been in the desert for forty years; but they were always trembling and fearful, and we also know that they were weak and feeble. How then was it, that they overcame most powerful kings? that they made war with nations accustomed to war? Doubtless God himself trod down the land in his wrath, and also threshed the nations: as it is said in Psalm 44:5,

“It was not by their own sword that they got the land of Canaan; neither their own power, nor their own hand saved them; but the Lord showed favor to them, and became their Deliverer.”

Justly then does the Prophet ascribe this to God, that he himself walked over the land; for otherwise the Israelites would never have dared to move a foot. Doubtless, they could never have been settled in that land, had not God gone before them. Hence when God did tread on the land in his anger, then it became a quiet habitation to the children of Abraham; warlike nations were then easily and without much trouble conquered by the Israelites, though they were previously very weak.

We now see, that the Prophet sets forth here before the eyes of the people their entrance into the land, that they might know that God did not in vain put to flight so many nations at one time; but that the land of Canaan might be the perpetual inheritance of his chosen people.

The Prophet changes often the tenses of the verbs, inconsistently with the common usage of the Hebrew language; but it must be observed, that he so refers to those histories, as though God were continually carrying on his operations; and as though his presence was to be looked for in adversities, the same as what he had granted formerly to the fathers. Hence the change of tenses does not obscure the sense, but, on the contrary, shows to us the design of the Prophet, and helps us to understand the meaning. It follows at length -

Habakkuk 3:13

13. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

13. Egressus es in salutem populi tui, in salutem cum Christo tuo; transfodisti caput e domo impii, nudando fundamentum usque ad collum. Selah.

The Prophet applies again to the present state of the people what he had before recorded — that God went forth with his Christ for the salvation of his people. Some consider that there is understood a particle of comparison, and repeat the verb twice, “As thou didst then go forth for the deliverance of thy people, so now wilt thou go forth for the deliverance of thy people with thy Christ.” But this repetition is strained. I therefore take the words of the Prophet simply as they are — that God went forth for the deliverance of his people. But when God’s people are spoken of, their gratuitous adoption must ever be remembered. How was it that the children of Abraham became the peculiar people of God? Did this proceed from any worthiness? Did it come to them naturally? None of these things can be alleged. Though then they differed in nothing from other nations, yet God was pleased to choose them to be a people to himself. By the title, the people of God, is therefore intimated their adoption. Now this adoption was not temporary or momentary, but was to continue to the end. Hence it was easy for the faithful to draw this conclusion — that they were to hope from God the same help as what he had formerly granted to the fathers.

Thou wentest forth, he says, for the salvation, for the salvation of thy people. He repeats the word salvation, and not without reason; for he wished to call attention to this point, as when he had said before — that God had not in vain manifested, by so many miracles, his power, as though he were angry with the sea and with rivers, but had respect to the preservation of his people. Since then the salvation of the Church has ever been the design of God in working miracles, why should the faithful be now cast down, when for a time they were oppressed by adversities? for God ever remains the same: and why should they despond, especially since that ancient deliverance, and also those many deliverances, of which he had hitherto spoken, are so many evidences of his everlasting covenant. These indeed ought to be connected with the word of God; that is, with that promise, according to which he had received the children of Abraham into favor for the purpose of protecting them to the end. “For salvation, for salvation,” says the Prophet, and that of his elect people.

He adds, with thy Christ. This clause still more confirms what Habakkuk had in view — that God had been from the beginning the deliverer of his people in the person of the Mediator. When God, therefore, delivered his people from the hand of Pharaoh, when he made a way for them to pass through the Red Sea, when he redeemed them by doing wonders, when he subdued before them the most powerful nations, when he changed the laws of nature in their behalf — all these things he did through the Mediator. For God could never have been propitious either to Abraham himself or to his posterity, had it not been for the intervention of a Mediator. Since then it has ever been the office of the Mediator to preserve in safety the Church of God, the Prophet takes it now for granted, that Christ was now manifested in much clearer light than formerly; for David was his lively image, as well as his successors. God then gave a living representation of his Christ when he erected a kingdom in the person of David; and he promised that this kingdom should endure as long as the sun and moon should shine in the heavens. Since, then, there were in the time of Habakkuk clearer prophecies than in past times respecting the eternity of this kingdom, ought not the people to have taken courage, and to have known of a certainty that God would be their Deliverer, when Christ should come? We now then apprehend the meaning of the Prophet. However true is what is said here, it seems not to be the doctrine of this text. The version of Aquila and the Vulgate have been followed as to the second clause of the verse. The Septuagint read, του σωσαι τον χριστον σου — to save thy Christ;” or, according to Alex. cod., “thy Christs — τους χριστους σου;” or, according to Barb. MS., “thine elect — τους εκλεκτους σου.” Five Hebrew MSS. have [משיחיד], “thine anointed ones.” But if “people” in the preceding line; or it may refer to Joshua and his successors, the singular being used, as it is often done by the Prophets, in the collective sense. The particle [את] before it is not often used as a preposition; and the word [ישע] may better be taken here as a verb, according to the Septuagint, than as a noun, though as a verb it most commonly occurs in Hiphil: but see 1 Samuel 23:5; 2 Samuel 8:6. The following would then be the version —

Go forth didst thou to save thy people, To save thine anointed: Thou didst smite the head from the house of the wicked, Emptying out the foundation even to the neck.

The reference in the two lines is evidently to the rooting out of the Canaanites, and not, as Newcome thinks, to the destruction of the firstborn in Egypt. The singular is poetically used for the plural: “head,” instead of heads, or chiefs, etc. The last line seems to be a proverbial saying, signifying an entire demolition, the very foundation being dug up, though so deep as to reach up to man’s neck. There is no MSS. nor version to countenance [צור], “rock,” which Houbigant and Newcome adopt. — Ed. But I cannot now go farther; I shall defer the subject until tomorrow.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast so often and in such various ways testified formerly how much care and solicitude thou hast for the salvation of those who rely and call on thee, — O grant, that we at this day may experience the same: and though thy face is justly hid from us, may we yet never hesitate to flee to thee, since thou hast made a covenant through thy Son, which is founded in thine infinite mercy. Grant then, that we, being humbled in true penitence, may so surrender ourselves to thy Son, that we may be led to thee, and find thee to be no less a Father to us than to the faithful of old, as thou everywhere testifies to us in thy word, until at length being freed from all troubles and dangers, we come to that blessed rest which thy Son has purchased for us by his own blood. Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Seventeenth

We explained yesterday why the Prophet says that God went forth for the salvation of the elect people with his Christ. His purpose was to confirm still more the faithful in the hope of their deliverance; for God is not only the same, and never changes his purpose, but the same Mediator also performs his office, through whom the people were formerly preserved. We must also notice this difference, to which I referred yesterday; for as God had then more clearly manifested Christ, with more cheerfulness it behaved the faithful to go on, as they had so remarkable a pledge of God’s favor, inasmuch as God had promised that the kingdom of God would be for ever.

He adds, that wounded was the head from the house of the wicked; that is, that there was no power which had not been laid prostrate by God for the sake of his people; and we know that all the great kings were formerly destroyed, in order that favor might be shown to God’s people. The other comparison seems different, and yet its object is the same — that God had made bare the foundation to the neck; that is, that he had destroyed from the roots his enemies; for by foundation he means, in a metaphorical sense, whatever stability there was in these enemies, and that this was torn up and overthrown to the very neck, that is, to the very summit; for the body of men, we know, is covered from the neck to the feet. And he says that their houses, that is their families, were made bare to the neck, for the Lord had destroyed them all from the bottom to the top. We now understand what the Prophet meant.

As to the word סלה, selah, I have hitherto said nothing; but I shall now briefly refer to what the Hebrew interpreters think. Some explain it by לעולם, laoulam, "for ever;” and by עד ועד, od uod, “yet and yet;” as though, when this word is inserted, the Holy Spirit pronounced what is to be for ever. Others render it by אמן, amen, as though God testified that what is said is true and indubitable. But as it never occurs except in this song and in the Psalms, and does not always comport with what they say, that is, that it denotes certainty or perpetuity, I prefer embracing the opinion of those who think that it refers to singing, and not to things. And what they add is also probable, if we regard its etymology, for the word means to raise or to elevate; and it was therefore put down to remind the singers to raise their voice. But as it is a thing of no great importance, it is enough shortly to state what others think. Let us now go on —

Habakkuk 3:14

14. Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.

14. Perforasti baculis ejus caput villarum ejus; prosilierunt instar turbinis ad dispellendum me; exultatio eorum sicut ad vorandum pauperem in abscondito.

At the beginning of this verse the Prophet pursues the same subject — that God had wounded all the enemies of his people; and he says that the head of villages or towns had been wounded, though some think that פרזים, perezim, mean rather the inhabitants of towns; for the Hebrews call fortified towns or villages פרזות, perezut, and the word is commonly found in the feminine gender; but as it is here a masculine noun, it is thought that it means the inhabitants. At the same time this does not much affect the subject; for the Prophet simply means, that not only things had been overthrown by God’s hand, but also all the provinces under their authority; as though he had said that God’s vengeance, when his purpose was to defend his people, advanced through all the villages and through every region, so that not a corner was safe. The Keri and many MSS. read [פרזיו], “his villages;” but there is no need of this change, for the singular is used throughout instead of the plural, until we come to the two following lines; and this proves that the singular is to be taken in a collective sense. Henderson renders it “captains,” contrary to the meaning of the word in other parts. It means an open unfortified village, as it were scattered, and without any boundaries. — Ed. But we must also notice what follows — with his rods. The Prophet means that the wicked had been smitten by their own sword. Though the word rods is put here, it is yet to be taken for all kinds of instruments or weapons; it is the same as though it was said that they had been wounded by their own hands. Newcome and some others, without any authority, read “thy rod;” but conjecture, without some solid reason, cannot be allowed. — Ed.

We now perceive the import of this clause — that God not only put forth his strength when he purposed to crush the enemies of his people, but that he had also smitten them with infatuation and madness, so that they destroyed themselves by their own hands. And this was done, as in the case of the Midianites, who, either by turning their swords against one another, fell by mutual wounds, or by slaying themselves, perished by their own hands. (Judges 7:2.) We indeed often read of the wicked that they ensnared themselves, fell into the pit which they had made, and, in short, perished through their own artifices; and the Prophet says here that the enemies of the Church had fallen, through God’s singular kindness, though no one rose up against them; for they had transfixed or wounded themselves by their own staff. Some read — “Thou hast cursed his sceptres and the head of his villages;” but the interpretation which I have given is much more appropriate.

He adds, that they came like a whirlwind. It is indeed a verb in the future tense; but the sentence must be thus rendered — “When they rushed as a whirlwind to cast me down, when their exultation was to devour the poor in their hiding-places.” It is indeed only a single verb, but it comes from סער, sor, which means a whirlwind, and we cannot render it otherwise than by a paraphrase. They rushed, he says, like a whirlwind. The Prophet here enlarges on the subject of God’s power, for he had checked the enemies of his people when they rushed on with so much impetuosity. Had their advance been slow God might have frustrated their attempts without a miracle, but as their own madness rendered them precipitate, and made them to be like a whirlwind, God’s power was more clearly known in restraining such violence. We now understand the import of what is here said; for the Prophet’s special object is not to complain of the violent and impetuous rage of enemies, but to exalt the power of God in checking the violent assaults of those enemies whom he saw raging against his people.

He subjoins, their exultation was to devour the poor. He intimates that there was nothing in the world capable of resisting the wicked, had not God brought miraculous help from heaven; for when they came to devour the poor, they came not to wage war, but to devour the prey like wild beasts. Then he says, to devour the poor in secret. He means, that the people of God had no strength to resist, except help beyond all hope came from heaven. “To devour the poor in secret,” seems to have an allusion to the practice of wild beasts, who take there prey to their dens to devour it there. The poor her, as in many other places, mean the helpless, such as are destitute of aid or power to resist their enemies. The line may be thus rendered —

Their joy was, as it were, to devour the helpless in secret.

— Ed.

The import of the whole is — that when the miserable Israelites were without any protection, and exposed to the rage and cruelty of their enemies, they had been miraculously helped; for the Lord destroyed their enemies by their own swords; and that when they came, as it were to enjoy a victory, to take the prey, they were laid prostrate by the hand of God: hence his power shone forth more brightly. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:15

15. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

15. Viam fecisti in mari equis tuis per acervum aquarum magnarum.

Some read, “Thou hast trodden thy horses in the sea;” but it is a solecism, that is quite evident. Others, “Thou hast trodden in the sea by thy horses.” But what need is there of seeking such strained explanations, since the verb דרך, darek, means to go or to march? The Prophet’s meaning is by no means doubtful — that God would make a way for himself in the sea, and on his own horses. How? even when great waters were gathered into a mass. The Prophet again refers to the history of the passage through the Red Sea; for it was a work of God, as it has been said, worthy of being remembered above all other works: it is therefore no wonder that the Prophet dwells so much in setting forth this great miracle. Thou then didst make a way for thy horses — where? in the sea; which was contrary to nature. And then he adds, The heap of waters: for the waters had been gathered together, and a firm and thick mass appeared, which was not according to nature; for we know that water is a fluid, and that hardly a drop of water can stand without flowing. The word is [חמר], which many have rendered acervus — heap; but there is no clear instance in which it has such a meaning. It is without a preposition, and the Septuagint render it by a participle, ταρασσοντας, which agrees with “horses.” It is singular in Hebrew, and, if a particple, it agrees with the nominative case to the preceding verb, [דרכת], “thou didst guide” or direct. The two lines might then be rendered thus, —

Thou didst guide through the sea thy horses, Disturbing mighty waters.

Both Marckius and Henderson think that the passage through the Red Sea is not what is meant; but the subjugation of the Canaanites, conveyed in a language derived from that event. — Ed. How then was it that he stopped the course of Jordan, and that the Red Sea was divided? These were evidences of God’s incomprehensible power, and rightly ought these to have added courage to the faithful, knowing, as they ought to have done, that nothing could have opposed their salvation, which God was not able easily to remove, whenever it pleased him. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:16

16. When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

16. Audivit, et contremuit (vel, tumultuatus est) venter meus; ad vocem trepidarunt labia mea; ingressa est putredo in ossa mea; et apud me tumultuatus sum (ad verbum, tumultuabitur; sed diximus heri de temporibus verborum,) ad ascendedum ad populum, excidet eum (vel, colliget se.)

Those interpreters are mistaken in my view, who connect the verb, “I have heard,” with the last verse, as though the Prophet had said, that he had conceived dread from those evidences of God’s power: for the Prophet had no occasion to fear in regarding God as armed with unexpected power for the salvation of his people; there was no reason for such a thing. Hence these things do not agree together. But he returns again to that dread which he had entertained on account of God’s voice in those terrific threatening which we before referred to. We must always bear in mind the Prophet’s design — that his object was to humble the faithful, that they might suppliantly acknowledge to God their sins and solicit his forgiveness. His purpose also was to animate them with strong hope, that they might nevertheless look for deliverance. He had already said at the beginning, “Lord, I have heard thy voice; I feared.” He now repeats the same thing: for if he had spoken only of that terrific voice, the faithful might have been overwhelmed with despair; he therefore wished opportunely to prevent this evil, by interposing what might have comforted them. For this reason he recited these histories, by which God had proved that he was armed with invincible power to save his Church. Having done this, he applies his general doctrine to present circumstances, and says, “I have heard.” What had he heard? even those judgements with which God had determined to visit the contumacy of his people. Since, then, God had threatened his people with a horrible destruction, the Prophet says now, that he had heard and trembled, so that he had been confounded. He speaks in the singular number; but this was done, as we have said, because he represented the whole people, as was the case before (which escaped my notice) when he said, his enemies came like whirlwind to cast him down; for certainly he did not then speak of himself but of the ancient people. As, then, the Prophet here undertakes the cause of the whole Church, he speaks as though he were the collective body of the people: and so he says that he had heard; but the faithful speak here as with one mouth, that they had heard, and that their inside trembled

Some read, “I was dismayed, or I feared, and my inside trembled at his voice.” He takes קול, kul, voice, not for report, but, as it has been said, for threatening. The faithful, then, declare here, that they dreaded the voice of God, before he had executed his judgements, or before he inflicted the punishment which he had threatened. He says, quiver did my lips. The verb צלל, tsalel, means sometimes to tingle, and so some render it here, “Tingle did my lips;” but this is not suitable, and more tolerable is the rendering of others, “Palpitate did my lips.” The Hebrews say that what is meant is that motion in the lips which fear or trembling produces. I therefore render the words, “quiver did my lips;” as when one says in our language, Mes levres ont barbate; that is, when the whole body shakes with trembling, not only a noise is made by the clashing of the teeth, but an agitation is also observed in the lips.

Enter, he says, did rottenness into my bones and within myself I made a noise, (it is the verb רגז, regaz, again,) or I trembled. No doubt the Prophet describes here the dread, which could not have been otherwise than produced by the dreadful vengeance of God. It hence follows that he does not treat here of those miracles which were, on the contrary, calculated to afford an occasion of rejoicing both to the Prophet and to the whole of the chosen people; but that the vengeance of God, such as had been predicted, is described here.

He now adds, That I may rest in the day of affliction The word [אשר], which Calvin renders ut, “that,” has occasioned great trouble to critics. Marckius reads qui — “who,” “Who shall rest,” etc.; Henderson, “yet,” “Yet I shall have rest,” etc. But it is never found as an adversative. The construction of this line and the following is very difficult; and many have been the forms in which they have been rendered. The verb [נוח] means not only to rest from action or labor, but also to rest in the sense of remaining or continuing. See 2 Kings 2:15, and Isaiah 2:2. And were it taken in this latter sense here, there would be a consistency in the whole passage. The Prophet describes first the dread which seized him on hearing the report of God’s vengeance; and then in the two last lines he accounts for his consternation, because he should remain to witness this vengeance; and he proceeds in verse 17 to set forth the effects of it, and in verse 18 he states that he would still rejoice in the God of his salvation. The three verses may be thus rendered, —

16. I heard, — and tremble did my bowels; At the voice my lips quivered; Enter does rottenness into my bones, And on my own account I tremble; Because I shall remain to the day of distress, To his coming up to the people, who shall invade me.

17. For the fig-tree shall not shoot forth, And no produce shall be on the vines; Fail shall the fruit of the olive, And the fields, none shall yield food; Cut off from the fold shall be the sheep, And no ox shall be in the stalls:

18. But as for me, in Jehovah will I rejoice, I will exult in the God of my salvation.

“On my own account,” or for myself, [תחתי]: the preposition, [תחת], is often taken in this sense; See 2 Samuel 19:21, Proverbs 30:21. “Invade us” or assault us, or them, the people, [יגודנו]; for [נו] is either us or him, but in our language them, for so we speak of people. “And the fields, none,” etc. There are instances of [לא], as here, in which it may be rendered “none” and “nothing.” See Ezekiel 20:38, Job 6:21, 8:9. “In the God,” etc.; it may be rendered, “In my God, my Savior,” as it is in the Septuagint and the Vulgate. — Ed. There seems to be here an inconsistency — that the Prophet was affected with grief even to rottenness, that he trembled throughout his members with dread, and now that all this availed to produce rest. But we must inquire how rest is to be obtained through these trepidations, and dreads, and tremblings. We indeed know that the more hardened the wicked become against God, the more grievous ruin they ever procure for themselves. But there is no way of obtaining rest, except for a time we tremble within ourselves, that is, except God’s judgement awakens us, yea, and reduces us almost to nothing. Whosoever therefore securely slumbers, will be confounded in the day of affliction; but he who in time anticipates the wrath of God, and is touched with fear, as soon as he hears that God the judge is at hand, provides for himself the most secure rest in the day of affliction. We now then see, that the right way of seeking rest is set forth here by the Prophet, when he says, that he had been confounded, and that rottenness had entered into his bones that he could have no comfort, except he pined away as one half-dead: and the design of the Prophet, as I have already said, was to exhort the faithful to repentance. But we cannot truly and from the heart repent, until our sins become displeasing to us: and the hatred of sin proceeds from the fear of God, and that sorrow which Paul regards as the mother of repentance. (2 Corinthians 7:10.)

This exhortation is also very necessary for us in the present day. We see how inclined we are by nature to indifference; and when God brings before us our sins, and then sets before us his wrath, we are not moved; and when we entertain any fear, it soon vanishes. Let us, then, know that no rest can be to us in the day of distress, except we tremble within ourselves, except dread lays hold on all our faculties, and except all our soul becomes almost rotten. And hence it is said in Psalm 4:4, “Tremble, and ye shall not sin.” And Paul also shows that the true and profitable way of being angry is, when one is angry with his sins (Ephesians 4:26,) and when we tremble within ourselves. In the same manner does the Prophet describe the beginnings of repentance, when he says, that the faithful trembled in their bowels, and were so shaken within, that even their lips quivered, and, in short, (and this is the sum of the whole,) that all their senses felt consternation and fear.

He says, When he shall ascend: he speaks, no doubt, of the Chaldeans; When therefore the enemy shall ascend against the people, that he may cut them off: for גדה or גוד, gade or gud, means to cut off, and it means also to gather, and so some render it, “that he may gather them:” but the other meaning is better, “when the enemy shall ascend, that he may cut them off.” If one would have the word God to be understood, I do not object: for the Prophet does not otherwise speak of the Chaldeans than as the ministers and executioners of God’s wrath.

In short, he intimates, that they who had been moved and really terrified by God’s vengeance, would be in a quiet state when God executed his judgements. How so? because they would calmly submit to the rod, and look for a happy deliverance from their evils; for their minds would be seasonably prepared for patience, and then the Lord would also console them, as it is said in Psalm 51:17, that he despises not contrite hearts. When, therefore, the faithful are in a suitable time humbled, and when they thus anticipate the judgement of God, they then find a rest prepared for them in his bosom. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:17, 18

17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

17. Quia ficus non florebit, et nullus erit fructus in veneis; fraudabit opus olivae, et agri non producent cibum (ad verbum, non faciet cibum; est mutatio numeri, sed esset asperior illa translatio; Agri igitur non producent cibum: porro hac voce comprehendi triticum, legumina, et quae ad victum pertinent, satis liquet;) excissum est ab ovili pecus, et nullus bos in stabulis:

18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

18. Ego autem in Jehova exultabo, laetabor in Deo salutis meae.

The Prophet declares now at large what that rest would be of which he had spoken; it would be even this — that he would not cease to rejoice in God, even in the greatest afflictions. He indeed foresees how grievous the impending punishment would be, and he warns also and arouses the faithful, that they might perceive the approaching judgement of God. He says, Flourish shall not the fig, and no fruit shall be on the vines; fail shall the olive. First, the fig shall not flourish; then, the fields shall produce nothing; and lastly, the cattle and the sheep shall fail. Though the figs produce fruit without flowering, it is not yet an improper use of פרח, perech, which means strictly to bud. The verb means to break forth either in buds, or germs, or shoots, and so to germinate, or to blossom. It is rendered by the Septuagint καρποφορησει, shall bear fruit. — Ed. He means that the desolation of the land was nigh at hand, and that the people would be reduced to extreme poverty. But it was an instance of rare virtue, to be able to rejoice in the Lord, when occasions of sorrow met him on every side.

The Prophet then teaches us what advantage it is to the faithful seasonably to submit to God, and to entertain serious fear when he threatens them, and when he summons them to judgement; and he shows that though they might perish a hundred times, they would yet not perish, for the Lord would ever supply them with occasions of joy, and would also cherish this joy within, so as to enable them to rise above all their adversities. Though, then, the land was threatened with famine, and though no food would be supplied to them, they would yet be able always to rejoice in the God of their salvation; for they would know him to be their Father, though for a time he severely chastised them. This is a delineation of that rest of which he made mention before.

The import of the whole is — “Though neither the figs, nor the vines, nor the olives, produce any fruit, and though the field be barren, though no food be given, yet I will rejoice in my God;” that is, our joy shall not depend on outward prosperity; for though the Lord may afflict us in an extreme degree, there will yet be always some consolation to sustain our minds, that they may not succumb under evils so grievous; for we are fully persuaded, that our salvation is in God’s hand, and that he is its faithful guardian. We shall, therefore, rest quietly, though heaven and earth were rolled together, and all places were full of confusion; yea, though God fulminated from heaven, we shall yet be in a tranquil state of mind, looking for his gratuitous salvation.

We now perceive more clearly, that the sorrow produced by the sense of our guilt is recommended to us on account of its advantage; for nothing is worse than to provoke God’s wrath to destroy us; and nothing is better than to anticipate it, so that the Lord himself may comfort us. We shall not always escape, for he may apparently treat us with severity; but though we may not be exempt from punishment, yet while he intends to humble us, he will give us reasons to rejoice: and then in his own time he will mitigate his severity, and by the effects will show himself propitious to us. Nevertheless, during the time when want or famine, or any other affliction, is to be borne, he will render us joyful with this one consolation, for, relying on his promises, we shall look for him as the God of our salvation. Hence, on one side Habakkuk sets the desolation of the land; and on the other, the inward joy which the faithful never fail to possess, for they are upheld by the perpetual favor of God. And thus he warns, as I have said, the children of God, that they might be prepared to bear want and famine, and calmly to submit to God’s chastisements; for had he not exhorted them as he did, they might have failed a hundred times.

We may hence gather a most useful doctrine, — That whenever signs of God’s wrath meet us in outward things, this remedy remains to us — to consider what God is to us inwardly; for the inward joy, which faith brings to us, can overcome all fears, terrors, sorrows and anxieties.

But we must notice what follows, In the God of my salvation: for sorrow would soon absorb all our thoughts, except God were present as our preserver. But how does he appear as such to the faithful? even when they estimate not his love by external things, but strengthen themselves by embracing the promise of his mercy, and never doubt but that he will be propitious to them; for it is impossible but that he will remember mercy even while he is angry. It follows —

Habakkuk 3:19

19. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

19. Jehova Dominus fotitudo mea, et ponet pedes meos quasi cervarum, et super excelsa mea ambulare me faciet. Prefecto in Neginothai (vel, in pulsationibus meis, vel, musicis instrumentis.)

He confirms the same truth, — that he sought no strength but in God alone. But there is an implied contrast between God and those supports on which men usually lean. There is indeed no one, who is not of a cheerful mind, when he possesses all necessary things, when no danger, no fear is impending: we are then courageous when all things smile on us. But the Prophet, by calling God his strength, sets him in opposition to all other supports; for he wishes to encourage the faithful to persevere in their hope, however grievously God might afflict them. His meaning then is, — that even when evils impetuously rage against us, when we vacillate and are ready to fall every moment, God ought then to be our strength; for the aid which he has promised for our support is all-sufficient. We hence see that the Prophet entertained firm hope, and by his example animated the faithful, provided they had God propitious, however might all other things fail them.

He will make, he says, my feet like those of hinds. I am inclined to refer this to their return to their own country, though some give this explanation, — “God will give the swiftest feet to his servants, so that they may pass over all obstacles to destroy their enemies;” but as they might think in their exile that their return was closed up against them, the Prophet introduces this most apt similitude, that God would give his people feet like those of hinds, so that they could climb the precipices of mountains, and dread no difficulties: He will then, he says, give me the feet of hinds, and make me to tread on my high places. Some think that this was said with regard to Judea, which is, as it is well known, mountainous; but I take the expression more simply in this way, — that God would make his faithful people to advance boldly and without fear along high places: for they who fear hide themselves and dare not to raise up the head, nor proceed openly along public roads; but the Prophet says, God will make me to tread on any high places

He at last adds, To the leader on my beatings. The first word some are wont to render conqueror. This inscription, To the leader, למנצח, lamenatsech, frequently occurs in the Psalms. To the conqueror, is the version of some; but it means, I have no doubt, the leader of the singers. Interpreters think that God is signified here by this title, for he presides over all the songs of the godly: and it may not inaptly be applied to him as the leader of the singers, as though the Prophet had said, — “God will be a strength to me; though I am weak in myself, I shall yet be strong in him; and he will enable me to surmount all obstacles, and I shall proceed boldly, who am now like one half-dead; and he will thus become the occasion of my song, and be the leader of the singers engaged in celebrating his praises, when he shall deliver from death his people in so wonderful a manner.” We hence see that the connection is not unsuitable, when he says, that there would be strength for him in God; and particularly as giving of thanks belonged to the leader or the chief singer, in order that God’s aid might be celebrated, not only privately but at the accustomed sacrifices, as was usually the case under the law. Those who explain it as denoting the beginning of a song, are extremely frigid and jejune in what they advance; I shall therefore pass it by.

He adds, on my beatings. This word, נגינות, neginoth, I have already explained in my work on the Psalms. Some think that it signifies a melody, others render it beatings (pulsationes) or notes (modos;) and others consider that musical instruments are meant. No satisfactory conjectures have been made by any as to the my added to this word. Hezekiah says at the end of his prayer, Isaiah 38:20, [ננגז ונגינותי], “and my neginoth will we sing,” or play, etc. Our version makes this my to refer to the ode or song he made to be played on the neginoth, supposed to have been a stringed instrument. In this case, “my neginoth” means the song he made for the neginoth. Then we might render the words, —

For the leader; my song on the stringed instruments.

— Ed. I affirm nothing in a doubtful matter: and it is enough to bear in mind what we have said, — that the Prophet promises here to God a continual thanksgiving, when the faithful were redeemed, for not only each one would acknowledge that they had been saved by God’s hand, but all would assemble together in the Temple, and there testify their gratitude, and not only with their voices confess God as their Deliverer, but also with instruments of music, as we know it to have been the usual custom under the Law.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that as we cease not daily to provoke thy wrath against us, and as the hardness and obstinacy of our flesh is so great, that it is necessary for us to be in various ways afflicted, — O grant, that we may patiently bear thy chastisements, and under a deep feeling of sorrow flee to thy mercy; and may we in the meantime persevere in the hope of that mercy, which thou hast promised, and which has been once exhibited towards us in Christ, so that we may not depend on the earthly blessings of this perishable life, but relying on thy word may proceed in the course of our calling, until we shall at length be gathered into that blessed rest, which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ one Lord. Amen.

Calvin’s Preface to zephaniah.

Zephaniah is placed the last of the Minor Prophets who performed their office before the Babylonian Captivity; and the inscription shows that he exercised his office of teaching at the same time with Jeremiah, about thirty years before the city was destroyed, the Temple pulled down, and the people led into exile. Jeremiah, it is true, followed his vocation even after the death of Josiah, while Zephaniah prophesied only during his reign.

The substance of his Book is this: He first denounces utter destruction on a people who were so perverse, that there was no hope of their repentance; — he then moderates his threatening, by denouncing God’s judgments on their enemies, the Assyrians, as well as others, who had treated with cruelty the Church of God; for it was no small consolation, when the Jews heard that they were so regarded by God, that he would undertake their cause and avenge their wrongs. He afterwards repeats again his reproofs, and shortly mentions the sins which then prevailed among the elect people of God; and, at the same time, he turns his discourse to the faithful, and exhorts them to patience, setting before them the hope of favor, provided they ever looked to the Lord; and provided they relied on the gratuitous covenant which he made with Abraham, and doubted not but that he would be a Father to them, and also looked, with a tranquil mind, for that redemption which had been promised to them. This is the sum of the whole Book.

CHAPTER 1

Lecture One Hundred and Eighteenth

Zephaniah 1:1

1. The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

1. Sermo Jehovae, qui fuit ad Zephaniam, filium Chusi, filii Gedoliae, filii Amariae, filii Chizkiae, in diebus Josiae, filii Amon, regis Jehudah.

CHAPTER 3

Ha 3:1-19. Habakkuk's Prayer to God: God's Glorious Revelation of Himself at Sinai and at Gibeon, a Pledge of His Interposing Again in Behalf of Israel against Babylon, and All Other Foes; Hence the Prophet's Confidence Amid Calamities.

This sublime ode begins with an exordium (Ha 3:1, 2), then follows the main subject, then the peroration (Ha 3:16-19), a summary of the practical truth, which the whole is designed to teach. (De 33:2-5; Psa 77:13-20 are parallel odes). This was probably designed by the Spirit to be a fit formula of prayer for the people, first in their Babylonian exile, and now in their dispersion, especially towards the close of it, just before the great Deliverer is to interpose for them. It was used in public worship, as the musical term, "Selah!" (Ha 3:3, 9, 13), implies.

1. prayer--the only strictly called prayers are in Ha 3:2. But all devotional addresses to God are called "prayers" (Psa 72:20). The Hebrew is from a root "to apply to a judge for a favorable decision." Prayers in which praises to God for deliverance, anticipated in the sure confidence of faith, are especially calculated to enlist Jehovah on His people's side (2Ch 20:20-22, 26).

upon Shigionoth--a musical phrase, "after the manner of elegies," or mournful odes, from an Arabic root [Lee]; the phrase is singular in Psa 7:1, title. More simply, from a Hebrew root to "err," "on account of sins of ignorance." Habakkuk thus teaches his countrymen to confess not only their more grievous sins, but also their errors and negligences, into which they were especially likely to fall when in exile away from the Holy Land [Calvin]. So Vulgate and Aquila, and Symmachus. "For voluntary transgressors" [Jerome]. Probably the subject would regulate the kind of music. Delitzsch and Henderson translate, "With triumphal music," from the same root "to err," implying its enthusiastic irregularity.

2. I have heard thy speech--Thy revelation to me concerning the coming chastisement of the Jews [Calvin], and the destruction of their oppressors. This is Habakkuk's reply to God's communication [Grotius]. Maurer translates, "the report of Thy coming," literally, "Thy report."

and was afraid--reverential fear of God's judgments (Ha 3:16).

revive thy work--Perfect the work of delivering Thy people, and do not let Thy promise lie as if it were dead, but give it new life by performing it [Menochius]. Calvin explains "thy work" to be Israel; called "the work of My hands" (Is 45:11). God's elect people are peculiarly His work (Is 43:1), pre-eminently illustrating His power, wisdom, and goodness. "Though we seem, as it were, dead nationally, revive us" (Psa 85:6). However (Psa 64:9), where "the work of God" refers to His judgment on their enemies, favors the former view (Psa 90:16, 17; Is 51:9, 10).

in the midst of the years--namely, of calamity in which we live. Now that our calamities are at their height; during our seventy years' captivity. Calvin more fancifully explains it, in the midst of the years of Thy people, extending from Abraham to Messiah; if they be cut off before His coming, they will be cut off as it were in the midst of their years, before attaining their maturity. So Bengel makes the midst of the years to be the middle point of the years of the world. There is a strikingly similar phrase (Da 9:27), In the midst of the week. The parallel clause, "in wrath" (that is, in the midst of wrath), however, shows that "in the midst of the years" means "in the years of our present exile and calamity."

make known--Made it (Thy work) known by experimental proof; show in very deed, that this is Thy work.

3. God--singular in the Hebrew, "Eloah," instead of "Elohim," plural, usually employed. The singular is not found in any other of the minor prophets, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel; but it is in Isaiah, Daniel, Job, and Deuteronomy.

from Teman--the country south of Judea and near Edom, in which latter country Mount Paran was situated [Henderson]. "Paran" is the desert region, extending from the south of Judah to Sinai. Seir, Sinai, and Paran are adjacent to one another, and are hence associated together, in respect to God's giving of the law (De 33:2). Teman is so identified with Seir or Edom, as here to be substituted for it. Habakkuk appeals to God's glorious manifestations to His people at Sinai, as the ground for praying that God will "revive His work" (Ha 3:2) now. For He is the same God now as ever.

Selah--a musical sign, put at the close of sections and strophes, always at the end of a verse, except thrice; namely, here, and Ha 3:9, and Psa 55:19; 57:3, where, however, it closes the hemistich. It implies a change of the modulation. It comes from a root to "rest" or "pause" [Gesenius]; implying a cessation of the chant, during an instrumental interlude. The solemn pause here prepares the mind for contemplating the glorious description of Jehovah's manifestation which follows.

earth ... full of his praise--that is, of His glories which were calculated to call forth universal praise; the parallelism to "glory" proves this to be the sense.

4. as the light--namely, of the sun (Job 37:21; Pr 4:18).

horns--the emblem of power wielded by "His hand" [Ludovicus De Dieu]. "Rays" emanating from "His hand," compared by the Arabs to the horns of the gazelle (compare "hind of the morning," Psa 22:1, title, Margin). The Hebrew verb for to "emit rays," is from the root meaning "horns" (Ex 34:29, 30, 35) [Grotius]. The rays are His lightnings (Psa 18:8), [Maurer].

there--in that "brightness." In it, notwithstanding its brilliancy, there was but the veil "(the hiding) of His power." Even "light," God's "garment," covers, instead of revealing fully, His surpassing glory (Psa 104:2) [Henderson]. Or, on Mount Sinai [Drusius]. (Compare Ex 24:17). The Septuagint and Syriac versions read for "there," He made a hiding, &c.; He hid Himself with clouds. English Version is better, which Calvin explains, there is said to be "a hiding of God's power," because God did not reveal it indiscriminately to all, but specially to His people (Psa 31:20). The contrast seems to me to be between the "horns" or emanations out of His power ("hand"), and that "power" itself. The latter was hidden, whereas the "horns" or emanations alone were manifested. If the mere scintillations were so awfully overwhelming, how much more so the hidden power itself! This was especially true of His manifestation at Sinai (Psa 18:11; compare Is 45:15, 17).

5. pestilence--to destroy His people's foes (1Sa 5:9, 11). As Jehovah's advent is glorious to His people, so it is terrible to His foes.

burning coals--Psa 18:8 favors English Version. But the parallelism requires, as the Margin translates, "burning disease" (compare De 32:24; Psa 91:6).

went ... at his feet--that is, after Him, as His attendants (Jud 4:10).

6. He stood, and measured the earth--Jehovah, in His advance, is represented as stopping suddenly, and measuring the earth with His all-seeing glance, whereat there is universal consternation. Maurer, from a different root, translates, "rocked the earth"; which answers better to the parallel "drove asunder"; the Hebrew for which latter, however, may be better translated, "made to tremble."

everlasting mountains--which have ever been remembered as retaining the same place and form from the foundation of the world.

did bow--as it were, in reverent submission.

his ways are everlasting--His marvellous ways of working for the salvation of His people mark His everlasting character: such as He was in His workings for them formerly, such shall He be now.

7. the tents--that is, the dwellers.

Cushan--the same as Cush; made "Cush-an" to harmonize with "Midi-an" in the parallel clause. So Lotan is found in the Hebrew of Genesis for Lot. Bochart therefore considers it equivalent to Midian, or a part of Arabia. So in Nu 12:1, Moses' Midianite wife is called an Ethiopian (Hebrew, Cushite). Maurer thinks the dwellers on both sides of the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, are meant; for in Ha 3:6 God's everlasting or ancient ways of delivering His people are mentioned; and in Ha 3:8, the dividing of the Red Sea for them. Compare Miriam's song as to the fear of Israel's foes far and near caused thereby (Ex 15:14-16). Hebrew expositors refer it to Chushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, or Syria, the first oppressor of Israel (Jud 3:8, 10), from whom Othniel delivered them. Thus the second hemistich of the verse will refer to the deliverance of Israel from Midian by Gideon (Jud 6:1-7:25) to which Ha 3:11 plainly refers. Whichever of these views be correct, the general reference is to God's interpositions against Israel's foes of old.

in affliction--rather, "under affliction" (regarded) as a heavy burden. Literally, "vanity" or "iniquity," hence the punishment of it (compare Nu 25:17, 18).

curtains--the coverings of their tents; the shifting habitations of the nomad tribes, which resembled the modern Bedouins.

tremble--namely, at Jehovah's terrible interposition for Israel against them.

8. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers?--"Was the cause of His dividing the Red Sea and Jordan His displeasure against these waters?" The answer to this is tacitly implied in "Thy chariots of salvation." "Nay; it was not displeasure against the waters, but His pleasure in interposing for His people's salvation" (compare Ha 3:10).

thy chariots--in antithesis to Thy foe, Pharaoh's chariots," which, notwithstanding their power and numbers, were engulfed in the waters of destruction. God can make the most unlikely means work for His people's salvation (Ex 14:7, 9, 23, 25-28; 15:3-8, 19). Jehovah's chariots are His angels (Psa 68:17), or the cherubim, or the ark (Jos 3:13; 4:7; compare So 1:9).

9. bow ... made ... naked--that is, was drawn forth from its cover, in which bows usually were cased when not in use. Compare Is 22:6, "Kir uncovered the shield."

according to the oaths of the tribes even thy word--that is, Thy oaths of promise to the tribes of Israel (Psa 77:8; Lu 1:73, 74). Habakkuk shows that God's miraculous interpositions for His people were not limited to one time, but that God's oaths to His people are sure ground for their always expecting them. The mention of the tribes, rather than Abraham or Moses, is in order that they may not doubt that to them belongs this grace of which Abraham was the depository [Calvin and Jerome]. Maurer translates, "The spears were glutted with blood, the triumphal song!" that is, no sooner did Jehovah begin the battle by baring His bow, than the spears were glutted with blood and the triumphal song sung.

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers--the result of the earthquake caused by God's approach [Maurer]. Grotius refers it to the bringing forth water from the rock (Ex 17:6; Nu 20:10, 11; Psa 78:15, 16; 105:4). But the context implies not the giving of water to His people to drink, but the fearful physical phenomena attending Jehovah's attack on Israel's foes.

10. The mountains--repetition with increased emphasis of some of the tremendous phenomena mentioned in Ha 3:6.

overflowing of the water passed by--namely, of the Red Sea; and again, of the Jordan. God marked His favor to His people in all the elements, causing every obstacle, whether mountains or waters, which impeded their progress, to "pass away" [Calvin]. Maurer, not so well, translates, "torrents (rains) of water rush down."

lifted ... hands on high--namely, its billows lifted on high by the tempest. Personification. As men signify by voice or gesture of hand that they will do what they are commanded, so these parts of nature testified their obedience to God's will (Ex 14:22; Jos 3:16; Psa 77:17, 18; 114:4).

11. sun ... moon stood still--at Joshua's command (Jos 10:12, 13). Maurer wrongly translates, "stand" (withdrawn, or hidden from view, by the clouds which covered the sky during the thunders).

light of thine arrows--hail mixed with lightnings (Jos 10:10, 11).

they went--The sun and moon "went," not as always heretofore, but according to the light and direction of Jehovah's arrows, namely, His lightnings hurled in defense of His people; astonished at these they stood still [Calvin]. Maurer translates, "At the light of Thine arrows (which) went" or flew.

12. march--implying Jehovah's majestic and irresistible progress before His people (Jud 5:4; Psa 68:7). Israel would not have dared to attack the nations, unless Jehovah had gone before.

thresh--(Mi 4:13).

13. with thine anointed--with Messiah; of whom Moses, Joshua, and David, God's anointed leaders of Israel, were the types (Psa 89:19, 20, 38). God from the beginning delivered His people in person, or by the hand of a Mediator (Is 63:11). Thus Habakkuk confirms believers in the hope of their deliverance, as well because God is always the same, as also because the same anointed Mediator is ready now to fulfil God's will and interpose for Israel, as of old [Calvin]. Maurer translates to suit the parallelism, "for salvation to Thine anointed," namely, Israel's king in the abstract, answering to the "people" in the former clause (compare Psa 28:8; La 4:20). Or Israel is meant, the anointed, that is, consecrated people of Jehovah (Psa 105:15).

woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked--probably an allusion to Psa 68:21. Each head person sprung from and belonging to the house of Israel's wicked foes; such as Jabin, whose city Hazor was "the head of all the kingdoms" of Canaan (Jos 11:10; compare Jud 4:2, 3, 13).

discovering the foundation--Thou destroyedst high and low. As "the head of the house" means the prince, so the "foundation" means the general host of the enemy.

unto the neck--image from a flood reaching to the neck (Is 8:8; 30:28). So God, by His wrath overflowing on the foe, caused their princes' necks to be trodden under foot by Israel's leaders (Jos 10:24; 11:8, 12).

14. strike ... with his staves--with the "wicked" (Ha 3:13) foe's own sword (Maurer translates, "spears") (Jud 7:22).

head of his villages--Not only kings were overthrown by God's hand, but His vengeance passed through the foe's villages and dependencies. A just retribution, as the foe had made "the inhabitants of Israel's villages to cease" (Jud 5:7). Grotius translates, "of his warriors"; Gesenius, "the chief of his captains."

to scatter me--Israel, with whom Habakkuk identifies himself (compare Ha 1:12).

rejoicing ... to devour the poor secretly--"The poor" means the Israelites, for whom in their helpless state the foe lurks in his lair, like a wild beast, to pounce on and devour (Psa 10:9; 17:12).

15. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses--(Ha 3:8). No obstacle could prevent Thy progress when leading Thy people in safety to their inheritance, whether the Red Sea, Jordan, or the figurative waves of foes raging against Israel (Psa 65:7; 77:19).

16. When I heard ... trembled--namely, at the judgments which God had declared (Ha 1:1-17) were to be inflicted on Judea by the Chaldeans.

belly--The bowels were thought by the Hebrews to be the seat of yearning compassion (Jr 31:20). Or "heard" may refer to Ha 3:2, "When I heard as to Jehovah's coming interposition for Israel against the Chaldeans being still at some distance" (Ha 2:3); so also the voice" [Maurer].

at the voice--of the divine threatenings (Ha 1:6). The faithful tremble at the voice alone of God before He inflicts punishment. Habakkuk speaks in the person of all the faithful in Israel.

trembled in myself--that is, I trembled all over [Grotius].

that I might rest in the day of trouble--The true and only path to rest is through such fear. Whoever is securely torpid and hardened towards God, will be tumultuously agitated in the day of affliction, and so will bring on himself a worse destruction; but he who in time meets God's wrath and trembles at His threats, prepares the best rest for himself in the day of affliction [Calvin]. Henderson translates, "Yet I shall have rest." Habakkuk thus consoling his mind, Though trembling at the calamity coming, yet I shall have rest in God (Is 26:3). But that sentiment does not seem to be directly asserted till Ha 3:17, as the words following at the close of this verse imply.

when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade--rather (as English Version is a mere truism), connected with the preceding clause, "that I might rest ... when he (the Chaldean foe) cometh up unto the people (the Jews), that he may cut them off" [Calvin]. The Hebrew for "invade" means, to rush upon, or to attack and cut off with congregated troops.

17. Destroy the "vines" and "fig trees" of the carnal heart, and his mirth ceases. But those who when full enjoyed God in all, when emptied can enjoy all in God. They can sit down upon the heap of ruined creature comforts, and rejoice in Him as the "God of their salvation." Running in the way of His commandments, we outrun our troubles. Thus Habakkuk, beginning his prayer with trembling, ends it with a song of triumph (Job 13:15; Psa 4:7; 43:3, 5).

labour of the olive--that is, the fruit expected from the olive.

fail--literally, "lie," that is, disappoint the hope (Is 58:11, Margin).

fields--from a Hebrew root meaning "to be yellow"; as they look at harvest-time.

meat--food, grain.

cut off--that is, cease.

18. yet I will rejoice--The prophet speaks in the name of his people.

19. hinds' feet ... walk upon ... high places--Habakkuk has here before his mind Psa 18:33, 34; De 32:13. "Hinds' (gazelles') feet" imply the swiftness with which God enables him (the prophet and his people) to escape from his enemies, and return to his native land. The "high places" are called "mine," to imply that Israel shall be restored to his own land, a land of hills which are places of safety and of eminence (compare Ge 19:17; Mt 24:16). Probably not only the safety, but the moral elevation, of Israel above all the lands of the earth is implied (De 33:29).

on my stringed instruments--neginoth. This is the prophet's direction to the precentor ("chief singer") as to how the preceding ode (Ha 3:1-19) is to be performed (compare Psa 4:1; 6:1, titles). The prophet had in mind a certain form of stringed instrument adapted to certain numbers and measures. This formula at the end of the ode, directing the kind of instrument to be used, agrees with that in the beginning of it, which directs the kind of melody (compare Is 38:20).

A prayer of Habakkuk - upon Shigionoth - See the note on the title of Psalm 7 (note), where the meaning of Shiggaion is given. The Vulgate has, pro ignorantiis, for ignorances, or sins committed in ignorance; and so it is understood by the Chaldee. The Syriac has nothing but merely, A prayer of Habakkuk. And the Septuagint, instead of Shigionoth, have μετα ῳδης, with a hymn, which is copied by the Arabic.

I suspect that the title here given is of a posterior date to the prophecy. It appears to interrupt the connection between this and the termination of the preceding verse. See them together: - Hab 2:20 : "But the Lord is in his holy temple:Be silent before him, all the earth. Hab 3:1 : O Lord, I have heard thy speech:I have feared, O Lord, thy work.As the years approach thou hast shown;As the years approach thou makest known.In wrath thou rememberest mercy."

The prophet may here refer to the speech which God had communicated to him, Hab 1:1-11, 2:4-20, and the terror with which he was struck, because of the judgments denounced against Jerusalem. I have followed the version of Apb. Newcome in this first verse. The critical reader may consult his notes, and the various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi.

In the midst of the years - בקרב שנים bekereb shanim, "As the years approach." The nearer the time, the clearer and fuller is the prediction; and the signs of the times show that the complete fulfillment is at hand. But as the judgments will be heavy, (and they are not greater than we deserve), yet, Lord, in the midst of wrath - infliction of punishment - remember mercy, and spare the souls that return unto thee with humiliation and prayer.

God came from Teman - Bp. Lowth observes: "This is a sudden burst of poetry, in the true spirit of the ode; the concealed connection being that God, who had formerly displayed such power in delivering the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, might succor their posterity in a like wonderful manner." Hence the prophet selects the most striking facts of that first deliverance; and to decorate and render them impressive, brings forth all the powers of his genius, in all the strength and elegance of his language. "What crowns the sublimity of this piece," says Bp. Lowth, "is the singular elegance of the close; and were it not that antiquity has here and there thrown its veil of obscurity over it, there could not be conceived a more perfect and masterly poem of its kind." See, for more particulars, his twenty-eighth Prelection.

I shall endeavor to show the facts in the deliverance from Egypt, to which the prophet refers.

Teman - This was a city, the capital of a province of Idumea, to the south of the land of Canaan. Num 20:21; Jer 49:7.

Paran - Was a city which gave its name to a province in Arabia Petraea. Gen 21:21; Deu 33:2.

Selah - This word is not well known; probably it means a pause or alteration in the music. See it in the Psalms, and its explanation there.

His glory covered the heavens - His glory when he descended on Mount Sinai, and in the pillar of fire by night.

The earth was full of his praise - All the land was astonished at the magnificence of his works in behalf of his people. Instead of praise, some translate splendor. The whole land was illuminated by his glory.

He had horns coming out of his hand - קרנים karnayim, rays. His hand - his power - was manifested in a particular place, by the sudden issuing out of pencils of rays, which diverged in coruscations of light, so as to illuminate the whole hemisphere. Yet "there was the hiding of his power." His Majesty could not be seen, nor any kind of image, because of the insufferable splendor. This may either refer to the lightnings on Mount Sinai or to the brightness which occasionally proceeded from the shechinah or glory of God between the cherubim, over the mercy-seat. See Capellus and Newcome. If lightnings are intended, the dense cloud from which they proceeded may be meant by the "hiding of his power;" for when the lightnings burst forth, his power and energy became manifest.

Probably from this the Jupiter Keraunos or Jupiter Brontes of the heathens was borrowed; who is always represented with forked or zigzag lightnings in his hand.

Before him went the pestilence - This plague was several times inflicted on the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness; see Num 11:33; Num 14:37; Num 16:46; and was always the proof that the just God was then manifesting his power among them.

Burning coals event forth at his feet - Newcome translates, "And flashes of fire went forth after him." The disobedient Israelites were consumed by a fire that went out from Jehovah; see Lev 10:2; Num 11:1; Num 16:35. And the burnt-offering was consumed by a fire which came out from before Jehovah, Lev 11:24.

He stood, and measured the earth - ארץ erets, the land; he divided the promised land among the twelve tribes. This is the allusion; and this the prophet had in his eye. God not only made a general assignment of the land to the Hebrews; but he even divided it into such portions as the different families required. Here were both power and condescension. When a conqueror had subdued a country, he divided it among his soldiers. Among the Romans, those among whom the conquered lands were divided were termed beneficiary; and the lands beneficia, as being held on the beneficence of the sovereign.

He beheld, and drove asunder the nations - The nations of Canaan, the Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites, etc., and all who opposed his people. Even his look dispersed them.

The everlasting mountains were scattered - Or, broken asunder. This may refer to the convulsions on Mount Sinai; and to the earth quake which announced the descent of the Most High. See Exo 19:18. "God occupied the summit of the eternal Mount Sinai; and led his people over the eternal mountains of Arabia Petraea; and this sense is preferable to the figurative one, that his ways or doings are predetermined front everlasting." - Newcome.

The epithets עד ad, and עולם olam, eternal, and everlasting, are applied to mountains and immense rocks, because no other parts of nature are less subject to decay or change, than these immense masses of earth and stone, and that almost indestructible stone, granite, out of which Sinai appears to be formed. A piece of the beautiful granite of this mountain now lies before me. This is a figurative description of the passage of the Israelites through the deserts of Arabia, over mountains, rocks, and through the trackless wilderness; over and through which God, by his power and providence, gave them a safe passage.

The following beautiful piece from the Fragments of Aeschylus will illustrate the preceding description, and please the learned reader. Χωριζε θνητων τον Θεον, και μη δοκει Ομοιον αυτῳ σαρκινον καθεσταναι· Ουκ οισθα δ' αυτον· ποτε μεν ὡς πυρ φαινεται Απλαστον ὁρμῃ ποτε δ' ὑδωρ, ποτε δε γνοφος. Και θηρσιν αυτος γινεται παρεμφερης, Ανεμῳ, νεφει τε, κᾳστραπῃ, βροντῃ, βροχῃ. Ὑπηρετει δ' αυτῳ θαλασσα, και πετραι, Και πασα πηγη, χ' ὑδατος συστηματα· Τρεμει δ' ορη και γαια και πελωριος Βυθος θαλασσης, κωρεων ὑψος μεγα, Οταν επιβλεψῃ γοργον ομμα δεσποτου.

Aeschyli Fragm.

Confound not God with man; nor madly deem

His form is mortal, and of flesh like thine.

Thou know'st him not. Sometimes like fire he glows

In wrath severe; sometimes as water flows;

In brooding darkness now his power conceals

And then in brutes that mighty power reveals.

In clouds tempestuous we the Godhead find;

He mounts the storm, and rides the winged wind;

In vivid lightnings flashes from on high;

In rattling thunders rends the lowering sky;

Fountains and rivers, seas and floods obey,

And ocean's deep abyss yields to his sway;

The mountains tremble, and the hills sink down,

Crumbled to dust by the Almighty's frown.

When God unfolds the terrors of his eye,

All things with horror quake, and in confusion lie.

J. B. B. Clarke.

I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction - Cush is Arabia. The Arabians dwelt in tents, hence they were called Scenitae. When the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai, the Arabs of the Red Sea abandoned their tents, being terror-struck; and the Midianites also were seized with fear. See the desolation wrought among this people by Phinehas, Num 31:1, etc., on account of their having enticed the Israelites to idolatry, Num 25:1, etc. Either Cush and Midian lay contiguous to each other; or, these names are poetically used to express the same place.

Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? - Floods; here is a reference to the passage of the Red Sea. The Lord is represented as heading his troops, riding in his chariot, and commanding the sea to divide, that a free passage might be left for his army to pass over.

Thy bow was made quite naked - That is, it was drawn out of its case; as the arrows had their quiver, so the bows had their cases. A fine oriental bow and bow-case, with quiver and arrows, are now before me; they show with what propriety Jehovah is represented as taking his bow out of its case, in order to set his arrow upon the cord, to shoot at his enemies. It is not the drawing out, or making bare the arrow, that is mentioned here; but the taking the bow out of its case to prepare to shoot.

This verse appears to be an answer to the questions in the preceding: "Was the Lord displeased," etc. The answer is, All this was done "according to the oaths of the tribes;" the covenant of God, frequently repeated and renewed, which he made with the tribes, to give them the land of the Canaanites for their inheritance.

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers - Or, "Thou didst cleave the streams of the land." Or, "Thou cleavedst the dry land into rivers." This may be a reference to the passage of Jordan, and transactions at Arnon and the brook Jabbok. See Num 21:13-15.

In this verse we have Selah again, which, as before, may signify a pause, or some alteration in the music.

The mountains saw thee - This is the continued answer to the questions in Hab 3:8. These are figures highly poetic, to show with what ease God accomplished the most arduous tasks in behalf of his people. As soon as the mountains saw him, they trembled, they were in pangs. When he appeared, the sea fled to right and left, to give him a passage. "It uttered its voice." The separation of the waters occasioned a terrible noise. "And it lifted up its hands on high." Its waters, being separated, stood in heaps on the right hand and left. These heaps or waves are poetically represented here as the hands of the sea.

The sun and moon stood still - This was at the prayer of Joshua, when he fought against the Amorites. See Jos 10:11-12 (note), and the notes there.

At the light of thine arrows they went - I think we should translate: -

By their light, thine arrows went abroad; By their brightness, the lightning of thy spear.

Calvin very justly remarks that the arrows and spears of the Israelites are called those of God, under whose auspices the people fought: the meaning is, that by the continuation of the light of the sun and moon, then stayed in their course, the Israelites saw how to continue the battle, till their enemies were all defeated.

Thou didst march through the land - This refers to the conquest of Canaan. God is represented as going at the head of his people as general-in-chief; and leading them on from conquest to conquest - which was the fact.

Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger - Thou didst tread them down, as the oxen do the sheaves on the threshing-floor.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people - Their deliverance would not have been effected but through thy interference.

For salvation with thine anointed - That is, with Joshua, whom God had anointed, or solemnly appointed to fill the place of Moses, and lead the people into the promised land. If we read, with the common text, משיחך meshichecha, "thy anointed," the singular number, Joshua is undoubtedly meant, who was God's instrument to put the people in possession of Canaan: but if, with several MSS. and some copies of the Septuagint, we read משיחיך meshicheycha, "thy anointed ones," the Israelites must be intended. They are frequently called God's anointed, or God's saints. The sense is very far-fetched when applied to Jesus Christ.

Thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked - This alludes to the slaying of the first-born through all the land of Egypt. These were the heads of the houses or families.

By discovering the foundation unto the neck - The general meaning of this clause is sufficiently plain: the government of these lands should be utterly subverted; the very foundations of it should be razed. But what means unto the neck, עד צואר ad tsavvar? Several critics read עד צור ad tsar, "Unto the Rock," that on which the house is founded: and this very intelligible reading is obtained by the omission of a single letter, א aleph, from the word צוער, This conjecture has been adopted by Newcome, though unsupported either by MS. or version. But is the conjecture necessary? I think not: read the verse as it ought to be read, and all will be plain. "Thou hast wounded the head even unto the neck, in the house of the wicked, by laying bare the foundation." The whole head, neck, and all are cut off. There was no hope left to the Egyptians, because the first-born of every family was cut off, so that the very foundation was laid bare, no first-born being left to continue the heirship of families.

Thou didst strike through - The Hebrew will bear this sense: "Thou hast pierced amidst their tribes the head of their troops," referring to Pharaoh and his generals, who came like a whirlwind to fall upon the poor Israelites, when they appeared to be hemmed in by sea, and no place for their escape. If we follow the common reading, it seems to intimate that the troops of Pharaoh, in their confusion (for God shone out upon them from the cloud) fell foul of each other; and with their staves, or weapons, slew one another: but the head of the villages or towns, i.e., Pharaoh was drowned with his army in the Red Sea.

Thou didst walk through the sea - There was no occasion to hurry across; all was safe, for God had divided the waters: and his terrible cloud had removed from before, and stood behind them, so that it was between them and the Egyptians. See Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20.

When I heard, my belly trembled - The prophet, having finished his account of the wonders done by Jehovah, in bringing their fathers from Egypt into the promised land, now returns to the desolate state of his countrymen, who are shortly to be led into captivity, and suffer the most grievous afflictions; and although he had a sure word of prophecy that they should be ultimately delivered, yet the thoughts of the evils they must previously endure filled his soul with terror and dismay; so that he wishes to be removed from earth before this tribulation should come, that his eyes might not behold the desolations of his country.

When he (Nebuchadnezzar) cometh up unto the people, (the Jews), he will invade them (overpower and carry them away captive) with his troops.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom - תפרח tiphrach, "shall not flourish," shall not put forth its young figs, for the fig tree does not blossom. The young figs appear as soon as the old ones are ripe, as I have often had occasion to observe.

This verse most nervously paints the desolate state of the land of Judea during the captivity. In its hemistich form, it may be translated thus: -

For the fig tree shall not flourish,

And there shall be no fruit on the vines;

The fruit of the olive shall fail,

And the fields shall supply no food:

The flocks shall be cut off from the fold,

And no herds shall be found in the stalls:

Yet in Jehovah will I exult;

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Vulgate has: -

Yet I in the Lord will rejoice,

And will exult in Jesus my God.

The Targum countenances this version: - - ואנא במימרא דיי אבוע veana bemeimra dayai abua, "But in the Word of the Lord will I rejoice," i.e., the personal, substantial Word of Jehovah.

These two verses give the finest display of resignation and confidence that I have ever met with. He saw that evil was at hand, and unavoidable, he submitted to the dispensation of God, whose Spirit enabled him to paint it in all its calamitous circumstances. He knew that God was merciful and gracious. He trusted to his promise, though all appearances were against its fulfillment; for he knew that the word of Jehovah could not fail, and therefore his confidence is unshaken.

No paraphrase can add any thing to this hymn, which is full of inexpressible dignity and elegance, leaving even its unparalleled piety out of the question.

The Lord God is my strength - This is an imitation, if not a quotation, from Psa 18:32-33 (note), where see the notes.

Will make me to walk upon mine high places - This last verse is spoken in the person of the people, who seem to anticipate their restoration; and that they shall once more rejoice in the hills and mountains of Judea.

To the chief singer on my stringed instruments - This line, which is evidently a superscription, leads me to suppose that when the prophet had completed his short ode, he folded it up, with the above direction to the master singer, or leader of the choir, to be sung in the temple service. Many of the Psalms are directed in the same way. "To the master singer;" or, "chief musician;" to be sung, according to their nature, on different kinds of instruments, or with particular airs or tunes.

Neginoth, נגינות which we translate stringed instruments, means such as were struck with a plectrum, or excited by some kind of friction or pulsation; as violins and cymbals or tambourines are. I do not think that the line makes any part of the prophecy, but merely the superscription or direction of the work when it was finished. The ending will appear much more dignified, this line being separated from it.

Upon Sigionoth - A musical instrument.

Thy speech - In answer to the inquiry made chap.1:13,14. Was afraid - Trembled at what thou speakest. In the midst of the years - Even before the seventy years are expired. Make known - Thy truth, wisdom, power, and compassion.

God - The God of our fathers, discovered himself from Teman, a mountain not far from mount Sinai, where the law was given. Paran - Near Sinai. His glory - This the prophet mentions as a support of his faith, that God so gloriously appeared among their fathers. Full of his praise - Of works which were worthy of all praise.

As the light - Pure, clear as the sun, but much more dazzling. His hand - The face of Moses shined; the face, yea, hands of our God, shine with glorious light. There - In that light wherewith he appeared. The hiding - Which discovered much of it, but hid much more; it was light inaccessible.

Before him - When God was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he made the pestilence go before him, so preparing room for his people.

He stood - Gave his presence with Joshua, as one that stood by while the work was done. The land - The promised land. He beheld - Looked with a frowning countenance. Drove asunder - Cast them out, his eye did this, for he looked on them, and did this. His ways - The wisdom, goodness, justice, holiness, and power of God, which he shews in governing his people.

The tents - The people that dwelt in them. Arabia - Near whose borders Israel marched. In affliction - In fear and pain, lest that mighty people should fall on them. The curtains - Those that dwelt within them; these people dwelt in tents, which were made up on the sides with curtains.

The sea - The Red Sea. Ride - As a general in the head of his army. Upon thine horses - Alluding to the manner of men. Salvation - No; but he came to save his people.

Thy bow - One part of armour is put for the whole. The Lord is represented as armed, in readiness to smite through all his enemies. According to the oaths - In pursuance of his oath made to our fathers, and their posterity. Cleave the earth - When they were to march through a dry and thirsty land.

Overflowing - The inundation which at that season was wont to be very great in and round Jordan, passed away at the word of God; the waters below flowed, and ran from those above, which stood on a heap to make a path for Israel. The deep - Either the deep channel in which Jordan flowed, or the Red Sea with dreadful roaring parted its waters. Lift up his hands - Its waves which stood on an heap.

Stood still - At the prayer of Joshua. In the light - Which was most miraculously continued.

With thine anointed - Under the conduct of thine anointed, Joshua, the type of the Messiah. Thou woundest - Gavest a deadly wound to the kings of Canaan. The house of the wicked - The courts of these kings were houses of the vilest wickedness. By discovering - Destroying all from head to foot.

Villages - All the cities and all the unwalled towns. They - The inhabitants of Canaan. As a whirlwind - With violence invading me on every side. To scatter - To disperse and drive away the Israelites. Their rejoicing - They rejoiced in full confidence of swallowing up Israel unawares.

Didst walk - Thou heldest on thy way, from thy entering in on the east of the land, to the west thereof.

When I heard - What dreadful desolations God threatened against Israel. My heart trembled - Another effect of surprising fears and astonishment. Rottenness - A decay of all my strength. That I might rest - These fears made me betake myself to God, that I might rest in him. He - The king of Babylon. The people - The Jews.

The labour - The labour bestowed upon the olive. Yield no meat - Corn. Flock - Of sheep.

Like hinds feet - That I may escape to God my refuge. He will make me - To conquer and triumph.

1 A Prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Sigionoth .

The Prophet required the Earth should be silent before God, and now gives them example; he waits on and prays to God in his Holy Temple, some say 'tis a Prayer of intercession, and that the word carrieth it so.

Vid. chap. 1. ver. 1.

Vid. chap. 1. ver. 1. let. c.

A musical note, say some, and such note as the Jews have no certain knowledge of. Others say Sigion[illegible: 1 letter]th is ignorances, which the Prophet doth confess, and sueth for the pardon of; both he and the people had erred, were offended at the darkness of divine providences, and needed pardon as well as instruction, or it may be a Prayer on occasion of the many and great changes Providence wrought in the affairs of the World and the Church.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 span]

2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech , and was afraid , O LORD revive thy work in the midst of the years , in the midst of the years make known , in wrath remember mercy.

Received answer to the inquiry made chap. 1. verse 13.14, 15, 16 and 17. whether by voice from Heaven, or by inward illumination or irradiation of the mind, or any other way of impression from the Prophetick Spirit, needs not be enquired.

The report or declaration God made to him concerning the future corrections of his own people, and the devastations Babylo[illegible: 1 letter] would make among them; And next the destruction which should fall upon the Babylonians by the Medes and Persians, which is summarily set down, chap. 2.

Trembled at the apprehension of these sad things, which both we and they were to suffer; He saw them as certain and grievous.

Not only keep alive, but somewhat refresh, renew, give some new strength to thy Church and People, who wait for thee.

Thy Church called, Isa. 45.11. as here Gods work in an eminent manner above other people, so the Apostle, we are his workmanship, Eph[illegible: 1 letter]s. 2.10. or else by work may be meant, the returning of the Captivity, and restoring them to their own Land, which was the great thing God did promise to do for them; and the Prophet prays for some kindness from the Lord, that may be a revival of the hope, assurance and joy of it.

'Tis not needful we report the different account of these years, and the precise midst of them assigned by some, perhaps it may point to that time when Evil Merodach exalted Iehoiachin out of Prison, which 2 Kings 25.27. was in the 37th year of their Captivity, but I rather think 'tis more vulgarly to be taken for any time within the term of the sad and troublesome dayes which would last seventy years.

It is an affectionate request, and (as such often are) somewhat abrupt, make known either thy Truth, or Wisdom, or Power, or Compassion, or all, make it known that thou art our God, and we thy people, that thou still hast a care of us, or what next follows makes the sense full.

Whilst thy just displeasure burns against us for our sins.

Make it appear thou hast not forgotten to be gracious, let thy people see thou remembrest mercy toward them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 letter]eb. thy [illegible: 1 word] or, thy [illegible: 1 word].; [illegible: 1 word] pres[illegible: 1 letter]rve [illegible: 1 word].

3 God came from Teman , and the holy one from mount Paran , Selah , His glory covered the heavens , and the earth was full of his praise .

The God of our Fathers, our God

appeared, discovered himself, for that is his coming, who since he fills all places at all times, cannot be said to come by any change of place.

Either Appellatively the South, or else as a proper name of a Mountain or Country, so called from Teman, Son of Eliphaz, and Grandson of Esau. It is also called Seir, or is one particular Hill among those many, which make up Mount S[illegible: 1 letter]ir. It was not far from Mount Sinai, where the Law was given, and the Prophet hath respect to that Deut. 33.2. where God appeared in a manner equally Glorious and Terrible.

Of Israel.

Which was a name to Wilderness, Plains, and a Mountain, of which the Prophet here speaketh, and in Deut. 33.2. 'tis said God shined thence. This the Prophet mentions as a support of his Faith, as an encouragement to others, as a motive why God should renew his work among them, since he so Gloriously appeared among their Fathers, and made a Covenant with them.

To the Argument he addeth this to awaken us to attention.

Lightnings and Thunders, and Fire and Smoke, tokens of the Power, Majesty and Greatness of God, at the sight whereof Moses himself trembled.

Overspread, intercepted and obscured.

That part of the visible Heavens, under which Israel then encamped.

That part of the Earth where this was done.

Of works which deserved then, and still do deserve to be had in remembrance, with praise to God who did them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 5.4.; [illegible: 1 word] 8.7. [illegible: 1 word] south.

4 And his brightness was as the light , he had horns coming out of his hand , and there was the hiding of his power .

That Lustre in which God appeared, that unparallel'd splendour which shined from him.

Pure, clear as the Sun, but much more dazling and overcoming.

Some read it Beams or Rayes of Light, and so the H[illegible: 1 letter]b. will bear, and thus 'tis plain.

Our God is all Glory and Light, Moses face shined, the Face, yea, Hands of our God, shine with Glorious Light; He dwelleth in Light.

Either in that place where he thus appeared, or in that Light wherewith he appeared.

One would think his brightness should have discovered, not hid his Power, it did both it discovered much of it, but hid much more; it was Light inaccessible, and therefore a hiding Light.

Strength or might, by what was there done it did evidently appear, God who was there could do much more, but it could not appear how much he could do.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span] of his

5 Before him went the pestilence , and burning coals went forth at his feet .

When God was leading the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan, he made the Pestilence to go before him, so preparing room for his people.

Which wasted the inhabitants of Canaan, swept them ou[illegible: 1 letter].

Burning Feavers▪ and other dis[illegible: 1 letter]empers of fiery and destructive Nature, which destroyed the accursed Nations.

As sent, and observing the way he directed.

Kept even pace, or waited on him, were his immediate forerunners: All this mentioned as arguments to prevail for somewhat like these for Israel, and against Israel's enemies. O God, revive some such work amidst us.

Marginal references: Nah. 1.3·; Or, b[illegible: 1 letter]rning diseases.

6 He stood and measured the earth : he beheld , and drove asunder the nations , and the everlasting mountains were scattered , the perpetual hills did bow : his wayes are everlasting .

Gave his presence with Ioshuah, and others, as one that stood by while the work was done.

He divided to them their inheritance, and did this without toil or difficulty, his very presence with his people was enough to make it known what he allotted to them.

The promised Land.

Lookt with a frowning countenance, with anger in his eye.

Cast them out, or caused them to fly, as many did out of that Country, his Eye did this, for he lookt on them, and did this.

The cursed Nations.

Either literally understood, as Nahum 1.5. and may relate to that the Psalmist minds, Psal. 114.4, 6. when the whole Mount, all the Mountainous parts of Sinai tremble, Exod. 19.18. &c. or figuratively, the state of these Nations, seeming as immoveable as Mountains, yet soon shook and dissolved, before the rebuke of the Lord.

An elegant immutation of the phrase, to illustrate and confirm the same thing.

The wisdom, goodness, justice, holiness, faithfulness and power of God, which he sheweth in the methods of his governing his Church and People, are everlasting, they are the same, and where the same circumstances concurr, the same effects of his power may be hoped for; So the Prophet pursueth the argument; They are everlasting loving kindnesses with which he embraceth his Church.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction , and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble .

Not with the eye, but with his mind and understanding in reading the History of Israels Travels.

For the people that dwelt in them.

Some say of Cushan Rishathaim, in Othniels time, and under his victories over them; But I rather think 'tis meant of the Aethiopians, on the confines of Arabia, that Land of Cash, near whose borders Israels march through, and incampings in the Wilderness, had very often lain.

In fear and pain, least that mighty people under the conduct of their General, (famed for Miracles) should as a violent storm fall on them, and dispoil them.

For those that dwelt within them; These people dwelt in Tents, and these made up on the sides with curtains.

People of the Land.

A people sprung from one of Abraham's Sons, by Keturah, who gave his name Midian to the Land, as well as to the people.

Were sore afraid of the armes of Israel, which at last by Gods express direction, were employed against Midian, and cut off five Kings, and destroyed the Country, These terrible things our God, whose wayes are Everlasting, hath done to carry our Fathers from Egypt to Canaan, let him who is our God still revive his work, &c.

Marginal references: Or, Ethiopia.; Or, under affliction, or, vanity.

8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers ? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea , that thou didst ride upon thine horses , and thy chariots of salvation?

The Prophet recalls to memory the miraculous dividing of the Red Sea, and Iordan, when God divided them to make a passage for his people, when by a miracle he made the devouring Element to be a safeguard to his people, when 'twas not displeasure against the Sea or the River, but favour to Israel, that moved him to do this. The Prophet repeats the question to impress the mind of the Captive Iewes, with deeper apprehensions of the Mercy of their God.

See Nahum 1. verse 4. let. d.

The Red Sea.

As a General in the head of his Army, leading them forward on some great exploit.

Alluding to the manner of men, with whom horses are of greatest, strongest and stateliest preparations against an enemy, but these were not designed against the Sea as against an enemy.

But with these Horses are joined (for the decorum of the figure) Chariots, that are Chariots of Salvation for his people; chear up then, the Lord hath the same love and power still.

Marginal references: Or, thy chariots were sa[illegible: 1 letter]vation.

9 Thy bow was made quite naked , according to the oaths of the tribes , even thy word . Selah . Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers .

One part of Armour put for the whole, or else the Lord here is represented as armed, in readiness to smite through all enemies, having his bow in his hand.

The case taken off, that when 'twas to be used, there might be no delay.

In pursuance of his Oath made to our Fathers, he promised, and confirmed the promise by Oath, that he would drive out the Canaanites, and this Oath is here called Oaths, because repeated and renewed at several times, and 'tis Oaths of, i. e. to the Tribes, to raise their hope in their present low condition; Not Abraham here mentioned, lest they should be upbraided with degenerating and losing the right to the Promises; but 'tis Tribes, the right is in them.

Of promise.

Note it well.

When they were to march through a dry and thirsty Land, where no water was, how should they subsist? what good to be defended from perishing by the sword of an enemy, and be left to perish for want of refreshing waters? This then is added to compleat the Mercy, our God made Rivers in the desert for them, and satisfied them with streams out of the flinty Rock.

Marginal references: Or, thou didst cleave the rivers of the earth.

10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled : the overflowing of the water passed by : the deep uttered his voice , and lift up his hands on high .

Litterally taken 'tis an ellegant Hyperbole, expressing to us the glorious effects of Gods power and presence, and thus Sinai, and the contiguous Hills, the whole Mount, Exod. 19.18. are intended, or if you take it figuratively, these are Kings and States, whose Hieroglyphicks in Scripture are Mountains.

Were sensible of, shewed they were affected with his approach and presence.

Were grieved, so 'twill well suit to Mountains Metaphorically taken, it was grief to the Kings and States to see God own, conduct, and prosper Israel, Numb. 22.3. Iosh. 2.9, 10, 11. or trembled, i. e. were shaken as with an Earthquake, Exod. 19.18. and Psal. 68.8. and 114.4.6. so it suits the letter of the Text.

The inundation which at that season was wont to be very great, the mighty floods on Iordan.

Passed away, i. e. at the word of God the waters below flowed, and ran away from those above, which stood on a heap to make a path for Israel.

Either the deep Channel in which Iordan flowed, the very bottom of the River appeared, or the deep, i. e. the Red Sea

with dreadful roaring like a mighty voice, parted its waters; divided, but with great and terrible noise, in this unusual commotion.

Testified its Obedience to the command of God, as by lifting up the hand, one doth at distance signifie his ready complyance with the command, or direction, or hands, i. e. sides: so when the upper waters stood on a heap both in Iordan, and the Red-Sea, they appeared as with sides or flankers unto the Israelites.

Like a Mountain, visible, and conspicuous to all.

Marginal references: Psal. 79.5. Mich. 1.4.

11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation : at the light of thine arrows they went , and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Though he rejoice as a Giant to run his race, and had constantly come out of his chamber to run it about 2500 years past, yet now stops his course, and with his stay puts stop to the motion of Moon and Stars at the command of Gods Minister, and Israels Captain, Ioh. 10.12, 13.

So the Psalmist, Psal. 19.4. speaks of a Pavilion or Tabernacle pitch't for the Sun, where now at Ioshua's word, seconded with the word of Io[illegible: 1 letter]h[illegible: 1 letter]a's and Israel's God, he makes a halt as 'twere, stands at the door of his Tabernacle to behold and forward the strange work, the miraculous overthrow of the five conspiring Kings.

As we read the words they seem somewhat obscure and perplext, yet very intelligible in this paraphrase at the light, according to the light which thine arrows gave by their glittering heads, polisht shafts, and bright Feathers; in their flight thine arrows O God, for these were the arrows of Israel, and thine arrows too, as the sword of Gideon was the sword of the Lord. T[illegible: 1 letter]ey, i. e. Sun and Moon, went, directed their course, and took their way compliant with the flights of these arrows, not hastening to the place of their going down whilest Israel had arrows to shoot, or Enemies that day to discomfit, whilest they were to lift up a spear against any En[illegible: 1 letter]my that day. The Marginal reading of these words is much plainer. Thine arrows walked in the light, (which was miraculously continued) and thy spears walked in the brightness of the lightning, (as I venture for once to read the words from the Hebrew) so dreadful was that day to the Enemy, so joyful to Israel, O let some such day arise on Captive Iews, revive thy works of old, so the Prophet prays.

Marginal references: Or, thine arrows walketh in the light, &c.

12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation ; thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.

Our God,

as the victorious Conquerour leading still thine Armies, the Tribes of Israel,

of Canaan, to subdue the remainders of thine Enemies and theirs, and to give thine Israel possession of the promised Land.

Against them for their sins.

Break to pieces

the Nations devoted to destruction, these were cut in pieces by the sword of Israel.

13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people , even for salvation with thine anointed , thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked , by discovering the foundation unto the [illegible: 1 letter]eck. S[illegible: 1 letter]lah .

Pursuant of his Metaphor the Propher speaks of God as marching on before his people▪ or it may re[illegible: 1 letter]er to the Ark, a token of Gods presence before the people.

To compleat the Salvation beg[illegible: 1 letter]n in bring[illegible: 1 letter]ng them out of Egypt, and carrying them through the Wilderness, and to be f[illegible: 1 letter]nis[illegible: 1 letter]t in se[illegible: 1 letter]ling them in Canaan.

Thy chosen people, the Tribes of thine Inheritance.

'Tis repeated for conf[illegible: 2 letters]mation, and to affect us with the greatness of the mercy;

or for thine anointed, i. e. all Israel, or under the Conduct of thine anointed, Ioshua, Type of the Messiah, by [illegible: 1 letter]hose hand all th[illegible: 1 letter]se great things were done.

Gavest a deadly wound to the Princes, and Kings of Canaan, Enemies to Israel, who were cut off, and their Families utterly destroyed.

Royal Palaces, or antient dwellings, and setled habitations of which slaughter of Canaanitish Kings, Psal. 136. 17, 18, 19.

The Courts of these Kings were houses of greatest wickednesses, for which they were destroyed;

rasing the Foundations of their Power, and destroying all from foot to head.

All which is to be heeded, and well minded.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]

14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages : they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly .

O God,

either meant of the staves or arms of the Canaanitish Kings which they lifted up against Israel, thereby provoking Israel to fight; in which being overcome, they perisht by their own Arms taken from them, or it may be meant of the Weapons of Ioshua, and Israel, called Staves, for that they were Arrows and Spears, which are armed Staves, or it might be translated Tribes; so with the Tribes of Israel, the Tribes of Gods anointed, or by them were these Canaanites destroyed.

All the Cities, and all the unwalled Towns; for so Israel destroyed the Daughters with the Mothers; i. e. the Villages with the Cities.

The Inhabitants of Canaan, but particularly the five Kings, ver. 11. let. f. of whose conspiracy you read Iosh. 10. which see.

With violence invading every side; a Tempest made up of contrary Winds and Exhalations, moving as violently as irregularly

to disperse and drive away from the Earth.

The joy they took was such as is the joy of men, who take the spoil of Enemies, and come to feast, not fight.

They dreamt of nothing else but eating up Gods people as they would eat bread.

Helpless and Friendless as they seemed to be, poor Israel.

Either by secret Conspiracy, or by secret execution of the Plot they laid against Israel.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses o through the heap p of great waters .

O God▪ or thou O Israel, notwithstanding all Plots and Opposition.

Heldest on thy way, and walkedst from thy entring on the East of the Land, to the West thereof; from Bethel, Iordan, and Iericho on the East where they entred the Land that lay within Iordan.

Rather to, (as I. Tr. and Gr[illegible: 1 letter].) the most Western parts of all the Land God gave, they took possession from East to West, to the great Sea. The Western Sea, the mightiest Sea the Iews of that time knew, called here by way of Eminency the heap of great Waters.

Called Ezek. 47.10, 15, 19, 20. the great Sea, as Iosh. 9.1. so was fulfilled what was promised, and they took possession of that was estated on them, Iosh. 1.3, 4. I rather refer this 15th verse in this manner, then with most Interpreters to the Red Sea, which is to me a repetition unseemly for so short and elegant an enumeration of Gods wonderful deliverances, and blessings to Israel, from their leaving Egypt, to their setling in Canaan.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

16 When I heard , my belly trembled : my lips quivered at the voice : rottenness entred into my bones , and I trembled in my self , that I might rest in the day of trouble : when he cometh up unto the people , he will invade them with his troops .

What dreadful desolations God threatned against Israel, chap. 1. ver. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. for of those he now speaketh of and meditateth on, having finisht his elegant description of Gods wonderful works of mercy toward Israel of old, and lest them as a Foundation of comfort and hope.

Or Heart, or Bowels, or inward parts, Prov. 20.27.

An other effect and sign of surprising fears and astonishment

at the meer report.

A Consumption, and decay of all my strength; a languishing of my Spirits, and a declining of my vigour, a very usual effect of great fears.

I was all shaken, as with an Earthquake, no part was free or unshaken.

These fears awakened my remembrance of that God, and those wonders which I have recounted, these fears have occasioned my search into this Mystery of Providence, that understanding it, I might, as I do, betake my self to God, and his Covenanted Mercies, that I may rest in him who will make it g[illegible: 2 letters] well with the Righteous, even with those righteous who shall live to see, and feel the troubles of those days.

The King of Babylon, with all his bitter and cruel Nations bent on violence and rapine.

Against the Iews, my people, saith the Prophet

with mighty force, and cut in pieces, make most bloody work among them.

With numerous Armies and spoil in Troops, where what one leaves, another will take; where none escape the fury of some or other in the Troops, see this accomplisht 2 Kings, chap. 25.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

17 Although the fig-tree shall not blossom , neither shall fruit be in the vines , the labour of the olive shall fail ? and the fields shall yield no meat , the flock shall be cut off from the fold , and there shall be no heard in the stall.

To War foreseen the Prophet suppose[illegible: 1 letter]h Famine, and describeth the most grievous, as indeed it fell out.

Which was in that Country a very considerable part of their Provision to live upon;

Not give the least sign of bringing forth fruit,

which were also the Riches, and Provision of those Countreys,

Either labour bestowed upon the Olive, or the Fruit which the Olive brings forth, called here labour by an allusion to our labour.

Disappoint the expectation of both dresser and eater,

ploughed and sown

Corn for Bread.

Of Sheep kept out in the field.

Either by Wolf, Murrain, or by the wasting Babylonians,

where they were wont to be safe; now are in greatest danger, and that because they may be swept away all at once.

Greater Cattel kept in the stall for labour, or for feeding.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. lit.

18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD : I will joy in the God of my salvation .

As for my part, I will, saith the Prophet

look for joy, expect matter of rejoicing in the Lord,

who will preserve a remnant and redeem them, who will rebuke Babylon, and will very strangely destroy it.

The Prophet renews his own Faith, and confirms curs.

All shall end in Salvation to him, and Believers.

19 The Lord GOD is my strength , and he will make my feet like hinds feet , and he will make me to walk upon mine high places . To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

The Prophet had in his own, and in the name of all the Godly, made a full profession of his Faith, and resolution to behave himself with joy in midst of troubles, ver. 17.18. now he gives us account on what ground he speaks so, 'tis not in his own strength, he can do it, but it is because the Lord God is his strength.

That I may escape to God my refuge, to that safe Mountain of Salvation, that I may at last [illegible: 1 letter]ly from Babylon to Iudea, to Ierusalem.

To my Native Country, to my Beloved City, and thy more Beloved Temple which were built like high places to that Munition of Rocks, &c. Deut. 32. 13. Isa. 33.16. My God will return my Captivity, and when I am set at Liberty as I shall be by Cyrus, my God will be my strength, that as a hind let loose, I may hasten to the Mountains of Israel.

Let this be kept on record for publick use, this be pattern for others as well as 'tis declaration of my Faith, Hope, Desire, and Prayer.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 22.24. Psal. 18.33.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word]

Hab 3:1

The song has a special heading, after the fashion of the psalms, in which the contents, the author, and the poetical character of the ode are indicated. The contents are called tephillâh, a prayer, like Psa 17:1-15; 86; 90; 102, and Psa 142:1-7, not merely with reference to the fact that it commences with a prayer to God, but because that prayer announces the contents of the ode after the manner of a theme, and the whole of the ode is simply the lyrical unfolding of that prayer. In order, however, to point at the same time to the prophetic character of the prayer, that it may not be regarded as a lyrical effusion of the subjective emotions, wishes, and hopes of a member of the congregation, but may be recognised as a production of the prophets, enlightened by the Spirit of Jehovah, the name of the author is given with the predicate “the prophet;” and to this there is added על שׁגינות, to indicate the poetico-subjective character, through which it is distinguished from prophecy in the narrower sense. The expression “upon Shigionoth” cannot refer to the contents or the object of the ode; for although shiggâyōn, according to its etymon shâgâh = shâgag, to transgress by mistake, to sin, might have the meaning transgression in a moral sense, and consequently might be referred to the sins of transgressors, either of the Judaeans or the Chaldaeans, such an assumption is opposed both to the use of shiggâyōn in the heading to Psalm 7, and also to the analogy between ‛al shigyōnōth, and such headings to the psalms as ‛al haggittı̄th, ‛al negı̄nōth, and other words introduced with ‛al. Whilst shiggâyōn in Psa 7:1 indicates the style of poetry in which the psalm is composed, all the notices in the headings to the psalms that are introduced with ‛al refer either to the melody or style in which the psalms are to be sung, or to the musical accompaniment with which they are to be introduced into the worship of God. This musico-liturgical signification is to be retained here also, since it is evident from the subscription in Hab 3:19, and the repetition of Selah three times (Hab 3:3, Hab 3:9, Hab 3:13), that our hymn was to be used with musical accompaniment. Now, as shâgâh, to err, then to reel to and fro, is applied to the giddiness both of intoxication and of love (Isa 28:7; Pro 20:1; Pro 5:20), shiggâyōn signifies reeling, and in the terminology of poetry a reeling song, i.e., a song delivered in the greatest excitement, or with a rapid change of emotion, dithyrambus (see Clauss on Psa 7:1; Ewald, Delitzsch, and others); hence על שׁגינות, after dithyrambs, or “after the manner of a stormy, martial, and triumphal ode” (Schmieder).

Hab 3:2 “Jehovah, I have heard Thy tidings, am alarmed. Jehovah, Thy work, in the midst of the years call it to life, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” שׁמעך is the tidings (ἀκοή) of God; what the prophet has heard of God, i.e., the tidings of the judgment which God is about to inflict upon Judah through the Chaldaeans, and after that upon the Chaldaeans themselves. The prophet is alarmed at this. The word יראתי (I am alarmed) does not compel us to take what is heard as referring merely to the judgment to be inflicted upon Judah by the Chaldaeans. Even in the overthrow of the mighty Chaldaean, or of the empire of the world, the omnipotence of Jehovah is displayed in so terrible a manner, that this judgment not only inspires with joy at the destruction of the foe, but fills with alarm at the omnipotence of the Judge of the world. The prayer which follows, “Call Thy work to life,” also refers to this twofold judgment which God revealed to the prophet in ch. 1 and 2. פּעלך, placed absolutely at the head for the sake of emphasis, points back to the work (pō‛al) which God was about to do (Hab 1:5); but this work of God is not limited to the raising up of the Chaldaean nation, but includes the judgment which will fall upon the Chaldaean after he has offended (Hab 1:11). This assumption is not at variance even with חיּיהוּ. For the opinion that חיּה never means to call a non-existent thing to life, but always signifies either to give life to an inorganic object (Job 33:4), or to keep a living thing alive, or (and this most frequently) to restore a dead thing to life, and that here the word must be taken in the sense of restoring to life, because in the description which follows Habakkuk looks back to Psalm 77 and the pō‛al depicted there, viz., the deliverance out of Egyptian bondage, is not correct. חיּה does not merely mean to restore to life and keep alive, but also to give life and call to life. In Job 33:4, where תּחיּני is parallel to עשׂתני, the reference is not to the impartation of life to an inorganic object, but to the giving of life in the sense of creating; and so also in Gen 7:3 and Gen 19:32, חיּה זרע means to call seed to life, or raise it up, i.e., to call a non-existent thing to life. Moreover, the resemblances in the theophany depicted in what follows to Psalm 77 do not require the assumption that Habakkuk is praying for the renewal of the former acts of God for the redemption of His people, but may be fully explained on the ground that the saving acts of God on behalf of His people are essentially the same in all ages, and that the prophets generally were accustomed to describe the divine revelations of the future under the form of imagery drawn from the acts of God in the past. There is special emphasis in the use of בּקרב שׁנים twice, and the fact that in both instances it stands at the head. It has been interpreted in very different ways; but there is an evident allusion to the divine answer in Hab 2:3, that the oracle is for an appointed time, etc. “In the midst of the years,” or within years, cannot of course mean by itself “within a certain number, or a small number, of years,” or “within a brief space of time” (Ges., Ros., and Maurer); nevertheless this explanation is founded upon a correct idea of the meaning. When the prophet directs his eye to the still remote object of the oracle (ch. 2), the fulfilment of which was to be delayed, but yet assuredly to come at last (Hab 2:3), the interval between the present time and the mō‛ēd appointed by God (Hab 2:3) appears to him as a long series of years, at the end only of which the judgment is to come upon the oppressors of His people, namely the Chaldaeans. He therefore prays that the Lord will not delay too long the work which He designs to do, or cause it to come to life only at the end of the appointed interval, but will bring it to life within years, i.e., within the years, which would pass by if the fulfilment were delayed, before that mō‛ēd arrived.

Grammatically considered, qerebh shânı̄m cannot be the centre of the years of the world, the boundary-line between the Old and New Testament aeons, as Bengel supposes, who takes it at the same time, according to this explanation, as the starting-point for a chronological calculation of the whole course of the world. Moreover, it may also be justly argued, in opposition to this view and application of the words, that it cannot be presupposed that the prophets had so clear a consciousness as this, embracing all history by its calculus; and still less can be expect to find in a lyrical ode, which is the outpouring of the heart of the congregation, a revelation of what God Himself had not revealed to him according to Hab 2:3. Nevertheless the view which lies at the foundation of this application of our passage, viz., that the work of God, for the manifestation of which the prophet is praying, falls in the centre of the years of the world, has this deep truth, that it exhibits the overthrow not only of the imperial power of Chaldaea, but that of the world-power generally, and the deliverance of the nation from its power, and forms the turning-point, with which the old aeon closes and the new epoch of the world commences, with the completion of which the whole of the earthly development of the universe will reach its close. The repetition of בּקרב שׁנים is expressive of the earnest longing with which the congregation of the Lord looks for the tribulation to end. The object to תּודיע, which is to be taken in an optative sense, answering to the imperative in the parallel clause, may easily be supplied from the previous clause. To the prayer for the shortening of the period of suffering there is appended, without the copula Vav, the further prayer, in wrath to remember mercy. The wrath (rōgez, like râgaz in Isa 28:21 and Pro 29:9) in which God is to remember mercy, namely for His people Israel, can only be wrath over Israel, not merely the wrath manifested in the chastisement of Judah through the Chaldaeans, but also the wrath displayed in the overthrow of the Chaldaeans. In the former case God would show mercy by softening the cruelty of the Chaldaeans; in the latter, by accelerating their overthrow, and putting a speedy end to their tyranny. This prayer is followed in Hab 3:3-15 by a description of the work of God which is to be called to life, in which the prophet expresses confidence that his petition will be granted.

Hab 3:3-15 Coming of the Lord to judge the nations and to redeem His people. The description of this theophany rests throughout upon earlier lyrical descriptions of the revelations of God in the earlier times of Israel. Even the introduction (Hab 3:3) has its roots in the song of Moses in Deu 33:2; and in the further course of the ode we meet with various echoes of different psalms (compare Hab 3:6 with Psa 18:8; Hab 3:8 with Psa 18:10; Hab 3:19 with Psa 18:33-34; also Hab 3:5 with Psa 68:25; Hab 3:8 with Psa 68:5, Psa 68:34). The points of contact in Hab 3:10-15 with Ps. 77:17-21, are still more marked, and are of such a kind that Habakkuk evidently had the psalm in his mind, and not the writer of the psalm the hymn of the prophet, and that the prophet has reproduced in an original manner such features of the psalm as were adapted to his purpose. This is not only generally favoured by the fact that Habakkuk’s prayer is composed throughout after the poetry of the Psalms, but still more decidedly by the circumstance that Habakkuk depicts a coming redemption under figures borrowed from that of the past, to which the singer of this psalm looks back from his own mournful times, comforting himself with the picture of the miraculous deliverance of his people out of Egypt (see Hengstenberg and Delitzsch on Psalm 77). For it is very evident that Habakkuk does not describe the mighty acts of the Lord in the olden time, in order to assign a motive for his prayer for the deliverance of Israel out of the affliction of exile which awaits it in the future, as many of the earlier commentators supposed, but that he is predicting a future appearance of the Lord to judge the nations, from the simple fact that he places the future יבוא (Hab 3:3) at the head of the whole description, so as to determine all that follows; whilst it is placed beyond the reach of doubt by the impossibility of interpreting the theophany historically, i.e., as relating to an earlier manifestation of God. Hab 3:3 “Eloah comes from Teman, and the Holy One from the mountains of Paran. Selah. His splendour covers the sky, and the earth is full of His glory. Hab 3:4. And brightness appears like sunlight, rays are at His hand, and there His power is concealed. Hab 3:5. Before Him goes the plague, and pestilence follows His feet.” As the Lord God once came down to His people at Sinai, when they had been redeemed out of Egypt, to establish the covenant of His grace with them, and make them into a kingdom of God, so will He appear in the time to come in the terrible glory of His omnipotence, to liberate them from the bondage of the power of the world, and dash to pieces the wicked who seek to destroy the poor. The introduction to this description is closely connected with Deu 33:2. As Moses depicts the appearance of the Lord at Sinai as a light shining from Seir and Paran, so does Habakkuk also make the Holy One appears thence in His glory; but apart from other differences, he changes the preterite בּא (Jehovah came from Sinai) into the future יבוא, He will come, or comes, to indicate at the very outset that he is about to describe not a past, but a future revelation of the glory of the Lord. This he sees in the form of a theophany, which is fulfilled before his mental eye; hence יבוא does not describe what is future, as being absolutely so, but is something progressively unfolding itself from the present onwards, which we should express by the present tense. The coming one is called Eloah (not Jehovah, as in Deu 33:2, and the imitation in Jdg 5:4), a form of the name Elohim which only occurs in poetry in the earlier Hebrew writings, which we find for the first time in Deu 32:15, where it is used of God as the Creator of Israel, and which is also used here to designate God as the Lord and Governor of the whole world. Eloah, however, comes as the Holy One (qâdōsh), who cannot tolerate sin (Hab 1:13), and who will judge the world and destroy the sinners (Hab 3:12-14). As Eloah and Qâdōsh are names of one God; so “from Teman” and “from the mountain of Paran” are expressions denoting, not two starting-points, but simply two localities of one single starting-point for His appearance, like Seir and the mountains of Paran in Deu 33:2. Instead of Seir, the poetical name of the mountainous country of the Edomites, Teman, the southern district of Edomitish land, is used per synecdochen for Idumaea generally, as in Oba 1:9 and Amo 1:12 (see p. 168). The mountains of Paran are not the Et-Tih mountains, which bounded the desert of Paran towards the south, but the high mountain-land which formed the eastern half of that desert, and the northern portion of which is now called, after its present inhabitants, the mountains of the Azazimeh (see comm. on Num 10:12). The two localities lie opposite to one another, and are only separated by the Arabah (or deep valley of the Ghor). We are not to understand the naming of these two, however, as suggesting the idea that God was coming from the Arabah, but, according to the original passage in Deu 33:2, as indicating that the splendour of the divine appearance spread over Teman and the mountains of Paran, so that the rays were reflected from the two mountainous regions. The word Selâh does not form part of the subject-matter of the text, but shows that the music strikes in here when the song is used in the temple, taking up the lofty thought that God is coming, and carrying it out in a manner befitting the majestic appearance, in the prospect of the speedy help of the Lord. The word probably signified elevatio, from sâlâh = sâlal, and was intended to indicate the strengthening of the musical accompaniment, by the introduction, as is supposed, of a blast from the trumpets blown by the priests, corresponding therefore to the musical forte. (For further remarks, see Hävernick’s Introduction to the Old Testament, iii. p. 120ff., and Delitzsch on Psa 3:1-8.) In Hab 3:3 the glory of the coming of God is depicted with reference to its extent, and in Hab 3:4 with reference to its intensive power. The whole creation is covered with its splendour. Heaven and earth reflect the glory of the coming one. הודו, His splendour or majesty, spreads over the whole heaven, and His glory over the earth. Tehillâh does not mean the praise of the earth, i.e., of its inhabitants, where (Chald., Ab. Ezr., Ros., and others); for there is no allusion to the manner in which the coming of God is received, and according to Hab 3:6 it fills the earth with trembling; but it denotes the object of the praise or fame, the glory, ἡ δόξα, like hâdâr in Job 40:10, or kâbhōd in Isa 6:3; Isa 42:8, and Num 14:21. Grammatically considered, תּהלּתו is the accusative governed by מלאה, and הארץ is the subject.

Hab 3:16-17

Hab 3:16-19 form the second part of the psalm, in which the prophet describes the feelings that are produced within himself by the coming of the Lord to judge the nations, and to rescue His own people; viz., first of all, fear and trembling at the tribulation (Hab 3:16, Hab 3:17); then exulting joy, in his confident trust in the God of salvation (Hab 3:18, Hab 3:19). Hab 3:16. “I heard it, then my belly trembled, at the sound my lips yelled; rottenness forces itself into my bones, and I tremble under myself, that I am to wait quietly for the day of tribulation, when he that attacketh it approacheth the nation. Hab 3:17. For the fig-tree will not blossom, and there is no yield on the vines; the produce of the olive-tree disappoints, and the corn-fields bear no food; the flock is away from the fold, and no ox in the stalls.” שׁמעתּי is not connected with the theophany depicted in Hab 3:3-15, since this was not an audible phenomenon, but was an object of inward vision, “a spectacle which presented itself to the eye.” “I heard” corresponds to “I have heard” in Hab 3:2, and, like the latter, refers to the report heard from God of the approaching judgment. This address goes back to its starting-point, to explain the impression which it made upon the prophet, and to develop still how he “was afraid.” The alarm pervades his whole body, belly, and bones, i.e., the softer and firmer component parts of the body; lips and feet, i.e., the upper and lower organs of the body. The lips cried leqōl, at the voice, the sound of God, which the prophet heard. Tsâlal is used elsewhere only of the ringing of the ears (1Sa 3:11; 2Ki 21:12; Jer 19:3); but here it is applied to the chattering sound produced by the lips, when they smite one another before crying out, not to the chattering of the teeth. Into the bones there penetrates râqâbh, rottenness, inward consumption of the bones, as an effect of alarm or pain, which paralyzes all the powers, and takes away all firmness from the body (cf. Pro 12:4; Pro 14:30). Tachtai, under me, i.e., in my lower members, knees, feet: not as in Exo 16:29; 2Sa 2:23, on the spot where I stand (cf. Ewald, §217, k). אשׁר אנוּח might mean, “I who was to rest;” but it is more appropriate to take 'ăsher as a relative conjunction, “that I,” since the clause explains the great fear that had fallen upon him. אשׁר is used in a similar way viz., as a conjunction with the verb in the first person, in Ezek. 29:29. Nūăch, to rest, not to rest in the grave (Luther and others), nor to bear quietly or endure (Ges., Maurer), but to wait quietly or silently. For it could hardly occasion such consuming pain to a God-fearing man as that which the prophet experienced, to bear misfortune quietly, when it has already come, and cannot be averted; but it might be to wait quietly and silently, in constant anticipation. Tsârâh, the trouble which the Chaldaeans bring upon Judah. לעלות is not subordinate to ליום צרה, but co-ordinate with it, and is still dependent upon אנוּח; and יגוּדנּוּ, as a relative clause (who oppresses it), is the subject to לעלות: “that I am to wait quietly for him that attacketh to approach my nation.” For if לעלוי were dependent upon ליום, it would be necessary to supply יום as the subject: “when it (the day) comes.” But this is precluded by the fact that עלה is not used for the approach or breaking of day. לעם, to the people, dativ. incomm., is practically equivalent to על עם, against the people. עם, used absolutely, as in Isa 26:11; Isa 42:6, is the nation of Israel. Gūd, as in Gen 49:19-20, i.e., gâdad, to press upon a person, to attack him, or crowd together against him (cf. Psa 94:21). In Hab 3:17 the trouble of this day is described; and the sensation of pain, in the anticipation of the period of calamity, is thereby still further accounted for. The plantations and fields yield no produce. Folds and stalls are empty in consequence of the devastation of the land by the hostile troops and their depredations: “a prophetic picture of the devastation of the holy land by the Chaldaean war” (Delitzsch). Fig-tree and vine are mentioned as the noblest fruit-trees of the land, as is frequently the case (see Joe 1:7; Hos 2:14; Mic 4:4). To this there is added the olive-tree, as in Mic 6:15; Deu 6:11; Deu 8:8, etc. Ma‛asēh zayith is not the shoot, but the produce or fruit of the olive-tree, after the phrase עשׂה פרי, to bear fruit. Kichēsh, to disappoint, namely the expectation of produce, as in Hos 9:2. Shedēmôth, which only occurs in the plural, corn-fields, is construed here as in Isa 16:8, with the verb in the singular, because, so far as the sense was concerned, it had become almost equivalent to sâdeh, the field (see Ewald, §318, a). Gâzar, to cut off, used here in a neuter sense: to be cut off or absent. מכלה, contracted from מכלאה: fold, pen, an enclosed place for sheep. Repheth, ἁπ. λεγ., the rack, then the stable or stall.

Hab 3:18-19

Although trembling on account of the approaching trouble, the prophet will nevertheless exult in the prospect of the salvation that he foresees. Hab 3:18. “But I, in Jehovah will I rejoice, will shout in the God of my salvation. Hab 3:19. Jehovah the Lord is my strength, and makes my feet like the hinds, and causes me to walk along upon my high places.” The turning-point is introduced with ואני ht, as is frequently the case in the Psalms. For this exaltation out of the sufferings of this life to believing joy in God, compare Psa 5:8; Psa 13:6; Psa 31:15, etc. עלז, a softened form of עלץ, to rejoice in God (cf. Psa 5:12), i.e., so that God is the inexhaustible source and infinite sphere of the joy, because He is the God of salvation, and rises up to judgment upon the nations, to procure the salvation of His people (Hab 3:13). Elōhē yish‛ı̄ (the God of my salvation), as in Psa 18:47; Psa 25:5 (see at Mic 7:7). The thoughts of the 19th verse are also formed from reminiscences of Psalm 18: the first clause, “the Lord is my strength,” from Psa 18:33. “God, who girdeth me with strength,” i.e., the Lord gives me strength to overcome all tribulation (cf. Psa 27:1 and 2Co 12:9). The next two clauses are from Psa 18:34, “He maketh my feet like hinds',” according to the contracted simile common in Hebrew for “hinds’ feet;” and the reference is to the swiftness of foot, which was one of the qualifications of a thorough man of war (2Sa 1:23; 1Ch 12:8), so as to enable him to make a sudden attack upon the enemy, and pursue him vigorously. Here it is a figurative expression for the fresh and joyous strength acquired in God, which Isaiah calls rising up with eagles’ wings (Isa 40:29-31). Causing to walk upon the high places of the land, was originally a figure denoting the victorious possession and government of a land. It is so in Deu 32:13 and Deu 33:29, from which David has taken the figure in Psalm 18, though he has altered the high places of the earth into “my high places” (bâmōthai). They were the high places upon which the Lord had placed him, by giving him the victory over his enemies. And Habakkuk uses the figurative expression in the same sense, with the simple change of יעמידני into ידרכני after Deu 33:29, to substitute for the bestowment of victory the maintenance of victory corresponding to the blessing of Moses. We have therefore to understand bâmōthai neither as signifying the high places of the enemy, nor the high places at home, nor high places generally. The figure must be taken as a whole; and according to this, it simply denotes the ultimate triumph of the people of God over all oppression on the part of the power of the world, altogether apart from the local standing which the kingdom of God will have upon the earth, either by the side of or in antagonism to the kingdom of the world. The prophet prays and speaks throughout the entire ode in the name of the believing congregation. His pain is their pain; his joy their joy. Accordingly he closes his ode by appropriating to himself and all believers the promise which the Lord has given to His people and to David His anointed servant, to express the confident assurance that the God of salvation will keep it, and fulfil it in the approaching attack on the part of the power of the world upon the nation which has been refined by the judgment.

The last words, למנצּח בּנגינותי, do not form part of the contents of the supplicatory ode, but are a subscription answering to the heading in Hab 3:1, and refer to the use of the ode in the worship of God, and simply differ from the headings למנצּח בּנגינות in Psa 4:1-8; Psa 6:1-10; 54:1-55:23; Psa 67:1-7, and Psa 76:1-12, through the use of the suffix in בּנגינותי. Through the words, “to the president (of the temple-music, or the conductor) in accompaniment of my stringed playing,” the prophet appoints his psalm for use in the public worship of God accompanied by his stringed playing. Hitzig’s rendering is grammatically false, “to the conductor of my pieces of music;” for ב cannot be used as a periphrasis for the genitive, but when connected with a musical expression, only means with or in the accompaniment of (ה instrumenti or concomitantiae). Moreover, נגינות does not mean pieces of music, but simply a song, and the playing upon stringed instruments, or the stringed instrument itself (see at Psa 4:1-8). The first of these renderings gives no suitable sense here, so that there only remains the second, viz., “playing upon stringed instruments.” But if the prophet, by using this formula, stipulates that the ode is to be used in the temple, accompanied by stringed instruments, the expression bingı̄nōthai, with my stringed playing, affirms that he himself will accompany it with his own playing, from which it has been justly inferred that he was qualified, according to the arrangements of the Israelitish worship, to take part in the public performance of such pieces of music as were suited for public worship, and therefore belonged to the Levites who were entrusted with the conduct of the musical performance of the temple.

The Prophet's Prayer. (b. c. 600.)

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 O Lord , I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord , revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

This chapter is entitled a prayer of Habakkuk. It is a meditation with himself, an intercession for the church. Prophets were praying men; this prophet was so (He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, Gen. xx. 7); and sometimes they prayed for even those whom they prophesied against. Those that were intimately acquainted with the mind of God concerning future events knew better than others how to order their prayers, and what to pray for, and, in the foresight of troublous times, could lay up a stock of prayers that might then receive a gracious answer, and so be serving the church by their prayers when their prophesying was over. This prophet had found God ready to answer his requests and complaints before, and therefore now repeats his applications to him. Because God has inclined his ear to us, we must resolve that therefore we will call upon him as long as we live. 1. The prophet owns the receipt of God's answer to his former representation, and the impression it made upon him (v. 2): "O Lord! I have heard thy speech, thy hearing" (so some read it), "that which thou wouldst have us hear, the decree that has gone forth for the afflicting of thy people. I received thine, and it is before me." Note, Those that would rightly order their speech to God must carefully observe, and lay before them, his speech to them. He had said (ch. ii. 1), I will watch to see what he will say; and now he owns, Lord, I have heard thy speech; for, if we turn a deaf ear to God's word, we can expect no other than that he should turn a deaf ear to our prayers, Prov. xxviii. 9. I heard it, and was afraid. Messages immediately from heaven commonly struck even the best and boldest men into a consternation; Moses, Isaiah, and Daniel, did exceedingly fear and quake. But, besides that, the matter of this message made the prophet afraid, when he heard how low the people of God should be brought, under the oppressing power of the Chaldeans, and how long they should continue under it; he was afraid lest their spirits should quite fail, and lest the church should be utterly rooted out and run down, and, being kept low so long, should be lost at length. 2. He earnestly prays that for the elect's sake these days of trouble might be shortened, or the trouble of these days mitigated and moderated, or the people of God supported and comforted under it. He thinks it very long to wait till the end of the years; perhaps he refers to the seventy years fixed for the continuance of the captivity, and therefore, "Lord," says he, "do something on our behalf in the midst of the years, those years of our distress; though we be not delivered, and our oppressors destroyed, yet let us not be abandoned and cast off." (1.) "Do something for thy own cause: Revive thy work, thy church" (that is the work of God's own hand, formed by him, formed for him); "revive that, even when it walks in the midst of trouble, Ps. cxxxviii. 7, 8. Grant thy people a little reviving in their bondage, Ezra ix. 8; Ps. lxxxv. 6. Preserve alive thy work" (so some read it); "though thy church be chastened, let it not be killed; though it have not its liberty, yet continue its life, save a remnant alive, to be a seed of another generation. Revive the work of thy grace in us, by sanctifying the trouble to us and supporting us under it, though the time be not yet come, even the set time, for our deliverance out of it. Whatever becomes of us, though we be as dead and dry bones, Lord, let thy work be revived, let not that sink, and go back, and come to nothing." (2.) "Do something for thy own honour: In the midst of the years make known, make thyself known, for now verily thou art a God that hidest thyself (Isa. xlv. 15), make known thy power, thy pity, thy promise, thy providence, in the government of the world, for the safety and welfare of thy church. Though we be buried in obscurity, yet, Lord, make thyself known; whatever becomes of Israel, let not the God of Israel be forgotten in the world, but discover himself even in the midst of the dark years, before thou art expected to appear." When in the midst of the years of the captivity God miraculously owned the three children in the fiery furnace, and humbled Nebuchadnezzar, this prayer was answered, In the midst of the years make known. (3.) "Do something for thy people's comfort: In wrath remember mercy, and make that known. Show us thy mercy, O Lord!" Ps. lxxxv. 7. They see God's displeasure against them in their troubles, and that makes them grievous indeed. There is wrath in the bitter cup; that therefore they deprecate, and are earnest in begging that he is a merciful God and they are vessels of his mercy. Note, Even those that are under the tokens of God's wrath must not despair of his mercy; and mercy, mere mercy, is that which we must flee to for refuge, and rely upon as our only plea. He does not say, Remember our merit, but, Lord, remember thy own mercy.

The Divine Majesty; Wonders Wrought for Israel. (b. c. 600.)

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. 6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. 12 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 13 Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. 14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. 15 Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.

It has been the usual practice of God's people, when they have been in distress and ready to fall into despair, to help themselves by recollecting their experiences, and reviving them, considering the days of old, and the years of ancient times (Ps. lxxvii. 5), and pleading with God in prayer, as he is pleased sometimes to plead them with himself. Isa. lxiii. 11, Then he remembered the days of old. This is that which the prophet does here, and he looks as far back as the first forming of them into a people, when they were brought by miracles out of Egypt, a house of bondage, through the wilderness, a land of drought, into Canaan, then possessed by mighty nations. He that thus brought them at first into Canaan, through so much difficulty, can now bring them thither again out of Babylon, how great soever the difficulties are that lie in the way. Those works of wonder, wrought of old, are here most magnificently described, for the greater encouragement to the faith of God's people in their present straits.

I. God appeared in his glory, so as he never did before or since (v. 3, 4): He came from Teman, even the Holy One from Mount Paran. This refers to the visible display of the glory of God when he gave the law upon Mount Sinai, as appears by Deut. xxxiii. 2 whence these expressions are borrowed. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai in a cloud (Exod. xix. 20) and his glory was as the devouring fire, not only to enforce the law he then gave them, but to avow the deliverance he had wrought for them and to magnify it; for the first word he said there was, "I am the Lord thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt. I that appear in this glory am the author of that work." Then his glory covered the heavens, which shone with the reflection of that glorious appearance of his; the earth also was full of his praise, or of his splendour, as some read it. People at a distance saw the cloud and fire on the top of Mount Sinai, and praised the God of Israel. Or the earth was full of those works of God which were to be praised. His brightness was as the light, as the light of the sun when he goes forth in his strength; he had horns, or bright beams (so it should be rendered), coming out of his side or hand. Rays of glory were darted forth around him; and with some rays borrowed thence it was that Moses's face shone when he came down from that mount of glory. Some by the horns, the two horns (for the word is dual), coming out of his hand, understand the two tables of the law, which perhaps, when God delivered them to Moses, though they were tables of stone, had a glory round them; those books were gilt with beams, and so it agrees with Deut. xxxiii. 2, From his right hand went a fiery law for them. It is added, And there was the hiding of his power; there was his hidden power, in the rays that came out of his hand. The operations of his power, compared with what he could have done, were rather the hiding of it than the discovery of it; the secrets of his power, as well as of his wisdom, are double to that which is, Job xi. 6.

II. God sent plagues on Egypt, for the humbling of proud Pharaoh, and the obliging of him to let the people go (v. 5): Before him went the pestilence, which slew all the first-born of Egypt in one night; and burning coals went forth at his feet, when, in the plague of hail, there was fire mingled with hail—burning diseases (so the margin reads it), some think those that wasted Egypt, others those with which the number of the Canaanites was diminished before Israel was brought in up on them. These were at his feet, that is, at his coming, for they are at his command; he says to them, Go, and they go, Come, and they come, Do this, and they do it.

III. He divided the land of Canaan to his people Israel, and expelled the heathen from before them (v. 6): He stood, and measured the earth, measured that land, to assign it for an inheritance to Israel his people, Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. He beheld, and drove asunder the nations that were in possession of it; though they combined together against Israel, God dispersed and discomfited them before Israel. Or he exerted such a mighty power as was enough to shake in pieces all the nations of the earth. Then the everlasting mountains were scattered, and the perpetual hills did bow; the mighty princes and potentates of Canaan, that seemed as high, as strong, and as firmly fixed, as the mountains and hills, were broken to pieces; they and their kingdoms were totally subdued. Or the power of God was so exerted as to shake the mountains and hills; nay, and Sinai did tremble, and the adjacent hills; see Ps. lxviii. 7, 8. To this he adds, His ways are everlasting, that is, all the motions of his providence are according to his eternal counsels; and he is the same for ever, that which he was yesterday and to-day. His covenant is unchangeable, and his mercy endures for ever. When he drove asunder the nations of Canaan one might have seen the tents of Cushan in affliction, the curtains of the land of Midian trembling, and all the inhabitants of the neighbouring countries taking the alarm; and though they were not in the commission given to Israel to destroy, nor their land within the warrant given to Israel to possess, yet they thought their own house in danger when their neighbour's house was on fire, and therefore they were in a great fright, v. 7. Balak the king of Moab was so, Num. xxii. 3, 4. Some make the tents of Cushan to be in affliction when, in the days of judge Othniel, God delivered Cushan-rishathaim into his hand (Judg. iii. 8), and the curtains of the land of Midian to tremble when, in the days of judge Gideon, a barley cake, in a dream, overthrew the tent of Midian, Judg. vii. 13.

IV. He divided the Red Sea and Jordan, when they stood in the way of Israel's progress, and yet fetched a river out of a rock when Israel wanted it, v. 8. One would have thought that God was displeased with the rivers, and that his wrath was against the sea, for he made them give way and flee before him when he rode upon his horses and chariots of salvation, as a general at the head of his forces, mighty to save. Note, God's chariots are not so much chariots of state to himself as chariots of salvation to his people; it is his glory to be Israel's Saviour. This seems to be referred to again (v. 15): "Thou didst walk through the sea, through the Red Sea, with thy horses, in the pillar of cloud and fire (that was his chariot drawn by angels); thus thou didst walk secure, and so as to accommodate thyself to the slow pace that Israel could go, as Jacob tenderly drove, in consideration of his children and cattle: Thou didst walk through the heap, or mud, of great waters; and Israel likewise was led through the deep as a horse through the wilderness," Isa. lxiii. 13, 14. When they came to enter Canaan the overflowing of the water passed by, that is, Jordan, which at that time overflowed all his banks, was divided, Jos. iii. 15. Note, When the difficulties in the way of perfecting the salvation of Israel seem most insuperable, when they rise to the height, and overflow, yet then God can put them by, break through them, and get over them. Then the deep uttered his voice, when, the Red Sea and Jordan being divided, the waters roared and made a noise, as if they were sensible of the restraint they were under from proceeding in their natural course, and complained of it. They lifted up their hands, or sides, on high (for the waters stood up on a heap, Jos. iii. 16), as if they would have made opposition to the orders given them. They lifted up their voice, lifted up their waves; but in vain. The Lord on high was mightier than they, Ps. xciii. 3, 4. With the dividing of the sea and Jordan, notice is again taken of the trembling of the mountains, as if the stop given to the waters gave a shock to the adjacent hills; they are put together, Ps. cxiv. 3, 4. When the sea saw it and fled, and Jordan was driven back, the mountains skipped like rams and the little hills like lambs. The whole creation yielded; earth and waters trembled at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the mighty God of Jacob. But (as Mr. Cowley paraphrases it) Fly where thou wilt, thou sea; and, Jordan's current, cease. Jordan, there is no need of thee; For at God's word, whene'er he please, The rocks shall weep new waters forth instead of these. So here, Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers; channels were made in the wilderness, such as seemed to cleave the earth, for the waters to run in, which issued out of the rock, to supply the camp of Israel, and which followed them in all their removes. Note, The God of nature can alter and control the powers of nature, which way he pleases, can turn waters into crystal rocks and rocks into crystal streams.

V. He arrested the motion of the sun and moon, to befriend and complete Israel's victories (v. 11): The sun and moon stood still at the prayer of Joshua, that the Canaanites might not have the benefit of the night to favour their escape; they stood still in their habitation in the heaven (Ps. xix. 4), but with an eye to Gibeon and the valley of Ajalon, where God's work was in the doing, and of which they, though at so vast a distance, attended the motions. At the light, at the direction, of thy arrows, they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear; they followed Israel's arms, to favour them; according to the intimation of the arrows God shot (as Jonathan's arrows, 1 Sam. xx. 20), and which way soever his spear pointed (the glittering light of which they acknowledged to outshine theirs) that way they directed their influences, benign to Israel and malignant against their enemies, as when the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. Note, The heavenly bodies, as well as earth and seas, are at God's command, and, when he pleases, at Israel's service too.

VI. He carried on and completed Israel's victories over the nations of Canaan and their kings; he slew great kings and famous, Ps. cxxxvi. 17, 18. This is largely insisted upon here, as a proper plea with God to enforce the present petition, that he would restore them again to that land which they were, at the expense of so many lives, so many miracles, first put in possession of.

1. Many expressions are here used to set forth the conquest of Canaan. (1.) God's bow was made quite naked, taken out of the case, to be employed for Israel; we should say, his sword was quite unsheathed, not drawn out a little way, to frighten the enemy, and then put up again, but quite drawn out, not to be returned till they are all cut off. (2.) He marched through the land from end to end, in indignation, as scorning to let that wicked generation of Canaanites any longer possess so good a land. He marched cum fastidio—with distaste (so some), despising their confederacies. (3.) He threshed the heathen in anger, trod them down, nay, he trod them out, as corn in the floor, to give them, and what they had, to be meat to his people Israel, Mic. iv. 13. (4.) He wounded the heads out of the house of the wicked; he destroyed the families of the Canaanites, and wounded their princes, the heads of their families; nay, he cut off the heads, and so discovered the foundations of them, even to the neck. Are they a building? They are razed even to the foundation. Are they a body? They are plunged into deep mire even to the neck, so that they cannot get out, or help themselves. He broke the heads of leviathan in pieces, Ps. lxxiv. 14. Some apply this to Christ's victories over Satan and the powers of darkness, in which he wounded the heads over many countries, Ps. cx. 6. (5.) He struck through with his staves the head of the villages (v. 14); with Israel's staves God struck through the head of the villages of the enemies, whether Egypt or Canaan. Staves shall do the same execution as swords when God pleases to make use of them. The enemy came out with the utmost force and fury, as a whirlwind to scatter me (says Israel); for many a time have they thus afflicted me, thus attacked me, from my youth, Ps. cxxix. 1. Pharaoh, when he pursued Israel to the Red Sea, came out as a whirlwind; so did the kings of Canaan in their confederacies against Israel. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly; they were as confident of success in their enterprise as ever any great man was of devouring a poor man, that was no way a match for him; and his design against him was carried on with secrecy. But God disappointed them, and their pride did but make their fall the more shameful and God's care of his poor the more illustrious. (6.) He walked to the sea with his horses (so some read it, v. 15), that is, he carried Israel's victories to the Great Sea, which was opposite to that side of Canaan at which they entered, so that they went quite through it, and made themselves masters of it all, or rather God made them so, for they got it not by their own sword, Ps. xliv. 3. Now,

2. There were three things that God had a eye to, in giving Israel so many bloody victories over the Canaanites:—(1.) He would hereby make good his promise to the fathers; it was according to the oaths of the tribes, even his word, v. 9. He had sworn to give this land to the tribes of Israel; it was his oath to Isaac confirmed to Jacob, and repeated many a time to the tribes of Israel, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan. This word God will accomplish, though Israel be ever so unworthy (Deut. ix. 5) and their enemies ever so many and mighty. Note, What God does for his tribes is according to the oaths of the tribes, according to what he has said and sworn to them; for he is faithful that has promised. (2.) He would hereby show his kindness to his people, because of their relation to him, and his interest in them: Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, v. 13. All the powers of nature are shaken, and the course of nature changed, and every thing seems to be thrown into disorder, and all is for the salvation of God's people. There are a people in the world who are God's people, and their salvation is that which he has in his eye in all the operations of his providence. Heaven and earth shall sooner come together than any of the links in the golden chain of their salvation shall be broken; and even that which seems most unlikely shall by an overruling hand be made to work for their salvation, Phil. i. 19. (3.) He would hereby give a type and figure of the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ. It is for salvation with thy anointed, with Joshua, who led the armies of Israel and was a figure of him whose name he bore, even Jesus our Joshua. What God did for his Israel of old was done with an eye to his anointed, for the sake of the Mediator, who was both the founder and foundation of the covenant made with them. It was salvation with him, for in all the salvations wrought for them, God looked upon the face of the anointed, and did them by him.

The Conquest of Canaan; Devout Confidence. (b. c. 600.)

16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord , I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Within the compass of these few lines we have the prophet in the highest degree both of trembling and triumphing, such are the varieties both of the state and of the spirit of God's people in this world. In heaven there shall be no more trembling, but everlasting triumphs.

I. The prophet had foreseen the prevalence of the church's enemies and the long continuance of the church's troubles; and the sight made him tremble, v. 16. Here he goes on with what he had said v. 2, "I have heard thy speech and was afraid. When I heard what sad times were coming upon the church my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice; the news made such an impression that it put me into a perfect ague fit." The blood retiring to the heart, to succour that when it was ready to faint, the extreme parts were left destitute of spirits, so that his lips quivered. Nay, he was so weak, and so unable to help himself, that he was as if rottenness had entered into his bones; he had no strength left in him, could neither stand nor go; he trembled in himself, trembled all over him, trembled within him; he yielded to his trembling, and troubled himself, as our Savior did; his flesh trembled for fear of God and he was afraid of his judgments, Ps. cxix. 120. He was touched with a tender concern for the calamities of the church, and trembled for fear lest they should end at length in ruin, and the name of Israel be blotted out. Nor did he think it any disparagement to him, nor any reproach to his courage, but freely owned he was one of those that trembled at God's word, for to them he will look with favour: I tremble in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. Note, When we see a day of trouble approaching it concerns us to provide accordingly, and to lay up something in store, by the help of which we may rest in that day; and the best way to make sure rest for ourselves in the day of trouble is to tremble within ourselves at the word of God and the threatenings of that word. He that has joy in store for those that sow in tears has rest in store for those that tremble before him. Good hope through grace is founded in a holy fear. Noah, who was moved with fear, trembled within himself at the warning given him of the deluge coming, had the ark for his resting place in the day of that trouble. The prophet tells us what he said in his trembling. His fear is that, when he comes up to the people, when the Chaldean comes up to the people of Israel, he will invade them, will surround them, will break in upon them, nay (as it is in the margin), He will cut them in pieces with his troops; he cried out, We are all undone; the whole nation of the Jews is lost and gone. Note, When things look bad we are too apt to aggravate them, and make the worst of them.

II. He had looked back upon the experiences of the church in former ages, and had observed what great things God had done for them, and so he recovered himself out of his fright, and not only retrieved his temper, but fell into a transport of holy joy, with an express non obstante—notwithstanding to the calamities he foresaw coming, and this not for himself only, but in the name of every faithful Israelite.

1. He supposes the ruin of all his creature comforts and enjoyments, not only of the delights of this life, but even of the necessary supports of it, v. 17. Famine is one of the ordinary effects of war, and those commonly feel it first and most that sit still and are quiet; the prophet and his pious friends, when the Chaldean army comes, will be plundered and stripped of all they have. Or he supposes himself deprived of all by blasting and unseasonable weather, or some other immediate hand of God. Or though the captives in Babylon have not that plenty of all good things in their own land. (1.) He supposes the fruit-tree to be withered and become barren; the fig-tree (which used to furnish them with much of their food; hence we often read of cakes of figs) shall not so much as blossom, nor shall fruit be in the vine, from which they had their drink, that made glad the heart: he supposes the labour of the olive to fail, their oil, which was to them as butter is to us; the labour of the olive shall lie (so it is in the margin); their expectations from it shall be disappointed. (2.) He supposes the bread-corn to fail; the fields shall yield no meat; and, since the king himself is served of the field, if the productions of that be withdrawn, every one will feel the want of them. (3.) He supposes the cattle to perish for want of the food which the field should yield and does not, or by disease, or being destroyed and carried away by the enemy: The flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stall. Note, When we are in the full enjoyment of our creature comforts we should consider that there may come a time when we shall be stripped of them all, and use them accordingly, as not abusing them, 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.

2. He resolves to delight and triumph in God notwithstanding; when all is gone his God is not gone (v. 18): "Yet will I rejoice in the Lord; I shall have him to rejoice in, and will rejoice in him." Destroy the vines and the fig-trees, and you make all the mirth of a carnal heart to cease, Hos. ii. 11, 12. But those who, when they were full, enjoyed God in all, when they are emptied and impoverished can enjoy all in God, and can sit down upon a melancholy heap of the ruins of all their creature comforts and even then can sing to the praise and glory of God, as the God of their salvation. This is the principal ground of our joy in God, that he is the God of our salvation, our eternal salvation, the salvation of the soul; and, if he be so, we may rejoice in him as such in our greatest distresses, since by them our salvation cannot be hindered, but may be furthered. Note, Joy in God is never out of season, nay, it is in a special manner seasonable when we meet with losses and crosses in the world, that it may then appear that our hearts are not set upon these things, nor our happiness bound up in them. See how the prophet triumphs in God: The Lord God is my strength, v. 19. He that is the God of our salvation in another world will be our strength in this world, to carry us on in our journey thither, and help us over the difficulties and oppositions we meet with in our way. Even when provisions are cut off, to make it appear that man lives not by bread alone, we may have the want of bread supplied by the graces and comforts of God's Spirit and with the supplies of them. (1.) We shall be strong for our spiritual warfare and work: The Lord God is my strength, the strength of my heart. (2.) We shall be swift for our spiritual race: "He will make my feet like hinds' feet, that with enlargement of heart I may run the way of his commands and outrun my troubles." (3.) We shall be successful in our spiritual enterprises: "He will make me to walk upon my high places; that is, I shall gain my point, shall be restored unto my own land, and tread upon the high places of the enemy," Deut. xxxii. 13; xxxiii. 29. Thus the prophet, who began his prayer with fear and trembling, concludes it with joy and triumph, for prayer is heart's ease to a gracious soul. When Hannah had prayed she went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. This prophet, finding it so, publishes his experience of it, and puts it into the hand of the chief singer for the use of the church, especially in the day of our captivity. And, though then the harps were hung upon the willow-trees, yet in the hope that they would be resumed, and their right hand retrieve its cunning, which it had forgotten, he set his song upon Shigionoth (v. 1), wandering tunes, according to the variable songs, and upon Neginoth (v. 19), the stringed instruments. He that is afflicted, and has prayed aright, may then be so easy, may then be so merry, as to sing psalms.

CHAP. III.

Verſe 1. A prayer of Habbakkuk the Prophet] Habakkuk ſignifieth a Wraſtler, that by cloſing ſtriveth to get the better, as hath been before noted on chap. 1.1. To cloſe with the adverſary is the beſt way to ſupplant him, or to avoid the blow: ſo is running in to God, the way to eſcape him. The Prophet had heard Gods ſpeech and was afraid verſe 2. He ſaw his wrath ready to break forth, and therefore gets in with him by this prayer. He knew that, Flectitur irat us voce rogante Deus.Ovid. God ſuffereth himſelf oft to be overcome by the prayers of his people: and yeeldeth much unto them, when moſt bitterly bent Mat. 24.20. he therefore ſers ſhoulders and ſides to work, and wreſtle luſtily in this chapter. He knew it was a Prophets work, to pray as well as preach: and between theſe two, to divide his time. God forbid (ſaith Samuei, who is reckoned the firſt of Prophets) that I ſhould ſin againſt the Lord in ceaſing to pray for you: I will alſo teach you the good and right way 1 Sam. Act. 3.24. 12.23. So doth this Prophet: he both preferreth a prayer (the word, [non-Latin text not transcribed] ſay ſome, ſignifieth ſuch a prayer as is made by a Mediatour before a judge; we have an advocate with the Father 1 Ioh. 2.1.) and dedicated the ſame to the people, to be uſed by them in the time of the captivity: which yet they ſhamefully neglected to do, as Daniel acknowledgeth chap. 9.13. or if they did any thing towards it, they merely ſought themſelves in it, and ſo loſt their labour, Zech. 7.5. whereas had they prayed as here is preſcribed, confeſſing their ſins,Lam. 3. and beſeeching God not to deale with them after their deſerts, but according to his ancient loving kindneſſes that never faile, they might have found mercy. The Altar of incenſe ſtood againſt the Mercy-ſeat: and Rev. 9.13. the prayers of the Saints from the foure corners of the earth ſound and do great things in the world, make it ring. It was the ſpeech of a learned man: If there be but one ſigh come from a gracious heart, it fills the eares of God, ſo that God hears nothing elſe.

upon Sigionoth] Vocabulum Muſicum eſt, cujus ratio Hebraeis ignota, ſaith Buxtorf: it is a Muſical terme, the reaſon whereof is unknown to the Hebrew-Doctours at this day. Yet Rabbi Salomon (and with him the moſt Interpreters) rendreth it pro ignorantiis, for ignorances, or as touching his own and his peoples errours; which the prophet here (convinced by Gods former anſwer to his expoſtulation) confeſſeth with confuſion of face. Ignorance ſurely is a bluſhfull ſin; eſpecially if affected and delighted in (as the Hebrew word ſeemeth to imply, confer Prov. 5.19. and 20.1.) Privative ignorance, though it do ſomwhat excuſe a man (ſc. à tanto, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. not à toto, Luk 12.47.) yet is it a ſin to be confeſſed and bewailed: for Chriſt died for the not-knowing of the people Heb. 9.7. and deſtruction is threatened pr[illegible: 1 letter] non-ſcientia, or lack of knowledge Hoſ. 4.7. But Calvin well obſerveth here, that the Prophet by begging pardon for i[illegible: 1 letter]norances, doth not omit his own and the peoples more grievous ſins: but ſheweth, that men muſt alſo be ſenſible of their leſſer lapſes, and cry out with David (after whoſe example this whole ſong is framed) Who can underſtand his errours (or ignorances unwitting and inconſiderate ſins?) O clenſe thou me from ſecret faults. Pſal. 19.12.

Verſe 2. O Lard I have heard thy ſpeech and was afraid] Audivi auditionem tuam. I have heard (not thy fume, or thy report, as ſome render it, unleſſe it be in the Prophet Eſays ſenſe, chap. 53.1. but) thy preceding diſcourſe, in anſwer to my diſceptation. I have heard that the Babylonians will come, and that my people muſt into captivity. This was no pleaſant hearing: for we all naturally ſhrink in the ſhoulder, when call'd to carry the croſſe: but thoſe that do what they ſhould not, muſt look to hear and feel too, what they would not.

and was afraid] Fear is conſtrictio cordis exſenſu mali inſtantis, a paſſion of the ſoule ſhrinking in it ſelf from ſome imminent evill. The wicked heare and jeere: or their feare driveth them from God, as it did guilty Adam. Contrarily, the godly tremble at Gods judgements, whiles they hang in the threatenings: and draw nigh to him with intreaties of peace. In this feare of the Lord is ſtrong confidence, and his children have a place of refuge, Prov. 14.26.

O Lord reviue thy work in the middeſt of the yeares] i. e. Preſerve alive thine Iſrael, that work of thine hands Eſay. 45.11. together with thy work of grace in their hearts: keep that ſpark alive upon the ſea of tribulations and temptations. The Angels (ſaith a Reverend man) are kept with much leſſe care, charge, and power, then we: becauſe they have no biaſſe, no weights of ſin hung upon them &c. There is not ſo much of the glory of God (ſaith Another) in all his works of Creation and Providence, as in one gracious action that a Chriſtian performeth.

in the middeſt of the yeares make known] ſc. thy power in perfecting thy glory, and not forſaking the work of thine own hands Pſal. 138.8. It was Luthers uſuall prayer,Act. & Mon. Confirm, O God, in us, that thou haſt wrought: and perfect the work that thou haſt begun in us, to thy glory. So be it. So Q. Eliſabeth, when priſoner at Woodſtock, pray'd thus: Look Lord upon the wounds of thine hands: and deſpiſe not the work of thine hands. Thou haſt written me down in thy book of preſervation with thine own hand: O read thine own hand-writing,Engl. Eliſ. pag. 134. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. and ſave me, &c. But what meant the Seventy here to tranſlate, In the middeſt of two beaſts: which whiles Ribera ſtriveth to defend, he tells us a tale of the babe of Bethlehem, born in a ſtable, and laid in a manger betwixt two beaſts, an oxe and an aſſe. It may very well be, that the Church here prayeth for Gods grace and favour, during the time of her captivity.

In wrath remember mercy] In commotione irae: when thou art moſt moved againſt us, and haſt as much adoe to forbear killing of us, as thou hadſt to forbear Moſes, when thou metteſt him in the Inne, then remember to ſhew mercy, call to mind thy compaſſions which fail not. Look then upon us, and be mercifull unto us, as thou uſeſt to doe unto thoſe that love thy name, Pſal. 119.132. The wicked are threatned with an evill, an onely evil, without any mixture of mercy:Ezek. 7.5. this the Prophet here deprecateth, and beggeth mercy. Per miſerere mei, tollitur iradei.

Verſe 3. God came from Teman] The Prophet alludeth to that of Moſes in his Swan-like ſong Deut. 33.2. and alledgeth Gods benefits of old, for his own and their preſent confirmation of faith: without which prayer would be to no purpoſe: hence effectuall prayer is called the prayer of faith, Jam. 5.15. Faith is the foundation of prayer, and prayer is the fervency of faith. Whatſoever ye ask beleeving, Mar. 7. Pſal. 55. yee ſhall receive, ſaith our Saviour. Caſt thy burthen (or thy requeſt) upon the Lord ſaith David. To help us ſo to doe, it is of ſingular uſe to conſider what God hath done heretofore: for thou haſt, thou wilt, is an ordinary medium of Scripture Logick, ſee Pſal. 85.1, 2, 3, 4. There be ſix Haſts drawing in the next, Turn us again &c. ver. 4. See alſo 2 Cor. 1.10. Gods Majeſty & might when he gave the Law in Sinai, is here ſet forth, to ſhew how eaſily he can, if he pleaſe,Pſal. 126.4. turn again the captivity of his people, as the Streams in the ſouth.

And the holy One from mount Paran. Selah] He that is Holineſſe it ſelf (a title farre too good for that man of ſinne, that Merum Scelus, the Pope, Philip the Faire of France did him right, in writing to him thus Sciat tua maxima Fatuitas &c. Be it known to your Fooliſhneſſe, not to your Holineſſe) and that muſt be ſanctified in righteouſneſſe Eſay 5.16. mount Paran was contiguous to the mountains Sinai and Teman, otherwiſe called Seir for its roughneſſe Deut. 33.2. Selah. This the Seventy make to be a muſical notion, rendring it Diapſalma. It ſeemeth to import an aſſeveration of a thing ſo to be, and an admiration thereat. The Iews at this day uſe it in their prayers for Legnolam i. e. For ever, or Amen. It is probable, that the Singers of the Temple came to a Selah (which word is uſed 92 times in Scripture, and onely in Pſalmes and Songs) they made a pauſe, that the hearers might ſtay their thoughts awhile upon the preceding matter, worthy of more then ordinary obſervation. Hence Tremellius and Iunius expreſſe Selah by the adverbs Summe Maximè, Vehementiſsimè, Excellenter. It was doubtleſſe a ſingular mercy of God to his people of Iſrael, that he came from Teman &c. to ſpeak with them from heaven: and there to give them right Iudgements, and true Lawes, good Statutes and Commandements, Neh. 9.13.14. This when he did.

His glory covered the Heavens and the Earth was full of his praiſe] The Law was given in a moſt majeſtick manner (ſee Exod. 19.) partly to procure reverence to the doctrine of it, partly to ſet forth the nature and office of it, which is to terrify Offenders, and to drive them to Chriſt: and partly alſo to ſhew that God hath power, and weapons enow, to defend thoſe that keep his Law, and to puniſh ſuch as would draw them off from their obedience thereunto. That's a pious meditation of a Reverend Writer, if the Law were thus given, how ſhall it be required?Dr. Hall If ſuch were the Proclamation of Gods Statutes, what ſhall the Seſſions bee? I ſee and tremble at the reſemblance. &c.

Verſe 4. And his brightneſſe was as the light] The glory of the Lord was as a devouring fire on the top of the mountain. Exod. 24.17. the noon-day light, the Sun in his ſtrength was nothing to this incomparable brightneſſe, which was as the light, [non-Latin text not transcribed] or as the Sun: ſ[illegible: 1 letter]e Iob 31.26. and 37.20. Hence the Heathens called Apollo or the Sun Orus, (which is the word here uſed) Hence alſo the Greek [non-Latin text not transcribed] to ſee.

He had [illegible: 1 word] coming out of his hand] Or, bright beams out of his ſide, as the Sun hath: The [illegible: 1 word] the Lord are in every place Prov. 15.3.Rev. 4.6. and every man before him is all [illegible: 1 word] Iob 34.22. the whole world is to him as a Sea of glaſſe, a clear tranſparent body, he ſhines and ſees throw it. Gods hand or ſide is ſaid to be horned in the ſenſe, that Moſes his face was. Exod. 34.30.

And there was the hiding of his power] Not the revealing of it, but velamen, ſymbolum, integumentum, the veil, the cover, ſuch as God put over him when he ſhewed Moſes his glory. He could ſee but his back parts, and live: we need ſee no more, that we may live. God is inviſible, incomprehenſible, and dwelleth in light unapproachable. How little a thing doth man here underſtand of God, Iob 26.14. the greateſt part of that he knoweth, is but the leaſt part of that he knoweth not. Surely as a weak eye is not able to behold the Sun, no nor the ſtrongeſt eye without being dazled: we cannot look upon it in rota, but only in radiis: ſo here we cannot ſee God in his Eſſence, but onely in his effects, in his works and in his Word, where alſo we have but a ſhew, but a ſhadow of him, we ſee but his train in the Temple as Eſay: the holy Angels cover their faces with their wings as with a double ſcarfe before Gods brightneſſe, which would put out their eyes elſe [illegible: 1 letter]ſ. 6.3. ſee Pſal. 104.2.1 Tim. 6.16.

Verſe 5. Before him went the peſtilence) Dever the word ſignifieth ſuch a diſeaſe, as cometh by a divine decree. [non-Latin text not transcribed] So Hypocrits call the peſtilence [non-Latin text not transcribed], becauſe ſext by God in a ſpiritual manner, a ſtroke of his own bare hand as it were. Here it is made one of his Apparitours or purſivants, ſent before him to deſtroy the Canaanites, as it had done the Egyptians.

And burning coals went out at his feet) Or, the carbuncle burning bile Deut. 32.24 The Vulgar tranſlateth it the devil, Others [non-Latin text not transcribed] a deadly inflammation, whereof good Oecolampadius died, and was lamented by Melancthon. But Luther very uncharitably (the beſt have their failings) wrote that he beleeved Oecolampadixm ignitis Satanae telis & haſtis confoſſum, Lib. de Miſſae privat. ſubitanea morte peri[illegible: 1 letter]ſſe, that Oecolampadius died ſuddenly, being ſtabb'd to death with the fiery darts of the devill.

Verſe 6. He ſtood and meaſured the earth] Not Joſhuah but God brought his people into the promiſed land, and divided it amongſt them, Pſal. 78.55. Like as alſo he had divided the whole earth by bounds and borders to the ſeveral Nations Pſal. 74.17. and doth ſtill appoint men the bounds of their habitations Act. 17.26.

He beheld and drove aſunder the Nations] He did it with his looks, as it were: that is, with very little adoe. Let the Lord but ariſe onely, and his enemies ſhall be ſcattered,Camd. Eliſ. let him but frown, and they fall before him: If Auguſtus could frown to death Aſinius Pollio: and Queen Elizabeth her chancellour Hatton, what ſhall we think of Gods bended browes?

And the everlaſting mountains were ſcattered] i. e. thoſe kingdomes of the Can[illegible: 1 letter]anites that were held firm and unmoveable as the mountains, yea rivetted as it were upon eternity, ſee Num. 13.21.31, 22. Theſe were ſcattered, diſſilierunt fell in peeces, and leapt this way and that way, as ſtones broken with a great hammer. God threſhed theſe mountains, and beat them ſmall, he made the hills as chaſſe Iſay 41.15. No worldly height could ſtand before him. By mountains here ſome underſtand Kings and Princes, as by hills, thoſe of inferiour rank.

His wayes are everlaſting) Heb. his walks or journies, that is, his government of the world by his power and wiſedome is perpetual, he never caſteth off the care thereof: There are that referre the word his to the Canaanites, [non-Latin text not transcribed] who had of old poſſeſſed the land without diſturbance; But the former ſenſe is the better.

Verſe 7. I ſaw the Tents of Cuſhan) King of Meſopotamia, who tyrannized over Iſrael eight years, after Joſhua's death: God ſelling his people to him for naught, and not increaſing his wealth by their price, Pſal. 44.12. Judg. 3.8. But delivering them in the end by that valiant Othniel, who brought the tents of Cuſhan under affliction or vanity. Some render it propter iniquitatem, becauſe of iniquity, and ſet this ſenſe upon it: It was for ſinne that God ſold his people into the hands of Cuſhan Riskathaijm, and yet afterwards ſent them a Saviour: why then ſhould they now deſpair of a ſeaſonable return out of captivity, though by their ſinnes they have provoked the Lord to wrath: ſith if they returne unto him and ſeek his favour, there is yet mercy with the Lord that he may be feared? Loe, this is the right uſe of hiſtories: and this is our duty to make obſervations to our ſelves, as did the Prophet here, I ſaw the tents of Cuſhan: I conſidered the thing that hath been, it is the ſame which ſhall be, and that which is done, is that which ſhall be done &c. Eccleſ. 1.9. Hiſtoriae fidae monitrices. Dicuntur [non-Latin text not transcribed].

And the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble] Cortinae vel pelles &c. When by the ſword of the Lord and of Gideon they were cut off and diſcomfited Judg. 7.7. &c.

Verſe 8. Was the Lord diſpleaſed againſt the Rivers?] As Xerxes, that brutiſh man, was againſt the Helleſpont, for battering his bridge of boates, beating it and caſting a pair of fetters into it? Was God thus angry againſt Jordan, and againſt the red-Sea? No ſuch matter. If God ſeem angry at any time againſt the reaſonleſſe, or liveleſſe creatures, it is for a puniſhment of mans ſin. But here his end and purpoſe was to ſhew; that he did ride upon thoſe horſes and charets (the rivers, and ſea) for the ſalvation of his people. He did ſo when time was: and that he will do ſo again, when time ſhall ſerve, this queſtion in the text ſhews, that there is no queſtion to be made of it.

Verſe 9. Thy bowe was made quite naked] ſc. Out of the caſe. He meaneth, thy power was clearly manifeſted, and powerfully exerted againſt the nations above mentioned: ſo that all men might ſee plainly, that thou wert that man of warre, Exod. 15.3. which ſhooteſt thine arrowes at a certainty, and never miſſeſt thine enemies, thy but-mark. See Job 16.12.

according to the oathes of the tribes, even thy word] i. e. according to thy promiſes to thy people, confirmed with oathes, even thoſe ſure mercies of David, or aſſured to David. Some render it, according to the oathes, thoſe props of thy word. His word is ſure and ſufficient of it ſelf: but, for our better ſettlement, and as a prop to our faith, He hath bound it with oathes: that by two immutable things, in which it was impoſſible for God to lie, we might have ſtrong conſolation, Heb. 6.18. For now we may ſay with Solomon, For thy words ſake, nay more, For thine oathes ſake, and according to thine own heart haſt thou done all this, 2 Sam. 7.18, 21. Thy love moved thee to make promiſe, yea, to give oath: and now thy truth bindeth thee to performe. All thy pathes to thy people now are mercy and truth, Pſal. 25.10. not mercy onely, but mercy and truth: not by a providence onely, but by vertue of a promiſe, ratified with an oath: This is ſweet indeed; this deſerves a Selah] to be ſet to it.

thou didſt cleave the earth with rivers] Exod. 17.6. Pſal. 78.15, 16. Deut. 8.15. Neh. 9.15. This cleaving the hard Rock, and ſetting it abroach, this turning of the flint into a fountain, Pſal. 114.8. was a work of Omnipotency, and is therefore ſo much celebrated. It maketh much to the miracle, that the earth was cleft with rivers: this importeth both the plenty and the perennity thereof: for the Rock, that is, the river out of the rock followed them, 1 Cor. 10.4. leſt in that dry and barren wilderneſſe they ſhould periſh for want of water. The ſame God alſo who had given his people petram aquatilem, gave them pluviam eſcatilem, Tertul. de patientia. (as Tertullian phraſeth it) Manna from heaven, Quails in great abundance, and never was Prince better ſerved in his greateſt pomp. He alſo defended them from the fiery ſerpents, and delivered them from a thouſand other deaths, and dangers: all which mercies are here implied, though one onely be inſtanced: and all to aſcertain the Saints how much God ſetteth by them, and what he will yet do for them, as occaſion requireth. As he made the world at firſt, that he might communicate and impart himſelf to his Elect: ſo for their ſakes doth he ſtill preſerve and govern it, ordering the worlds diſorders by an over-ruling power, for his own glory, and their eternall good.

Verſe 10. The mountains ſaw thee, and they trembled] ſc. At the promulgation of the Law, Exod. 19.17. Pſal. 114.4, 6. when God came with ten thouſand of his Saints, Deut. 33.2. and ſo terrible was the earth-quake, that it wrought an heart-quake, even in Moſes himſelf, Heb. 12.21. It is the office of the Law to do ſo: and happy is he, who terrified, and thunder-ſtruck by the threats thereof, runnes to Chriſt for refuge, as to One who is able to ſave to the utmoſt them that come unto God by him, Heb. 9.25. Some take mountains metaphorically, for the Mighties of the earth, and read it thus. The mountains ſaw thee, and they grieved. See Num. 22.3. Joſh. 2.9, 10, 11

The over-flowing of the water paſſed by] the inundation of Jordan paſſed into the dead-ſea, the lower part of it, I mean: like as the upper ſtood, and roſe up upon an heap,Gualth. Joſh. 3.16. being bounded and barred up by the Almighty power of God.

the deep uttered his voice; and lifted up his hands on high] i. e. ſummo conſenſis ſuffragatus eſt, &c. It voiced, and voted for Gods judgements; helping forward the execution thereof.

Verſe 11. The Sun and Moon ſtood ſtill in their habitation] viz. In the dayes of Joſhuah, and upon his prayer, chap. 10.12, 13. whereupon One crieth out, O admirabilem piarum precum vim ac potentiam quibus etiam coeleſtia cedunt, &c. O the admirable power of prayer,Buchol. that worketh wonders in heaven! and oh the heroicall faith of Joſhuah, the trophees whereof hee ſet in the very orbes of heaven.

at the light of thine arrowes, they went] By theſe ſhining arrowes, and glittering ſpears, ſome underſtand that terrible lightening, mixt with that horrible hail, Joſh. 10.11. with Exod. 9.23. and then it is figura planè poetica, a Poeticall expreſſion: for the poets call lightening [non-Latin text not transcribed],As the ſword of the Lord and of Gideon. Judg. 7. 18. Joves arrow. See the like Pſal. 18.14. The huge hail-ſtones were Gods glittering ſpears, wherewith he ſlaughtered his enemies. Others ſuppoſe, that theſe things are meant of the arms and weapons of the Iſraelites, called Gods arrowes and ſpears, becauſe uſed at his command, and ordered by him. This ſence Gualther liketh better, as moſt comfortable to Chriſtian warriours, who fight the Lords battels.

Verſe 12. Thou didſt march thorow the land in indignation] Heb. Thou didſt walk in pomp, as a Conquerour, thorow the land, ſc. of Canaan, in contempt of the oppoſite forces, treading upon the neeks of thine enemies, Joſh. 10.24.

thou didſt threſh the heathen in anger] See Amos 1.3. Mic. 4.13. God, by the hands of Joſhuah, did all this. The moſt of the old inhabitants were deſtroyed. Some few fled into Africk, and left written upon a pillar for a monument to poſterity; We are Phoenicians, that fled from the face of Joſhuah the ſon of Nave.

Verſe 13. Thou wenteſt forth for the ſalvation of thy people] q. d. Thou waſt Generaliſſimo in [illegible: 1 letter]our expeditions, in the dayes of the Judges, who therefore were ſo ſucceſſefull. How could they be otherwiſe, when God came with them into the field?Camd. Eliſab. If Q. Elizabeth could take for her Motto, Cui adhaereo, praeſt, He to whom I adhere, prevaileth, how much more may Almighty God ſay as much?

even for ſalvation with thine anointed] i. e. with David, 1 Sam. 16.12, 13. 2 Sam. 5.3, 16. and 19.22. and 22.51. Pſal. 20.7. a lively type of Chriſt, that Meſſiah the Prince, the myſtery of which promiſed Saviour, the ancient Jew-Doctours confeſſed to be contained in this text, It is not altogether unlikely, that the Prophet might intend here to point at Jeſus Chriſt, when he ſaith, for ſalvation (Jeſhang, whence Jeſus) for thine anointed, or thy Chriſt. There are that read the words in the Future-tenſe, thus: Thou ſhalt go forth for the ſalvation of thy people, ſc. when Meſſiah that great Soſpitator cometh: thou ſhalt wound the head of the wicked, ſc. of the Devil, Rom. 16.20. Thou ſhalt make naked the foundation of his kingdom, unto the neck. Selah: thou ſhalt utterly deſtroy ſin, death, and hell. A remarkable mercy indeed, a myſtery of greateſt concernment, and moſt worthy to be conſidered. Gualther carries the ſence this way: and yet addeth, that if any pleaſe to refer the words to the hiſtory of the old Teſtament, they muſt be underſtood of thoſe tyrants that perſecuted the true Church, and whom God for Chriſts ſake ſubdued and ſubverted, together with their kingdomes.

Verſe 14. Thou didſt ſtrike thorow with his ſtaves, the heads of his villages [Heb. thou didſt pierce, or bore thorow, as with an awger, with his ſtaves (a Metaphor from ſhepherdy, according to that, Pſal. 23.3. thy rod and thy ſtaffe, &c.) or, with his tribes (the [non-Latin text not transcribed]) that entred the land of promiſe:Acts 26.7. with theſe men, or with theſe weapons, though never ſo unlikely, thou diddeſt by the hand of David, wound the hairy ſcalp of thine enemies, thoſe Pagans and perſecutours: and much more wi[illegible: 2 letters], by the Son of David, ſubdue Satan and his Complices.

they came out as a whirl-winde to ſcatter me] Heb. they tempeſted, they raiſed an hurly-burly, being turbulent ſpirits, as the devil is, to diſperſe me, as the duſt of the mountains is ſcattered before a whirle-winde.

their rejoycing was as to devour the poor] i. e, Poor me, they devoured in ſecret, as if God had been nothing aware of their doings: and this was their exultation, or rejoycing: they took pleaſure in their cruelty, and promiſed themſelves impunity.

Verſe 15. Thou diddeſt walk thorough the ſea &c.] q. d. Shall they thus prevaile by iniquity? and did they carry the ball upon the foot till they had gotten the goale? Hath ever any waxed fierce againſt God, and proſpered, Iob. 9.4? I trow, not. Thou that of old didd'ſt walk through the red ſea, did'ſt tread it, or,Pſal. 56.7. foot it, and that moſt ſwiftly, as if thou had'ſt had thy change of horſes.

thorow the heap of great waters] which thou laid'ſt on heaps for thy peoples ſake, ſo that, inſtead of being ſwallowed up, they were preſerved thereby: Thou Lord, I ſay, haſt many times ſince, (when all hope failed) opened a faire way for thy ſervants to eſcape out of greateſt dangers: and ſo I truſt thou wile againe, when they moſt ſtand in need of thine heavenly help. Cum res eſt in acie novaculae &c. God will be ſeen of his in the Mount.

Verſe 16. When I heard, my belly trembled &c.] Heard what? That ſpeech of thine, verſe. 3. whereunto the Prophet now returneth (after a long digreſſion for the peoples ſupport and comfort; Digreſſions in divine diſcourſes are not alwayes and abſolutely unlawfull. God ſometimes draweth aſide the doctrine, to ſatisfie ſome ſoule which the preacher knowes not: and, ſparingly uſed, it quickeneth attention.) O Lord I have heard thy ſpeech (touching Iſraels captivity, chap. 1. and after that, the Chaldeans calamity, chap. 2.) and was afraid verſe 2. Neither was this a ſlight or ſudden pang, and ſoon put over: but ſuch as ſoaked to the very roots, ſo that my belly, or my heart in my belly trembled; See Prov. 20.27.

my lipps quivered] through want of naturall heate, which in this fright was gone inward to ſuccour the heart: as ſouldiers upon the approach of an enemy run into the caſtle.

at the voice] at the dreadfull denunciations of judgements.

rottenneſſe entred into my bones] Poetico more ex ſignis deſcribit, ſaith Gualther. The Prophet, in manner of a Poet, deſcribeth his great feare, by the gracious effects and ſignes thereof in his body.

that I might reſt in the day of trouble] This was the fruit of his holy feare of Gods imminent judgements, and that contrition of ſpirit that followed thereupon: viz. that both Hee, and all that took part with him in thoſe pious practiſes of ſenſibleneſſe and ſelf-abaſement, ſhould have peace with God, and be able to call their ſoules to reſt in the evill day.

when he commeth up &c.] i. e. The Chaldean ſpoiler.

he will invade them with his troops] Or, cut them in peeces. And that this was done, See 2 King. 25. and the book of Lamentations thorowout. Howbeit in judgement God remembreth mercy, as the Prophet had pray'd: for beſides the favour that the Jews found at Babylon by meanes of Daniel and others, Cyrus having taken that city gave commandment, that no Jews, or any that ſpake the Syrian tongue ſhould be hurt, as Xenophon relateth: and after this he gave them free leave to return home.

Verſe 17. Although the figtree ſhall not bloſſom] Here the Prophet ſheweth a well ſettled and a ſedate mind indeed: that he had attained, and by prayer waded unto a bleſſed compoſedneſſe and ſabbath of ſpirit, ſuch as the cock on the dunghill medled not with, neither knoweth the worth of: it being the moſt precious and peerleſſe jewel that ever the heart of man came acquainted with. It hat been before noted, that the Prophet here taketh out his own leſſon of living by faith in the faile of outward comforts. Origens teaching and living were ſaid to be both alike: Habakkuks were ſo. Divinity is practicall: If ye know theſe things, happy are ye if ye do them: As leſſons of Muſick muſt be practiſed, and a copy not read onely, but imitated: ſo is it here. It is a bluſhful thing quando dicta factis erubeſcant, as Tertullian hath it;Plus ſanctimoniae conſpicitur in ipſo libello, quàm in libelli Auihore. when mens lives put their words to the bluſh, when Sanctiores ſunt aures plebis quàm corda ſacerdotum, there are more heavenly doctrines in the peoples cares, then ever were in the preachers heart, as Hilary hath it: when (as One ſaid of Eraſmus his Enchiridion) there is more holineſſe in an Authours book, then in his boſom: Exemplis ſanè qui docet, ille docet. Ariſtotle requireth in a Teacher,Ariſt Rhetor. Epiſt. ad Epbeſ. that he ſhew himſelf a patern of his own rules: and it is a good thing to teach (ſaith Ignatius, [non-Latin text not transcribed] if thou practiſe the ſame that thou teacheſt. That is an excellent commendation indeed that is given to a late eminent Divine amongſt us,Mr. Sam. Crook. that his life was but one continued Commentary upon his doctrine: and an exemplary ſermon conſiſting of living words, or of words tranſlated into works. The juſt ſhall live by his faith, ſaith Habakkuk: and that I do ſo, it ſhall well appear by my living upon God, when I have nothing elſe to ſubſiſt with; by beleeving him upon his bare word, and that againſt ſenſe in things inviſible, and againſt reaſon in things incredible.

Although the figtree &c.. q d. Let warr come on, and with warr famine; as it befell Ieruſalem at the laſt ſiege in the dayes of Zedekiah, 2 King. 25.3. Ier. 52.6. Lam. 2.11, 12. there was no relief left for the people, the enemy had eaten up all, as Joel 2. and made cleane work, ſo that faithleſſe men were woe-begone, and ready to run mad for the ſight of their eyes Deut. 28.24. with 51. and to devour their own fingers, as Pope Boniface 8. did, when ſhut up cloſe priſoner in St. Angelo and ſorely ſtraitened.

Verſe 18. Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my ſalvation] This joy of the Lord was the Prophets ſtrength, Nch. 8.10. and kept his head above all waters of affliction. So it was Davids at the ſack of Ziglag 1 Sam. 30.6. when Saul at the ſame time for want of it ran firſt to the witch, and thence to the ſwords point. A Good man hath God for his portion: and if any occaſion of diſcontent or trouble befall him, he retireth into his Counting-houſe, and there ſeeth himſelf ſo well ſtored with unlooſable graces and invaluable priviledges, that he cannot be greatly moved Pſal. 62.2. His ſoule in greateſt ſtraights can magnifie the Lord, and his ſpirit rejoyce in God his Saviour. Diſquieted he may be ſometimes for a ſeaſon, till he hath recollected and better bethought himſelf, we are ſtaggering ſaith the Apoſtle, but not wholy ſticking 2 Cor. 4.8. for not the eveneſt waights but at their firſt putting into the ballance do ſomwhat ſway both parts thereof, not without ſome ſhew of inequality, which yet after ſome little motion do ſettle themſelves in a meet poiſe and poſture.

Verſe 19. The Lord God is my ſtrength] And hence his joy of ſaith, and ability to beare up under preſſures of afflictions as a man that is well lined within, and hath abundance of good blood and freſh ſpirits, can endure to go with leſſe cloths then another &c.

And he will make my feet like hindes feet] As theſe do ſwiftly and ſuddenly run up to the top of inacceſſible rocks, ſo ſhall I quickly eſcape out of trouble, and walk upon mine high places againe in the holy land: Yea as Jacob after he had converſed with God at Bethel,Gen. 29.1. lift up his feet and went luſtily on his way to Padan-Aram, ſo ſhall I go lightly on my long journey to heaven; and, having my ſoule ſuppled with the oyle of ſpirituall joy, I ſhall find it made more lith, nimble and ready to every good work.

to the chief-muſitian on my ſtringed inſtruments] This is David-like indeed, as in the whole prayer or long he reſembleth that ſweet ſinger of Iſrael: and the verſe hath cauſed a cloud. Euthymius ſaith of David, that he was Primi regis & linguae & cor & calamus, the tongue, hart, and pen of almighty God. In the primitive times, happy was he held that could repeate aliquid Davidicum, any thing of Davids doings. Our king Alured tranſlated the Pſalter himſelf into his own Saxon tongue. Andromicus the Greek Emperour made it his manuall, his Vade-mcum. It appeareth by the contexture of this whole chapter, that the Prophet Habakkuk was well verſed in the Pſalms, which is a ſweet field and Roſary of promiſes, a Summary of the old Teſtament ſaith Luther: the good ſoules Soliloquie, ſaith Another; wherein are Amulets of comfort more pleaſant then the pooles of Heſhbon, more glorious then the tower of Lebanon, more redolent then the oyle of Aaron, more fructifying then the dew of Hermon &c. Moſt worthy to be laid up in that Perſian casket embroydered with gold and pearle which Alexander reſerved for Homers Iliads. Our Prophet as he partly imitated, and partly tranſcribed them in this Canticle, yea in this verſe (Confer Pſalm. 18.33, 34.) So he concludeth as David many times beginneth, To the chief-chaunter or Muſick-maſter, or To him that excelleth, ſc: in the art of ſinging and playing on Inſtruments, thoſe holy Levites whoſe charge it was 1 Chron. 9.33. and for whom he doubted not but God would afford and provide new matter of Pſalmody, by compaſſing his people about with ſongs of deliverance, Selah Pſal. 32.7.