Matthew Poole and continuators on Psalms 17:15

15. As for me , I will or shall behold thy face , in righteousness : I shall be satisfied , when I awake , with thy likeness .

I do not envy this their Felicity, but my Hopes and Happiness are of another Nature.

I do not place my Portion in earthly and temporal Treasures, as they do, but in beholding God's face, (i. e.) In the enjoyment of God's presence and favo[illegible: 1+ letters]r; which is indeed enjoyed in part in this Life, but not fully and to Satisfaction, of which David here speaks, as appears from the last Clause of this Verse; The sight of God, and of his face, being frequently spoken of, both in the Old and New Testament, as a priviledge denied even to the Saints, in this Life and peculiar to the next Life, as is manifest from Exod. 33. 20. Iudg. 13. 22. Mat. 5. 8. 1 Cor. 13. 12. 2 Cor. 3. 18. 1 Ioh. 3. 2.

With the Comfort of a good Conscience, bearing me Witness that, notwithstanding all the Calumnies and Censures of mine Enemies, I have been, and am upright and righteous in the Course of my Life, both towards thee and towards all men. Which Testimony will enable me to look God in the Face with boldness, when mine Enemies, being Conscious to themselves of gross and manifold righteousness towards thee and me, and others, will be afraid to appear in thy Presence.

I am now greatly distressed and dissatisfied, and mine Enemies are fitted and satisfied with good things; but my turn will come, the time is coming wherein I shall be abundantly satisfied, to wit, with beholding thy Face, which is to me more Comfortable and Satisfactory than all the Possessions of this World▪

Either, 1. When I shall be delivered from my present Distresses and Calamities. But these never are in Scripture, nor indeed can fitly be, called by the name of Sleep, which is every where spoken of as a state of [illegible: 1+ letters]est, and quietness; as Psal. 127. 2. Ioh. 11. 12, 13. and consequently deliverance from them, cannot be compared to awaking. Or rather, 2. When I shall arise from the Dead: For Death is very frequently called Sleep both in Scripture, as 1 Kings 1. 21. Isa. 26. 19. Ier. 51. 39, 57. Dan. 12. 2. Ioh. 11. 11, 13. and in other Authors; and consequently Resurrection from the Dead, is justly and fitly called an awaking, as it is Iob 14. 12. Dan. 12. 2. Ioh. 11. 11. And since the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the just, to a blessed and endless Life was not unknown to the Holy men of God in the Old Testament, as it were very easie to prove, nor to David in particular, as appears from Psal. 16. 10, 11. and from divers other Passages, it cannot be imagined but David would Support and Comfort himself in his greatest Agonies, with the Consideration thereof, this being incomparably the most weighty and effectual Argument and ground of Comfort, which he could possibly use. And this also best suits with the Context; for David is here opposing his Hopes and Portion to that of his Enemies, and having noted, not without a secret reflection and reproach upon them for it, that their Portion was in this Life, v. 14. it was most Consonant to the place and to the thing it self, that he should seek and have his Happiness in the future Life.

Or Image. By which may be understood either, 1. Christ, the Son of God, who was known to David and other Prophets, as is Evident, and that under the name of the Son of God, Psal. 2▪ 7, 12. Prov. 30. 4. Hos. 11. 1. Comp. with Mat. 2. 15. who being exactly like to his Father, might most fitly be called his likeness or image, as he is, Heb. 1. 3. Or 2. the image of God stamped upon his glorified Soul; which must needs afford him infinite Delight and Satisfaction. Or 3▪ God himself, or the face of God mentioned in the former Clause, and explained here by another Phrase, as is very usual in these Writings. And this Interpretation may receive strength from Numb. 12 8. Where beholding the similitude of the Lord is evidently the same thing, which is elsewhere called [illegible: 1 word] his face, and from Heb. 10 1. Where the image, doth not note the likeness or Representation, but the truth and existence of the thing.