Psalm 102 (I)

[jaybird0827]

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed,
and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.

This psalm relates to some grievous distress; wherein are observable, (1.) Bitter complaints of divine hidings and wrath; of sore bodily troubles; of inward griefs and perplexities; of calumnious reproaches; of sudden changes of condition, and of apparent nearness to death, ver. 1-11. (2.) Seasonable comforts against these grievances, arising from the eternity and unchangeableness of God, ver. 13, 24, 27; and from the deliverances, spread, and establishment he will grant to his church, in answer to the prayers, and for the comfort of his afflicted people, ver. 13-28.





While I sing, think, my soul, if I am exercised by my troubles; if these of the inner man bear heaviest on my heart; and if I am a cordial partaker with Zion in her joys and griefs.

John Brown of Haddington​

Psalm 102(I):1-11

Tune: Martyrs

1 O Lord, unto my pray'r give ear,
my cry let come to thee;
2 And in the day of my distress
hide not thy face from me.

Give ear to me; what time I call,
to answer me make haste:
3 For, as an hearth, my bones are burnt,
my days, like smoke, do waste.

4 My heart within me smitten is,
and it is withered
Like very grass; so that I do
forget to eat my bread.

5 By reason of my groaning voice
my bones cleave to my skin.
6 Like pelican in wilderness
forsaken I have been:

I like an owl in desert am,
that nightly there doth moan;
7 I watch, and like a sparrow am
on the house-top alone.

8 My bitter en'mies all the day
reproaches cast on me;
And, being mad at me, with rage
against me sworn they be.

9 For why? I ashes eaten have
like bread, in sorrows deep;
My drink I also mingled have
with tears that I did weep.

10 Thy wrath and indignation
did cause this grief and pain;
For thou hast lift me up on high,
and cast me down again.

11 My days are like unto a shade,
which doth declining pass;
And I am dry'd and withered,
ev'n like unto the grass.


-- Scottish Metrical Psalter

[Edited on 10-15-2006 by jaybird0827]

 

[jaybird0827]

Psalm 102 (I):12-22




Psalm 102 (I):12-22

Tune: St. Lawrence


12 But thou, Lord, everlasting art,
and thy remembrance shall
Continually endure, and be
to generations all.

13 Thou shalt arise, and mercy have
upon thy Sion yet;
The time to favour her is come,
the time that thou hast set.

14 For in her rubbish and her stones
thy servants pleasure take;
Yea, they the very dust thereof
do favour for her sake.

15 So shall the heathen people fear
the Lord's most holy name;
And all the kings on earth shall dread
thy glory and thy fame.

16 When Sion by the mighty Lord
built up again shall be,
In glory then and majesty
to men appear shall he.

17 The prayer of the destitute
he surely will regard;
Their prayer will he not despise,
by him it shall be heard.

18 For generations yet to come
this shall be on record:
So shall the people that shall be
created praise the Lord.

19 He from his sanctuary's height
hath downward cast his eye;
And from his glorious throne in heav'n
the Lord the earth did spy;

20 That of the mournful prisoner
the groanings he might hear,
To set them free that unto death
by men appointed are:

21 That they in Sion may declare
the Lord's most holy name,
And publish in Jerusalem
the praises of the same;

22 When as the people gather shall
in troops with one accord,
When kingdoms shall assembled be
to serve the highest Lord.


-- Scottish Metrical Psalter

 

[jaybird0827]

Psalm 102 (I):23-28




Psalm 102 (I):23-28

Tune: St. Anne


23 My wonted strength and force he hath
abated in the way,
And he my days hath shortened:
24 Thus therefore did I say,

My God, in mid-time of my days
take thou me not away:
From age to age eternally
thy years endure and stay.

25 The firm foundation of the earth
of old time thou hast laid;
The heavens also are the work
which thine own hands have made.

26 Thou shalt for evermore endure,
but they shall perish all;
Yea, ev'ry one of them wax old,
like to a garment, shall:

Thou, as a vesture, shalt them change,
and they shall changed be:
27 But thou the same art, and thy years
are to eternity.

28 The children of thy servants shall
continually endure;
And in thy sight, O Lord, their seed
shall be establish'd sure.


-- Scottish Metrical Psalter

 

[MW]

I recently came across this book. It is very good. Recommended by the man's minister, Richard Vines, one of the Westminster divines:

Brief notes upon the whole book of Psalms put forth for the help of such who desire to exercise themselves in them and cannot understand without a guide: being a pithy and clear opening of the scope and meaning of the text to the capacity of the weakest. By George Abbot, 1651

The cii. Psalm.

The author of this Psalm in the name and person of the church then in miserable captivity in Babylon, but near the end of it, prays for speedy relief in their lamentable oppression, and from under God’s own indignation, and how desperate soever their condition seems, yet he comforts himself, and in himself the church, with God’s never failing nature and truth, which shall give existence to his church, and consequently restoration, according to the prefixed time then at hand, which will be joy to his people and honour to God, both in present and after-ages amongst Jews and Gentiles, for it shall be an occasion to convert some, and a figure of the great restitution that shall be made by the coming of the Messiah. He magnifies God’s eternal being, and assures the church therefore an everlasting existence, however frail in herself.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

That's great, Rev. Winzer! I mentioned this book previously on this thread but I don't know much about it so I am interested in your thoughts.

I did learn a little about George Abbot from Ann Hughes, Politics, Society and Civil War in Warwickshire, 1620-1660, p. 175:

George Abbott came originally from Yorkshire and was thus one of several strangers on the committee, although he had settled in Warwickshire for many years and owned land in the county at Baddesley Clinton. Abbott was a close friend of the Puritan minister of Caldecote, Richard Vines, and his own interests were primarily theological. He published commentaries of the Book of Job and the Psalms, and most of his will consisted of religious and educational bequests, including a provision of a bible and a copy of Mr Ball's 'large catechism' for each poor family in Caldecote. Abbott was elected to the Commons as Recruiter M.P. for Tamworth in 1645; his duties at Westminster coupled with his poor health, meant that he was unable to be as active on the committee in 1646.24

24. D.N.B. under George Abbott, J.C. Wedgewood, Staffordshire Parliamentary History (1920), 64 - 72; Richard Vines' dedication to Abbott's The Whole Book of Psalms Paraphrazed (1650) where Vines writes that Abott 'lived under my Ministry and in intimate correspondence with me' for twenty years. Prob. 11/207 f.54. Abbott died in 1649, aged 46. He was ill at a call of the House of Commons in 1647. Abbott is described by most authorities at William Purefoy's son-in-law, but it is clear from both their wills that this cannot have been the case.

 

[MW]

Andrew,

I've not seen that thread before. Glad to see the books helping others. Regrettably, I have had to let go of hardcopy publishing. Too much involved and too little time.

This is the DNB article on George Abbott (I hope I'm not breaching copyright).

Abbott, George (1604-1649), writer and politician, was born in 1604 and baptized on 13 March at St Mary Bishophill Junior, York, the son of George Abbott (d. 1607) of York and Joan, the daughter of Aleyn Penkeston. Both Abbott's father and grandfather Penkeston were counted minor gentry in the city, but neither was a freeman. Abbott's grandfather, another George Abbott, was a yeoman farmer, of Featherstone, near Pontefract, and members of the Abbott family remained there throughout this subject's lifetime, to provide jurors for the West Riding quarter sessions. On his father's side Abbott was related to the Pickering family, settled in various places in Yorkshire, and there was a modest family estate of the Penkestons at Sheriff Hutton in the North Riding. Thus both the Abbotts and Penkestons were recently arrived in York from elsewhere in Yorkshire and their claim to gentility was somewhat tenuous. George Abbott's father died in November 1607 and Abbott himself moved south, to Caldecote in north Warwickshire, soon after January 1609, when his mother married William Purefoy (c.1580-1659) , who owned the manor there.

There is no evidence that Abbott attended either Oxford or Cambridge universities, and it is likely that he lived a comparatively secluded life at Caldecote with his mother and stepfather, free to pursue independent studies. If these intellectual interests were at first unfocused, they were given a new purpose with the appointment by Purefoy to the living of Caldecote of Richard Vines, a forceful puritan minister. From his arrival in 1630 Vines became Abbott's spiritual and academic mentor, and under his guidance Abbott published his first book, The Whole Booke of Job Paraphrased, in 1640. It provided by means of parallel texts—the book in the Authorized Version and Abbott's summary of it—an accessible introduction to a difficult work of scripture, and was motivated by Abbott's desire to evangelize through publishing.

Abbott was elected MP for Tamworth, not far from his stepfather's home, in the Short Parliament of April 1640. The inhabitants resented the election by the civic oligarchy of an outsider, and he did not represent the borough when parliament reassembled in November. His next book, Vindiciae sabbathi (1641), was more topical than the first, and Abbott took advantage of the times to denounce what he considered Laudian disregard for sabbath observance. On the outbreak of civil war Abbott's stepfather was among the most active of Warwickshire parliamentarians, and on 28 August 1642 Abbott found himself, in the absence of any other menfolk, defending Caldecote House, his mother, and her servants, against eighteen troops of horse under the command of Prince Rupert. Heroic, not to say traumatic, though it was, this incident was his only involvement in military action, but he settled down to become a prominent local committeeman on behalf of parliament over the next few years. He was rewarded for his diligence by a seat in the House of Commons, once again for Tamworth, from 2 October 1645. His contribution to the proceedings of the house during 1646 was modest, his most significant service signalled by his appointment to the committee for plundered ministers and as a commissioner for regulating access to the Lord's supper, both appointments which recognized his authority in matters ecclesiastical and theological.

In November 1646 Abbott fell sick and was given leave to retire to the country. He never recovered, and died on 21 February 1649 at Caldecote, where he was buried. His last book, The Whole Book of Psalms Paraphrased (1650), was a companion volume to his first, and appeared after his death. He never married, and the tomb erected for him by his mother recorded his defence of Caldecote and his scholarly distinction.

 

[MW]

I mentioned in another thread the popular Puritan saying about singing David's psalms with David's spirit. George Abbott also employs it in his epistle to the reader:

It was not enough to be a priest to offer sacrifice, but it must be done by a holy man with holy fire. And therefore should we sing the Psalms of David in the spirit of David, and read them as he writ them, with frameable tempers to the matter treated.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Originally posted by armourbearer
Andrew,

I've not seen that thread before. Glad to see the books helping others. Regrettably, I have had to let go of hardcopy publishing. Too much involved and too little time.

That's too bad.

Originally posted by armourbearer
I mentioned in another thread the popular Puritan saying about singing David's psalms with David's spirit. George Abbott also employs it in his epistle to the reader:

It was not enough to be a priest to offer sacrifice, but it must be done by a holy man with holy fire. And therefore should we sing the Psalms of David in the spirit of David, and read them as he writ them, with frameable tempers to the matter treated.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

I found a Wikipedia concerning him as well.

Originally posted by armourbearer
His next book, Vindiciae sabbathi (1641), was more topical than the first, and Abbott took advantage of the times to denounce what he considered Laudian disregard for sabbath observance.

This work looks particularly interesting.

[Edited on 10-16-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]