But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.
Ver. 8. But now, O Lord, thou art our father.] Or, Yet now, O Lord, thou art our father; therefore "we shall not die," say they, Heb 1:12 boldly, but warrantably. See on Isaiah 63:16 .
We are the clay, and thou art our potter.] This was grown to a proverb among the heathens also, Kεραμος ο ανθρωπος, Man is a clod of clay; πηλος κομψως πεφυραμενος, A piece of clay neatly made up, saith Arian upon Epictetus. Fictus ex argilla et luto homulus, a saith Cicero. And Nigidius was surnamed Figulus, or the Potter, saith Augustine, because he used to say that man was nothing else but an earthen vessel. See 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 5:1 .
We are all the work of thy hands.] Both as made and remade by thee; therefore despise us not. Job 10:8-9 Psa 138:8 Look upon the wounds of thy hands, and forsake not the work of thine hands, prayed Queen Elizabeth.
a Orat. ad Pison.