Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.
Ver. 12. Kiss the Son] That Son of God, Psalms 2:7. Bar is a Hebrew word also, see Pro 31:2 as R. Abraham confesseth, though other Rabbis deny it; and therefore render this text, Osculamini pure, Kiss purely, and Osculamini eum qui selectus est, Kiss him who is selected, or set apart. Christ is God's elect, Isa 42:1 Matthew 12:14. Him men must kiss with a kiss of adoration and subjection, with a kiss of faith and love, 1 Peter 5:14. Osculo homagii, as Samuel kissed Saul, 1 Samuel 10:1 Genesis 48:10. Kiss his holy wounds, as Constantine did the eye of Paphnutius, that was bored out in Maximinus the tyrant's time; so shall he kiss us with the kisses of his mouth, Song of Solomon 1:2, and with his kisses suck out the sting of death, and take away our souls with a kiss, as the Rabbis, from Deuteronomy 34:5, say he did Moses's soul. Mortuus, est Moses ad os Iehovae. Maimonides. The ancient patriarchs saluted Christ afar off, and were interchangeably saluted by him, ασπασαμενοι, Hebrews 11:13, for they saw by faith him who is invisible, Hebrews 11:27. Oh get a patriarch's eye, study Moses's optics; for here the northern proverb is found true, Unkent unkist. Men know not the Son of God, and therefore love him not, kiss him not, unless it be Osculo Iscariotico, as the traitor kissed him. See a lofty and lively description of him Hebrews 1:2,3 .
Lest he be angry] For meek though he be as a lamb, and will not break the bruised reed, yet so angry he can be, that the kings and great ones shall be glad to flee from the wrath of this lamb, Revelation 6:16, who hath feet like burning brass and eyes like flaming fire, Rev 1:14-15 Plato saith of the king of bees, that although he hath no sting, yet he ruleth and governeth his commonwealth with great severity and justice. So doth the Lord Christ; and every good soul is ready to say as the poet did,
Ut mala nulla feram nisi nudam Caesaris iram,
Nuda parum nobis Caesaris ira mali est? (Ovid.)
And ye perish from the way ] Or, in the way; that is, in medio studio, before ye come to your journey's end, to the full accomplishment of your purposes and practices, destruction shall suddenly seize you, 1 Thessalonians 5:3 .
When his wrath is kindled but a little] It is sometimes let out in minimums, as Hosea 5:12, but if timely course be not taken, it grows to a great matter, as thunder doth, and as fire, that at first burns a little within upon a few boards, but, if not quenched, bursteth out in a most terrible flame.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him] That is, in Christ, John 14:1. Now to trust in him is so to be unbottomed of thyself and of every creature, and so to lean upon Christ, that if he fail thee thou sinkest; it is to rely upon him alone for safety here and salvation hereafter. This is to secure a man's title to true blessedness; and with this grave sentence the prophet shutteth up the whole psalm, showing the different condition of the godly from the wicked. See Trapp on " Psa 2:9 "