For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
Ver. 6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee] "For this," that thou hast so graciously done for me, the godly shall gladly perform these two duties; the prayer of faith and the obedience of faith. As I have been an example to them of sin, which is now my grief, so I shall be to them of good, and that is my comfort. Where note, first, That every godly man is a praying man. God hath no dumb children in his house. Secondly, That such will be making use of God's dealings with others for their own instruction and comfort, "For this." Thirdly, That they will observe the fittest times to make their addresses to God; as courtiers watch their - mollissima fandi tempora.
In a time when thou mayest be found] i.e. In a time of need, say some, Psalms 50:15; or, in a time of favour (as the Chaldee here hath it), Isaiah 55:6, before the decree bring forth, Zephaniah 2:2, before the drawbridge be taken up, the day of grace be expired, John 7:34; John 8:21 Heb 6:6 Luke 13:29 .
Surely in the floods of great waters] In the greatest of outward troubles or inward perplexities.
They shall not come nigh unto him] sc. To prejudice his eternal salvation; freed he shall be, if not from the smart, yet from the hurt, of personal crosses; and for public calamities, he shall be delivered, if not from the common destruction, yet from the common distraction. Washed he may be, as Paul was in the shipwreck, but not drowned with those floods of great waters; be they never so great, they are bounded. Besides, the godly man rescipiscit antequam superveniant fluctus miseriarum, as R. Obad. here noteth, repenteth before those floods come upon him, and so redeemeth his own sorrows. For he saith thus,