Be ye not as the horse, [or] as the mule, [which] have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
Ver. 9. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule] David having, according to the title Maschil, promised to teach, useth this preface to bespeak attention. Be not uncounsellable, irreclaimable, such as Basil (Ad Evag. Epist. 10) complaineth of, qui neque quid sit verum sciunt, neque sustinent discere, who neither knew, nor would be taught, what was true, and fit to be practised. Of the rhinoceros some write, that slain he may be, caught he cannot be. Others, that he is animal animo indomito, a most untameable creature; for if he be taken, he presently dieth of sullenness. Such spirits we meet with not a few, who yet would take it in foul scorn to be reckoned horses and asses, that have no understanding, neither will be taught any. To these the psalmist here saith, Ne obstupescite, et obbrutescite ad exercitationes Dei, &c. Be not as horse or mule, lest ye be led through a fool's paradise into a true prison. Be not headlong, headstrong, untameable, untractable, &c. The horse and mule are instanced, as well known among the Jews, and used to be ridden on.
Which have no understanding] And yet the horse knoweth his owner, &c. Strange things are reported of Bucephalus, and Julius Caesar's great horse. Of the Egyptian Mamelukes' horses it is reported, that they were so docible, that at certain signs or speeches of the rider they would with their teeth reach him up from the ground a lance, an arrow, or such like thing; and as if they had known the enemy, run upon him with open mouth, and lash at him with their heels; and had by nature and custom learned not to be afraid of anything.
Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle] Lest they kick and bite thee, Ne mordeat nocentve tibi (Jun.). Such is the mad world's wages and usage of the most faithful preachers. B. Ridley lamented it in his time; the great ones spurned privily against those that went about most busily and wholesomely to cure their sore backs. As for Latimer, Lever, Bradford, Knox, saith he, their tongues were so sharp, they ripped in so deep to their galled backs, to let out the filthy matter, that they could never abide them. Thus he, and much more concerning King Edward VI's courtiers (Acts and Mon. 1616). The words may be read thus, Whose mouth, except it be held with bit and bridle, they will not come nigh unto thee, that is, thou wilt not be able to rule them. It is a good observation of a modern divine, Not the unruly colt only, but the horse that is broken, hath a bit and bridle also. So even the godly need the bridle of the law, ne spiritum sessorem excutiant, lest they cast their rider.