He sitteth alone,.... Retires from the world, and the men of it, who takes upon him the yoke of Christ; though he is not alone, but God, Father, Son, and Spirit, are with him; and he is with the saints, the excellent of the earth, and has communion with them; and so he is that under the afflicting hand of God bears it patiently, and does not run from place to place complaining of it, but sits still, and considers the cause, end, and use of it. Some render the words in connection with the preceding, it is good "that he sit alone" b; it is good for a man to be alone; in his closet, praying to God; in his house or chamber, reading the word of God; in the field, or elsewhere, meditating upon it, and upon the works of God, of nature, providence, and grace:
and keepeth silence, because he hath borne [it] on him: or, "took it on him"; either because he took it upon him willingly, and therefore should bear it patiently; or because he (God) hath put it upon him c, and therefore should be silent, and not murmur and repine, since he hath done it, Psalms 39:9.
b ישב בדד "ut sedeat solus", Gataker. c נטל עליו "projecit super ipsum", Tigurine version; "sub. Dominus", Vatablus; "quod imposuerit ipsi Deus", Junius & Tremellius, Michaelis.