But none saith, where [is] God my Maker?
&c.] Or "Makers" F25, as in ( Psalms 149:2 ) ( Isaiah 54:5 ) ; for there are more concerned in the formation of man, ( Genesis 1:26 ) ; even the Father, Son, and Spirit, who are the one God that has made all men, ( Malachi 2:10 ) . Now not one of the oppressed ones that cry by reason of their oppression, or very few of them, inquire after God, seek unto him for help and deliverance from their oppressions, or desire to enjoy him and his gracious presence under their afflictions and distresses; and that is one reason why they are not heard: they do not so much as consider him as the author of their beings, and be thankful to him for them; nor as the preserver of them in their beings; nor as their kind benefactor, who gives them all that they enjoy, and who is the disposer of all their affairs in providence: and if they are new creatures, or are remade, they are his workmanship; and therefore should upon all accounts seek him and submit to his will, and patiently bear all their afflictions, waiting his time to deliver them out of them: but there are few or none that regard him in this light, or make an inquiry after him, even though he has not only made them, but is he
who giveth songs in the night;
which respects not the praises of the angels in the night, as the Targum; nor the shining of the moon and stars in the night, which cause praise and thankfulness; nor the singing of birds in the night, as of the nightingale; senses some give into: but matter and cause of rejoicing in the night, either taken literally, as the mercies of the day, which, when reflected upon when men come to lie down on their beds at night, and commune with their hearts there, afford them songs of praise, see ( Psalms 42:8 ) . Or the mercies of the night, as sweet refreshing sleep, and preservation in safety from all dangers by fire, thieves all which are of God; and, when duly considered, will direct to encompass him with songs of deliverance, see ( Psalms 137:2 Psalms 137:3 ) ( 3:5 ) ( 4:8 ) . Or, figuratively, the night sometimes signifying a time of calamity, affliction, and distress, either on temporal or spiritual accounts; and when men seek to him in such a night with their whole hearts, and he is pleased to visit them in a gracious manner, and favour them with his presence and the discoveries of his love, this occasions songs of praise to him, ( Isaiah 26:9 ) ( Psalms 17:3 ) . But when men are unconcerned about and not thankful for the mercies of the day and of the night, though these administer songs unto them, it is no wonder that, when they cry through oppression, they are not heard.