2 2.C- LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by Tres,"?/^.^ \tDoe.r^ Sechon....!..^....^-.' — 1 Q ^ 7. Kltft OAHKETT ' '^Art ^GrlEDB-SX H^DmSfJE^BoBc ^., / V T. (lUvf,EngT«vr,l V.N .l.B. i.cn^'nr PuMishfd In, . '/Ir.,' lotoor. ^^Uetrtistmeut* WHAT the royal moralist observes of seasonable coun- sels, that " they are like apples of gokl in pictures of sil- ver," may, with the greatest propriety, i)e applied to the Book of Psalms, as illustrated by the inestimable Commen- tary of the venerable Bishop *Horne. Here learning is, what it always should be, the handmaid to devotion; and the most refined taste is brought to the service of piety. The Christian professor is here continually reminded of his Saviour, and of the riches of redemption wliich are laid up in him who made more use of the Psalms than any other portion of the sacred writings, not only because they spake of his humiliation and sufierings, his resurrection and ascension, but particularly because these divine compo- sitions are adapted to all the purposes for which he came into the world, of " purif3'ing unto himself a people zealou«; of good works." To the same end, and in imitation of her great head and exemplar, the Church has appointed these inspired hymns to be used in a regular order in her daily offices ; but it is to be feared that too many of her members lose the benefit intended, for want of having the veil lifted up which covers, under typical characters and figurative representations, the; sublime mysteries of the kingdom of God. To animate Christians in j)ublic worship, and to edify them in their private studies, the excellent autlior of this work has employed many years of his valuable life in eluci- dating that book, which the great Luther emphatically and Justly termed. "The Little Bible." OF THE RIGHT REVEREND GEORGE HORNE, D. D. LORD BISHOP OF NORWICH. This exemplary prelate was the son of the reverend Samuel Home, M. A. rector of Biede, in Sussex, and of Otham, in Kent, in the l.Tst of which livings he was succeeded, in 1768, by his son William Home, M. A. formerly demy of Magdalen College, Oxford. The bishop was born at Otham, and baptized in the parish church there, November 1, 1730. His early education was conducted by his worthy father, and next by the reve- rend Deodatus Bye, master of Maidstone grammar school, who observed, at his admission, that " he was fitter to go from school than to come to it."" In March 1745-6, he was admitted at University College, Oxford, having' been previously chosen to a scholarship from Maidstone school ; and, in October 1749, he took his degree of bachelor of arts. The year following, he was elected to the fellowship of Magdalen College, which is appropriated to a native of the county of Kent. He was a very laborious student, and he had an elegant taste in Greek, Latin, and English poetry, of which he gave many admirable specimens, while he was no more than an undergraduate in the university. His constant aim, however, was to render the acquisition of polite literature subservient to the study of theology and the illustration of the sacred writings In the language of the early companion of his liter- ary pursuits, and who became his chaplain and biographer, " he raised his thoughts from the poets and orators of Greece and Rome, to the contem- plation of the great Creator's wisdom, in his word and in his works."* While at University College he became enamoured of the Hebrew language, which he studied with close application, and this brought him acquainted with the writings of the learned John Hutchinson, whose whole life was de. voted to the great object of deducing from the Mosaic scriptures the princi- ples of true philosophy. In 1751, Mr. Home manifested his attachment to this system, wliich wa.s at that time exceedingly unpopular in our seats of learning, by publishing witliout his name, a tract entitled, " The Theology and Philosophy in Cicero's Somnium Scipionis explained ; or a brief attempt to demonstrate, that the Newtonian system is perfectly agreeable to the notions of the wisest ancients ; and that mathematical principles are the only sure ones."' The chief merit of this pamphlet lies in its wit, the aim of it being to expose the received philosophy as no other than a revival of what was maintained ages ago by Cicero and the Stoics. * Dedication to the Rev. William Jones's Sermon " on the Natwal History of tlie El:itc(i to Clotrher. He di.-d in 1732. Uisliop Garnet was tliQ autlior of a mi y iKiiiilnim'' irc.iii-c on the iSook of .Job. U> which, like Warburton, he assigns a date postrrioi- lo tlio caplivily. BISHOP HORNE. vii an interest in him, and are concerned in the increase of liis king^doni ; who, as members of the same body, have an intimate fellow-feeling, and all suffer or rejoice for the loss or recovery of a limb. Archdeacon Hamilton I know well, and Am happy in callins: him my old friend and companion. He is a Christian in head and heart, the one en- lightened with knowledge, the other warm with love; equally removed from a dead profession and a groundless enthusiasm, the two baneful plagues of tlus (I am afraid I must say falling) church. The news of his recovery, since attested by a kind and most excellent letter from himself, we received with great joy. He comes forth like gold tried and brightened in the fur- nace of sorrows and adversity, to enrich many with the riches of grace, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, hid in Christ, and manifested by the preaching of the Gospel of God. I rejoice to hear you have other faithful labourers on that side of the water, which confirms to us tiie truth of that divine maxim, that God will never leave himself without a witness. There is always a call, if men had but ears to hear, which nothing but grace can furnish them witii, — " The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made both of them."— I shall be glad to hear how Dr. Ellis** goes on, and whether he builds up as well as he pulls down. You surprise me mucii with the account of bishop Brownf being an admirer of Hutchinson. Let us know a little of your confab togetlier, and how that matter stands. When you see young Mrs. Brown, present my compliments to her, and likewi3e to the other sister, good Mrs. Brcviter, a near relation of Mrs. Quicklv of facetious memory. You mention nothing of Mr. Auchmuty, an ohl friend of mine at Edmund HA], son, I think, of the late dean of Armagh. If he be in Dub- lin's own self, touch him up. He knows tlie truth, but, I am afraid, sleepeth. Give him a jog or so. Now for a da^ to the reig'ning- family. He was dome.'iticated as chaplain in the family of Mr. Gibbon, the histoi-ian, who speaks highly of his piety and fjenius. It is however to be laniented that the author of " the Serious Call to a devout and holy life," should have fallen into the very dregs of mysticism. He died in 1761. t Benjamin Wheeler, of Trinity College, and afterwards fellow of Magdalen College, took his doctor's degiee in 1770, and died July 21, 1783. Ue was professor of poetry in the University ; and of whom Dr. .Johnson, in a Utter to a young clergyman, relates the following anecdote i "My learned friend, Dr. Wheeler of Oxford, when he was a young man, had the care of a neighbouring parish, for which he was never paid ; but he counted it a con- venience, that it compelled him to make a sermon weekly. One woman he could not bring to the communion ; and when he reproved or exhorted her, she only answered, that she was no scholar. He was advised to set some good woman or man of the parish, a little wiser than herself, to talk to her in language level to her mind," t The late celebrated William Romaine, M. A. rector of St. Anno, BUickfriars, who had just before published his Discourbcs on the 107th Psalm. § The covering of truth. II Samuel Glasse, then a student of Christ Church, D. D. in 1769, and afterwards chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, and rector of Wanstead. Between this exceUent divine and bishop Home the closest iiitima'-y .subsisted during life. T Charles Poynti, was M. A. of Chri-it Church, in 1759, and D. D. in 17G'>. BISHOP HORNE. ix About this time our author published two sermons; one preached in Mag- daleu Colleg^e Chapel, on the anniversary of St. John the Baptist ; and the other, entitled, " Christ the Light of the World. " It is very extraordinary, that neither of these valuable discourses should have found a place in the collection of his works; which unaccountable omission leads us to express our regret that a correct and uniform edition of the productions of this sound divine and elegant writer, has not hitherto made its appearance. The publication of the sermon preached in the university pulpit, brought the author into a controversy, in which he distinguished himself not more by his zeal for truth, than by Christian meekness. In 1756, appeared a pamphlet with this title, " A Word to the Hutchinsonians ; or, Remarks on three extraordinary Sermons, lately preached before the University of Ox- ford, by the Rev. Dr. Patten, the Rev. Mr. Wetherell,* and the Rev. Mr. Home." About the same time was published, another tract to the same purpose, but to which the author had the candour of prefixing his name. This last piece bears the title of " The Use of Reason, asserted in matters of Religion ; or. Natural Religion the foundation of Revealed. In answer to a Sermon preached before tlic University of Oxford, on Whit-Sunday, .Inly 13, 1755; and lately published at the request of the Vice-Chancellor, and other heads of houses, by T. Patten, D. D Fellow of Corpus College ; by Ralph Heathcote, M. A. of Jesus College, Cambridge, and assistant preacher at Lincoln's Inn." To these violent attacks upon a set of respec- table scholars, who had no otherwise rendered themselves the object of cen- sure, than by exerting themselves with peculiar energy in the revival of Hebrew literature; our author replied in "An Apology for certain Gentle- men in the University of Oxford, aspersed in a late anonymous pamphlet; with a postscript concerning another pamphlet lately published by the Rev. Mr. Heathcote." The last of these adversaries had piiidence enough to withdraw from a contest into which he had obtruded out of vanity, and to in"Tatiate iiimself into the favour of his friend, the redoubtable Dr. ^Var- burton; but the anonymous writer who had provoked the warfare, conti- nued it, though with a feeble hand, in a tract entitled, " True Censure no Aspersion; or a vindication of a late seasonable admonition, called a Word to the Hutchinsonians, in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Home." It is now well known that this piece, and the one which it defends, came from the pen of Mr. Kennicott, the celebrated collator of Hebrew manuscripts, whose learn- in"- lay contracted within very narrow limits, but who compensated the want of genius and judgment by the most indefatigable industry. The illi- berality with which this divine treated some of his contemporaries, who were by much his superiors, not only in general knowledge, but even in that branch of study ujjon which he prided himseliihe most, very naturally excited their jealousy, when they saw him embark in a concern of such apparent hazard, as that of publishing an improved edition of the Old Testament. Estimating his abilities by what they knew of him, and of his spirit by these intemperate publications, the persons who were stigmatized as a sect, by the name of Hutchinsonians, regarded the project of Kennicott in the light of a speculation pregnant with mischief to the cause of revelation. Among * Natlian Wetlicrell, of University College, took his Master's Degree in 1750, and those of B. ana D.U. in 1764. He became Msfter of hi.< college, Prebendary of Weslmin^ter. inrt Dean of Hereford. X MEMOIR OF others who took alarm on this occasion was Mr. Home, whose apprehen- sions, instead of being- removed by the publication of the plan, were in- creased by the petulance of its language, the confidence of the author, and the freedom of his censures. This work drew from Mr. Home one of the keenest of his performances, under the title of " A View of Mr. Kennicott's method of correcting the Hebrew Text, with three queries formed there- upon, and twenty submitted to the consideration of the learned and Chris- tian world." It is but justice, however, to these two eminent men, to ob- serve in this place, that as the work whicli was the subject of animadversion in this tract proceeded, tlie opposition to it abated, in consequence of the circumspection adopted by the collator, who had the discretion to turn the hints of his opponents to the advantage of his literary labours. Thus con- troversj', when properly managed and duly improved, tends to put the one party upon his guard, and to direct him in a better course, while it acts as a stimulant to tlie other in detecting errors, and suggesting practical im- provements. The province of science has been extended by those disputes, in which the world at large finds little interest, and of which superficial minds are apt to entertain an unfavourable judgment, as though it were nothing more than a waste of words and the ebullition of passion excited by the diflerence of opinion. But it should be considered, that truth is not elicited without inquiry, and that on subjects of importance, when men of ability contend, they of necessity bring forward their strongest reasons, and examine every argument and testimony with a rigid and scrupulous severity. It is, however, happy when theological contests are conducted in the spirit which distinguished that great ornament of our church, the judicious Hooker, whose sharpest language to a captious disputant was this, " Your uext argument consists of railing and of reasons ; to your railing I say no- thing; to your reasons, I say what follows." Such was the temper in which our author defended the principles he espoused ; and it is pleashig to remark that though he had received rather coarse treatment from Kennicott, and thought very little of his gieat scheme, a perfect friendship afterwards subsisted between them, which was not in the least disturbed till the death of the collator, in 1783. In 1758, Mr. Home discharged the office of junior proctor of the Univer- s.ity; and the next year, he took his degree of Bachelor in Divinity. At this time he was a liberal correspondent of Dr. Dodd, who had tlien undertaken the management of the Christian Magazine, for Newberry. Some of the most valuable papers in that useful miscellany can>e from the pen of our author, under the signature of Academicus. In 17fi4, he took the degree of Doctor in Divinity; but it is remarkable that he never had any benefice, or preferment, till, by the death of Dr. Jen- ncr, President of Magdalen College, in 1768, he was elected to succeed him in that important station. This year he also entered into the marriage state, with the daughter of Philip Burton, Esq. of Hatton-street, in London, and of Eltliam, in Kent, ^y this lady he had three daughters. The year fol- lowing he testified his regard for the Junior members of his college, by pub- lishing, with a view to their edification, " Considerations on the Life and Death of St. John the Baptist." This inestimable little work was the sub- stance of several sermons, which were delivered by the author, before the University, in Magdalen College Chapel, according to annual custom BISHOP HORNE. xi In 1771, he w.is appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty; and in 1772, when an association was formed by those divines who inclined to the Arian or Socinian tenets, for the purpose of abolishing subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles, Dr. Home printed a letter, addressed to Lord North, •' On tlie projected Reformation of the Church of England;" in which he showed clearly, that the projected sciieme, instead of promoting unity, and ad^■anfing the cause of Cluistifinity, would be the occasion of discord, and the source of infidelity. In 1776 appeared that great work which had for many years been his fa- vourite employment, and to the perfection of which he brought all the stores of bis multifarious studies, and the fruits of his retired meditations. This was his " Commentary on the Psalms," in two volumes, quarto; and when i\Ir. Prince the publisher, was carrying the first set to the college, some per- son who met him asked what he had got there. " It is," said the booksel- ler, " a new work of the President of Magdalen, whose former production* have given him a name, but this will render his name immortal." Of this Commentary it may be truly said, that it is equally adapted to edify the profound scholar and the unlearned Christian; that it throws light upon dark passages, and clears up difficuhies without tlie parade of criticism; while in every elucidation, practical improvement is consulted, and the reader of every description is enabled to draw si>iritual instruction even from the dry subject of j)hilological discus.sion. This year Dr. Home was appointed Vice-ChanceUor of the University, in which important station ho continued till the close of 1780; and it may be truly said, that no person ever held that oftice with greater dignity and popularity. On the death of Da^id Hume, his zealous admirer, Adam Smith, published an extravagant panegyric upon the phUsopher; in which he was not contented with praising his friend for his meritorious qualities, a* a moral character, and his splendid talents as a wi'itcr, but he coloured the picture in such a manner as to give his liero every virtue that could adorn human nature, and that obviously for the purpose of undervaluing the principles of revealed religion, and of depreciating the motives of its profes- sors. As an antidote to this pernicious apology for the poison of infidelity, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford published '• A Letter to Dr. Smith, on the Life, Death, and Philosophy of his Friend, David Hume, Esq. by one of the People called Cliristians." In tliis little piece, which happily blends the closest reasoning with the keenest wit, the character of Hume is faithfully delineated, and the malignant conduct of his panegyrist completely exposed. In 1779, Dr. Home favoured the world with two vakimes of admirable Ser- mons, in which line of composition it may safely be affirmed that he has been equalled by few and excelled by none; for his style is remarkably vi- gorous, and yet so perfectly simple, that the plainest understanding cannot avoid being immediately convinced by tlie arguments, and affected by the exhortations. On the advancement of Dr. Comwallis to the bishopric of Lichfield, in 1781, the President of Magdalen was appointed to succeed him in the dean- ery of Canterbury, from which period, till his elevation to a higher station in the church, he divided his time in a regular course between the duties of the College and the Cathedral, to the equal satisfaction of all who had the happiness of living under his g^overnment During bis residence at Canter- xii MEMOIR OF bury, he was ever ready to exert his services in the pulpit on public occa- sions. The opening of a new organ in the Cathedral, the institution of Sun- day Schools, the anniversary of the gentlemen educated in the King's School, and the visitation of the Archbishop, afforded him opportunities of displaying in that city with what taste and feeling he could describe the power of music; with what zeal he could plead for the indigent; with what energy he could point out the means of obtaining true wisdom; and with what strength he could " contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints." While on these occasions he gratified the public as a preacher, his talents were also employed as a writer, in exposing the vain pretensions of " Sci- ence, falsely so called." In 1784 appeared, but without his name, a small volume entitled, " Letters on Infidelity;" in which the system of Hume is held up to just contempt, and the sophistry of that sceptic laid open in all its native deformity. With the same anxious concern for the cause of Christianity, our author next encountered the great champion of Socini- anism, in " A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Priestley, by an Undergraduate." For while, in the judgment of the Dean, infidelity had a necessaiy tendency to destroy morality, by depriving it of the only sanction that can give it force for the regulation of human actions, he also looked upon that which is called tlie Unitarian doctrine, especially as taught in the modern schools, in the light of an auxiliary, or rather guide to that enemy of God's image in the soul of man. At length, though too late for the benefit of the church, the great merit of Dr. Hoi-ne was rewarded with the mitre, by his consecration to the bishopric of Norwich, June 7th, 1790; the sermon on which occasion being preached by his old and constant friend Dr. Berkeley, Prebendary of Can- terbury. Soon after this event, he resigned his station in Magdalen Col- lege ; but, though he repaired to his episcopal palace, he found it difficult to go up and down the steps, owing to his increasing infirmities, for the al- leviation of which he was constrained to reside at Bath, where the use of the waters gave him temporary relief. At this time his eldest daughter was married to the reverend Mr. Sclby Hele, rector of Colesworth, in Bedford- shire, and chaplain to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. On this occasion, the Bishop wrote the following letter to Dr. Berkeley, which evinces the same fervent piety and innocent gayety that distinguished the accomplished writer throughout life. Bath, May 21, 1791. My Dear Frienb, IN negotiations of the matrimonial kind, nmlta cederunt inter, he. and therefore I think it better to say nothing of the matter till the newspapers tell it every body at once that the thing is done, and there's an end of if. I always desired my girls to secure three points in a husband — good temper, good sense, and good principles : if they meet with a good person and a good fortune, they might be thrown in, and no harm. For the present in- stance, as far as I can judge, we are well off" throughout, and all parties pleased, and so God bless them. To see a little of the world before they settle, they are gone for three or four months upon the Continent ; as to cake, we must therefore wait, I believe, for a slice of right national, for BISHOP HORNE. xiii they set off on tlip evening of the wedding-day ; and (he trusty Betty, on her return to Eltliani, deposed she had seen 'em under sail for tlie coast of France. Best tliunks to Mrs. Berkeley, for her very kind letter, which ha«; found its way hither. My wife is passing a few days at Olhaiu, after the hurry and heat of Sackville-street. I bless God the waters and weather here carry me on charmingly. I write, you sec, nearly as well as ever I did ; and as to utterance, hope to be a match for Norwich Cathedral by the end of July, when I am engaged there for the infirmary. Once a year, by God's blessing, I propose to refresh nature at Bath, and keep things going. I hope, when we can get rid of these cold winds, for such they arc, not- withstanding the sun this day, Mr. Berkeley's gout will melt away like ice in the fair weather. The doctors want me to have a fit ; but I wish to leave that matter to God's goodness. I sooth my mind, and settle my temper every night with a page or two of Bozzy [i. e. Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson], and always meet with something to the purpose. My sleep is sweet after it. God bless you all. So prayeth, my dear friend, Your affectionate friend anl servant, G. NORWICH. This year the ^ood prelate published the " Charge to tiie Clergy of his Diocess ;" whicii, on account of tiie declining state of his health, he had been prevented from delivering personally, but which he now sent to them from the press, as he says in the preliminary advertisement, " that so, when- ever he should be called hence, he might leave some testimony of his regard for them, and attention to their concerns." This was the completion of all his public customs ; and the close was marked by the same liveliness of sen- timent, perspicuity of illustration, and zeal for evangelical truth, which dis- tinguished him in every stage of his ministry. In this farewell discourse, he treats with a vigour of reasoning almost peculiar to himself, " the nature of God ; the nature of man ; the saving principle of faith ; the importance and use of the church ; the obedience due to civil government ; and the ne- cessity of a pure life and holy conversation." The complication of disorders with which this excellent man was afflicted, compelled him to return to Bath ; but, on the road, he was attacked by a paralytic stroke, which, though it did not weaken his mental powers, de- prived him of articulate utterance ; and it was but by slow degrees that he so far recovered his speech as to be understood by his attendants. Not long before his departure " to that rest which remaineth for the people of God, ' he signified a strong wish to have the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ad- ministered to him ; and when the solemn ordinance was over, he clasped his hands with an emotion of rapturous devotion, and exclaimed, '• Now am I blessed indeed 1" He languished on, from this time till January 17th, 1792, and then breathed his last, without a groan. " Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." The mortal remains of the bishop were interred in the family vault be- longing to his father-in-law, Philip Burton, Esq. at Eltham, in Kent ; in the church-yard of which parish is a monument, with the following inscription, a copy of which, with some slight alteration, is also placed on a tablet to his memory, in the Cathedral of Norwich. xiv MEMOIR OF BISHOP IIORNE. Here lie interred Tlie earthly Kemains of The Rig^ht Keveromi GEOUGE HORNE, D.D. Maiiy years President of Magtlalen College, in Oxforil, l)ean of Canterbiu-y, And late Bishop of Norwich. In whose Character, r>epth of Learning;, brigfhtness of Imao;ination, Sanctity of Manners, and sweetness of Temper, Were united beyond the usual lot of Mortality. With his discourses from the Pulpit, his hearers, Whether of the University, the City, or the Country Parish, Were edified and delig'hted. His Commentai-y on the Psalms will continue to be A Companion to the Closet, Till the Devotion of Earth shall end in the Hallelujahs of Heaven. Having patiently suffered under such infirmities As seemed not due to his years. His Soul took its flight from this Vale of Misery, To the unspealial>le loss of the Church of England, And his surviving Friends and Admirers, Jan. 17th, 1792, in the 62d Vear of his Age. The style of Bishop Home is nervous, and frequently epigrammatic, par- ticularly on subjects of a controversial nature, and where serious argument would have been thrown away upon those who either wanted sense or ho- tiesty to feel its force, and to treat it witii reverence. But though this Chris- tian advocate sometimes indulged a sportive humour, when he condescended to enter the list with writers whose talents he conceived to be dangerously employed, he never disgraced his powers by acrimony, nor weakened the effect of them by abuse. " Wit," said he, " if used at all, should be tem- pered with good humour, so as not to exasperate the person who is the ob- ject of it; and tlien,we are sure there is no mischief done. The disputant ought to be at once firm and calm ; his head cool, and his heart warm." The conduct of the bishop corresponded with the picture of his heart ex- hibited in his literary productions. He was distinguished by the suavity of his manners, no less than by the firmness of bis faith and the ardour of his zeal. He was not only a " burning, but a shining light," exhibiting in every relation the practical influence of those principles which he tliought it his duty to defend against all gainsayer?. He was a most agreeable as well as instructive companion ; and, as he abounded in anecdote, which he alv/ays introduced in season, liis conversa- tion never failed to afford delightful entertainment to those who had a taste for moral and intellectual pleasure. That he might never forget the solemn obligations by which he had bound himself, it was his prescribed custom to read over the service for the ordination of priests, on the first day of every month, which practice being accompanied by devout meditation, was well cal<:ulatcd to increase his humility, to strengthen his faith, and to animate his resolution in the discharge of his duty. Besides the publications which have been already noticed, he wrote the " Preface to Dodd's Translation of Callimachus ;" a Tract " On the Repeal of the Test Act ;" tlie " Miscellany by Nathaniel Freebody," in tlie St. James's Chronicle for 1767; several papers signed Z. in the Olla Podrida, published in 1787 ; some others printed by the late Rov. William Jones, his Chaplain, in the " Scholar Armed," 2 vols. 8vo. ; and, since his death, three volumes of his Sermons have been printed, together with his " Miscellane- ous Works and Essays;" ajid " Considerations on the Life and Death of Abel " &.C. PREFACE. 1 HE Psalms are an epitome of the Bible, adapted to the pur- poses of devotion. They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world ; the dispensations of Providence, and the economy of grace ; the transactions of the patriarchs ; the ex- odus of the children of Israel ; their Journey through the wilder- ness, and settlement in Canaan ; their law, priesthooii, and ritual ; the exploits of their great men, wrought through faith ; their sins and captivities ; their repentances and restorations; the sufl'erings and victories of David; the peaceful and happy reign of Solomon; the advent of Messiah, with its effects and consequences ; his incarnation, birth, life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, kingdom, and priesthood ; the effusion of the Spirit ; the conver- sion of the nations ; the rejection of the Jews ; the establishment, increase, and perpetuity of the Christian church ; the end of the world; the general judgment; the condemnation of the wicked, and the final triumph of the righteous with their Lord and King. These are tlie subjects here presented to our meditations. We are instructed how to conceive of them aright, and to express the different affections, which, when so conceived of, they must ex- cite in our minds. They are, for this jnirpose, adorned v.ith the figures, and set off witli all the graces of poetry ; and poetry itself is designed yet farther to be recommended by the charms of music, thus consecrated to the service of God; that so delight may pre- pare the way for improvement, and pleasme -become the hand- maid of wisdom, while every turbulent passion is calmed by sa- cred melody, and the evil spirit is still dispossessed by the Harp of the Son of Jesse. This little volume, like the paradise of Eden, affords us in perfection, though in miniature, every thing that groweth elsewhere, " every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food :" and above all, what was there lost, but is here restored, the TRfiE op life in the midst op the garden. That which we read, as matter of speculation, in the other Scrip- tures, is reduced to practice, when we recite it in the Psalms ; in those, repentance and faith are described, but in these they are xvi PREFACE. acted ; by a perusal of the former, we learn how others served God, but, by using the latter, we serve him ourselves. " What is there necessary for man to know," says the pious and judicious Hooker, " which the Psalms are not able to teach ? They are to beginners an easy and familiar introduction, a mighty augmenta- tion of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation of the most perfect among others. Heroical magnanimity, exquisite justice, grave moderation, exact wisdom, repentance unfeigned, unwearied patience, the mysteries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, the comforts of grace, the works of Providence over this world, and the promised joys of that world which is to come, all good necessarily to be either known, or done, or had, this one celestial fountain yieldeth. Let there be any grief or disease incident unto the soul of man, any wound or sickness named, for which there is not, in this treasure- house, a present comfortable remedy at all times ready to be found."* In the language of this divine book, therefore, the pray- ers and praises of the church have been offered up to the throne of grace, from age to age. And it appears to have been the Ma- nual of the Son of God in the days of his flesh ; who, at the con- clusion of his last supper, is generally supposed, and that upon good grounds, to have sung a hymn taken from it ji who pro- nounced on the cross the beginning of the xxiid Psalm ; " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And expired with a part of the xxxist Psalm in his mouth ; " Into thy hands I com- mend my spirit." Thus He, who had not the spirit by measure, in whom were hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who spake as never man spake, yet chose to conclude his life, to solace himself in his greatest agony, and at last to breathe out his soul, in the Psalmist's form of words, rather than his own. No tongue of man or angel, as Dr. Hammond justly observes, can convey a higher idea of any book, and of their felicity who use it aright. Proj)ortionable to the excellency of the Psalms, hath been the number of their expositors. The ancients were chiefly taken up in making spiritual or evangelical applications of diem ; in adapt- ing their discourses on them to the general exigencies of the Chris- ' Hooker's Ecclcsiast. Pol. B. v. Sect. 37. t St. Matthew inl'ornis as, Chap. xxvi. 30. that he and his apostles " sung an hymn;" and the hymn usually sung by the .Tews, upon that occasion, was what they called the " great Ilailel," "consisting ol" the Tsalius from the <:xiiith to the cxviiitli inclusive. PREFACE. xvii tian cluirch, or to the particular necessities of the aire in wliich tliey wrote. The moderns have set themselves to investigate with diligence, and ascertain Avith accuracy, their literal scope and meaning. Piety and devotion characterize the writings of the ancients ; the commentaries of the moderns display more learning and judgment. The ancients have taught us how to rear a goodly superstructure ; but the moderns have laid the surest foundation. To bring them m some measure together, is the de- sign of the following work ; in which the author has not laboured to point out what seemed wrong in either, but to extract what he judged to be right from both ; to make the annotations of the latter a ground-work for improvements, like those of the former ; and thus to construct an edifice, solid, as well as specious. Materials, and good ones, he cannot be said to have wanted ; so that if the building should give way, the cement must have been faulty, or the workman unskilful. The right of the Psalter to a place in the sacred canon hath never been disputed ; and it is often cited by our Lord and his apostles in the New Testament, as the work of the Holy Spirit. Whether David, therefore, or any other prophet, were employed as the instrument of communicating to the church such or such a particular Psalm, is a question, which, if it cannot always be satisfactorily answered, needs not disquiet our minds. When we discern, in an epistle, the well-known hand of a friend, we are not solicitous about the pen with which it was written. The number of Psalms is the same in the original, and in the version of the LXX; only these last have, by some mistake, thrown the ninth and tenth into one, as also the hundred and four- teenth and the hundred and fifteenth, and have divided the hun- dred and sixteenth into two, as also the hundred and Ibrty- sevcnth. The Hebrews have distributed them into five books ; but for what reason, or upon what authority, we know not. This is certain, that the apostles quote from " the book of Psalms,*'* and that they quote the " second" psalm of that book, in the order in which it now stands.t That division, which our own church hath made of them, into thirty portions, assigning one to each day of the month, it hath been thought expedient to set down in the margin ; as persons may often choose to turn to the conuiientary on those Psalms, which occur in their daily course of reading. In the titles, prefixed to some of the Psalms, there is so mucli ' Afts. i. 20. t Acts xiii. n.'i. xviii PREFACE. obscurity, and in the conjectures which have been made concern- ing them, both in a literal and spiritual way, so great a variety and uncertainty, that the author, finding himself, after all his searches, unable to offer any thing which he thoi-ght could con- lent the learned, or edify the unlearned, at length determined to omit them ; as the sight of them, unexplained, only distracts the eye and attention of the reader. The omission of the word selah must be apologized for in the same manner. The information ob- tained from the historical titles will be found in the argument placed at the head of each Psalm ; though even that is not always to be relied on. Where this information failed, the occasion and drift of the Psalm were to be collected from the internal evidence contained in itself, by a diligent perusal of it, with a view to the sacred his- tory ; the light of which, when lield to the Psalms, often dissipates the darkness that must otherwise for ever envelope allusions to particular events and circumstances : sometimes, indeed, the de- scriptions are couched in terms more general ; and then, the want of such information is less perceived. If it appear, for instance, that David at the time of composing any Psalm, was under perse- cution, or had been lately delivered from it, it may not be of any great consequence, if we cannot determine with precision, whether his persecution by Saul and Doeg, or that by Absalom and Ahito- phel, be intended and referred to. The expressions either of his sorrow or his joy, his strains whether plaintive oi jubilant, may be nearly the same, in both cases respectively. This observation may be extended to many other instances of calamities bewailed, or deliverances celebrated in the Psalms, sometimes by the prince, sometimes by the community, and frequently by both together. Upon the whole, it is hoped, that the design of each Psalm hath been sufficiently discovered, to explain and aj)ply it for the instruc- tion and comfort of believers. The result of such critical inquiries as were found necessary to be made, is given in as few words as possible ; often only by in- serting into a verse, or subjoining to it, that sense of a word, or phrase, whici) seemed upon mature deliberation, to be the best j as it was deemed iinproper to clog, with prolix disquisitions of this kind, a work intended for general use. The reader will, how- ever, reap the benefit of many such, whicli have been carefully consulted for him. And he will not, it is presumed, have reason to complain, that any verse is passed over, without a tolerably consistent interpretation, and some useful improvement. Where PREFACE. xix the literal sense was pluin, it is noticed only so far as was ne- cessary to make an application, or form a reflection. Where there appeared any obscurity, or difliculty, recourse was had to the best critics, and that solution which seemed the most satisfac- tory,, given in the concisest manner. Much labour hath here been bestowed, where little appears. The plan of every Psalm hath been attentively studied, with the connexion and dependence of its parts, which it is the design of the Argument to exhibit at one view, and of the Cojinnentary to pursue and explain, from beginning to end.* No person is more thoroughly sensible, than the author is, of the respect and gratitude due from all lovers of the sacred wri- tings, to those who have laboured in the field of literal criticism. Great and illustrious characters, whose names will be had by the church in everlasting remembrance ! All who desire to un- derstand the Scriptures, must enter into their labours, and make the proper advantcige of them, as he himself hath endeavoiu-ed to do. But let us also bear in min-i, tliat all is not done when this is done. A work of the utmost importance still remains, which it is the business of t Theology to undertake and execute ; since, with respect to the Old Testament, and the Psalter more espe- cially, a person n)ay attain a critical and grammatical knowledge of them, and yet continue a Jew, with a veil upon his heart; an utter stranger to that sense of the holy books, evidently intended, in such a variety of instances, to bear testimony to the Saviour of the world; that sense, which is styled, by the divines, the PROPHETICAL, EVANGELICAL, MYSTICAL, or SPIRITUAL Sense. As it is one great design of the following work to investigate that sense in many of the Psalms, this is the proper place to lay be- fore the reader those grounds and reasons, upon which such inves- tigation has been made. That the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture, like all other good things, is liable to abuse, and that it hath been actually abused, both in ancient and modern days, cannot be denied. He who shall go about to apply, in this way, any passage, before he hath attained its literal meaning, may say what in itself is pious * Nos Lcctoris pium hunc laborem adjuvandumsuscepimus: dum consti- tutis argumeiUis scopuin attentioiii figimus: dum scrutainur literani, et ex sacra historia quantum possumus, omnia repctinius: dum annotamus qufe pietatcm inflamnicnt : alio eo cxemplo qusrenda indicawus. Bossuet Disser- tai. in Psal. Cap. vii. t Thoologiw insipnis liic usus est, ut, verbomm gensu exposito, rem intel- lig^as. £ls7ier. PraJ'at. ad Observat. Sacr. XX PREFACE. and true, but foroign to the text from which he endeavoureth to deduce it. St. Jerom, it is well known, when grown older and wiser, lamented that, in the fervours of a youthful fancy, he had spiritualized the jirophecy of Obadiah, before he understood it. And it must be allowed, that a due attention to the occasion and scope of the Psalms would have pared off many unseemly excres- cences, which now deform the commentaries of St. Augustin, and other Fathers, upon them. But these and other concessions of the same kind being made, as they are made very freely, " men of sense will consider, that a principle is not therefore to be re- jected, because it has been abused;"* since human errors can never invalidate the truths of God. It may not be amiss, therefore, to run through the Psalter, and point out some of the more remarkable passages, which are cited from thence by our Lord and his apostles, and applied to matters evangelical. No sooner have we opened the book, but the second Psalm pre- senteth itself, to all appearance, as an inauguration-hymn, com- posed by David, the Anointed of Jehovah, when by him crowned Avith victory, and placed triumphant on the sacred hill of Sion. But let us turn to Acts iv. 25. and there we find the apostles, with one voice, declaring the Psalm to be descriptive of the exaltation of Jesus Christ, and of the opposition raised against his Gospel, both by Jew and Gentile. In the eighth Psalm we imagine the writer to be setting forth the pre-eminence of man in general, above the rest of the creation ; but by Heb. ii. 6. we are informed, that the supremacy conferred on the second Adam, the man Christ Jesus, over all things in hea- • vcn and earth, is the subject there treated of. St. Peter stands up. Acts ii. 25. and preaches the resurrection of Jesus from the latter part of the sixteenth Psalm ; and, lo, three thousand souls are converted by the sermon. Of the eighteenth Psalm we are told, in the course of the sacred history, 2 Sam. xxii. that " David spake before the Lord the words of that song, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul." Yet in Rom. xv. 9- the 50th verse of that Psalm is adduced as a proof, that " the Gentiles should glorify God for his mercy in Jesus Christ, as it is written. For this cause will I confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name." " Bishop Ilurd's Introduction to the study of the Propliocios, p. 64. PREFACE. xxi In the nineteenth Psalm, David seems to be speaking of the material heavens and their operations only, when he says, '• Their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." But St. Paul, Rom. x. 18. quotes the passage to show, that the Gospel has been universally published by the apostles. The twenty-second Psalm Christ appropriated to himself, by begimiing it in the midst of his suffering on the cross; " My God, my God,"' &c. Three other verses of it are in the New Testament applied to him; and the words of the 8th verse were actually used by the chief priests, when they reviled him: " He trusted in God," &-C. Matt, xxvii. 13. When David saith, in the fortieth Psalm, '•' Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire — Lo I come to do thy will :" we might sup- pose him only to declare, in his own person, that obedience is bet- ter than sacrifice. But from Heb. x. 5. we learn, that Messiah, in that place, speaketh of r his advent in the flesh, to abolish the legal sacrifices, and to do away sin, by the oblation of himself once for all. That tender and pathetic com})laint, in the forty-first Psahn, " Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me," undoubtedly might be, and probably was, originally uttered by David, upon the revolt of his old friend and counsellor, Ahitophel, to the party of his re- beUious son, Absalom. But we are certain, from John xiii. 18. that this Scripture was fulfilled, when Christ was betrayed by his apostate disciple — " I speak not of you all ; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scriptures maybe fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up his heel against me." The forty-fouiih Psalm we must suppose to have been written on occasion of a persecution, under which the church at that time laboured ; but a verse of it is cited, Rom. viii. 36. as expressive of what Christians were to suflisr on their, blessed Master's ac- count; " as it is written. For thy sake are we killed all the day long ; we are counted as sheep ajjpointed to be slain." A cjuotation from the forty-fifth Psalm, in Heb. i. 8. certifies us, that the whole is addressed to the Son of God, and therefore cele- brates his spiritual union with the church, and the happy fruits of it. The sixty-eighth Psalm, though apparently conversant about Israelitish victories, the translation of the ark to Sion, and the services of the tabernacle, yet does, under those figures, treat of Christ's resurrection, his g- se»itis Dei tcstcni ; dcniquc caeleste rcgniini ct a^lernam fclicitateni. Bos- snet Dhscrtat. de Psal. Cap. i. ad Jin. \ Hob. X. 1. xxviii PREFACE. and the glorious success and establishment of Christ's religion, no words were found so exquisitely adapted to the purpose, as those of David, in the xcvi. xcviii. and other Psalms — " Sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, and praise his name; be telling of his salvation from day to day. Declare his honour unto the heathens, his worship unto all people," — &c. &c. &;c. In these, and the like Psalms, WE continue to praise God, for all his spiritual mercies in Christ, to this da}'. The Psalms, thus applied, have advantages, which no fresh compositions, however finely executed, can possibly have ; since, besides their incomparable fitness to express our sentiments, they are, at the same time, memorials of, and appeals to, former mercies and deliverances ; they are acknowledgments of prophecies ac- complished ; they point out the connexion between the old and new dispensations, thereby teaching us to admire and adore the wisdom of God displayed in both, and furnishing, while we read or sing them, an inexhaustible variety of the noblest matter that can engage the contemplations of man. Why is the mind more than ordinarily affected, and either melted into sorrow, or transported with joy, when on the days set apart for the commemoration of our Saviour's birth, passion, resur- rection, &c. the Proper Psalms are read, which the church hath appointed, following herein the directions of the evangelists and apostles, and the usage of the early ages ? Why, but because, by such appointment, we are necessarily put upon transferring our ideas from the complaints or exultations of David and Israel, to those of a suffering or glorified JMessiah, of whose sufferings or glories we participate, as members of his mystical body? And how much more intense would be the effect, if, in the sermons preached on such occasions, such Proper Psalms were expounded to the people, and their jn-opriety evinced, as it might easily be ? Dis- courses of this kind would make the hearts of the auditors to " burn witJiin them," and men wonlil cease to wonder, that three thousand Jews were converted to the faith, by St. Peter's ani- mated discourse on jiart of the sixteenth Psalm. Were believers once brought Avell acquainted with these Proper Psalms, they would be better enabled to study and apply the rest, which might hkewise be explained to them at different times, and certainly afford the finest subjects on which a Christian orator can employ his eloquence. That this was done in the primitive church, we learn from the exposition of the Psalms left us by St. Chiysostom PREFACE. xxix in llic east, and St. Aiigustin in the west, those expositions still subsisting in the form of homilies, as delivered to their respective <;ongregations. Is it not to be feared, that, for want of such in- structions, the repetition of the Psalms, as performed by multi- tudes, is but one degree above mechanism ? And is it not a melan- choly reflection, to be made at the close of a long life, that, after re- citing them at pro])er seasons, through the greatest part of it, no more should be known of their true meaning and application, than when the Psalter was first taken in hand at school ! Many sensible and well-disposed persons, therefore, who, when they read or sing tite Psalms, desire to read and to sing " with the spirit and the understanding," have long called for a commentary which might enable them to do so; which might not only explain the literal sense of these divine compositions, and show how they may be accommodated to our temporal affairs, as members of civil society;* but might also unfold the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which are involved in them, and teach their application to us, as members of that spiritual and heavenly society, of which Christ Jesus is the head, and for whose use, in every age, they were intended by their omniscient Author. A work of this kind, though often desired, has never yet been executed, upon any regu- lar and consistent plan. The survey of a province in Theology, hitherto almost unoccupied among the moderns, which promised a great deal of jjleasing as well as profitable employment, gave birth to the attempt which hath been made to cultivate it, in the ensuing commentary; in which the author has only endeavoured to evince, by an induction of particulars, the truth of what so many learned and good men have asserted in general, concerning tiie prophetical, or evangelical import of the Psalter. Dr. Hammond, in the pre- face to his Annotations, tells us, he chose to leave every man to make applications of this kind for himself, finding he had work enough upon his hands in the literal way. But so much having been done by him and other able critics in that way, it seems to be now time that something should be done in the other, and some directions given, in a case where directions cannot but be greatly wanted. * A concern for the present peace and prosperity of the world, and of that kingdom to which we belong, ought ever to bo entertained and che- tished by the most exalted Christian. And if this part of the subject should at any time, in the following work, appear to be but slightly touched upon, the reason is, because it lies obvious upon the surface, and has been so fre- quently inculcated by other expositors. Nor are mankind indeed so liable. to forget the relation they bear to the world, as they are to overlook thai w I'.ich subsists between them and their Creator and Redeemer. XXX PREFACE. Very few of the Psalms, comparatively, appear to be simply pro- phetical, and to belong only to Messiah, without the intervention of any other person. Most of them, it is apprehended, have a double sense, which stands upon this ground and foundation that the ancient patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings, were typical characters, in their several offices, and in the more remarkable passages of their lives, their extraordinary dejiressions, and mira- culous exaltations, foreshowing Hini who was to arise, as the Head of the holy family, the great Prophet, the true Priest, the everlasting King. The Israelitish polity, and the law of Moses, were purposely framed after the example and shadow of things spiritual and heavenly : and the events which hapjiened to the ancient people of God, were designed to shadow out parallel oc- currences, which should afterwards take place in the accomplish- ment of man's redemption, and the rise and progress of the Christian church. For this reason, the Psalms composed for the use of Israel, and Israel's monarch, and by them accordingly used at the time, do admit of an apphcation to us, who are now " the Israel of God,"* and to our Redeemer, who is the King of this Israel. t Nor will this seem strange to us, if we reflect, that the same divine person, who inspired the Psalms, did also foreknow and predispose all events, of which he intended them to treat. And hence it is evident, that the spiritual sense is, and must be pecu- liar to the Scriptures; because, of those persons and transactions only, which are there mentioned and recorded, can it be affirmed for certain that they were designed to be figurative. And should any one attempt to apply the narrative of Alexander's expedition by Quintus Curtius, or the commentaries of Caesar, as the New Testament writers have done, and taught us to do the histories of the Old, he would find himself unable to proceed throe steps with consistency and propriety. The argument therefore, which would infer the absurdity of supposing the Scriptures to have a spiritual sense, from the acknowledged absurdity of supposing histories or poems merely human to have it, is inconclusive; the sacred writings differing in this respect, from all other writings in the world, as nuich as the nature of the transactions which they relate differs * Gill. vi. 16. i 'I'liat expressions and descriptions in luiman writings are often so framed as to admit of a double sense, without any impropriety or confusion, is shown by the very learned Mr. Merrick, in bis excellent Observations on Dr. Benson'.s Essay concerning the Unity of Sense, k-c. subjoined to bis .ill iiolat ions Oil the Pnalins. PREFACE. xwi tVoni that of all other transactions, and the author who relates them tlilFers from all other authors. " This double, or secondary sense of prophecy, was so far from jriving offence to Lord Bacon, that he speaks of it with admi- ration, as one striking argument of its divinity. In sorting the prophecies of Scripture with their events, we must allow, says he, for that latitude, ichich is agreeable and familiar unto divine prophecies, being of his nature, with whom a thousand years are but as one day; and therefore they are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have springing and genninant accompUshtncnt through many ages, though the height, or fulness of them, may refer to some one age. '• But, that we may not mistake or pervert this fine observation of our great philosopher, it may be proper to take notice, that the reason of it holds in such prophecies only as respect the several tiuccessive parts of one sjstem : which being intimately connected together, may be supposed to conje within the view and contem- plation of the same prophecy ; whereas it would be endless, and one sees not on what grounds of reason we are authorized to look out for the accomplishment of prophecy, in any casual unrelated events of general history. The Scripture speaks of prophecy, as respecting Jesus, that is, as being one connected scheme of provi- dence, of which the Jewish dispensation makes a part: so that liere we are led to expect that springing and germinant accom- plishment which is mentioned. But, had the Jewish law been complete in itself, and totally unrelated to the Christian, the general principle — that a thousand years arc with God but us one day — would no more justify us in extending a Jewish j)rophecy to Christian events, because perlta])s it was eminently fulfilled in them, than it would justify iis in extending it to any other signally corresponding events whatsoever. It is only when the prophet hath one uniform connected design before him that we are autho- rized to use this latitude of interpretation. For then the prophetic Spirit naturally runs along the several parts of such design, and unites the remotest events with the nearest : the style of the pro- phet, in the mean time, so adapting itself to this double prospect, as to paint the ne;ir and subordinate event in terms that emphati- cally represent the disteint and more considerable. So that, with this explanation, nothing can be more just or philosophical, than the idea which Lord Bacon suggests, of divine prophecy. " The great scheme of redemption, we are now considering, being the only scheme in the plan of Providence, which; as far xxxii PREFACE. as we know, hath been prepared and dignified by a continued system of prophecy, at least this being the only scheme to which we have seen a prophetic system applied, men do not so readily apprehend the doctrine of double sense in prophecy, as they would do, if they saw it exemplified in other cases. But what the his- tory of mankind does not supply we may represent to ourselves by many obvious suppositions; which cannot justify, indeed, such a scheme of things, but may facilitate the conception of it."* In allegories framed by man, the ground-work is generally fic- tion,t because of the difficulty of finding one true series of facts, which shall exactly represent another. But the gi'eat disposer of events, " known unto whom are all his works," from the be- ginning to the end of time, was able to efiect this ; and the scrip- ture allegories are therefore equally true in the letter and in the spirit of them. The events signifying, no less than those signi- fied, really happened, as they are said to have done.| Why the allegories of the most perfect form, with which the book of God abounds, and which are all pregnant with truths of the highest import, should be treated with neglect and contempt, while the imperfect allegoi'ies of man's devising are universally sought after and admired, as the most pleasing and most efficacious method of conveying instruction, it is not easy to say. Why should it not af- ford a believer as much delight, to contemplate the lineaments of his Saviour, portrayed in one of the patriarchs, as to be informed, that the character of lapis was designed by Virgil to adumbrate that of Antonius Musa, physician to Augustus ? Or why should not a discourse upon the redemption of the church, as foresha- dowed by the exodus of Israel, have as many admirers among Christians, as a dissertation, however ingeniously composed, on the descent of vEneas to the infernal regions, considered as typical of an initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries? A learned, judicious, and most elegant writer of the present * feishop Hurd's excellent Intiotluctiou to the Study of the Prophecies, Scrm. iii. t I sny " generally," since, as the above cited Mr. Rlerrick justly observes, " It is possible (lor example) in a conipliniental address to a moilern states- man, or general, to relate the actions of some ancient patriot of the same character, in such a manner, that the parallel intended to be drawn between them, shall be readily known, and the praises expressly bestowed on the one. be transferred, by the reader's own application, to the other." \ jN'equc proplerca ab historico, sive literali atquc immediatio, ut aiimt, sensu abcrrare nos oportet ; quin co erit clarior ct fundatior sccrctioris illius intelligentio; sensus, quo typuni ipsum, hoc est, historian! ac litoram ligenius certius. Bossuet. Disstrlal. in Pml. udfincm. PREFACE. xxxii. age hath stated and illustrated the subject we are now upon, witii a felicity of thought and expression peculiar to himself. I shall endeavour to gratify the English reader with a view of his senti- ments. The beauties of his language are not to be translated. " It would be an arduous and adventurous undertaking to at- tempt to lay down the rules observed in the conduct of the Mystic Allegory; so diverse are the modes in which the Holy Spirit has thought proper to communicate his counsels to different persons upon different occasions, inspiring and directing the minds of the prophets according to his good pleasure; at one time vouchsafing more full and free discoveries of future events : while, at another, he is more obscure and sparing in his intimations. From hence, of course, ariseth a great variety in the scripture usage of this kind of allegory, as to the manner in which the spiritual sense is couched under the other. Sometimes it can hardly break forth and show itself at intervals through the literal, which meets the eye as the ruling sense, and seems to have taken entire possession of the words and phrases. On the contrary, it is much oftener the ca- pital figure in the piece, and stands confessed at once by such splendour of language, that the letter, in its turn, is thrown into shades, and almost totally disappears. Sometimes it shines with a constant equable liglit ; and sometimes it darts upon us on a sud- den, like a flash of liglitning from the clouds. But a composition is never more truly elegant and beautiful, than when the two senses, alike conspicuous, run parallel together through the whole poem, mutually corresponding with, and illustrating each other. I will produce an undoubted instance or two of this kind, which will show my meaning, and confirm what has hitherto been advanced on the subject of the mystic allegory. " The establishment of David upon his throne, notwithstand- ing the opposition made to it by his enemies, is the subject of the second Psalm. David sustains in it a two-fold character, literal and allegorical. If we read over the Psalm first with an eye to the literal David, the meaning is obvious, and put out of all dis- pute by the sacred history. There is indeed an uncommon glow in the expression, and sublimity in the figures, and the diction is now and then exaggerated as it were on purpose to intimate, and lead us to the contemplation of higher and more important mat- ters concealed within. In compliance with this admonition, if we take another survey of the Psalm, as relative to the person and concerns of the spiritual David, a nobler series of events instantly rises to view, and the meaning becomes more evident, as well as xxxiv PREFACE. exalted. The colouring, which may perhaps seem too bold and glaring for the king of Israel, will no longer appear so, when kid upon his great antitype. After we have thus attentively consi- dered the subjects apart, let us look at them together, and we shall behold the full beauty and majesty of this most charming poem. We shall perceive the two senses very distinct from each other, yet conspiring in perfect harmony, and bearing a wonderful resem- blance in every feature and lineament, while the analogy between them is so exactly preserved, that either may pass for the original from whence the other was copied. New light is continually cast wpon the phraseology, fresh weight and dignity are added to the sentiment, till gradually ascending from things below to things above, from human affairs to those which are divine, they bear the great important theme upwards with them, and at length place it in the height and brightness of heaven. " What hath been observed with regard to this Psalm, may also be applied to the seventy-second; the subject of which is of the same kind, and treated in the same manner. Its title might be, The Inauguration of Solomon. The scheme of the allegory is alike in both; but a diversity of matter occasions an alteration in the diction. For whereas one is emplo3ed in celebrating the mag- nificent triumphs of victory, it is the design of the other to draw a pleasing picture of peace, and of that felicity which is her insepa- rable attendant. The style is therefore of a more even and tem- perate sort, and more richly ornamented. It aboundeth not with those sudden changes of the person speaking, which dazzle and astonish; but the imagery is borrowed from the delightful scenes with which creation cheers the sight, and the pencil of the di- vine artist is dipped in the softest colours of nature. And here we may take notice how peculiarly adapted to the genius of this kind of allegory the parabolical style is, on account of that great variety of natural images to be found in it. For as these images are capable of being employed in the illustration of things divine and human, between which there is a certain analogy maintained, so they easily alTord that ambiguity which is necessary in this species of composition, where the language is applicable to each .sense, and obscure in neither; it comprehends both parts of the allegory, and may be clearly and distinctly referred to one or the other."* The scheme of exposition so beautifully delineated, and illus- ■ Bishop Lowtli on the Hebrew poetry, Lect. xi PREFACE. XXXV irated in two instances by this truly valuable author, has been ex- tended, in theory, by another learned writer, to a great part of the Psalter; and that upon a principle deduced from the attributes ol God, and the nature and design of the divine dispensations; though his own labours, like those of Dr. Hammond, were employed chiefly in Hteral criticism. His reasoning is as follows — '' In this point (namely, the application of the Psalms to the mysteries of the gos})el) I am very clear. The Jews only, as a nation, acknowledged the one supreme God, under the name of Je- hovah; they must be therefore his peculiar people. There is no- thing capricious in this ; they are correlates, and of necessity an- swer reciprocally to each other. Hence that singular intercourse between God and them. Hence, among other instances of his favour, his communication of himself to them by supernatural ways of oracle, inspiration, &;c. When the acknowledgment of tlie one God branched itself, from this Jewish flock, over the face of the earth, and by that means he was become the God of all man- kind, they must all, for the same reason, become his people. As God is ever the same, and his doings uniform, his conduct towards mankind must exactly be proportioned to his conduct towards the Jewish nation. Let us therefore place God in common over them both; and there will be — on one side, the Jewish nation; and on the other, mankind; on one side Canaan, and a national prospe- rity ; on the other, heaven, and human happiness : on one side, a redemption from Egyptian servitude, and national evils; on the other, a redemj)tion of the whole human race from absolute evil : on one side, national crimes atoned by national ceremonies, sacrifices, priests; on the other, sins expiated by the one universal sacrifice of Jesls Christ : on one side, national and temporary saviours, kings, prophets, &c. ; on the other, all this universal and eternal : on one side the law, and every branch of it, adapted to a fa- vourite nation; on the other, the everlasting gospel, suited to ail mankind. It is impossible, therefore, that God can say any thing to David, under the cjuality of king of this chosen nation, which he does not speak at the same time to Jesus Christ, as king of all the elect; and that in a truer and nobler sense. To each of them he speaks in a sense adapted to the nature of their respective kingdoms. Nor is this latter a bare accommodation of words, but the first and highest meaning of them, and which only, absolutely speaking, can be the ti-ue sense of God ; the other being this sense, confined to a particular circumstance; in other words, an absolute truth, made history, and matter of fact. This is a principle. xxxvi PREFACE. which shows, that, far from denying the Christian application, I consider the literal and historical sense only as a kind of vehicle for it.* Upon this plan it is, that many of the Psalms are interpreted in the foUowinj^ sheets. In such of them as were written by David, and treat of his af- fairs, that extraordinary person is considered as an illustrious re- presentative of Messiah, who is more than once foretold under the name of David, and to whom are applied, in the New Testament, Psalms which do undoubtedly, in the letter of them, relate to Da- vid, and were composed on occasion of particular occurrences which befell him; a circumstance in theology, to be accounted for upon no other principle. When therefore he describeth himself as one hated and perse- cuted without a cause ; as one accused of crimes which he never committed, and suffering for sins, the very thoughts of which he abhorred : as one whose life was imbittered by affliction, and his soul overwhelmed with sorrows ; yet, withal, as one whom no trouF bles could induce to renounce his trust and confidence in the pro- mises of God concerning him, when he repeateth his resolutions of adhering to the divine law, setting forth its various excellencies, and the comforts which it afforded him in the days of adversity ; when he complaineth of that implacable malice, and unrelenting fury, with which he was pursued by Saul and his attendants, by Doeg the Edomite, by rebellious Absalom, traitorous Ahitophel, &c. and when, contrary to all appearances, he predicteth their destruction, with his own final exaltation ; in expounding the Psalms of this cast and complexion, it hath been my endeavour to direct the reader's thoughts to parallel circumstances, which present them- selves in the history of the true David ; his sorrows and sufferings ; his resignation under them all ; his obedience to the will of his Fa- ther; the temper and behaviour of his betrayers and murderers; the prophecies of judgments to be inflicted upon them, and of glory to be conferred upon him. As the Psalter was the liturgy of the Jewish church, of which our Lord was a member, and to which he therefore entirely conformed, during his abode and hu- miliation upon earth, he might pour forth his complaints and " ofler up his prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears,"t in the very words which his progenitor David had before used un- * Preface to An Essay fowiirds a New English Version of (he Book of Psalms, by the Rev. Mr. Mudge. f Heb. V. 7. PREFACE. xxxvii dor his own troubles, but which were given by inspiration, with a viovv to the case of tliat blessed person, whom, in those troubles, he had the honour to prefigure. Otiier Psalms there are, which disclose far diflerent scenes. In ihem, the sorrows of David are at end, and the day of his deli- verance hath already dawned. The heavens are opened, and Je- hovah appeareth in the cause of his afflicted servant. lie de- scendeth from above, encompassed with clouds and darkness, pre- ceded by fire and hail, proclaimed by thunder and earthquake, and attended by lightnings and whirlwinds. The mountains smoke, and the rocks melt before him ; tlie foundations of the globe are uncovered,- and the deep from beneath is moved at his presence. The adversary is dismayed and confounded ; opposition, in the height of its career, feels the blast through all its powers, and instantly withers away. The anointed of God, according to his original designation, is at length elevated to the throne; his sceptre is extended over the nations; the temple is planned by him, and erected by his son; the services of religion are appointed in per- fect order and beauty : Jerusalem becometh a praise in all the earth; and the kingdom is established in honour, peace, and feli- city. If in Psalms of the former kind the holy Jesus might be- hold those persecutions and sufferings under which he was to be humbled, and to mourn, during his pilgrimage here below; in Psalms of this latter sort he might strengthen and console himself, as a man " touched whh the feelings of our infirmities, and tempted in all points like as we are," by viewing " the glory that should follow ;" by contemplating the manifestation of the Father in fa- vour of his beloved Son; his own joyful resurrection, triumphant ascension, and magnificent inauguration; the conversion of the world, and the establishment of the church; events, which were foreshadowed by those above-mentioned; and to which, when the strongest expressions made use of by the divine Psalmist are ap- plied, they will no longer appear hyperbolical ; especially if we bear in mind, that tliese prophetic descriptions wait for their full and final accomplishment at that day, when the mystical " body of Christ," having " filled up that which is behind of his afflic- tions,"* shall also, amidst the pangs and convulsions of departing nature, arise from the dead, and ascend into heaven ; where all the members of that body, which have been afflicted, and have • Col. i, 24. xxxviii PREFACE. mourned with their Lord and Master, shall be comforted and glo- rified together with him.* In somo of the Psalms, David appears as one suffering for his sins. AVhen man speaks of sin, he speaks of what is his own ; and therefore, every Psalm, where sin is confessed to be the cause of sorrow, belongs originall}' and properly to us, as fallen sons of Adam, hke David, and all other men. This is the case of the fifty-first, and the rest of those which are styled Penitential Psalms, and have always been used in the church as such. Some- times, indeed, it happens, that we meet with heavy complaints of the number and burthen of sins, in Psalms, from which passages are quoted in the Nev/ Testament as uttered by our Redeemer, in which there seems to be no change of person from beginning to end. We are assured, for instance, by the apostle, Heb. x. 5. ' and the sixth, seventh, and eighth verses of the fortieth Psalm, " Sacrifice and oflering thou didst not desire," &c. are spoken by Messiah, coming to abolish the legal sacrifices, by the oblation of himself once for all. The same person, to appearance, continues speaking, and, only three verses after, complains in the following terms; ^-Innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine ini- quities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up ; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me." So again, there are no less than five quotations from dilTerent parts of the sixty-ninth Psalm, all concurring to inform us, that Christ is the speaker through that whole Psalm. Yet the fifth verse of it runs thus ; " O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my CDu^x guiltiness is not hid from thee." The solution of this difficulty given, and continually insisted on, in the writings of the Fathers, is this; that Christ in the day of his passion, standing charged with the sin and guilt of his people, speaks of such their sin and guilt, as if they were his own, appropri- ating to himself those debts, for which, in the capacity of a surety, he had made himself responsible. The lamb, which, under the law, * Neque prrctcrmittendum illud Aiigustini passim; tunc Psalmos videri suavissimos, ac divinissima luco perfiisos, cijni in his caput et membra. Christum el Ecclcsiam, sive aperte propalatos, sive latentor designates in- lellininuis. Quarc iteriun attjue iteruni eiiganuis auimos; atqiic ubi atquc Davidcin Soloinonem ; ubi Davidis hostes, Satllem, Achito])Iielem, alios; ubi bella et parcm, captivitafem libcrtatem, ac caetera ejusmodi audimus ; turn animo infigamus Christum, Ecclesiam laboribus periculisquc excrcitam, atque inter adversa ct piospera peresfrinanfcm ; tum sanctorum persecu- torcs, lion mod5 visibiles, sed ctiam in visibilcs illas atquc aOreas pofoslalcs, pugnas«|iie in hac vita perpctcs, ac sccutiiran postea pacem sempiternam. Rossuet Disscrtnf. in Psalm, ad riii. PREFACE. xxxix was offered for sin, took the name □C'N " guilt," because the guilt contracted by the oflerer, was transferred to that innocent crea- ture, and typically expiated by its blood.* Was not this exactly the case, in truth and reality, witli the Lamb of (JotI? '' lie did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; but he bare our sins in his own hotly on the tree.t He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.":}: Christ and the church coni|)ose one mystical person, of which he is the head, and the church the body : and as the body speaks by the head, and the head for the body, he speaks of her sin, and she of his righteousness; which consideration is at the same time a key to any claims of righteousness made in the Psalms by her, and to any confession of sin made by him. This seems to be a satisfactory account of the matter. Such at least, appears to have been the idea generally adopted and received, in the fust ages of the Christian church; a circumstance, which it is jiresumed, will be deemed a sufficient apology for the author, if in the explication of such passages, he hath ventured to proceed accordingly. Nay, and even in reciting the Penitential Psalms, when the imhappy suf- ferer is ready to sink down under that weight of wo which sin hath laid upon him, if he will extend his thoughts, as he is sometimes directed to do, to that holy and most innocent person, who felt and sorrowed so much for us all, he will thereby lurnlsh himself with the best argiunent for patience, and an inexhaustible source of com- fort. Nor can it, indeed, well be imagined, that our blessed Lord, as a member of the Jewish church, and an attendant on the service of the synagogue, though conscious to himself of no sin, did not frequently join with his " brethren according to the flesh," in the repetition of the Penitential as well as the other Psalms, on the days of humiliation and expiation, when the use of them might be prescribed. If from his circumcision to his crucifixion he " bare our sins in his own body ;" why should it be thought strange, that he should confess them, on our behalf, with his own mouth? The offence taken at the supposed uncharitable and vindictive spirit of the imprecations which occur in some of the Psalms, ceases immediately, if we change the imperative for the future, and read, not '' let them be confounded," &c. but, " they shall BE confounded," &c. of which the Hebrew is equally capable. Such passages will then have no more dilriculty in them, than the other frequent predictions of divine vengeance in the writings of • See Lev. V. 6. t I Pet. ii. 22 t2Cor. vl2l. x\ PREFACE. the propliets, or denunciations of it in the gospels, intended to warn, to alarm, and to lead sinners to repentance, that they may Hy from the wrath to come. This is Dr. Hammond's observa- tiun ; who very properly remarks, at the same time, that in many- places of this sort, as particularly in Psalm cix. (and the same may be said of Psalm Ixix.) it is reasonable to resolve, that Christ himself speaketh in the prophet; as being the person there prin- cipally concerned, and the completion most signal in many cir- cumstances there mentioned ; the succession, especially of Matthias, to the apostleship of Judas. It is true, that in the citation made by St. Peter from Psalm cix. in Acts i. 20. as also in that made by St. Paul from Psalm Ixix. in Rom. xi. 9. the imperative form is preserved; " let his habitation be void,'' &c. " let their table be made a snare," &c. But it may be considered, that the apos- tles generally cited from the Greek of the LXX. version; and took it as they found it, making no alteration, when the passage, as it there stood, was sufficient to prove the main point which it was adduced to prove. If the imprecatory form be still contended for, all that can be meant by it, whether uttered by the prophet, by Messiah, or by ourselves, must be a solemn ratification of the just judgments of the Almighty against his impenitent enemies, like what we find ascribed to the blessed spirits in heaven, when such judgments were executed, Rev. xi. 17, 18. xvi. 5, 6, 7. See Merrick's Annotations on Psalm cix. and Witsii Miscellan. Sacr. Lib. I. Cap. xviii. Sect. 24. But by the future rendering of the verbs, every possible objection is precluded at once. This method has therefore been adojjted in the ensuing commentar}^ Of the Psalms which relate to Israel, some are employed in ce- lebrating the mercies vouchsafed them, from their going forth out of Egypt to their complete settlement in Canaan. These were the constant standing subjects of praise and thanksgiving in the Israelitish church. But we are taught by the writers of the New Testament, to consider this part of their history as one continued figure, or allegory. We are told, that there is another spiritual Israel of God ; other children of Abraham, and heirs of the promise ; another circumcision ; another Egypt, from the bond- age of which they are redeemed ; another wilderness, through which they journey ; other dangers and diiriculties, which there await them ; other bread from heaven, for their support ; and another rock to supjjly th(>m with living water ; other enemies to overcome ; another land of Canaan, and another Jerusalem, which (hey are to obtain oiul to possess for ever. In the same light are PREFACE. xli to be viewed the various provocations and punishments, captivi- ties and restorations of old Israel afterwards, concerniiis; which it is likewise true, that they " happened unto them for ensaniplis," * types, or figures, " and were written for our admonition."! Care has therefore been taken, to open and apply, for that salu- tary purpose, the Psalms which treat of the above-mentioned par- ticulars. What is said in the Psalms occasionally of the law and its ce- remonies, sacrifices, al)hitions, and purifications ; of the taberna- cle and temple, with the services therein performed ; and of the Aaronical priesthood ; all this Christians transfer to the new law; to the oblation of Christ; to justification by his blood, and sancti- fication by his Spirit ; to the true tabernacle or temple, not made with hands ; and to what was therein done for the salvation of the world, by Him who was, in one respect, a sacrifice; in ano- ther, a temple ; and in a third, an high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek. That such was the intention of these legal figures, is declared at large in the Epistle to the Hebrews ; and they are of great assistance to us now, in forming our ideas of the realities to which they correspond. " Under the Jewish economy," says the excellent J\Ir. Pascal, " truth appeared but in figure; in heaven it is open, and without a veil; in the church militant it is so veiled, as to be yet discerned by its correspon- dence to the figure. As the fiijure was first built upon the truth, so the truth is now distinguishable by the figure." The variety of strong expressions used by David, in the nineteenth, and the hun- dred and nineteenth Psalms, to extol the enlivening, saving, heal- ing, comforting efficacy of a law, which, in the letter of it, whether ceremonial or moral, without pardon and grace, could minister nothing but condemnation, do sufficiently prove, that David understood the spirh of it, which was the gospel itself,^ *Gr. t 1 Cor. s. 11. i llrcc inter, vcri et spiritnalcs JiKhTi, hoc est, ante Christum Christi discipuli, altiora coE^itabant, ct rcrum c.Tlestium Sacramenta vcnerati, no- vam Jerusalem, novum Templum, novam arcam hitucbantur. liossuet Disstrlal. in Psal. Cap. i. — Lex, juxta Spiritum accepta, ipsuni erat Evan- gelium, sub veteribus fij^uris delitescen.s, et ccremoniarum \c\\s obloc'fum, ab ipso quidem Mose (imprimis in Deuteronomio) aliquatenus et pro tem- porum ratione explicatum, a Proplictis ver5 succedentibus (ut visum est Divinse Sapientia-) dilutidius ostensum, demum a Christo et Apostolis ple- nissime et luce ipso Sole clariori patefactum. Bulli Opera per Grnbe, p. 614. — If the Jews, as our Saviour tells tlicm, " tliou^ht tijey had eternal life in their scriptures," they must needs have understood (hem in a spi- ritual sense: and I know not what other spiritual sense, that shonkl had them to the expectation of eternal life, they could put on tiuir scriptures, but that prophetic or tvpical sense, which respcctetl the Mes.'slah. Jesus G xlii PREFACE. And if any who recited those Psalms, had not tlie same idea, it was not the fault of the law, or of the Psalms, of Moses, or of David, or. of him who inspired both, but it was their own ; as it is that of the Jews at this hour, though their prophecies have now been fulfilled, and their types realized. " He that takes his esti- mate of the Jewish religion from the grossness of the Jewish mul- titude," as the last cited author observes, " cannot fail of making a very wrong judgment. It is to be sought for in the sacred writings of the prophets, who have given us sufficient assurance, that they understood the law not according to the letter. Our religion, in like manner, is true and divine in the gospels, and in the preaching of the a})ostles ; but it appears utterly disfigured in those who maim or corrupt it." Besides the figures supplied by the children of Israel, and by the law, there is another set of images often employed in the Psalms, to describe the blessings of redemption. These are bor- rowed from the natural world, the manner of its original produc- tion, and the operations continually carried on in it. The visible works of God are formed to lead us, under the direction of his word, to a knowledge of those which are invisible; they give us ideas, by analogy, of a new creation rising gradually, like the old one, out of darkness and deformity, until at length it arrives at the perfection of glory and beauty : so that while we praise the Lord for all the wonders of his power, wisdom, and love, dis- played in a system which is to wax old and perish, we may there- in contemplate, as in a glass, those new heavens, and that new earth, of whose duration there shall be no end.* The sun, that fountain of life, and heart of the world, that bright leader of the armies of heaven, enthroned in glorious majesty ; the moon shin- ing with a lustre borrowed from his beams ; the stars glittering by night in the clear firmament ; the air giving breath to all things that live and move; the interchanges of light and darkness; the course of the year, and the sweet vicissitude of seasons; the rain and the dew descending from above, and the fruitfulness of the earth caused by them ; the bow bent by the hands of the Most expressly asserts, at the same time, that their " scriptures testified of him." How generally they did so, he explained at large, in that remark- able conversation with two of his disciples after his resurrection ; wlien "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto ihem in ALL the scriptures the tilings concerning himself." Ilurd's Iidrod. to llif aiudy of lilt Prophecies, Serm. ii. * Road nature : nature is a friend to trutli ; Wature is Cin'istian, preaches to mankind; And bids dead matter aid us in our creed. youNC. PREFACE. xliii High, which compasscth the heaven about with a glorious circle ; the awful voice of thunder, and the piercing power of lightning ; the instincts of animals,* and the qualities of vegetables and mi- nerals; the gieat and wide sea, with its unnumbered inhabitants; all these arc ready to instruct us in the mysteries of faith, anil the duties of morality. They speak llieir Maker as they can, But want and ask the tongue of man. Parneli.. The advantages of Messiah's reign arc represented in some of the Psalms under images of this kind. We behold a renovation of all things, and the world, as it were, new created, breaks forth into singing. The earth is crowned with sudden verdure and fertility; the field is joyful, and all that is in it; the woods re- joice before the Lord ; the floods clap their hands in concert, and ocean fills up the mighty chorus, to celebrate the advent of the great King. Similar to these, arc the representations of spiritual mercies by temporal deliverances from sickness, prison, danger of perishing in storms at sea, and from the sundry kinds of calamity and death to which the body of man is subject; as also by scenes of domestic felicity, and by the flourishing state of well-ordered communities, especially that of Israel in Canaan, which, while the benediction of Jehovah rested upon it, was a picture of heaven itself. — The foregoing, and every other species of the sacred im- agery, if there be any other not hitherto included, it hath been * " I believe a g^ood natural pliilosopher might show, with great reason and probability, that there is scarce beast, bird, reptile, or insect, that does not, in each particular climate, instruct and admonish mankind of some necessary truth, for their happiness either in body or mind." Dr. Cliei/ne's Philosophical Conjectures on the "preference of Vegetable Food, p. 73. That which a celcbiated \\ riter lias often observed concerning a poet, may per- haps be equally applicable to a divine — " To him nothing can be useless. Whatever is beautiful, and whatever is dreadful, should be familiar to his imagination : he should be conversant with all that is awfully vast or ele- gantly little. The plants of the garden, the animals of the wood, the mine- rals of tlie earth, and meteors of the sky, shouh'l all concur to store his mind with inexhaustible variety ; for every idea is useful for the enforce- ment or decoration of moral or religious truth ; and he who knows most, will have most power of diversifying his scenes, and of gratifying his rea- der with remote allusions, and unexpected instruction. By him, therefore, no kind of knowledge should be overlooked. He should range mountains and deserts for images an£RS. I. Prai/€rs for Pardon of Sill. Psalm <), 25, 3S, 51, 130. Psabns, stvled Pi.mlenlial, 6, 32, 38,51, 1U2, 130, 143. II. Prayers composed when the Psalmist was deprived of an op- portunity of the public exercise of religion. Psalm 42, 43, 63, 84. III. Prayers wherein the Psalmist seems extremely dejected, though not totally deprived of consolation under his afflictions. Psalm 13, 22, 69, 77, 88, 143. IV. Prayers wherein the Psalmist asketh help of God, in considera- tion of his own integrity, and the uprightness of his cause. Psalm 7, 17, 26, 35. V. Prayers expressing the firmest trust and conlidence in God under afflictions. Psalm 3, 16, 27, 31, 54,56, 57, 61, 62, 71, 86. VI. Prayers composed when the peo- ple of God w ere under affliction or persecution. Psalm 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 89, 94, 102, 123, 137. VII. The following are likewise Prayers in time of trouble and af- lliction. Psalm 4, 5, 11, 28, 41, 55, 59, 64, 70, 109, 120, 140, 141, 142. VIII. Prayers of intercession. Psalm 20, 67, 122, 132, 144. Psalms of Thanksgiving. J. Thanksgivings for Mercies vouch- safed to particular persons. Psalm 9, 18, 22, 30, 34, 40, 75, 103, 108, 116, 118, 138, 144. II. Tli-anksgivivgs for mercies vouch- safed to tlie Israelites in general, Psalm 45, 48, 65, 66, 68, 76, 81, 84, 98, 105, 124, 126, 129, 135, 136, 149. Psalms of Praise and Adoration, dis- playiii'j; the Attributes of God. I. General acknowledgments of God's Goodness and Mercy, and particu- larly his care and protection of good men. Psalm 23, 34, 36, 91, 100, 103, 107, 117, 121, 145, 146. II. Psalms displaying the Power, Majesty, Glory, and other attri- butes of the Divine Being. Psaim 8, 19, 24, 29, 33, 47, 50, 65, 66, 76, 77, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 104, 1 1 1 , 1 13, 114, 115, 134, 139, 147, 148, 150 Instructive Psalms. i. The diflerent characters of good and bad men ; the happiness of the one, and the miseries of the other, are represented in the fol- lowing. Psahn 1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 24, 25, 32, 34, 36, 37, 50, 52, 53, 58, 73, 75, 84, 91, 92, 94, 112, 119, 121, 125, 127, 128, 133. II. The excellence of God's Law-. Psalm 19, 119. III. The vanity of human life. Psalm 39, 49, 90. IV. Advice to magistrates. Psalm 82, 101. V. The virtue of humility. Psalm 131. Psalms more eminently and directly prophetical. Psalm 2, 16, 22, 40, 45, 68, 72, 87, 101, 118. Historical Psalms. Psalm 78, 105, 106 COMMENTARY FIRST DAY.— MORNING PRAYER. PSALM I. This Psalm, which is generally looked upon by expositors as a preface, or introduction to the rest, describes the blessedness of the righteous, con- sisting, ver. 1, negatively, in their abstaining from sin; 2. positively, in holy meditation on the scriptures, productive of continual growth in grace, which 3. is beautifully represented under an image borrowed from vegetation ; as 4. is the opposite state of the unbelieving and ungodly, by a comparison taken from the threshing-floor. The two last verses foretel the final issue of things, with respect to both good and bad men, at the great day. T/^ER. 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The Psalter, like the sermon on the mount, openeth with a " beatitude," for our comfort and encouragement, directing us immediately to that happiness, which all mankind, in different ways, are seeking and inquiring after. All would secure them- selves from the incursions of misery ; but all do not consider, that misery is the offspring of sin, from which it is therefore necessary to be delivered and preserved, in order to become happy, or " blessed." The variety of expressions here used by David, in- tiraateth to us that there is a gradation in wickedness : and that 54 A COMMENTARY Psal. I. he who would not persist in evil courses, or commence a scoffer at the mystery of godliness, must have no fellowship with bad men : since it is impossible for any one who forsakes the right path to say whither he shall wander ; and few, when they begin to " walk in the counsel of the ungodly," propose finally to sit down in the '' seat of the scornful." O thou second Adam, who alone, since the transgression of the first, hast attained a sinless perfection, make thy servants " blessed," by making them righteous, through thy merits and grace ! 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He who hath once brought himself to '•' delight" in the scrip- tures, will find no temptation to exchange that pleasure for any which the world or the flesh can offer him. Such a one will make the lively oracles of God his companions by day and by night. He will have recourse to them for direction, in the bright and cheerful hours of prosperity; to them he will apply for comfort, in the dark and drear}' seasons of adversity. The enemy, when advancing to the assault, will always find him well employed, and will be received with — " Get thee behind me, Satan !" When the law of God is the object of our studies and tneditations, we are con- formed to the example of our Redeemer himself, who, as a man, while he '• increased in stature," increased likewise " in wisdom," and grew powerful in the knowledge of the law which he was to fulfil, and of those prophecies which he was to accomplish; so that, at twelve years of age he appeared to " have more understanding than cdl his teachers : for the divine testimonies had been his medi- tation," Psalm cxix. 99. 3. And he shall he like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that hringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not zvither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. By continual meditation in the sacred writings, a man as natu- rally improves and advances in holiness, as a " tree" thrives and flourishes in a kindly and well watered soil. All the " fruhs" of righteousness show themselves at their proper " season," as oppor- tunity calls for them; and his words, which are to his actions what the " leaves" are to the fruit, fall not to the ground, but are profitable, as well as ornamental. Every thing in him and about him serves the pur})ose for which it was intended ; his brethren are benefited by him, and his Maker is glorified. How eminently is this the case with that tree of life, which Jehovah planted in Day I. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 5r> tlie midst of his new paradise, by the waters of comfort; a tree whicli sprung out of the earth, but its height reached to heaven, and its breadth to the ends of the world; its shadow is for the pro- tection, its fruit for the support, and its leaves for the healing of tlie nations. It flourishes in immortal youth, and blooms for ever in unfading beauty. See Rev. xxii. 2. 4. T/ie ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff, u'hich the wind driveth away. In the foregoing description of the riglitcous, all appeared ver- dant and fruitful, lovely and enduring; but here, by way of con- trast, we are presented with nothing but what is withered and worthless, without form or stability, blown about by every wind, and at lengtli finally dispersed from the face of the earth, by the breath of God's displeasure, and driven into the fire prepared for it. Such is the state, such the lot of the <* ungodly;" and so justly are they compared to " chaff." 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. A day is coming, when the Divine Husbandman shall appear with his " fan in his hand," and shall " thoroughly purge his floor." The wheat, which shall stand the winnowing of that day, will be gathered into the celestial granary ; while the chafl', for ever sepa- rated from it, shall be hurried out of the floor, and carried, bv a mighty whirlwind, to its own place. Then shall there be a '•' congregation of the righteous," in which " sinners shall not stand." At present wheat and chafl* lie in one floor; wheat and tares grow in one field; good and bad fishes are compre- hended in one net; good and bad men are contained in the vi- sible church. Let us wait with patience God's time of sepa- ration. G. For the Lord hioweth the icay of the righteous; hut the icay of the ungodly shall perish. In the present scene of confusion, we may bo, and often are, deceived in the judgment we form of men. ' But it cannot be so with the Omniscient. " The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his," 2 Tim. ii. 19. Their good deeds are not unobserved, nor will they be forgotten by him. His eye seeth them in secret, and liis hand will reward them openly, in the day of final retribution: when crowns of glory shall sparkle on the heads of the righteous, but shame and torment shall be tire portion of the wicked : " the way of the ungodly shall perish."- 56 A COMMENTARY Psal. II. PSALM II. ARGUMENT. David, seated upon the throne of Israel, notwithstanding the opposition made against him, and now about to carry his victorious arms amongst the neighbouring heathen nations, may be supposed to have penned this, as a kind of inauguration Psalm. But that a " greater than David is here," appears not only from the strength of the expressions, which arc more properly applicable to Messiah than to David himself; but also from the citations made in the New Testament: the appointment of the Psalm by the church to be read on Easter day ; and the confessions of the Jewish Rabbles. It treats therefore, 1 — 3. of the opposition raised, both by Jew and Gentile, against the kingdom of Jesus Chiist; 4 — 6. of his victory, and the confusion of his enemies ; 7 — 9. after his resurrection, he pieaches the gospel, and 10 — 12. calls the kings of the earth to accept it; de- nouncing vengeance against those who shall not do so, and pronouncing a blessing on those who shall. 1 . Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, The true David is introduced, like his ancestor of old, expos- tulating with the nations, for their vain attempts to frustrate the divine decree in his favour. These two verses are cited, j^^cts iv. 25. and thus expounded — " Lord — of a truth against the holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel deter- mined before to be done." Persecution may be carried on by the people, but it is raised and fomented by kings and rulers. After the ascension of Christ, and the eftiision of the Spirit, the whole power of the Roman empire was employed in the same cause, by those who, from time to time, swayed the sceptre of the world. But still, they who intended to extirpate the faith, and destroy the church, how many and how mighty soever they might be, were found only to " imagine a vain thing." And equally vain will every imagination be, that exalteth itself against the counsels of God for the salvation of liis people. 3. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. These words, su|)posed to be spoken l)y the powers in arms Day I. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 57 against Messiah, discover to us the true ground of opposition, namely, the unwillingness of rebellious nature to submit to the obligations of divine laws, which cross the interests, and lay a restraint upon the desire of men. Corrupt affections are the most inveterate enemies of Christ ; and their language is, " We will not have this man to reign over us."' Doctrines would be readily believed, if they involved in them no precepts ; and the church may be tolerated by the world, if she will only give up her dis- cipline. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. By these and such like expressions, which frequently occur in the scripture, we are taught, in a language which we understand, because borrowed from ourselves, and our manner of showing contempt, how the schemes of worldly politicians appear to him, who, sitting upon his heavenly throne, surveys at a glance what- ever men are doing, or contriving to do, upon the earth. This is the idea intended to be conveyed ; and from it we are to separate all notions of levity, or whatever else may oflend when applied to the Godhead, though adhering to the phrases, as in use among the sons of Adam. The same is to be said with regard to words which seem to attribute many other human passions and affections to the Deity : as for instance, these which follow — 5. I'hen shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and t^ex them in his sore displeasure. 6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. The meaning is, that by pouring out his indignation upon the adversaries of Messiah, as formerly upon those of David, God would no less evidently convict and reprove their folly and im- piety, than if he had actually thus spoken to them from his eter- nal throne above; " Yet, notwithstanding all your rage against him, have I raised from the dead, and exalted, as the head of the church, my appointed King Messiah ; in like manner as I once set his victorious representative David upon my holy hill Sion in the earthly Jerusalem, out of the reach of his numerous and im- placable enemies." Let us reflect, for our comfort, that He who raised up his Son Jesus, has promised to raise up us also who be- lieve in him; and that the world can no more prevent the exalta- tion of the members, than it could prevent that of the Head. J. I will declare the decree : Hie Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. -8 5S A COMMENTARY Psal. II. Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned with honour and immortahty, upon the holy hill of Zion, in the new Jerusalem, now " declares the decree," or preaches the gospel of the ever- lasting covenant. His part in the covenant was performed by keeping the law, and dying for the sins of men. Nothing there- fore remained, but the accomplishment of the promise made, to him by the Father, upon those conditions. One part of this pro- mise was fulfilled, saith St. Paul, " in that he bad raised up Jesus again ; as it is written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," Acts xiii. 33. Another part was fulfilled at the ascension of Christ, and his inauguration to an eter- nal kingdom, and an unchangeable priesthood, as the true Melchi- zedek. King of righteousness, King of peace, and the Priest of the most high God. The next article in the covenant on the Fa- ther's side, was the enlargement of Messiah's spiritual kingdom, by the accession of the nations to the church. And accordingly, this was the next thing which " Jehovah said unto him," after having proclaimed his Sonship and pre-eminence; as we find by the following verse. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inhe- riiancej and the iittermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Christ was to enter upon the exercise of theintercessorial branch of his priestly office, with a request to the Father, that the " hea- then world might be given for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth lor his possession," in return for the labours he had undergone, and the pains he had endured ; as also to supply the place of the Jews, who were his original " inheritance and possession," but were cast ofl", because of unbelief. That such request was made by Christ, and granted by the Father, the per- son who writes this, and he who reads it, in a once Pagan, h\\\ now Christian island, are both witnesses. 9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel. The irresistible power and inflexible justice of Christ's king- dom are signified by his " ruUng with a rod of iron ;" the impo- tence of those who presume to oppose him, is com])ared to that o! " a potter's vessel," which must fly in pieces at the first stroke of the iron rod. The power of Christ will be manifested in all, by the destruction either of sin or the sinner. The hearts whicii now yield to the iminessions of his Spirit, are broken only in or- der to be formed anew, and to become vessels of honour, fitted (ox Day I. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 59 the Master's use. Those which continue stubborn and hardened, must be dashed in pieces by the stroke of eternal vensreance. 10, Be loise now therefore, 0 ye kings : be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. The decree of the Father, concerning the kingdom of the Son, being thus promulgated by the latter, an exhortation is made to the kings of the earth, that they would learn true wisdom, and suffer themselves to be instructed unto salvation ; that they would bow their sceptres to the cross of Jesus, and cast their crowns before his throne; esteeming it a far greater honour, as well as a more exalted pleasure, to serve Him, than to find themselves at the head of victorious armies, surrounded by applauding nations. 12. Kiss ihe Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, ichcH his wrath is Idndled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Christ beseeches kings, no less than their subjects, to be recon- ciled to him, and by him to the Father: since a day is at hand, when mighty men sliall have no distinction, but that of being mightily tormented. And then will be seen the " blessedness" of those who '•' put their trust in-' the Lord Jesus. For when the glory of man shall fade away as the short-lived flower of the field, ;md when all that is called great and honourable in princes shall be laid low in the dust, he shall give unto his faithful servants a crown without cares, and a kingdom which cannot be moveb. dispose, or set myself in order, unto, or for thee, and will look up. He who is in good earnest, and hath his heart fully bent upon the work of salvation, like other skilful and diligent artificers, will be '''early" in his application to it; he will get the start of the world, and take the advantage of the " sweet hour of prime," to " dispose," and " set himself in order," for the day. What is a slothful sinner to think of himself, when he reads, concerning the holy Jesus, that " in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed!" Mark i. 35. 4. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in ivickedness / neither shall evil dwell with thee. The Psalmist was encouraged to make his early prayers to God in the day of trouble, upon this consideration, that his righteous cause must finally prosper, and the Divine counsels be accom- plished in his exaltation, and the depression of his enemies, who were likewise the enemies of God, The same was the case and the confidence of a suflering Messiah ; and such is that of his church and people in the world, where " wickedness" may prosper, and *'evil" not only live, but reign. Nevertheless, we know that " God hath no pleasure" in them, nor shall they " dwell with him," as we hope to do. 5. The foolish, Heb. mad, shall not stand in thy sight : thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6. Thou shalt destroy them t/iat speak leasing, or falsehood ; the Lord doth abhor the blood' thirsty and deceitful man. No objects of the senses can be so nauseous to them, as the va- rious kinds of sin are in the sight of God. O could we but think, as he does, concerning these, we should rather choose " madness" 'han trangression. and a*; soon fall in love with a plague-sore, as a. n 66 A COMMENTARY Psal. \ - temptation. '' I'alseliood, blood-thirstiness, and deceitfulness,'' are marked out as cliaracteristical of the enemies of David, of Christ, and the church ; and the history evinces them so to have been. Let us never go within the infection of such pestilential crimes. •7. But as for me, I will come into thtj house in the multitude of thy mercy : and in thy fear toill I icorship towards thy holy temple. Wisdom, righteousness, truth, mercy, and sincerity, form a character the reverse of that drawn in the preceding verses, and such an one as God will accept, when appearing before him in his house, and offering with humility and reverence the sacrifices of the new law, as David did those of the old, through faith in him who alone filled up the character, and procured acceptance for believers and their oblations. 8. Lead me, 0 Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies ; make thy way strait before my face. The child of God, admitted into his holy temple, there prefers this petition, praying to be led by the Divine Spirit in a course of holy obedience, all impediments being removed out of the way, which otherwise might obstruct the progress, or cause the fall of one beginning to walk in the path of life; of one who had many " enemies" ready to contrive, to take advantage of, to rejoice and triumph, in his ruin. Thus a man's enemies, while they oblige him to pray more fervently, and to watch more narrowly over his conduct, oftentimes become his best friends. 9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth, their inumrd. part is very wickedness ; their throat is an open sepulchre ; they flatter loith their tongue. A part of this verse is cited, Rom. iii. 13. together with several other passages from the Psnlms and prophets, to evince the depra- vity of mankind, whether Jews or Gentiles, till justified by faith, and renewed by grace. It is plain, therefore, that the description was designed for others, besides the enemies of the literal David, and is of more general import, reaching to the world of the un- godly, and to the enemies of all righteousness, as manifested in the person of Messiah, and in his church. The charge brought against these is, tliat '• truth" and " fidelity" were not to be found in their dealings with God or each other; that their "inward parts" were very wickedness; their first thoughts and imagina- tions were defiled, and the stream was poisoned at the fountain ; that their "throat was an open sepulchre," continually emitting. Day I. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. Of in obscene and impious languajrc, tiie noisome and infectious exha- lations of a putrid iieart, entombed in a body of sin ; and that ii iver they put on the appearance of goodness, they '• flattered witli their toneue," in order the more effectually to deceive and destroy. So low is human nature fallen! "Othou Adam, what hast thou done? For though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee." 2 Esd. vii. 48. 10. Desiroi/ thou them, 0 God ; let them fall by their own rounscL' : cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for thvji have rebelled against thee. Concerning passages of this imprecatory kind in the book of Psalms, it is to be observed, that they are not spoken of private and personal enemies, but of the opposers of God and his Anointed ; nor of any among these, but the irreclaimable and finally im- penitent; and this by way of prediction rather than imprecation; which would ajipear, if the original verbs were translated uniformly in the future tense, as they might be, and indeed, to cut off all occasion from them which desire it, should be, translated. The verse before us would then run thus, " Thou wilt destroy them, O God; they shall perish by their own counsels; thou wilt cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have re- belled against thee." The words, when rendered in this form, contain a prophecy of the infatuation, rejection, and destruction of such as should obstinately persevere in their opposition to the counsels of heaven, whether relating to David, to Christ, or to the church. The fate of Ahitophcl and Absalom, of Judas and the Jews, should warn others not to offend after the same example. 1 1 . But let all those that trust in thee rejoice ; let them ever shout for joy, because thou dcfendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. Heb. All they that trust in thee shall rejoice, &c. As the last verse foretold the perdition of the ungodly, this de- scribes the felicity of the saints; who, trusting in God, rejoice evermore, and sing aloud in the church the praises of their Saviour and mighty defender; the love of whose name fills their hearts with joy unspeakable, while they experience the comforts of grace, and expect the rewards of glory. 12. For thou, Loud, wilt bless the righteous; with favour zoilt thou compass him as with a shield. The " blessing" of God descends upon us through Jesus Christ ^- the righteous" or "just one," as of old it did upon Israel through David, whom, for the benefit of his chosen, God protected, deli- 68 A COMMENTARY Psal. VI. vered, and placed upon the throne. Thou, O Christ, art the righ- teous Saviour, thou art the King of Israel, thou art the blessed of Jehovah, the fountain of blessing to all believers, and thy " fa- vour" is the defence and protection of the church militant. FIRST DAY.— EVENING PRAYER. PSALM VI. ARGUMENT. This is the first of those Psalms which are styled Penitential. It contains, 1. deprecation of eternal vengeance, and 2, 3. a petition for pardon j which is enforced from a consideration of the penitent's sufferings ; 4, from tliat of the Divine mercy ; 5. from that of the praise and glory which God would fail to receive, if man were destroyed; 6, 7. from that of the penitent's humiliation and contrition. 8 — 10. the strain changes into one of joy and triumph, upon the success and retmn of the prayer. 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Let us suppose a sinner awakened to a true sense of his condi- tion, and looking around him for hel}). Above is an angry God preparing to take vengeance ; beneath, the fiery gulf ready to re- ceive him; without him, a world inflames; within the gnawing worm. Thus situated, he begins, in extreme agony of spirit, " O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure." He expects that God will " rebuke" him, but only prays that it may not be in " anger," finally to destroy him ; he desires to be chastened, but chastened in fatherly love, not in the "hot displeasure" of an inexorable judge. As often as we are led thus to express our sense of sin, and dread of punishment, let us reflect on Him whose righteous soul, endued with a sensibility pe- culiar to itself, sustained the sins of the world, and the displeasure of the Father. 2. Have mercy ujwn me, O Lord, fur I am weak : 0 Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed, Ileb. shaken or made to tremble. The penitent entreats for mercy, first, by representing his pitia- ble case, under the image of sickness. He describes his soul as deprived of all its health and vigour, as languishing and fainting, by reason of sin, which had eat out the vitals, and shaken all the powers and supporters of the spiritual frame, so that the breath of life seemed to be departing. P^.nough, however, was left, to sup- Day I. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 69 plicate the healing aid of the God of mercy and comfort; to peti- tion for oil and wine at the hands of the Physician of spirits. How happy is it for us, that we have a Physician, who cannot but be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, seeing that he him- self once took them upon him, and suffered for them even unto the death of the cross, under which he '* fainted,'' and on which •' his bones were vexed." 3. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? Anotlier argument is drawn from the sense which the penitent hath of this Iiis woful condition, and the consternation and anxiety produced thereby in his troubled mind. Those cause him to fly for refuge to the hope set before him. " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick ;'" he is therefore beautifully represented as crying out, with a fond and longing impatience, " but thou, O Lord, how long ?" His strength is supposed to fail him, and the sentence is left imperfect. Wliat, blessed Jesus, were thy " troubles," when to thy companions thou saidst, " JMy soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death !" By those thy sorrows we beseech thee to hear the voice of thine afllicted church, crying to thee from the earth, " My soul also is sore troubled; but thou, O Lord, how long?" 4. Return, 0 Lord, deliver iny soul^ O save me for thy mercies' sake. A third argument is formed ujion the consideration of God's " mercy ;" for the sake of which, as it is promised to penitents, he is requested to ^' return," or to turn himself towards the suppliant ; to lift up his countenance on the desponding heart ; to " deliver" it from darkness and the shadow of death, and to diffuse around it light and life, salvation, joy, and gladness, like the sun in the morn- ing, when he revisits a benighted world, and calls up the creation to bless the maker of so glorious a luminary, so bright a repre- sentative of redeeming love. 5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who sliall give thee thanks? The fourth argument proceeds upon a supposition that God cre- ated man for his own glory, which, therefore, would be so far di- minished, if man were permitted finally to perish. The body could not glorify God, unless raised from the dead: nor could the soul, if left in hell. The 'voice of thanksgiving is not heard in the grave, and no hallelujahs are sung in the pit of destruction. This plea, now urged by the church, was urged for her without all doubt, by her Saviour in his devotions, and prevailed in his mouth, as through him, it will do in hers. ro A COMMENTARY Psal. VI. 6. I am weary with my groaning ; all the night make I my bed to siviin ; I water my couch with my tears. The penitent is supplied with a fifth argument, by the signs and fruits of a sincere repentance, which put themselves forth in him. Such was his sorrow, and such revenge did he take upon himself, that for every idle word he now poured forth a groan, like him that is in anguish through extremity of bodily pain, until he was " weary," but yet continued groaning; while the sad remembrance of each wanton folly drew a tear from the fountains of grief. The all-righteous Saviour himself wept over sinners : sinners read the story, and yet return again to their sins ! 7. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old be- cause of all mine enemies. Grief exhausts the animal spirits, dims the eyes, and brings on old age before its time. Thus it is said concerning the man of sor- rows, that '• many were astonished at him, his visage was marred more than any man, and his form was more than the sons of men," Isaiah lii. 14. How long in these times, might youth and beauty last, were godly sorrow their only enemy ? 8. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity, for the Lono hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will hear, or hath heard, my prayer. Repentance having performed her task, having taught l>er votary to forsake sin, and to renounce all communication with sinners, now gives place to faith, which appears with the glad tidings of pardon and acceptance, causing the penitent to rejoice in God his Saviour, with joy unspeakable; and inspiring his heart with vigour and resolution to run his course in the way of righteousness. Risen to newness in life, he defies the malice, and predicts the final over- throw of his spiritual adversaries. 10. Lict all mine enemies, or, all mine enemies shall be ashamed, and sore vexed; let them, or, they shall return, and be ashamed suddenly. Many of the mournful Psalms end in this manner, to instruct the believer, that he is continually to look forward, and solace himself with beholding that day, when his warfare shall be accom- plished ; when sin and sorrow shall be no more ; when sudden and everlasting confusion shall cover the enemies of righteousness; when the sackcloth of the penitent shall be exchanged for a robe of glory, and every tear become a sparkling gem in his crown ; when to sighs and groans shall succeed the songs of heaven set to angelic harps, and failh shall be resolved into the vision of the Ahnisihlv. Day!. E. p. ON THE PSALMS. 71 PSALM VII. ARGUMENT. Oaviil is said to have roinposod tliis Psalm conccrninsTthc words or tlie mat- ter of Cush tlio Ben jamito. Whether Saul, or Shiinei, or any one else, he intcMidcd under this name, it is sufficiently clear, that David had been maliciously aspersed and calunniiated by such a person ; that the Psalm was written to vindicate himself from the imputation, whatever was the nature of it; and consequently may be considered as the appeal of the true David and his disciples against the grand accuser and his associates. The person speakinc:, 1, 2. declares his trust to be in God; 3 — 5. pro- tests his innocence; 6 — 8. desires that judgment may be given in the cause; 9, 10. prays for the abolition of sin, and the full establishment of righteousness; 11 — 13. sets forth the Divine judgfnients against sinners ; 14 — 16. describes the beginning-, progress, and end of sin, with, 17. the joy and triumph of the faithful. 1. O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust; save me from (dl them that persecute me, and deliver me. To a tender and ingenuous spirit, the " persecution" of the tongue is worse tlian that of the sword, and with more difficuhy submitted to; as indeed a good name is more precious than bodily life. Ke- lievers in ever}- age have been persecuted in this way; and the King of saints often mentions it as one of the bitterest ingredients in his cup of sorrows. Faith and prayer are the arms with which this formidable temptation must be encoimtered, and may be over- come. The former assures us, that God can " save and deliver" us from it; the latter induces him so to do. 2. Lest he tear my soul like a lion rending it in pieces, tohile there is none to deliver. The " lion," of whom David stood in fear, was probably Saul, roiised, by a false accusation, to destroy him. The rage of tyrants is often in the same manner excited against the church. And we all have reason to dread the fury of one, who is " the roaring lion," as well as the " accuser of the brethren." From him none can de- liver us, but God only. 3. O Lord 7ny God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands ; David makes a solemn appeal to God, the searcher of hearts, as judge of his innocence, with regard to the particular crime laid to his charge. Any person, when slandered, may do the same. But Christ only could call upon Heaven to attest his universal upriglit- nes-;. In his "hands" there was " no iniquity;" all his works 72 A COMMENTARY Psal. VII. were wrought in perfect righteousness ; and when the prince of this world came to try and explore him, he found nothing whereof justly to accuse him. The vessel was thoroughly shaken, but the liquor in it continued pure. A. If I have reu'ctrded evil unto him that was at peace loith me ; yea, I have delivered him that tvithout cause is mine enemy. David i)robably alludes to the life of Saul, which was twice pre- served by him, when he had been pressed by his attendants to em- brace the opportunity of taking it away. See 1 Sam. xxiv. xxvi. Of the Son of David St. Paul says, " in this he commended his love to us, that when we were sinners, he died for us," Rom. v. 8. In so exalted a sense did he " deliver him that without cause was his enemy." Wretched they who persecute their benefactor; happy he who can reflect, that he has been a benefactor to his persecutors. 5. Let the enemy jiersecttfe my soul, and fake it; yea, lei him tread down my life upo7i the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. These are the evils which David imprecates on himself, if he were such as his adversaries represented him ; persecution, appre- hension, death, and disgrace. Christ, for our sakes submitting to the imputation of guilt, suffered all these; but being innocent in himself, he triumphed over them all ; he was raised and released, glorified and adored; he pursued and overtook his enemies, he conquered the conquerors, and trampled them under his feet ; and he enableth us, through grace, to do the same. 6. Arise, 0 Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for 7ne to the judgment that thou hast commanded. To a protestation of innocence succeeds a prayer for judgment upon the case, which is formed on lliese two considerations; first, the unreasonable and unrelenting fury of the persecutors ; secondly, the justice which God has " commanded" others to execute, and which therefore he himself will doubtless execute upon such occa- sions. How did he " awake," and " arise," and " lift up himself to judgment," on the behalf of his Anointed, in the day of the re- surrection of Jesus, and the subsequent confusion of his enemies } And let injured innocence ever comfort itself with the remembrance of another day to come, when, every earth-born cloud being re- mov(!d, it shall dazzle its oppressors with a lustre far superior to that of a noon-day sun. 7. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about : for their sakes, therefore, return thou on high. Day I. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 73 Tlie meaning- is, tliat a visible display of God's righteous judg- ment would induce multitudes who should. behold, or hear of it, to adore and glorify him. For their sakes, therefore, as well as that of the sufferer, he is entreated to reascend the tribunal, as formerly, and pronounce the wished-for sentence. Thus the determination of the cause between Jesus and his adversaries, by his resurrection, and " return- on high," brought " the congregation of the nations" around him, and eflected the conversion of the world. Nor, in iiuman affairs, docs any thing more advance the reputation of a people among their neighbours, than an equitable sentence in the mouth of him who sitteth in judgment. 8. The L.0V1.D shall judge the people: judge mc, O Lord, ac- cording to my righteousness,) and according to mine integrity that is in me. Conscious of his '•' righteousness and integrity," as to the mat- ter in question, David desires to be judged by him, who is to judge the world at the last day. How iew,, among Christians, have seri- ously and deliberately considered, whether the sentence of that day is likely to be in their favour ! Yet, how many, with the utmost composure and self-complacency, repeat continually the words of this Psalm, as well as those in the Te Deum, " We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge!" Legal, or perfect righteousness and integrity are peculiar to the Redeemer; but evangelical righte- ousness and integrity all must have, who would be saved. 0. O let the micLedness of the wiched come to an end ; hut esta- blish the just : or, the wickedness of the wicked shall, &c. :for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. 10. My defence is of God, toho savelh the upright in heart. It is predicted that wickedness w'ill, in the end, be abohshed, and the just immoveabiy establisiied, hy Him who know-eth intimately the very thoughts and desires of both good and bad men, and will give to each their due reward. How can we doubt of this, when it has pleased God to afford so many examples and preludes to it, in his dispensations of old time ? The righteous cause hath already triumphed in Christ; let us not douljt, but that it will do so in the church. Happy the man, whose hope is therefore in God, because " he saveth the upright in heart." 11. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. The sense seems to be, that there are daily instances in the world of God's favour towards his people; as also of his displeasure against 'he ungodly, who are frequently visited by sore judgments, and taken 10 74 A COMMENTARY Psal. VII, away in their sins. In this Ught we should consider and regard all history, whether that of our own age and nation, or of any other. 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13. lie hath also prepared for him the instru- ments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. The sinner, who is not converted by the vengeance inflicted on others, will himself at length be made an example of. The wrath of God may be slow, but it is always sure. In thoughtless security man wantons and whiles away the precious hours ; he knows not that every transgression sets a fresh edge on the sword, which is thus continually whetting for his destruction; nor considers, that he is the mark of an archer who never errs, and who, at this very instant, perhaps, has fitted to the string that arrow which is to pierce his soul with everlasting anguish. 14. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. This is not to be understood as if " travail" were previous to " conception.'' The first is a general expression; " Behold, he travaileth with iniquity;" the latter part of the verse is more par- ticular; as if it had been said, " and having conceived mischief, he bringeth forth falsehood." When an evil thought is instilled into the heart of a man, then the seed of the wicked one is sown; by admitting, retaining, and cherishing the diabolical suggestion in his mind, he " conceiveth" a puipose of " mischief;" when that pur- pose is gradually formed and matured for the birth, he " travaileth with iniquity;" at length by carrying it into action, " he bringeth forth falsehood." The purity of the soul, like that of the body, from whence the image is borrowed, must be preserved by keeping out of the way of temptation. 15. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. l6. His mischief shall retmm upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come doicn upon his oion pate. All the world agrees to acknowledge the equity of that sentence which inflicts upon the guilty the punishment intended by them for the innocent. No one pities the fate of a man buried in that pit which he had dug to receive his neighbour; or of him who owes his death-wound to the return of an arrow shot against Heaven. Saul was overthrown by those Philistines whom he would have made the instruments of cutting ofi" David. Haman was hanged on his own gallows. The Jews who excited the Romans to crucify Christ, were themselves, by the Romans, crucified in crowds. Striking instances these of the vengeance to be one day executed Day I. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 75 on all tempters and persecutors of others; when men and ancrels shall lift up their voices, and cry out together '' Righteous art thou, O Lord, and just are thy judgments." 17. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness ; and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high. Whatever doubts may at present arise concerning the ways of God, let us rest assured that they will all receive a solution; and that the " righteousness"' of the groat Judge, manifested in his final determinations, will be the subject of everlasting hallelujahs. PSALM vin. ARGtJMENT. This is the first of those Psalms which the church has appointed to be read on Ascension-day. It treats, as appears from Heb. ii. 6, &lc. of the won- derful love of God, shown by the exaltation of our nature in Messiah, or the second Adam, to the rig^ht hand of the Majesty on high, and by the subjection of all creatures to the word of his power. 1. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! who hast set thj glory above the heavens. The prophet beholds in spirit the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow; like St. Stephen afterward, he sees hea- ven opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God ; the sight fills his heart with wonder, love, and devotion, which break forth in this address to " Jehovah," as " our Lord ;" for such he is by the twofold right of creation and redemption, having made us, and pur- chased us. On both accounts, " how excellent," how full of beauty and honour is his name, diffused by the gospel through " all the earth !" But more especially do men and angels admire and adore him for the exaltation of his •• glory," the glory of the only begot- ten, high " above the heavens," and all created nature, to the throne prepared for him before the foundation of the world. 2. Out of the mout h of ha bcs and sucklings hast thou ordained^ Heh. founded, or constituted, strength, because of thine enemies^ that thou mightest still the enemy and avenger. This verse is cited by our Lord, Malt. xxi. l6. and applied to little children in the temple, crying, " Ilosannah to the Son of Da- vid !" which vexed and confounded his malignant adversaries. The import of tiie words, therefore, plainly is, that the praises of Messiah, celebrated in the church by his children, have in them a strength and power which nothing can withstand ; they can abash 76 A COMMENTARY Psal. VIII. infidelity, when at its greatest heiglit, and strike hell itself dumb. In the citation made by our Lord, which the evangelist gives from the Greek of the LXX. we read, " thou hast perfected praise," which seems to be rather a paraphrase than a translation of the Hebrew, literally rendered by our translators, '' thou hast ordained strength." 3. Jflicn I consider thy heavens, the work of thi) fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained: 4. J^hat is man. that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou vi- sitest him? At the time of inditing this Psalm, David is evidently supposed to have had before his eyes the heavens, as they appear by night. He is struck with the awful magnificence of the wide extended firmament, adorned by the moon walking in brightness, and ren- dered brilliant by the vivid lustre of a multitude of shining orbs, differing from each other in magnitude and splendour. And when, from surveying the beauty of heaven, with its glorious show, he turrit to take a view of the creature man, he is still more affected by the mercy, than he had before been by the majesty of the Lord : since far less wonderful it is, that God should make such a world as this, than that He, who made such a world as this, should be '• mindful of man," in his fallen estate, and should '' visit" human nature with his salvation. 5. For thou hast inadc him a little, or, for a little while, lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands : thou hast put all things under his feet. On these two verses, with that preceding, St. Paul has left us the following comment. " One in a certain place testified, saying. What is man, that thou art mindful of him ? or the son of man that thou visitest him ? Thou madest him a little lower than [?H«rjO-. a little while inferior to] the angels; thou crowncst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who M'as made a little lower tlian the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour," Heb. ii. 6, &c. See also 1 Cor. xv. 27- 7. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8. The fold of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsover passeth through the paths of the seas. Day I. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 77 Adam, upon his creation, was invested with sovereign dominiDU over the creatures, in words of the same import with these ; Cen. i, 28. which are therefore here used, and the creatures particuhuized, to inform us, that what the fust Adam lost by transgression, the second Adam regained by obedience. That " glory" which was « set above the heavens," could not but be over all things on " the earth." And accordingly, we hear our Lord saying, after his resur- rection " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," Matth. xxviii. 18. Nor is it a speculation unpleasing, or unpro- fitable, to consider, that he who rules over the material world, is Lord also of the intellectual, or spiritual creation, represented thereby. The souls of the faithful, lowly and harmless, are the sheep of his pasture; those who, like oxen, are strong to labour in the church, and who, by expounding the word of life, tread out the corn for the nourishment of the [)cople, own him for their kind and beneficent master ; nay, tempers fierce and untractable as the wild beasts of the desert, are yet subject to his will; spirits of the angelic kind, that, like the birds of the air, traverse freely the su- perior region, move at his command ; and those evil ones, whose ha- bitation is in the deep abyss, even to the great Leviathan himself; all, are put under the feet of King Messiah ; who " because he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, was therefore highly exalted, and had a name given him above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, whether of things in heaven, or things on earth, or things under the eartli ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father," Phil. ii. 8, &c. 9. 0 Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth ! Let therefore the universal chorus of men and angels join their voices together, and make their sound to be heard as one, in honour of the Redeemer, evermore praising him, and saying, O Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, King of Righteousness, Peace and Glory, King of kings, and Lord of lords, how excellent, how precious, how lovely, how great and glorious is thy Name, diffused over all the earth, for the salvation of tliy chosen. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and un- to the Lamb, for over and ever. And let heaven and eartii say, Amen. 7» A COMMENTARY Psal. IX. SECOND DAY.— MORNING PRAYER. PSALM IX. ARGUMENT. This Psalm consists of two parts, a thanksgiving, 1 — 12; and a prayer^ 13 — 20. Upon what particular occasion it was composed, is not known ; probably, to celebrate the victories gained by David over the neighbour- ing nations, after God had exalted him to be king in Sion. See ver. 11- But most certainly the Psnlm was intended for the use of tlie Christian church ; and she continually, by using it, 1, 2. declares her resolution to celebrate the praises of her God ; since 3, 4. her enemies were vanquished, and her cause was carried; 5, 6. the empire of Satan was subverted, and 7, 8. the kingdom of Christ established; 9, 10. affording to believers refuge and salvation, for all these blessings. 11. Christians are excited to praise their Redeemerj who 12. forgets notliing that is done or suffered for his sake. 13, 14. the church petitions for final deliverance from the world, and the evil thereof; 15, Iti. building her hope ii])on the mercies already received; 17, 18. she foretels the destruction of the wicked; and 19, 20. prays for the manifestation of God. 1. I icill praise thee, 0 Lord, icith my wJiole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. In this animated and exahed hymn, the church begins with de- claring her resolution to " praise Jehovah," as the author of her salvation ; and that, neither coldly, as if the salvation were little worth, nor partially, reserving a share of the glory of it to herself; but with the " whole heart," with an affection pure and flaming, like the holy fire upon the altar. She is determined to "show forth" to the world, for its conviction and conversion, " all his marvellous works," the most "marvellous" of which are those wrought for, and in the souls of men. Outward miracles strike more forcibly upon the senses ; but they are introductory only to those internal operations, which they arc intended to represent. 2. / loill he glad and rejoice in thee : I xvill sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Christians are taught to "be glad and rejoice," not in abundance of wealth, or plenitude of power, not in the pleasures of sense or the praise of men, but in God their Saviour; and their joy is as far superior to the joy of the worldly, as the object of one is to that of the other. He who, with the spirit and the understanding, as well as with the voice, "sings praise to thy name, O Most High," is em- ployed as the angels are, and experiences a foretaste of the de- light they feel. 3. When mine enemies are driven hack, they shall fall, or, they stumble, or fall; and perish at thy presence. Day ir. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 79 The cluirch begins to explain the subject of her joy, which is a victory over her "enemies;" a victory not gained by herself, but by the " presence of (iod" in the midst of her. The grand enemy of our salvation was first vanquished by Christ in the wilderness, and "driven back," with the words "Get thee behind me, Satan." The same blessed person afterwards completely triumphed over him upon the cross, when the " prince of this world was cast out." This is that great victory, which we celebrate in psalms, and hynms, and spiritual songs, from generation to gcneralif)n ; and, through faith in him who achieved it, we are likewise enabled to fight, and to overcome. 4. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou safest in the throne judging right. The same important transaction is here described in forensic, ;is before it was in military terms. Satan having gotten possession of mankind, might have pleaded his right to keep it, since by trans- gression they had left God, and sold themselves to him. But Christ, as the church's representative and advocate, made the sa- tisfaction required, paid down the price of redemption, "' took the prey from the mighty, and delivered the lawful captive," Isa. xlix. 24. Thus was our " right and our cause maintained ;" thus we were rescued from the oppressor, and he who " sat on the throne judged righteous judgment." Something of this sort may be sup- posed to pass concerning each individual, between the Accuser of the brethren and the eternal Intercessor in the court of heaven. 5. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed tJie wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. To the victory of Christ succeeded the overthrow of Satan's empire in the pagan world. " The heathen were rebuked," when, through the power of the Spirit in those who preached the gospel, men were convinced of sin, and of righteousness, and of judg- ment; "The wicked were destroyed, and their name put out for ever," when the Roman power became Christian, and the ancient idolatry sunk, to rise no more. A day is coming when all iniquity shall perish, and be forgotten in like manner. 6. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: or, the destructions of the enemy are completed to the utmost : and thou, O God, hast destroyed their cities, their memorial is pe- rished icith them!* * Bishop Lowth renders this verse to the same effect. " Desolations have consumed the enemy for ever : and as to the cities which thou, O God, hast destroyed, tlieir memory is perished wiih thcin.'" ?:(ic Merrick's .iJnaotidiom on I he Ptalms, p. 9. 80 A COMMENTARY Psal. IX. The Christian churcli when repeating these words, may be sup- posed to take a retrospective view of the successive fall of those empires, with their capital " cities," in which the " enemy" had from time to time fixed his residence, and which had vexed and persecuted the peojjle of God in dilTerent ages. Such were the Assyrian, or Babylonian, the Persian and the Grecian monarchies. All these vanished away, and came to nothing. Nay, the very " memorial" of the stupendous Nineveh and Babylon is so " pe- rished with them," that the place where they once stood is now no more to be found. The Roman empire was the last of the pagan persecuting powers ; and when the church saw " that" un- der her feet, well might she cry out, " The destructions of the enemy arc completed to the utmost !" How lovely will this song be in the day when the last enemy shall be destroyed, and the world itself shall become what Babylon is at pi'esent. Next to the glory and triumph of that day, is the jubilee which the Chris- tian celebrates, upon his conquest over the body of sin. 7. But the Lord shall cnclvre for ever; he hath prepared his throne for judgment. 8. And he shall judge the world in righ- teousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. In opposition to the transient nature of the earthly kingdoms, the eternal duration of Messiah's kingdom is asserted ; as also its universality, extending over the whole •' world ;" together with the consummate rectitude of its administration. To him, as Su- preme Judge in an unerring court of equity, lies an appeal from the unjust determinations here below : and by him in person shall every cause be reheard, when that court shall sit, and all nations shall be sunmioned to appear before it. 9. TJie I^ORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge ■in time of trouble. In the mcdn time, and until he returnetli to judgment, the poor in spirit, the meek and lowly penitent, however •'• oppressed in times of trouble," by worldly and ungodly men, and by the fre- quent assaults of the wicked one, still finding a refuge in Jesus ; who renews his strength by fresh supplies of grace, arms him with faith and patience, and animates him with the hope of glory. 10. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee r for thou, Loud, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Therefore, they who " know God's name," that is, who are ac- quainted whh, and have experienced his nierciful nature and dis- position, ex|)ressed in that name, will take no unlawful methods to escape afiliction, nor " put their trust" in any but him for deliver- Day II. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 81 ance ; since a most undoubted truth (and O, what a comfortable truth) it is, that " thou Lord Jesus, hast not forsaken,'' nor ever wih finally " forsake them that" sincerely and diliojently, with their whole heart " seek'' to " thee" for help ; as a child, upon apprehen- sion of danjofer, flies to the arms of its tender and intlu]s;ent j)arcnt. 11. Sinff prai'^cs to the Lord, tohich dwvUcth in Zion ; declare among the people his doings. The church, having celebrated the power and the goodness of her Lord, exhorteth all her children to lift up their voices and sing together in fidl chorus, the praises of him whose tabernacle is in *' Zion," who resiiles with men upon the mountain of his holiness, and saith, " Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." And thus, not only " among the people," but also to principalities and powers in heavenly places, will be " declared" and made known by the voice of thanksgiving in the church, the manifold wisdom and mercy of God, in his " doings" towards man. See Eph. iii. 10. 12. When he niaketh inquisition for blood, he rememhereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. An objection might be started to the so nuich extolled loving- kindness of God, namely, that in this world his faitiiful people are often afllicted and persecuted ; nay, sometimes suffered to be killed all the day long, as sheep appointed to the slaughter. But this is obviated by the consideration, that all is not over, as wicked men may suppose, at death ; that a strict " inquisition" will be ap- pointed hereafter, when the " blood" of martyrs, and the suffer- ings of confessors shall not be " forgotten." He rememhereth THEM, that is, those who seek him, mentioned verse 10; so that the exhortation to "sing praises," &c. ver. 11, seems parenthetic, 13. Have mercrj upon me, O Lord; consider the trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. We are now come to the second part of this Psalm. The church, after having, in a former part, strengthened her faith by commemoration of the mighty works God had wrought for her, proceeds, in this, to pOur forth a prayer for farther and final deli- verance. She speaks, as still militant upon earth, still in an ene- my's country, surrounded by them that hate her, and suflering much from them. To whom therefore should she address herself, but to him, whose high prerogative it is, literally to " raise from the gates of death;" to him who is, in every possible sense. " the resurrec- tion and the life ?" n S2 A COMMENTARY Psal. IX. 14. Thai 1 may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion : I will rejoice in thy salvation. The members of tlie cliurch militant despair of being able to " show forth all God's praise," till they become members of the church triumphant. There is a beautiful contrast between " the gates of death," in the preceding verse, and ''the gates of the daughter of Zion," or the heavenly Jerusalem, in this : The one lead down to the pit, the other up to the mount of God; the one open into perpetual darkness, the other into light eternal ; from the one proceeds nothing but what is evil, from the other nothing but what is good ; infernal spirits watch at the one, the other are unbarred by the hands of angels. What a blessuig then is it, to be snatched from the former, and transported to the latter ! Who but must "rejoice" in such "salvation!" 15. The heathen are stink, or sink, down in the pit that they made ; in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. 16. The Lord is known hy the judgment which he execiiteth ; the wicked is snared in the ivork of his own hands. Faith beholds, as already executed, that righteous judgment, whereby wicked men and evil spirits will fall into the perdition which they had prepared for others, either openly by persecution, or more covertly by temptation. See Psalm vii. 15, l6. 17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. All wickedness came originally with the wicked one from hell, thither it will be again remitted, and they who hold on its side must accompany it on its return to that place of torment, there to be shut up for ever. The true state both of " nations," and the individuals of which they are con)posed, is to be estimated from one single circumstance, namely, whether in their doings they re- member, or " forget God." Remembrance of Him is the well- spring of virtue; forgetfiilness vof llim, the fountain of vice. 18. For the needy shall not cdway he forgotten: the expecta- tion of the poor shall not perish for ever. They who remember God shall infallibly be remembered by Him, and let this be their anchor in the most tempestuous seasons. The body of a martyr is buried in tlie earth ; and so is the root of the fairest flower ; but neither of them " perisheth for ever." Let but the winter pass, and the spring return, and lo, the faded and withered flower blooms; the body sown in corruption, dishonour, and weakness, rises in incorruption, glory, and ]jower. 19. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail; let the heathen hv judged in thy sight. Day II. iM. P. ON THE PSALMS. 83 And now, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; Arise, O Lord Jesus, from thy throne of glory, and come quickly ; " let not" the " man" of sin " prevail" against thy church ; but let the long- depending cause between her and her adversaries, " be judged" and finally determined '^ in thy sight." 20. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Strange, that man, dust in his original, sinful by his fall, and continually reminded of both, by every thing in him and about him, should yet stand in need of some sharp affliction, some severe visitation from God, to bring him to the knowledge of himself, and make hiui feel who, and what he is. But this is frequently the case; and when it is, as there are wounds which cannot be healed without a previous application of caustics, mercy is necessitated to begin her work with an infliction of judgment. PSALM X. ARGUMENT. This Psalm is, in the LXX. joinetl to the preceding, but in the Hebrew di- vided fiom it. The church under persecution from the spirit of Antichrist in the world, after 1. an humble expostulation with her Lord, setteth down the marks whereby that spirit may be known; such as 2. hatred of the faithful; 3. self-willedness and wordly-mindedness; 4. infidelity; 5,6. profligacy and pride ; 7. profancnrss and perjury ; 8—10. subtlety and treachery employed against the people of God; 11. security and pre- sumption. From tlie persecutions of such a spirit the church, 12 — 15. prayeth earnestly to be delivered; and, 16—18. through faith, rejoiceth in tribulation. 1. Wliy standest thou afar off, 0 Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble ? During the conflict between the church and her adversaries, God is represented as one withdrawing to a distance, instead of affording succour ; nay, as one concealing himself, so as not to be found by those who petitioned for aid or counsel. To behold the righteous cause oppressed, and good men seemingly deserted by Heaven, at a time when they most need its assistance, is apt to offend the weak, and oftentimes stagger those who are strong. It is indeed a sore trial, but intended to make us perfect in the prac- tice of three most important duties, humility, resignation, and faith. That we may not faint under the severity of this discipline, let us ever bear in mind that the beloved Son of the Father, the Son in whom he was well pleased, had occasion to utter these words, '' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 84 A COMMENTARY Psal. X. 2. The wicked hi Jii.f jmde doth jjcrsccitfe the poor; let theniy or they shall, be lalen in the devices tlud thcij have imngincd. Inconceivable is tlmt malignant liny, with which a conceited in- fidel persecutes an humble believer, though that believer hath no otherwise offended him tlian by being such. And what wonder? Shu-e it is a copy ol' the hatred wiiich Satan bears to Christ. But the devices of the adversaries, like those of their leader, will end in their own eternal confusion. 3. For the wicked hoasteth of his heart's desire, and hlesscth the covetous, whom the Lord ahhorrcth. The first part of this verse points out that alarming symptom of a reprobate mind, a disposition to exult and glory in those lusts, which are the shame and disgrace of human nature, whether the world or the flesh be their object. The latter clause is differently rendered, as implying either that " the wicked blesseth the cove- tous whom God abhorreth," or that "the wicked, being covetous, or oppressive, blesseth himself and abhorreth God." Either way, an oppressing, griping, worldly spirit, is characterized with its di- rect opposition to the Spirit of God, which teaches, that sin is to be confessed with shame and sorrow; that in God alone man is to make his boast ; and that it is more blessed to give than to receive. 4. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts; or, all his imagi- nations are, there is no God. The counsels of heaven are not known by the wicked, because they are not sought after ; and they are not sought after, because of a diabolical self-sufficiency, which having taken possession of the heart, displays itself in the countenance, and reigns through- out the man. He wants no Prophet to teach liim, no Priest to atone for him, no King to conduct him ; he needs neither a Christ to redeem, nor a Spirit to sanctify him ; he believes no Provi- dence, adores no Creator, and fears no Judge. Thus he lives a " stranger from the covenants of promise, and without God in the world," Eph. ii. 12. O that this character now existed only in the Psalmist's description. 5. Ilisumys are always grievous, or, corrupt; thy judgments are far above out of his sight : as for all his enemies, he pufeth at them. As are a man's principles, such will be his practices ; and if he hath not God in his thoughts, his course of life will be corrupt and abominable, his end, his means, and his motives, being all wrong, and polluted with concujiiscence. There would have been some chance of holding him by fear, but that is gone with his faith; for no man can tremble at judgments in which he does not believe. Day II. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 8:» C. lie hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved; for 1 shall never he in adversitii. Prosperity begets presumption, and he who has been lone accus- tomed to see his desiorns succeed, begins to think it impossible they should ever do otherwise. The lone-sunTerine of God instead of leading; such an one to repentance, only hardens him in his iniquity. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, he thinks it will not be executed at all. He vaunteth himself, thertifore, like the proud Chaldean monarch, in the Babylon which he hath erected, and fondly pronounceth it to be inmiortal. Such, it is too evident, are often the vain imasrinations of triumphant wickedness, 7. His mouth is full of eursing, deceit, ami fraud : under his tongue is miscliirf and vanity. From the thoushts of the sinner's '• heart," mentioned in the preceding verse, David goes on to describe the words of his " mouth." And here we may illustrate the character of the antichrist, by set- ting that of Christ in opposition to it. The mouth of one poureth forth a torrent of curses and lies ; from that of the other flowed a clear and copious stream of benediction and truth. Under the ser- pentine tongue of the former is a bag of mischief and vanity ; but honey and milk were under the tongue of the latter, so pleasant and so nourishing to the spirits of men were all his communications. 8. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. From " words," the description proceeds to '•' actions." And with regard to these, as the Son of Gotl went publicly preaching through cities and villages to save men's lives, so this child of Sa- tan lieth in ambush to destroy them, privily bringing into the church, and diffusing among the people, pestilent errors, and damnable he- resies, for that purpose. 9. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he licth in tvait to catch the poor; he doth catch the poor, when he drawefh him into his net. The disciples of Jesus, like their blessed Master, are ever vigilant to catch men in the evangelical net, in order to draw them from the world to God: the partizans of Satan, in imitation of their leader, are employed in watching, from their lurking places, the footsteps of the Christian pilgrim, that they may spring upon him in an un- guarded moment, and draw him from God to the world, and from thence to the devil. 10. He a-oucheth, and humhleth himself, that the poor mayf(dl by his strong ones. 86 A COMMENTARY Psal. X. Our Lord, who is styled " the Lion of the tribe of Judah/ ' be- came a " Lamb," for the solvation of mankind ; but when his ad- versary at any time " humbleth'' himself, when the wolf appears in sheep's clothing, let the Hock beware; it is for their more effectual destruction. And if, allured by an outward siiow of moderation and benevolence, the simple ones shall venture themselves within his reach, they will soon find that his nature is disguised, but not altered. 11, He hath said in his hearty God hath forgotten; he hidrth his fare ; he will never see if. For the chastisement of his people, God often suffers the enemy to prevail and prosper, who then ridicules the faith and hope of the church, and solaces himself in the conceit, that if there be a God, he cither knoAvs not, or cares not, what is done upon earth. These Epicurean notions, however absurd and unworthy of the Deity they may seem, do yet in some measure take possession of ever}' man's mind at the instant of his committing a sin; since it is most certain, that with a due impression of the Divine onmiscience upon his soul at the time, he would not commit it for all that the tempter could offer him. But faith is apt to sleep, and then sin awakes, 12, Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. 13, Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require if. The church now prays, that Jehovah, in vindication of his own honour and attributes, would arise to judgment, and make bare his glorious arm for the defence of his elect, who cry day and night unto hira. Thus would the insolence of the wicked one and his agents, founded on the Divine forbearance, be repressed, and all the world would see, that God had not forgotten, but still, as ever, remem- bered and regarded the low estate of his handmaid. 14. Thou hast seen it, for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee ; fhou art the helper of the fatherless. " The wicked" above " saith in his heart. Thou wilt not require it." But the faithful are taught other things by the promises in Scripture, and the experience of unnumbered histories. They know assuredly, that God beholds all that travail and vexation which some inflict, and others sustain, upon the earth; and that he will infallibly recompense to the former their deeds, to the latter their sufferings. Destitute should we be of every earthly helji, in the state of beggars and orphans, yet in him will we trust, who, as the Father and protector'of all such, saith unto every one of us, " 1 will never leave thee, nor forsake the(\" Day II. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 87 15. Bieak thou the arm of the wicked and evil man : seek out his wickedneas till thoujiiid none. This may be either a prayer or a prediction, implyijig that the time will come, when the power of Jehovah will dash in pieces that of the enemy, by the demolition cither of sin or the sinner, until wickedness become utterly to an end, and righteousness be established for ever in the kingdom of Messiah. And lo, iG. The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are pe- rished out of his land. Faith beholds the Lord Jesus, as already manifested in his glo- rious majesty, the kingdoms of this world become his, and the Canaanito no more in the land of ])romise. Each individual ex- periences in himself a happy preUule to this manifestation, when Christ rules in his heart by the Spirit, and every appetite and affec- tion is obedient to the sceptre of his kingdom. 17. Lord, thou hast heard, or, hearest, the desire of the hum- ble: thou wilt prepare, or, thou preparcst, their heart ; tkott wilt cau.<}e, or, thou causest, thine ear to hear. How many important and comforting truths have we here, in a few words ? As, that the " humble" and lowly, whatever they may suffer in the world, are the favourites of Jehovah: that he attends to the very " desires" of their hearts : that such hearts '• prepared" to prayer, are so many instruments strung antl tuned by the hand of Heaven : and tliat their prayer is as music, to wliich the Almighty himself listens with pleasure. 18. To Judge the fatherless and the ojqjressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. For the sake of the elect, and their prayers, the days of perse- cution and tribulation v»ill be shortened ; the insolence of the earth- born oppressor, the man of sin, will be chastised ; the cause of the church will be heard at the tribujial of God, and victory, triumph, and glory, will be given unto her. In the foregoing exposition, re- gard has been chiefly had to the case of the church, and to her suf- ferings from the spirit of antichrist, in whomsoever existing and acting, from time to time in the world; this being judged the most generally useful application, which Christians, as such, can make of the Psalm. Particular accommodations of it to the various op- pressions of innocent poverty by ini(juitous opulence, will meet the eye, and oiler themselves at once to ])ersons so circumstanced, foi- their support and comfort under their respective aftlictions; which will be also not a little alleviated by the consideration, that the whole church of (iod groaneth with them, and travaileth in pain, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Then, 85 . A COMMENTARY Psal. XI. and not till then, tears shall cease to run down the checks of misery ; and sorrow and sighing shall fly away to return no more for ever. PSALM XL ARGUMENT. The Psalmist, under persecution, 1 — 3. declareth himself resolved to trust in God alone, at a time when he was advised to fly to some place of re- fuge ; 4. he expresses his faith in the omniscience and overruling power of Jehovah ; 5. assigns the reason why good men are afflicted ; who, after that the wicked, 6. shall be destroyed, will appear to have been all along, 7. the favoured of God. 1. In the hoRD jntt I my trusty how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain ? The Christian, like David, in perilous times, should make God his fortress, and continue doing his duty in his station; he should not, at the instigation of those about him, like a poor, silly, timo- rous, inconstant bird, either fly for refuge to the devices of worldly wisdom, or desert his post, and retire into solitude, while he can serve the cause in which he is engaged. Nor indeed is there any " mountain" on earth out of the reach of care and trouble. Temp- tations are every where; and so is the grace of God. 2. For, lo, the tcicked bend their boiv, they make ready their arroio upon the string, that they may jmvily shoot at the upright in heart. These seem to be still the words of David's friends, represent- ing to him, as a motive for his flight, the extreme danger he was in from the " arrows'' of the enemy, already, as it were, fitted to the " string" and pointed at him " in secret," so that not knowing from whence they were to come, he could not guard against them. The Christian's danger, from the darts of the infernal archers, lying in wait for his soul, is full as great as that of David. But " the shield of faith" sufficeth in both cases. 3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? This likewise seems to be spoken by the same persons, discou- raging David from making an}^ farther resistance, by the considera- tion, that all was over; the " foundations" of religion and law were subverted; and what could a man, engaged in the most " righteous" designs, hope to " do," when that was the case } Such arguments are often urged by the timid, in similar circumstances; but they are fallacious; since all is not over, while there is a man left to rej)rove error, and bear testimony to the truth. And a man who does it with becoming spirit, may stop a prince, or senate. Day II. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 8^ when in full career, and recover the day. But let us hear David's farther reply to his advisers. 4. The Lord is in hin hohj temple, the Lord's throne is in heu- cen ; his eyes behold, his eijelich tnj the children of men. In the first verse, the Psalmist had declared his trust to be in Je- hovah. After reciting the reasonings of his friends, he now pro- ceeds to evince the fitness and propriety of such trust, notwith- standing the seemingly desperate situation of aflairs. " Jehovah is in his holy temple;'' into which, therefore, unholy men, however triumphant in this world, can never enter: " Jehovah's throne is in heaven ; and consequently superior to all power upon earth, which may be controlled and overruled b}' him in a moment : " his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men ;" so that no secret wickedness can escape his knowledge, who scrutinizeth the hearts as well as the lives of all the sons of Adam. Why, then, should the man despair, who hath on his side holiness, omnipotence, and omniscience ? 5. The Lord tricth the righteotis ; hut the tdclccd, and him that loreth violence, his soul hate.th. As to the aftlictions which persons may suffer, who are embarked in a righteous cause, they are intended to purge away the dross, and to refine them for the Master's use. '• Gold," saith the son of Sirach, " is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity," Ecclcs. ii. 5. In the mean time, God's displeasure against the wicked is ever the same, and their prosperity, instead of benefiting, will in the end destroy them. The cases of David and Saul, Christ and the Jews, the martyrs and their persecutors, are all cases in point, and should be often in our thoughts, to teach us patience, and guard us against despair, in seasons of calamity, pain, or disgrace. 6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, or, burning coals, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest ; this shall be the portion of their cup. St. Jude, ver. 7'. tells us, that the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, &c. for their abominable sins, " ■srpor.etvrxi S'et'yiu.cc, arc set forth for an example, or specimen, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." And here we see the images are plainly taken from the dreadful judgment inflicted on those cities, and transferred to the vengeance of the last day. Then the sons of faithful Abraham shall behold a prospect, like that which once presented itself to the eyes of their father; when rising early in the morning, and looking towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards all the land of the plain, he •' beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke 1'-? 90 A COMMENTARY Psal. XII. of a furnace!" Gen. xix. 28. Such must be the " portion of their cup," who have dashed from them the cup of salvation. He, therefore, who would enjoy the prosperhy of the wicked here, must take with it their torment hereafter; as he who is ambitious of wearing the crown of righteousness in heaven, must be content 1o endure tribulation upon earth. 7. Foi- the righteous Lord loveth righteousness ; his counte- nance doth behold the itpright. He who is in himself essential righteousness, cannot but love his own resemblance, wrought in the faithful by his good Spirit ; with a countenance full of paternal affection, he beholds, and speaks peace and comfort to them in the midst of their sorrows; until, ad- mitted through mercy to the glory from which justice excludes the wicked, and beholding that countenance which has always beheld them, they shall enter upon a life of boundless and everlasting felicity. SECOND DAY.— EVENING PRAYER. PSALM XH. ARGUMENT. The cliurcli, through David, 1, 2. laments the decrease of God's faithlul servants, and the universal corruption among men, but, 3 — 5. rests upon the Divine promises, the truth and certainty of which, 6, 7. she cele- brates, and comforts herself therewith, while in a world, where often- times, 8. the wicked walk uncontrolled. 1. Help, (Heb. save,) Lord, for the godly man ceaseih; for the faithful fail from among the children oftnen. Our Lord foretels, that in the latter days, " because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold;" and seems to question whether, " when the Son of man cometh, he shall find faith upon the earth." The universal depravity of Jew and Gen- tile caused the church of old to pray earnestly for the first advent of Christ; and the like depravity among those who call themselves Christians, may induce her to pray no less earnestly for his appear- ance the second time unto salvation. It is frequently a benefit to be destitute of help from man, both as it puts us upon seeking it from God, and inclines him to grant it when we do seek. 2. ThcT/ speak vanity, or, a lie, every one with his neighbour : with flattering lips, and with a double heart do they speak. When men cease to be faithful to their God, he who expects to find them so to each other will be much disappointed. The pri- mitive sincerity will accompany the primitive piety in her flight Day II. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 91 from the earth ; and then interest will succeed conscience in the rc- pilatinn of human conduct, till one man cannot trust another far- ther than he holds him by that tie. Hence, by the way, it is, tliat although many are infidels themselves, yet few choose to have their families and dependents such; as judging, and rightly judging, that true Christians are the only persons to be depended on, for the exact discharge of social duties. 3. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things : 4. JHio have said, With our tongue tcill we prevail; our lips are our omi : who is Lord over ns ? They who take pleasure in deceiving others will, at the last, find themselves most of all deceived, when the Sun of truth, by the brightness of his rising, shall at once detect and consume hypo- crisy. And as to men of another stamp, who speak great swelling words of vanity; who vaunt themselves in the arm of flesh, think- ing to prevail by human wit or human power : equally deplorable will be their case, when the Lord Cod '•' omnipotent" reigneth. 5. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy ^ 710W will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that jjujfcth at him. For the consolation of the afflicted and poor in spirit, Jehovah is here introduced promising, out of compassion to their sufferings, to " arise, and set them in safety," or place them in a state of" sal- vation." Such all along has been his promise to the church, who by looking back to the deliverances wrought of old for the servants of God, and above all, to that wrought for the Son of God, is now encouraged to look forward, and expect her final redemption from the scorn and insolence of infidelity. 6. The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace, or crucible of earth, purified seven times. The church rejoices in the promises of God her Saviour, because they are such as she can confide in. His words are not like those of deceitful boasting man, but true and righteous altogether. Often have they been put to the test, in the trials of the faithful, like silver committed to the furnace, in an earthen crucible; but like silver in its most refined and exalted purity, found to contain no dross of imperfection, no alloy of fallibility in them. The words of Jehovah are holy in his precepts, just in his laws, gracious in his promises, significant in his institutions, true in his narrations, and infallible in his predictions. What are the thousands of gold and silver, compared to the treasures of the sacred page ? 7. Thou shall keep them, O Lord, thou shall preserve them from this generation for ever. 92 A CC^IMENTARY Psal. XIII. As if it had been said, Yes, blessed Lord, what thou hast pro- mised shall surely be perlbrmed, since there is with thee no vari- ableness, nor shadow of turning : thou wilt keep thy poor and lowly servants, as thou hast promised, from being circumvented by treachery, or crushed by ))ower : thou wilt preserve them undefded amidst an evil and adulterous generation ; thou wilt be with thy church to the end of the world, and then admit her to be with thee for ever. 8. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. While the faithful repose, as they ought to do, an unlimited con- fidence in God's promises, they have, in the mean time, but too much reason to mourn the prevalence of wickedness, stalking like its author, to and fro, and up and down in the earth, uncontrolled by those who bear the sword, but who either blunt its edge, or turn it the wrong way. Such is often the state of things here below; and a reflection, made upon the subject by our Lord, when his enemies drew near to apprehend him, may satisfy us how it comes to be so ; " It is your hour, and the power of darkness." But that hour will quickly pass with us, as it did with him, and the power of darkness will be overthrown ; the Lord will be our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning shall be ended. PSALM XIII. AKGUMENT. Tills Psalm contains, 1, 2. a complaint of desertion; 3, 4. a prayer for the Divine assistance ; 5, 6. an act of faith and thanksgiving-. 1. Hoiv long icilt thou forget me, O Lord ? for ever ? How long loilt thou hide thy face from mc? While God permits his servants to continue under affliction, he is said, after the manner of men, to have " forgotten, and hid his face from them." For the use, therefore, of persons in such cir- cumstances, is this Psalm intended; and consequently, it suits the different cases of the church universal, languishing lor the advent of her Lord, to deliver her from this evil world ; of any particular church, in time of persecution ; and of each individual when ha- rassed by temptations, or broken by sickness, pain, and sorrow. He who bore our sins, and carried our soirows, may likewise be pre- sumed to have made it a part of his devotions in the day of trouble. 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soid, having sorroic in my heart daily? How long shcdl mine enemy he exalted over me? To excite compassions, and prevail for help from above, the petitioner mentions three aggravating circumstances of his misery: Day it. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 93 the perplexity of his soul, not knowing which way to tum, or what course to take; his heartfelt sorrow, utterin? itself in. si.:lis and groanings; and the mortifying reflection, that his enemies were exulting in their conquest over him. All this will happen, and be j^articularly painful, to him who has yielded to tem})tation, and committed sin. 3. Consider and hear mc, O Lord w/y God; lightCH mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. On the preceding consideration is founded a prayer to Jeho- vah, that he would no longer hide his face, but " consider," or, more literally, '"• have respect to, favourably behold"' his servant; that he would "hear, attend to, be mindful of," his suppUcation in distress. The deliverance requested is expressed figuratively, '• Ligiiten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death."' In time of sickness and grief, the " eyes*' are dull and heavy ; and they grow more and more so as death approaches, which closes them in darkness. On the other hand, health and joy render the or- gans of vision bright and sparkling, seeming, as it were, to impart " light" to them from within. The words, therefore, may be fitly applied to a recovery of the body natural, and thence of the body pohtic, from their respective maladies. Nor do they less signifi- cantly describe the restoration of the soul to a state of spiritual health and holy joy, which will manifest themselves, in like man- ner, by '' the eyes of the understanding being enlightened ;" and jn this case, the soul is saved from the sleep of sin, as the body is, in the other, from the sleep of death. 4. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice ichen I am moved. This argimient we often find urged in prayer to God, that he would be pleased to work salvation for his people, lest his and their enemies should seem to triumph over him, as well as them; which would indeed have been the case, had Satan either seduced the true David to sin, or confined him in the grave. And cer- tainly, it should be a powerful motive to restrain us from trans- gression, when we consider, that as the conversion of a sinner brings glory to God, and causes joy among the angels of heaven; so the fall of a believer disgraces the gospel of Jesus, opens the mouths of the adversaries, and would produce joy, if such a thing could be, in hell itself. 5. But I have trusted, or, / trust, in thy mercy ; my heart shall rejoice, or, rejoices, in thy salvation. G. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt, or, deals, bountifully with me. The heart, which " trusteth in God's mercy," shall alone "re- 91 A COMMENTARY Psal. XI \. joice in his salvation," and celebrate by the tongue, in songs of praise, the loving-kindness of the Lord, It is observable, that this, and many other Psalms, with a mournful beginning, have a triumphant ending; to show us the prevailing power of devotion, and to convince us of the certain return of prayer, sooner or later, bringing with it the comforts of heaven, to revive and enrich our weary and barren spirits in the gloomy seasons of sorrow and tempt;ition, like the dew descending by night upon the withered summit of an eastern mountain. PSALM XIV. ARGUMENT. Tills Psalm is in a nianner the same with the LIIM. It sets forth, 1 — 3. the corruption of the world j 4 — 6. its enmity against the ijcoplc of God; 7. the proi)het longs and prays for salvation. 1. The fool hath said in Ms heart, There is no God: they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that do- cth good. It does not appear upon what occasion David composed this Psalm. The revolt of Israel in Absalom's rebellion is by most writers pitched upon as the subject of it. But be this as it may, the expressions are general, and evidently designed to extend be- yond a private interpretation. And accordingly, the Apostle, Rom. iii. 10, &c. produces some passages from it, to evince the apostacy of both Jews and Gentiles from their King and their God, and to prove them to be all under sin. In this light therefore we are to consider it, as characterizing the principles and practices of those who oppose the Gospel of Christ in all ages. " The fool liath said in his heart, There is no God.'' Infidelity is the beginning of sin, folly the foundation of infidelity, and the heart the seat of both. " Their foolish heart (says St. Paul of the heathen, Rom. i. 21.) was darkened." The sad consequence of defection in principle is corruj)tion in practice. " They are corrupt, they have done abo- minable works, there is none that doeth good." On these words the reader may see a full comment, Rom. i. 28 — 32. 2. The Lord looked dotvn fro?n heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy , ox, putrified : there is none that docth good, no, not one. Like a watchman on the top of some lofty tower, God is repre- sented as sinveying from his heavenly throne the sons of Adam, and their proceedings upon the earth : he scrutinizes them, and as Day II. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 95 it were searches diligently, to find among them a man of true wis- dom one whose heart was turned toward the I..ord his God, one who was inquiring the way to salvation and glory, that he might walk therein. But as the result of this extensive and accurate sur- vey God informs his prophet, and commissions him to inform the world, that all had declined from the paths of wisdom and righ- teousness; that the mass of human nature was become putrid, re- quiring to be cleansed, and the vessels made of it to be formed anew. Such is the scriptuie account of man, not having received grace, or having fallen from it; of man without Christ, or in arms against him. See Koni. iii. 11, 12. *4. Have all the tcorlcers of imqnUy no knowledge? irho cat up mij people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord. The " woikers of iniquity," work for the wages of death; they fight against God and their own souls; they barter eternity for time, and part with happiness for misery, both in possession and rever- sion. Well therefore may it be asked, " Have they no knowledge r" For conmnon sense, after all, is what they want. They who, with an appetite keen as that to their food, prey upon the poor, and de- vour the people of God, will themselves be preyed upon and de- voured by that roaring lion, whose agents for the present they are; and such as now " call not on the name of the Lord" Jesus for pardon and salvation, shall hereafter call in vain upon the rocks and mountains, to shelter them from his power and vengeance. 5. There icere ihey in great fear ; for God is in the generation of the righteous. In the parallel place, Psalm liii. 5. after the words, " There were they in great fear," are added these, " where no fear was," which certainly connect better with whtit follows, " For God is in the ge- neration of the righteous." David is sujjposed to be speaking j^ri- marily of Israel's defection from him to Absalom, and here to be assigning the motive of that defection in many, namely, fear of the rebel's growing power, and distrust of his ability to protect them ; which fear, he observes, was groundless, becatise his cause was the cause of God, who would not fail to appear in its support and vin- dication. The subjects of Christ, in times of persecution, are often tempted to renounce their allegiance, upon t!ie same principle of fear; although of them it may more emphatically be said, that they * Between the preceding^ verse and this are three others inserted in our < ommon trauslalion, which though taken by St. Paul fioni other part; of Scripture, yet because (Rom. iii. 13.) tliey followcJ the words cited Iroin this Psalra, were probably added thereunto in this place bj goiue trans- cribers of the copies of the L.\X. For in other copies of the ]>XX. they exist not, any more than in the Hebrew, ChaUlee, or Syriac. (j6 A COMMENTARY Psal. XV. " fear where no fear is, since God is in tlie generation of the righ- teous ;" and they who are engaged on the side of the Messiah, will, in the end, most assuredly be triumphant. The latter clause of this verse, in Psalm liii. runs thus, " For God hath scattered, or, shall scatter the bones of him that encampeth against thee ; thou hast, or shalt put them to shame, because God hath despised them :" the sense of which is evidently the same with — " God is in the ge- neration of the righteous :" he will defend them, and overthrow their enemies ; therefore let them not fear, neither let their hearts be troubled. If this interpretation be disapproved, the words, <' There were they in great fear,-' must be understood of the ene- my, and the clause, " where no fear was," must be rendered in- terrogatively thus, " and was there not cause for them to fear r since God is in the generation of the righteous, or, will scatter the bones of him that encampeth against thee," &:c. 6. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge. This is plainly addressed to the adversaries, and charges them with reproaching and scoffing at that confidence in the Lord, ex- pressed by the afflicted righteous in the preceding verse. 7. 0 that the salvation of Israel were come out of Sion! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. The consideration of the apostacy and corruption of mankind, described in this Psalm, makes the prophet express a longing de- sire for the salvation of Israel, which was to go forth out of Zion, and to bring back the people of God from that most dreadful of all captivities, the captivity under sin and death; a salvation, at which Jacob would indeed rejoice, and Israel be glad. And how doth the whole church, at this time, languish for the consummation of her felicity, looking, even until her eyes fail, for that glorious day of final redemption, when every believing heart shall exult, and all the sons of God shout aloud for joy ! THIRD DAY.— MORNING PRAYER. PSALM XV. ARGUMENT. This is one of the Psalms appointed to be used 011 Ascension-day. The Prophet, 1. incjuires concerning the person who should ascend into tlie hill, and d\v(;ll in the temple of Jehovah ; 2 — 5. he receives, in answer to ills question, a chariictcr of such person. J. Lord, who shall abide in thi/ tabernacle? IVho shall dwell in thy holy hill? Day III. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 97 The prophet alkules to the hill of Sion in the earthly Jcnisalem, to the tabernacle of God which was thereon, and the character of the priest, who should officiate in that tabernacle. But all these were fisfnres of a celestial Jerusalem, a spiritual Sion, a tiiie taber- nacle, and an eternal ])riest. To the trreat oricinals therefore we must transfer our ideas, and consider the inquiry as made after Ilira who should fix his restintr-place on the heavenly mount, and exer- cise his unchangeable priesthood in the temple not made with hands. And since the disciples of this now and great High Priest become righteous in him, and are by the Spirit conformed to his image, the character which essentially and inherently belongs only to him, will derivatively belong to them also, who must follow his steps below, if they wouUI reign with him above. 2. He that wnlketh uprighlltj, and zrorketh right eoiisncss, and spealccth the truth in his heart. The man, therefore, who would be a citizen of Zion, and there enter into the rest and joy of his Lord, must set that Lord always before him. Renewed through grace, endued with a liveh- faith, and an operative charity, he nmst consider and imitate the life of that blessed Person, who walked amongst men, without partaking of their corruptions; who conversed unblameabjy with sinners; who could give this challenge to his inveterate enemies, " Which of you convinccth me of sin ?-' in whom the grand accuser, when he came, "found nothing;" who, being himself "the truth," thought and spake of nothing else; making many promises, and performing them all. 3. He that backhiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor takcth up a reproach against his neighbour. Who, knowing the sins, follies, and infirmities of all mankind, made his tongue an instrument, not of disclosing and exasperating, but of covering and healing these sores in human nature; wiio es- teeming every son of Adam as his neighbour, went about doing g >od, and then laid down his life, and resigned his breath in prayer for his murderers; who, instead of taking up a reproach, and listening to the calumniator, cast him out and silenced him, erasing the hand writing that was against us, and nailing the cancelled indictment to the cross. 4. In whose et/es a vile person is contemned ; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and rhangeth not. Who rejected the wicked, however rich and honourable ; and chose the well-inclined, however poor and contemj^tible in the world ; who, having, by covenant with the Father, engaged to keep 13 ^i^-. !)8 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVI. the law, and to taste death lor every man, went wilHngl}' and stea- dily through this work, and surmounted every obstacle which could be thrown in his way, until he declared concerning the task ap- ixiinted him, " It is finished." 5. He thai jmttet knot out Jus money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. Who was so far from desiring to amass the earthly manmion that he would touch none of it : and received the true riches only that he might bestow them upon others ; who, instead of taking a reward against the innocent, died for the guilty ; and whose sen- tence, when he shall sit on the throne of judgment, will be equally impartial and immutable. 6. He that doeth these things shall never he moved. In the above comment, it was thought most adviseable to open and display the full intent of what was both enjoined and forbid- den, by exemplifying each particular, as receiving its utmost com- pletion in the character and conduct of our blessed Lord. And whoever shall survey and copy these virtues and graces, as they present themselves in his life, will, it is humbly apprehended, take the best and shortest way to the heavenly Zion, and make that use of the fifteenth Psalm, which the church may be supposed to have had in view, when she appointed it as one of the proper Psalnis for Ascension-day. PSALM XVI. ARGUMENT. Upon wiiatever occasion, or in whatever distress David might compose tlii> Psahu, we arc taught by St. Peter and St. Paul, Acts ii. 25. and xiii. 35. to consider him as speaking- in tlie person of our Lord Christ, of whom alone the latter part of the Psalm is true. The contents arc, 1. a prayer for support ; 2, 3. a declaration of love to the saints ; 4. a protestation against idolaters ; 5 — 8. acts of love, joy, and confidence in Jehovah ; and 9 — 11. one of hope in an approaching resurrection and glorification. 1. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I imt my trust. These words are evidently spoken by one in great distress, who addresses himself to heaven for suj)port under his sufferings, plead- ing his confidence in God, still unshaken by all the storms that had set themselves against it. This might be the case of David, and may be that of any believer. But since the Psalm is a continued speech without change of pereon, we may consider the whole as uttered by llim, who only could utter the concluding verses, and who in this first verse makes his supplication to tiu^ Father, for the promised and expected deliverance. Day III. INI. R ON THE PSALMS. W 2. 0 my soul, tlion hast saidunto the Lonn, Thou art mi/ Lord: mif goodness e.\tencieth not to thcc; 3. But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. In tlie Clialdeeand Sjriac, the latter clause of the former of these two verses is rcnfJcrcd — " lAIy c;oothicss is from thee." An inge- nious writer thinks the Hebrew will bear this sense, in the ellipti- cal way, thus — " My goodness ! shall I mention that ? By no means ; it is all to be ascribed to thee,"'' The goodness of man is all derived from God, and should be extended to his brethren. That of Messiah owed its original to his union with the Divinity ; and promoted the salvation of those to whom it was communicated, that is to say, of those who therrby became " the saints and excel- lent ones in the earth." For their sakes obedience was performed, and propitiation made, by the Son of God, because he loved them with an everlasting love, and placed " all his delight" in making them happy. lie "rejoiced in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the sons of men," Prov. viii. 31. 4. Their sorrow shall be mnltipHed that hasten after another god : their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into mij lips. Christ denounceth vengeance against those who should make to themselves other gods, run after other saviours, or sufl'er any crea- ture to rival him in their affections ; declaring of such that their oflerings should not be presented by him to the Father, nor should they be partakers of the benefits of his intercession. Even the bloody sacrifices of the law, instituted tor a time by God himself", became abomination to him when that time was expired, and the one great sacrifice had been oflered upon the altar of the cross. 5. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup ; thou maintainest my lot. 6. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places ; yea, I have a goodly heritage. The tiue David, anointed to his everlasting kingdom, yet first a man of sorrows and a stranger upon earth, prefers the promised in- liei'itance of the church, that s})iritual kingdom, city, and temple of Jehovah, before all the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them; he is sure that Jehovah will maintain his lot, that he will both give and preserve to him this his ])atrimony ; and therefore rejoices at the divine beauty and excellency of the heavenly Canaan. And hence the Christian learns wherein his duty and his happiness consist; namely, in making choice of God for " the portion of his inheritance and of his cup," for his support, and for his delight: in preferring the spirit to the flesh, the chuich to tlic world, and eter- nity to time. 100 A COMMK^TARY Psal. XVI. 7. I nrill bless the Lord, icho hath given me counsel; my reins also instruct me in the night season. The person speaking here blesses Jehovah for communicating that divine " counsel," that celestial wisdom, by which he was incited and enabled to make the foregoing choice and resolution. In the latter part of the verse is intimated the mode of these gra- cious and spiritual comnumications, which in the dark seasons of adversity were conveyed to the inmost thoughts and affections of the mind, tJiereby to instruct, to comfort, and to strengthen the sufiorer, until his passion should be accomplished, and the morning of the resurrection should dawn, in which, as we shall see, all his hope and confidence were placed. 8. I have set the Lord alivai/s before me: becattse he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. The method taken by Christ, as man, to support himself in time of trouble, and persevere unto the end, was to maintain a constant actual sense of the presence of Jehovah, whom when he thus saw standing at his right hand, ready, at the appointed hour, to succour and deliver him, he then feared not the powers of earth and hell combined for his destruction. Why are our fears great, but be- cause our faith is little ? 9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth ; my flesh also shall rest in hope. Through confidence in the almighty power engaged on his side, joy filled the heart of Christ, and rendered his tongue an instru- ment of giving glory to Jehovah in the midst of his sufferings ; be- cause v.'hen they were ended, as they must soon be, his flesh was only to make its bed, and rest awhile in the grave, after the labours of the day, in sure and certain hope of a speedy resurrection and glorification. This same consideration is to the afilicted, the sick, and the dying Christian, a never-failing source of comfort, an in- exhaustible fountainof joy ; sin and infidelity are the enemies, who would fill it with earth. 10. For thou vrilt not leave my sold in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. It was a part of the covenant of grace, and promised by the mouth of God's prophets, that after the death of Messiah, his animal frame tysj should not continue, like those of other men, in the grave, blNK' nor should corruption be permitted to seize on the body, by which all others were to be raised to incorruption and immortality. As members of (Jhrist, this same promise and assu- rance is so far ours, that although our mortal part nmst sec corrup- tion, yet it shall not be finally left under the power of the enemy, Day III. M. P. ON THE PSALIMS. iOl but sliall be raised again, and reunited to its old companion, the soul, whirli exists, meanwhile, in secret and undiscerned regions, there waiting for the day when its Redeemer shall triumph over cornij)- tion, in his mystical, as he hath already done, in his natural body. 1 1 . Thou itrilt shew me the path of life : in thij presence is ful- ness ofjoij; ot thij ri^ht hand there are pleasures for evermore. The return of Christ from the grave is beautifully described by Jehovah " showing," or discovering to him a " path of life,-' lead- ing through the valley of the shadow of death, anil from that valley to the summit of the hill of Zion,or to the mount of God in heaven, on which he now sits enthroned. There exalted at the right hand of the Father, that human body, which expired on the cross, and slept in the sepulchre, lives and reigns, filled with delight, and en- circled by glory incomprehensible and endless. Through this thy beloved Son and our dear Saviour, " thou shalt show" us likewise, O Lord, " the path of life;" thou shalt justify our souls by thy grace now, and raise our bodies by thy power at the last day ; when earthly sorrow shall terminate in heavenly joy, and momen- tary pain shall be rewarded with everlasting felicity. PSALM XVIL ARGUMENT, The Psalmist, confiding in the justice of his cause, 1 — 4. prayeth for a hear- ing and decision of it; 5 — 9. he petitioneth for the Divine guidance and protection ; 10 — 12. he describeth the temper and behaviour of his ene- mies ; 13, 14. beseecheth God to disappoint them, and to deliver him ; he endeth with an act of faith. 1. Hear the right, O Lord, or Hear, 0 righteous Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. The righteousness of the judge, and the importunity and sin- cerity of the petitioner, are the arguments here lyged for a speedy and favourable determination. Slander and calumny were the portion of David, and of a greater than David, till the righteous Lord manifested himself on their behalf. And shall not God, in like manner, judge and avenge the cause of " his own elect, who cry day and night unto him ? I tell you," saith Christ himself, " that he will avenge them speedily," Luke xviii. 8. '• Men ought always to pray, therefore, and not to faint." 2. Let my sentence come forth from thy present c : let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 102 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVll. A court of equity is ever sitting in heaven, to receive appeals from the wrongful decisions of men here below ; and in that court a judge presides, whose impartial hand holds the scales of justice even; whose unerring eye marks the least inclination of either; and from whose sentence injured innocence is tlierefore taught to expect redress. 3. Thou hast proved mine heart, thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and sJtaltfnd nothing : I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. The sufferer's '' heart condemns him not, and he has confidence towards God," to whom he applies as the proper Judge, because the only Witness of his integrity. God had " proved," Jiot only his words and actions, but his " heart," which man could not do: God had " visited," observed, and explored '' him in the night," when secrecy and solitude prompt the hypocrite to sin, and when the undisciplined imagination wanders abroad, like the bird of darkness, after forbidden objects; God had '" tried" him, as silver or gold, in the fiery furnace of adversity ; and if there be any dross or scum in the metal, it will then rise to the top, and show itself; yet nothing appeared, not so much as the alloy of an intemperate word. Absolutely and universally, this could only be true of the holy Jesus; however, through his grace, it may be true of some of his disciples, in particular instances of crimes falsely laid to their charge. Let us pray that it may be true of us, whenever God shall please to prove and try us. 4. Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. The way to hold fast our integrity in time of temptation is here pointed out. " Concerning the works of men," that is, such works as fallen depraved man has recourse to, when in distress, " by the word of thy lips," by treasuring up thy word in my heart, as the rule of my actions, and the guide of my life, " I have watched," observed, that is, in order to avoid " the paths of the destroyer." This seems to be the literal construction, and to convey the full meaning of the verse, which contains exactly the same sentiment with that in Psalm cxix. 11. " Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." If the word either be not in the heart at all, or if it be not there in such a manner as to be ready at all times for use and application, the man is in danger, at every turn, of going astray. 5. Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. The word of (Jod aflbrds us direction, but the grace of God must enable us to follow its direction, and that iirace must be obtained bv Day III. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 103 prayer. The '• paths of God" are opposed to the " paths of the destroyer," the way of righteousness to that of sin. The image here is taken from one walking in a slippery path, for such is that of human Me, hy reason of temptations ; so that the behever, espe- cially if he be young, feeble, and inexperienced, has great need of a divine supporter in every step he takes. 6. I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, or, because thou hast heard me, O God: incline thine ear to me, and hear my speech. The sweet experience of former deliverances giveth a comforta- ble assurance of protection in present and future dangers; and this should cause us to lly for refuge at all times, by strong supplication and prayer, to him who is able and willing to save us from death. 7. JShew thy marvellous loving-kindness, O thou that savcst hy thy right hand them tvhich put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. This is an address to the " loving-kindness," or mercy of God, which the Psalmist entreats him to display and magnify in his fa- vour, since it was the promise, the delight, and the glory of Jeho- vah, to save those who believed and trusted in Him. Tiicre are two ways of rendering the latter clause of this verse : either, " Thou who savest by thy right hand, &c." as our translation has it; or, " Thou that savest them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up at, or, against thy right hand," meaning the opposers of the Divine counsels and dispensations; as in Zech. iii. 1. Satan is said to " stand at Joshua's right hand," to obstruct the building of the temple. 8. Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under the shadow of thy wings, 9. Fi-om the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. ' He who has so fenced and guarded that precious and tender part, the pupil of the eye, and who has provided for the security of a young and helpless brood under the wings of their dam, is here entreated to extend the same providential care and parental love to the souls of his elect, equally exposed to danger^ equally beset with enemies. Of his readiness so to do he elsewhere as- sureth us, under the same exquisite imagery. Zech. ii. 8. " He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye." Matt, xxiii. 37. " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathercth her chickens under her wings !" 10. They are inclosed in their oionfat; with their mouth they speak proudly. The last argument made use of by tho Psalmist, in hi'^ address 104 A COiMMENTARY Psal. XVII. to God, is the chariicter of his adversaries. He begins with their '' pride" and its cause, " fuhiess of bread," or high hving. Dr. Hammond prefers the rendering which follows; '• They have shut up their mouth with fat ; they speak proudly." Either way the meaning plainly is, that pride is the child of plenty, begotten by self-indulgence, which hardens the hearts of men against the fear of God and the love of their neighbours; rendering them insensible to the judgments of the former, and the miseries of the latter. Let every man take care, that, by pampering the flesh, he do not raise up an enemy of this stamp against himself. 11. They have noiv compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing doicn to the earth. " They have compassed us in our steps ;" that is, literally, Saul and his followers had watched, pursued, and at last hemmed in David and his men; " They have set, or fixed their eyes" upon us, |n»SD rwai'l " to lay us prostrate upon the earth," or finally to make an end of us. Such are our spiritual enemies ; such is their intention, and our danger. 12. Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. The similitude of a lion, either roaring abroad in quest of his prey, or couching in secret, ready to spring upon it the moment it comes within his reach, is often employed by David, to describe the power and malice of his enemies. Christians cannot forget, that they likewise have an adversary of the same nature aad cha- racter; one ever seeking whom, and contriving how, he may de- vour. 13. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down : deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy stoord; From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from the inen of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid trea- sure : they are full of children, and leave the rest of their sub- stance to their babes. The Psalmist, hciving characterized those who pursued after him to take away his life, now entreats God to " arise," or ap- pear in his cause, to " disappoint" or " prevent" the enemy in his designs, and to " cast him down,"' to overthrow and subdue him. The next words may be thus rendered; '• Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword, from men by thy hand, O Lord, from the men of the world;" the expressions, " sword, and hand of JtHiovah," being frequently used to denote his power and vengeance. The n^DD OMD or " mortals of the transitory world," from whom David prays to be delivered, are said to be Day ril. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 105 such as have " their portion in this life," such as, in our Saviour's lanjGfuage, " have their reward" here, and are not to expect it hereafter; " whose beUies thou fillest with thy hid treasure;" whom thou permittest to enjoy thy temporal blessings in abundance, to " receive their good things'" upon earth, and to " fare sumptuously every day;" as if it were to convince us, in what estimation we ought to hold the world, when we see the largest shares of it dealt out to the most worthless of the sons of Adam : " They are full of, or abound in children, and leave the residue of their substance to their babes :" after living in plenty, perhaps to a good old age, they leave behind them a numerous and flourishing posterity, who in- herit their estates, and go on, as their fathers did before them, without piety to God, or charity to the poor. From these men and their ways, we have all reason to say with David, " Good Lord, deliver us :" 15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall he satisfied, lohen I awake, with thy likeness. Instead of setting our aflections on things below, the prophet in- structs us, after his example, to place all our happiness in the vision of God, and in that righteousness which leads to it ; since the hour is coming, when we shall awake, and arise, after the Divine simili- tude ; when we shall be like God, for we shall see him as he is, and by seeing him shall be changed into the same image ; and then shall every desire be satisfied with the fulness of joy, with the ex- reeding abundance of unutterable glory. THIRD DAY.— EVENING PRAYER. PSALM XVIII. ARGUMENT. This Psalm, as we arc informed by the sacred history, 2 Sam. xxii. l.was composed and sung by David, in the day tliut the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. It con- tains, ver. 1 — 3. an address of thanks to Jehovah ; 4 — 6. a relation of Sufferings undergone, and prayers made for assistance; 7 — 15. a magni- ficent description of the Divine interposition in favour of tlie sufferer, and 16 — 19. of the deliverance wrought for him, 20 — 24. in consideration of his righteousness, 25 — 28. according to the tenor of God's equitable pro- ceedings. 29 — 36. to Jehovah is ascribed the glory of tlie victory, which 37 — 42. is represented as every way complete, by the destruction of all opponents, and 43 — 45. the submission of the heathen; for these events, 4f) — 50. God is blessed and praised. As the sublimity of the figures used ill this Psalm, and the consent of ancient commentators, even Jewish as well as Christian, but above all, the citations made from it in the New M 106 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVIII. Testament, do evince, that the kingdom of Messiah is here pointed at, nnder that of David ; an application is therefore made of the whole in the ensuing comment, to the sufferings, resurrection, righteousness, and conquests of Christ, to the destruction of the Jews, and conversion of the Gentiles. In a word, the Psalm, it is apprehended, should now be considered as a glorious epinikioiu or triumphal hymn, to be sung by the church, risen cmd victorious in Christ her head. 1. 7 will love thee, O Lord, my strength. Let us su})pose King Messiah, like his illustrious progenitor of old, seated in peace and triumph upon the tlirone designed and prepared for him. From thence let us imagine him taking a retro- spective view of the sufferings he had undergone, the'battles he had fought, and the victories he had gained. With this idea duly im- pressed upon our minds, we shall be able in some measure to con- ceive the force of the words, " pmx, With all the yearnings of affection I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength, through my union with whom, I have finished my work, and ain now exalted to prtuse thee, in the name of a redeemed world." Whenever we sing this Psalm, let us think we are singing it in conjunction with our Saviour, newly risen from the dead ; a consideration which surely will incite us to do it with becoming gratitude and devotion. 2. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer ^ my God, my strength, in lohom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. In other words, explanatory of the figures here made use of, Through Jehovah it is, that I have stood immoveable amidst a sea of temptations and afflictions : he has supported me under my trou- bles, and delivered me out of them ; his protection has secured me, his power has broken and scattered mine enemies ; and by his mercy and truth am I now set up on high above them all. — How lovely these strains, in the mouth of the church militant ! How glo- rious will they be, when sung by the church triumphant ! It is observable, that the words, " in whom I trust," or, as the original has it, " I will trust in him," are referred to in the margin of our English Bible, as quoted from this verse by St. Paul, Heb. ii. 13. If it be so, the reader, by turning to the place, may furnish himself with a demonstration, that in the xviiith as well as in the xvitli Psalm, David speaks in the person of Christ. 3. I will, or, did call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be, or, so loas I saved from my enemies. As the Psalm so evidently throughout is a thanksgiving for past deliverances, the verbs in this verse seem to require the same ren- dering which is given to them below, at ver. Q. Jelinvah is to be Day III. E. P. ON THE PSAI.IVIS. 107 " called upon," both in adversity and in prosperity ; in the former with the voice of prayer, in the hitter with that of praise. '•' Is any afflicted?" saith St. James, v. 13. " Lot him pray. Is any merry ? Let him sing Psahns." 4. The sorroiDS, or, cords of death compassed mo, and thejlooda of ungodly men, or, Belial, made ine afraid. 5. llie sorrotvs, or, cords of hell, or, the grave, compassed me about; the snares of death jirevented me. St. Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, says, when speaking of Christ — " Whom (Jod hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it,"' Acts ii. 24. Now, " the Hebrew word ^Dn, (as Dr. Hammond well observes on that place) signifies two things, acord^ or band, and a pang, especially of women in travail ; hence the LXX. meeting with the word, Ps. xviii, where it certainly signifies Xoi^tcty cords or bands, yet have rendered it uhveq, pangs ; and from their example here St. Luke hath used ret? uhvu^ B-ocvotm, the pains or pangs oi de^Xh; when both the addition of the word Avs-*?, loos- ings, and x-pureiTSxi, being holden fast, do show the sense is bands. or cords.'^ From the passage in the Acts, with this learned and judicious remark upon it, we obtain not only the true rendering of the phrase "niD ^^DH, cords or bands of death," but also something more than an intimation, that in the verses of our Psalm now be- fore us, David speaks of Christ, that the " cords of death," those " bands" due to our sins, " compassed him about, and the floods of Belial," the powers of darkness and ungodliness, like an over- whelming torrent breaking forth from the bottondess pit, '"' made him afraid in the day of his agony, when the apprehensions of the bitter cup cast his soul into unutterable amazement, and he i)eheld himself environed by those '• snares," which had captivated and detained all the children of Adam. David, surrounded by Saul and his blood-thirsty attendants, was a lively emblem of the sufler- ing Jesus, and therefore the same description is applicable to both ; as the words of the second Psalm, in like manner, celebi-ate the inauguration of the son of Jesse, and that of the Son of God. C. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came be- fore him, even into his ears. David was in distress ; David called upon Jehovah, the God of Israel, who dwelt between the Cherubim in the holy place; and by him the prayer of David was heard. Much greater was the distress of Christ, who likewise, as St. Paul speaks, '' in the days of his (lesh offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying 108 A COMMENTARY Fsal. XVIII. and tears, unto liim that was able to save him from death, and was heard," Heb. v. J. his voice ascended to the eternal temple, his powerful cry pierced the ears of the Father everlasting, and brought salvation from heaven at the time appointed. The church also is distressed upon earth, she crieth, her cries are heard, and will be answered in the day of God. 7. Then the earth shook and trembled;, the foundations also oj the hills moved and loere shaken, because he was wroth. At this verse the Prophet begins to describe the manifestation of Divine power in favour of the Righteous Sufferer. The imagery employed is borrowed from mount Sinai, and those circumstances which attended the delivery of the law from thence. When a mo- narch is angry, and prepares for war, his whole kingdom is instantly in commotion. Universal nature is here represented as feeling the effects of its Sovereign's displeasure, and all the visible elements are disordered. The earth shakes from its foundations, and all its rocks and mountains tremble before the majesty of their great Creator, when he ariseth in judgment. This was really the case at the resurrection of our Lord from the dead ; when as the Evan- gelists inform us, " there was a great earthquake," and the grave owned its inability any longer to detain the blessed body, which had been committed, for a season, to its custody. And what hap- pened at the resurrection of Jesus, should remind us of what shall happen, when the earth shall tremble, and the dead shall be raised at the last day. 8. lliere went up a smoke out of his nostrils, andjire out of his mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it; or, fire out of his mouth devoured, with burning coals from before him. The farther effects of God's indignation are represented by those of fire, which is the most terrible of the created elements, burning and consuming all before it, scorching the ground, and causing the mountains to smoke. Under this appearance God descended on the top of Sinai : thus he visited the cities of the plain ; and thus he is to come at the end of time. Whenever therefore he is de- scribed as showing forth his power and vengeance for the salvation of his chosen, and the discomfiture of his enemies, a '"■ devouring fire" is the emblem made choice of, to convey proper ideas of such his manifestations. And from hence we may conceive the heat of his wrath against the adversaries of man's salvation, when by raising his Son Jesus from the dead, he blasted their schemes, and withered all their strength. 9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down : and darkness was under his feet. 10. And fie rode upon a cherub^ and did fly ; Day III. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. lOf) yea, he. did fiy upon the win^s of the wind. 11. He made darJc- ness his secret place ; his pavilion round about him were dark wa- ters and thick clouds of the skies. Storms and tempests in the element of air are instruments of the Divine displeasure, and are therefore selected as figures of it. When God descends from above, the clouds of heaven compose an awful and gloomy tabernacle, in the midst of which he is supposed to resitle : the reins of whirlwinds are in his hand, and he directs their impetuous course through the world ; the whole artillery of the cerial regions is at his command, to be by liijn employed against his enemies, in the day of battle and war. 12, At the brightness that was before him, his thick clouds ■passed, hailstones and coals of f re. 13. The ho^D also thun- dered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice: hail-stones and coals offre. 14. Yea, he sent out his arroirs, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. T'he discharge of the celestial artillery upon the adverse powers is here magnificently described. Terrible it was to them, as when lightnings and thunders, hail-stoncs and balls of fire, making their way through the dark clouds which contain them, strike terror and dismay into the hearts of men. Such is the " voice," and such arc the " arrows*' of the Lord Almighty, wherewith he " discomfiteth'' all who oppose the execution of his counsels, and obstruct the salvation of his chosen. Every display and description of this sort, and indeed every thunder storm which we behold, should re- mind us of that exhibhion of power and vengeance, which is here- after to accompany the general resurrection. 1 5. Then the channels of icaters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. As the former part of the Psalmist's description was taken from the appearance on Mount Sinai, so this latter part seems evidently to allude to what passed at the Red Sea, when by the breath of (Jod the waters were divided, the depths were discovered, and Israel was conducted in safety through them. By that event was prefi- gured the salvation of the cliurch universal, through the death and resurrection of Clnist, who tlescended into the lower parts of the earth, and from thence reascended to light and life. The xivth chapter of Exodus, which relates the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, is therefore appointed as one of the proper lessons on Easter Day. And thus we obtain the ideas intended to be con- veyed in this sublime but diflicult verse, together with their appli- cation to the grand deliverance of the true David in the ilay of God's 110 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVIII. power. Indeed it is not easy to accommodate to any part of the history of the son of Jesse, those awful, majestic and stupendous images, which are made use of throughout this whole description of the Divine manifestation, from verse 7. But however this be, most certainly every part of so solemn a scene of terrors forbids us to doubt but that a "greater than David is here;" since creation scarce affords colours brighter and stronger than those here em- ployed, wherewith to paint the appearance of Jehovah at the day of final redemption. 16. He sent from above, he took me, he drcto me out of many, or, the great, waters. 17 . He delivered me from my strong ene- iny, and from them which hated me: for they 7vere too strong for me. For this purpose did God in so wonderful a manner display his power and glory, that he might deliver the sufferer out of his troubles. This deliverance is first expressed metap])orically by " drawing him out of the great waters," and then plainly, " he delivered me from my strong enemy," &c. The " great waters," in ver. I6. are the same with "the floods of the ungodly," in ver. 4. By these was Messiah, like David, oppressed and overwhelmed for a time; but, like David, he rose at length superior to them all. The " strong enemy" was obliged to give way to a " stronger than he, who overcame him, and took from him his armour in which he trusted, and divided the spoil," Luke xi. 22. 18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. 19. He brought me forth also into a large ■place ; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. The Divine mercy is celebrated again and again through this sa- cred hymn in a variety of expressions. Innumerable foes " pre- vented," that is, surrountled, enclosed Christ on all sides, " in the day of his calamity," when the powers of earth and hell set them- selves in array against him; but "Jehovah was his stay;" on him he reposed an unshaken confidence; Jehovah therefore supported his steps, and led him on to victory and triumph ; from the narrow confines of the grave he translated him to unbounded empire, be- cause he was the Son of his love, in whom he delighted. 20. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness ; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. 21. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my (iod: 22. For cdl his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. 23. I was rdso upright before him; and I kept mys(df from mine iniquity ; or, from iniquities. 24. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed Day III. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. Ill me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eye-sight. Commentators have been much perplexed on account of these unlimited claims to righteousness made by David, and that, long after the matter of Uriah, and towards the close of his life. Cer- tain indeed it is, that the expressions, considered as David's, must either be confined to his steadfast adherence to the true worship, in opposition to idolatry, or to his innocency with regard to some par- ticular crimes falsely alleged against him by his adversaries. But if the Psalm be prophetical, and sunt^ by the victorious monarch in the person of King Messiah; then do the verses now before us no less exactly than beautifully delineate that all-perfect righteous- ness wrought by the Redeemer, in consequence of which he obtained deliverance for himself and his people. For '' His'' righteousness' sake Jehovah was well pleased, and rewarded with everlasting feli- city the unspotted purity of his works ; '• He*' performed an unsin- ning obedience to every pait of the law, and swerved not from its line in a single instance ; the rule was ever in his eye, and no temp- tation could induce him to deviate from its direction ; like the light, he passed through all things undefiled, and his garments were white as the lily : therefore a glorious kingdom was given unto him, for- asmuch as in him the piercing eye of Heaven could discover no blemish at all. 25. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou toilt shew thyself upright: 26. With the pure thou loilt shew thyself pure ; and ivitk the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward ; Heb. with the perverse thou wilt wrestle, or, strive. The reason is here assigned why God " recompensed Messiah according to the cleanness of his hands," namely, because he is just, in rendering to every one according to his works. He who is " merciful" to his brethren, shall obtain the Divine mercy ; he who is "upright" in his dealings with others, will have justice done him by the great Judge against his iniquitous o[)pressors ; he who is " pure" from deceit and hypocrisy in the service of God, shall experience in himself a faithful and exact performance of the promises which God hath made to such ; but the man that is " fro- ward," perverse, and rebellious, must expect to grapple with an arm, which will either humble or destroy. See Lev. xxvi. 3, 4, &c. 23, 24, &c. 1 Kings viii. 32. Prov. iii. 34. 27. For thou wilt save the afflicted, or, loivly, people : hut wilt hring down high looks. •' God resisteth the proud," saith an apostle, '• and giveth grace 112 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVIII. to the humble," James iv. G. And, indeed, what is the covenant of grace, but a covenant to humble pride, and to exalt humility ; what was it, but the humility of Christ, that subdued the pride of Satan ; and on what does the salvation of every man depend, but on the issue of the contest between these two principles in his heart? 28. For thou wilt, or, dost, light my candle, or, lamj): the Lord my God will, or, does, enlighten my darkness. An instance of God's favour towards the lowly and afflicted was the salvation vouchsafed to the suffering Josus, who like David, af- ter much tribulation and persecution, under which he sunk for a time, even so low as to the grave itself, was exalted to glory and honour. This change of condition is set forth by that of a " lamp," from a state of extinction to one of illumination, darkness being a well-known emblem of sorrow and death, as light is the established symbol of life and joy. Remarkable are the words of the Chaldee Paraphrast upon this verse, cited by Dr. Hammond — '' Because thou shalt enlighten the lamp of Israel, which is put out in the cap- tivity, for thou art the author of the light of Israel : the Lord my God shall lead me out of darkness into light, and shall make me see the consolation of the age which shall come to the just." 29. For by thee I have run through, or, broken a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a loall. Through the power of his divinity, the Captain of our salvation vanquished the host of darkness, and escaped from the sepulchre, notwithstanding all their precautions to confine him there. Vain is every efi'ort, by whomsoever it is made, against the counsels of omnipotence. And let us reflect, for our comfort, that they who could not prevent the resurrection of Christ, cannot detain the soul of a Christian in sin, or his body in the grave. 30. As for God, his ivay is perfect: the tvord of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those^that trust in him. The '■ way" of God is the course of his proceedings with men, and hs " perfection" consists in the equity of those proceedings : the promises made in " the word of Jehovah" to his servants, are -' tried" in times of affliction and persecution, as gold in the fire, and found pure from any dross of deceit, or fallibility: he is ever a " shield," to protect " those who trust in him," during their stay here, until he becomes " their exceeding great reward" hereafter. All this he has been to the Head, in order that he may be all this to the members of the chvuxh. 31. For who is God, save the Lord ? Or tcho is a rock, save our God? *' .tohovyh'" alone is ilie " God," or covenanted Saviour of bis Day III. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 113 people ; he is tlie only " rock'' on which they may securely build their hope of heaven. Vain were the idols of the ancient world, Baal and Jupiter; as vain are those of modern times, pleasure, honour, and profit. They cannot bestow content, or make their votaries happy below ; much less can they deliver from death, or open the everlasting doors above. 32. It is God that girdeth me iiuth strength, and maketh my way perfect. In this and the following versos are enumerated the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is armed and prcjiared for the battle, after the example of his victorious loader. God invests him with " strength," or what the Apostle calls, " the spirit of might in the inner man," as the loins of a soldier are braced by the mili- tary girdle ; whence that of St. Paul, " having your loins girt about with truth."' He removes every thing that may impede his pro- gress, until he has accomplished his warfare, and finished his course in righteousness, which seems to be what is meant by " making his way perfect." 33. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and sctteth me tipon tny high places. He endueth the affections, which are the feet of tiie soul, with vigour and agility, to ran the way of his commandments, to sur- mount every obstacle, and, with an activity like that of the swift hart, or the bounding roe, to conquer the steep ascent of the ever- lasting hills, and gain the summit of the heavenly mountain. St. Paul tells us how the feet must be shod for this purpose, namely, " with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." 34. He teacheth my hands to war, so thai a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. He communicates a wisdom and a power which nothing can withstand, instmcting and enabling the combatant to overcome in the conflict, to seize and render useless the weapons of the adver- sary. St. Paul puts into the Christian warrior's hand, " the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." 35. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness, or, thyaf- fiictions, have inade me great. The salvation of God is a defence against all temptations to such as believe in it ; whence St. Paul styles this piece of armour, " the shield of faith, wherewith," says he, " ye may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil." The ^' right hand" of CJod must support and sustain us at all times ; and the wholesome discipline of the Christian camp, the chastisements and corrections 114 A COMMENTARY Psal. XVIIL of our heavenly Father, must trani us up to true greatness, and prepare us for the kingdom of heaven. The soldiers, like their great Leader, must be " made perfect through sufferings." 36. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that, or, and, my. feet did not slip. In other words, God had opened a free course for him to victory and triumph, and liad also endued him with strength to run that course; thus removing the two mischievous effects of sin, which not only precluded the way to heaven, but deprived us of the abi- lity to travel in it. 37". I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were eonsumed. 38. I have icounded them that they loerc not aide to rise: they are fallen under my feet. If we suppose David in his conquests to have prefigured victori- ous Messiah, then have we, in these and the subsequent verses, a sublime description of that vengeance, which Jesus, after his resur- rection and ascension, inflicted on his hardened and impenitent enemies, ilis wrath " pursued" and " overtook" them, in the day of vishation; nor did it return, till, like a devouring fire, it had "consumed the prey." The Jews were cast down, "not able to rise," or lift up themselves as a people, being crushed under the feet of the once despised and insulted Nazarene. Let us reflect upon the impotence of our spiritual adversaries, when Jesus de- clares war against them: and let us beseech him to conquer them in us, as he has conquered them for us. 39. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; thou liast subdued under me those that rose up against me. 40. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that Imight destroy them that hate me. With the almighty power of the Godhead was Jesus invested, by which all the enemies were subdued unto him; the stiff "necks" of his crucifiers were bowed under him, and utter destruction be- came the portion of those who hated him, and had " sent after him, saying. We will not have this man to reign over us." So gird us thy soldiers and servants, O Lord Jesus, to the battle ; and sub- due under us, by the power of thy grace, those that rise up against us, whether they be our own corrupt desires, or the mahcious spi- rits of darkness; so give us, like another Joshua, the "necZ;" of these our enemies, that we may destroy them that hate, and would destroy us. 41. They cried, but there was none to save them; even unto the Lord, hiit he answered them not. IXvYin. E. p. ON Tin: PSVLMS. 115 Never was there a more just and lively portrait of the lamenta- ble and desperate state of the Jews, when their calamities came upon them. " Thc}' cried, but — none to save !" They had re- jected flim who alone could save, and who was now about to de- stroy them. They cried to Jehovah, and thought themselves still his favourile nation ; but Jehovah and Jesus were one ; so that af- ter putting the latter from them, they could not retain the former on their side. '• lie answered them not !" It was too late to knock when the door was shut ; too late to cry for mercy, when h was the time of justice. Let us knock while yet the door may be opened, and not begin to pray when prayer shall be no longer heard. 42. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the irind: J did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. The nature of that judgment which was executed upon the Jews, cannot be more accurately delineated than by the two ima- ges here made use of. They were broken in pieces, and dispersed over the face of the earth by the breath of God's displeasure, like " dust before the wind ; and as dirt in the streets, they were cast out," to be trodden under foot by all nations. O that every nation would so consider, as to avoid their crime and their i)unishment. 43. Thou hast delivered nie from the strivings of the people, .tnd thou hast made me the head of the heathen : a people whom I have not known shall serve me. If David was delivered from the strivings of the people; if the adjacent heathen nations were added to his kingdom, and a " peo- ple, whom he had not known, served him;" how much more was this the case of the Son of David, when he was " delivered," by his resurrection, from the power of all his enemies; when he was made '• head of the heathen," of whom, after their conversion, his church was, and to this day is composed ; and when, instead of the rejected J^ws, a people, to whom before he had not been known, became his servants ? 44. As soon as they hear of mc, theij shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves nnto mj'. 45. 'J7ie strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places. " As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me;" hereby is intimated the readiness with which the (ientiles should flow into the church, upon the preaching of the FOURTH DAY.— MORNING PRAYER, PSALM XIX. ARGUMENT. In the former part of this beautiful Psalm, vcr. 1 — 6. the heavens are repre- sented as the instructers of mankind; the subject, the universality, and the manner of their instructions, are pointed out; the glory, beauty, and powerful effects of the solar light are described. The latter part of the Psalm, 7 — 14. contains an encomium on the word of God, in which its properties are enumerated; and a prayer of tlie Psalmist for pardoning and restraining grace, and for the acceptance of these and all other his devotions and meditations. From a citation which St. Paul hatii made of the 4th verse, it appears, that, in the exposition, we are to raise our thoughts from things natural to things spiritual.; we are to contemplate the publication of the Gospel, the manifestation of the Light of Life, the Sun of Righteousness, and the efficacy of evangelical doctrine. In this view tlip ancients have considered the Psalm, and the churcli hath there- fore appointed it to be read on Christmas day. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament skeweth his handy icork. ' " This verse is appiicd in Rom. xv. 2. to the calling of the Gentiles unto the faith of Christ, and praise unto Cod therefor. By which we are taught, that of Christ and his kingdom this Psalm is chiefly intended." Jlinsivorth 118 A COMMENTARY Psal. XIX. Under the name of " heaven," or " the heavens," is compre- hended that fluid mixture of light and air, which is every where diffused about us ; and to the influences of which arc owing all the beauty and fruitfulness of the earth, all vegetable and animal life, and the various kinds of motion throughout the system of nature. By their manifold and beneficial operations, therefore, as well as by their beauty and magnificence, " the heavens declare the glory of God ;" they })oint Him out to us, who, in scripture language, is styled '' the glory of God ;" by whom themselves and all other things were made, and are upholden ; and who is the author of every grace and blessing to the sons of men : " the firmament," or expansion of the celestial elements, wherever it extends, " showeth his handy work," not only as the Creator, but likewise as the Re- deemer of the world. And thus do the heavens afford inexhaustible matter for contemplation and devotion to the philosopher and to tlie Christian. 2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. The labours of these our instructers know no intermission, but they continue incessantly to lecture us in the science of divine wis- dom. There is one glory of the sun, which shines forth by day ; and there are other glories of the moon and of the stars, which be- come visible by night. And because day and night interchangeably divide the world between them, they are therefore represented as transmitting in succession, each to the other, the task enjoined them, like the two parts of a choir, chanting forth alternately the praises of God. How does inanimate nature reproach us with our indolence and indevotion ! 3. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Our translators, by the words inserted in a different character, have declared their sense of this passage to be, that there is no na- tion or language, whither the instruction diffused by the heavens doth not reach. But as the same thought is so fully expressed in tlie next verse, " Their sound is gone out," &c. it seems most ad- viseable to adhere to the original, which runs literally thus, " No speech, no words, their voice is not heard ;" that is, aUhough the heavens are thus appointed to teach, yet it is not by articulate sounds that they do it; they are not endowed, like man, with the faculty of speech ; but they address themselves to the mind of the intelligent beholder in another way, and that, when understood, a no less forcible way, the way of i)icture, or representation, ^o DayIV. M. p. ON THE PSALMS. II9 manifold is the wisdom of (iod; so various arc the ways l>y whicli he communicates it to men. 4. 'ilieir line is gone out through all the earth, and their words 'to the end of the world. Tlie instruction which the heavens disperse abroad is universal as their substance, which extends itself in " lines," or rays, " over all the earth;" by this means their " words," or rather their *" sig- nificant actions" and operations, are every where jiresent, even " to the ends of the world;" and tliereby they preach to all nations the power and wisdom, the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord. The apostles' commission was the same with that of the heavens ; and St. Paul, Rom. x. 18. has applied the natural images of this verse to the manifestation of the Light of Life, by the sermons of those who were sent forth for that purpose. He is speaking of those Jews who had not obeyed the Gospel. " But I say," argues he, " have they not heard ? Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." As if he had said. They must have heard, since the apostles were commanded not to turn unto the Gentiles, till they had published their glad tidings throughout Judea ; but the knowledge of him is now become universal, and all flesh has seen the glory of the Lord ; the Light Divine, like that in the heavens, has visited the whole v/orld, as the prophet David foretold, in the xixth Psalm. The apostle cannot be supposed to have made use of this scripture in a sense of accom- modation only, because he cites it among otiier texts which he pro- duces merely as prophecies. And if such be its meaning, if the heavens thus declare the glory of God — and this is the great lesson they are incessantly teaching — what other language do they speak, than that their Lord is the representative of ours, the bright raler in the natural world of the more glorious one in the si)iritual, their sun of the " Sun of righteousness ?" But of this the following verses will lead us to speak more particularly. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5. Which is as n bridegroom coining out of his chamber, imdrcjoicrfh as a strong man to run a race. In the centre of the heavens there is a tent pitched by the Creator for the residence of that most glorions of inanimate substances, the solar light; from thence it issues, with the beauty of a bridegroom, and the vigour of a champion, to run its course and perform its o))e- * CDrrbD — The verb ^^^ (whence "''70 words) is used for exprrssin-v Vhc meaning by «grj.?. If lias this scn«e, Prov. vi. 1"^. ni'^D ^1''^ spraU- in-^ n-ilk hf.i fed. I2(j A COiMMENTARY Psal. XIX. rations. A tabernacle, in like manner, was prepared for him, who saith of himself, " I am the light of the world," John viii. 12. And as the light of the sun goes out in the morning with inconceiv- able activity, new and youthful itself, and communicating life and gayety to all things round it, like a bridegroom, in the marriage garment, from his chamber to his nuptials ; so, at his incarnation, did the Light Divine, the promised bridegroom, visit his church, being clad himself, and clothing her with that robe of righteousness, which is styled, in holy Scripture, the marriage garment ; and the joy, which his presence administered, was, like the benefits of it, universal. And as the material light is always ready to run its hea- venly race, daily issuing forth, with renewed vigour, like an invin- cible champion still fresh to labour ; so likewise did he rejoice to run his glorious race; he excelled in strength, and his works were great and marvellous ; he triumphed over the powers of darkness ; he shed abroad on all sides his bi'ight beams upon his church ; he became her deliverer, her protector and support ; and showed himself able in every respect to accomplish for her the mighty task he had undertaken. What a marvellous instrument of the Most High is the sun at his rising, considered in this view ! 0. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof The light difiused on every side from its fountain, extendeth to the extremities of heaven, filling the whole circle of creation, pe- netrating even to the inmost substances of grosser bodies, and act- ing in and through all other matter, as the general cause of life and motion. Thus unbounded and efficacious was the influence of the Sun of righteousness, when he sent out his word, enlight- ening and enlivening all things by the glory of his grace. His celestial rays, like those of the sun, took their circuit round the earth ; they went forth out of Judea into all parts of the habitable world, and there was no corner of it so remote as to be without the reach of their penetrating and healing power. " The Lord gave the word : great was the company of those that published it," Psalm Ixviii. 11. It was the express declaration of our Saviour himself, " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all (he world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come," Matt. xxiv. 14. And St. Paul affirms, that the Gospel was " come mito all the world, and had been preached to every creatine under heaven," Col. i. 6, and 23. The prophet there- fore, having thus foretold the mission of the apostles, and the suc- cess of their ministry, proceeds in the next place to describe their '• doctrine ;" so that what follows is a fine encomium upon theGos' Day IV. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 121 pel, written with all the simplicity peculiar to the sacred language, and in a strain far surpassing the utmost eflbrts of human eloquence. 7. The law, or, doctrine, of the Loud is perfect, converting, or restoring, the soul: the testimony of the Loud is sure, making icise the simple. The word of God in this and the following verses, has several most valuable properties ascribed to it. It is [jcrfectly well adapted in every particular, to " convert,"' to restore, to bring back " the soul"' from error to truth, from sin to righteousness, from sickness to health, from death to life; as it convinces of sin, it holds forth a Saviour, it is a means of grace, and a rule of conduct. It giveth wisdom, and by wisdom stability, to those who might otherwise, through ignorance and weakness, be easily deceived and led astray; " it is sure," certain and infallible in hs directions and informations, " making wise the simple." 8. The statutes of the Loud are right, rejoicing the heart : the commandment of the Lord h pure, enlightening the eyes. To those who study the righteousness of God therein communi- cated to man, it becometh a never-failing source of consolation and holy joy; the conscience of the reader is cleansed by the blood, and rectified by the Spirit of Christ; and such a conscience is a continual feast; the '' statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." The Divine word resembleth the light in its brightness and purity, by which are unveiled and manifested to the eyes of the understanding, the wonderful works and dispensations of God, the state of man, the nature of sin, the way of salvation, the joys of heaven, and the pains of hell : " the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever : the judg- ments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. " The fear of the Lord," which restrains from transgressing that law by which it is bred in the heart, is in its effect a preservative of mental purity, and in the duration both of its effect and its re- ward eternal; it "' endureth for ever." The judgments of " the Lord are" not, like those of men, oftentimes wrong and unjust, but all his determinations in his word are " truth and righteousness united" in perfection. 10. More to he desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb. What wonder is it, that this converting, instructing, exhilirating, enlightening, eternal, true, and righteous word, should be declared preferable to the riches of eastern kings, and sweeter to the soul of the pious believer, than the sweetest thing we know of is to the 16 122 A COMMENTARY Psal. XIX. bodily taste ? How ready we are to acknowledge all this ! Yet, the next hour, perhaps, we part with the true riches to obtain the earthly mammon, and barter away the joys of the Spirit for the gratifications of sense ! Lord, give us affections towards thy word in some measure proportioned to its excellence ; for we can never love too much what wc can never admire enough. 11. Moreover, hy them is thy servant teamed; and in keepiii^ of them there is great reward. The Psalmist here bears his own testimony to the character above given of the Divine word ; as if he had said. The several parts of this perfect law, hereafter to be published to the whole race of mankind, have been all along my great instructers, and the only source of all the knowledge to which thy servant hath attained ; and I am fully assured, that the blessed fruit of them, when they are duly observed, and have their proper effect, is exceeding glo- rious, even eternal life. 12. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from se- cret faults. The perfection and spirituality of God's law render it almost im- possible for a fallen son of Adam even to know all the innumera- ble instances of his transgressing it. Add to which, that false prin- ciples and inveterate prejudices make us regard many things as innocent, and some things as laudable, which in the eye of Hea- ven are far otherwise. Self-examination is a duty which few prac- tise as they ought to do : and he who practises it best, will always have reason to conclude his particular confessions with this general petition, " Cleanse thou me from secret faults !" 13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me : then shall I be upright, and 1 shall be innocent from the great transgression. In the preceding verse, David had implored God's pardoning grace, to cleanse him from the secret sins of ignorance and infir- mity ; in this he begs his restraining grace, to keep him back from presumptuous sins, or sins committed knowingly, deliberately, and with a high hand, against the convictions and the remonstrances of conscience : he prays that such sins might not " have dominion over him," or that he might not by contracting evil habits, become the slcive of an imperious lust, which might at length lead him on to " the great transgression," to rebellion, and final apostacy from God; for he who would be innocent from the " great transgression," must beware of indulging himself in any. 14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight. 0 Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Day IV. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 123 The prophet, having before solicited the justification of his per- son through grace, coiickides with a petition for the acceptance of ;ill his oflerings, and more osi)ecially of these his meditations, at ihe iiands of that l)lessed One, whom he addresses as the author of all good, and the deliverer from all evil; as the " strensth," and tlie " Redeemer" of his people.* PSALM XX. ARGUMENT. ] — 4. Thechuicli praycth for the prosperity of King Messiah, going forth to tlie battle, as her chami)ion and deliverer; for his acceptance by the Father, and for the accomplishment of his will. 5, 6, 7. she dcclareth her full assurance of faith, and her resolution to trust in him alone, and not in the arm of flesh. 8. she foresecth the fall of her enemies, and her own exaltation ; and, 9. concludeth with a prayer to the God of her strength. 1. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble ; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. This may be considered as the address of a people to their king, when he goeth forth to the battle against their enemies. But it is to be regarded, in a more general and useful view, as the address of the church to Christ her king, in " the day of his trouble." She prayeth for the accomplishment of his warfare, " through the name of the God of Jacob,'' dwelling in him. And this warfare, though accomplished in his own person, still remaineth to be accomplished in his people, until the last enemy shall be destroyed, and death shall be swallowed up in victory. It is still '• the day of trouble;" still " the name of the God of Jacob," must " defend" the body of Christ. 2. Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion. All help and strength, in the time of danger and sorrow, must be obtained by prayer from the heavenly Sion, which is the Jerusa- * If the reader shall have received any pleasure from pursuing the com- ment on the foregoing Pi-alm, especially the first part of it, he is to be in- formed, that lie stands indebted, on that account, to a discourse entitled, Christ the light of the woki.u, published in the year 1730, by the late Reverend Mr. George Watson, for many years the dear companion antl kind director of the author's studies; in attending to whose agreeable and instruc- tive conversation, he has often passed whole days together, and shall always have reason to number them among tlie best spent days of his life ; whose death he can never think of, without lamenting it afresh; and to wiiose me- n»ory he embraces, with pleasure, tltis opj)ortunity to pay the tribute of a grateful heart. 124 A COMMENTARY Psal. XX. lem above, and from the eternal temple thereon constructed. By this " help and strength/' the Captain of our salvation conquered ; and the church, with all her sons, must conquer, through the same. 3. Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. As Christ, in the days of his flesh, offered up, not only prayers, and tears, but at length, his own most precious body and blood, the church hei-e prays, that the great propitiatory sacrifice may be had in everlasting remembrance before God, and the merits of it be continually pleaded in arrest of judgment, and accepted for her- self and her children. 4. Grant thee according to thine oivn heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. The desire of Christ's heart, and the counsel of his will was, that he might die for our sins, and rise again for our justification; that the Gospel might be preached, the Gentiles called, the Jews converted, the dead raised, and the elect glorified. That this his " desire might be granted," and this his " counsel be fulfilled," the church of old prayed; and the church now prayeth for the accom- plishment of that which yet remains to be accomplished. 5. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we wiU set up our banners: the Lokd fdfil all thy pefitiotis. The joy of the church is the salvation of Christ; and the joy of every individual is in the application of that salvation to himself, and all around him. In the name of Jesus, and under the banner of the cross, the armies of the faithful undertake and carry on all their enterprises against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The prospect of the glorious fruits of Christ's victory caused the church to redouble her prayers, that he might be heard in his " petitions'' for mankind, and might see of the travail of his soul. 6. Now know I, that the Lord savcth his anointed: he will hear him from his holy heaven, loith the saving strength of his right hand. The assurance of the ancient church was built on the prophecies going before concerning the salvation of Messiah. Our assurance is strengthened by the actual performance of so great a part of the counsel of God. We know that the Lord has " saved his Anointed;" that his Anointed saveth all who believe and obey him, from their sins ; and therefore, we doubt not, but that by " the strength of his right hand," or by the excellency of his power, he will finally save them from death, and rescue them from the grave. 7. Some trust in chariots, and some in ho7'ses ; but we will re- member the name of the Lord our God. Day IV. M. P. 0\ THE PSALIVIS. I2r» This should be the resohition of every Christian king and peo- ple, in the day of battle. And, in the spiritual war, in which we are all engaged, the first and necessary step to victory is, to re- nounce all confidence in the wisdom and strength of nature and the world ; and to remember, that we can do nothing, but in the name, by the merits, through the power, and for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Loud and our God, 8. Thei/ are broug/tt down and fallen ; but we are risen, and stand upright. This was eminently the case, when the pride and power of Jewish infidelity and pagan idolatry fell before the victorious sermons and lives of the humble believers in Jesus: this is the case in every con- flict with our spiritual enemies, when we engage them in the name, the Spirit, and the power of Christ : and this will be the case at the last day, when the world, with the prince of it, shall be '^ brought down, and fall; but we, risen" from the dead, through the resur- rection of our Lord, shall " stand upright" in the courts of heaven, and sing the praises of him who getteth us all our victories. 9. Save, Lord : let the king hear iis when we call. Thus the Psalm concludes, as it began, with a general ^' ITo- sanna" of the church, praying for the prosperity and success of the then future Messiah, and for her own salvation in him, her King; who from the grave and gate of death, was, for this end, to be exalted to the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, that he might hear, and present to his Father the prayers of his people, ••' when they call upon him." PSALM XXL ARGUMENT. Tliis is one of the proper Psalms which the church hath appoinlcd to Lc uicd on Ascension-day, and wherein, 1 — 6. she celebrates the victory of her Redeemer, and the glory consequent thereupon ; she prophesies, 7. the stabilityof his kingdom, and, 8 — 12. the destruction of the enemies thereof; concluding with a prayer for his final triumph and exaltation; the cele- bration of which, with everlasting hallelujahs, will be her employment in heaven. 1. The Icing shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy sal- vation how greatly shall he rejoice ! The joy of Christ himself, after his victory, is in the strength and salvation of Jehovah, manifested thereby. Such ought to be the joy of his disciples, when God hath enabled them to vanquish 126 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXI. their enemies, either temporal or spiritual ; in which latter case, as they are called kings, and said to reign with Christ ; so they are in dut}^ bound to acknowledge, that they reign by him : " He that glorieth," whatever the occasion be, " let him glory in the Lord." 2. T/iou hast given him his hearfs desire, and hast not with- holden the request of his lips. The desire of Christ's heart was his own resurrection and exalta- tion, for the benefit of his church : and now he ever liveth to make " request with his lips," for the conversion and salvation of sinners. Such desires will be granted, and such requests will never be with- holden. Let us be careful to frame ours after that all-perfect mo- del of divine love. 3. For thou preventest him loith the blessings of goodness ; thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. The Son of God could not be more ready to ask for the blessings of the Divine goodness, than the Father was to give them : and his disposition is the same towards all his adopted sons. Christ, as king and priest, weareth a crown of glory, represented by the purest and most resplendent of metals, gold. He is pleased to esteem his saints, excelling in different virtues, as the rubies, the sapphires, and the emeralds, which grace and adorn that crown. Who would not be ambitious of obtaining a place therein ! 4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. The life asked by Christ was, not a continuance in this valley of tears, but that new and eternal life, consequent upon a resurrec- tion from the dead. For thus his petition was granted in " length of days for ever and ever." He died no more ; death had no " more dominion over him." Whose disciples then are they, that wish only to have their days prolonged upon the earth, forgetful of the life which is hid with Christ in God ? T). His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. What tongue can express the '•' glory, honour, and majesty," with which the King of righteousness and peace was invested upon his ascension ; when he took possession of the throne prepared for him, and received the homage of heaven and earth ? The sacred imagery in St. John's Revelation sets them before our eyes in such a manner, that no one can read the description, whose heart will not burn within him, through impatient desire to behold them. Sec Rev. ch. iv. vii. xix. xxi. xxii. G. For thou hast made him most blessed, Heb. set him to be Day IV. M. p. ON THE PSALMS. 12? blessings,* for ever : thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy rountenance. Christ, by his death and passion, having removed the curse, b&. came the fountain of all blessings to his people, in time and eter- nity, being himself the Blessing promised to Abraham, and the object of the patriarchal benedictions. The joy communicated to the humanity of our Lord from the Divine nature, shall be shed abroad on all his saints, when admitted to view the " countenance of God" in the face of Jesus Christ. Then they shall enter into " the joy of their Lord." 7. For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. The throne of Christ, as man, was erected and established, by his trust and confidence in the Father, during his humiliation and passion. Fahh in God, therefore, is the way that leadeth to ho- nour and stability. ^' Look at the generations of old, and see : did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded?" Eccles. ii. 10. 8. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies ; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. The same right hand of Jehovah is glorious in power to save his people, and to destroy his enemies ; to convert the Gentiles, and to crush the Jews; to exalt the faithful to heaven, and cast down the unbelieving to hell; neither is there any treason against the King of heaven, which shall not be dragged forth into the light, made manifest, judged, and condemned. Let thy hand, O Lord, be upon our sins, to destroy them; but upon us, to save us. 9. 77iou shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger : the Lord shall sioallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. " The time of God's anger" often begins in this life, especially towards the close of it, when an evil conscience within, like a flame confined in an " oven," torments the sinner, as a prelude to jjunish- ments future and unknown, which the " wrath" of God is preparing to inflict on the incorrigible and impenitent. - Let us so meditate on this sad scene, that we may have no part in it. 10. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, their seed from among the children of men. A day is coming, when all the " fruits" of sin, brought forth by sinners, in their words, their writings, and their actions, shall be '■ destroyed;" yea, the tree itself, which had produced them, shall * " Nam poRuistieum in secula boncdiccndum. " Houblgant. Compare Gon. xii. 2. Bishop Loiiili, in Merrick'.i Annolalions. 128 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXL be rooted up, and cast into the fire. The '• seed" and posterity of the wicked, if they continue in the way of their forefathers, will be punished hke tliem. Let parents consider, that upon their princi- ples and practices may depend the salvation or destruction of multitudes after them. The case of the Jews, daily before their eyes, should make them tremble. 11. For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mis- chievous device, which they are not able to perform. Vengeance came upon the Jews to the uttermost, because of thenr intended malice against Christ. They, like Joseph's brethren, " thought evil against him ;" but " they were not able to per- form it ; for God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save such people alive," Gen. i. 20. So let all the designs of ungodly men against thy church, O Lord, through thy power of bringing good out of evil, turn to her advantage : and let all men be convinced that no weapon formed against thee can prosper. 12. Therefore shall thou mahe them turn their hack, or, thou shall set them as a butt, when thou shall make ready thine arrows upon thy strings, against thefoce of them. The judgments of God are called his ''arrows," being sharp, swift, sure, and deadly. What a dreadful situation to be set as a mark, and " butt," at which these arrows are directecf! View Jerusalem encompassed by the Roman armies without, and torn to pieces by the animosity of desperate and bloody factions within. No farther commentary is requisite upon this verse. " Tremble, and repent," is the inference to be drawn by every Christian commu- nity under heaven, in which appears the symptoms of degeneracy aod apostacy. 13. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength; so tvill toe sing and praise thy poiver. The church concludes with a joyful acclamation to her Redeemer, wishing for his " exaltation in his own strength," as God, who was to be abased in much weakness, as man. We still contume to wish and pray for his exaltation over sin, in the hearts of his peo- ple by grace, and finally over death, in their bodies, by his glori- ous power at the resurrection. The triumph over sin we sing in psahns, and hymns, and spiritual songs upon earth; that over death we shall praise with everlasting hallelujahs, in heaven. Day IV. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. J29 FOURTH DAY.— EVENING PRAYER. PSALM XXII. ARGUMENT. This Psalm, which the church hath appointed to he used on Good Friday, as our Lord uttered the first verse of it, when hanging on the cross, con- sistcth of two parts. Tlie former, 1 — 21. trcatcth of tlic passion ; the lat- ter, 22 — 31. celebrateth the resurrection of Jesus, with its effects. 1 — 2. lie complaineth of being forsaken ; 3 — 6. acknowledgeth the holiness of the Father, and plcadeth the former deliverances of the church; 6 — 8. doscribeth his humiliation, with the taunts and reproaches of the Jews ; 9 — 11. expresseth his faith, andprayelh for help ; 12 — 18. particularizeth his sufferings; 19 — 21. repeateth his supplications; 22 — 25. declareth his resolution to praise llie Father for his deliverance, and exhorteth his church to do the same; 26 — 31. prophcsieth the conversion of tlie Gen- tile world to the faith and worship of the true God. 1. Ml/ God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, when hanging on the cross, complained in these words, that he was deprived, for a time, of the Dhine presence and comforting influence, while he suffered for our sins. If the Master thus underwent the trial of a spiritual desertion, why doth the discij^le think it strange, unless the light of heaven shine continually upon his tabernacle ? Let us comfort our- selves, in such circumstances, with the thought, that we are there- by conformed to the image of our dying Lord, that Sun which set in a cloud, to arise without one. 2. 0 my God, I cry in the day time, hut thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. Even our Lord himself, as man, prayed, " that if it were possi- ble, the cup might pass from him ;" but God had ordained other- wise, for his own glory, and for man's salvation. " Day and night," in prosperity and adversity, living and dying, let us not be " silent," but cry for deliverance; always remembering to add, as Christ did, " Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." Nor let any man be impatient for the return of his prayers, since every petition pre- ferred even by the Son of God himself was not granted. 3. But thou art holy, O thou that inhahitest the praises of Is- rael* Or, perhaps, as Bishop Lowth renders it, " Thou that inhabitest "^xni?' ai^nn 'lie irradiations, the glory of Israel." Sec Merrick's .innotnlioti^ on the Psalms, p. 43. 17 130 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXII. Whatever beftilletli tlie members of tlic church, the head thereof here teacheth them to confess the justice and hoHness of God, in all his proceedings; and to acknowledge, that whether he exalteth or humbletli his people, he is to be praised and glorified by them. 4. Our fathers trusted in thee : they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. "Trust" in God is the way to " dehverance ;" and the former instances of the Divine favour are so many arguments why we should hope for the same ; but it may not always be vouchsafed, when we expect it. The patriarchs and Israelites of old were of- ten saved from their enemies : the holy Jesus is left to languish and expire Under the malice of his. God knows what is proper for him to do, and for us to suffer; we know neither. This conside- ration is an anchor for the afflicted soul, sure and steadfast. 5, They cried unto thee, and icere delivered: they trusted in thee, and tvere not confounded. No argument is of more force with God, than that which is founded upon an appeal to his darling attribute of mercy, and to the manifestations of it formerly made to persons in distress ; for which reason it is here repeated and dwelt upon. They who would obtain grace to help in time of need, must '" cry" as well as ^' trust." The " prayer of faith" is mighty with God, and (if we may use the expression) overcometh the Omnipotent. 6. But 1 am a icorm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. lie who spareth all other men, spared not his own Son; he spared not him, that he might spare them. The Redeemer of the world scrupleth not to compare himself, in his state of humiliation, to the lowest reptile which his own hand formed, a " worm," humble, silent, innocent, overlooked, oppressed, and trodden under foot. Let the sight of this reptile teach us humility. 7, 8. All they that see me, laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord, that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in Mm. This was literally fulfilled, when Messiah hung upon the cross, and the priests and elders used the very words that had been put into their mouths by the Spirit of prophecy so long before. Matt, xxvii. 41 — 43. " The chief j)riests inocking hini, with the scribes and elders, said, He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him." O the wisdom and foreknowledge of God ! the infatuation and blindness of man ! The same are too often the sentiments of those, who live in times when the church and her Day IV. E. P. ON THE PSAEMS. I3i righteous cause, with their advocates, are under the cloud of perse- cution, and seem to sink beneath the displeasure of the powers ol the world. But such do not believe, or do not consider, that, in the Christian economy, death is followed by a resurrection, when it will appear, that God forsaketh not them that are his, but they are preserved for ever. 9, 10. But thoii art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make vie hope, when I was upon mi/ mothers breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art mi/ Gud from mi/ mother's belli/. This was eminently the case of Christ, who was the Son of God in a sense, in which no other man ever was. But in him we are all children of God by adoption : we are all in the hands of a gra- cious Providence from the womb; and into those hands must we commend ourselves, when about to depart hence. To whom else, then, should we have recourse for support and consolation, in the day of calamity and sorrow ? 11. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is 7ton€ to help. From the foregoing considerations, namely, from the holiness of God, ver. 3. from the salvation vouchsafed to the people of old time, ver. 4, 5. from the low estate to which Messiah was reduced, ver. 6, 7} 8. and from the watchful care of the Father over him, since his miraculous birth, ver. 9, 10. from all these considerations, he enforceth his petition for help, during his unparalleled suffer- ings, when '' all forsook him and fled." Let us treasure up these things in our hearts, against the hour when " trouble shall be near, and there shall be none to help :" when all shall forsake us, but God, our conscience, and our prayers. 12, 13. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan liave beset me round. They gaped upon me with their moidlis, as a ravening and a roaring lion. From the 11th verse to the 19th the sufferings of the holy Jesus are described, in terms partly figurative, and partly literal. \ lamb in the midst of wild " bulls and lions" is a very lively repre- sentation of his meekness and innocence, and of the noise and fury of his implacable enemies. " Bashan" was a fertile country. Numb, xxxii. 4. and the cattle there kd, were fat and " strong," Deut. xxxii. ] 4. Like them, tiie Jews, in that good land, " waxed fat and kicked," grew proud and rebelled ; " forsook God that made them, and Ughtly esteemed the Rock of their salvation." Let I)oth communities and individuals, when blessed with peace, plenty, ;ind prosperity in the world, take sometimes into consideration this 132 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXII. flagrant instance of their being abused, with the final consequence of such abuse. 14, 15. I am poured out like water, and all my hones are out of joint, or, sundered; my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, a7id my tongue cleaveth to my Jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For our sakes Christ yielded himself, like " water," without re- sistance, to the violence of his enemies; suffering his "bones," in which consisteth the strength of the frame, to be distended and dis- located upon the cross ; while, by reason of the fire from above, to the burning heat of which this paschal Lamb was exposed, his heart dissolved and melted away. The intenseness of his passion, drying up all the fluids, brought on a thirst, tormenting beyond ex- pression; and, at last, laid him low in the grave. Never, blessed Lord, was love like unto thy love ! Never was sorrow like unto thy sorrow ! Thy spouse and body mystical, the church, is often, in a degree, conformed unto thee ; and as thou wert, so is she in this world. 16. For dogs have compassed me : the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me : they pierced my hands and my feet. Our Lord, who compared himself above, ver. 12. to a lamb in the midst of bulls and lions, here setteth himself forth again under the image of a hart, or hind, roused early in the morning of his mortal life, hunted and chased all the day, and in the evening pulled down to the ground, by those who " compassed" and " inclosed" him, thirsting and clamouring for his blood, crying, '•' Away with him, away with him ! crucify him, crucify him !" And the next step was, the " piercing his hands and his feet," by nailing them to the cross. How often, O thou Preserver of men, in thy church, thy ministers, and thy word, art thou thus compassed, and thus pierced ? 17. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. The skin and flesh were distended, by the posture of the body on the cross, that the bones, as through a thin veil, became visible, and might be counted;* and the holy Jesus, forsaken and stripped, naked and bleeding, was a spectacle to heaven and earth. Look unto him, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the world ! * " Qui macilenti sunt, sic habent ossa prominentia, ut facile omnia pos- sint tactu secerni et numerari. David, quatcniis ha^c ei conveniunt, dioere hoc potuit de se fuga et molestiis emaciato. Sed Christns aptius ita loqui poterat, quod magis cniaciatus esset, et corpore nudo atquc in cruce dis- tento, magis adparerent ossa." Le Clerc, cited by Bishop Loicth, in Merrick's .Innotaiions. Day IV. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. 133 18. The 1/ part my garments among them, and cast lots upon viy vesture. ^ " The soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every sohUer a part ; and also his coat : now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots," John xix. 23, 24. 19. But he not thou far from n^e, OLoiio: O my strength, haste thee to help me. The circumstances of the passion being thus related, Christ re- sumes the prayer with which the Psalm begins, and which is re- peated ver. 10, 11. The adversary had emptied his quiver, and spent all the venom of his malice ; Messiah therefore prayeth for a manifestation of the power and favour of Heaven on his side in a joyful and glorious resurrection. And to a resurrection from the dead every man will find it necessary to look forward for comfort. 20. Deliver my soul from the sword', my darling* from the poioer of the dog. 21. Save me from the lion''s mouth: for thou hast heard me, or, and hear thoic me from the horns of the tfni- corn. The wrath of God was the " sword," which took vengeance on all men, in their representative; it was the " flaming sword," which kept man out of paradise; the sword, to which it was said, at the time of the passion — " Awake, O sword, against ray shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts : smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered," Zech. xiii. J. Matt. xxvi. 31. The ravening fury of the '" dog," the " lion," and the " unicorn," or " oryx," a fierce and untameable creature of the stag kind, is made use of to describe the rage of the Devil and his instruments, whether spiritual or corporeal. From all these Christ supplicates the Father for deliverance. How great need have we to supplicate for the same through him ! 22. Iicill declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation u'ill I praise thee. The former part of the Psalm we have seen to be prophetical of the passion. The strain now changes to an epinikion, or hymn of triumph, in the mouth of the Redeemer, celebrating his victory and ' Hcb. 'n'Tn' 7ny nniled one. '• May it relate to any thing more tliaii 'tS'SJ? The human nature united with tlie Divinity in tlie person of Christ • Quccre." Bishop Lowth, in .Merrick's Annotations 134 A COiMMENTARY Psal. XXII. its happy consequences. This verse is cited bj'the Apostle, Heb. ii. 11. "Both he that sanctified and they who are sanctified arc all of one : for which cause He is not ashamed to call them breth- ren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren," &c. And accordingl}'^, when the deliverance, so long wished, and so earnestly prayed for, was accomplished by the resurrection of Je- sus from the dead, he " declared the name of God,"' by his Apos- tles, to all his " brethren ;" and caused the church to resound with incessant praises and hallelujahs; all which are here represented as proceeding from the body, by and through him who is the head of that body. 23.* Ye that fear the Lord, pj-afse him ; all ye the seed of Ja- cob, glorify him ; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. If Christ arose from the dead, to declare salvation to his breth- ren, and to glorify God for the same, how diligent ought we to be in doing the former ; how delighted in the performance of the latter ! Messiah first addresseth himself to his ancient people, '•' the seed of Jacob," to whom the Gospel was first preached. How long, O Lord, holy and true, shall thy once highly favoured nation con- tinue deaf to this gracious call of thine? " All ye seed of Jacob, glorify him ; and fear him all ye seed of Israel." 24. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affiiciion of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face frorn him ; but lohen he cried unto him, he heard. The great subjects of praise and thanksgiving in the church, are the sufferings of the lowly and afflicted Jesus, and the accep- tance of those sufferings by the Father, as a propitiation for the sins of the world; which acceptance was testified by raising him from the dead ; inasmuch as the discharge of the surety proved the pay- ment of the debt. The poor and aftlicted brethren of Christ may- take comfort from this verse; for if they suffer in his spirit, they will be raised in his glory. 25. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: 1 tc ill pay my vows before them that fear him. The vow of Christ was, to build and consecrate to Jehovah a spiritual temple, in which the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise should be continually offered. This vow he performed after his resurrection by the hands of his Apostles, and still continueth "Bishop liOwth i.s of opinion, tliat this verse and tlie following are the " soug" of praise, which in the verse preceding, the speaker says, he will utter " in the congregation." The introduction of it, as his Lordship justly observes, gives a variety to the whole, and is liighly poetical. Mtrrick'K .tnnolnlions. PayIV. E. p. ON THE PSALMS. 135 to perform, by those of his ministers, carrying on the work of edi- fication in "the great congregation*' of the Gentile Christian church. The two vows of Christ cannot fail of being pcrfonned. Happy are they, whom he vouchsafeth to use as his instruments iiv the performance of them. 26. The meek shall eat and he satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him : your heart shall live for ever. A spiritual banquet is prepared in the church for the meek and lowly of heart j the bread of life and the wine of salvation are set forth in the word and sacraments ; and they that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be " satisfied" therewith : they " who seek'' the Lord Jesus in his ordinances, ever find reason to " praise him ;" while, nourished by these noble and heavenly viands, they live the life, and work the works of grace, proceeding still forward to glory ; when their " heart shall live for ever" in heaven. 27. All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord : and all the kindreds of the nations shall toorship he- fore thee. The great truths of man's creation and fall, with the promise of a Redeemer to come, were " forgotten" by the nations, after their apostacy from the true God, and the one true rohgion ; but wore, as we may say, recalled to their " remembrance" by the sermons of the apostles, and the writings of Moses and the prophets, trans- lated and spread among them. By these they were converted to the faith, and now compose the holy church universal throughout the world; being the glorious proofs and fruits of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. 28. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he is the governor among the nations. There is good reason why the nations should worship Christ, and throw away their idols ; since in his hands, not in theirs, is the government of the world, l^pon his ascension he was crowned King of kings and Lord of lords; he ruleth in the church by his Spirit; and blessed are the hearts that are his willing subjects in the day of his power. 29. All they that be fat upon the earth shall cat and worship : all they that go doicn to the dust shall how before him; and none can keep alive his own soul. It was said above, ver. 2G. " the meek," the poor, and lowly, " shall eat and be satisfied." It is here foretold, that the " fat ones of the earth," the great, the opulent, the flourishing, the nobles and princes of the world, should bo called in to partake of 136 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXII. the feast, and to " worship" God. Rich, as well as poor, are in- vited;* and the hour is coming, when all the race of Adam, as many as sleep in the " dust" of the earth, unable to raise them- selves from thence, quickened and called forth by the voice of tlie Son of man, must " bow" the knee to king Messiah. 30. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. The apostle informeth us, Rom. ix. 8. that " the children of the promise were counted for the seed ;" that is, the converts to be made among the nations by the preaching of the Gospel, according to the promise to Abraham ; these were to constisute the church and family of Christ, the " generation" of the faithful; these were to take the place, and enjoy the privileges of the Jews, cut off be- cause of their unbelief. Lord, enable us to serve thee all our lives with a service acceptable to thee in Christ Jesus ; that at the re- surrection of the just, we may be numbered in the generation of thy children. 31. Thei/ shall come, and shall declare his righteousness imto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. The promised and expected race shall spring forth at the time appointed, and proclaim the "righteousness," which is of God by faith, to ages and generations yet unborn ; who, hearing of that great work, which the Lord shall have wrought for the salvation of men, will thereby be led to glorify him in the church, for the same, to the end of time. Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem rise ! Exalt thy tow'ring head, and lift thy eyes ! See a long race thy spacious courts adorn ; See future sons, and daughters yet unborn, In crowding ranks, on ev'ry side arise, Demanding life, impatient for the skies ! See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend, Walk iu thy light, and in thy temple bend. Messiah. "^ They are " invited," but they do not so often accept the invitation. And it must be owned, that ^HN 'llifl are generally mentioned in an unfa- vourable sense. Bishop Lowth is therefore rather inclined to construe the words, as Mr. Fenwickdoes; all who are "fattened," that is, "fed" and " sustained by the earth." The expression then intimates the universality of the Gospel, which, the apostle says, " was preached to every crea- ture ;" a phrase of similar import. All who would partake the benefits of ('hrist's passion, must worship him as a Saviour, before they are called upon to adore him as a Judge. The bishop thinks, likewise, that the 29th verse shoidd end with the words "bow before him ;" that the next words in the original, should be read, as almost all (he ancient versions seem to have read tliem, HM lb 'K'S]! and rendered— " But my soul shall live— My seed shall serve him," iL.c. Day IV. E. P. ON THE PSALMS. PSxiLM XXIII. ARGUMENT. In this Psalm, flie "sheep of God's pasture" address themselves to their great and cfood SiiEPirERD, declarins^, 1. their acquiescence and confi- dence in him; 2. his diligence in feetling^ tiiem with the food of eternal life ; 3. his watchful care in bringing tliem back from the ways of error, and conducting- them in the path of truth ; 4. his power in saving them from death ; 5. his loving-kindness in vouchsafing his spiritual comforts, during their pilgrimage in an enemy's country ; and 6. they express their hope and trust, that a continuation of that loving-kindness will enable them to pass through the vanities and vexations of time to the blissful glories of eternity. 1 . The Lord is mij Shepherd, I shall not want. In these words, which one cannot utter, without feeling the hap- piness they were intended to descrihc, the beUever is taught to ex- press his absohite acquiescence and complacency in the guardian care of the great Pastor of the universe; the Redeemer, and Pre- server of men. AVith joy he reflects, tliat he lias a " Shepherd ;" and that that Shephertl is Jehovah ; one possessed of all the qua- lities requisite to constitute the pastoral character in the higliest perfection. For where shall we ever find such unexampled dili- gence, such inexpressible tendei'ness, such exquisite skill, such all- subduing might, and such unwearied patience? Why should they fear, who have such a friend ? How can they " want," who have such a " Shepherd r" Behold us, O Lord Jesus, in ourselves hun- gry, and thirst}'^, and feeble, and diseased, and defenceless, and lost. O feed us, and cherish us, and heal us, and defend us, and bear with us, and restore us. 2. He makcth me to lie down in green imstures : he leadeth me beside the still waters. The loveliest image afforded by the natural world is here repre- sented to the imagination ; that of a flock, feeding in verdant mea- dows, and reposing in quietness by the rivers of water, running gently through them. It is selected, to convey an idea of the pro- vision made for the souls as well as bodies of men by His goodness, who " openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteous- ness. " By me," saith the Redeemer, " if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture," John X. 9. And what saith the Spirit of peace and comfort ! " Let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely," Rev. xxii. 17. Every flock that we see, should re- 18 138 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXIII . mind us of our necessities ; and every pasture should excite us to praise that love, by which they are so bountifully supplied. 3. He restorcth my sovl: he leadeth me in the paths of righ- teousness for his name^s sake. To " restore,*' or bring back those that had " gone astray," that is, in other words, to " call sinners to repentance," was the employment of Him, who in the parable of the " lost sheep," re- presenteth himself as executing that part of the pastoral office. By the same kind hand, when " restored," they are thenceforward led in " the path of righteousness ;" in the way of holy obedience. Obstructions are removed, they are strengthened to walk and run in the path of God's commandments ; while, to invite and allure them, a crown of glory appears, held forth at the end of it. All this is now done for, in, by, and through that " name," beside which, there is none other under heaven given unto man, whereby he may be saved. 4. Yea, though I loalk through the valley of the shadow of death, I ivill fear no evil: for thou art ivith me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. The sheep here express their confidence in the power of their Shepherd, as sufficient to defend them against tl»e last and most formidable enemy, Deatli himself. To apprehend the scenery in this verse, we must conceive the church militant and the church triumphant as two mountains, between which lieth the " valley of the shadow of death," necessary to be passed by those who would go from one to the other. Over all that region of dreariness and desolation, extendeth the empire of the king of terrors : and the believer alone " feareth no evil" in his passage through it ; be- cause he is conducted by " that great Shepherd of the sheep, whom God brought again from the dead j" Heb. xiii. 20. and who can therefore show us the path of life through the vale of death. In all our dangers and distresses, but chieliy in our last and greatest need, let " thy rod," the sceptre of thy kingdom, O Lord, protect us. and thy pastoral " staff" guide and support our stei)s ; till, througii the dreadful valley, we pass to the heavenly mountain, on which St. John saw " the Lamb standing with a great multitude redeemed from the earth," Rev. xiv. 1. 5. Thou jjreparest a table before 7ne in the pi'csence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Another set of images borrowed from a " feast," is introduced to give us ideas of those cordials and comforts prepared to cheei ;md invigorate the fainting soul : while, surroimded by " enemies.'" DayV. M. p. ON THE PSALMS. i3!) it is accomplisliing its pilsrnmacfo throiich life; duiiiijT wliicli timo its sorrows and afflictions are alleviated and sweetened by the joys and consolations of the Holy One ; by the feast of a good con- science; by the bread of life, the " oil" of gladness, and the "cup" of salvation, still full and " running over." 6. Stirebj goodness and mercij shall follow me all the days of mij life; and I will divell in the house of the Lord ybr ever. Experience of " goodness and mercy," already so often vouch- safed, begets an assurance of their being continued to the end; for nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, if we do not sepa- rate ourselves from it. Thus will the Lord our Saviour provide for ns on earth, and conduct us to heaven ; where we shall dwell to •' length of days," even the days of eternity, " one fold under one Shepherd :" a fold into which no enemy enters, and from which no friend departs : where we shall rest from all our labours, and see a period to all our sorrows : where the voice of praise and thanksgiv- ing is heard continually ; where all the faithful, from Adam to his last born son, shall meet together to behold the face of Jesus, and to be blessed with the vision of the Almighty : where " we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on us, nor any heat. But the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and lead us to living fountains of wa- ters," Rev. vii. l6, 17. FIFTH DAY.— MORMNG PRAYER. PSALM XXIV. ARGUMENT. Tlie plan of this Psalm, according to the letter of it, is beautifully deline- ated by Bishop Lowth, in his xxviith lecture. The ark of God is supposed to be moving:, in a grand and solemn procession of the whole Israclitish nation, towards the place of its future residence on mount Sion. See 1 Chron. xv. On ascending the mountain, the Psalm is sung, declaring, 1, 2. the sovereignty of Jehovah overall tlie earth ; describing, 3 — 6. what the character ought to be of that people wlioni he had more peculiarly se- lected, to serve him in the house where iiis glory was to dwell, and of which, 7 — 10. it was now about to take po.^scs.'ion. All this is by us to be applied to the Christian church, and the ascension of our Lord into hea- ven ; for which reason, the Psalm is one of those apj)ointed to be used on Ascension-day. 1 . The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: the world, nnd they that dwell therein. The God of Israel was Lord of the whole earth, by right of crea- 140 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXIV. tion. The same divine person who created the world, hath since, in Christ, redeemed it : and it is his again, by that right also. But the church Christian is his, in a more peculiar manner, as the church of Israel formerly was. We are doubly bound to adore and to obey him. " It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves ;" Psalm c. 2. and " we are not our own, being bought with a price," 1 Cor. vi. 20. The inference is, " Let us glorify God in our bo- dies, and in our spirits, which are," every way " God's." 2. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it up- on the floods. The waters, which, at the creation, and again at the deluge^, overspread all things, being, by the power of God, driven down into the great deep, and there confined, the earth was, in a won- derful manner, constructed and established as a circular arch, up- on, or over them. Let us often meditate on this noble subject for contemplation and devotion; that we may learn, whither we are to have recourse, when in danger of being overwhelmed by sins or sorrows. 3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lono ? and who shall stand in his hohj place ? The connexion seems to be this. If the Almighty Creator and Lord of all the earth has chosen us to be his peculiar people, to serve and worship him in his temple, upon the holy hill of Sion, whither the sacred symbol of his presence is now ascending, what manner of persons ought we to be ? The reasoning is exactly the same, as Bishop Lowth observes, with that of Moses, in Deut. x. 14 — 16. '^ Behold the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's thy God; the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the Lord hath a delight in thy fathers, to love them ; and he chose their seed after them, even you, above all people, as it is this day. Cii-- cumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff- necked." The argument applies, with additional force, to our- selves, as Christians. We compose a far more numerous and mag- nificent procession than that of the Israelites, when the church uni- versal, with her spiritual services, attends our Lord, as it were, up- on his ascension, in heart and mind ascending with him into the iioly place not made witii hands. 4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart ; who hath not lift up his soul unto vaniti/, or, placed his trust in ruin idob, or, in the creature, nor sworn deceitfully. 5. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. No man can ascend into heaven through his own righteous- DayV. M. p. on the PSVOIS. Ml ncss, l)iit he wlio came down iVom heaven, and perfDnncd a per- fect sinless obedience to the will of God. Sinners of old were purified through faith in him that was to come, by typical offer- ings and ablutions, before they approached the sanctnar}'. We have been cleansed from our sins, and renewed unto holiness, by the blood of Christ, and the washing of the Holy Ghost. Thus we become his people : thus we " receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of our salvation." 6. This is tlic generation of thvm that seek him, that seek thi/ face, O Jacob, or, O (iod of Jacob. Such ought the people to be, who seek the presence of God, and approach to worship him in the sanctuary ; who celebrate the as- cension of their Redeemer, and hope, one day, to follow him into those happy mansions, which he has gone before to prepare for them. 7. Lift vp your heads, 0 ye gates ; and be ye lifted, np, ye cverhtsting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. 8. JFho is this King of glory ? The Loiid strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9, 10. The chorus is repeated. We must now form to ourselves an idea of the Lord of glory, after his resurrection from the dead, making his entry into the eternal temple in heaven ; as of old, by the symbol of his presence, lie took possession of that figurative andtemporajy structure, which once stood upon the hill of Sion. We are to conceive him gradually rising from mount Olivet into the air, taking the clouds for liis chariot, and ascending up on high ; while some of the angels, like the Levites in procession, attendant on the triumphant Messiah, in the day of his power, demand, that those everlasting gates and doors, hitherto shut and barred against the race of Adani, should be thrown open for his admission into the realms of bliss. '*' Lift up your beads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." On hearing this voice of jubilee and exultation from the earth, the abode of misery and sor- row, the rest of the angels, astonished at the thought of a man claiming a right of entrance into their happy regions, ask from within, like the Levites in the temple, " Who is this King of glory ?" To which question the attendant angels answer, in a strain of joy and trium))h — and let the church of the Redeemer answer with them — " The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle;" the Lord Jesis, victorious over sin, death, and hell. Therefore we say, and with holy transport we repeat it ; '' Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and I)e yc lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." And if any ask, " Who is the 142 A COMMENTARY Psal. XXV. King of glory ?" To heaven and earth we proclaim aloud — " The Lord of hosts," all-conquering Messiah, head over every crea- ture, the leader of the armies of Jehovah, " He is the King of glory. Even so, Glory be to thee, O Lord most high ! Amen. Hallelujah. PSALM XXV. ARGUMENT. It is much the same, whether we suppose the church, or anj' single membt-i- thereof, to be speaking throughout this Psalm, and praying, 1 — 3. for help and protection against spiritual enemies ; 4, 5. for knowledge and direction in the way of godliness ; pleading for this purpose, 6, 7. God's mercies of old; 8. the perfections of his nature: 9, 10. enumerating the qualifications requisite for scholars in the divine school; 11. upon the strength of those arguments, enforcing the petitions for mercy; 12 — 14. describing the blessedness of the man who fcareth the Lord; 15 — 21. preferring divers petitions ; and 22. closing the whole with one for the final redemption of the Israel of God. 1. Unto thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul. 2. O my God, I trust in thee : let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me. Cares and pleasures are the weights which press the soul down to earth, and fasten her thereto; and it is the spirit of prayer which must enable her to throw off these weights, to break these cords, and to " lift up" herself to heaven. He who " trusteth" in any thing but in God, will one day be " ashamed" and confounded, and give his spiritual " enemies" cause to " triumph over him." 3. Yea, let none that wait on thee he ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without a cause, or, vainly, rashly. God, as a father and a master, will never suffer his children and servants to want his favour and protection ; nor will he permit ma- licious rebels to enjoy it. Honour will, in the end, be tlie portion of the former, and shame the inheritance of the latter. 4. Shev) me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 5. Lead 7ne in thy truth, and teach me : for thou art the God of my salva- tion ; on thee do I wait all the day. We are travellers to heaven, who, through temptation, are often drawn aside, and lose our way. The way is the law of God ; and to keep that law is to walk in the way. God only can put us in the way, and preserve us and forward us therein; for which pur- jjose, we must continue instant in prayer to "the God of our sal- vation," tliat he would " teach" us to do his will ; that so we may not be ashamed and confounded. Day V. M. P. OiN THE PSALMS. 143 6. Remanbei-f O Lord, tJiij tender mercies, and thtj lovmg- kindncsses ; for theij have been ever of old. Tlie soul, when hard beset with sins and sorrows, is apt to think that (ioD hath forsaken and forgotten her. In this case, she cannot more effectually prevail upon him, or comfort herself, than by re- collecting, and, as it were, reminding him of former mercies j since, however the dispositions and affections of men may alter, God is always the same. 7. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions ^ according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. When God remembers his mercy, he forgets our sins ; and when he forgets our sins, he remembers his mercy ; for what else is his mercy, but the forgiveness, the blotting out, the non-imputation of sin ? Who, that has lived long in the world, can survey the time past of his life, without breaking forth into this petition, adding, to " the sins of his \outh," the many transgressions of his riper years ? 8. Good and upright is the Lord : therefore loill he teach sin- ners in the way. Another argument for hope and trust in God, is drawn from his " nature.'"' He hates sin, and loves righteousness ; he sent his Son to suffer for the one, and his Spirit to produce the other ; and he cannot but be faithful and just to his own gracious pronuses. which all centre in the salvation of sinners by pardon and grace, nirough Him, who is " the way, the truth, and the life." 9. The meek icill he guide in judgment ; and the meek tcill he teach his way. Pride and anger have no place in the school of Christ. The Master himself is " meek and lowly of heart ;-' much more, surely, ought the scholars to be so. He, who hath no sense of his igno- rance, can have no desire, or capability of knowledge, human or divine. 10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy end truth, unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. The law of God is the way by which he comclh to us, as well as by that which we go to him ; and all the different dispensations of that law, here styled " the paths of the Lord,*' are composed of •' mercy and truth ;" mercy promising, and truth performing, meet together in Christ, who is " the end of the law to every one that beiieveth ;" to such as " keep his covenant and his testimonies." 11. For thy name's sake, 0 Lord, pardon mine iniquity ; for it is great. 144 A COMMENlTARY Psal. XXV. The pardon of sin is to be asked, and obtained, throughout that gracious " name," in which mercy and truth are met to- gether j"' and so " great" is our sin, that pardon can be had only througli that name. 12. W/iat man is he that fearcth the Lord ? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. The blessings consequent upon the " fear of the Lord," are such as will fully justify the earnestness and fervour of the foregoing petitions for pardon and grace. " The fear of the Lord is the be- ginning of wisdom." He who hath it will " choose" the right way, and will be " taught" to go therein. 13. His soul shall dwell at ease, Heb. lodge in goodness : and his seed shall inherit the earth. It is a privilege of " the man who feareth the Lord," that not only in this present life, all things work together for his " good," but his soul, after having persevered in righteousness, shall take up its abode in the mansions of felicity. His " seed" likewise shall be blessed in the same manner, with such a portion of the temporal promise made to Abraham, as God seeth best for them, and certainly with an abundant share in the spiritual inheri- tance, the NEW earth, wherein dwell righteousness, joy, and glory. •■' Blessed are the meek," the seed of Christ, '' for they shall inherit the earth," Matt. v. 5. 14. The secret, Heb. Jixed counsel, or, design of the Lord, is with them that fear him ; and he will shew them his covenant, ileb. and his covenant, to make them know it. The greatest happiness of man in this world is, to know the fixed and determinate counsels of God concerning the human race, and to understand the covenant of redemption. This likewise is the the reward of*' the fear of the Lord," which humbles the soul, and prepares it for divine illumination, causing it to place all its com- fort in meditation on the wonders of heavenly love. " All things which I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you," saith our Lord to his disciples, John xi. 15. IT). Mine eyes are ever ioioard the Lord ; for he shall pluck my feet Old of the net. Encouraged to hope for the blessings above-mentioned, the lowly suppliant still continues to fix the eyes of his understanding on their proper object, God his Saviour, beholding his glory, attend- ing to his will, and expecting his mercy. An unfortunate dove, whose feet are taken in the snare of the fowler, is a fine emblem of the soul, entangled in the cares or pleasures of the world ; from Day V. M. P. ON THE PSALMS. 140 which she desires, through the power of grace, to fly away, and to be at rest, with their glorified Redeemer. IG, 2\im thou unto me, and have mercy upon me; for Jam desolate and afflicted. They who are ever looking unto the Lord, will be heard, when they beseech him to turn his face, and to look upon them. When the soul, forsaking and forsaken by all earthly supports and com- forts, finds herself in a state of desolation, and is experimentally convinced of her being, not in a paradise of delights, but in a vale of misery, then her visitation and deliverance arc at hand. 17. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. As life is prolonged, troubles are generally enlarged,* till at length they take up what room there is in the heart. The last scene of the tragedy is the most calamitous. So it was in the life of our dear Master. And every man will sooner or later per- ceive that God alone can " bring him out of his distresses." 18. Look upon mine ajftiction and my pain ; and forgive all my sins. Aflliction and pain, whether of mind or body, are the fruits of sin ; and the pardon of sin is the first step towards the removal of sorrow. The latter is sent to beget in us a due sense of the for- mer, in order to a deliverance from both. In the new earth " dwelleth righteousness ;" and, for that reason, " there is no more sorrow, pain, nor crying," 2 Pet. iii. 13; Rev. xxi. 4. 19. Consider mine enemies, for they are many ; and they hate me with cruel hatred. As the evils we suffer are great, so the enemies we have to en- counter are many. Their name is " legion :" and to their envy, hatred, and malice, there are no bounds. How unequal the com- bat, unless thou, O God, goest forth with us by thy grace, con- quering and to conquer !" 20. O keep my soul, and deliver me : let me not be ashamed ; for I put my trust in thee. Preservation from sin, and deliverance from death, are two great gifts of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. For the latter clause, see ver. 2. * Bishop Lowth, with some slight aheralion of the text, thinks the rcn-- «lering should be, Coarctationes cordis mei