The psalm concludes with an exhortation to the redeemed from the earth, to unite heart and voice, as in duty bound, in ascribing glory to God their Redeemer. 1. As aforesaid to his throne in the heavens, established from eternity, and ruling over all, v. 33. 2. For the mighty efficacy of his gospel, sent forth into all lands, and working with irresistible energy upon the souls of men. 3. For his operations of grace and providence towards his Israel. In him is everlasting strength; his residency, all his glorious perfections, is over Israel, engaged for their comfort and support; and his strength is in the clouds: they are his instruments of vengeance; on them he went up to heaven, with them he shall descend to judgment. 4. For the awful visitations on his enemies. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places; in present strokes of vengeance, and especially as ready to consume the wicked with the brightness of his coming. 5. For the preservation of his Israel. The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people; happens them under all difficulties, strengthens them for their work, and enables them to persevere in their fidelity. Blighted de God: let that Redeemer, whose grace alone works all for us, and in us, receive the praise of all. 15. The hill of God is as the hill of Bafhan, an high hill as the hill of Bafhan. 16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God defends to dwell in, yea, the LORD will dwell as it for ever. 17. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, + even thousands of angels: the LORD is among them as in Sinai, in the holy place. 18. 'Thou hast ascended on high,' thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast deceived gifts; for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them. 19. Blessed be the LORD, who daily &loatheth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. 20. He that is our God, is the God of salvation; and unto God the LORD belong the issues from death. 21. But 'God shall wound the head of his enemies: and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trepaffes. David's troubles were typical of the Redeemer's foreword, of whose sufferings, and the glory which followed, to have principally trusts. 1. He complains of the great distress and trouble he was in, and earnestly logs of God in relapse and fussure him, vers. 1—21. 2. He represents the judgments of God upon his perfusters, vers. 22—29. 3. He concludes with the voice of joy and praise, in an affluence that God would help and fussure him, and would do well for the church, vers. 30—36. ¶ To the chief musician upon Shoffnanim, A psalm of David. 1. SAVE me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2. I sink in + deep mine where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3. I am weary of my crying, my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4. They that hate me without a caule, are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. 5. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my I sins are not hid from thee. 6. Let not them that wait on thee, O LORD God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake; let not those that seek thee, be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 7. Because for thy sake I have born reproach: shame hath covered my face. 8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an allant unto my mother's children. 9. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee, are fallen upon me. 10. When I wept and chastised my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. 11. I made Sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. 12. They that sit in the gate, speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards. Vol. I. We have here, in the suffering son of Jefie, a lively figure of the suffering Son of God, of whom these things are chiefly spoken. 1. He pours out his complaints unto God, and they are many and grievous. Troubles, deep as the swelling flood, compelled him, and he ready to sink under them, v. 1, 2. Exhausted with strong crying and tears, and failing because no help appeared, v. 3. Though ineffensive, yet harsh, pernicated by many and mighty foes, and cruelly as wrongfully, v. 4. His dearest friends were afraid to own him, lest they should be involved with him in ruins, v. 5. His zeal for God reallocated his enemies, and brought upon him a load of reproaches and infamy, v. 7, 9, and when in the holy exercises of religion he was engaged, they ridiculed his humiliations, v. 10, 11. The great, who sat in the gate, maligned and divided him; and the drunkards, in their midnight revels, made him the subject of their spirit and soaps, v. 12. And heroin he was, [1.] A type of the Lord Jefua Christ, whose soul in the garden, deluged with anguish, seemed as if weighed down with the insupportable load, and the humanity unable to support it, v. 2. With strong crying and tears he then made supplication unto God, and on the cross with bitterness lamented the divine de-reliction, v. 3. Though sinless and harmless, he paid the debt of sin he had never contracted, and satisfied that justice he had never injured; yet did these sinners, whose guilt he bore, persecute him with ceaseless hatred. Fixed on his destruction, they submerged false witnesses against him, to take away his life, v. 4. He was disowned by every friend; betrayed by one disciple; denied by another; for taken of all, v. 5. Loaded with the most malignant reproaches; his tears over them, and his efforts to save them, despised and rejected; inflicted, with the most unrelenting cruelty, by the meantime as well as greatest; by governor, priest, elders, soldiers; his miracles of grace imputed to disab-lical agency; and his importunate cries upon the cross mocked and ridiculed, v. 7, 9, 10. [2.] Of all believers, whose trials are severe, and help often long delayed, whose souls are ready to faint; the objects of the world's malice and loom; forfakes and givens up by their once dearest friends and relations; treated as mad, and derided as foolish; opposed by the great, and often literally fill the drunkard's song. But through much tribulation we must thus enter into the kingdom of God, through evil report and good report; and whilst we carry our grails to a compulsmatic Redeemer, must patiently expect the salvation of God. 2. He conceives his sons, which were known unto God; the folly bound up in his heart, and the sins of his life, which, however upright before men, he could not plead as pure before God. The Lord Jefua had on sin of his own to confess, yet was he made sin for us; our folly and guilt were imputed to him, and he was therefore numbered with the transpereform. Note, They who know themselves best, know most evil of themselves. The deepest read in self-knowledge are ever the most humble before a holy God. 3. He prays earnestly for help and salvation, v. 1. pleads the discouragement it would call on the faithful, if he was left to fall, v. 6. and the dishonour it would bring upon God, since it was purely an account of his zeal for his cause that he was exposed, v. 7—9. Thus Christ prayed to be saved from the trying hour; and that his people might not be disappointed of their expectations of redemption by him, who now in his resurrection and triumphant ascension have confidence towards God. Note, (1.) A faithful soul cannot but zealously espouse the cause of God and truth. (2.) It is a great satisfaction when we suffer, to know that it is for righteousness. 13. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, 'in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14. Deliver me out of the mine, and let me not sink: 'We believe me be delivered from them that hate me, and 'out of the deep waters. 15. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 16. Hear me, O LORD, for thy loving kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17. And 'hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble: 'hear me speedily. 18. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me 'because of mine enemies. 19. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and 'looked for some I to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21. They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thrift they gave me vinegar to drink. Whilst we have a gracious God to fly to, we need not be concerned about the malicious reproaches of the proud. 8 A David David, oppressed, has recourse to God for deliverance from his dangers, that his enemies might not prevail, nor his foul sinks under his troubles. And he enforces his requests. [1.] By the acceptableness of the time: never could relief come to welcome, as when he is reduced to love, v. 13. [2.] By the multitude of God's mercies, which now would be especially manifested, v. 16. [3.] By the truth of his salvation, his faithfulness being engaged for the answer of humble and fervent prayer, v. 13. [4.] By the views of his great trouble, which God well knew; the shame, reproach, and dishonour he endured for his sake, v. 19, 20, which required speedy help, and the comforts of his countenance, v. 17, that he might not be discouraged. [5.] By the desolateness of his estate: all other friends have forsaken him, therefore the more he needs God to appear for him. [6.] By the insistence and cruelty with which he was treated, which he knew God would not behold with unconcern, v. 21. Such requests, in the days of his flesh, the Son of David made. God knew what sufferings he endured; what trouble and reproach he bore from foes without; what anguish, from the withdrawing of his sensible favour; how exceeding sorrowful and very heavy his soul was burdened; no friend to pity or relieve; in his enemies hands, ready to be swallowed up; the pit of the grave opening; death, with all its horrors, the death of the cross, approaching; and even when in his agonizing pangs extended on the tree, there inflicted with vinegar mingled with gall, to mock his raging thrift. In his distress he prayed, and pleaded the multitude of his Father's mercies, and his truth engaged for the fulfilment of the everlasting covenant. He begged to behold the light of his Father's countenance, which was hid from him in displeasure; to be supported and carried through his work of redemption; that those who hated him, Satan and his servants, might be disappointed, and the grave unable to keep him prisoner: that he might be delivered from all his enemies, redeemed from death and hell, and finally victorious: and God abundantly answered his prayers in the resurrection-day, when all his reproach and fortune was for ever rolled away, and his glory great as his sufferings had been. Such also must be our recourse in our distresses, such our pleas, and such then assuredly will be the eternal deliverance we may expect from all our enemies. 22. Let their table become a share before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. 23. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not: and make their loins continually to shake. 24. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25. Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. 26. For they perficute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. 27. Add iniquity to their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. 28. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. 29. But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. These words being expressly applied to the Jews, who rejected the true Messiah, Rom. xi. 9. 10. we can be at no loss for the explanation of them. They contain a prophetic denunciation of God's righteous judgments against them; and we see them this day lying under his curse, and, in the fulfilment of the prophecy, standing evidences for the truth of the Christian religion. We have here, 1. The judgments denounced. [1.] Their comforts should misrate them; or the sacrifices, part of which belonged to the offer, to which they so obstinately adhered, in opposition to the true sacrifice of the Redeemer, whom they rejected; these should be made the means of hardening them against him, instead of leading them to him, as we see they were, v. 22. [2.] They should be given up to judicial blindness, rejecting the clearest declarations of their own prophets, v. 23. [3.] They should be in continual terrors, or how down their backs always, as the apostle renders the words, Rom. xi. 10. which was not only the case when the Romans came and besieged Jerusalem, and made such a dreadful massacre; but to this day, they are servants in all lands; in many governments forced to conceal their religion; and in all have been harassed and plundered, and are still exposed to the same sufferings; not to speak of their horrors, when they shall see him whom they have pierced, coming in the clouds of heaven, v. 23. [4.] They should feel the severity of his wrath, which they eminently did, when their city and country was utterly destroyed, and the land ploughed up; so that for a while none dwelt there; and to this day these desolations in a great measure continue, very few Jews being now found in the whole land of Palestine, and these miserably oppressed by the Turkish governors, v. 24, 25. [5.] They should add sin to sin; having crucified the Master, they would perficute the disciples, and, instead of being convinced by all they suffered, would continue hardened and inveterate as ever; so that they should not come into God's righteousness; rejecting him who is the only righteousness of his people, they are shut up in unbelief, v. 27. And, lastly, that their name should be blotted out from the living, as was literally, in a great measure, fulfilled, when the Romans saw such vast numbers, that they seemed to threaten an entire excision of the whole Jewish race; and spiritually is accomplished in their exclusion from the blefing of the gospel, by which righteousness and life eternal alone can be obtained, v. 28. 2. The cause of these judgments is mentioned, v. 26. Their persecution of Jesus, whom they esteemed stricken and smitten of God; and whom, according to the divine crusade and foreknowledge of God, Acts xi. 23. they with wicked hand crucified and slew; and, in fact, in their rage against his cause, contrived every method to insult God's wounded ones, as the word signifies, those who suffered for their fidelity to Jesus. Note, It is double cruel to prove those already weighed down with sufferings; but diabolical malice sports at misery. 3. The plaintiff, in the person of the Redeemer, commends himself to God. But I am poor; in his humiliation for our sakes he became poor; so poor, that he had not a place to lay his head; and sorrowful: from the cradle to the grave, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: sorrows, like unto which were no sorrows. Let thy salvation, O God, let me up on high, or, thy salvation shall set me up on high. Either it is a prayer for, or his confident expectation of, the glory which should follow after his sufferings, when by death having overcome every enemy, he should arise, ascend, and reign on his eternal throne. Note, The poor and sorrowful believer may be comforted. If we have been planted with Jesus in the likeness of his sufferings and death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection and glory. 30. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31. That also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. 32. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. 33. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseeth not his prisoners. 34. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and every thing that I moweth therein. 35. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. 36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein. David, in the prospect of this salvation of the Redeemer and his people, triumphs, and calls on heaven and earth to join his praises. 2. The people of God shall rejoice in beholding his salvation, manifest in the resurrection of Jesus. They will be encouraged now to seek God, because since he lives, they shall live also. Though poor in this world, and prisoners for Christ; or tied and bound with the chain of sins, under which they groan, and long to be looted; God will not despise their prayer; he will bear their cry, and will help them. Note, As long as we have a heart to pray, we shall always have cause to rejoice. 3. He calls upon all men and angels, yea, every creature that moveth through the paths of the water, to praise God with him for his glorious salvation. His Zion shall be saved; his church, and the cities of Judah, the different assemblies of the faithful, he built up. The faithful seed shall inherit a portion in God's holy mountain, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; and they that love his name, his person, his worship, his word, his ways, shall dwell therein, as at present the children of God's family, and shortly to possess the enduring mansions in the bare, whore, with Jesus our exalted head, we shall take up our glorious and eternal abode. Well do such inspiring hopes demand our warmest praise. This plain is adapted to a state of affliction. It may be considered as an approach to the foregoing, and is almost literally the same with Pial. xi. v. 13-17, which relates to the Messiah. He prays, that that God would find, 1. Help to himself, ver. 1, 5. 2. Shame to his enemies, ver. 2, 3. 3. Try to his friends, ver. 4. 1. PC, c. 1000. To the chief musician, A psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. 2. Did, cl. 3. Is, br. 4. Did, last, 1. Did, 17. 2. Did, 20. 1. MAKE haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD, 2. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that define my hurt. 3. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, that say, Aha, Aha. 4. Let all those that seek thee, rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. 5. But I am poor and needy, make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer, O LORD, make no tarrying. The title of this psalm is to bring to remembrance the mercies he had experienced; the former prayers he had offered, and God had answered; and therefore, in new trials to remember the good old way, and make his request full known unto God, he uses nearly the same words as he had done before, Pjal. al. for though formal prayer is fully and hypocrisy, a form of prayer may speak the warm brutality of a pious heart, and be used repeatedly to obliteration. 1. He looks for help in haste, because his danger was imminent, v. 1. Note, Urgent trials should awaken fervent prayer. 2. He prays that his enemies may be disappointed and confounded. They were maliciously bent to hurt him; fought after his soul, to enlance him with sin, or to rob him of his life; and already triumphed, as if they had succeeded: but he expects to see them turned backward, and their wicked devices baffled, v. 2, 3. 3. He pray that God's people may rejoice, especially on observing his gracious interposition in his deliverance, and magnify God for his mercy. They are described as loving God, this being the constant delightful talk of the faithful, to pray and not taint; as loving his salvation, loving Jesus, the author of the salvation, and holiness, the appointed way, v. 4. 4. He expresses his confidence of help, whilst he pleads his warm. I am poor and needy; spiritually needy, and poor in spirit; but thou art my help and deliverer, and therefore my salvation is safe and sure, v. 5. Jesus was thus fought for, his precious life pursued, and his enemies confident of success; but in his prayer he prevailed: Satan and all his emulphants were confounded in the day of his resurrection, and God, his helper and deliverer, made no tarrying, nor suffered his Holy One to see corruption; therefore doth his church triumph in their exalted head, and lay with joy, The Lord be magnified. The faithful servants of God are also the mark of the world's enmity, and the devil's hatred; and they may expect many a sure trough from both: but they know where their help lies, and make haste to God in prayer; and though he may sometimes seem to delay his coming, he is not slick concerning his promises, but exercises the graces of his people to confirm and strengthen them, and makes no tarrying when their deliverance is necessary. However surely they may be exercised, the issue of their trials will be peace and joy; and they who love God's salvation, and seek him without ceasing, will, in time and eternity, by delightful experience, bear testimony to his rich and sovereign grace, and ascribe to him the everlasting praise. This psalm seems to have been proved by David in his old age, probably at the time of Apsalom's rebellion. 1. He prays that God would deliver and save him, ver. 2, 4. and not call him off, ver. 9. or be far from him, ver. 12. and that his enemies might be put to shame, ver. 13. He pleads his confidence in God, ver. 1, 3, 5, 7. The experience he had of help from God, ver. 6. and the malice of his enemies against him, ver. 10, 11. 2. He concludes the psalm with believing prays, ver. 14, 8c. Never was his hope more established, ver. 16, 18, 20, 21. Never were his joy and thanksgiving; more enlarged, ver. 15, 19, 22, 23, 24. Let old disciples join in his prayer, his faith, his joy. 1. IN thee, O LORD, do I put my trust, let me never be put to confusion. 2. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. 3. Be thou art my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually refer: thou hast given commandment to save me, for thou art my rock and my torrtles. 4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5. For thou art my hope, O LORD God: thou art my trust from my youth. 6. By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels, my praise shall be continually of thee. 7. I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge. 8. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. 9. Call me not off in the time of old age, for take me not when my strength failed. 10. For mine enemies speak against me: and they that I lay wait for my soul, take counsel together. 11. Saying, God hath forsaken him: perfectate and take him, for there is none to deliver him. 12. O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help. 13. Let them be confounded and confounded that are adversaries to my soul: let them be covered with reproach and dishonour, that seek my hurt. The longer the faithful soul hath been found in the good ways of God, the stronger he grows. Influentialist the vices. Thus David here appears. 1. He professes his confidence in God, amidst the sharp trials with which he was now exercised. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; delighting to repeat the pleasing subject, and dwelling upon the sure foundation on which his hope was built; a rock, no tempest could shake; a fortress, no foe could wake; a strong refuge, where he was safe from danger; a strong habitation, where he reified in comfort. Note, They who know God, his faithfulness and grace, will with comfort and confidence be engaged to trust him in every time of need. 2. He remembers to God's glory, and for his own present encouragement, the past deliverances he had experienced, v. 5, 6. From the womb he had been holden up, protected amidst the dangers of infancy, and the perils of youth; and therefore now he is sure that God will not fail to save him, and resolves never to cease in praising him. Note, The more we reflect on what God hath done for us, it will both engage our trust in him, and awaken our praises to him. 3. He makes his prayer in the present emergency of his affairs, and it consists of various particulars, and is supported with the most urgent pleas. [1.] He prays that he may not be put to confusion, v. 1. but find God his strong habitation in his troubles; pleading God's righteousness as a reason why he should vindicate his suffering cause, v. 2. and his promise, v. 3. on which his hope was grounded. Note, They who confidently plead God's faithfulness, shall never be covered with confusion, as disappointed of their hope. [2.] He cries for deliverance, v. 4. from the surrounding dangers, when flying from his rebellious son, and supports his prayer with urging God's relation to him, O my God, as an argument for present help; and his enemies ill character, as a reason for saving him out of their hand. Note, My God is the most powerful of all arguments in our approaches to God, to obtain his grace, and encourage our patient waiting upon him. [3.] He desires to have new matter for his praises, and subjects for fresh songs all the day; and intimates how greatly God would be glorified in his preservation. I am a wonder unto many; reduced to such a state of deep distress, want, and wretchedness; and the more forlorn, the greater the mercy would appear, and the louder and more incessantly God's mercy in his reformation would be magnified, v. 7, 8. Note, God delights in the depth of our misery to magnify his mercy. [4.] He begs not to be cast off now at last; and, to move his gracious Master's pity, produces his locks grown hoary in his service, and urges his weakness as a plea for compassionate relief, v. 9. Note, [1.] In old age we must expect infirmities, and need an increase of faith and patience to bear them. [2.] God's old servants are never cast off: though they cannot be active in his service as formerly, their hoary heads are a crown of glory, and ready to receive the crown of righteousness, in that world where their youth will be renewed as the eagle's. [3.] When we are most sensible of our own weakness, we shall most assuredly experience the divine support. [5.] He interests God to draw near, and make haste to help him. His dangers could not bear delay; for his enemies were many, politic, plotting his ruin; encouraging themselves in hope that God had forsaken him, and therefore they must prevail; and discouraging his friends from helping him, and his heart from depending on God. Note, [1.] They who are most afflicted of God, are not therefore rejected of him. [2.] The vain hope of the sinner will prove a lie in his right hand. [6.] He befenders God to turn the evil they meditated against him upon themselves, and to cover them with reproach and dishonour, who fought his hurt; wherein he speaks not in a spirit of revenge; but in the spirit of prophecy, foreseeing and foretelling their impending ruin. Note, They who persist in the ways of wickedness, may expect to reap the wages of wretchedness. 14. But o Pl. cl. 5. &trans. 17. 18. p Phila. 19. v Ver. 9. Hoh. The to old age, and grey born. Phila. 1. Hoh. Ann. PC. Icaris. 6. 8. Ind. 1a. 5. § Hoh. The influences of plattery. v Ver. 13. 14. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. 15. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness, and thy salvation all the day: for 'I know not the murders thereof. 16. I will go 'in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. 18. 'Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, 'for take me not: until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, 'who is like unto thee? 20. Your which hast shewed me great and fine troubles, 'shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. 22. I will also praise thee with § the plattery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou holy one of Israel. 23. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee: and my soul which thou hast redeemed. 24. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for 'they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt. Filled with hope and joy, the plaintiff is happy in the midst of all his sorrows, and the greatest of his troubles cannot silence his incessant praise. 1. He expresses his lively hope in a variety of instances; I will hope continually, at all times, and in all situations; when others despair of my recovery, my heart shall never fear nor fail, because the God of my hope faineth me. (1.) God's power and promise are his grand supports; I will go in the strength of the Lord God, disclaiming all self-sufficiency, and strong in the Lord, and the power of his might, for duty I shall be enabled, and in danger be secure. I will make mention of thy righteousness only, either his fidelity in his word, or that perfect righteousness of Jesus, which is the believer's supreme hope and plea. Note, Though we have neither strength nor righteousness in ourselves, there is such faineth of both in the Redeemer, that we may be always most confident in him, when most despairing of ourselves. (2.) His past experience encourages his present hopes. God had been the guide of his youth, v. 17. and he had hitherto acknowledged his wondrous preservation; therefore in his old age he trusts God will not fortake him, but enable him to leave with the rising generation, a testimony of God's faithfulness and care, as a grateful acknowledgment to his glory, and an engagement to them to make him their hope and trust. Note, (1.) Early impressions of divine grace are a singular mercy, and demand fortable improvement. (2.) Every day's experience should confirm our confidence, that God will never leave me fortake us. (3.) The longer we live under the Divine protection and favour, the more earnest should we be in commending these good ways of God, in which we have walked, to the generations to come. (3.) In many great and fine troubles he had been supported, therefore in the present he trusts he shall not taint; that shall quicken me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth, tho' he seemed to use dead and buried in his grave, he was assured his case was not beyond the Divine power, nor his circumstances to desperate, but God would retrieve them. Note, (1.) Great and fine troubles are here often the portion of the righteous, but he who brings them into their difficulties, can and will safely extricate them out of them. (2.) Though we go down at death into the grave, and the earth clots upon us, we have a hope still full of immortality, a refurrection-day shall quicken our dust, and bring us from these depths of the earth again. (4.) He not only expects deliverance from his troubles, but an increase of his greatness and consolation, v. 21. Thus the darkness of our troubles, like the cloud which covers the sun, serves but to heighten our joys, when at God's word the cloud vanishes, the sun of divine grace shines with double lustre, and the trial of our faith contributes to the increase of our honour and glory. (5.) His enemies that fought his hurt, must with shame retire, and find it vain to contend with him whom God protects. Note, All our spiritual enemies at last shall gnaith in despair, when they see us set above their misery, and receive the eternal defect of their deeds. 2. He exults in joyful praises. All the day would be he showing foreth God's righteousness and his salvation. His justice in the defilection of the wicked, his enemies; his faithfulness and mercy in his own preservation; and, above all, the perfect righteousness of Jesus, on account of which alone salvation becomes secured to sinners: these deferred continual thanks, therefore he resolves, I will praise thee more and more, or add to all thy praise, v. 14. Since every day afforded some new occasions, called for increasing acknowledgments, and left him far behind, unable to keep pace even in gratitude, with the mercies continually showered upon him, the number of which surpassed his comprehension, v. 15. They were like the God who bestowed them, very high, above all blessing and praise, and without parallel; for in heaven or earth none can compare with him, or do as he doth, v. 19. With joy therefore, surpassing great, his soul within, redeemed by divine grace and truth, v. 23. Shall swell with gratitude too big for utterances, but voice he heard aloud in praise, and calling in the sacred and of anæst, to affil the expressions of his enraptured Spirit, the plattery and harp should pour forth a flood of harmony, and raise his song high as heaven's arch, and rival the angelic choir above. Note, (1.) Praise is the natural expression of the grateful heart, the bounden duty of the favoured sinner, and the acceptable sacrifice to a gracious God. (2.) When we sing with our lips, let us be careful to make melody with our hearts, and not forget the sense in the sound. They sacrifice to their own drag, who merely love to hear their own voices; and that made a most inhumanious to God, which however exquisite in itself, serves to draw off our attention from the divine object of our praises, to the manner and performance of them. (3.) It is the joyful hope of every redeemed soul, however feeble now his efforts, that thereby he shall be enabled to offer more worthy praises, when, with his golden harp before the throne, he shall have learnt the song of Moses and the Lamb, and join those heavenly hush, whose ceaseless songs fill God's eternal temple with Graphic harmony. This is initialed a psalm for Solomon: it is probable David dictated it a little before he died, when, by divine direction, he settled the succession, and gave orders to proclaim Solomon king, 1 Kings 1. 30. But though Solomon's name is made use of, a greater than Solomon is here, even that Son of David, whose throne should be higher than Solomon's, and his dominion universal and everlasting. David in Spirit, 1. Begins with a short prayer for his sacrifice, ver. 1. 2. He passed immediately into a long prediction of the spirits of his reign, ver. 2—17. And 3. He concludes with praise to the God of Israel, ver. 18—20. And herein we must have an eye to Christ, praying him as our king, and praying ourselves with our happiness as his subjects. ¶ A psalm for Solomon. 1. GIVE the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 5. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the moon grass: as showers that water the earth. 7. In his days shall the righteous flourish: and 'abundance of peace' so long as the moon endureth. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him: and 'his enemies shall look the dust. 10. The kings of Tarfih, and of the isles, 'shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba, and Seba, 'shall offer gifts. 11. Yea, 'all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth: the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and 'precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15. And 'he shall live, and to him I shall be given of the gold or Sheba; prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall be he praised. 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the moon stains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and the they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17. His name shall endure for ever: 'his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and 'men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. The psalm opens, 1. With a short prayer, which may be considered as David's request for his son Solomon, that he might be qualified for the work of administering his kingdom with equity and righteousness; or rather it is his prayer, in the person of all the faithful, for for the Mefiah, that he might appear, be exalted to his glorious throne, having all judgment in heaven and earth committed to him, and be qualified for the perfecting of the redemption of his people, by such a fulness of gifts and graces, as might enable him to work out for them an everlasting righteousness. 2. He prophetically describes the excellence and glory of his government, wherein though some things may be applicable to Solomon, others are only true of him whom Solomon prefigured, and therefore to him the whole may be well returned. (1.) He shall rule with righteousness, and be the protection of his poor or official one from their oppression, v. 2. When forcible of their spiritual wants and wretchedness, they cry to him, under the Strivings of Satan, their great enemy, or of wicked men who persecute them, v. 4, being in themselves helpless and destitute, he will deliver and save them, redeeming their souls, and refusing them by his grace from the soares of the wicked one, and the deceitfulness of sin. And if they are called to suffer unto blood, he will keep a precious memorial of it, and reward their martyrdom with a crown of glory, v. 12—14. 2. Under his government peace shall be disbanded, v. 3. abundance of peace; peace with a reconciled God, peace in our guilty consciences, peace in our dispositions renewed by Divine grace, peace within preserved, when all without is most threatening, and thus effected by his righteousness, the great meritorious cause of all our mercies. 3. His common shall feel his arm, and the rebels against his government be broken in pieces, v. 4. Whether Satan, the arch-rebel, or those antichristian powers that long persecute and barrack his church, their end will be to be destroyed together. Note, The sinner's damnation flumbereth not, though for a while it may be detained. 4. His government shall be most desirable and blessed. Like the rain on the new-mown grass, the graces and confidations of his spirit shall descend on his people, to refresh them, v. 6, and flourishing under these heavenly influences, the souls of the righteous shall bring forth these fruits of business abundantly, which are to the praise and glory of God, v. 7. Does it appear then, that we are the subjects of his kingdom by these flourishing fruits of peace within, and party without? 5. His dominion will be universal, from sea to sea, from one end of the earth to the other. The inhabitants of the most desolate parts of the earth shall some time or other have his gospel preached to them, and yield obedience to the faith; and his enemies, whether Jews or gentiles, be brought to lock the dust, laid low in deepest humiliation at his feet, v. 9. The richest kings of the earth shall bring their prelates, and the dithers monarchs, in the farthest sites of the sea, offer their tribute, as a token of subjection, v. 10. They shall worship before him, as their God and king, and all nations serve him, when the kingdoms of the world at last shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, v. 11. 6. All his subjects shall honour and praise him; he shall live the joy of his people, and the gold of Shoha, the most precious offerings, even the bodies, souls, and spirits of his redeemed, infinitely more precious than gold that perisheth shall be presented to him: prayer shall be made for him, for the prosperity and increase of his kingdom, or through him, as the mediator between God and man, through whom alone we can be accepted; and daily shall be be prayed in his church, and by his faithful subjects, happy under his gracious sway. 7. His increase will be wonderful and great. There shall be a handful of corn, which may denote Christ himself, upon the top of the mountains, on Calvary, sown in his death as corn in the earth; or it may refer to the word of gospel-grace, that at first was but as an handful, and seemed as unlikely to flourish as seed sown on a mountain, but great was the effect; the fruit thereof shall make like Lebanon, inestimably rich and precious shall be the fruits that sprang from the death of Christ; or it refers to the will increase of converts that should be made to the truth, as soon as it was preached, and they of the city, the inhabitants of the spiritual Jerusalem, shall flourish as the grays of the earth. 8. His kingdom shall be everlasting. Whilst sin and moon endureth, v. 5. he will have a people upon earth, his offspring, as the original word shall continue, v. 17. implore; and when sin and moon shall fade and fail, shall he shall reign, his throne abiding as the days of eternity, blessing for ever his chosen people, and the subject of their everlasting praises, v. 17. 18. 'Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,' who only doth wondrous things. 19. And blessed be his glorious name for ever, and 'let the whole earth be filled unto his glory; Amen, and amen. 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesus are ended. This is intitled a psalm for Solomon: it is probable David dictated it a little before he died, when, by divine direction, he settled the Sacrifice, and gave orders to proclaim Solomon king, 1 Kings 1. 30. But though Solomon's name is made up of, a greater than Solomon is here, even that Son of David, which thorns should be higher than Solomon's, and his dominion universal and everlasting. David in spirit, v. 1. Stages with a short prayer for his sacrifice, ver. 1. 2. He passed immediately into a long prediction of the glories of his reign, ver. 2—17. And 3. He concludes with praise to the God of Israel, ver. 18—20. And herein we must have an eye to Christ, pressing him as our king, and pleasing ourselves with our happiness as his subjects. ¶ A psalm for Solomon. 1. GIVE the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 5. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the moon grass: as showers that water the earth. 7. In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endure. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him: and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10. The kings of Tarishih, and of the isles, shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba, and Seba, "shall offer gifts. 11. Yea, "all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth: the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15. And he shall live, and to him I shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised. 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and the top of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and 'more shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. The psalm opens, 1. With a short prayer, which may be considered as David's request for his son Solomon, that he might be qualified for the work of administering his kingdom with equity and righteousness; or rather it is his prayer, in the person of all the faithful, for the Mefiah, that he might appear, be exalted to his glorious theme, having all judgment in heaven and earth committed to him, and be qualified for the perfecting of the redemption of his people, by such a fainful of gifts and graces, as might enable him to work out for them an everlasting righteousness. 2. He prophetically describes the excellence and glory of his government, wherein though some things may be applicable to Solomon, others are only true of him whom Solomon prefigured, and therefore to him the whole may be both referred. (1.) He shall rule with righteousness, and be the preacher of the poor or afflicted men from their oppression, v. 2. When fusible of their spiritual wants and wretchedness, they cry to him, under the Striving of Satan, their great enemy, or of wicked men who perlocute them, v. 4. Being in themselves helpless and destitute, he will deliver and save them, redeeming their souls, and refusing them by his grace from the sears of the wicked one, and the deceitfulness of sin. And if they are called to suffer unto blood, he will keep a precious memorial of it, and reward their martyrdom with a crown of glory, v. 13-14. 2. Under his government peace shall be diffused, v. 3. abundance of peace; peace with a reconciled God, peace in our guilty consciences, peace in our dispositions renewed by Divine grace, peace within preserved, when all without is most threatening, and this effected by his righteousness, the great meritorious cause of all our mercies. 3. His enemies shall feel his arm, and the rebels against his government be broken in pieces, v. 4. Whether Satan, the arch-rebel, or those antichristian powers that long perlocute and barrack his church, their end will be to be destroyed together. Note, The finner's damnation flumbereth not, though for a while it may be delayed. 4. His government shall be most desirable and blessed. Like the rain on the new-mown grass, the graces and confessions of his Spirit shall descend on his people, to refresh them, v. 6. and flourishing under these heavenly influences, the souls of the righteous shall bring forth these fruits of holiness abundantly, which are to the praise and glory of God, v. 7. Does it appear then, that we are the subjects of his kingdom by these flourishing fruits of peace within, and pray without? 5. His dominion will be universal, from sea to sea, from one end of the earth to the other. The inhabitants of the most desolate parts of the earth shall some time or other have his gospel preached to them, and yield obedience to the faith; and his enemies, whether Jews or gentiles, be brought to lick the dads, laid low in deepest humiliation at his feet, v. 9. The richest kings of the earth shall bring their presents, and the distant monarchs, in the farthest sites of the sea, offer their tribute, as a token of subjection, v. 10. They shall worship before him, as their God and king, and all nations serve him, when the kingdoms of the world at last shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, v. 11. 6. All his subjects shall honour and praise him; he shall live the joy of his people, and the gold of Sheba, the most precious offerings, even the bodies, souls, and spirits of his redeemed, infinitely more precious than gold that perisheth shall be professed to him: prayer shall be made for him, for the prosperity and increase of his kingdom, or through him, as the mediator between God and man, through whom alone we can be accepted; and daily shall be he praised in his church, and by his faithful subjects, happy under his gracious sway. 7. His increase will be wonderful and great. There shall be a handful of corn, which may denote Christ himself, upon the top of the mountains, on Calvary, sown in his death as corn in the earth; or it may refer to the word of gospel-grace, that at first was but as an handful, and seemed as unlikely to flourish as sent down on a mountain, but great was the effect; the fruit thereof shall make like Lebanon, inestimably rich and precious shall be the fruits that spring from the death of Christ; or it refers to the vast increase of converts that should be made to the truth, as soon as it was preached, and they of the city, the inhabitants of the Spiritual Jerusalem, shall flourish as the grails of the earth. 8. His kingdom shall be everlasting. Whilst sin and moon endureseth, v. 5. he will have a people upon earth, his offspring, as the original word shall continue, v. 17. implies; and when sin and moon shall fade and fall, still he shall reign, his throne abiding as the days of eternity, blessing for ever his choir's people, and the subject of their everlasting praises, v. 17. 18. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doth wondrous things. 19. And blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and amen. 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. The psalmist concludes with enlarged praises, excited by the glorious prospect he had before him. 1. He belies the Lord God, the Redeemer, the God of his Israel, whose wonders of creation, providence, and especially of grace in his incarnation, death, and suffering, were so stupendous, and deserving to be had in everlasting remembrance. VOL. I. 2. He prays for the manifestation of his glorious kingdom upon earth, when he shall take to him his great power, and reign; and whilst he breathes the longings of his heart, professes his confident expectation of it in due time, Amen and amen, so let it be, so shall it be. 3. The prayers of David the son of Jesus are ended. This, tho' placed here, might be the last of his divine compositions, or it may signify that this was the summit of all his wishes, to see the Redeemer's kingdom come; or some suppose these are the words of the person who collected the psalms together, and that the psalms ende with the Amen in the summer circle. In such a prayer, may every dying believer well desire to employ his parting breath, and pouring forth his soul into the bosom of his Saviour, cry, Come quickly Lord Jesus! The psalmist concludes with enlarged praises, excited by the glorious prospect he had before him. 1. He blends the Lord God, the Redeemer, the God of his Israel, whose wonders of creation, providence, and especially of grace in his incarnation, death, and sufferings, were in stupendous, and deserving to be had in everlasting remembrance. Vol. I. 2. He prays for the manifestation of his glorious kingdom upon earth, when he shall take to him his great power, and reign; and whilst he breathes the longings of his heart, professes his confident expectation of it in due time, Amen and amen, so let it be, so shall it be. 3. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. This, tho' placed here, might be the last of his divine compositions, or it may signify that this was the summit of all his wishes, to the Redeemer's kingdom come; or some suppose these are the words of the person who collected the psalms together, and that the psalm ends with the Amen in the former verb. In such a prayer, may every dying believer well desire to employ his parting breath, and pouring forth his soul into the bosom of his Saviour, cry, Come quickly Lord Jesus! This psalm, and the ten that next follow it, carry the name of Asaph in the cities of them; if he was the peanam of them (as many times) we rightly call them psalms of Asaph: If he was only the chief musician, to whom they were delivered, our marginal reading is right, which calls them psalms for Asaph. It is probable he penned them; for we read of the words of David, and of Asaph the fact, which were used in praying God in Hezekiah's time, 2 Chron. xxix. 30. This is a psalm of great joy, it gives us an account of the conflict which the psalmist had with a strong temptation to envy the prosperity of wicked people. He begins his account with a sacred principle, by the help of which he kept his ground, and carried his point, ver. 1. And then tells us, 1. How he got into the temptation, ver. 2—14. 2. How he got out of the temptation, and gained a victory over it, ver. 15—20. 3. How he got by the temptation, and was the better for it, ver. 21—28. The experience of others should be our instructions. ¶ A psalm of 'Asaph. Or, for. ¶ PC. I. Tit. 1. TRULY God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well high flight. 3. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5. They are not in trouble as other men: neither are they plagued; I like other men. 6. Therefore pride compaisteth them about as a chain: violence covereth them as a garment. 7. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could with. 8. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. 9. They set their mouth against the heavens; and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10. Therefore his people return hither: and I want to fall cup are wrong out to them. 11. And they say, 'How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. 13. Verily, I have cleaned my heart in vain, and I washed mine hands in innocency. 14. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. The prosperity of the wicked hath been a common temptation to the saints of God. The psalmist was staggered at it, and muting on the mysterious provisions, breaks forth, Truly, or notwithstanding God is good to Israel, even to them that are of a clean heart: this he is allured of, amidst all his doubts and perplexities, and holding fast this principle, rides out the storm. Note, (1.) There are some first principles clear as the sun; to them we must recur under all our dislocations. (2.) God's Israel are of a clean heart, washed in the blood, and renewed by the spirit of a Divine Redeemer. (3.) They who are thus pure in heart, will ever, by experience, own that God is good, and all his ways mercy and truth. 1. The psalmist owns, how near he was being overcome by the temptation. But as for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well high flight; the assault was so violent, and his faith so shaken, that it was with difficulty he kept his footing: For I was envious at the foolish, or the wicked, for folly and sin are inseparably linked together. Note, (1.) The strength believers are often the most finely tempted, and sometimes ready to faint under their trials. (2.) Many a precious soul that enters heaven, can look back and reflect on the day and hour, when there was but a step between him and hell. (3.) Though in our own apprehension we form sometimes well high guns, it is engaged in the everlasting covenant, that God will never leave nor forsake us, and all our trials shall but the more magnify the riches of his grace. 2. He describes the cause and process of the temptation: (1.) I saw the prosperity, or peace of the wicked. They know 8 B few o Pl. al. 4. de crevis. 12. 18. 6 Phil. ix. 15. v Ver. 9. this Uto to of age, and grey born. Phil. 1. 6. ibid. Ann. Pl. Iexus. 6. 8. Ibid. ix. 5. 6. 9. Ibid. 61. 6. § ibid. The references of psaltery. 2 Ver. 15. 14. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. 15. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness, and thy salvation all the day: for "I know not the numbers thereof. 16. I will go " in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. 18. "Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, 'for take me not: until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, 'who is like unto thee? 20. Thou 'which hast shewed me great and fore troubles, v. shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. 22. I will also praise thee with § the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou holy one of Israel. 23. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee: and my soul which thou hast redeemed. 24. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for "they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt. This psalm, and the ten that next follow it, carry the name of Asaph in the titles of them; if he was the penman of them (as many think) we rightly call from psalms of Asaph: If he was only the chief musician, to whom they were delivered, our marginal reading is right, which calls them psalms for Asaph. It is probable he penned them; for we read of the words of David, and of Asaph the fact, which were used in praying God in Hezekiah's time, a Chron. xxxi. 30. This is a psalm of great size, it gives us an account of the conflict which the psalmist had with a strong temptation to carry the prosperity of wicked people. He begins his account with a sacred principle, by the help of which he kept his ground, and carried his point, ver. 1. And then tells us, 1. How he got into the temptation, ver. 2-14. 2. How he got out of the temptation, and gained a vulture over it, ver. 15-20. 3. How he got in the temptation, and was the better for it, ver. 21-28. The experience of others should be our instructions. ¶ A psalm of 'Asaph. Or, for. ¶ PC. I. Tit. 1. TRULY God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone: my days had well nigh flint. 3. For 'I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is a firm. 5. They are not a trouble as other men: neither are they plagued; like other men. 6. Therefore pride compaisteth them about as a chain: violence covereth them as a garment. 7. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. 8. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak lofilly. 9. They set their mouth against the heavens; and their tongue walketh through the earth. 10. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full age are wining out to them. 11. And they say, 'How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 12. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. 13. Verily, 'I have cleansed my heart in vain, and 'walked mine hands in innocency. 14. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. The prosperity of the wicked hath been a common temptation to the saints of God. The psalmist was staggered at 2, and missing on the mysterious preculents, breaks forth, Truly, or notwithstanding God is good to Israel, even to them that are of a clean heart: this he is assured of, amidst all his doubts and perplexities, and holding full this principle, rides out the storm. Note, (1.) There are some first principles clear as the sin; to them we must recur under all our difficulties. (2.) God's Israel are of a clean heart, washed in the blood, and renewed by the Spirit of a Divine Redeemer. (3.) They who are thus pure in heart, will ever, by experience, own that God is good, and all his ways mercy and truth. 1. The psalmist owns, how near he was being overcome by the temptation. But as for me, my feet were almost gone: my days had well nigh flint; the assault was so violent, and his faith so shaken, that it was with difficulty he kept his footing: For I was envious at the foolish, or the wicked, for folly and sin are inseparably linked together. Note, (1.) The through believers are often the most sorely tempted, and sometimes ready to faint under their trials. (2.) Many a precious soul that enters heaven, can look back and reflect on the day and hour, when there was but a flint between him and hell. (3.) Though in our own apprehension we form sometimes with high guns, it is engaged in the everlasting covenant, that God will never leave nor forsake us, and all our trials shall but the more magnify the riches of his grace. 2. He describes the cause and process of the temptation: (1.) I saw the prosperity, or peace of the wicked. They know B B few Pilatus LXXIII. few of the troubles to which good men are exposed, and seem to have a less share of the common calamities of the human life, v. 5. Their worldly wealth increases, ungodly as they are, and evil as the means are which they use to obtain it, v. 12. They give a loose to every appetite, and wallowing with luxury, their own food out with family, or go out, pampered lust continually seeking after forbidden gratification, v. 7. They have more than heart could wish, their prosperity exceeded their former most fatiguate hopes; or, the imaginations of their heart go on to covet more, and still add to their store: and as their life is prosperous, their death is peaceful; for there are no hands in their death, or until their death, nothing distresses them, they have neither pain of body, or terrors of conscience, and do in peace, and at ease: but their strength is firm, not weakened with sickness or disease, or brought down to the grave by an untimely death. Note, (1.) It is an ill sign when we know no trouble here below, but all things go on smoothly; for every son whom God loveth, he chufiseth. (2.) Prosperous iniquity may continue even to the grave; yea, in death the sinner may lie down inf動画を of danger; but he is not therefore the safer. Many die like lambs, who, if they saw whether they were going, would roar like lions. (2.) He saw them not only prosperous, but abusing that prosperity, and hardening their hearts in wickedness, instead of being thankful for the gifts of God. Pride compels them about as a choir, v. 6. they attribute to their own wisdom all their acquisitions, and think it an ornament to look great, and make a display of their riches and magnificence. They flood spirits, boathing of their acquisitions and mighty deeds, and with disdain, insistence, and arrogance, addressing their inferiors, Dan. iii. 1. Their power is turned into opposition, they are corrupt in principle and practice; they flood wickedly concerning oppression, v. 8. vindicating their injustices, and glorying in their iniquity; violence craveth them as a garment, they deck themselves with the spoils of rapine, and are not ashamed publicly to appear in their garments of violence, Ila. Ila. 6. and they show no more fear of God, than regard to man. They for their mouth against human, blaspheming God, denying his providence, and defying his thivarnings; and their tongue unleash through the earth with unbridled licentiousness, neither greatness or goodness is any protection from their malavoidance and thunder. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, and none escape the lust of their calumnies; and they say, thou deis God human? and is there knowledge in the Myth High? Adhesitically concluding he took no concern in the affairs of mortals, and that as he neither saw nor regarded their iniquities, they were false, and might live as they lifted. Behold, these indeed are the ungodly, v. 12. Note, (1.) Pride was the sin of devils, and thereby men most resemble them. (2.) They who talk proudly, talk foolishly, as well as wickedly, and will shortly change their tone. (3.) Though the oppressor succeed in his violence, these garments will prove his shame, not his glory. (4.) Wickedness in practice is often productive of infidelity in principle. They who fear a day of recompense, flatter themselves there is none. ) Whilst the wicked were thus prosperous and proud, he observed God's faithful ones afflicted, and felt it to be his own case; and this especially flaggered him. Therefore his people receive hither, God's people are brought to the Psalmist's prophecy by observing these things; and waters of a full cap are waving out to them, for many and bitter are their afflictions. Though these words may be applied to the wicked, as connected with the foregoing and following verses, intimating the multitudes who join them, and approve their ways, and have a full cup of worldly comforts put into their hands. The Psalmist also himself had experienced many a fore trial, All the day long have I have prepared, or swunged, and chufisated every morning, v. 14. every day brought him some cross and trial, whilst they who blasphemed God, knew no sorrow, and this made him ready to accuse God's ways as unequal. Note, (1.) Correction is a mark of God's paternal heart towards us, and therefore we must not faint when he chafiseth. (2.) Though our afflictions be heavy, or long continued, the deepest of our distresses are far preferable to the greatest heights of prosperous iniquity. 3. He owns the temptation so far prevailed against him, as to lead him to this rash conclusion, Persily I have clumshed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence; as if it profited a man nothing to serve God, and that, as the wicked flaggered, God had indeed forsaken the earth; this he owns was his infirmity. Note, (1.) By nature we are all impure, till our hearts are cleansed in the fountain of a Redeemer's blood. (2.) Every one who hath walked therein, walks in holiness, as Christ also walked. (3.) They who have faith to wait the issue, will be convinced, whatever they suffer here below, that it is not in vain to serve God, when they perceive that great is their reward in heaven. n Echel. No. 17. 9 Heb. Lakens in mine eyes. P. Cl. 1000. 11. 4 Ibid. Lewis. pl. P Ibid. 1000. 15. If I say, I will speak thus: behold, I should defend against the generation of thy children. 16. When I thought to know this, it may too painful for me. 17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; they understood I their end. 18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19. How are they brought into defolation, as in a moment? they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20. As a dream when one awaketh, Jo. O LORD, when thou awaked, thou shalt despise their image. P. Ibid. 1. Pl. 11. 1. Filled with hope and joy, the psalmist is happy in the midst of all his sorrows, and the greatest of his troubles cannot silence his incessant praise. 1. He expresses his lively hope in a variety of instances; I will buy continually, at all times, and in all situations; when others despair of my recovery, my heart shall never fear nor fail, because the God of my hope salieth me. (1.) God's power and promise are his grand supports; I will go in the strength of the Lord God, disclaiming all evil indifference, and throng in the Lord, and the power of his might, for duty I shall be enabled, and in danger be secure. I will make mention of thy righteousness only, either his fidelity in his word, or that perfect righteousness of Jesus, which is the believer's supreme hope and plea. Note, Though we have neither strength nor righteousness in ourselves, there is such fulness of both in the Redeemer, that we may be always most confident in him, when most despairing of ourselves. (2.) His pall experience encourages his present hopes. God had been the guide of his youth, v. 17. and he had hitherto acknowledged his wondrous preservation; therefore in his old age he trusts God will not fortake him, but enable him to leave with the rising generation, a testimony of God's faithfulness and care, as a grateful acknowledgment to his glory, and an engagement to them to make him their hope and trust. Note, (1.) Early impressions of divine grace are a singular mercy, and demand humble improvement. (2.) Every day's experience should confirm our confidence, that God will never leave nor fortake us. (3.) The longer we live under the Divine protection and favour, the more earnest should we be in commending these good ways of God in which we have walked, to the generations to come. (3.) In many great and fore troubles he had been supported, therefore in the present he trusts he shall not faint; also shall pardon me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth, tho' he seemed as one dead and buried in his grave, he was allured his case was not beyond the Divine power, nor his circumstances to desperate, but God would retrieve them. Note, (1.) Great and fore troubles are here often the portion of the righteous, but he who brings them into their difficulties, can and will safely extricate them out of them. (2.) Though we go down at death into the grave, and the earth closes upon us, we have a hope still full of immortality, a refurrection-day shall quicken our dust, and bring us from these depths of the earth again. (4.) He not only expects deliverance from his troubles, but an increase of his greatness and consolations, v. 21. Thus the darkness of our troubles, like the cloud which covers the sun, serves but to heighten our joys, when at God's word the cloud vanishes, the sun of divine grace shines with double lustre, and the trial of our faith contributes to the increase of our honour and glory. (5.) His enemies that fought his but, must with shame retire, and find it vain to contend with him whom God protects. Note, All our spiritual enemies at last shall gnash in despair, when they see us set above their maize, and receive the eternal desert of their deeds. 2. He wants in joyful praises. All the day would be he shoving forth God's righteousness and his salvation. His justice in the destruction of the wicked, his enemies; his faithfulness and mercy in his own preservation; and, above all, the perfect righteousness of Jesus, on account of which alone salvation becomes secured to sinners: these deserved continual thanks, therefore he resolves, I will praise thee more and more, or add to all thy praise, v. 14. Since every day afforded some new occasions, called for increasing acknowledgments, and left him far behind, unable to keep pace even in gratitude, with the mercies continually showered upon him, the number of which surpassed his comprehension, v. 15. They were like the God who bestowed them, very high, above all blessing and praise, and without parallel; for in heaven or earth none can compare with him, or do as he doth, v. 19. With joy therefore, supposing great, his soul within, redeemed by divine grace and faith, v. 23. shall swell with gratitude too big for utterances, and voice be heard aloud in praise, and calling in the sacred and of music to assist the expressions of his enraptured Spirit, the psaltery and harp should pour forth a flood of harmony, and rule his long high as heaven's arch, and rival the angelic choir above. Note, (1.) Praise is the natural expression of the grateful heart, the bounden duty of the favoured sinner, and the acceptable sacrifice to a gracious God. (2.) When we sing with our lips, let us be careful to make nobody with our hearts, and not forget the sense in the sound. They sacrifice to their own drag, who merely love to hear their own voices; and that music is most inharmonious to God, which however exquisite in itself, serves to draw off our attention from the divine object of our praises, to the manner and performance of them. (3.) It is the joyful hope of every redeemed soul, however feeble now his efforts, that shortly he shall be enabled to offer more worthy praises, when, with his golden harp before the throne, he shall have learnt the long of Moses and the Lamb, and join those heavenly hosts, whose ceaseless songs fill God's eternal temple with seraphic harmony. He was strongly tempted, but as strongly supported, and enabled at last to prevail. 1. He kept his thoughts to himself, whilst he ruminated on the subject, least he should offend God's people; and though he saw the rash suggestion of his spirit, he would not speak unadvisedly with his lips. If I say, I will speak thus: behold, I should offend the generation of thy children; and that he was shocked to think of, and carefully avoided. Note, (1.) When evil thoughts arise, our labour must be to suppress them; when once uttered, their mischief may be endless and irreparable. (2.) There are a people in the world dear to God as children, and who love him as their father, whom we must be careful never to offend, to grieve, or discourage. (3.) It would be the greatest reproach on God's service, and most effectually tend to weaken the hands of his people, to misrepresent his good ways, as unprofitable and vain. (4.) They who do so, shew they have never truly forged God, since the experience of every faithful soul proves his service to be the supreme felicity. 2. Though by the light of reason he could not reconcile this difficulty, yet when he went into the sanctuary, fought God by prayer, and communed with his word and ministers, then the mystery was unfolded; he saw the prosperity of sinners no longer to be envied, when they were fattening only as an ox for the slaughter, v. 17. Their joy had no liability, was precarious and momentary, their destruction unmistakable, fudden, and terrible, v. 18, 19. Like a dream of the night, when God awakes to judgment, their prosperity vanishes, and their image, their vain pomp and splendor, which now proves a mere shadow, is despised, and exchanged for everlasting shame and contempt, Dan. xii. 2. Note, We must form our judgment of men and things not by appearances, but by the word of God; and when we there see the end of prosperous iniquity in everlasting burnings, and of suffering piety in eternal glory, we shall no longer hesitate about our choice. 21. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. 22. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was at a beaft before thee. 23. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. 26. My flesh and my heart fialeth: but God is the95 strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 27. For lo, they that are far from thee, shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them94 that go a whoring from thee. 28. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works. The temptations of the saints serve to brighten their graces, and their recovery from the doubts which flaggered them, often in their greater establishment. Such good the Psalmist found. 1. His belief thoughts tended to his deeper abatement. My heart was grieved, or leewened, he owns it, to his shame, that the prosperity of the wicked put his mind into an undue ferment, and I was pricked in my reins, his envy at them gave him acute pain; so foolish was I, and ignorant, even as a heart before thee: he scarce finds words sufficiently expensive of the iniquity and folly of his conduct. Note, (1.) Envy and freshness make men their own tormentors. (2.) Good men, who have the deepest knowledge of their own hearts, have the deepest sense of their own perverseness and folly; and each knowing most of himself, thinks he can with greatest propriety apply to himself the saying, I am more bruisish than any man, Prov. xxx. 2. 2. He owns his deep obligations to the grace of God. Nevertheless, notwithstanding his folly, I am continually with thee, the object of God's tender regard, and at bottom in heart and affection clearing to God amidst all his temptations; thus half holden me by my right hand, as a tender parent that supports his falling child. Note, We are weak as helpless infancy, and stand wholly indebted to the everlasting arms that are under us, for our preservation. And the more we are convinced of this, the more shall we be engaged to love God. 3. He expresses his confidence of God's continual guidance and support. Thus shalt guide me with thy counsel, his revealed word, and the teachings of his holy spirit, and afterwards receive me to glory, when every trial passed, and death the last overcome, thou wilt bring me to the condemnation of little in thy eternal kingdom. Note, (1.) God's counsel in his word infallibly conducts to his glory those who follow it. (2.) From past experience of God's grace, we may comfortably conclude the continuance of it even to the end. (3.) If we have a sure inheritance in eternal glory, we little need envy finners any thing they possess above us here below. 4. His soul rises up in fervent aspirations after God, When have I in heaven but thee? a covenant God is the sole object of the believer's worship and confidence, from whom alone he expects his felicity, and in the enjoyment of whom his eternal happiness consists. He hopes to be happy in heaven, because God is there; and there is none upon earth I defire before thee, all that earth affords, health, wealth, friends, family, honour, &c. are nothing, compared with a sense of God's love, and the enjoyment of communion with him. All without him cannot satisfy, whilst, in the want of all, he can satisfy our souls, and be to us a better portion than ten thousand worlds. Note, (1.) The more we see of God's excellence and all-sufficiency, the less we shall regard every thing besides. (2.) What cause have we to lament the coldness of our hearts, that so little correspond with the Psalmist's fervent desires? 5. In every distress he rests his soul upon this Almighty God, his everlasting portion. My flesh and my heart fastish, but God is the strength, or rock, of my hearts, to support me in every distress, and my portion for ever; when the body is laid in the dust and forgotten, God would be still the same to him, the portion of his immortal soul. Note, (1.) We must expect the hour, when this feeble flesh shall fall, and sickness, or age, being us to the grave. (2.) Death is terrible to nature, and our heart, as well as flesh, will fall us in that trying season, unless God be our strength, and faith in his power and grace removes the drug of death. (3.) They who have made God their rock in time, will find him their portion in eternity. 6. Miscarriage will be the end of the ungodly. For is, they that are far from thee, that depart from God in heart and conduct, and live estranged from his love, worship, and service, shall perish eternally. The heart destroyed all them that go a sederling from thee, that follow other gods, or, idolatrously attached to the creature, love and serve it more than their Creators; all such sinners have perished, and all such will perish to the end of time, who thus apostate from God. Note, Let no wilful sinner hope for impunity; none ever yet harassed his heart against God, and prospered. 7. He declares his fixed purpose of cleaving to God. But if it is good for me to draw near unto God in prayer, and all those means of grace, whereby communion with God is maintained, and which they, who have their souls truly attached to him, find most profitable and delightful. I have put my trust in the Lord God, who will never disappoint my expectations, that I may declare all thy works of providence and grace, wherein his faithfulness and mercy appear, and for which we owe everlasting praise. Note, (1.) They who know the comfort of communion with God, can say by experience, it is good to draw near to him. (2.) None ever trusted on him, and never confounded. (3.) The more we are enabled to trust him, the more shall we see cause to praise him. This psalm seems to refer to the miseries of the Jewish people in their captivity. If penned by Alipah, who died in the day of David, it is perpetual, though some suggest it was written by another of the same name, after their return from Babylon. It may also be considered as referring to the sufferings of the church in general in the latter days. The prophet, 1. Makes known to God the miseries that they suffered, ver. 1—11. 2. He encourages his and the people's hopes, from the consideration of what God had done for them formerly, ver. 12—17. 3. He concludes with divers petitions to God for deliverance, ver. 18—23. ¶ 'Máchil of 'Ašph. 1. 1. O GOD, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doeth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 2. Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old: the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed, this mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt. 3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual defoliations: ever all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations: they set up their ensigns for signs. 5. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes against the thick trees. 6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once, with axes and hammers. 7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by sailing down the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground. 8. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land. 9. We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet, neither 1. O GOD, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doeth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 2. Remember thy congregation which thou hast purchased of old: the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed, this mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt. 3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual defoliations: ever all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations: they set up their ensigns for signs. 5. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes against the thick trees. 6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once, with axes and hammers. 7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by sailing down the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground. 8. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burnt up all the synagogues of God in the land. 9. We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet, neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 10. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? 11. Why with-drawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. 9. 1—11. A day of trouble should be a day of prayer. Whence can we hope for relief, but by pouring our complaints into the bosom of our compassionate God? The Psalms here, 1. Humbly expounded with God on their calamities. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? for so long their sufferings were continued, that they began to fear they would never end. Why doeth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? so fierce his wrath appeared against them, though the sheep of his pasture, whom once he had fed with a shepherd's care; and though foolishly they had strayed from him, yet cannot they quit their hope, that he would still regard them to this endeared relation, and they the furiousness of his displeasure. Note, (1.) The people of God are sometimes brought to very melancholy apprehensions about their state, and to fear the rod of correction is the sword of judgment. (2.) Though God for a time cast down his people, he will never finally cast them off. 2. He pleads for a gracious remembrance from God. Remember thy congregation, chosen by him to be a peculiar people, which thou hast purchased of old, by the blood of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world; the rod of thine inheritance, to whom God had an effectual claim, which thou hast redeemed, not only by the eternal redemption of his Son, but by many temporal deliverances wrought for them, especially from Egypt, this mount Zion wherein thou hast dwelt, and from whence he in-treats God would not remove his residence. And this is applicable to the church in every age, redeemed by Jesus from sin, death, and hell; in the midst of which God is pleased to dwelt, and who may in every time of trouble expect a gracious remembrance from him. Note, (1.) The past favours we have received from God, may be made a plea for greater; for where he loves, he loves unto the end. (2.) They who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, shall never perish under the bondage of corruption. 3. He complains of the distress to which they were reduced. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual defoliations, to come and see them; either those of the Chaldeans, which they feared would be perpetual, or of the Romans, of so much longer continuance: even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary, for though they had God's commission to destroy, the spirit with which they did it, rendered them utterly guilty. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations, where once the voice of humble praise was heard, there riotous mirth and joy defile the sacred courts; or where they assembled for worship, they inflicted, disturbed, and dispersed them: they set up their ensigns for signs, on the battlements of the temple, as proud conquerors; and this defiance of God, his people could not behold without bitter anguish. A man was famous, or known, according as he had lifted up, or as one that left up axes upon the thick trees; formerly it was esteemed a man's honour to have contributed to raise the temple, but now they break down the carved work thereof at once, with axes and hammers, eager to deface and destroy the glorious fabric: the sanctuary is in flames, and raised to the ground, 9. 7. They said in their hearts, such as their malicious purpose, let us destroy them together, that not a man may be left, or a place of worship remain. They have burnt up all the synagogues of God in the Land, so desirous they seemed to anticipate their holy religion, and put an end to their solemn assemblies. Note, Worldly minds only feel their worldly credits; to a child of God, the interests of religion are infinitely dearer to him, than any earthly concern. 4. No prospect of relief appeared. We see not our signs, none of the wonderful interpositions of God, to which they had been accustomed; none of the institutions and ordinances of God's worship, which were a sign of God's presence with them, but ceased on the destruction of the temple. There is no more any prophet, few were raised up in Babylon; in Malachi they ceased, and since their last dispersion, they have been left utterly destitute: neither is there any among us that knoweth how long; they understood not the prophecies concerning the end of the Babylonish captivity, and at present are entirely in the dark, without the least knowledge when their defoliations shall end. 5. He intrudes an immediate exertion of God's power on their behalf. How long shall the adversary reproach and blaspheme thy name for ever? for this is the most generous part of their calamity, that God is so dishonoured by the insulting Son. Why withdraweth thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom, and destroy our enemies. Note, The enemies of God, however prosperous for a while, will be consumed at the last with an utter destruction. 12. For 'God is my king of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 1. Thou disst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the § dragons in the waters. 14. Thou baskest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be 'meant to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 15. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: 'thou driest up mighty rivers. 16. The day of thine, the night also a thine: 'thou hast prepared the light and the sun. 17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: 'thou hast made summer and winter.' We have here two confederations suggested for the quieting the people of God under their troubles. 1. God is Israel's King, working wonders for their salvation. God is my King of old, protecting and preserving his people from their foes, working salvation in the midst of the earth; that spiritual and eternal salvation which all nations should partake of through Jesus Christ; or an interposing in a miraculous manner, in delivering the Jewish people, dividing the red sea for their passage, and destroying Pharaoh and his captains in the waters, v. 13. though fierce as dragons, and strong as leviathan, and with their spoil enriched his people; and hereby also he fed their hopes, and supported their faith during their long abode in the wilderness, v. 14. forth from the rock, at God's command, the fountain gushed to relieve their thirst, and followed them their journey through; and Jordan's mighty waters were dried up, to open a way for the retirement to yell over, v. 15. Miracles like these might well raise their expectation of deliverance from their pretext troubles, seeing his hand is not governed. Note, (1.) The head of the old dragon is bruised by our divine Lord, and we may triumph over him as a vanquished foe. (2.) The same rock that followed Israel follows us, for that rock was Christ, and from the waters of his grace and confessions, believers are daily comforted and strengthened in their journey through this wilderness. (3.) If we see not these outward miracles, as great spiritual wonders are still wrought for God's Israel, who, through difficulties to human apprehension insurmountable, are led safely to their heavenly Canaan. 2. He is the God of nature. The day is thine, the night also is thine; he opens the eye-lids of the morning, and draws the curtains of the evening, and in regular succession the luminaries of heaven move in their orbits: he hath prepared the moon and the sun, that alternately give light to the world. Thus hast set all the borders of the earth; settling the bounds of nations, and fixing the habitation of each individual: thou hast made summer and winter: and surely, he who made all these hath power to save his people; if his covenant of nature abide, his covenant of grace with them is more unchangeable, and with the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other 18. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. 19. O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked, forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. 20. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. 21. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. 22. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how: the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. 23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee, + increaseth continually. Conscious that their help cometh only from the Lord, the plaintiff calls upon him to arise and plead, not merely on their behalf, but thine own cause, his glory being intimately connected with their salvation. 1. God was reproached and blasphemed daily by their enemies, as if he was unable to deliver them, or unfaithful to his promises, and disappointed their hopes, v. 18. their success intoxicated them, and daily they increased their proud boastings. This their foolishness and wickedness, David hopes God will remember, and not forget for the sake of his own glory, so dishonoured hereby, v. 22, 23. Note, (1.) Success often makes sincere more daring, and ripens them for ruin. (2.) The enemies of God's people triumph often, as if the day was their own, but the prosperity of fools destroys them. (3.) Unguilty knows think they are very wise when they turn things sacred into ridicule; but, in their confusion, they will be proved in the end as foolish as they are wicked. (4.) God needs no memorial, he sees and notes the ways of men; but it is right we should plead this as a testimony of our regard for God's glory, and of our confidence he will appear to vindicate it. 2. His people were oppressed and persecuted: they are called God's turtle-dove, so mournful, harmless, pure, affectionate, constant; his poor, humble and lowly in spirit, such as God promises as regard; therefore the plaintiff prays, O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked, who waited but for permission to destroy them, forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever; though for a time they had formed forsaken, he hopes God will at last remember them in mercy. Have respect unto the covenant; the conditions of which being fulfilled in the Redeemer, though we are unworthy, it is sure to all the seed: for the dark places of the earth, and such were the mansions of their captivity, are full of the habitations of cruelty, which rendered their flats more wretched and pitsible, being so cruelly roamed by their enemies. O let not the oppressed return ashamed; as disappointed of their requests at a throne of grace: let the poor and needy praise thy name: give them comfort to do so, for the destruction of their enemies, and their own salvation; and give them a heart to do so, that whilst the wicked blaspheme, they may adore thee. This psalm is supposed to describe David's circumstances at his unselfish after the death of Israel: and may also have respect to Christ coming in the flesh, and at last to judge the world. In it, 1. David returns God thanks for bringing him to the throne, ver. 1, 9. 2. He promises to say not himself for the public good, ver. 2, 3, 10. 3. He checks the influence of those that opposed his coming to the throne, ver. 4, 5. 4. He further a recipe for all this from God's sovereign dominion in the affairs of the children of men, ver. 6, 7, 8. ¶ To the chief musician, * Alaschith, A psalm or song of Asaph. 10. Or, 6x. 1. UNTO thee, O God, do we give thanks: unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. 2. When I shall receive the congregation, I will judge uprightly. 3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it. Seals. 4. I find unto the fools, Deal not foolishly; and to the wicked, 'Life not up the horn. 5. Lift not up your horn on high: 'Speak not with a stiff neck. The psalm opens. 1. With repeated and fervent thanksgivings for God's great mercies received, and may be the language of David and his servants on his coming to the crown, after so many scents of God's providential care; or of the church adoring God for the gift of his Son, who in his incarnation was brought near unto them, and whose miracles, and wondrous works of redemption, declared his power and grace. Note, (1.) Praise is ever our hounden duty on every review of God's mercies towards us. (2.) Every faithful soul experiences wondrous influences of God's nearness to help him out of dangers, from which he could not escape, and to bring him to the enjoyment of mercies above his expectations. 2. The psalms promises, when he shall be brought to the crown, his administration shall be just and upright. And when the great congregation of the shell shall be gathered unto Christ in the day of his appearing and glory, then shall righteous judgment proceed against the ungodly. Note, (1.) Magistrates are accountable to God, from whom they receive their authority, and their decisions must be without partiality. (2.) They who have the honour of office, must remember the conscientious discharge of the burden thereto annexed. 3. He undertakes to support and restore, through the Divine blessing, the weak and dishealed flats of Israel, that, through Saul's mismanagement, and the factions in the flats, had been brought to the brink of ruin. Note, (1.) Dification and factions hasten a kingdom to destruction. (2.) One true patriot hath often saved a nation. But this more emphatically appertains to Christ, who, when the world and all its inhabitants by sin were disloved, and ready to be swallowed up in misery, bore up the pillars of it, and by his redemption renewed the face of the earth. 4. He rebukes the folly as well as wickedness of those who opposed his government. Though they carried all their power against him, with a stiff neck refused to head, and proudly spoke against his administration, it was all in vain; and therefore he admonishes them to submit, lest they should feel the weight of his arm. Many are the enemies from earth and hell that oppose the kingdom of Jesus; but it shall rise superior to all opposition, the antichristian horns, Rev. xviii. 7. Shall all be broken, and the sinners that have broken heath questions against him, be silenced in eternal destruction, Jud. 14, 15. Note, It is folly to oppose where resistance is vain, and madness where rain must be the consequence; yet thus foolishly and deadly do sinners plunge their fools into eternal perdition, and will not have this Jesus to reign over them. 6. For 6. For promotion cannot neither from the call, nor from the well, nor from the + South. 7. But 'God is the judge: 'he purreth down one, and feteth up another. 8. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red: it is full of mixture, and he poureth out the same: but 'the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out,' and drink them. 9. But I will declare for ever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 10. 'All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but 'the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. 6—10. We have here the folly of David's enemies, and the ruin which would attend those, who, in opposing his promotion, were fighting against God. 1. All power is from God; he is the eternal king and judge; and according to the comable of his own will he purreth down one, and feteth up another, and all human efforts to rise, without his support, are vain; for promotion cannot not from any quarter of the compass, but by him, and from him alone king reign. As David the type, so before the antitype hath God exalted, to be a prince and a Saviour, and hath put all enemies under his feet, and made him to be head over all principalities and powers, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. 2. They who refill God's anointed, shall receive to themselves damnation. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red, a cup of affliction: it is full of mixture, mercy and grace temper the vibrations of some, and he poureth out of the same, according to men's provocations, lighter or heavier chastisements: but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them; when, without the truth dregs of mercy, the Lord will pour out upon them in hell, fire and brimstone, fluton and tempest; this shall be their eternal portion to drink, Psalm xi. 6. Note, Whenever an impenitence is not for the same, it is but the beginning of fortresses, a dregs, conspired with that ocean of wrath in which he will to eternity be immersed. 3. For both these manifestations of God's power, in setting up and setting down, the plaintiff engages to resolve continual praise, v. q. and employing the power with which God had entreated him. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off, break their oppressive rule, and prevent them from doing hurt; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted; magistrates being set not only for the punishment of evil doers, but for the praise of them that do well. And thus shall the Son of David declare and praise the name of God upon earth, in his gospel word, and in the church of his redeemed; and in the great day of his appearing and glory he will bruise the wicked with a rod of iron, and exalt his faints to reign with him in his eternal kingdom. This psalm appears to have been penned on some signal victory obtained over the enemies of God's people, and may be considered as prophecies of the Redeemer's triumphs over the antichristian powers who perpetuate his church. 1. The plaintiff congratulates the happiness of the church in having God so high, vers. 1, 2. 2. He celebrates the glory of God's power, which this was an illogical influence of, vers. 3—6. 3. He infers from hence what reason all have to fear him, vers. 7—9. And, his people to trust and pay their vows to him, vers. 10—12. PS. ix, xii. Or, for. PS. xii. 1. 'N Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. 3. 'There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. 4. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 5. 'The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 6. 'At thy re-brake, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. ¶ To the chief musician on 'Neginoth, A psalm or song of Asaph. 1. 'N Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. 3. 'There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. 4. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. 5. 'The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. 6. 'At thy re-brake, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. The church of God is often made to sing her triumphant songs, even here below. 1. God is here represented as eminently appearing for her. In Judah is God known; there he had made the most glorious revelation of himself, and of his will: his name is great in Israel, exalted and praised by his people, and magnified in the mountain he wrought on their behalf. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion; favoured with his immediate patience, visible in the Shecinah of glory. And this may refer to the insinuation of the Son of God, made known in Judah - Vos. I. by the preaching of the Baptist, as Israel's exalted Saviour, who pitched his tabernacle among men, appeared in the flesh at Jerusalem, and in his church, the spiritual Zion, continues to take up his abode. 2. A glorious victory is obtained, whether by David, a Sam. xii, 26—31; or by Jehoshaphat, a Chron. xx, 1—29; or by Hezekiah, a Kings, xix, 35, or by the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom emphatically it may be applied, over the powers of sin, Satan, death, and hell. The enemies are represented as stout-hearted, as men of might, as completely armed, v. 3. But there is no contending against God; the arrows are broken, the shield, the sword, and the battle: unable to defend themselves, the mighty are fallen with their chorion and hoffes, they keep the sleep of death, and the weak take the spoil, v. 5. Thus hath our Redeemer spoiled principalities and powers; and following him, the weakest believer feces the prey, and triumphs over vanquelling foes; for all the enemies of Christ's church and people, however many or mighty, shall be rooted out at the left. 3. The rebule is ascribed to God alone, his is the work, to him must be the praise. Not by our might or power, but at thy rebules, O God, they are cast down. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey; symmetrical kings, and all the perfecting powers, are nothing in the hands of his own. 4. The highest they are exalted, the more will he be glorified in their abatement, for every mountain shall be brought low. Note, In all the dangers to which God's people are exposed, they must look to the glorious power of God, engaged for them, and not be afraid. 7. Thou, even thou art to be feared, and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? 8. 'Thou doest cause judgment to be heard from heaven: the earth feared and was still, 9. When God arose as judgment to save all the meek of the earth. Selah. 10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shall thou refrain. 11. Now, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring prelates unto him that ought to be feared. 12. 'He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth. Among the feverest conflicts the believer endures, are those inward distresses and dejections with which his spirit is sometimes afflicted; but let him not think some strange thing is happened unto him, here is a holy man of God in his State; nor let him despair of comfort and relief, when it stands here on record, I cried, and he gave ear to me. We have here. 1. The psalmist's fervent and incesitant prayers in the day of his trouble. I cried with my voice, carried and aloud; I fought the Lord with eager importunity; my fore ran in the night, his heart bled with anguish; or, my hand was stretched out in the night in prayer to God, and crept out. Note, (1.) God's people must expect to see many a day of trouble from temptation, corruption, affliction, and dejection. (2.) In our distress we are especially called upon to fit to the complications of our God, and pour out our complaints to him. (3.) If we would speak, we must be both importunate and unsecured in our application. 2. His anguish was bitter, and he could find no immediate relief. My soul refused to be comforted; could lay hold on none of the promises; yea, when suggested to him, he thrust them from him as if they belonged not to him. I remembered God, and instead of finding relief from thence, I was troubled; his inexorable justice, and terrible majesty, fathered on his mind, and took him in deeper dejection. I complained of my sin and sufferings, and my spirit was overwhelmed, as if the one were too great to be forgiven, and the other too heavy to be born. Thou holdest mine eyes waking; no balmy sleep brought for a time a trace of refuge to his afflicted spirit: I am so troubled I cannot speak; his distress so unutterable, and his soul so dejected. Note, (1.) Under deep temptation we are apt to feed our own sorrows, and reject the constations God's word suggests to us. (2.) If we cannot speak but in groans, that is a language which God can understand, and will answer. 3. His reflections on past experience rather aggravated than alleviated his sorrows. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times; what goodwill God had thrown to his faithful, and what himself had experienced, which made the present sad revered the more afflicting. I call to remembrance my long in the night, which in his happier days he sung with delight; but now unstrung, and out of tune, he cannot strike one cheerful note. 4. His melancholy fears occasioned great searchings of heart. I remember with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search into the cause of my distress, and where it would end; and between hope and fear reason with myself, Will the Lord call off for ever? as he seems vow to have forsaken me; and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy, so often thrown to me, than gave for ever? Is there no more mercy, not a deep yes in store for me? doth his promise fail for evermore? that the word of comfort shall again entails my spirit. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? is it possible? hath he in anger shut up his tender merces? so mused, so reasoned his dejected heart; and it speaks the strength of his temptation, that could call him to question truths so evident; and of his uphelist, that could suggest suppositions so dishonourable to God; or by these questions he fought to strengthen his faith directly tried, by suggesting the unpossibility of his being utterly abandoned, when all God's promises and pretensions, his truth, mercy, and faithfulness, were engaged never to defort him. Note, (1.) They who are God's dearest children, sometimes distress themselves with the most melancholy apprehensions of being forsaken by him, and left to eternal predation. (2.) This is of all troubles the most grievous. (3.) Is it an unimpeachable mercy the two is groundless; for he hath said, I will never leave nor forsake thee. 5. One beam of hope at last frightens up the prospect: he had gone far in his fears, much farther than he had any real cause for; now he stops short, and chides his unbelieving heart. I said, This is an infirmity, my lot of affliction, under which I ought not to complain, or rather my weakness and sin ever to entertain a doubt of the love and compassion, the faithfulness and truth of God and his promises: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High, that he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; able to live to the uttermost, and therefore ever to be remembr'd and trusted. Some render the words, the changes of the right hand of the most High, intimating, that notwithstanding what he at present felt, he hoped to fix a blessed alteration, and that God would change his dispensations towards him, and give him the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Note, (1.) We have already put, in a measure, out of our troubles when we begin to condemning our unbelief, and to cast our care upon God. (2.) No sin more believing, since more to be lamented, than this dishonourable distrust of God's faithfulness and love. (3.) If we have the right hand of the most High to hold us fast, who can ever pluck us thence? 11. I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember ' thy wonders of old. 12. ' I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. 13. ' Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: ' who is so great a God as our God? 14. Thou art the God that doth wonders; thou hast declared thy strength among the people. 15. ' Thou hast with these arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. 16. ' The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 17. The clouds poured out waters, the skies sent out a round; thine arrows also went abroad. 18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: ' the lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled and frock. 19. ' Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and ' thy foot-steps are not known. 20. ' Thou led-dest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron. The effects of this glorious victory are designed. 1. To strike terror into their enemies. Thou, even thou art to be feared, so able to destroy to the uttermost, and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? when his wrath, like a confarming fire, devours round about him. Thou doest cause judgment to be heard from heaven; decided the cause in favour of his people, by a miraculous interposition; the wrath feared and was still, as trembled and was quiet; some suppose it refers to an earthquake, or a clip of thunder, when the destroying angel descended from heaven against the Adlystans; or it describes the silent awe with which the whole earth will be struck, in that great day when the Judge of all shall be revealed from heaven; when God arose as judgment, and to save all the meek upon earth; this being the distinguishing character of that people whom the Saviour will deliver from all their enemies. Note, [1] They who expect God to appear in their behalf, must be that, as the meek of the earth, they patiently wait for his salvation. [2] Though patient sufferers in silence refrain their complaints, God sees, and will avenge them speedily. 2. To engage the dependence of his people in times of greatest danger. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; ultimately, whatever the faints of the most high suffer under oppression, it shall serve to brighten their graces, and redound to his glory, who in the fire prelates them, and the more it rages, the more will he be exalted in quenching the flames: the remainder of wrath shall thou refrain; no farther can it go than his permission. Thus all the rage and malice of the enemies of Jesus most effectually, in the issue, tended to God's glory, and his people's salvation; and when he had permitted them to bring his dead body to the grave, he checked their fury, and by his glorious reformation accomplished that redemption they meant to defeat. What comfort and confidence thou should this minister to us under our severest trials? 3. To quicken them to the more diligent discharge of their duty, constrained by such manifestations of the Divine grace on their behalf. Feas, and pay unto the Lord your God, the bounden tribute of thankfulness, and that not only with their lips, but in their lives devoted to his service; let all that are round about him, the congregation of his faints, bring prelates unto him, even that most acceptable prelates of themselves, their bodies, souls, and spirits, offered up at his foothold, the sacrifices due to him, that ought to be feared, with mnemonial and shall bear by his children, and who is the terror of his enemies. He shall cut off the spirit of princes, dispute the most daring, and destroy the most formidable: he is terrible to the kings of the earth, who in the day of final judgment will call to the mountains to cover them, and the rocks to fall on them and hide them from his intolerable wrath, Rev. xi. 16. ¶ C PSALM The complaints of this psalm are by some applied to the Jesus in Babylon, and by others to their present deplorable State; but they may be considered as expressions of the psalmist's griefs, and in him of every believer. 1. He complains of the deep imperishments which his troubles made upon his spirits, and the temptation he was in to despair of relief, ver. 1—10. 2. He encouraged himself to help that it would be well at last, by the remembrance of God's former appearances for the help of his people, ver. 11—20. In finding this psalm we must take frame to ourselves for our sinful disgrunt of God, his providence and promise, and give to him the glory of his power and goodwill by a thankful commemoration of what he has done for us formerly, and a cheerful dependence on him for the future. ¶ To the chief musician, ' to Jeduthun, A psalm of Asaph. 1 PC. xxii. 6. lat. iii. 7. Os. for. 1 PC. I. 15. 2 Heb. My Lord was directed out. 4 Luke xviii. 5. 6 Jer. xxii. 15. 7 Deut. xxix. 9. PC. xxiii. 5. He. 11. 6. 7 PC. ix. 4. 8 Ibid. xxii. 9. 5 Heb. To geocution and prosection. 6 Ibid. xliii. 15. 1. I Cried unto God with my voice: even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me. 2. ' In the day of my trouble I fought the Lord: ' my fore ran in the night, ' and troiled out: ' my soul ' retitled to be comforted. 3. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5. ' I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 6. I call to remembrance my long in the night: I ' comorate with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search. 7. ' Will the Lord call off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail § for evermore? 9. Hath God ' forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender merces? Selah. 10. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. Though we find not the immediate effect of the means of grace, we must not grow weary in using them, when we are found in God's way, we shall certainly succeed at last. 1. He continues to meditate on God's works and ways for the comfort of his soul. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old, the great things he had done for his people of old, and the carers of what he will do for them for ever. I will meditate also of all thy ways, of providence, redemption, and grace, for his own strength and consolation, and tell of all thy doings, for others support and edification. Note, (1.) It becomes an often to remember the wonders of God's dispensations of providence and grace towards us, to awaken our greater thankfulness and gratitude. (2.) What he hath done for our souls should be spoken of to his glory, and for the encouragement of others who may be in the like distress. 2. He acknowledges God's way to be holy. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary, or in hallway; all his dispensations altogether righteous, and they who wait upon him in his sanctuary will see the realms of them opened and made known to them. Note, Though we may not always solve particular difficulties in God's dealings with men, yet this principle we must hold fast, that God is holy in all his ways, and just in all his works. 3. He magnifies God's power and grace, so eminently displayed in behalf of his people: Thus art the God that doth wonders; then half declared thy strength among the people, in those flupenduous miracles wrought for their redemption out of Egypt, v. 15. Afraid and troubled at the prelence of God, the depths of the red sea were discovered, and its waters stood up as congealed into a well of stone, v. 16. the towering skies poured down torrents on the Egyptians, the thunders roared, the a perpetual reproach. 67. Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim. 68. But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. 69. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever. 70. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the forepholds: 71. From following the ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72. So he fled them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.