Thou feedest the young ravens that cry, with food proper for them; and wilt thou not feed me with spiritual food, the bread of life, which my soul needs and craves, and cannot subsist without? The earth is full of thy mercy; and is not heaven too? Wilt thou not then give me spiritual blessings in heavenly places?" A gracious heart will fetch an argument from any thing, to enforce a petition for divine teaching. Surely he that will not let his birds be unfed, will not let his children be untaught. V. 65, 66. Here, 1. David makes a thankful acknowledgment of God's gracious dealings with him all along; Thou hast dealt 2. He did not envy their prosperity, nor was he by it allured well with thy servant. However God has dealt with us, we must from his duty; Their heart is as fat as grease. The proud are own he has dealt well with us, better than we deserve; and at ease, (123. 4;) they are full of the world, and the wealth and all in love, and with design to work for our good. In many in-pleasures of it; and this makes them, (1.) Senseless, secure, stances, God has done well for us, beyond our expectations; he and stupid; they are past feeling: thus the phrase is used, (Is. has done well for all his servants; never any of them com- 6. 10,) Make the heart of this people fat. They are not sensiplained that he had used them hardly. Thou hast dealt well ble of the touch of the word of God, or his rod. (2.) Senwith me, not only according to thy mercy, but according to thy sual and voluptuous; "Their eyes stand out with fatness, (73. word. God's favours look best when they are compared with 7;) they roll themselves in the pleasures of sense, and take the promise, and are seen flowing from that fountain. up with them as their chief good; and much good may it do them, I would not change conditions with them; I delight in thy law; I build my security upon the promises of God's word, and have pleasure enough in communion with God, infinitely preferable to all their delights." The children of God, who are acquainted with spiritual pleasures, need not envy the children of this world their carnal pleasures.

give me understanding," that I may learn thy com- | perversely with me without a cause: but I will mandments. meditate in thy precepts.

74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.

75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are *right, and that thou in faithfulness "hast afflicted

me.

76 Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy

servant.

77 Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt u Ps. III. 10. ver. 34, 144. Ps. 34. 2. ⚫ righteousness.

Rev. 3. 19. † to

of God's salvation; “ I have hoped in thy word; and I have not found it in vain to do so; it has not failed me, nor have I been disappointed in my expectations from it. It is a hope that maketh not ashamed; but is present satisfaction, and fruition at last." 2. The concurrence of other good men with him in the joy of that salvation; "They that fear thee, will be glad when they see me relieved by my hope in thy word, and delivered according to my hope." The comforts which some of God's children have in God, and the favours they have received from him, should be matter of joy to others of them. St. Paul often expressed the hope that for God's grace to him thanks would be rendered by many, 2 Cor. 1. 11.-4. 15. Or it may be taken more generally; good people are glad to see one another; they are especially pleased with those (and, as I may say, proud of them) who are eminent for their hope in God's word.

V. 75. Sull David is in affliction, and, being so, he owns, 1. That his sin was justly corrected; I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, are righteousness itself. However God is pleased to afflict us, he does us no wrong, nor can we charge him with any iniquity, but must acknowledge that it is less than we have deserved. We know that God is holy in his nature, and wise and just in all the acts of his government, and therefore we cannot but know, in the general, that his judgments are right, though, in some particular instances, there may be difficulties which we cannot easily resolve.

79 Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies. 80 Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed. САРН.

81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation; but I hope in thy word.

82 Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.

comfort me. 1 Pet. 2. 20. y Deut. 26. 16. Ez. 11. 19. z ver. 6. a Ps. 81. 2. (3.) He could go on in the way of his duty, and find comfort in that. "However they deal with me, I will meditate in thy precepts, and entertain myself with them."

2. How much he valued the good will of saints, and how desirous he was to stand right in their opinion, and keep up his interest in them, and communion with them; Let those that fear thee, turn to me. He does not mean so much that they might side with him, and take up arms in his cause, as that they might love him, and pray for him, and associate with him. Good men desire the friendship and society of those that are good. Some think it intimates, that when David had been guilty of that foul sin in the murder of Uriah, though he was a king, they that feared God grew strange to him, and turned from him, for they were ashamed of him; this troubled him, and therefore he prays, Lord, let them turn to me again. He desires especially the company of those that were not only honest, but intelligent, that have known thy testimonies, have good heads, as well as good hearts, and whose conversation will be edifying. It is desirable to have an intimacy with such.

V. 80. Here is, 1. David's prayer for sincerity, that his heart might be brought to God's statutes, and that it might be sound in them, not rotten and deceitful; that he might not rest in the form of godliness, but be acquainted with, and subject to, the power of it; that he might be hearty and constant in religion, and that his soul might be in health.

2. That God's promise was graciously performed. The former may silence us under our afflictions, and forbid us to repine, but this may satisfy us, and enable us to rejoice; for afflictions are in the covenant, and therefore they are not only not meant for our hurt, but they are really intended for our good: "In faithfulness thou hast afflicted me, pursuant to the great design of my salvation." It is easier to own, in general, that God's judg-lift up my face without spot at the great day." ments are right, than to own it when it comes to be our own case; but David subscribes to it with application, “Even my afflictions are just and kind."

2. His dread of the consequences of hypocrisy; that I be not ashamed. Shame is the portion of hypocrites, either here, if it be repented of, or hereafter, if it be not; "Let my heart be sound, that I fall not into scandalous sin, that I fall not quite off from the ways of God, and so shame myself. Let my heart be sound, that I may come boldly to the throne of grace, and may

V. 76, 77. Here is, 1. An earnest petition to God for his favour. They that own the justice of God in their afflictions, (as David had done, v. 75,) may, in faith, and with humble boldness, be earnest for the mercy of God, and the tokens and fruits of that mercy, in their affliction. He prays for God's merciful kindness, (v. 76,) his tender mercies, v. 77. He can claim nothing as his due, but all his supports under his affliction must come from mere mercy and compassion to one in misery, one in want. "Let these come to me," that is, "the evidence of them; clear it up to me, that thou hast a kindness for me, and mercy in store; and let the effects of them come; let them work my relief and deliverance."

2. The benefit he promised himself from God's loving kindness; "Let it come to me for my comfort, (v. 76;) that will comfort me when nothing else will; that will comfort me whatever grieves me." Gracious souls fetch all their comfort from a gracious God, as the Fountain of all happiness and joy; "Let it come to me, that I may live, that I may be revived, and my life may be made sweet to me, for I have no joy of it while I am under God's displeasure. In his favour is life, in his frowns are death." A good man cannot live, with any satisfaction, any longer than he has some tokens of God's favour to him.

3. His pleas for the benefits of God's favour. He pleads (1.) God's promise; "Let me have thy kindness, according to thy word unto thy servant; the kindness which thou hast promised, and because thou hast promised it." Our Master has passed his word to all his servants, that he will be kind to them, and they may plead it with him. (2.) His own confidence and complacency in that promise; "Thy law is my delight; I hope in thy word, and rejoice in that hope." Note, Those that delight in the law of God, may depend upon the favour of God, for it shall certainly make them happy.

V. 78, 79. Here David shows,

V. 81, 82. Here we have the psalmist,

1. Longing for help from heaven; My soul faints, mine eyes fail. He longs for the salvation of the Lord, and for his word, that is, salvation according to the word. He is not thus eager for the creatures of fancy, but for the objects of faith; salvation from the present calamities under which he was groaning, and the doubts and fears which he was oppressed with. It may be understood of the coming of the Messiah, and so he speaks in the name of the Old-Testament church; the souls of the faithful even fainted to see that salvation of which the prophets testified, (1 Pet. 1. 10;) their eyes failed for it. Abraham saw it at a distance, and so did others, but at such a distance, that it put their eyes to the stretch, and they could not steadfastly see it. David was now under prevailing dejections, and, having been long so, his eyes cried out, When wilt thou comfort me. Comfort me with thy salvation, comfort me with thy word. Observe, (1.) The salvation and consolation of God's people are secured to them by the word, which will certainly be fulfilled in its season. (2.) The promised salvation and comfort may be, and often are, long deferred, so that they are ready to faint and fall in the expectation of them. (3.) Though we think the time long, ere the promised salvation and comfort come, yet we must still keep our eye upon it, and resolve to take up with nothing short of it. "Thy salvation, thy word, thy confort, are what my heart is still upon."

2. Waiting for that help; assured that it will come, and tarrying till it does come; But I hope in thy word; and but for hope, the heart would break. When the eyes fail, yet the faith must not; for the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak, and shall not lie.

V. 83. David begs God would make haste to comfort him: 1. Because his affliction was great, and therefore he was an object of God's pity; Lord, make haste to help me, for I am become like a bottle in the smoke, a leathern bottle, which, if it hung any while in the smoke, was not only blackened with soot, but dried, and parched, and shrivelled up. David was thus wasted by age, and sickness, and sorrow. See how affliction of a ruddy countenance, as fresh as a rose; but now he is withered, his colour is gone, his cheeks are furrowed. Thus does man's beauty consume under God's rebukes, as a moth fretting a garment. A bottle, when it is thus wrinkled with the smoke, is thrown by, and there is no more use of it. Who will put wine into such old bottles? Thus was David, in his low estate, looked upon as a despised, broken vessel, and as a vessel in which there was no pleasure. Good men, when they are drooping and melancholy, sometimes think themselves more slighted than really they are.

1. How little he valued the ill will of sinners. There were those that dealt perversely with him, that were peevish and ill-will mortify the strongest and stoutest of men! David had been conditioned toward him, that sought advantages against him, and misconstrued all he said and did. Even those that deal most fairly, may meet with those that deal perversely. But David mattered it not, for, (1.) He knew it was without cause, and that for his love they were his adversaries. The canseless reproach, like the curse causeless, may be easily slighted; it does not hurt us, and therefore should not move us. (2.) He could pray, in faith, that they might be ashamed of it ; God's dealing favourably with him, might make them ashamed to think that they had dealt perversely with him. "Let them be ashamed; let them be brought either to repentance or to ruin."

2. Because, though his affliction was great, yet it had not

84 How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

85 The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

86 All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

87 They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.

88 Quicken me after thy loving kindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

b 2 Thes. 1. 6. Rev. 6. 10. c Ps. 35. 7. d ver. 138. faithfulness. e Matt. 24. driven him from his duty, and therefore he was within the reach of God's promise; Yet do I not forget thy statutes. Whatever our outward condition is, we must not cool in our affection to the word of God, nor let that slip out of our minds; no care, no grief, must crowd that out. As some drink and forget the law, (Prov. 31. 5,) so others weep and forget the law; but we must, in every condition, both prosperous and adverse, have the things of God in remembrance; and if we be mindful of God's statutes, we may pray and hope that he will be mindful of our sorrows, though for a time he seems to forget us.

V. 84. Here, 1. David prays against the instruments of his troubles, that God would make haste to execute judgment on those that persecuted him. He prays not for power to avenge himself, (he bore no malice to any,) but that God would take to himself the vengeance that belonged to him; and would repay (Rom. 12. 19,) as the God that sits in the throne, judging right. There is a day coming, and a great and terrible day it will be, when God will execute judgment on all the proud persecutors of his people; tribulation to them that troubled them; Enoch foretold it, (Jude 14,) whose prophecy perhaps David here had an eye to; and that day we are to look for, and pray for the hastening of; Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

2. He pleads the long continuance of his trouble; "How many are the days of thy servant? The days of my life are but few;" so some; 66 therefore let them not all be miserable; and therefore make haste to appear for me against my enemies, before I go hence, and shall be seen no more." Or rather," The days of my affliction are many, thou seest, Lord, how many they be; when wilt thou return in mercy to me? Sometimes, for the elect's sake, the days of trouble are shortened. O let the days of my trouble be shortened; I am thy servant: and therefore, as the eyes of a servant are to the hand of his master, so are mine to thee, until that thou have mercy on me.

V. 85-87. David's state was herein a type and figure of the state both of Christ and Christians, that he was grievously persecuted as there are many of his psalms, so there are many of the verses of this psalm, which complain of this, as those here. Where observe,

1. The account he gives of his persecutors, and their malice against him. (1.) They were proud, and in their pride they persecuted him, glorying in this, that they could trample upon one who was so much cried up, and hoping to raise themselves on his ruins. (2.) They were unjust; they persecuted him wrongfully; so far was he from giving them any provocation, that he had studied to oblige them; but for his love they were his adversaries. (3.) They were spiteful; they digged pits for him; which showed that they were deliberate in their designs against him, and that what they did, was of malice prepense: it intimates likewise, that they were subtle and crafty, and had the serpent's head as well as the serpent's venom; that they were industrious, and would refuse no pains to do him a mischief; and treacherous, laying snares in secret for him, as hunters do to take wild beasts, 35. 7. Such has been the enmity of the serpent's sced to the seed of the woman. (4.) They herein showed their enmity to God himself; the pits they digged for him, were not after God's law; he means they were very much against his law, which forbids to devise evil to our neighbour, and has particularly said, Touch not mine anointed. The law appointed that if a man digged a pit which occasioned any mischief, he should answer for the mischief, (Ex. 21. 33, 34,) much more, when it was digged with a mischievous design. (5.) They carried on their designs against him so far, that they had almost consumed him upon earth; they went near to ruin him and all his interests. It is possible that those who shall shortly be consummate in heaven, may be, for the present, almost consumed on earth; and, it is of the Lord's mercies, (and, considering the malice of their enemies, it is a miracle of mercy,) that they are not quite consumed. But the bush in which God is, though it burns, shall not be burned up.

2. His application to God, in his persecuted state. (1.) He acknowledges the truth and goodness of his religion, though he suffered; "However it be, all thy commandments are faithful, and therefore whatever I lose for my observance of them, I know I shall not lose by it." True religion, if it be worth any thing, is worth every thing, and therefore worth suffering for. "Men are false, I find them so; men of low degree, men of high degree, are so, there is no trusting them; but all thy commandments are faithful, on them I may rely." (2.) He begs that God would stand by him, and succour him; They persecute me, help thou me; help me under my troubles, that I may bear them patiently, and as becomes me, and may still hold fast my integrity, and in due time help me out of my troubles." God

LAMED.

89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

34, 35. ↑ to generation and generation. Ps. 89. 1. I standeth. f Jer. 33. 25. help me, is an excellent comprehensive prayer; it is pity that it should be ever used lightly and as a by-word.

3. His adherence to his duty, notwithstanding all the malice of his persecutors; (v. 87,) But I forsook not thy precepts. That which they aimed at, was to frighten him from the ways of God, but they could not prevail; he would sooner forsake all that was dear to him in this world, than forsake the word of God; would sooner lose his life, than lose the comfort of doing his duty.

V. 88. Here is, 1. David in care to be found in the way of his duty; his constant desire and design are, to keep the testimony of God's mouth, to keep to it as his rule, and to keep hold of it as his confidence and portion for ever. This we must keep, whatever we lose.

2. David at prayer for divine grace to assist him therein; "Quicken me after thy loving kindness; make me alive, and make me lively, so shall I keep thy testimonies;" implying, that otherwise he should not keep them. We cannot proceed, nor persevere, in the good way, unless God quicken us, and put life into us; we are therefore here taught to depend upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work, and to depend upon it as grace, as purely the fruit of God's favour. He had prayed before, Quicken me in thy righteousness, (v. 40;) but here, Quicken me after thy loving kindness. The surest token of God's good will toward us, is his good work in us.

66

V. 89-91. Here, 1. The psalmist acknowledges the unchangeableness of the word of God, and of all his counsels. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled. Thou art for ever thyself, so some read it; thou art the same, and with thee there is no variableness, and this is a proof of it. Thy word, by which the heavens were made, is settled there in the abiding products of it" or the settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions that are here upon earth. All flesh is grass; but the word of the Lord endures for ever. It is settled in heaven, in the secret counsel of God, which is hid in himself, and is far above out of our sight, and is immoveable, as mountains of brass. And his revealed will is as firm as his secret will; as he will fulfil the thoughts of his heart, so no word of his shall fall to the ground; for it follows here, Thy faithfulness is unto all generations; the promise is sure to every age of the church, and it cannot be antiquated by track of time. The promises that look ever so far forward, shall be performed in their season.

2. He produces, for proof of it, the constancy of the course of nature; Thou hast established the earth, and it abides; it is what it was at first made, and where it was at first placed, poised with its own weight, and, notwithstanding the convulsions in its own bowels, the agitations of the sea that is interwoven with it, and the violent concussions of the atmosphere that surrounds it, remains unmoved. "They" (the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of both). continue to this day according to thine ordinances; they remain in the posts wherein thou hast set them, they fill up the place assigned them, and answer the purposes for which they were intended." The stability of the ordinances of day and night, of heaven and earth, is produced to prove the perpetuity of God's covenant, Jer. 31. 35, 36.-33. 20, 21. It is by virtue of God's promise to Noah, (Gen. 8. 22,) that day and night, summer and winter, observe a steady course. "They have continued to this day, and shall still continue to the end of time, acting according to the ordinances which were at first given them; for all are thy servants, they do thy will, and set forth thy glory, and in both are thy servants." All the creatures are, in their places, and according to their capacities, serviceable to their Creator, and answer the ends of their creation; and shall man be the only rebel, the only revolter from his allegiance, and the only unprofitable burden of the earth?

V. 92. Here is 1. The great distress that David was in; he was in affliction, and ready to perish in his affliction; not likely to die, so much as likely to despair; he was ready to give up all for gone, and to look upon himself as cut off from God's sight; he therefore admires the goodness of God to him, that he had not perished, that he kept the possession of his own soul, and was not driven out of his wits by his troubles, but especially that he was enabled to keep close to his God, and was not driven off from his religion by them. Though we are not kept from affliction, yet if we are kept from perishing in our affliction, we have no reason to say, We have cleansed our hands in vain : or, What profit is it, that we have served God?

2. His support in this distress. God's law was his delight, (1.) It had been so formerly, and the remembrance of that was a comfort to him, as it afforded him a good evidence of his inte grity. (2.) It was so now in his affliction; it afforded him

94 I am thine, save me: for I have sought thy | me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. precepts.

95 The wicked have waited for me, to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

96 I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment is exceeding broad. MEM.

97 O how love I thy law! it is 'my meditation all the day.

98 Thou, through thy commandments, hast made

abundant matter of comfort, and from these fountains of life he drew living waters, when the cisterns of the creature were broken or dried up. His converse with God's law, and his meditations on it, were his delightful entertainment in solitude and sorrow. A bible is a pleasant companion at any time, if we please.

V. 93. Here is, 1. A very good resolution; "I will never forget thy precepts, but will always retain a remembrance of, and regard to, thy word as my rule." It is a resolution for perpetuity, never to be altered. Note, The best evidence of our love to the word of God, is, never to forget it. We must resolve that we will never, at any time, cast off our religion, and never, upon any occasion, lay aside our religion, but that we will be constant to it, and persevere in it.

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients; *because I keep thy precepts.

101 I have refrained 'my feet from every evil way, that I may keep thy word.

102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

forbidden in every commandment. The divine promise (for that also is commanded) extends itself to all our burdens, wants, and grievances, and has that in it, which will make a portion and happiness for us, when we have seen an end of all perfection.

V. 97. Here is, 1. David's inexpressible love to the word of God; O how love I thy law! He protests his affection to the word of God with a holy vehemency; he found that love to it in his heart, which, considering the corruption of his nature, and the temptation of the world, he could not but wonder at, and at that grace which had wrought it in him. He not only loved the promises, but loved the law, and delighted in it after the inner man. 2. An unexceptionable evidence of this. What we love, we of God, it was his meditation. He not only read the book of the law, but digested what he read in his thoughts, and was delivered into it as into a mould: it was his meditation not only in the night, when he was silent and solitary, and had nothing else to do, but in the day, when he was full of business and company; nay, and all the day some good thoughts were interwoven with his common thoughts; so full was he of the word of God.

2. A very good reason for it; "For by them thou hast quick-love to think of; by this it appeared that David loved the word ened me; not only they are quickening, but," (1.) "They have been so to me, I have found them so." Those speak best of the things of God, who speak by experience, who can say, that by the word the spiritual life has been begun in them, maintained and strengthened in them, excited and comforted in them. (2.) "Thou hast made them so;" the word of itself, without the grace of God, would not quicken us; ministers can but prophesy upon the dry bones, they cannot put life into them: but, ordinarily, the grace of God works by the word, and makes use of it as a means of quickening; and this is a good reason why we should never forget it, but should highly value what God has put such honour upon, and dearly love what we have found such benefit by, and hope still to find. See here what is the best help for bad memories, namely, good affections: if we are quickened by the word, we shall never forget it; nay, that word that does really quicken us to, and in, our duty, is not forgot-made me wise all true wisdom is from God. He had it by the ten; though the expressions be lost, if the impressions remain,

it is well.

V. 94. Here, 1. David claims relation to God; "I am thine, devoted to thee, and owned by thee, thine in covenant." He does not say, Thou art mine, (as Dr. Manton observes,) though that follows of course, because that were a higher challenge: but, I am thine, expressing himself in a more humble and dutiful way of resignation; nor does he say, I am thus, but, I am thine, not pleading his own good property or qualification, but God's propriety in him; "I am thine, not my own, not the world's." 2. He proves his claim; "I have sought thy precepts, I have carefully inquired concerning my duty, and diligently endeavoured to do it." This will be the best evidence that we belong to God; all that are his, though they have not found perfection, are seeking it.

3. He improves his claim; "I am thine; save me, save me from sin, save me from ruin." Those that have in sincerity given up themselves to God to be his, may be sure that he will protect them, and preserve them to his heavenly kingdom, Mal. 3. 18.

V. 95. Here 1. David complains of the malice of his enemies; The wicked (and none but such would be enemies to so good a man) have waited for me, to destroy me; they were very cruel, and aimed at no less than his destruction; they were very crafty, and sought all opportunities to do him a mischief; and they were confident, they expected, (so some read it,) that they should destroy him, they thought themselves sure of their

prey.

2. He comforts himself in the word of God, as his protection; "While they are contriving my destruction, I consider thy testimonies, which secure to me my salvation." God's testimonies are then likely to be our support, when we consider them, and dwell in our thoughts upon them.

V. 96. Here we have David's testimony from his own experience, 1. Of the vanity of the world, and its insufficiency to make us happy; I have seen an end of all perfection. Poor perfection which one sees an end of! Yet such are all those things in this world, which pass for perfections. David, in his time, had seen Goliath, the strongest, overcome; Asahel, the swiftest, overtaken; Ahithophel, the wisest, befooled; Absalom, the fairest, deformed; and, in short, he had seen an end of perfection, of all perfection; he saw it by faith, he saw it by observation, he saw an end of the perfection of the creature, both in respect of sufficiency, it was scanty and defective, (there is that to be done for us, which the creature cannot do,) and in respect of continuance, it will not last our time, for it will not last to eternity as we must. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. 2. Of the fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency for our satisfaction; But thy commandment is broad, exceeding broad. The word of God reaches to all cases, to all times. The divine law lays a restraint upon the whole man, is designed to sanctify us wholly. There is a great deal required and

V. 98-100. We have here an account of David's learning, not that of the Egyptians, but of the Israelites indeed.

1. The good method by which he got it. In his youth, he minded business in the country, as a shepherd; from his youth, he minded business in the court and camp; which way then could he get any great stock of learning? He tells us here how he came by it; he had it from God as the Author; Thou hast word of God, as the means; by his commandments and his testimonies. These are able to make us wise to salvation, and to furnish the man of God for every good work. (1.) These David took for his constant companions; "They are ever with me, ever in my mind, ever in my eye." A good man, wherever he goes, carries his bible along with him, if not in his hands, yet in his head and in his heart. (2.) These he took for the delightful subject of his thoughts; they were his meditation, not only as matters of speculation for his entertainment, as scholars meditate on their notions, but as matters of concern, for his right management, as men of business think of their business, that they may do it in the best manner. (3.) These he took for the commanding rules of all his actions; I keep thy precepts; I make conscience of doing my duty in every thing. The best way to improve in knowledge, is, to abide and abound in all the instances of serious godliness; for if any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine of Christ, shall know more and more of it, John 7. 17. The love of the truth prepares for the light of it; the pure in heart shall see God here.

2. The great eminency he attained to in it. By studying and practising God's commandments, and making them his rule, he learned to behave himself wisely in all his ways, 1 Sam. 18. 14. (1.) He outwitted his enemies; God, by these means made him wiser to baffle and defeat their designs against him, than they were to lay them. Heavenly wisdom will carry the point, at last, against carnal policy; by keeping the commandments, we secure God on our side, and make him our Friend, and therein are certainly wiser than those that make him their Enemy. By keeping the commandments, we preserve to ourselves that peace and quiet of mind, which our enemies would rob us of, and so are wise for ourselves, wiser than they are for themselves, for this world as well as for the other. (2.) He outstripped his teachers, and had more understanding than all of them. He means either those who would have been his teachers, who blamed his conduct, and undertook to prescribe to him: by keeping God's commandments, he managed his matters so, that it appeared, in the event, he had taken the right measures, and they had taken the wrong. Or, he may mean those who should have been his teachers, the priests and Levites, who sat in Moses's chair, and whose lips ought to have kept knowledge, but who neglected the study of the law, and minded their ho nours and revenues, and the formalities only of their religion; and so David, who conversed much with the scriptures, by that means became more intelligent than they. Or, he may mean those who had been his teachers when he was young; he built so well upon the foundation which they had laid, that with the help of his bible, he became able to teach them, to teach them all. He was not now a babe that needed milk, but had spiritual senses exercised, Heb. 5. 14. It is no reflection upon our teachers, but rather an honour to them, to improve so as really to excel them, and not to need them. By meditation we preach to ourselves, and so we come to understand more than our teachers, for we come to understand our own hearts, which they

103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate "every false way.

NUN.

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

106 I have sworn," and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.

108 Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judg

ments.

109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

o Prov. 6. 23. p Neh. 10. 29. q Heb. 13. 15. r Job 13. 14. # Prov. 1. 11, 12.

the right ordering of our conversation; both in the choice of our way in general, and in the particular steps we take in that way; that we may not take a false way, nor a false step in the right way. We are then truly sensible of God's goodness to us in giving us such a lamp and light, when we make it a guide to our feet, our path.

m Job 23. 12. Ps. 19. 10. • palate. n Prov. 8. 13. for candle. cannot. (3.) He outdid the ancients; either those of his day,lations, but a light to our feet, and to our path, to direct us in he was young, like Elihu, and they were very old, (but his keeping of God's precepts taught him more wisdom than the multitude of their years, Job 32. 7, 8,) or those of former days: he himself quotes the proverb of the ancients, (1 Sam. 24. 13;) but the word of God gave him to understand things better than he could do by tradition, and all the learning that was handed down from preceding ages. In short, the written word is a V. 106. Here is, 1. The notion David had of religion; it is surer guide to heaven than all the doctors and fathers, the teach-keeping God's righteous judgments. God's commands are his ers and ancients, of the church; and the sacred writings kept, judgments, the dictates of infinite wisdom. They are righteous and kept to, will teach us more wisdom than all their writings. judgments, consonant to the eternal rules of equity, and it is our V. 101. Here is, 1. David's care to avoid the ways of sin; "I duty to keep them carefully. have refrained my feet from the evil ways they were ready to step aside into; I checked myself and drew back, as soon as I was aware that I was entering into temptation." Though it was a broad way, a green way, a pleasant way, and a way that many walked in, yet, being a sinful way, it was an evil way, and he refrained his feet from it, foreseeing the end of that way. And his care was universal; he shunned every evil way. By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer, 17. 4. 2. His care to be found in the way of duty; That I might keep thy word, and never transgress it. His abstaining from sin was, (1.) An evidence that he did conscientiously aim to keep God's word, and had made that his rule. (2.) It was a means of his keeping God's word in the exercises of religion; for we cannot with any comfort or boldness attend on God in holy duties, so as in them to keep his word, while we are under guilt, or in any by-way.

V. 102. Here is, 1. David's constancy in his religion. He had not departed from God's judgments; he had not chosen any other rule than the word of God, nor had he wilfully deviated froin that rule. A constant adherence to the ways of God, in trying times, will be a good evidence of our integrity. 2. The cause of his constancy; "For thou hast taught me, they were divine instructions that I learned; was satisfied that the doctrine was of God, and therefore I stuck to it." Or rather, "It was divine grace in my heart, that enabled me to receive those instructions." All the saints are taught of God, for he it is that gives the understanding; and those, and those only, that are taught of God, will continue to the end in the things that they have learned.

V. 103, 104. Here is, 1. The wonderful pleasure and delight which David took in the word of God; it was sweet to his taste, sweeter than honey. There is such a thing as a spiritual taste, an inward savour and relish of divine things; such an evidence of them to ourselves, by experience, as we cannot give to others. We have heard him ourselves, John 4. 42. To this scripture taste the word of God is sweet, very sweet, sweeter than any of the gratifications of sense, even those that are most delicious. David speaks as if he wanted words to express the satisfaction he took in the discoveries of the divine will and grace; no pleasure was comparable to it.

2. The obligation he here laid upon himself to be religious, binding himself, by his own promise, to that which he was already bound to by the divine precept, and all little enough. "I have sworn, I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, and I cannot go back; and therefore must go forward, I will perform it." Note, (1.) It is good for us to bind ourselves with a solemn oath to be religious. We must swear to the Lord as subjects swear allegiance to their sovereign, promising fealty, appealing to God concerning our sincerity in this promise, and owning ourselves liable to the curse if we do not perform it. (2.) We must often call to mind the vows of God that are upon us, and remember that we have sworn. (3.) We must make conscience of performing unto the Lord our oaths; (an honest man will be as good as his word ;) nor have we sworn to our own hurt, but it will be unspeakably to our hurt if we do not perform. V. 107. Here is, 1. The representation David makes of the sorrowful condition he was in; "I am afflicted very much, afflicted in spirit; he seems to mean that especially: he laboured under many discouragements, without were fightings, within were fears: this is often the lot of the best saints, therefore think it not strange if sometimes it be ours.

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2. The recourse he has to God in this condition; he prays for his grace; Quicken me, O Lord; make me lively, make me cheerful, quicken me by afflictions to greater diligence in my work: quicken me; deliver me out of my afflictions, which will be as life from the dead." He pleads the promise of God, guides his desires by it, and ground's his hopes upon it: Quicken me according to thy word. David resolved to perform his promises to God, (v. 106,) and therefore could, with humble boldness, beg of God to make good his word to him.

V. 108. Two things we are here taught to pray for, in reference to our religious performances.

1. Acceptance of them; this we must aim at in all we do in religion, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of the Lord. That which David here earnestly prays for the acceptance of, is, the free-will offerings, not of his purse, but of his mouth, his prayers and praises; the calves of our lips, (Hos. 14. 2,) the fruit of our lips, (Heb. 1. 15,) these are the spiritual offerings which all Christians, as spiritual priests, must offer to God; and they must be free-will offerings, for we must offer them abundantly and cheerfully; and it is this willing mind that is accepted. The more there is of freeness and willingness in the service of God, the more pleasing it is to him.

2. The unspeakable profit and advantage he gained by the word of God; (1.) It helped him to a good head; "Through thy precepts I get understanding, to discern between truth and 2. Assistance in them; Teach me thy judgments. We canfalsehood, good and evil, so as not to mistake either in the con- not offer any thing to God, which we have reason to think he duct of my own life, or in advising others." (2.) It helped him will accept of, but what he is pleased to instruct us in the doing to a good heart; "Therefore, because I have got understand-of; and we must be as earnest for the grace of God in us, as ing of the truth, I hate every false way, and am steadfastly re- for the favour of God toward us. solved not to turn aside into it." Observe here, The way of sin is a false way, it deceives, and will ruin, all that walk in it; it is the wrong way, and yet it seems to a man right, Prov. 14. 12. It is the character of every good man, that he hates the way of sin, and hates it because it is a false way; he not only refrains his feet from it, (v. 101,) but he hates it, has an antipathy to it, and a dread of it. Those who hate sin as sin, will hate all sin, hate every false way, because every false way leads to destruction. And the more understanding we get by the word of God, the more rooted will our hatred of sin be; for to depart from evil, that is understanding, (Job 28. 28;) and the more ready we are in the scriptures, the better furnished we are with answers to temptation.

V. 105. Observe here, 1. The nature of the word of God, and the great intention of giving it to the world; it is a lamp and a light, it discovers to us that, concerning God and ourselves, which otherwise we could not have known; it shows us what is amiss, and will be dangerous; it directs us in our work and way, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it; it is a lamp which we may set up by us, and take into our hands for our own particular use, Prov. 6. 23. The commandment is a lamp kept burning with the oil of the Spirit; it is like the lamps in the sanctuary, and the pillar of fire, to Israel. 2. The use we should make of it. It must be not only a light to our eyes, to gratify them, and fill our heads with specu

V. 109, 110. Here is, 1. David in danger of losing his life. There is but a step between him and death, for the wicked have laid a snare for him; Saul did so many a time, because he hated him for his piety. Wherever he was, he found some design or other laid against him to take away his life, for that was it they aimed at; what they could not effect by open force, they hoped to compass by treachery; which made him say, My soul is continually in my hand: it was not so with him, only as a man, (so it is true of us all; wherever we are, we lie exposed to the strokes of death, what we carry in our hands is easily snatched away from us by violence, or, if sandy, as our life is, it easily of itself slips through our fingers,) but as a man of war, a soldier, who often jeoparded his life in the high places of the field and especially as a man after God's own heart, and as such, hated and persecuted, and always delivered to death, (2 Cor. 4. 11,) killed all the day long.

2. David in no danger of losing his religion, notwithstanding this. Thus in jeopardy every hour, and yet constant to God and his duty; none of these things move him: for, (1.) He does not forget the law, and therefore he is likely to persevere. In the multitude of his cares for his own safety, he finds room in his head and heart for the word of God, and has that in his mind as fresh as ever; and where that dwells richly, it will be a well of living water. (2.) He has not yet erred from God's precepts, and therefore it is to be hoped he will not.