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also of Christ, Matt. iii. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And Luke ii. "And on earth peace, good-will towards men."-This is a most pure confession, and there is the most powerful confidence and gratitude in these words. The Lord (says David) has done these things for me, not because I was worthy of them, or because I deserved them by any works of mine, but he did it of free and gratuitous mercy. For it has ever pleased him and been his will, to have respect unto and to deliver the humble; that no flesh might glory in his presence, but that he that glorifieth might glory in the Lord; because it is not of him that runneth, but of God's good-will and pleasure, that we are saved.

Ver. 20.-The Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

Here David is comparing the church to the impious synagogue: compared with which the church deserved to be delivered and to be brought forth into a large place: though in the sight of God it had nothing in which it could glory but the good-will of God. And hence in the same way we see, Psalm vii. and xvii. that the church calls upon God to be judged according to her righteousness. For although we are not justified before God but by accusing ourselves, yet the ungodly do us injury in many ways, especially by wresting the words of God. Such as this, where the church mentions her righteousness as that on account of which she glories that God has recompensed her by delivering her from her enemies. For the judgment between God and us, and between us and our adversaries are two different things.

I have said, Psalm xiii. that recompence, in the scriptures, rather signifies an exchange, than a worthiness of merit. For our merits are nothing in the sight of God: nothing is admitted there but free gratuitous mercy only: and when God bestows this upon us, he changes our sorrow into joy, and our straits into enlargement: as it

is written, Isaiah lxi. 3, "To give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Let us take heed therefore, that we understand not this righteousness, and this cleanness of hands, of which the church boasts, as being spoken with reference to her state before God, but before the ungodly, who are unjust toward the church when confessing her sins: because with respect to the ungodly she deserves to receive contrary things from those which she suffers at their hands; and they deserve contrary things from those which they hope to obtain.

Hence, we have, Deut. ix. this prohibition, "Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God has cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which he sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." We can, therefore, and ought to glory against the ungodly on account of the justice of our cause, but before God we are to be all submission and silence, and give all glory unto him alone.

But I think, that "my righteousness” here refers to patience, and "the cleanness of my hands" to innocence: that is, because the church was injured and bore evil on account of her just cause, doing and rendering evil to no one on account of that injury: and therefore was brought forth into a large place because she pleased God, who is always well pleased to shew his free mercy towards such.

Ver. 21.-Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

He here goes on comparing the church with the synagogue, as what follows will shew. For the righteous, although they have sin in their flesh, and although their

body is dead because of sin, yet, their spirit lives because of righteousness: as Paul saith, Rom. viii. Whereas, on the contrary, the ungodly shew forth their righteousness in the flesh, but in their spirit there is craft, because of unrighteousness. Hence, the just are outwardly sinners but inwardly righteous: but the wicked are in outward appearance righteous, but inwardly sinners. And sin in the spirit, which is ungodliness, is far worse than sin in the flesh, which is rebellion and concupiscence. And so also the righteousness of the flesh which is the works of the law, is not to be compared to the righteousness of the spirit which is of faith in Christ.

This is what he means when he says, "Because I have kept the ways of the Lord." And which way did he keep them? In the spirit, not in the flesh; by faith, and not by the merit of works; not by free-will, but by the power of God. And therefore he adds," and have not wickedly departed from my God." That is, the keeping of the ways of the Lord, is not to be ungodly in the sight of God. For ungodliness, as I have often said, is unbelief; which seeks to be justified by its own works; and wherever this is the case, there is no keeping of the ways of the Lord. The Hebrew by a single expression, has it RASATHI: that is, literally, impiavi, I have not been ungodly before my God; or, I have not ungodlily departed from my God. For ungodliness is a departing and declining from God: as we see Psalm xiv. and Jeremiah xvii. "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." And therefore, the idiomatic Hebrew expression is, I have not been ungodly to my God; I have not departed through ungodliness from my God.

As, therefore, ungodliness is so great a sin when compared with the remnant sins of concupiscence which are still found in the flesh of the godly, the church may rightly glory if she has not transgressed the ways of the Lord, nor ungodlily departed from her God; as her adversaries have done; who, nevertheless, with a show of righteousness and zeal for God, are mad against her.

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Ver. 22.-For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

Here again he cuts at the ungodly, concerning whom it is said, Psalm x. 5, “Thy Thy judgments are far above out of his sight." And this was the exact case with the synagogue, the church's rival enemy. For the synagogue wished to appear to have the judgments of God before its eyes above all others, and not to cast away the statutes of the Lord; nay it always accused the church of doing this. And this opposition and contest will remain as long as flesh and blood remain. For the wisdom of the flesh, as it cannot receive the righteousness of the Spirit, cannot endure that its own righteousness should be rebuked and condemned. On the contrary the wisdom of the Spirit, cannot endure that the righteousness of the flesh should be praised; and therefore it always proclaims and extols the righteousness of faith. And hence, these two children in the womb of Rebecca, Jacob and Esau, are engaged in a continual struggle and perpetual war..

Therefore, "Blessed is the man that meditates day and night in the law of the Lord :" for this man has ever before his eyes all the judgments of God, nor does he put away his righteousnesses from him, (which is, in the Hebrew, his 'justifications.") This is the man who keeps the ways of the Lord, which are commanded in his judgments and his righteousnesses. And to have the judg ments of the Lord always before the eyes, means, to love them for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. But we have need to have the law of God continually before our eyes, and our meditation perpetually in it, because we are distracted and molested with manifold things and events. But this he whose will and affections are in the law of the Lord will always do: and if that law be not always before us, and present with us, we shall soon cast behind us the words of the Lord; and upon this immediately follows, a neglect of the ways of the Lord, and an ungodly departing from God.

Ver. 23.-I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Here David plainly confesses the remnants of the old man; against which he resolves that he will fight. So the Apostle, Gal. v. Rom. viii. and in other places, teaches us that the flesh and the members which are upon the earth must be mortified. Where, therefore, there is a keeping of the ways of the Lord, and a departing not from God, there always must be the work of the crucifying of the flesh in us, that we may be cleansed day by day and renewed in our mind before God; and there must be a keeping ourselves from our iniquity, that it overcome us not. For sin shall not have dominion over us, because we are not under sin but under grace: nor shall we obey lust so as for sin to reign in our mortal body; though it will never cease to strive for dominion and mastery.

This continual renewing, and this watching over sin, the ungodly despise : for they appear to themselves to be clean, because they have not the judgments and the righteousnesses of God before their eyes, nor do they know or consider how perfect and absolute a cleansing those judgments require. And hence, David adds a very emphatical expression, "Before him:" that is "In his sight." For the ungodly, who despise these spots of uncleanness, become more and more unclean, daily before God; and on this very account,-because they appear to be most clean before themselves and others.

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The word ON, which our translator has rendered iniquity," we have not met with before. I know not how to dive into the difference between the word here given and those words which are generally used to signify iniquity. I should therefore willingly admit, that this word signifies the works of the flesh, and that it refers to original sin. So that I would receive on as signifying that sin which unbridled concupiscence and lust commit, that is, when sin reigns and rules in the open works of it. For all the other terms express more

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