The story of the people's rebellion,

q Numb. 20.

13.

34 They did not destroy the nar Deut. 7. 2. tions, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

s Judg. 1. 21.

35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. t Judg. 2. 16. 43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with

39. Thus were they defiled &c.] Idolatry, which is infidelity towards God, is often represented in Scripture as spiritual fornication or adultery. Travell. See notes at Exod. xxxii. 6; xxxiv. 16.

47.-gather us from among the heathen,] Restore such of us as are dispersed in foreign lands unto our own country. Bp. Patrick.

If we accustomed ourselves to take a just survey of ourselves, of the frowardness and the pride of our natures, we should frequently think it fit and necessary to invert our prayers, to deprecate God's favours and mercies, and pray for his corrections and judgments, or rather we should look upon his judgments and mortifications as his greatest and most transcendent mercies. If men took that view of themselves, which others take of them in their highest prosperities, when God pours down his blessings upon them; observed the haughtiness of their looks, gait, and gestures, their proud behaviour towards all who have need of them, and their servile behaviour towards all of whom they stand in need, which every body else but themselves observes; and considered how very little they used to think of God in those seasons; and then, if they reflected upon their own modest behaviour upon some disappointment they had sustained, how often they

and God's mercy. brought low ! Or, im

poverished, or, weakened.

44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: 45" And he remembered for them u Lev. 26. 41, his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

48 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

1

PSALM CVII.

The psalmist exhorteth the redeemed, in praising God, to observe his manifold providence, 4 over travellers, 10 over captives, 17 over sick men, 23 over seamen, 33 and in divers varieties of life.

a

42.

& 118. 1. &

OGIVE thanks unto the LORD, a Ps. 106. 1. for he is good: for his mercy 136, 1. endureth for ever.

2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and † from the Heb. from south.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

the sea.

used to pray to God in their anguish and affliction, and how fervent their devotions have then been, they would confess how much better men they are in the latter, than in the former condition, and how much more gracious God hath been to them in the one than in the other visitation. Lord Clarendon.

The end of the fourth Book of Psalms.

Psalm CVII. This Psalm may undoubtedly be enumerated among the most elegant monuments of antiquity; and it is chiefly indebted for its elegance to the general plan and conduct of the poem. It celebrates the goodness and mercy of God towards mankind, as demonstrated in the immediate assistance and comfort He affords in the greatest calamities to those who devoutly implore his aid: in the first place, to those who wander in the desert, and who encounter the terrours of famine; next, to those who are in bondage; to those who are afflicted with disease; and finally, to those who are tossed about upon the ocean. The prolixity of the argument is occasionally relieved by narration; and examples are superadded of the Divine severity in punishing the wicked, as well as of his benignity to the devout and virtuous; and both the narrative and preceptive parts are recommended to the earnest contem

The redeemed are exhorted to observe

b Job 33. 20.

10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of

men!

16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

men!

28 Then they cry unto the LORD swallowed up. in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of

men!

32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

saltness.

18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his

plation of considerate minds. Bp. Lowth. This Psalm is introduced into our Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, as a thanksgiving after a storm. Ver. 7.

to a city of habitation.] That is, to a place inhabited, where they found relief for their necessities. Bp. Patrick.

10. being bound in affliction and iron;] This passage may be rendered, Being bound in galling chains. Dimock, Rosenmüller,

C

35 He turneth the wilderness into e Isa. 41. 18. a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;

37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

16. For he hath broken &c.] That is, made way for men's escape, when their case was desperate, by removing the greatest obstacles. Dr. Wells.

33. He turneth rivers &c.] He turneth a well-watered country into a wilderness, and a soil abounding with springs into dry ground. Green,

37.-yield fruits of increase.] The land of Canaan was fruitful beyond measure; see Deut. viii. 7, &c. Dimock.

d Job 12. 21.

| Or, void place.

e 1 Sam. 2.8.

Ps. 113. 7, 8.

His confidence in God's help.

40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

41 Yet setteth he the poor on Or, after. high || from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

39. Again, they are minished &c.] At another time, God sees fit to alter the course of his providence, to lessen their numbers, and to humble them by various afflictions and calamities, or by the hands of tyrannical oppressors. Travell, Bp. Patrick.

40. causeth them to wander &c.] The meaning is either, He bringeth them into difficulties, so that they know not what course to take; or, He banisheth them from their courts and kingdoms, and forceth them to flee into desolate wildernesses. Poole.

42. The righteous shall see &c.] Two consequences will follow from this alternate display of the mercy and the judgment of God. The righteous, finding themselves still the object of the former, will have cause to rejoice and give thanks; and the wicked, when visited with the latter, will be forced by their silence at least to own that their punishment is just. Bp. Horne.

43. Whoso is wise, &c.] To take notice of the providences of God is the most effectual way to make men wise, as it is a proof of wisdom. Bp. Wilson. This very instructive Psalm serves to teach us, that God does wisely dispense all that happens to men; and that when they are fugitives and captives, sick, and in danger of perishing, afflicted with famine, or any other distress, It is He that makes them pass through all those trials that He may engage them to call upon Him, and have recourse to his power and goodness. It therefore shews us that it is the duty of persons in affliction to apply themselves to God by humble and fervent prayer for deliverance out of all their misfortunes; that when men cry to God in their distress, and turn to Him, He takes pity on them, and delivers them from all

5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

I Or, skies.

6 That thy beloved may be de- a Ps. 60. 5. livered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.

7 God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

8 Gilead is mine: Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;

9 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

10 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

11 Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

13 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

PSALM CIX.

1 David, complaining of his slanderous enemies, under the person of Judas devoteth

their troubles; and that it is the duty of those who, by the help of God, have escaped any great sickness, danger of death, or other afflictions, to shew their gratitude to Him all their lives, and to celebrate his loving-kindness before all. Ostervald.

Psalm CVIII. This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which David praises God for his great goodness to him, in having made him king, and crowned him with victory; and beseeches Him to complete his conquests over the remainder of his enemies. The strain of gratitude and triumph which runs through it, makes it suitable to the service of the Church on the Ascension-day. The first five verses of this Psalm are the same, without any material difference, as the last five of the fifty-seventh Psalm: and the rest are the same as the last eight verses of the sixtieth Psalm. The reader is therefore referred to the explanation already given of those Psalms. Travell.

Psalm CIX. In this Psalm David, having been unjustly accused and violently persecuted by his enemies, foretells, with a prophetick spirit, the Divine vengeance upon them. St. Peter (Acts i. 20,) hath taught us to apply the eighth verse to the traitor Judas; and indeed the severity of the judgments, and the extent of the calamities here denounced, are suitable to the guilt and punishment of our Saviour's persecutors in general. With respect to the imprecations, see the note on Psalm v. 10. The twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy may be considered as a kind of commentary on this Psalm. Travell. There are many passages in the Book of Psalms,

Complaining of his enemies,

+Heb. mouth Heb. have themselves.

of deceit.

opened

Or, an adversary.

them. 16 He sheweth their sin. 21 Com

plaining of his own misery, he prayeth for help. 29 He promiseth thankfulness. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

he devoteth them to destruction.

12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off;

my praise;

2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful + are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. 5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6 Set thou a wicked man over him and let | Satan stand at his right hand.

7 When he shall be judged, let Heb. go out him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

guilly, or, wicked.

a Acts 1. 20.

8 Let his days be few; and a let 1 Or, charge. another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.

especially a considerable part of the 109th, that have given offence to well-meaning persons, as savouring too much of private resentment, and inconsistent with that charity, which peculiarly marks the Christian dispensation. Many attempts have been made to remove this difficulty: but the most satisfactory method appears to be, to consider the verbs in the future tense, so that the passages may be looked upon as so many denunciations of the punishments, that God would inflict on the general or individual adversaries of his church and people. Thus at the seventh verse, "When he shall be judged, he shall go forth convicted, and his prayers shall be for sin, &c." Wintle.

The person particularly pointed at in this Psalm was probably Doeg the Edomite, who slew the Lord's priests, and endeavoured to destroy him whom God had anointed king over Israel, 1 Sam. xxii. Archdeacon Randolph. Ver. 4. For my love &c.] While I pray for them, they in return for my love falsely accuse me. Green.

6. Set thou &c.] The true reading probably is, A wicked person shall be set over him, (that is, to judge him,) and an adversary shall stand at his right hand. Dimock.

over him:] That is, either over all mine enemies; for the singular number is sometimes used with a plural sense: or rather, over one particular enemy, who was worse than any of the rest, more implacable and inexcusable. Poole.

their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted

out.

15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like Heb. water, and like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: be

within him.

Satan] An adversary. See the margin.

stand at his right hand.] This is an allusion to the practice of the courts of justice among the Jews, where the accuser stood at the "right hand" of the accused. Rosenmüller.

7.- and let his prayer become sin.] His prayer would be abomination in the sight of the Lord, as being offered without true contrition and repentance, without faith, hope, or charity. Bp. Horne.

9, 10. Let his children &c.] Thus shall his wickedness entail misery upon his wretched widow and his orphan children: they shall lead a life of wandering from place to place, supporting themselves by begging alms, and seeking relief out of their miserable habitations. Travell.

like water, &c.] These expressions admirably mark out an adhering rooted curse, which penetrated the body, as the water which one drinks, and as the oil with which one is rubbed: they have swallowed cursing like water; see Job xv. 6; Prov. iv. 17; they are penetrated by it, as by the oil wherewith they have been anointed. Calmet.

a girdle &c.] As the people of the East have ever been accustomed to wear long and loose garments, they are obliged to tuck them up, and fasten them by a girdle or sash, when they are travelling or at work. See 1 Kings xviii. 46; John xiii. 4. Travell.

do thou for me,] Take my part. Bp. Patrick.

22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

A prediction of Christ's kingdom.

30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from Heb from t those that condemn his soul.

PSALM CX.

ness.

25 I became also a reproach unto them when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.

28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

23. tossed up and down as the locust.] The swarms of locusts are so large and numerous in Barbary, that they fly in the air like a succession of clouds. When the wind blows briskly, so that these swarms are crowded by others, or thrown one upon another, we have a lively idea of this comparison of the Psalmist, of being "tossed up and down as the locust." Dr. Shaw.

Especial care should be taken that we do not pervert this Psalm in a criminal and impious manner, by imagining we are at any time allowed to wish that the vengeance of God may fall on those who hate us and do us hurt. David here speaks in the quality of a king chosen by God, and of a Prophet; he rather foretold than desired the destruction of his enemies: he even returned them good for evil, as he himself says, and love for hatred. But, above all, let us remember that a Christian should hate no man; that the character we bear, as disciples of Jesus Christ, obliges us to love all men, even our greatest enemies, to pray for them with all our heart, and to wish and do them all the good in our power. Ostervald.

Psalm CX. In this Psalm David prophesieth concerning the exaltation of Christ; the sceptre of his kingdom; the character of his subjects; his everlasting priesthood; his tremendous victories and judgments; and the means of his obtaining both kingdom and priesthood, by his sufferings and resurrection. Bp. Horne. This Psalm is with good reason appointed for the service of Christmas-day.

Ver. 1. The Lord said &c.] God the Father, in his eternal counsel, said unto his Son, Take Thou all power and authority, as the only Mediator and true King of thy church, until I shall utterly have subdued all those that dare to rise up against Thee; then do Thou deliver up this royal state and kingdom of thy Mediatorship. Bp. Hall.

thy footstool.] This expression is borrowed from the Eastern custom of conquerors putting their feet upon the necks of their enemies. See Josh. x. 24. The

quest, 7 and the passion of Christ.

A Psalm of David.

the judges of his soul.

Divinity of our Saviour is clearly deducible from this verse. See Mark xii. 36, &c. Dimock. 2.

the rod of thy strength] The "rod," or sceptre, of Christ's "strength" is his word, accompanied by his Spirit. Bps. Horne and Nicholson.

out of Zion:] Christ's spiritual kingdom was to begin at Jerusalem. Edwards.

3. Thy people] They that are fit for thy kingdom. Fenton.

the day of thy power,-holiness] "The day of his power" is the season of their conversion, when the corruptions of nature can no longer hold out against the prevailing influences of grace; and they make a free and voluntary offering of themselves to their Redeemer. Then it is that they appear "in the beauties of holiness," adorned with humility, faith, hope, love, and all the graces of the Spirit. Bp. Horne.

66

- from the womb of the morning : &c.] The words should rather be translated, more than the dew from the womb of the morning is the dew of thy progeny ;' that is, thy children, begotten to Thee through the Gospel, shall exceed in number, as well as brightness and beauty, the spangles of early dew, which the morning discloseth to the eye of the delighted beholder. Bps. Lowth and Horne.

4. Thou art a priest for ever &c.] Thy priesthood is everlasting in thy person and office is and shall be fulfilled that which was figured in the royal priesthood, person, and name of Melchizedek, king of Salem, the king of righteousness and peace. Bp. Hall. The Epistle to the Hebrews places the resemblance between Melchizedek and Jesus on the name and title of the former, on his having no father, or mother, or priestly descent, or birth, or death, or successor, mentioned; which so far agreed with the latter, as He had no human father, nor mother, in the ordinary way of generation; nor was of a sacerdotal family, nor began to exist at his birth, nor continued in a state of death, nor could have any successor in his office. Abp. Secker. See the note on Gen. xiv. 18.