soul; 9-11. entreateth that the iniquitous counsels of the rebels may be divided and confounded; 12-14. upbraideth Ahithophel, the Judas of those times, with his foul treason; 15-19. foretelleth the tragical end of faction, and his own re-establishment through faith in God, notwithstanding the base treachery of his favourite son and favourite servant.

1. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my petition. 2. Attend unto me, and hear me : Imourn in my complaint, Heb. am dejected in my meditation, and make a noise, Heb. am in a violent, tumultuous agitation, as the waves of the sea.

In the person of David, driven from his throne, and put in fear of his life, by Absalom and Ahithophel, we here behold our blessed Redeemer, on the day of his sufferings, praying earnestly, and repeating his supplications, as in the garden of Gethsemane, at the prospect of that sea of sorrows which was then about to overwhelm his agonizing soul. In all our afflictions, he was afflicted: in all his afflictions, let us be so.

3. Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

O my God, how can we repine and murmur at any oppression and calumny which we suffer from the world, when we see, not only thy servant David, but thy son Jesus, thus hated, slandered, and persecuted, by their own subjects, and their own children?

4. My heart is sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. 5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

These words describe the state of David's mind, when he went over the brook Cedron, and up mount Olivet, "weeping as he went," and expecting speedily to be cut off: 2 Sam. xv. 23. 30. they describe the agony of the Son of David, when he likewise went over the same brook Cedron, John xviii. I. at the time of his passion, when his soul was "sore amazed and very heavy, and exceeding sor"rowful, even unto death :" Mark xiv. 33, 34. and every man will too surely find them applicable to himself, if not often before, yet certainly in, the day when the king of terrors shall draw up all his forces in array against him.

6. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove ! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. 7. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. 8. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

The calamitous situation of the Israelitish monarch forced from him a wish, that, like the bird of innocence and peace, he could in a moment banish himself from the distractions of his rebellious kingdom, and enjoy, in holy solitude, that repose which his sceptre and his guards were not able to procure him. There are few crowned heads, perhaps, which have not more than once found occasion to form, if not to utter, a wish of the same nature. Much more must it have been the wish of that King of Israel,

whose crown was literally one of thorns; and it often will be the wish of the devout Christian, who, sensible of the sins and follies that overspread the earth, is taught to aspire after his heavenly country, and to delight in that resemblance of it which the closet best affords.

9. Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

In these words, king David beseecheth God to divide, confound, and bring to nothing, the counsels of an iniquitous and rampant faction; for so, in the history, we find him saying, "O LORD, I pray thee, "turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness :" 2 Sam. xv. 31. The royal prayer was heard; the counsel of Ahithophel was overthrown by Hushai, and the disappointed traitor became his own executioner. The treason of Judas, against the Son of David, brought him likewise to the same end. Every one, who finds himself tempted to betray the cause of his prince, or his Saviour, should set these two examples before his eyes.

10. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. 11. Wickedness is in the midst thereof; deceit and guile depart not from her streets.

The violence and strife, mentioned at the conclusion of the preceding verse, are here described as going their rounds, like an armed watch, upon the walls, to guard rebellion, which had taken up its residence in the heart of the city, from the attacks of loyalty, right, and justice, driven with the king beyond Jordan. Thus from the same city was righ

teousness afterwards expelled, in the person of the King of righteousness, and nothing left, but "mis"chief and sorrow, wickedness, deceit, and guile,” encompassed with a guard" of violence and strife." Whether the state of the Gentile Christian church, in the last days, will not too much resemble that of Jerusalem before its destruction, is a matter of sad and sorrowful consideration.

12. For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it; neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me, then I would have hid myself from him. 13. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, Heb. my disciple, and mine acquaintance. 14. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

The many aggravating circumstances of Ahithophel's treason against David, and that of Judas against Christ, are here strongly marked. The treachery of pretended friends is generally to the church, as it was to her Lord, the beginning of sorrows. Ingratitude, malice, and falsehood, are ingredients that must always meet in the composition of a traitor.

15. Let death seize upon them, or, death shall remove, or, take them away; and let them, or, they shall, go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

In these words is predicted the tragical fate of Ahithophel, and those who followed Absalom; of Judas and the Jews; and of all, who shall resemble them in wickedness. The sudden destruction of

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who for stirring up a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, "went down "alive into the pit," seems here alluded to, as the grand representation of the manner in which the bottomless pit shall one day shut her mouth for ever upon all the impenitent enemies of the true King of Israel, and great High-Priest of our profession.

16. As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me. 17. Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice.

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Prayer is the believer's universal medicine for all the disorders of the soul within, and his invincible shield against every enemy that can attack him from without. Morning, Evening, and Noon," were three of the hours of prayer in the Jewish church. We find holy Daniel observing them in Babylon, notwithstanding the royal decree, which made it death for him so to do. The event fully justified him, and showed the power of true devotion, whose high prerogative it still is, to save the righteous from the mouth of THE LION. See Dan. vi. 10. 22. 2 Tim. iv. 17. 1 Pet. v. 8.

18. He hath delivered, or, shall deliver, my soul in peace from the battle that was, or, is, against me; for there were, or, are, many with me.

David was delivered in peace, when, after having suppressed the rebellion, he was brought back in triumph to his capital; the Son of David was delivered in peace, when, victorious over the enemies of man's salvation, he arose from the dead, and returned to the Jerusalem above; the believing soul is delivered