however, concentrated in the intermediate portion, the 4th Psalm-which opens with an earnestness of supplication, that seems to have been prompted by a remembrance of past deliverances :-Thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble: have mercy upon me, and hearken unto my prayer! His thoughts then turn to those who are persecuting him, not in the spirit of hostility, but in the utterance of mild reproof and warning, with instruction how to become righteous: reminding them of the common profession of a desire to become wise-there be many that say, Who will shew us any good? and praying in their behalf for the illumination of the Divine Spirit: and moreover confessing that he rejoiced even in their prosperity. Here, as if concluding this impressive hymn at the close of a day of trouble and rebuke, he gives his heart over to a quiet repose in that faith, which is alone the Christian's source of comfort and consolation in the hours of darkness and in the death of sleep :-I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest; for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me dwell in safety.*

[Read Psalms 3, 4, 5.]

Glory be to the Father, &c.

* The Author is indebted to a learned Brother for having pointed out to him, that his interpretation of some of these imprecatory passages is not consonant with the grammatical construction of the original. The spirit, however, in which this interpretation was preferred, is obvious in the Lectures themselves; and the following passages from different writers on the Psalms, constitute the Author's defence, and will probably obtain the reader's toleration of a mere grammatical licence.

Psalm v, 10.-Concerning passages of this imprecatory kind in the Book of Psalms, it is to be observed that they are spoken by way of prediction rather than of imprecation; which would appear if the original verbs were translated, as they should be, in the future tense.-Bp. Horne.

Psalm xxxv, 4.—Concerning this and the like imprecations, which seem strange and severe, they may be taken only for predictions-Poole.

Psalm lxix, 32.-It may be here remarked, that this and the following verses, to the twenty-ninth inclusive, are strictly prophetical of the wretched condition of the Jews, after their rejection of the Messiah, and the destruction of their city and Temple. -Travell.

Psalm cix.-There are many passages in the Book of the Psalms, 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.-Wintle. 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, or 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.-Ostervald.

LECTURE II.

PSALM 6.

:

This is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms, and is supposed to be a prayerful outpouring of the spirit in a time of severe sickness and it is a composition peculiarly fitted for use on all such occasions. Like every other portion of the Holy Scriptures, it has been preserved for our learning; for though we all are liable to the visitations of disease, we are not all equally capable of expressing our thoughts and desires in prayer, while labouring under the pains that flesh is heir to. For every help, therefore, in this extremity, our thanksgivings are due to the Author of all good for from hence we may derive patience and comfort in his Holy Word; since, as in the midst of life we are in death, so in the hour of death we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.

Ver. 1-4. In this short Psalm are exhibited very naturally the three several positions which the afflicted spirit may be supposed most prone to take up in its hour of trial-prayer, complaint, and returning confidence. It is not always that prayer takes the lead in our thoughts, when the body is sustaining the penalties of its inherited corruption: but this is for want of due reflection on the only source of hope and consolation. The great Physician of our souls is frequently urged, so to speak, to the necessity of making us sensible of his healing powers, by inflicting those pains on our mortal frames, through which alone we can be brought to reflect upon the more enduring agonies that await the thoughtless, unawakened, unregenerate soul. We can bear every torture of the mind, every change of fortune, every kind of bitter experience which the world can impose upon us; and may never think of imploring the divine protection and deliverance; by reason that our thoughts are bent upon the immediate cause of our suffering, whether that be our own imprudence or the enmity of others. But on the bed of sickness, when hope is departing, and the shadow of death seems to be stealing upon our dis

ordered vision, we are constrained to admit, that our wounds and bruises and putrifying sores are the effects of a chastening inflicted by an Almighty hand. The spirit of prayer is necessarily awakened, not by love but by fear: Lord, rebuke me not in thine indignation! chasten me not in thy displeasure! The consciousness of mere inability to sustain the assaults of the strong man armed, produces a kind of desperate hope in the possibility of some healing power, equally above our knowledge as beyond our reach, except by imploring the aid of Him, whom until now, we have shut out, willfully and rebelliously shut out, from all our thoughts. Our very feebleness then proves a stimulus to the growing strength of the reluctant will; and if we implore not the pardon of our sins, yet can we imprecate God's compassion on our sufferings:-Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am weak: O Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed! If this be but the first step towards a more fervent and effectual prayer, it is not to be despised as a prelude to awakening grace. The dread of the soul's suffering cannot be wholly shut out from the reflections of the sinner, whose bodily pangs enforce the apprehensions of increasing decay and approaching death. The immensity of the stake at issue overpowers even the love of life, which is always strongest in the hour of danger, and urges the slow repugnant prayer for mercy and pardon:-My soul also is sore troubled: but, Lord, how long wilt thou punish me? Shall thy fiery wrath for ever be suspended over my guilty spirit? Are thy terrors awakened for eternity, when the tortures of this decaying flesh shall no longer be my portion here? Turn Thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul! O save me for thy mercy's sake!

Ver. 5—7. The great Apostle hath exhorted us to glorify God in the body, and in the spirit, which are God's. The inference to be drawn from the Psalmist's argument here, is also to the same effect. In death no man remembereth Thee; and who will give Thee thanks in the pit ?-an apostrophe which is

finely enlarged by one of our best Commentators :*-" God created man for his own glory; which, therefore, would be so far diminished, if man were permitted finally to perish. The body could not glorify God, unless raised from the dead; nor could the soul, if left in hell. The voice of thanksgiving is not heard in the grave—no hallelujahs are sung in the pit of destruction." Here we may sanctify our complainings with prayer; for we are not forbidden to complain, either by any written precept or by the example of our Divine Instructor; who on the cross gave vent to those feelings, which belong to the nature He was then sustaining:-My God, my God! why hast Thou forsaken Me? Even so the pious king of Israel mingles with his devotions the cries of nature:-I am weary of groaning; my beauty is gone for very trouble. Yet in the midst of his anguish he looks around him upon the worthlessness in his extremity of all those things that minister to the pride, pomp, and circumstance of his elevated rank; and records his condemnation of them in the spirit of those words which our great poet puts into the mouth of one of his high characters: Vain pomp and glory of the world, I hate you! The words of David are

Ver. 8-10. The time will arrive, when if we can cherish the faithful confidence of the Psalmist, we shall share with him the wisdom that owns the emptiness of those things, which in times of health, and peace, and prosperity, feed the vanity of the human heart; and beguile it from the only objects worthy of its contemplation and its love: the hour when, in the conviction of our humbled souls, we shall so earnestly, so hopefully, so confidingly have committed ourselves to the tender mercies of our God in Christ Jesus, as to feel the assurance, that the Lord hath heard the voice of our weeping; that He hath heard our petition; that He will receive our prayer Then may we exultingly cherish the belief in our final deliverance from the power of our enemies, spiritual and temporal; that they shall be * Bp. Horne.

utterly confounded and sore vexed at the salvation wrought in our behalf; that they shall be turned back with sudden shame, to seek some other subjects for the victims of their disappointed malice.

PSALM 7.

This is a Psalm or Hymn, said to have been written by David as a record of his own innocency, when he had been slandered by some one among the envious dependants of Saul. The nature of the imputation brought against him does not appear; but there is sufficient evidence of the consciousness of his own integrity; while he appeals only to the Searcher of hearts, for righteous judgment of his conduct in the particular matter referred to.

Ver. 1-2. The preacher hath declared that a good name is better than precious ointment: and it may be as truly affirmed, that of still greater value is the testimony of conscience, that we deserve not an ill name. This alone will bear us up against many trials and conflicts with an evil world: but if it enable us also to cast our care upon Him who careth for us under every variety of tribulation; if we can lay our hearts open in prayer to the God of all consolation-O Lord my God, in Thee have I put my trust; then may we be assured of protection and deliverance from the power of all who would persecute us, in the indulgence of their envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness. For though like lions they may threaten to devour our soul, and tear it in pieces, in the foolish confidence that there is none to interpose in behalf of the poor persecuted child of the dust; none to help him in his worst extremity; they shall find their malicious intentions foiled by an unseen Power, who watcheth over the safety of his own faithful servants, and will not that the righteous be cast down. And who is the righteous man, but he that can thus boldly appeal to the God of the spirits of all flesh?