Psalm intended; and, consequently, it suits the different cases of the church universal, languishing for the advent of our Lord to deliver her from this evil world; of any particular church, in time of persecution; and of each individual, when harassed by temptations, or broken by sickness, pain, and sorrow. He who bore our sins, and carried our sorrows, may likewise be presumed to have made it a part of his devotions in the day of trouble.

2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

him as well as them; which would indeed have been the case, had Satan either seduced the true David to sin, or confined him in the grave. And certainly it should be a powerful motive to restrain us from transgression, when we consider, that as the conversion of a sinner brings glory to God, and causes joy among the angels of heaven; so the fall of a believer disgraces the Gospel of Jesus, opens the mouths of the adversaries, and would produce joy, if such a thing could be, in hell itself.

5. But I have trusted, or, I trust, in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice, or, rejoices, in thy salvation. 6. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt, or, deals, bountifully with me.

To excite compassion, and prevail for help from above, the petitioner mentions three aggravating circumstances of his misery: the perplexity of his soul, not knowing The heart which "trusteth in God's merwhich way to turn, or what course to take; cy," shall alone "rejoice in his salvation," his heart-felt sorrow, uttering itself in sighs and celebrate by the tongue, in songs of and groanings; and the mortifying reflection, that his enemies were exulting in their conquest over him. All this will happen, and be particularly painful, to him who has yielded to temptation, and committed sin.

3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

On the preceding considerations is founded a prayer to Jehovah, that he would no longer hide his face, but "consider," or, more literally, "have respect to, favorably behold" his servant; that he would "hear, attend to, be mindful of" his supplication in distress. The deliverance requested is expressed figuratively, "Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." In time of sickness and grief, the "eyes" are dull and heavy; and they grow more and more so as death approaches, which closes them in darkness. On the other hand, health and joy render the organs of vision bright and sparkling, seeming, as it were, to impart "light" to them from within. The words, therefore, may be fitly applied to a recovery of the body natural, and thence of the body politic, from their respective maladies. Nor do they less significantly describe the restoration of the soul to a state of spiritual health and holy joy, which will manifest themselves in like manner, by "the eyes of the understanding being enlightened;" and in this case, the soul is saved from the sleep of sin, as the body is, in the other, from the sleep of death.

4. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

This argument we often find urged in prayer to God, that he should be pleased to work salvation for his people, lest his and their enemies should seem to triumph over

praise, the loving kindness of the Lord. It is observable, that this, and many other Psalms, with a mournful beginning, have a triumphant ending; to show us the prevailing power of devotion, and to convince us of the certain return of prayer, sooner or later, bringing with it the comforts of heaven, to revive and enrich our weary and barren spirits in the gloomy seasons of sorrow and temptation, like the dew descending by night upon the withered summit of an eastern mountain.

PSALM XIV.

ARGUMENT.

THIS Psalm is in a manner the same with the 53d. It sets forth, 1-3, the corruption of the world; 4-6, its enmity against the people of God; 7, the prophet longs and prays for salvation.

'. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God: they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doth good.

It does not appear upon what occasion David composed this Psalm. The revolt of Israel in Absalom's rebellion, is by most writers pitched upon as the subject of it. But, be this as it may, the expressions are general, and evidently designed to extend beyond a private interpretation. And accordingly, the apostle, Rom. iii. 10, &c. produces some passages from it, to evince the apostasy of both Jews and Gentiles from their King and their God, and to prove them to be all under sin. In this light, therefore, we are to consider it, as characterizing the principles and practices of those who oppose the Gospel of Christ in all ages. "The fool hath said in

ent they are; and such as now "call not on" the name of "the Lord" Jesus for pardon and salvation, shall hereafter call in vain upon the rocks and mountains, to shelter them from his power and vengeance.

5. There were they in great fear; for God is in the generation of the righteous.

his heart, There is no God." Infidelity is the beginning of sin, folly the foundation of infidelity, and the heart the seat of both. "Their foolish heart (says St. Paul of the heathen, Rom. 1. 21,) was darkened." The sad consequence of defection in principle, is corruption in practice. "They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is In the parallel place, Ps. liii. 5, after the none that doth good." On these words the words, "There were they in great fear," are reader may see a full comment, Rom. i. added these, "where no fear was," which 28-32. certainly connect better with what follows, 2. The LORD looked down from heaven" for God is in the generation of the righupon the children of men, to see if there was teous." David is supposed to be speaking any that did understand, and seek God. 3. primarily of Israel's defection from him to They are all gone aside, they are all together Absalom, and here to be assigning the motive become filthy, or, putrefied: there is none of that defection in many, namely, fear of that doth good, no, not one. the rebel's growing power, and distrust of his ability to protect them; which fear, he observes, was groundless, because his cause was the cause of God, who would not fail to appear in its support and vindication. The subjects of Christ, in times of persecution, are often tempted to renounce their allegiance, upon the same principle of fear; although of them it may more emphatically be said, that they "fear where no fear is, since God is in the generation of the righteous;" and they who are engaged on the side of Messiah will, in the end, most assuredly be triumphant. The latter clause of this verse, in Psalm liii. runs thus: "For God hath scattered, or, shall scatter, the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast, or shalt, put them to shame, because God hath despised them :" the sense of which is evidently the same with "God is in the generation of the righteous:" he will defend them and overthrow their enemies: therefore let them not fear, neither let their hearts be troubled. If this interpretation be disapproved, the words, "There were they The "workers of iniquity" work for the in great fear;" must be understood of the wages of death; they fight against God and enemy; and the clause, "where no fear their own souls; they barter eternity for was," must be rendered interrogatively thus, time, and part with happiness for misery," and was there not cause for them to fear? both in possession and reversion. Well therefore may it be asked, "Have they no knowledge?" For common sense, after ali, is what they want. They who, with an appetite keen as that to their food, prey upon the poor, and devour the people of God, will themselves be preyed upon and devoured by that roaring lion, whose agents for the pres

Like a watchman on the top of some lofty tower, God is represented as surveying, from his heavenly throne, the sons of Adam, and their proceedings upon the earth; he scrutinizes them, and as it were searches diligently, to find among them a man of true wisdom, one whose heart was turned toward the Lord his God, one who was inquiring the way to salvation and glory, that he might walk therein. But as the result of this extensive and accurate survey, God informs his prophet, and commissions him to inform the world, that all had declined from the paths of wisdom and righteousness; that the mass of human nature was become putrid, requiring to be cleansed, and the vessels made of it to be formed anew. Such is the Scripture account of man, not having received grace, or having fallen from it; of man without Christ, or in arms against him. See Rom. iii. 11, 12.

*4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.

*Between the preceding verse and this are three others inserted in our common translation, which, though taken by St. Paul from other parts of Scripture, yet because (Rom. iii. 13) they followed the words cited from this Psalm, were probably added thereunto in this place by some transcribers of the copies of the LXX. For in other copies of the LXX, they exist not any more than in the Hebrew, Chaldee, or Syriac.

since God is in the generation of the righteous, or, will scatter the bones of him that encampeth against thee," &c.

6. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.

This is plainly addressed to the adversaries, and charges them with reproaching and scoffing at that confidence in the Lord, expressed by the afflicted righteous, in the preceding

verse.

7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

The consideration of the apostasy and corruption of mankind, described in this Psalm,

makes the prophet express a longing desire | sin ?" in whom the grand Accuser, when he for the salvation of Israel, which was to go came, " found nothing ;" who, being himself forth out of Zion, and to bring back the peo-" the Truth," thought and spake of nothing ple of God from that most dreadful of all cap- else; making many promises, and performing tivities, the captivity under sin and death; a them all. salvation, at which Jacob would indeed rejoice, and Israel be glad. And how doth the whole church, at this me, languish for the consummation of her felicty, looking, even until her eyes fail, for that glorious day of redemp-ities of all mankind, made his tongue an intion, when every believing heart shall exult, and all the sons of God shout aloud for joy!

THIRD DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM XV.

ARGUMENT.

THIS is one of the Psalms appointed to be used on Ascension-day. The Prophet, 1, inquires concerning the person, who should ascend into the hill, and dwell in the temple of Jehovah; 2-5, he receives, in answer to his question, a character of such

person.

1. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

The prophet alludes to the hill of Sion in the earthly Jerusalem, to the tabernacle of God which was thereon, and the character of the priest, who should officiate in that tabernacle. But all these were figures of a celestial Jerusalem, a spiritual Sion, a true tabernacle, and an eternal priest. To the great originals therefore we must transfer our ideas, and consider the inquiry as made after Him, who should fix his resting place on the heavenly mount, and exercise his unchangeable priesthood in the temple not made with hands. And since the disciples of this new and great High Priest become righteous in him, and are by the Spirit conformed to his image, the character which essentially and inherently belongs only to him, will derivatively belong to them also, who must follow his steps below, if they would reign with him above.

2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his

heart.

3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.

Who, knowing the sins, follies, and infirm

strument, not of disclosing and exasperating, but of covering and healing these sores in human nature; who, esteeming every son of Adam as his neighbor, went about doing good; and then laid down his life, and resigned his breath in prayer for his murderers; who, instead of taking up a reproach, and listening to the calumniator, cast him out, and silenced him by erasing the hand-writing that was against us, and nailing the cancelled indictment to the cross;

4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoreth them that fear the LORD: he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth

not.

Who rejected the wicked, however rich and honorable; and chose the well inclined, however poor and contemptible in the world; who having, by covenant with the Father, engaged to keep the law, and to taste death for every man, went willingly and steadily through this work, and surmounted every obstacle which could be thrown in his way, until he declared, concerning the task appointed him, "It is finished;"

5. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent.

Who was so far from desiring to amass the earthly mammon, that he would touch none of it; and received the true riches, only that he might bestow them upon others; who instead of taking a reward against the innocent, died for the guilty; and whose sentence, when he shall sit on the throne of judgment, will be equally impartial and immutable.

6. He that doth these things, shall never be moved.

In the above comment, it was thought most advisable to open and display the full intent of what was both enjoined and forbidden, by The man, therefore, who would be a citizen exemplifying each particular, as receiving its of Zion, and there enter into the rest and joy utmost completion, in the character and conof his Lord, must set that Lord always before duct of our blessed Lord. And whoever him. Renewed through grace, endued with shall survey and copy these virtues and graces, a lively faith, and an operative charity, he as they present themselves in his life, will, it must consider and imitate the life of that is humbly apprehended, take the best and blessed Person who walked amongst men, shortest way to the heavenly Zion, and make without partaking of their corruptions; who that use of the xvth Psalm, which the Church conversed unblamably with sinners; who may be supposed to have had in view, when could give this challenge to his inveterate she appointed it as one of the Proper Psalms enemies, "Which of you convinceth me of for Ascension-day.

.

PSALM XVI.

ARGUMENT.

Christ denounceth vengeance against those who should make to themselves other gods, run after other saviours, or suffer any creature UPON whatever occasion, or in whatever dis-to rival him in their affections; declaring of tress David might compose this Psalm, we such, that their offerings should not be preare taught by St. Peter and St. Paul, Acts, sented by him to the Father, nor should they ii. 25, and xiii. 35, to consider him as be partakers of the benefits of his intercesspeaking in the person of our Lord Christ, sion. Even the bloody sacrifices of the law, of whom alone the latter part of the Psalm instituted for a time by God himself, became is true. The contents are, 1, a prayer for abomination to him when that time was exsupport; 2, 3, a declaration of love to the pired, and the one great sacrifice had been saints; 4, a protestation against idolaters; offered upon the altar of the cross. 5-8, acts of love, joy, and confidence in Jehovah; and, 9-11, one of hope in an approaching resurrection and glorification.

1. Preserve me, O God; for in thee do 1 put my trust.

5. The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. 6. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

The true David, anointed to his everlasting kingdom, yet first a man of sorrows and a These words are evidently spoken by one stranger upon earth, prefers the promised in great distress, who addresses himself to inheritance of the church, that spiritual kingheaven for support under his sufferings, dom, city, and temple of Jehovah, before all pleading his confidence in God, still unshaken the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of by all the storms that had set themselves them; he is sure that Jehovah will maintain against it. This might be the case of David, his lot, that he will both give and preserve and may be that of any believer. But since to him this his patrimony; and therefore the Psalm is a continued speech without rejoices at the divine beauty and excellency change of person, we may consider the whole as uttered by Him, who only could utter the concluding verses, and who in this first verse makes his supplication to the Father, for the promised and expected deliverance.

2. O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; 3. But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

*

In the Chaldee and Syriac, the latter clause of the former of these two verses is rendered -"My goodness is from thee." An ingenious writer thinks the Hebrew will bear this sense, in the elliptical way, thus-" My goodness! shall I mention that! By no means; it is all to be ascribed to thee." The goodness of man is all derived from God, and should be extended to his brethren. That of Messiah owed its original to his union with the Divinity; and promoted the salvation of those to whom it was communicated, that is to say, of those who thereby became "the saints and excellent ones in the earth." For their sakes obedience was performed, and propitiation made, by the Son of God, because he loved them with an everlasting love, and placed "all his delight" in making them happy. He rejoiced in "the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the sons of men." Prov. viii. 31.

4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

of the heavenly Canaan. And hence the Christian learns wherein his duty and his happiness consist; namely, in making choice of God for "the portion of his inheritance and of his cup," for his support and for his delight; in preferring the spirit to the flesh, the church to the world, and eternity to time. 7. I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel; my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

The person speaking here blesses Jehovah for communicating that divine "counsel," that celestial wisdom, by which he was incited and enabled to make the foregoing choice and resolution. In the latter part of the verse is intimated the mode of these gracious and spiritual communications, which in the dark seasons of adversity were conveyed to the inmost thoughts and affections of the mind, thereby to instruct, to comfort, and to strengthen the sufferer, until his passion should be accomplished, and the morning of the resurrection should dawn, in which, as we shall see, all his hope and confidence were placed.

8. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

The method taken by Christ as man, to support himself in time of trouble, and persevere unto the end, was to maintain a constant actual sense of the presence of Jehovah, whom when he thus saw standing at his right hand, ready, at the appointed hour, to succor and deliver him, he then feared not the Powers of earth and hell combined for his

PSALM XVII.

ARGUMENT.

destruction. Why are our fears great, but because our faith is little?

cause, 1-4, prayeth for a hearing and decision of it; 5-9, he petitioneth for the divine guidance and protection; 10–12, he describeth the temper and behavior of his enemies; 13, 14, beseecheth God to disappoint them, and to deliver him; he endeth with an act of faith.

9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory THE Psalmist, confiding in the justice of his rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. Through confidence in the almighty power engaged on his side, joy filled the heart of Christ, and rendered his tongue an instrument of giving glory to Jehovah in the midst of his sufferings; because when they were ended, as they must soon be, his flesh was only to make its bed, and rest a while in the grave, after the labors of the day, in sure and certain hope of a speedy resurrection and glorification. This same consideration is to the afflicted, the sick, and the dying Christian, a never failing source of comfort, an inexhaustible fountain of joy: sin and infidelity are the enemies, who would fill it with earth. 10. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell: neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.

It was a part of the covenant of grace, and promised by the mouth of God's prophets, that after the death of Messiah, his animal frame, w, should not continue, like those of other men, in the grave,, nor should corruption be permitted to seize on the body, by which all others were to be raised to incorruption and immortality. As members of Christ, this same promise and assurance is so far ours, that although our mortal part must see corruption, yet it shall not be finally left under the power of the enemy, but shall be raised again, and re-united to its old companion the soul, which exists, mean while, in secret and undiscerned regions, there waiting for the day when its Redeemer shall triumph over corruption, in his mystical, as he hath already done in his natural body.

11. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

1. Hear the right, O LORD, or, Hear, O righteous LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

The righteousness of the judge, and the importunity and sincerity of the petitioner, are the arguments here urged for a speedy and favorable determination. Slander and calumny were the portion of David, and of a greater than David, till the righteous Lord manifested himself on their behalf. And shall not God, in like manner, judge and avenge the cause of "his own elect, who cry day and night unto him; I tell you," saith Christ himself, "that he will avenge them speedily:" Luke, xviii. 8. "Men ought always to pray, therefore, and not to faint." 2. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

A court of equity is ever sitting in heaven, to receive appeals from the wrongful decisions of men here below; and in that court a judge presides, whose impartial hand holds the scales of justice even; whose unerring eye marks the least inclination of either; and from whose sentence injured innocence is therefore taught to expect redress.

3. Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing: I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

The return of Christ from the grave is beautifully described by Jehovah "showing," The sufferer's "heart condemns him not, or discovering to him a "path of life," lead- and he has confidence towards God," to whom ing through the valley of the shadow of death, he applies as the proper judge, because the and from that valley to the summit of the hill only witness of his integrity. God had of Zion, or to the mount of God in heaven," proved" not only his words and actions, on which he now sits enthroned. There exalted at the right hand of the Father, that human body, which expired on the cross, and slept in the sepulchre, lives and reigns, filled with delight, and encircled by glory incomprehensible and endless. Through this thy beloved Son and our dear Saviour, "thou shalt show" us likewise, O Lord, "the path of life;" thou shalt justify our souls by thy grace now, and raise our bodies by thy power at the last day; when earthly sorrow shall terminate in heavenly joy, and momentary pain shall be rewarded with everlasting felicity.

but his "heart," which man could not do: God had "visited," observed, and explored him "in the night," when secrecy and solitude prompt the hypocrite to sin, and when the undisciplined imagination wanders abroad, like the bird of darkness, after forbidden objects: God had "tried" him, as silver or gold, in the fiery furnace of adversity; and if there be any dross or scum in the metal, it will then rise to the top, and show itself; yet nothing appeared, not so much as the alloy of an intemperate word. Absolutely and universally this could only be true of