away in thy just anger, the memorial of their wicked inhabitants is perished with them: Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever! O thou enemy, (thy) destructions are come to a perpetual end. These concluding words are parenthetical where they stand; but at the close of this passage, they form the climax to a noble effusion of devotional praise.

Ver. 7-12. Here follows an earnest exhortation to the people, which seems to flow spontaneously from David's own reflection on the Power and Goodness displayed in their behalf, by the God of their salvation; whose claim to their submission and confidence, the Psalmist traces to the unchanging character of His Majesty: for not only doth He reign supreme from all eternity, but hath also prepared his seat for the judgment of the actions of all mankind, in that day which He hath Himself appointed, when He shall judge the world in righteousness. And it was in these very words that Paul reproved the blindness of the Athenians, when he discovered them offering their devotions at an altar inscribed To the Unknown God. (Acts xxvi.) The Psalmist, however, instructs his people to put their trust in the Lord for temporal justice, for protection, for support, and for safety in time of trouble. He had enjoyed

a prolonged experience of the loving-kindness of the Lord, and as the well-being of his people was bound up in his own prosperity, he labours to impress their hearts with the same sentiments of faith and devotedness to the God of Zion, which aniImated his own. He exhorts them therefore to put their full trust in the Lord; to shew the people, that is, to speak continually among each other, of his doings; reminding them that the Lord forgetteth not the complaint of the oppressed and the poor; for that the day will come, wherein He will make inquisition for the blood of those who have been unrighteously slain, or cruelly treated, or unjustly impoverished, by the tyranny of heathen or ungodly men; never, in time nor in eternity, failing them who seek his face.

Ver. 13-20. In his contemplation of the dangers and deliverances of his people, the pious king of Israel never omits the duty of personal prayer. The experience and fate of Israel were so interwoven with his own, that he could not separate them in his thoughts. He could not forget, moreover, that in all the national conflicts wherein his people had been engaged, his individual destruction was the first and chief aim of his foes, whether they were the heathen nations around him, or the treacherous instruments of Saul's vengeance, or his own rebellious subjects. Here therefore he resumes the language of private prayer-he supplicates the Almighty to have mercy especially upon himself, and to consider his personal affliction; acknowledging with a grateful spirit, that the Lord alone had redeemed his life from many past perils, and lifted him up from the gates of death: and upon this review he builds his hope that he shall yet rejoice in the final salvation of his God, and be spared to celebrate his praises in the presence of all Israel, and within the gates of the daughter of Zion: for that he had already been made to triumph over his godless adversaries: they had fallen into the pit of their own contrivance; they had been caught in the snares which they had privily laid for his destruction. In the meditation and prayer which conclude this Psalm, though ostensibly applied to the temporal enemies of Israel, the Christian may see an instructive model whereby to shape his own thoughts, and supplications for aid, against his spiritual foes, sin, the world, and the devil. Nor can he fail, while meditating on this portion of the Psalm, to turn the mind's eye upon those living professors of the religion of the Gospel, whose wishes and actions are nevertheless hostile to the peace and unity of Christ's Holy Catholic Church; whom the Apostle describes as gainsayers, who while they profess that they know God, in works deny Him; being in truth vain talkers and deceivers, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. (Tit. i.) To all such is David's supplica

tion most appropriate-Put them in fear, O Lord, that they may know themselves to be but men.

PSALM 10.

Whatever was the occasion which prompted the composing of this Psalm, it must remain unknown, as it bears no Title in the original. It is, however, an eloquent exposure of those evil practices which godless men indulge in, to manifest their enmity against their more virtuous neighbours; which is followed by a most earnest appeal to God in behalf of those who are his faithful though oppressed servants. The Psalm contains moreover many useful though indirect instructions, by which the humble Christian is encouraged to preserve an unshaken faith in the defence of the Most High, under whatever provocations he may sustain from evil tongues. Here is nothing of a prophetic character, no figurative language, but all is simply descriptive and instructive.

Ver. 1-6. The leading verse of this Psalm is thought to be a reflection arising out of the remembrance of the argument of Moses, in his exhortation to obedience, in the 4th chapter of Deuteronomy:-What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is, in all things that we call upon him for? Whereas the Psalmist's complaint is, Why standest Thou so far off, O Lord, and hidest thy face in the needful time of trouble? Yet this betrays more of mere human impatience under the provocation of the wicked, than of decided faithlessness. The persecution and the proud boastings of ungodliness, and the arrogant defiance of the infidel, unchecked for a season, are strong temptations to the weakness of our nature to admit, upon occasions, the suggestions of a doubting spirit. Yet these are but the flitting shadows cast upon our vision by our ever-present infirmities. The Psalmist was too deeply convinced how abhorrent in the sight of God is the pride of infidelity, to doubt for a moment of the final administration of retributive justice; but is impatient of its delay, while witnessing the impious boldness of the offenders :-Tush,

I shall never be cast down there shall no harm happen unto me! This portion of the Psalm gives a general description of the subjects of complaint: what follows is more minute and particular.

Ver. 7-12. The vehemence of the language resorted to by the Psalmist in these descriptive passages, indicates the presence of some extraordinary cause it is surmised that the various stratagems resorted to by the emissaries of Saul, to circumvent the innocent object of his implacable malice, sometimes successfully against the most simple among David's faithful followers, called forth these vituperative sentences: and it is not improbable that the indignant feelings of the honest son of Jesse were aroused to their utmost height, by hearing from time to time that the infidel plea which he has recorded, was the familiar language of his enemies :-Tush, God hath forgotten: He hideth away his face, and He will never see it! As this was their only hope of impunity, so was David's confidence in the never-failing protection of Jehovah offended; his pride was wounded; and in his estimate of the true character of his foes, he feels no reserve in giving to its several features their proper colouring. He knew them only as blasphemers, deceivers, and traitors; (See 1 Sam. xviii, 22, &c.) that their treachery was but the implement used to gratify their murderous designs against the innocent; and that they rested their hope of final success against himself and his little company of friends, upon their comparative weakness and poverty. The contemplation of their wickedness seems to have left the sacred historian powerless to restrain his pen from recording even one dark line in the description of their complicated baseness. Thus does the Psalmist exemplify our Lord's declaration—He that is faithful in that which is the least is faithful also in much. David has rendered justice to his enemies, by preserving their true characters for the instruction and caution of posterity.

Arise, O

The blas

Ver. 13-20. Against the wickedness which he has so minutely recorded, the Psalmist raises his supplication in behalf of the afflicted victims of that wickedness, with an earnestness scarcely less vehement than that which he had manifested in his condemnation of the ungodly persecutors. Such will ever be the quality of the prayer of faith, when prompted by a due estimate of the impartiality of Divine justice. Earnestness in prayer is the test of the sincerity of faith. The very terms of David's supplication afford the proof of his confidence that his prayer would not return unto him void of effect. Lord God! lift up thine hand: forget not the poor. phemy of the wicked hath reached thine ears; thine eyes have beheld the prevailing ungodliness and wrong; the poor committeth his sorrows unto Thee; the friendless seek refuge under thy wing, as their helper and defender. Interpose, O God, between them and their oppressors: break down the power of the ungodly and malicious: for when that is destroyed, Thou shalt find faithfulness, only, among thy people. The sudden transition, from this imprecation to the warm language of devout acknowledgment, is the evidence of an answered prayer: it is the confession of God's omnipotence, timely manifested in behalf of his oppressed people: it is the pledge of increasing faith in the loving-kindness of the Lord towards them that call upon Him, yea, all such as call upon Him faithfully it is the avowal that of Him alone cometh that preparation of the heart, which gives its prayer a claim to the ear of divine compassion. To meet this view of the purport of the Psalmist's language, it is necessary to make only a little change in the arrangement of the three concluding verses :-Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the poor: Thou preparest their heart, and (then) thine ear hearkeneth thereto; to the end that Thou mayest help the fatherless and poor unto their right, (and) that the man of the earth be no more exalted against them: for already are the heathen perished out of the land; because Thou, Lord, art King for ever and ever.

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