THE BOOK OF PSALMS. (continued 2)

In a word they serve not God but Mammon and their own belly: as Paul saith to the Philippians. And this Psalm saith, “And their right hand is full of bribes.” Yet their hypocrisy has a wonderful outside appearance. And indeed the false church who has power and dominion on her side, has always a more wonderful and showy appearance than the true, which lies hidden under the various forms of the cross.

Therefore we have need to pray in no slothful manner that God would preserve us in his true Church, and would not suffer us to be mingled and carried away with these characters, lest we have our portion with such hypocrites, whose end, though they may for a time make a show before the world, shall be destruction, and whose glory shall be turned into confusion: as we have seen it exemplified in the Pope and his kingdom.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment, and to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: for it speaks of the true worship and kingdom of God.

PSALM XXVII.

David sustaineth his faith by the power of God, by his love to the service of God, by prayer.

A Psalm of David.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me: he shall set me upon a rock.

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in this tabernacle sacrifices of joy: I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When thou saidst, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help: leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

This Psalm is a thanksgiving, containing also a prayer and consolation against false teachers.

David having been taught and exercised by such great afflictions, by so many perils and sorrows, and by such fiery conflicts, for the word’s sake, and having been supported therein against the devil, and the world, now finds a greater truth and reliance on God, and is more encouraged and fortified against all his enemies.

The Lord (saith he) is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? That is, the Lord hath so often and so wonderfully comforted me under, and so powerfully delivered me from, various darknesses and storms of temptations, that he will not leave nor forsake me in time to come. If God, then, be for me, who can be against me? If God uphold me, what power or violence of the enemy can cast me down, or who can destroy me?

I will not fear thousands of enemies (says he) though they should raise up war against me. All that I am anxious about is this one thing;—that I may remain and dwell in the house of the Lord; that is, in the true church, and among those where the word of God is purely and sincerely taught and learned. If I can hold fast this jewel I am rich. For if I hold fast the word of God, no terrors, how great soever they may be, nor even death itself, can destroy my light and my life; that is, my sure and eternal consolation. But if I love not the word, no human consolations, how great soever they may be, will be able to afford me that light and life.

David directs the whole of this Psalm against hypocrites and false teachers, who are so soon carried away from the word, and who teach human things and seduce men’s consciences. Here he calls these characters false witnesses; that is, such as nothing can shame, and who know not how to blush. The audacity of these inexperienced characters is prodigious, who, without any calling, and without the word, boastingly make use of the name of God and seduce men, and do infinite damage both to the state and to the church. For we generally find it to be the case, that the more inexperienced such characters are, and the more devoid of spiritual things, the more easily they rush forth to teach: and such as these are those fanatical spirits who afterwards raise up divisions and sects against the truly godly.

This Psalm belongs to the First and Second Commandments, and to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXVIII.

David prayeth earnestly against his enemies.—He blesseth God.—He prayeth for the people.

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

This is a prayer of David, which in his time he used against Saul, and others like him; but especially against all those Cainish hypocrites who in word pretended to desire peace, but burned with secret hatred in their hearts. Such a viper as this was Absalom, his son, against him; and such an one also was Joab against Amasa and Abner, 2 Kings iii. David, therefore, fearing lest the same things should be laid to his charge, prays, “Draw me not away with the wicked, nor with the workers of iniquity.”

We may use the Psalm against tyrants and fanatical spirits; for in this way are tyrants and persecutors of the word wont to pretend peace in word, and yet secretly plan counsels of slaughter and murder all the while. And so also fanatical spirits and all false prophets boast with ‘big swelling words’ of the word of God, and tumultuously cry out that they seek the glory and the worship of God, and promise nothing but divine and heavenly things, and yet seek all the while their own advantage and their own glory, destroying souls, and walking about in sheep’s clothing, while they are inwardly nothing but ravening wolves.

This Psalm belongs to the second and third precept, and to the first and second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXIX.

David exhorteth princes to give glory to God, by reason of his power, and protection of his people.

A Psalm of David.

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

The LORD sitteth upon the flood: yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

This is a prophecy concerning the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world, and concerning the preaching of the name of Christ before kings and nations, and the children of Israel.

“Give unto the Lord, ye mighty;” that is, ye kings, ye rulers, and ye wise and rich ones of the world, ye Pharisees and rabbi, acknowledge your wisdom, righteousness, and all your excellent political virtues, your works of the law, and all that is high and excellent before men, to be abomination in the sight of God; repent ye and believe the gospel, that ye may quit yourselves under that one King and Lord, Christ, and his church and kingdom, and, by faith and the wisdom of God, acknowledge Christ, this son of God, to be God; for God, by a manifest work of his power, in the beginning sent a flood upon the whole world, and destroyed all flesh; and the same God, by his gospel and by baptism, will drown and mortify the flesh, that is, the old fleshly Adam, by a new and spiritual baptism: that as many as are baptized into Christ, being crucified according to the old Adam, may be raised up together with the second Adam, and become new men and new creatures.

He calls, by a figure, the kingdoms, nations, and powerful cities of this world, forests; the wilderness of Kadesh, confused places of many waters, places for hinds to calve, &c. These confused places the Lord has revealed and discovered, and brought to the light of the gospel.

This Psalm refers to the third precept, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXX.

David praiseth God for his deliverance.—He exhorteth others to praise him by example of God’s dealing with him.

A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the House of David.

I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness:

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

This is a remarkable Psalm, and truly Davidical. Here, with a wonderful fervency of heart, he gives thanks unto God for having delivered him from spiritual temptations and unspeakable conflicts with Satan, and for having refreshed and comforted his heart when brought down to such a state of weakness, when broken with such views of misery, terror, and wrath, and when almost overwhelmed with the greatness of his temptations. “Thou hast (saith he) brought my soul up from hell:” that is, thou hast enabled me to overcome the violence and fury of Satan, which never could be overcome by any human power.

This Psalm contains, as you see, those sublime and heavenly feelings of one rejoicing in the Holy Ghost, because God has turned such deep distress, such overwhelming terrors and fears, so many tears and sighs from the very belly of hell, into a joy that has refreshed and healed the soul that was just before burning with the fiery darts of the devil, and with the very flames of hell.

The Psalm contains also a most sweet consolation: “His anger (says David) endureth but for a moment: in his favour is life;” that is, God, although he exercises the godly in these deep temptations, and these intense agonizings of soul, yet he does not so try them with the intent to slay them; nor does he afflict, in order to destroy his people; nor is he the God of misery, of terror, and of death, but the God of peace and of life, the God of joy and of consolation.

This Psalm belongs to the third precept and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXXI.

David, shewing his confidence in God, craveth his help.—He rejoiceth in his mercy.—He prayeth in his calamity.—He praiseth God for his goodness.

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

For thou art my rock and my fortress: therefore, for thy name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for thou art my strength.

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.

I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my foot in a large room.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.

Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man; thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

Blessed be the Lord; for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications, when I cried unto thee.

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

This Psalm is a thanksgiving, and contains also prayers and consolations. And the way to arrive at a right understanding of the deep feelings and circumstances contained in this Psalm, is to know that this Psalm is the general and continual cry of Christ and his members, groaning and sighing under the cross and various afflictions. For the Church is a congregation of afflicted, poor, and tried persons. The wicked men of the world, the rich, the despisers of all religion, and the atheistical Epicureans have, as Christ saith, their consolation; while the godly, the spiritual, and those that believe, being exposed to the horrible hatred and envy of the devil, are exercised and distressed through all their life, inwardly with fears and terrors in their hearts, and outwardly by persecutions, blasphemies, and contempt for the word of God’s sake; and yet, from all these they are delivered: for, as St. Paul saith, “Where afflictions abound, there consolations abound also.”

This Psalm belongs to the second and third precept, and to the first and third petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

ADMONITORY OBSERVATIONS.

And here I will cease to show, like a schoolmaster, to which precept of the Decalogue, and to which member of the Lord’s Prayer each Psalm belongs; for from what I have already said upon these points, my seriously-disposed readers will be enabled to observe and judge for themselves. All the supplicatory Psalms belong to the second precept and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, for they honour and sanctify the name of the Lord. And the Psalms which teach, console, and give thanks for deliverance, belong to the second and third precepts of the Decalogue, and also to the first and third petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: for they teach us how, in truth, to keep holy the Sabbath day, how to worship God with the true and highest worship, and how to offer the most acceptable sacrifice; namely, the sacrifice of praise. And most of the Psalms refer to all those three precepts of the Decalogue, and to all those petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

My reason for giving these hints respecting the commandments, and petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, to which the different Psalms belong, in this my brief summary of the contents of the Psalms, is this: to show that the whole Scripture flows from the Decalogue as from a fountain; and that in the Ten Commandments and in the Lord’s Prayer are contained the sum and substance of all theology or divinity; and that nothing can be taught in the Church more sublime or more excellent than these two parts of Divine revelation. For we see how the greatest prophets and Moses himself, drew their great and divine discourses from the first, the second, and the third Commandments; and, in a word, from the whole of the Decalogue; how diligently they weighed every thing and made it harmonize with this; and how they continually delivered new things, yet all with reference to this great general Decalogue. Hence indeed it was that Moses, that most eminent man of God, gave this precept, “These words (says he,) thou shalt meditate, when thou standest up and when thou liest down; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children,” &c.

In all their discourses and writings, therefore, the prophets and apostles allude and refer to the Decalogue or Ten Commandments. From these Ten Commandments flow all the doctrines, and all the godly living of the saints: for there is no holiness or godliness of life or true religion, apart from the Ten Commandments: because they are the never-failing inexhaustible fountain of all wisdom, righteousness, and of all perfection in the saints. Nor is there any of the complaints uttered by the Prophets or Apostles, nor will you find any other in all their discourses, but that against false prophets, hypocrites and false teachers, who, disregarding, nay, totally despising and spitting upon, the true and highest worship of God, (which is that of the first Commandment, that requires faith and the fear of God,) teach their own human dreams, which have nothing whatever to do with the Decalogue, and do not at all belong to it.

Against these characters it is, (as we see in Moses himself, in Isaiah, in Jeremiah, and in the epistles of Paul and Peter,) that the Prophets and Apostles complain bitterly, and that with tears; against these it is that they cry aloud and wage war with all their powers; that they might preserve this true and highest worship of God, and might destroy from among men, hypocrisy and all human doctrines and fanatical dreams.

PSALM XXXII.

Blessedness consisteth in remission of sins.—Confession of sins giveth ease to the conscience.—God’s promises bring joy.

A Psalm of David, Maschil.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Thou art my hiding-place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

This Psalm is a very remarkable and valuable one. St. Paul quotes it in that profound discussion of his, Rom. iv. where he teaches us what sin is, and how we obtain the remission of sins, and, in a word, how we are justified before God: for it is in this matter that all hypocrites so deeply err: because human reason cannot imagine that sin is accompanied with such great and such infinite guilt before God, and with a guilt that no human powers nor works can wash away. In a word, it knows not what sin is, and thinks that it can be washed off, and taken away by works.

Whereas David here plainly says, “For this shall every one that is godly pray:” and he says also, that no one can be justified or sanctified before God, unless he acknowledge himself to be a sinner, and know that he is to obtain the remission of sins without any works and merits, by the mere mercy of God, and by a free and gratuitous imputation. In a word, our righteousness is not placed in us, or in our works; but is such, that the remission of our sins is truly and rightly called the free REMISSION of our sins: and also that our sins are truly said ‘not to be imputed,’ but ‘to be covered.’ ‘Blessed (says David) are they (that is, such are accepted before God, and are truly righteous and reconciled to God) whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered.’

Here David says, in plain words, that all the saints are, and still remain, sinners; and that they are justified and sanctified in no other way than this;—God of his free mercy, for Christ’s sake, is pleased not to impute their sins unto them, nor to judge them, but, in mercy, to forgive them, and cover over their sins, and forget them. And although in many other respects there is a great difference between the saints and the wicked, yet, in this point there is no difference,—they are all equally sinners, and all equally sin every day. But the sins of the saints are not imputed unto them: they are covered and forgiven on account of their faith in the promise of free grace. Whereas the sins of the wicked are imputed unto them, and they are exposed to the eye and to the awful judgment of God. The wounds of the latter are not bound up: but the wounds of the former are bound up, and are cured with healing plasters and oil: and yet they are both truly wounded and truly sinners! But of this, more in its place; and I have said much upon it in others of my writings.

PSALM XXXIII.

God is to be praised for his goodness, for his power, and for his providence.—Confidence is to be placed in God.

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings.

Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

For the word of the LORD is right: and all his works are done in truth.

He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy:

To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

This Psalm is a remarkable thanksgiving, where the prophet calls upon all the saints, and those that fear God, to rejoice and give thanks unto God for his preserving the church so wonderfully in the midst of the world, in the midst of the kingdom of the devil, and exposed to so many evils and perils on every side,—to give thanks unto God, I say, who never forsakes the godly, and those that fear him, when tossed to and fro on such waves of temptation, nor suffers them to be overwhelmed, nor to perish, though conflicting in so perilous a manner.

God, says David, created the heaven and this whole universe of things by his word. “He spake, and they were made:” therefore he is omnipotent, and nothing is difficult to him: and hence he can deliver his own from the midst of death, and from the midst of hell. And then, again, his goodness and his truth are exceedingly great and infinite. He regardeth and heareth the afflicted, he is ever present with them in the hour of temptation: and, as David says in another Psalm, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”

Therefore God is not only willing to help and succour the godly, but to succour them even as a father would his children; even as that gracious promise which is comprehended in the First Commandment, declares “I am the Lord thy God:” that is, I will be the Lord thy God: I will be thy life, thy salvation, thy shield, thy defence, thy eternal strength, thy eternal salvation, and consolation; thy eternal and infinite good, against all the evils that can come upon thee:—For this is to be God!

In the first place, therefore, David proclaims with great fulness of expression this unequalled wisdom and power of God,—that God has in his hand all the hearts and thoughts of all men, kings, rulers and potentates throughout the whole world; that he turns them and orders them just as he will; that he governs and overrules all their deliberations and counsels, and directs them all according to his own mind and pleasure. “The Lord (saith David) bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought:” that is, he wonderfully breaks off and disappoints the counsels of the wise, of the kings, of the potentates of this world: and suddenly defeats all the attacks of the enemies against his people and his church, how sure soever of success they may appear, and he turns all their destruction upon the heads of the enemies themselves, so that they cannot perform their enterprises nor accomplish the devices which they plot against the righteous, but they fall themselves into the pits which they have digged, and there perish and rot.

This is no small consolation to those that fear God, amidst all that bitterness and Satanic cruelty which the tyrants of this world execute against the godly, when they fearfully threaten that they will fill all things with blood if they do not deny Christ and his gospel. These make no end of their threats, because they are as if they would terrify God himself, and hurl Christ down from the throne of his majesty. Whereas God, all the while, holds in his power the thoughts and imaginations of every one of them, and also their life and the breath that is in their nostrils: and therefore such are subverted and destroyed in a moment before they have accomplished their designs. Only meditate upon all the examples of this since the beginning of the world. What became of all the counsels of the people of Sodom against Lot? Where is that great monarch and terror of the world, Sennacherib? What (to come to our own times) has become of Pope Leo X. and all the other bitter enemies of the word?

PSALM XXXIV.

David praiseth God, and exhorteth others thereto by his experience.—They are blessed that trust in God.—He exhorteth to the fear of God.—The privileges of the righteous.

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him, and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

Come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil, and do good, seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

This Psalm is a remarkable thanksgiving, and is nearly of the same import with the preceding, as the title of the Psalm, and the sixth verse show: for David here sets forth himself as an example and proof before all the godly, to show, that God always hears the prayers and supplications of the godly, and them that believe, and does not despise the sighings of the afflicted.

David here, after a majestic opening of the Psalm, promises that he will set forth the sum of all godliness. “What man is he (saith the Psalmist) that desireth life, and loveth many days. Keep thy tongue from evil, &c.” Here, he requires before all things, the fear of the Lord, and the worship of the First Commandment: that, cleaving closely to the word, we might avoid hypocrisy and lying doctrines, and that we might truly trust in God, endure his will, and not rebel or murmur against him. And then, that we should live in peace with our neighbour, not rendering evil for evil, but blessing even our adversaries and our enemies, and, as much as in us lies, living in peace with all men, whether they be good or evil.

For thus does the counsel of God stand, which cannot be changed or altered,—that the saints should live in affliction in this life. Wherefore, if thou wilt be a godly man, if thou wilt cleave unto God, prepare thy soul (as David here saith) to temptations, to the cross, and to afflictions: for thus it is immutably decreed of God, (as he says again afterwards) “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” And again, this firm and eternal counsel of God stands also immutably fixed,—that it is God’s will to deliver the saints from all these evils, and so wholly and faithfully so, that not even the least bone of them shall perish: nay, in the resurrection, and in glorification, every bone shall return to the body with greater perfection than ever; as Christ says in his Gospel, “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

What then is this light and momentary tribulation, in comparison with that eternal weight of glory, which shall be revealed in us? For although the bones and members of the saints are, above all others, cruelly scattered and broken, burnt in the fire, and left to rot in graves; yet, even though they be thus sown in ignominy, they shall be raised in glory: they shall be quickened again with all their limbs and bodies; and all their bones shall be restored; and the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. For that maddened and insatiable fury of the devil, shall not be able to mangle the bones of the saints, or so to extinguish the church as that it shall be annihilated altogether. The death, and the cruel bruising of the bones of the saints, shall be temporary only: but their glorification in God, shall be for ever and ever.

And observe, how remarkably this Psalm speaks of the resurrection, and also concerning angels. For this is the first Psalm which we have yet treated on, that speaks of angels. This Psalm shows that they are ministers and helpers to the saints, being sent forth to minister unto them who shall be heirs of salvation. David shows that they are not only present with us, but that they most diligently and unceasingly watch over us, and stand up for our defence; that they encamp round about us, and fight for us perpetually, as if in open battle, that they may defend us against the horrible violence, and infinite snares of Satan and his members. All which things are the greatest consolation to the godly, and them that believe.

This is all confirmed by the example of the prophet Elisha, 2 Kings vi. 16. when he said concerning the ministration of angels, “Fear not, for they that be with us, are more than they that be with them.” The prophet makes an allusion here, after the manner of the prophets, who drew all their matter from Moses, as it were from a fountain. Moses says of Jacob, Gen. xxxii. when he feared the cruelty and rage of his brother Esau, “And the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God’s host.” So it is said, that angels came to Elisha, and encamped round about him; as we have it in the present Psalm.

PSALM XXXV.

David prayeth for his own safety, and his enemies’ confusion.—He complaineth of their wrongful dealing.—Thereby he inciteth God against them.

A Psalm of David.

Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.

Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.

Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

Let destruction come upon him at unawares, and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction, let him fall.

And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.

All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.

They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:

With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

LORD, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.

This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O LORD, be not far from me.

Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.

Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

This is a prayer wherein David complains bitterly against those worst of all men who are found about palaces, and who flatter kings and rulers, and, for their own gain and advantage, tickle their ears with adulation in order to please them; and at the same time, speak evil of the innocent, enflame the powerful against the preachers and professors of the word of God, endeavour to suppress the truth, and cause awful injuries both to churches and to states. Thus such characters as these traduced David before king Saul, though they were men to whom David had rendered the greatest services, for whom he had often most fervently prayed, and in endeavouring to save and protect whom he had brought upon himself much misery and distress.

The matter of this Psalm may be a great consolation to us when we see the doctrines of truth and the gospel of God to be hated and traduced before kings and rulers, with the most impudent lies, and the most virulent speeches of the enemies of true piety, nay of every thing that is honest and becoming man. Thus, a certain man, remarkable for the fear of God, once told me that, at the tenth year of the August Assembly, by the impudent and malicious report of some present, nothing was talked about in the pope’s palace concerning Luther, but, ‘that he denied the Lord Christ, that he despised the Virgin Mary, and contemptuously set aside baptism, the sacraments, and all religion; and that he winked at theft, adultery, and other open sins, and permitted them to pass by with impunity.’ These forgers, however, of this manifest lie were put to shame openly when Charles V. himself was present and heard me when I made a confession of my doctrine; and then also, the devil, the father and fountain of lies, was himself confuted. Thus are these wretches wont to traduce the godly in this malicious manner, and to defame them, while they themselves in the mean time enjoy all the secular benefits of the gospel. Of this stamp there are thousands before us in our day.

Hypocritical (or halting) mockers (saith David), who halt between two desires,—who want to serve both God and men,—conspire together against me. For these when they have been raised at the expense and loss of the godly, and have golden riches and honours, trample those very godly ones under their feet. Such ungrateful wretches as these are all hypocrites and fanatical spirits, who serve not the Lord or Christ but their own belly. And just such now are all those who enjoy and squander all our property, and persecute us into the bargain.

In a word, as it happened to Christ our head, so it is now with the church and all who fear God. He that eateth my bread, saith Christ, trampleth me under foot, and that for the hire of thirty pieces of silver. These are those hypocrites who consider their own belly above every thing else, whose unbounded and insatiable cruelty is ever raging against those that fear God; as David here complains.

PSALM XXXVI.

The grievous estate of the wicked.—The excellency of God’s mercy.—David prayeth for favour to God’s children.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.

Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.

How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

O continue thy loving-kindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

This is a Psalm containing a very necessary doctrine, and marks whereby heretics, false-teachers, and fanatical spirits may be discovered. And in the end he begs of God with a wonderful fervency that he may be guarded against all these pestilences. And after he had at the beginning of the Psalm exactly described these characters in their own colours, he takes courage, in the middle, himself, and comforts all those that fear God; and tells them, that, although Satan by his instruments roars and rages against the church, yet, that the word of God shall remain and the kingdom of God stand unmoved, against all the violence of Satan, and against the power of all the kingdoms of the world.

“Thy righteousness (says David) is like the great mountains: and thy judgments are a great deep;” that is, as the rocks and mountains which God has fixed, no power can overthrow;—and as the great deeps of the sea are inexhaustible, so, thy word O Lord stands firm, and no human power can overthrow or subvert the truth: and although all the gates of hell and all the attempts of men and devils should set themselves against thy word and will, yet with thee is the fountain of life; that is, in thy house, where thou dwellest by the word in the midst of enemies: that fountain and river of life will still remain; that is, this word of thine, whereby afflicted consciences will be raised up and revived.

And here, if any where, the prophet expressively describes those false teachers. He first of all breaks out against such, with the most fervent zeal at the beginning of the Psalm. ‘Certainly, (saith he) if there be any set of men, evil men, these are of all the worst: for they are men of an abandoned impudence, virulent, and destitute of the fear of God, and of faith in him; they are secure despisers of God and religion; they are proud, arrogant, precipitate, audacious, and prepared for every thing that is bad.’

In the next place, they approve and commend no one but themselves. They hate all others most bitterly, and traduce and defame them: they excel in this one thing only,—in adorning and setting off themselves, in using boasted self-praising words, in contemptuously despising others, and in arrogating to themselves only the spirit and worship of God, and the appellation of the true church.

In the third place, their doctrines are most pernicious, and filled with lies: for they fight against the doctrine of faith and of grace, and deceive men by their outside daubing, and their hypocrisy.

In the fourth place, they are rashly precipitate, and will endure no monitor; for they are harder than any iron or any adamant: and if you do not applaud all they say and all they do, they immediately rage and make a tumult with all the fury of Satan.

In the fifth place, they go out and diffuse their doctrines as widely as possible; and their speech, as Paul saith, eateth like a canker. For, for the most part, such men have an audacity above all sincere and good men, and a determinate spirit to accomplish all their own purposes; and they are restless, vehement, hot-headed, and so furiously and wickedly aim at the accomplishment of their own purposes, that you would think they would overturn everything else.

And lastly, they hostilely persecute all those who do not subscribe to their creed. And all these enormities they perpetrate with a wonderfully unconcerned and insensible security; as if they were all the time pleasing God and doing him service.

PSALM XXXVII.

David persuadeth to patience and confidence in God, by the different estate of the godly and the wicked.

A Psalm of David.

Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Trust in the LORD, and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day.

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

For evil-doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

The LORD shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.

The LORD knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

They shall not be ashamed in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of Lambs: they shall consume, into smoke shall they consume away.

The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD; and he delighteth in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein for ever.

The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree.

Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD; he is their strength in the time of trouble.

And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them; he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

This is a Psalm of consolation, which exhorts us to patience in the world; and shews us that we should not be angry with, nor mutter against God, when we see it to be well with evil men, and evilly with the good. This indeed is often a cutting offence, and exceedingly galls the weak ones; concerning which also Habakkuk complains, chap. i. For when the saints think that all things turn out prosperously and successfully to the wicked, and all things adversely and unsuccessfully to those that fear God, they appear, as to human judgment, to be dealt hardly with indeed.

We see an infinity of malice and ingratitude in the world, and an extreme contempt of religion; a contempt of all good learning, and of all virtue and honesty. Of this we have examples sufficiently manifest, in our time, among the powerful and noble of this world, and also among citizens and peasants, who all wish to have the liberty of doing what suits their pleasure. To these impious despisers of the word of God all things turn out prosperously: they abound in riches, and they are raised to honours: while those that fear God are afflicted with hunger and nakedness, and are despised, derided, and contemned. And moreover, they endure the most bitter hatred of the devil and the world for the word’s sake; they can scarcely breathe under their afflictions, and they are often bound with fetters and imprisoned. Here, not to give way to anger and indignation; here, not to turn epicureans and deny God, is a wisdom beyond all that is human: is a wisdom that is altogether spiritual and divine.

The sum therefore of this Psalm is,—suffer; that is, learn patience. Every evil must be overcome by bearing it with patience. Cast thy cares upon the Lord. Do not murmur; be not angry; wish no ill to the wicked. Leave the management and government of all to God: he is a righteous judge.—This is the all-necessary doctrine that is delivered to us in this Psalm: a doctrine wholly unknown to the wise of this world. And here the Holy Spirit comforts the godly in a various, and at the same time, most fatherly and affectionate way; and that with the most great and gracious promises. And then, as an example, David himself says, “I have been young, and now am old, yet saw I never the righteous forsaken.” And then he concludes with threatenings against the wicked. But to show forth this patience in the midst of so much malice and perverseness of the world, is the power and operation of the Holy Spirit only, and is found only in spiritual men: for all human reason, and all the wise ones of the world, cannot judge otherwise, than that it is unworthy of God, and unjust, that it should be well with the evil, and ill with the good.

PSALM XXXVIII.

David moveth God to take compassion of his pitiful case.

A Psalm of David to bring to remembrance.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.

I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

LORD, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.

My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O LORD my God.

For I said, Hear me; lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.

For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.

Make haste to help me, O LORD my salvation.

This is a fervent prayer to God, in which David complains with wonderful groanings, that he is stricken and bruised with the sense of his sin; that he is distressed and straitened in spirit under the deepest sorrow; and that he can see nothing and feel nothing but wrath from heaven, and the terrible lightnings, arrows, and threatenings of God; and in a word, death, and hell itself; and that this great distress exhausts not only all the moisture, all the strength, all the blood, and all the marrow of his frame, but fills him with an unspeakable alarm and perturbation, and makes him pant and sweat with agony; so that the intenseness of his feelings, destroys the natural colour and appearance of his face, and affects his whole body. For to feel in reality the burthen of the conscience under a sense of sin, is a distress and terror exceeding all other distresses and terrors. And these deep temptations of the godly are greatly increased by those wicked ones without, who cease not to call them heretics, seditious persons, and murderers. For these hypocrites, while they boast in the teeth of the godly that they are the true saints, and the true church, and the real people of God, (and God in the meantime, which is often the case, not bringing in help and consolation) the godly are deeply grieved and afflicted, as if God was their enemy because of their sins.

But this Psalm teaches us constantly to hope for, and expect the help and consolation of God, and still to fight against all such hypocrites by prayer. And the prophet, in the midst of the agonizing conflict of this temptation, sustains and lifts up himself by taking courage from the divine promise. And here he maintains his cause, (which is not the cause of men but of God,) as a strong fortress against Satan and his cause, and here again flows in the consolation of faith, &c. And so also we ought to pray always, and in no temptation yield to sorrow of mind, even though we are sinners, and though Satan shakes us with the horrible terrors of sin: for grace is stronger than sin!

PSALM XXXIX.

David’s care of his thoughts.—The consideration of the brevity and vanity of life, the reverence of God’s judgments, and prayer, are his bridles of impatience.

To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

I was dumb with silence: I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth, and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

Surely every man walketh in a vain shew; surely they are disquieted in vain; he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

And now, LORD, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the foolish.

I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.

When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

This is a consolatory Psalm, containing also a prayer of the prophet, in which he prays that his mouth may be bridled, that he might not break out into blasphemy and murmuring when he sees the wicked to prosper in the world, and most proudly to despise God and his word, and to think of nothing but amassing riches, &c.; and when he sees, on the contrary, that the godly are afflicted with various temptations without and within, and conflicting both with the world and with the devil.

Rather (says he) teach me, O Lord, to know mine end; that is, that there will be an end to my life at length; that is, teach me to magnify the future, which does not yet appear. Guard me from that perilous security of the wicked in which they give themselves up wholly to this world, and devote themselves to coveting the things thereof, and to pride and ambition, as if they should live here for ever. For it is often a great vexation to the godly, and indeed the prophets themselves complain of it,—that the wicked and the evil abound in every kind of luxury, wallow in all the pleasures of wine and feasting, and live their whole lives in security, strangers to trouble and affliction, while the godly are afflicted, and tempted, and distressed both from without and from within.

But the end shows that the godly are happy; and the wicked, with all their perishable happiness, truly miserable. Hence the prophet saith, “And now, Lord, what is my expectation, (or what wait I for?)” As if he had said, shall I be always thus afflicted! Shall I be utterly overwhelmed? Will these temptations continue to return upon us for ever? No! (says he) the Lord is my expectation: that is, I shall find in the end, after all these temptations and death, an eternal life, a reconciled God, the pardon of all my sins, and even in this world, I shall not be forsaken. But the wicked, after their short life, will find nothing but death,—death eternal!

PSALM XL.

The benefit of confidence in God.—Obedience is the best sacrifice.—The sense of David’s evils inflameth his prayer.

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me;

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy loving-kindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy loving-kindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

For innumerable evils have compassed me about; mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil.

Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified.

But I am poor and needy: yet the LORD thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

This Psalm is a prophecy, and the voice of Christ himself; where Christ himself says, that he was heard in the midst of his sufferings, when crying and groaning in the midst of the agony of death. And it is also a beautiful example and consolation for the whole church, and for all the members of Christ,—that God will never forsake any of those that believe in him, when agonizing in the same manner, if they cry unto him, and call upon him in the midst of the horrible pit and terrors of death.

The great prophet David, and others like him, published forth Psalms of this kind, concerning the greatest and most important things of Christ’s kingdom and people: for the expectation of the Messiah and of Christ, was a very important matter among the people of God, and therefore David makes the person of Christ himself speaking.

Christ here plainly says, that he is the one and only person who fulfils the law, and does the will of God. Here he excludes all others and their works. “In the volume of the book (says he) it is written of me.” That is, the promise of blessing and grace, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, and that in the seed of Abraham all the nations of the earth should be blessed, were concerning me, &c. Thus he rejects and abrogates the whole law, with all works, sacrifices, and forms of worship; because, by them, the will of God is not fulfilled.

All our works and sacrifices, therefore, are rejected. Christ here saith, that he is the sole and only one who pleases God, and fulfils his will. By these words, therefore, he promises the New Testament; where there is no righteousness of the law, but the righteousness of faith, preached in the great congregation: that is, in the whole world, in all nations. There is no preaching of the righteousness of the law, which only makes men proud pharisees and hypocrites, who have not their hope fixed in God, or in the promise of grace, but in their own righteousness, false holiness, and legal hypocrisy.

PSALM XLI.

God’s care of the poor.—David complaineth of his enemies’ treachery.—He fleeth to God for succour.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me; when shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.

But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

This Psalm is a prophecy; where, after the manner of the Psalms, Christ himself speaks, and with a wonderful feeling, complains of his domestic traitor Judas, and of those cruel dogs which vented their fury on the poor; by which dogs, he means those that crucified him. He prays that God would judge his cause, and set him before his face: that is, that God his father would comfort him in his suffering, and raise him from the dead; that, being exalted, through the cross and death, to the right hand of God, he might be glorified with eternal life and victory.

This is a great and unspeakable consolation to all the godly; where, in the fourth verse, the Son saith, “heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.” He confesses himself to be a sinner before God his Father, whereas he was without sin, and no guile was found in his mouth. Here, therefore, he stands as our priest, as a victim and sacrifice for sin, bearing and suffering for our sins, as if they were his; and he bore the guilt of them.

In the beginning of the Psalm he comprehends the sum of the whole matter, in a very powerful expression. “Blessed (saith he) are they who consider the poor and needy:” that is, blessed, yea, eternally blessed are they, who are not offended at the once weak, crucified, and condemned Christ, but who believe the Gospel. For the preaching of the cross is to the Gentiles foolishness, and to the Jews a stumbling-block. And it is the greatest of all offences to the world to preach, teach, or confess, that the once poor, crucified, and condemned Christ, now sits at the right hand of the divine Majesty, and that he is on high, the Lord of all, both in this world, and that which is to come. For with this Christ, that people of the Jews were so offended, and they so ran upon and stumbled on this rock of offence, that, to this day, they remain cast out and scattered, and wander about over all the face of the earth, without a priesthood, and without a kingdom!

PSALM XLII.

David’s zeal to serve God in the temple.—He encourageth his soul to trust in God.

To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah.

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

Yet the LORD will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

I will say unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, where is thy God?

Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me; hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.

This is an ardent prayer to God; evincing an exceeding greatness of spiritual feeling, and an unutterable groaning of the Spirit. Under this similitude of a hart, at the beginning of the Psalm, the Psalmist describes his feelings in the hour of temptation, when he was wholly immersed in the extreme of distress, and absorbed in tears. For in that hour of darkness, the God of life, and peace, and light, and consolation, is not seen; but the sun of all comfort is hidden as it were behind a cloud. Then the hearts of the thus tempted feel nothing but an angry God, and a cruel avenger; and Satan increases these dismal views of misery to a wonderful extent. To these things, moreover, are often added the blasphemies of those who make derision of the afflicted, and assail them with the taunt, “Where is now thy God!”—For the world and the ungodly cannot contain themselves, when they see the saints in calamities; they cannot refrain from taunting and deriding them; from aggravating the distresses of these godly ones, and from exclaiming, in their bitterly-cutting triumph, ‘They hoped in God that he would deliver them. Where is now their delivering God? Where is now their Christ they talk so much about? This is just how such heretics ought to be served.’ For these wicked creatures judge according to the flesh and blind reason; and imagine, that affliction is a certain sign of divine anger against the saints. On the other hand, they boast of their own afflictions, or any slight adversities which they may meet with, as sufferings for the Lord’s name sake, and as martyrdoms and sorrows endured for their apostolic innocence. For those perverse and virulent wretches, those blind leaders of the blind, though they know, yet will not know, that God thus chastens his saints, that he may afterwards comfort them; but not that he may forsake, destroy, or condemn them.

The Psalmist desires, with the greatest fervency of heart, to come unto the house of the Lord, and into the congregation of those that sing and rejoice; to keep holy the sabbath, to celebrate the name of the Lord, and to see the face of the Lord; that is, he has an ardent desire to hear the word of the Lord, that he might thereby be lifted up and refreshed; being well nigh consumed in such a fiery heat of temptation and distress. The house of the Lord is where the word of God, and the promise of grace are preached. And by “the face of God,” he means the presence of God; where God, by his word, reveals himself, and his will, and grace, and gives the knowledge of them unto men. This he calls in another place ‘God’s turning, (not his back but) his face towards us.’

PSALM XLIII.

David praying to be restored to the temple, promiseth to serve God joyfully.—He encourageth his soul to trust in God.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

This Psalm is of the same purport as the preceding; and David uses almost the same expressions. He desires to go into the house of God in the light and truth of God: that is, he desires to be comforted, under his distress and temptation, by the word of God.

PSALM XLIV.

The church, in memory of former favours, complaineth of their present evils.—Professing her integrity, she fervently prayeth for succour.

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil.

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.

For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.

Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.

But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.

Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy; and they which hate us spoil for themselves.

Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.

Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.

Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.

My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,

For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.

All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.

Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;

Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.

If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands, to a strange God;

Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Awake, why sleepest thou, O LORD? arise, cast us not off for ever.

Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.

This is a prayer of the whole people of God; and it is offered up in the person of all the saints; especially of those under the New Testament, whom you here find to be complaining that they are cruelly slaughtered and slain by the wicked nations, by the ungodly men, and by tyrants. For God delivers his saints into the hands of men, as if he had rejected them, or utterly forgotten them. Whereas, he glorified the patriarchs of old, and all those his people from the beginning, by mighty works and miracles in the sight of the nations that opposed them. And indeed all the saints maintain, not their own cause, but God’s; and seek, not their own glory, but his: and yet for this very just and holy cause, and for no other reason, nor any other crime, they are thus torn and slaughtered by exile, by the spoiling of their goods, and, in a word, by death; and are as cruelly treated in the world, as if they were the most wicked of all men, and a mere set of vagabonds and murderers.

In a word, this Psalm is a sighing and groaning of spirit against the weakness of the flesh; which flesh, even in the saints, murmurs against God, because he governs the world with such an appearance of injustice; and is in appearance, an unjust judge, permitting the saints to be afflicted whom he ought to support and comfort, and promoting and exalting the wicked whom he ought to overthrow.

PSALM XLV.

The majesty and grace of Christ’s kingdom.—The duty of the church, and the benefits thereof.

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil. A Song of Loves.

My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

Thy throne, O God, is for and ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.

Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.

This is a prophecy concerning the gospel and kingdom of Christ; and it describes, in many rich and sweet figures and expressions, the spouse of Christ, the church. It describes also Christ, going forth in all his regal pomp; having all royal gifts, a manly and regal form, suavity and grace of speech, a warrior’s armour, the splendour of regal dress, and success in war against his enemies, &c.; and also as possessing all kingly virtues,—righteousness, clemency, &c.

And moreover that he may set the kingdom of Christ before our eyes in its sweetest appearance, the Psalmist describes him as having palaces and houses of ivory; a queen, and her attendant virgins; and sons and daughters. All these things are to be understood of the spiritual kingdom of Christ and the church, where Christ is a King, powerful, wise, just, gracious, and victorious; and moreover, a conqueror triumphant; and also rejoicing, preserving, comforting and enriching his own, against sin, the law, and death, &c.

And David here clearly foretels that the law of the Old Testament should be abrogated. “Hearken (says he) O daughter, and incline thine ear, forget also thy father’s house: (here he seems to glance at the synagogue): so shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty, and thou shalt worship him;” showing, that there is no true God out of Christ; and ascribing unto Christ truly divine honour; namely, that of the first and great precept,—that is, adoration. And in the sixth and seventh verses, he plainly calls him God: thus making him an eternal king, the foundation of whose throne is in righteousness: who justifies all that believe in him, and takes away sin, and destroys death and hell. And no one can be an eternal king that dies not, but he that is truly and naturally God!—of which we have spoken at large elsewhere, in our more full commentary on the 45th Psalm.

PSALM XLVI.

The confidence which the church hath in God.—An exhortation to behold it.

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah. A song upon Alamoth.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar, and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most high.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

This is a thanksgiving which the people of Israel sang, at that time, for their divine blessings, and miraculous deliverances, because God had powerfully defended Jerusalem, situated in the midst of hostile nations and enemies, and guarded it against all opposing kings, and against all the snares and hostile attempts of the surrounding nations; and had preserved it in peace against all the furious counsels of war and bloodshed. Hence, after the manner of the scriptures, David calls all that present flourishing state of his kingdom’s affairs, the river of God, whose streams should never be dry; which was but a small rivulet, in comparison of the great streams and torrents of the sea by which he was surrounded, (that is, by those immense kingdoms and islands of the nations, and Gentile kings,) which although they were great, would yet, one day, dry up and disappear, while the river of God should endure for ever.

We sing this Psalm to the praise of God, because God is with us, and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends his church and his word, against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin. So that our little river remains a living fountain; whilst so many heresies, so many tyrants and their doctrines, as so many stinking sewers and sinks, are dispersed, like broken cisterns, and disappear, and are lost for ever.

PSALM XLVII.

The nations are exhorted cheerfully to entertain the kingdom of Christ.

To the chief Musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah.

O clap your hands all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.

He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah.

God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.

God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.

This is a prophecy concerning Christ; describing the manner of his ascension on high, and showing that he should be King over all. “Sing praises, sing praises unto our King,” (saith he); thereby shewing, that this kingdom of Christ should not be one of that kind that stands in the power of arms, but in the word of praise, and in the singing of thanksgivings. As if he had said, This king, by the word of the gospel only, which is the word of praise and thanksgiving, shall destroy all the power of the adversaries,—the world, and Satan; as the walls of Jericho fell down by the sound of trumpets only, without sword or arms!

PSALM XLVIII.

The ornaments and privileges of the church.

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion; on the sides of the north the city of the great king.

God is known in her palaces for a refuge.

For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.

They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.

Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah.

We have thought of thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.