THE BOOK OF PSALMS. (continued 5)

PSALM XCVII.

The majesty of God’s kingdom.—The church rejoiceth at God’s judgments upon idolaters.—An exhortation to godliness and gladness.

The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled.

The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the LORD of the whole earth.

The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O LORD.

For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.

Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

This also, like the preceding, is a prophecy concerning Christ and his kingdom; and the sum of it is to proclaim, that Christ establishes and strengthens his spiritual kingdom by the gospel; wherein he preaches repentance, and whereby his lightnings and thunders terrify the whole world, and cause the mountains to melt like wax before the fire of his face: that is, by the gospel he condemns, casts down, and humbles all human righteousness, human wisdom, and human patience, throughout the world, and brings down every thing that is high and lifted up; as Isaiah saith, chapter 3, “And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” For Christ alone is our “righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption,” and that by the counsel of God, as it is written, “There is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved, but Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Together also with these enemies of the gospel and these mountains of the world, the ceremonial kingdom of the Jews perisheth, and all the outward worship of the law, and, indeed, every thing that is not in Christ. For he (as the apostle Paul saith, Col. i.) “in all things hath the pre-eminence.” And again, “For there is one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.” And so also, in Daniel, The stone cut out of the mountain filled the world, and broke in pieces all other kingdoms.

PSALM XCVIII.

The Psalmist exhorteth the Jews, the Gentiles, and all the creatures to praise God.

A Psalm.

O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together

Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

This again is a prophecy concerning the preaching of Christ and the spread of his kingdom, and it is of the same subject as the two preceding Psalms; it calls upon us to rejoice in God, to triumph, to give thanks, and to praise God for that great salvation: that is, to preach the remission of sins, and those riches of grace which are by Christ Jesus.

In this Psalm you again have set before you what is the highest worship of God, namely, that of the New Testament; which standeth not in the offering of thanks in Jerusalem, but in knowing Christ,—that King who ruleth the people in righteousness; who is himself righteous, and who maketh the people righteous throughout the world; and who alone delivereth them from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil; and doeth it all without any merit of theirs.

PSALM XCIX.

The prophet, setting forth the kingdom of God in Zion,—exhorteth all, by the example of forefathers, to worship God at his holy hill.

The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.

Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.

Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

This Psalm is a Psalm of blessed doctrine. It exhorts the people of God to preserve sacredly that true worship of the first commandment, the praising of God alone, and the continuing in the faith of him, although the nations on all sides and the whole world should roar against that people who glory in being the people of God, and who know that God is to be found no where but in this and that corner of the earth, in that tabernacle, in that sanctuary, and at that mercy-seat, where the word and the promise of God are preached. And the Psalm shows that this true people of God are exposed to the most bitter hatred of the world and of the devil, and to afflictions of every kind.

The Psalmist mentions, by name, Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel; those best of men among the people of God, who endured great afflictions, both inward and outward, for the sake of the name and the word of God. The Psalmist shows, however, (as is set forth verses 4 and 5.) and teaches this people of God, that the highest worship of God is not placed in ceremonial sacrifices: therefore he says, “Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy.” “In this kingdom of God, (says the Psalmist,) justice and judgment are loved.” “Thou justifiest,” says he, “thy people;” that is, thou deliverest from sin and death, and extendest unto them the remission of their sins.

And unto us, who are in and of the church of God, the present Psalm is a glorious prophecy of Christ, who governs and rules this church, the true Zion, in the Spirit, throughout the whole world, wheresoever she is. The holy Psalmist shews us, that Christ, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, is there continually as our Sacrificer and our Sacrifice. And he testifies that the whole world rages and roars against this people and church of God, and kills the saints, and loads them with all manner of afflictions, on account of their profession and worship of Christ.

PSALM C.

An exhortation to praise God cheerfully, for his greatness and for his power.

A Psalm of Praise.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

This Psalm again is a prophecy concerning Christ. It calls upon all to rejoice, to triumph, and to give thanks; to enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts and sanctuary with praise: because, by the gospel and the preaching of the remission of sins, that kingdom of Christ is established and strengthened, which shall remain and stand for ever: and for the setting-up of which kingdom thanks are for ever to be given.

PSALM CI.

David maketh a vow and profession of godliness.

A Psalm of David.

I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O! when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to me.

A froward heart shall depart from me; I will not know a wicked person.

Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.

This Psalm contains a most solemn and necessary doctrine: and David puts forth himself, so great a king, as an example. He teaches that impious members and courtiers ought not to be borne with by any godly magistrate or prince. He recounts also the iniquities, by which those who are in the courts of kings and princes, more especially harm the state and the church. He shews that they do the greatest evil when they are given to sin or to false doctrine; and when they injure the causes of good men by their hatred of them.

In the opening of the Psalm David says, “I will sing of mercy and of judgment:” that is as if he had said, ‘I will sing that God most certainly, according to the word of the first commandment, visits the godly with mercy, and the ungodly with judgment, at all times.’ Of this visiting mercy David was himself an example, seeing that he had been so many times delivered from the very claws and jaws of the devil. And of the divine visitations of judgment, Absalom, Ahithophel, Joab, and others, were examples. And every king and magistrate, who sets himself to defend the true religion, and to do good to his nation, is at once exposed to the hatred of all men, even of his own family and court: which is plainly seen in the case of Absalom, Ahithophel, and other persecutors of David.

Hence it is that David, having so often experienced God’s fulfilment of the word of his first commandment, sings in all places and at all times, ‘that God is God over all, exercising mercy and judgment.’ And it is with God alone that a kingdom and commonwealth can be rightly governed: for where God is not, there all things are scattered and in confusion, and neither families are subject to their heads, nor citizens to their rulers.

PSALM CII.

The prophet in his prayer maketh a grievous complaint.—He taketh comfort in the eternity and mercy of God.—The mercies of God are to be recorded.—He sustaineth his weakness by the unchangeableness of God.

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.

Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call, answer me speedily.

For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.

I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house-top.

Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping;

Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations.

Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death;

To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; thy years are throughout all generations.

Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

This Psalm is a prayer of an afflicted and tempted heart, miserably sighing and praying for deliverance and the coming of the kingdom of God. And indeed the whole sum and substance of this Psalm is, “Thy kingdom come.”

This Psalm may be used as a general prayer. It was used especially by the fathers under the law: who being most spiritual men, and knowing the infinite weight of sin, and the kingdom of death, longed for the coming and revelation of Christ, the kingdom of grace, and the blessing promised.

“Have mercy upon Zion (saith the Psalmist) for the time to have mercy upon her is come.” For thy servants (saith he) long for her to be built up again, and for the stones and cement to be made ready: that is, they long for that grace and that blessing to be revealed unto all nations, and to be preached in all kingdoms; that those who are captives and in chains under the power of the devil and of sin, and who are the sons of wrath and death, may be delivered; and that there may flow together into the true Zion, the church of God, those out of all nations and kingdoms, who may magnify the name of the Lord, and may preach and hear the gospel, and that all the rigid demands and ceremonies of the law, and the whole of the Old Testament dispensation, may cease. For out of and without Christ there is nothing but the kingdom of sin and death: that is, a continual misery and distress in this life, by various and hard temptations of the devil and the world: and also a shortness of life itself, and that life changeable and uncertain, full of sorrow and full of death; which life the godly consider it a “gain” to have shortened and finished: as the apostle saith, “to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

But amidst all this misery, in Christ is consolation and eternal life; for he is before every creature; he created the heaven and the earth, and by him all things consist; and he also, in the regeneration, will renew the heavens and the earth. Hence he is independent of and above all time and years, and of his years there is no end. He now dies no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For this kingdom of life and of salvation (saith the Psalmist) we pray and long. May this kingdom come. Amen.

PSALM CIII.

An exhortation to bless God for his mercy, and for the constancy thereof.

A Psalm of David.

Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not alway chide; neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth:

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his that do his pleasure.

Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

This is a glorious Psalm, and full of the most ardent feelings and exercises of faith, and of a believing heart, a heart acknowledging the infinite mercies of God, both temporal and spiritual. “Bless the Lord (saith the Psalmist), O my soul,” &c. The Psalmist embraces, in the first three verses, six kinds of divine mercies and benefits, for which he exhorts all the godly to give praise unto God with their whole heart, and to celebrate his great and holy name.

The first kind of mercy enumerated is the remission of all our sins in Christ, and for Christ’s sake, our only Mediator and High-priest: who by himself sustained the just and infinite wrath of God, which burned against our sins: who offered himself a sacrifice to God for them; by which offering he reconciled unto us the Eternal Father, and now pleads for us with an unceasing and prevailing intercession.

The second kind of mercy is the healing of those manifold, and by no means light infirmities, which shall remain in the flesh of the saints, as long as they live in this world: all which remnant of sins God, for Christ’s sake, imputeth not unto them that believe: nor does he only cover those sins by not imputing them, but he moreover purges them away, by the gift of his Holy Spirit.

The third kind of mercy is a continual and daily protection and defence against all the dangers of death, into numbers of which we continually fall; and into more and greater of which we should fall by fire, by water, by sword, by pestilence, and other means of destruction, and be destroyed by them on account of the deserts of our sins, if God did not in his mercy prevent and save and preserve our lives.

The fourth kind of mercy is a manifold dispensation of the grace of God, wherewith he covers and defends us with a shield, and crowns us, giving us the Holy Spirit, and strengthening our minds with the true doctrine against all doubts, and with true consolation in all perils and evils; and bestowing on the godly many and various gifts.

The fifth kind of mercy is that boldness wherewith by the aid and urgency of the Holy Spirit, we fearlessly preach before the world these great mercies of God toward us: whereby many others also may learn to acknowledge and lay hold of the goodness of God in Christ, and, embracing it themselves in the true faith, may, with us, magnify and call upon God.

The sixth kind of mercy is the restoration of our depraved nature by Christ into the image of God; into which image we being renewed by the Holy Ghost, begin with full purpose of heart to obey God; and so continue, until, being made perfect in the life to come, we may be able to render a full obedience with our whole unimpeded powers.

The Psalmist, therefore, first renders thanks to God for his spiritual benefits; and then he from his heart thanks God for bestowing blessings of every kind,—peace, good magistrates, good laws, good wives, good children, the fruits of the earth, and all needful provision. The Psalmist sets forth God as a most kind Father towards us (who are nothing but a loathsome sore, full of sin) and as not dealing with us according to our sins, but treating and protecting us, according to his infinite grace and mercy, as dear children: yet so that he will have us to keep his covenant and his counsel: that is, to believe in him, to fear him, and to have him for our God. For if we trust in our own works or righteousnesses, we thereby immediately break his covenant, and walk not in his counsel, and follow strange gods, and thus sin against the First Commandment.

Now this fulfilling of the law, and keeping the covenant of God, is in and through Christ alone, who was then promised to the fathers, but now in these last days has been given unto us; and manifested; whose kingdom shall rule over all.

At the end of the Psalm, when the Psalmist calls upon the angels and the hosts of God, the powers and the dominions, to praise and magnify him, he means Christ and the church and the apostles who cause his word to be heard. For all our salvation is in Christ, and there is no grace out of Christ; who is preached by the angels; that is, by the apostles.

PSALM CIV.

A meditation upon the mighty power, and wonderful providence of God.—God’s glory is eternal.—The prophet voweth perpetually to praise God.

Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty:

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind;

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire;

Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke they fled: at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys, unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthened man’s heart.

The trees of the LORD are full of sap: the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies.

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour, until the evening.

O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches;

So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

These wait all upon thee, that them mayest give them their meat in due season.

That thou givest them, they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.

The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.

He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the LORD.

Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a most spiritual song and a Psalm of glory to God. It is drawn out of the First Commandment: and with a grand enumeration of all the creatures of God, it sets forth and exalts the whole work of creation. By this recounting of the works of creation the Psalmist’s design is to show, that all the creatures, whether those in the heavens, those in the earth, or those in the sea, are monuments of the goodness of God. And what orator or what poet ever has existed, or ever will exist, with an eloquence adequate to describe the infinite use and benefits of even one creature of God. If any one of those creatures were gifted with speech, so as to declare its own nature and value, it would praise God with a thousand tongues. Not only, therefore, the whole of God’s works together, as one glorious universe, but each one creature, if you would explain its nature and use, exceeds all the eloquence of men and angels.

What philosopher or sage could even open or utter the extent of the use and blessings of common light, in which we live? What one of them could ever explain what that is which we call light, in which we all breathe, all are nourished, and all live; by which the night and darkness are dispelled in one short moment; by which the whole creation is rendered visible, and as it were, recreated; and by which all creatures, from out of one same obscure darkness, receive each their proper hues and colours?

Who, again, can recount the benefit and blessings of that one creature the sun? and then those of the moon? Who can enumerate the blessings of fire, of water, of fountains and springs? If one creature were deprived for one short hour of the blessings of fire or of water, you would in a moment see the wide and infinite benefit of one of those creatures of God.

But alas! who can even touch one of these creatures with anything like a due comment or reflection! And yet, when heathen men have contemplated the whole universe of creatures so diligently, (as we see it done in Cicero’s second book ‘De Natura Deorum;’) and have thence gathered and concluded that there exists some eternal Deity who created and who governs all these things; it would be a shame in one professing the fear and worship of that God, to be cold and not affected with these same things, and not to meditate and reflect upon them.

This Psalm, therefore, is a Psalm of thanksgiving for all the creatures which God has created, whether in the heavens, in the earth, or in the sea; and a rendering of thanks unto God also, that he hath made a covenant with the day and the night, and hath given laws to the heaven and the earth; laws so certain that they cannot be moved, but continue in their appointed order. The moon, saith the Psalmist, distinguished the seasons; the sun knoweth his going down; the day cometh, and also the night; the summer returns at its appointed time, and the winter also in its season. Thou fillest, saith he, that immense space of the heaven with light: thou stretchest out the heaven itself like a curtain, which resteth not on any beams or columns: and thou suspendest the mighty range of clouds, at thy word, like a glorious canopy. The winds rise, and blow over and blow through all things, having neither wings nor feathers. And the angels whom thou sendest forth, saith he, fulfil their commands like the winds, and like a “flame of fire.”

Hence the prophet, as you see, has all these things depicted in his mind, and his faith is kindled by a meditation on this wonderful and ineffable work of creation. But, alas! how few, how very few, are there who thus look into, meditate on, and admire these created things? Here, therefore, with a view to reprove both the indolence and the wickedness of certain characters, I cannot help transcribing the words of Cicero, a heathen, who cites another heathen, Aristotle: ‘Aristotle,’ says Cicero, ‘has most greatly and beautifully spoken thus. “If there could be men, who had lived under the earth in grand and noble habitations; habitations adorned with paintings and works of art, and with all those embellishments which ornament the houses of those who are now accounted wealthy and happy; and if it could so be that such subterranean inhabitants had never been above ground, but had heard by fame and report that there was a certain Deity, and a certain Almighty power of that Deity; and then if it could so be, that, at a certain time, the doors of the earth’s surface should be thrown open, and they should come forth from their subterranean abysses into these above-ground regions which we inhabit:—when such men beheld, on a sudden, the earth, the sea, and the heavens; when they saw the expanded grandeur of the clouds, and felt the mighty power of the winds; when they looked up to the sun and beheld his glorious magnitude and his beauty, and knew something of his influence and efficacy in all creation,—that it is he, who, by diffusing his light through the whole heaven, makes the day; and when such mortals, newly admitted on earth, should see by the departure of the sun the whole creation veiled in the darkness of night, while the whole heaven was studded and bespangled with stars; and when they saw and understood the various degrees of the light of the moon, and the increasings and decreasings of that heavenly body; and the various risings and settings of all the celestial luminaries; and, finally, when such astonished and contemplating strangers on the earth’s surface should know the appointed and never-erring and never-varying courses and revolutions of all these glorious creatures,—they would, with one voice, confess that there was a God, and that all these creatures were the works of that God! But our minds, by daily use, become insensible to these things; and as we daily see all these creatures we inquire not their nature, nor wonder at their glory: as if the novelty of such things, and not their greatness and glory, is that which should lead us to meditate on their natures, and the ends of their creation.”’ Thus far Cicero, the heathen! I shall perhaps be deemed by some a silly man for bringing forth these things out of the books of a heathen! Let those that would fear God, then, remember what is required of them!

PSALM CV.

An exhortation to praise God, and to seek out his works.—The story of God’s providence over Abraham,—over Joseph,—over Jacob, in Egypt,—over Moses delivering the Israelites,—over the Israelites brought out of Egypt, fed in the wilderness, and planted in Canaan.

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.

Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.

He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;

And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:

When there were but a few men in number: yea, very few, and strangers in it.

When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;

Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.

The king sent and loosed him: even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.

He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.

They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.

He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.

He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

He smote their vines also and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.

He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,

And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.

He smote also all the first-born in their land, the chief of all their strength.

He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.

He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.

And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:

And gave them the lands of the heathen; and they inherited the labour of the people;

That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a Psalm of particular thanksgiving; and a song especially adapted to the people of the Jews; that in the use of this Psalm they might render thanks unto God for all those, his wonderful works, which he wrought from Abraham down to the time when they were led into the promised land of Canaan. And the Psalmist, having recounted all these glorious works in their order, concludes with that word of Moses, (Deut. ix.) “That God did not do all these mighty works on account of any righteousness or merit of theirs, but because of the covenant and the promise which he had made with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:” for how righteous they were and what they deserved at the hand of God, is sung in the Psalm following.

PSALM CVI.

The Psalmist exhorteth to praise God.—He prayeth for pardon of sin, as God did with the fathers.—The story of the people’s rebellion, and God’s mercy.—He concludeth with prayer and praise.

Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.

Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

Yea, they despised the pleasant land; they believed not his word;

But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD:

Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions; and the plague brake in upon them.

Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

And that was counted unto him for righteousness, unto all generations for evermore.

They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

And they served their idols; which were a snare unto them.

Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons, and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

Many times did he deliver them: but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:

And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a Psalm of acknowledgment, of confession, and of thanksgiving. The Psalmist confesses all those sins of murmuring and unbelief, and those other numerous transgressions against the first commandment, by which the people of Israel provoked God, and rendered themselves utterly unworthy of all his mercies.

At the conclusion of the Psalm, therefore, the Psalmist proclaims the exceeding greatness of the divine mercy of God; whereby he continued mindful of his counsel and his covenant, and did not pour forth all his wrath, but was merciful to them for his own name’s sake. As Moses saith also, (Deut. ix.) “Know ye, that not for your righteousness doth the Lord God give unto you this good land: for ye are a stiff-necked people.” Therefore as the Israelites, the whole of that people of God, could glory in nothing, but that they were saved by the mercy and grace of God; so also we cannot glory in any work or merit of our own, but in the mercy of God only!

PSALM CVII.

The psalmist exhorteth the redeemed, in praising God, to observe his manifold providence, over travellers, over captives, over sick men, over seamen, and in divers varieties of life.

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High:

Therefore he brought down their heart with labour: they fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted:

Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble; and he saveth them out of their distresses.

He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground;

A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water-springs.

And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;

And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

Again, they are minished, and brought low, through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the LORD.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in general; rendering praise for that infinite and incomparable mercy and goodness of God, wherewith he daily helps and succours all men, both the righteous and the wicked, under the various calamities of life, and defends them against the Devil: preserving also the public peace, giving healthfulness of air and climate, and blessing the earth to the springing of its productions; as Paul saith, 2 Tim. ii. “Who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe.”

In the fourth verse, where the Psalmist says, “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way,” he refers to all kinds of calamities; and especially to the afflictions of those who are oppressed with poverty, who are exiles, and deserted, and wandering without any certain dwelling-place.

In the ninth verse by those “sitting in darkness,” &c. he means those throughout the whole world, who on account of their own crimes, or for other causes, are held in bonds and in prisons, and who are sometimes delivered by the interposition and help of God himself.

Then again, verse 6, he refers to those who live wickedly and fear not God; on whom God sends diseases and distresses to punish them; of whom some, although they call not upon God, are delivered by his pure mercy alone.

In verse 22, he speaks of those who are in perils on the seas, and there enduring storms and shipwrecks; under which calamities God often delivers wicked sailors, and preserves them from shipwreck and death, and from the power of the Devil, by his mere goodness and mercy.

Verse 32 has reference to those fields and vineyards that are visited with barrenness or any other calamity; unto whom God gives rain and fruitfulness, not according to their merits, but of his abounding mercy, whereby he sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust.

Verse 38 applies to those who are oppressed by the Turk or any other tyrants, or by wars and seditions, and whose all in this world is in peril; unto whom God often, on a sudden, gives peace and quietness, as he calmeth the waves of the sea.

This Psalm, therefore, shows that all salvation is to be sought and expected from God alone; who will never forsake his people, or his church, or those that trust in him; and that he often bestows these benefits on the Turks, and on the openly impious and profane; even when they are seeking all these great blessings from their idols of wood and stone. And we who profess the name of Christ also, not at all unlike the Turks, leave God our true and only Saviour and implore the help of saints. Hence St. Leonard is worshipped as the liberator of the imprisoned; St. Sebastian is invoked by those who are in dread of pestilence; St. George is the protecting saint of military troops of horse and foot; St. Erasmus is said to bless with riches those that call upon him; St. Christopher is openly worshipped as the god of land and sea; and his image is affixed to all doors of temples, and to all prows of ships, and adored by all sailors. And thus we have divided the glory of God and of his saving mercies, which is due to him alone, unto saints set up by idolatrous men; just in the same way as the heathens gave to their gods the attributes and functions which belong to God only. This Psalm, however, rightly ascribes all the glory to God alone.

PSALM CVIII.

David encourageth himself to praise God.—He prayeth for God’s assistance according to his promise.—His confidence in God’s help.

A Song or Psalm of David.

O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early.

I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people; and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

For thy mercy is great above the heavens, and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth:

That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand, and answer me.

God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my law-giver;

Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving of the same substance, and almost in the same words as Psalm lx.; wherein the Psalmist gives thanks for the happy state of his kingdom, for the establishment of the true religion and good government, and for the increase of his dominions.

The first verses of the Psalm, however, refer to the kingdom of Christ. David prays that God would be pleased to set up this kingdom of Christ in all nations; that thus the kingdom and dominion of David may be extended far and wide throughout all nations, according to the promise. For this temporal kingdom of David was confined within very narrow limits in comparison with the whole world, and was a kingdom not likely to be extended over all the nations and people of the earth; and yet this kingdom God promised to enlarge and extend, as in Isaiah, “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people,” Isa. xi. 10. And again, chapter ix. 7, “Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it for ever.”

PSALM CIX.

David, complaining of his slanderous enemies, under the person of Judas devoteth them.—He sheweth their sin.—Complaining of his own misery, he prayeth for help.—He promiseth thankfulness.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;

For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.

When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath: and let the strangers spoil his labour.

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.

I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:

That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.

Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

Certain hypocrites of monks are accustomed to use this Psalm, (generally known by the name of ‘The God of praise,’) as a sort of incantation: and they say that, to a certainty, against what person soever they babble and sing out the terrible words of this Psalm; that man is at once death-struck, and never lives a year afterwards.

This Psalm, however, is most certainly full of the complaints, tears, and groans of the godly against these very hypocrites themselves. It may be very properly considered as used in the person of Christ, deeply complaining against his betrayers the Jews, and against the cruelty of the Jews, which was not satisfied, even after the shedding of his innocent blood.

Like unto Judas Iscariot, and unto all the Jews, are pharisaical saints and hypocrites, of all nations and ages; of whom Christ doth not say in vain, that they are guilty of all the blood that has been shed from Abel downwards. For so great and bitter is the terribleness and fury of their virulent and Satanic hatred, that they cannot rest satisfied with the shedding of the blood of Abel and all the saints from the beginning of the world, but must hang Christ himself on the cross; and that is not all, they must (as the Psalmist saith, ver. 22.) wag their heads at him, and insult and mock his sufferings; “If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross.”

Concerning these wretches, David says, (ver. 2.) “They have opened their blaspheming mouth against me:” for the raving fury of such hypocrites is incredible. And again he says, “For my love they are my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” And again, “They fight against me without a cause.”

These are the true and real colours of these hypocrites who pretend to be in the truth. We have here pourtrayed not only the Cainish countenances of these Iscariots, but their pharisaic and virulent hearts themselves; which are now become organs and instruments of the devil. And we have also here depicted their thoughts, their furious purposes of injuring and harming, by which the minds of such are incessantly actuated. For these embittered wretches knowingly and purposely, and against the light of their own consciences, fight against and deny the known truth; and, as Stephen says, cease not to resist the Holy Ghost. And although they are convinced by natural reason, by the Scriptures, and by their natural understanding, they still reject and fight against God and Christ, and harden themselves in the denial of the truth. And finally, “They delight not in blessing;” but refuse and cast from them God and his Christ.

In addition to all this, they “render evil for good.” The ingratitude of these hypocrites and of the world surely is enough, in not returning any thing for all that good which is offered to them by God himself, and by the saints in his name: but they rest not here; they render, for all this good, hatred and cursing, and a purpose to injure and to destroy: which is manifestly not human, but Satanic cruelty.

But we, the people of God, are hereby admonished throughout all times and ages of the church that, whenever God is pleased to reveal his word, and Christ is preached, so surely will the church have her Judases: that is, so surely will she have her enemies and her hypocrites; who, though they boast of the name of being the church of God, will prove themselves “vipers.”

To set forth, therefore, the terrible judgments that shall fall on those, who thus, with cruelty and without mercy, rage against the people of God, the Psalmist shows (ver. 16.) that God will, to recompense their iniquity, direct his fury also against them, who thus mercilessly oppress “his poor,” and will pour out all his wrath upon them: and that, as these hypocrites so confidently despised God and his saints; and as, though covered with the shed blood, and bathed with the tears of so many saints, they still laughed at their calamities, as if they really sought cursing and not blessing; so, that cursing shall flow in upon them like a river.

And again (saith David) they have cast away the word of God from them, and have rejected and despised the offered salvation, therefore all consolation and salvation shall depart from them, and no more be brought near unto them, neither now nor to all eternity. On the other hand, as they loved cursing, they shall be clothed with it as with a girdle; it shall enter like water into their bowels, and like oil into their bones: and they shall bear about with them, like Cain, everlasting fears and terrors, and shall be tormented unceasingly with the stings of their wickedness and sin; and they shall moreover be exiles, deserted outcasts, vagabonds, and held in contempt of all, as the Jews now are, exhibiting an awful fulfilment of the judgments herein denounced.

PSALM CX.

The kingdom, the priesthood, the conquest, and the passion of Christ.

A Psalm of David.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

The LORD at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

This is a peculiar and glorious prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ. This Psalm is cited by Christ himself, Matt. xxii. and he applies it to his own kingdom and priesthood. It speaks gloriously of Christ sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the heaven, and as being the son and the seed of David, according to the flesh, and also David’s Lord and God, the Creator and the Maker of all things, all power being given unto him in heaven and in earth: as the apostle also saith, “Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” Rom. i. 3.

Christ cites this Psalm, (which, as we have said, is a very glorious one) to confound the Pharisees. Indeed there is not a Psalm like it in the whole scripture; and it ought to be very dear unto the church; seeing that it confirms that great article of faith—Christ’s sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. For Christ is here declared to be a King and Priest; sitting at God’s right hand, not only as truly man, but also as properly God; the Propitiator and Mediator between God and men; the Omnipotent and the Eternal!

Christ is no where, throughout all the books of the prophets, and of the whole scripture, so plainly and clearly declared to be “a Priest,” and so “a Priest for ever,” who alone did, and alone could abrogate the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood; and who is, and ever will be an eternal propitiation and reconciliation for us; as is most beautifully, most fully, and with a wonderful power of the Holy Spirit, opened by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews.

Hence, this heavenly and golden Psalm has a blessed author (David) and a glorious interpreter (Christ.) And all the apostles, all godly consciences, and all who are not utterly unacquainted with the temptations of sin, and of Satan, know how great and firm a consolation it is against all the violent attacks of the devil, to be able to see Christ as our High Priest. Hence it is that Paul breaks forth into those great words, “If God be for us, who can be against us! Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God; who also maketh intercession for us.” Rom. viii. 31–34.

It is, therefore, of infinite benefit to the universal church of Christ, that the glorious things of this Psalm, the remission of sins, and the reconciliation of God toward us, which are brought in unto us by the priesthood of Christ, and which are infinite and eternal, are most carefully and most fully explained to us in the epistle to the Hebrews; and that such glorious doctrines of the truth concerning the priesthood of Christ are always present, and ready to our hands.

PSALM CXI.

The Psalmist by his example inciteth others to praise God for his glorious and gracious works.—The fear of God breedeth true wisdom.

Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

His work is honourable and glorious; and his righteousness endureth for ever.

He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, and a song for the people of Israel, to be sung at the feast of the passover, or at the eating of the paschal Lamb. For by this short song the people were instructed to give thanks, and to magnify and praise God for those great and glorious works of his,—the leading them out of Egypt at the first; and also, for giving them a good and divine government, for the priesthood he established, for the law he gave them, and for appointing the preaching of his word; for their feasts and for their Sabbaths, for public peace and a good administration of the laws, and, in a word, for all his infinite mercies: all which I have more fully opened in my more extended commentary on this Psalm.

PSALM CXII.

Godliness hath the promises of this life, and of the life to come.—The prosperity of the godly shall be an eyesore to the wicked.

Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

This is a Psalm of consolation for those that fear God: in which those that truly fear him are encouraged and praised in their Christian conversation: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,” saith the Psalmist. As if he had said, The people of God appear to them to be of all men the most miserable; and both their life and their doctrine are condemned by the world, and by those tongues which the devil raises up and uses for the work. All things in the saints make them appear to the world, as if they were left and forsaken, and deserted of God, and as if they, and their posterity, and all like them, must surely perish. And then again, their lives and conversations, (though they render most essential services, both to their nation and to the church, and though they conduct themselves blamelessly before God and man,) are, by the malice of the devil, represented as most abominable, and they themselves are looked upon as the contempt and off-scouring of the earth.

On the other hand, all hypocrites in the world are lauded as the saints of God. “But,” as the wise man saith, “better is the little in the house of the righteous, than the great revenues of the wicked.” In the midst of all this false representation, however, the righteous, standing fast in all these their afflictions, and steadily trusting in God, are delivered and saved, and gain blessed consolation, while the wicked perish on every side. “To the upright,” saith the Psalmist, “there ariseth light in darkness.” Here, according to the general language of the scriptures, he calleth consolation, light; and temptation, darkness.

And, then, in the end of the Psalm, that noble and unsubdued steadiness of faith is greatly praised: which, in such mighty struggles, and in such agonizing conflicts, is yet unwearied and unyielding, resting in the promise of God; and which, though contending with such mighty waves, is yet enabled to sing with Paul, “Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings,” saith the Psalmist, “his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord: his heart is established, he shall not be afraid until he see his desire upon his enemies.” verse 7, 8. For unless there were in us divine strength communicated by Christ, it would be impossible that we could stand against such numerous and mighty assaults of temptation.

PSALM CXIII.

An exhortation to praise God for his excellency,—for his mercy.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.

Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised.

The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,

Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;

That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a most conspicuous and most blessed prophecy of the kingdom of Christ, and of its extension from the rising unto the setting of the sun throughout all the kingdoms of the earth: it calls upon all nations to laud and magnify God, and to proclaim the riches of his grace; that is, the remission of sins for Christ’s sake. For Christ is the God of the humble, the God of the afflicted, and the God of those that call upon him and that cry unto him; he is an altogether loving and lovely Saviour and God, who sitteth at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and loves and has respect unto the humble, the afflicted, the oppressed, and the trembling and contrite in heart.

The peculiar and express office of Christ, and the work of the kingdom of Christ is to bring down the proud, to put to shame the wise, and to condemn hypocrites and false saints: and, on the other side, to raise up and exalt the humble, to enlighten and instruct fools, to sanctify unclean sinners, to make fruitful the barren, to comfort the fatherless; that is, those who are in any way afflicted or distressed.

PSALM CXIV.

An exhortation, by the example of the dumb creatures, to fear God in his church.

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

The sea saw it, and fled; Jordan was driven back.

The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs,

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills like lambs?

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, and a song for the people of Israel, to praise God while celebrating the feast of the passover; to magnify him for bringing them with a high hand out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the desert, over mountains, and through Jordan, into the land of promise. We use this Psalm to give thanks unto Christ, who delivered us from the kingdom of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of light, even into his own kingdom, the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and led us forth into eternal life.

PSALM CXV.

Because God is truly glorious, and idols are vanity, he exhorteth to confidence in God.—God is to be blessed for his blessings.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

They have ears, but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not;

They have hands, but they handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat.

They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

O Israel, trust thou in the LORD; he is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield.

Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; he is their help and their shield.

The LORD hath been mindful of us; he will bless us: he will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron.

He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.

The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.

Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

This is a glorious Psalm of thanksgiving, wherein the God of Israel is praised, as being the one, only, true, living God, the Saviour of all men, and especially of them that believe; and wherein also, all the other gods of the nations, who can save neither themselves nor others, are confessed, in the true faith, to be dumb idols.

Wherefore the Psalmist, in the first verse, saith “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory.” As if he had said, ‘Look not upon us, O Lord, to see how good or how righteous we are, for if thou do this, thou wilt never help us, thou wilt never save us; we shall remain a people without salvation, and without God, like all the nations around us; or we shall ever be at an uncertainty whether we shall be saved or not. But look, O our God, at thy holy word, and at the glory of thine own name,—that thou callest thyself our God; and that thou art the true and the living God, with whom is mercy, and with whom is plenteous redemption. According, O Lord, to thy promises of grace, according to thy counsel and thy covenant, in the which thou hast said, “I am the Lord your God;” according to this thy glorious name deal thou with us, O Lord; but not according to any name of ours, whereby we may be called sacrificers, or good-workers, or singers, or fathers, or the like: for all these names the nations that know not thee may assume, and yet remain still nations without God.’

PSALM CXVI.

The psalmist professeth his love and duty to God for his deliverance.—He studieth to be thankful.

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

Then called I upon the name of the LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted.

I said in my haste, All men are liars.

What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits towards me?

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of LORD.

I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,

In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which the Psalmist renders thanks, after coming out of a most heavy trial, and again rejoices in God; praising God for having delivered him from the terrors of death, and from the pains of hell; for by such terms does he express those deep and heavy spiritual temptations, concerning which he had spoken before, Psalm vi., which are not known unto all. And the Psalmist complains also that he suffered all these things, and was thus overwhelmed and almost destroyed by these heavy trials, because of his confession of his faith and the truth of God before the world. “I believed (saith he) and therefore have I spoken:” but I am heavily afflicted for the word’s sake. For all the saints confess and teach the righteousness of faith; and, on the other hand, they expose and condemn all the righteousness, wisdom, and holiness of the world, and also all hypocrisy, and the outside form of godliness. And this the world will by no means whatever endure: they ever rage and roar against it: and they load the godly with every kind of affliction, because of their unsocial confession: and hence arise all those terrors without and those fears within, by which the church of Christ and the saints have ever been afflicted from the kingdom of the devil, in the midst of which their confession is made.

But amid all these great, and hard, and numerous afflictions of Satan and the world, the Psalmist has this firm consolation, that his work and cause are right before God; therefore he comforts and encourages himself by relying on the word of God, and stirs up and strengthens himself unto all confidence. “I will take (saith he) the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.” As if he had said, If they drink my destruction from the cup of their fury, and hate and persecute me unto death; what then? “I will take the cup of God’s salvation and helping grace:” that is (as if he had said), Supporting and strengthening my faith with the glad word of thy promise, as with strong and generous wine, I shall be filled with the Spirit, by drinking of that cup; and, by my continuing to preach and spread the word, I shall hold out the cup to others also, who confess with me the same truth, and preach the same word; that they also may draw the same consolation with me, out of the same most blessed word of the grace of God.

This (saith the Psalmist) is our case, and this is the way in which we drink of it and use it. We drink of it ourselves, and then we hold it out to others, and invite them to drink also; and this is the true worship of God; and by this we laud and magnify his name. By this service we truly pay our vows unto God, namely, the vow of the first commandment, paid unto God by his people; for the greatest and highest vow of the first commandment is this—God, the true, the living God, alone shall be our God: we will cleave unto him alone: him only will we adore; him only will we worship; him only will we seek; on him only will we call!

As, therefore, in many other Psalms, so also in this, you may see what is the true sacrifice of praise (of that praise which is wrought in the heart and in the spirit by the Holy Ghost, and is not lip-service only.) And in this Psalm you may also see that the true preaching of the word, and the true confession of the word, before the world, form the highest and most precious worship of God.

PSALM CXVII.

An exhortation to praise God for his mercy and truth.

O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.

This is a prophecy concerning Christ; that all peoples out of all kingdoms and islands, shall know Christ in his kingdom; that is, in his church; in that kingdom where mercy and grace, and the remission of sins, and eternal life, and everlasting consolation, shall be preached against sin, death, the power of the devil, and all evil. This Psalm has been before explained in my more full commentary thereon.

PSALM CXVIII.

An exhortation to praise God for his mercy.—The psalmist by his experience sheweth how good it is trust in God.—Under the type of the psalmist, the coming of Christ in his kingdom is expressed.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; because his mercy endureth for ever.

Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.

It is better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in man:

It is better to trust in the LORD, than to put confidence in princes.

All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.

They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.

The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.

The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go in to them, and I will praise the Lord;

This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.

I will praise thee; for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my God, I will exalt thee.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This is also a Psalm of thanksgiving. This Psalm, “O give thanks unto the Lord,” which I so much love and admire, is the one which I, in particular, call the golden Psalm; and is the Psalm which has often revived and comforted me in my temptations.

The Psalmist gives thanks, and at the same time utters forth a prophecy concerning Christ, who by his suffering entered into glory; who is that stone rejected of the builders, which became the head of the corner; as Christ himself also saith, Matt. xxi. citing this Psalm. The Psalmist also describes with blessed feelings of heart the joyful day of the gospel, the day of salvation and peace, the day of joy and consolation, and the true and glorious feast-day.

Among other things the Psalmist speaks of the church and the children of God, who are to be conformed to the image of his Son; shewing, that they must be surrounded with afflictions on every side, and by the cross and through death enter into glory.

A brief summary, however, like this, cannot set forth the great and glorious contents of this Psalm: but my particular and more full Commentary on it will supply, in some measure, what is here wanting.

PSALM CXIX.

This psalm containeth sundry prayers, praises, and professions of obedience.

א ALEPH.

Blessed are the undefined in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.

Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

ב BETH.

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

ג GIMEL.

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.

Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

ד DALETH.

My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.

I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

ה HE.

Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes: and I shall keep it unto the end.

Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.

Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.

Behold I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

ו VAU.

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

ז ZAIN.

Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.

I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.

Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.

Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.