THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

PSALM I.

The happiness of the godly.—The unhappiness of the ungodly.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

This first is a Psalm of consolation; by which the hearts of the godly are encouraged and stirred up to magnify above all things the word of God, in which the whole of true life and salvation stands; and to hear, read, weigh, and meditate on it with a willingness of mind. For this Psalm shows, that those only are truly blessed, prosperous in all things, and enjoy a firm, sure, and eternal consolation both in prosperity and adversity, who are enabled to learn and know, from his word, the will and the works of God.

Thus, as a tall palm-tree by the water-side continually grows upwards higher and higher against all the violence of storms, retains its strength against all the weights that man can put upon it, and, by a secret growth, becomes daily more and more flourishing, and brings forth its fruits in its season; so, saith this Psalm, do the saints increase and grow continually by the Spirit and word; so are they rendered more and more firm and constant, and invincible against every evil; so do they daily become more fortified against all the calamities of life.

This Psalm denies, on the other hand, that any knowledge of God or any true consolation can be derived from human doctrines, how fair a show soever they may make. The wicked, (saith it,) and hypocrites, are like the chaff that is scattered by the wind: that is, the wicked are utterly destroyed by afflictions, at least in death; they endure not in temptation, but by and by separate themselves from the assembly of the righteous, and at length come to nought.

God looks upon those alone who worship him by hearing, learning, and declaring his word; and these are they whom this Psalm pronounces “blessed.” He disregards all the rest, who are hypocrites and pharisaical worshippers; he despises all their good works and worshippings, and leaves them to perish in their blindness.

This Psalm flows from the Third Commandment, and has respect unto that which is there written: “Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day;” that is, that thou hear, read, meditate on, and ponder the word of God. And the sum of this Psalm is comprehended in the Lord’s Prayer, in the second and third petitions, where we pray, that the kingdom of God may increase and be edified by his word, and at length be revealed in its perfection, and that his will may be done: and both of these petitions are answered, when the word of God, which abideth for ever, is purely taught and learnt, and seriously and diligently used and pondered.

PSALM II.

The kingdom of Christ.—Kings are exhorted to accept it.

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

This Psalm is a remarkable prophecy concerning Christ: it is cited by the apostles in the Acts, chapter iv.: it predicted that Christ should suffer, be crucified, and glorified, and that he should be King and Lord of all creatures; that to him should be given all power both in heaven and in earth, and that his name should be above every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come.

This Psalm contains also a description of the kingdom of Christ and the terrible threatenings of God against the kings, the princes, the wise, and the powerful of the world; that they shall all perish, who, being carried away with the pride of human reason and carnal wisdom, do not acknowledge this King, Christ, nor obey his gospel; but who oppose his kingdom, and endeavour to blot out his name.

On the other hand, this Psalm contains most consoling promises, namely, that he that sitteth in the heavens, (in comparison of whom all the kings of the earth are mere worms,) holds in derision, and in a moment defeats, all their counsels and all their crafty devices against his word and this kingdom of Christ; and that he ever powerfully and miraculously saves, preserves, delivers, and prospers believers, and the whole church throughout the world, in the midst of the kingdom of the devil, and against all the powers and the gates of hell.

This Psalm flows from the First Commandment; where God declares that he alone will be our God, to save us and deliver us from all afflictions. Thus, it was he alone that delivered us, through Christ, from sin, from death, from the power of the devil, and from hell, and gave unto us eternal life. This pertains to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”

PSALM III.

The security of God’s protection.

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

LORD, how are they increased that trouble me? many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

But thou O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

I laid me down and slept; I awaked: for the LORD sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

This Psalm is a prayer of David in the time of his greatest affliction, and under the severest trial he ever experienced. And here we have set before us a signal example of this greatest and most spiritual of men—David; how he, in the time of Absalom, when all Israel revolted from him and went over to Absalom; how this eminent saint, I say, who was now an exile, forsaken by all, betrayed by those of his own household, and in the midst of the most appalling peril of his own life and salvation; how, when sinking under this heavy calamity, and struggling in this agony, he prayed unto God in faith; and what a fervency of heart there was in these his cries unto him.

In a word,—in this Psalm, David, with a wonderful feeling of mind, and a signal experience of faith, extols, in the highest strains, the greatness of the long-suffering and goodness of God, when he says, “Salvation is of the Lord!” As if he had said, The Lord is he alone who has all salvation in his hand, and all the issues of life and death. He sets up and changes kingdoms in a moment, just as he wills. No peril is so great, no death so instant, from which he cannot deliver his own, if they but call upon him in true faith, and flee unto him alone.

This Psalm has reference to the First Commandment, wherein it is said, “I am the Lord thy God;” and it is comprehended in the seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

PSALM IV.

David prayeth for audience.—He reproveth and exhorteth his enemies.—Man’s happiness is in God’s favour.

To the chief Musician on Neginoth. A Psalm of David.

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him.

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

This is a Psalm of consolation: yet it at the same time teaches us to bear afflictions patiently, to expect the help of God, and to trust in him in all adversities. For that greatest of all wisdom, true and real Christian wisdom, is unknown to the world: which wisdom is, to learn and to know, by daily temptations and by various trials of faith, that God exercises his people in all these afflictions, to the end that they may understand his will; and that his design in exposing them to the all-bitter hatred of the world and the devil, is, that he might save, deliver, comfort, strengthen, and glorify them in a wonderful manner, in the midst of perils, and even in death itself; and that he might make known his conflicting church as being invincible, through faith and the word, in the midst of the kingdom of the devil, against all the storms of the world, and under all the clouds, darkness, and tempests of temptations of every kind.

This Psalm also most severely strikes at all hypocrites and wicked men of every description, who, before the eyes of the world, would have us believe that they are the only true saints and the people of God; who even say that they worship God, while they know nothing of him; for in the time of affliction, they tremble with cowardly fear, and impatiently mutter in their hearts against God and his holy will; they soon forget his words and his works, and, wickedly forsaking him who alone is able to comfort them, cease from expecting his aid, hate the cross, and seek for human consolation: whereas, there is no sure consolation to be obtained either from friends or from all the resources of human help; for in God alone is sure consolation; and that is all-sure, and eternal; which no creature can take away, either in this world or in that which is to come.

This peace and consolation of God, however, is not like the peace of the world. For, “Know ye, (saith David) that the Lord dealeth wonderfully with his saints:” he casts them down, that he may raise them up; he afflicts them that he may minister consolation unto them; he humbles them that he may exalt them; he makes them sorrowful that he may make them glad: in a word, he kills them that he may make them alive.

The agonizing struggles of the godly, therefore, in this life against sin, and the devil who unceasingly assaults them, and desires to sift them as wheat, are their exercises of faith and patience: from which exercises those that fear God learn more satisfactorily to know his presence;—that he is ever present with them; and that he will never leave nor forsake those that believe in him, but will ever marvellously deliver, save and rescue them from all their deaths and destructions.

But the wicked and hypocrites, how much soever they may talk about God with their lips, yet hate God, and hate this his will in the afflictions of his saints; as it is written in the first commandment—“Unto them that hate me.” And again, as Paul saith—“Whose God is their belly.” These characters wish first, and above all things, that all theirs,—their fortunes, their property, their friends, should be safe; and they trust in their riches and possessions. All such, therefore, deride this doctrine of faith: and if any one should preach to such this patience, and this word of the cross, they would laugh at it, and would boast of their holiness and religion in opposition to those who truly fear God. They would say, ‘What! are we to be taught what is right by such a fool as you? Are you to teach us what is good, and what the true worship of God is?’

This Psalm also pertains to the First Commandment. It teaches us to trust in God both in prosperity and adversity, and patiently to wait for his help, calling upon him with earnestness and constancy. The subject matter of this Psalm is contained in the third and seventh petition of the Lord’s Prayer—“Thy will be done,” and “Deliver us from evil:” and also in the fourth, where we pray, “that there may be given us our daily bread:” that is, peace, and all those things that are required unto the sustaining of this life, against all the various evils of poverty, hunger, and want; with which things the devil, in an especial manner, exercises the church of God in this world.

PSALM V.

David prayeth, and professeth his study in prayer.—God favoureth not the wicked.—David, professing his faith, prayeth unto God to guide him—and to preserve the godly.

To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.

Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee.

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels: cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

This Psalm is an earnest prayer against that most destructive pestilence in the church—false teachers: and all ages, from Cain, the first man that was born, the first hypocrite after the creation of Adam, and the first “man of blood,” have had their Cainish saints, their false prophets, their false apostles, and their fanatic spirits; who have taught their own human dreams, and their own traditions for the word of God, and resolutely contended for their own Cainish holiness, ever burning with an insatiable thirst to drink the blood of the Abels, the true saints: and these Christ has called, in his gospel, “vipers.”

It is at the blasphemies of these against God, and their cruelty towards men, that this Psalm strikes; and openly exposes the persons themselves as most virulent hypocrites, in whose doctrine and works there is nothing but outside daubing, nothing but doubting and disquietude, and a whole slaughter-house of consciences. These characters suppress the true word, the doctrine of faith, and the true worship of God; namely, the worship required by the First Commandment: and there is no end to their rage against those that fear God: they cause horrid devastations in the church, and load her with an infinity of injuries.

Against the destructive influence of these, therefore, David prays in this Psalm;—that it would please God to prevent the persecuting and Cain-like counsels of such hypocrites, and all crafty and blood-thirsty characters of the kind, and, amid all this bitter and furious hatred of the world and the devil, and such an infinity of cruelty in all their adversaries, to defend, comfort, prop up, and protect the godly; to confound the hypocrisy of the wicked, to root out all false worship; to cause the true word and the true worship of God to spread and flourish, and to glorify the true church in the face of the false one, under all the outward daubing and show of the latter.

In the last verse, David appends a most glorious promise;—that, although those who truly fear God are cruelly treated by those hypocrites, it shall yet come to pass that the godly shall at length rejoice that their prayers are heard, and shall see the judgments of God openly fall upon the hypocrites and fanatics, and the true church defended and preserved.

This Psalm has reference to the Second and Third Commandments of the Decalogue, and to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer; where we pray “that the name of the Lord may be sanctified and glorified,” against the pride and gloryings of such hypocrites.

PSALM VI.

David’s complaint in his sickness.—By faith he triumpheth over his enemies.

To the chief Musician, on Neginoth upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?

Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.

For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.

Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

This Psalm is a prayer full of those mental exercises that are felt under the deepest and most secret temptations which can only be known by experience, because no words can describe them; for they are those feelings under which the saints agonize in those bitter and unutterable conflicts which are wholly unknown to the world: they are those feelings, I say, under which they agonize when struggling with sin, the law, and the wrath and judgment of God: all which are experienced in the hours of darkness, while the devil is horribly tempting and pressing in upon them.

These internal fears and terrors, under which all the godly agonize and sweat, will, of necessity, one day wholly swallow up the hypocrites who are destitute of the word. Here it is, that in the godly, there is an unspeakable conflict of justice with sin; the law, and wrath of God, with a confidence in his mercy; and faith and hope, with desperation and despair; though the godly are at length delivered and saved. These terrors the scripture calls in other places, and especially in the Psalms, “the pains of hell,” and, “the snares of death.”

But this Psalm expressly shews in the end, that the sighs and groans of the godly under these agonizing conflicts, these pains, and these straits of soul, shall surely be heard. This Psalm, therefore, and others like it, open to us a view of the heart of David, and afford the greatest consolation to the godly. For they shew, that, although the saints thus deeply agonize under these straits, and under these terrible and open views of the wrath of God, yet, that these temptations which appear to be infinite and endless, shall surely have an end, and that God will never forsake those who fear him, in their terrors and conflicts with death and hell.

On the other hand, the prophet, in this Psalm, with a wonderful zeal of spirit, and with the most cutting sharpness and severity, strikes at all the wicked of the world: and, above all, he condemns all secure hypocrites and pharisaical ministers; calling them, notwithstanding their outward appearance of being saints,—“workers of iniquity;” who persecute all afflicted and true Christians with the bitterness of Cain, and cease not to hate them with all the virulence of Satan; adding grief to their grief, and affliction to their affliction.

‘Away with ye,’ saith he, ‘ye hypocrites. I have learnt that I have a God to go to; but ye are ignorant both of God and of his works. Ye know not what an awful weight the wrath of God is, and how great and soul-refreshing a thing the remission of sins, the knowledge of eternal life, and the experience of grace, are. Ye worship God with your mouths and with your lips; ye trust in your own righteousnesses and works, not knowing what God and what sin are; and therefore ye are most cruel and most bitter enemies to the word and true worship of God; in which worship, the greatest and most acceptable sacrifice is a spirit thus pressed into straits and afflicted.’

This Psalm has reference to the First and Second Commandment; it contains the agonizing conflict of faith, and calls upon God against the force of sin and death. And it refers also to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer; as do also the other supplicatory Psalms. For, to supplicate and pray, is to sanctify and call upon the name of the Lord.

PSALM VII.

David prayeth against the malice of his enemies, professing his innocency.—By faith he seeth his defence, and the destruction of his enemies.

Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me;

Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy;)

Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

Arise, O LORD, in thine anger; lift up thyself, because of the rage of mine enemies; and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes, therefore, return thou on high.

The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready.

He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

This is a prayer against that common and usual blasphemy with which the world accuses the prophets, apostles, and all others who fear God, as being seditious persons, who destroy the peace and general tranquility of the state: as Shimei bitterly upbraided David, when under that heavy affliction in the time of Absalom, calling him a bloody man, and saying that he had invaded the kingdom of Saul, &c. In the same way the Jews accused Christ before Pilate. And in the same way also now do certain hypocrites,—bishops and other enemies, against all conscience, brand the professors of the gospel with the appellation of ‘seditious persons.’

Against all trials of this kind, which are indeed most bitter to bear, the prophet fights by prayer unto God, calling upon God to bear witness to his innocency. And then, to encourage and comfort all that fear God, he shews, that all who thus pray are heard; and he sets forth himself as an example.

Lastly, he threatens a horrid, sudden, and momentary judgment to those hypocrites and tyrants, who thus rage against the godly with the most bitter hatred: and he signifies that all such shall in the end perish like Absalom, who was cut off and died in a new, sudden, and dreadful way, in the midst of his furious career, before he could accomplish that which he had planned.

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

PSALM VIII.

God’s glory is magnified by his works, and by his love to man.

To the chief Musician upon Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

This is a prophecy concerning Christ,—concerning his passion, his resurrection, and his dominion over all creatures; and it is thus that the apostle cites it, Ephes. i. with reference to the kingdom of Christ: where he foretels, that the power and might of his kingdom will be invincible against all enemies, how violent soever they may be in their determination to wreak their vengeance:—that is, that he will be victoriously mighty against all the wise and the powerful of the world, and against all hypocrites and pharisaical saints:—that he will be invincible and victorious, I say, not by arms, nor by mighty forces of horse and foot, but by the word of his gospel; which shall be preached by “babes and sucklings,” (that is, by humble men, men who are weak and contemptible in the sight of the world,) and believed in by his church of poor, afflicted, crying, and complaining creatures:—that this word of the gospel, I repeat, preached and believed in by such poor creatures, shall nevertheless confound all the wisdom of the world, and break and crush under it all the strength of the world, and that no creature power whatever shall impede it in its work and course, but that it shall stand firmer than the heaven, or the sun, or the moon, and shall endure for evermore!

This Psalm pertains to the First Commandment, where God declares that he will be our God: and also to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as I have before observed under Psalm II.

PSALM IX.

David praiseth God for executing of judgment.—He inciteth others to praise him.—He prayeth that he may have cause to praise him.

To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David.

I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.

When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

O thou enemy! destructions are come to a perpetual end; and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment;

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail; let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

Put them in fear, O LORD; that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

This Psalm is a prophecy: its title is “concerning the beautiful youth:” that is, concerning the children that are born anew in Christ, the people of God and the church of God. For the people and sons of God, and his new-born children by faith in Christ, must be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ.

Christians and the true sons of God are variously afflicted in the world; and the blood of the innocents is daily shed by the fury and cruelty of Satan, raging against the word and the works of God. These are the flourishing and undefiled youth, the sons and children of God, of whom the title of the Psalm speaks; who are blameless, without rebuke, and babes in the midst of wolves, and among a perverse generation.

This Psalm has its striking descriptions of persons: and the prophecy which it contains is written in the manner of a thanksgiving: and therefore it may be numbered among the consolatory Psalms. For, (as is generally the case with these spiritual canticles and songs,) the Prophet here speaks in his own person, and in that of all the saints also who are afflicted for the word of God’s sake: all of whom give thanks with wonderful sensations of heart, that God does not forsake his own. But God requires, at times, the tears and the blood of the saints: though he preserves and saves his Church, and renders her invincible against sword or fire, and against all the power of enemies temporal or spiritual, nay, in the midst of blood and death; and he raises her up, as it were, from the blood, slaughter, and ashes of the saints, and makes her flourish again and increase the more, in a wonderful manner, in this and that part of the world: so that many, even of the most bitter enemies, have been converted to the faith, and even a Saul has been made a Paul; and sometimes also the judgments of God have fallen on the wicked, and they have perished before the eyes of the godly.

This Psalm has reference to the First Commandment of the Decalogue, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as we have observed concerning the preceding Psalm.

PSALM X.

David complaineth to God of the outrage of the wicked.—He prayeth for remedy.—He professeth his confidence.

Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily laid against the poor.

He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

This Psalm is a fervent prayer, and contains complaints of the deepest concern against Antichrist, that most atrocious enemy of God and the gospel, who will ever assail and lay waste the church, not by force and tyranny only, but with all the πανᴕργίᾳ of Satan, all his frauds and impostures, and with an infinite variety of outside deception and hypocrisy.

This “Man of Sin” is descriptively pourtrayed in the present Psalm;—that he really rages against the body with the sword, ruins and destroys souls by his all-crafty and infinite hypocrisy, and with his sweet poison of false doctrines, and imposing forms of worship; but that he has no concern whatever about teaching any one kindly and with gentleness, nor instructing them seriously unto godliness or true comfort, but has his mouth ever full of cursing and deceit.

This we have manifested in the kingdom of the Pope, and in the tyranny of the Romish-church. All those fulminating and thundering excommunications are mere execrations and cursing, by which he has wished to make himself, and has succeeded in making himself, formidable even to kings, under the false pretence of the apostolic name, and divine authority. And his ‘craft’ and lies are all that infinite and inexplicable variety of hypocrisy and traditions of men; together with all that outward whitewash of holiness, and those deceptive forms of worship, by means of which, and his delusions of masses at one time, and of indulgences at another, this Antichrist ceases not to turn to wicked lucre all things human and divine, under the blasphemous cover and pretext of the name of God.

In the end of the Psalm we have a consolation; which declares that such an abomination shall, in the end of the world, be revealed, and, having been made openly manifest by the sudden judgment of God, shall be rooted out.

This Psalm has reference to the Second Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer; as have all the Psalms of supplication.

PSALM XI.

David encourageth himself in God against his enemies.—The providence and justice of God.

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain?

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

This Psalm is a complaint against erroneous and fanatical spirits: of which kind are all those who in the present day draw men astray from the pure and true doctrine of faith, and from the true worship of God, (which stands in true faith and the fear of God in the heart,) to hypocrisy, which has always an outward show of something great and wonderful:—these, I say, are the erroneous and fanatics, who thus draw away men like so many birds, and make them fly over to their mountains: that is, make them turn easily over to hypocrisy, and white-wash holiness, which, in outward show, appears to be something great and wonderful, and a firm rock, whereas it is all a thing of nought.

David ascribes to these characters that which is the peculiar characteristic of hypocrites,—that they arrogantly, proudly, and with high looks, despise and deride the truly godly. What, say they, can that righteous one, that fine fellow of a Christian, that poor miserable creature, do?

In the end we have a consolation that God will certainly hear, and regard the afflicted; that he will be present with them, and show them by manifest tokens of his hand that he will not forsake them, and that he will, by horrible judgment, take vengeance on scoffers of this kind; on these pharisees and other enemies of David.

This Psalm has reference to the Second precept of the Decalogue, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XII.

David, destitute of human comfort, craveth help of God.—He comforteth himself with God’s judgments on the wicked, and confidence in God’s tried promises.

To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, a Psalm of David.

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things;

Who have said, with our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

This is a prayer containing a heavy complaint against them, who, introduce human doctrines instead of the word of God, and who, afterwards, by various new traditions and forms of worship disturb the church, and fill all things with a white-wash show of religion, and with the outward daubing of pharisaism and hypocrisy, so that wicked men and hypocrites reign on every side, as the last verse complains. For when human doctrines have once invaded the church, they go on to rage far and wide, and spread in all directions like a cancer; there is no end to their corruption and destructive influence; they take possession of all things and wonderfully vex and torment consciences: so that the number of the true saints and of those that truly fear God is few and small indeed: of this the infinite variety of papistical hypocrisy affords a manifest example.

But we are consoled and comforted under all these afflictions by the consideration that God always raises up in his church, sometimes in this place and sometimes in that, his salvation; that is, his word and gospel; which, while the prophets, apostles, and other ministers throughout the world, boldly and plainly teach against all heresy, they detect and bring to light false doctrines, and overturn all false worship; for where the salvation of God is, (that is, the saving word of Christ and his gospel) it burns up and consumes, like a suddenly-kindled fire, all the chaff and straw of human traditions, and delivers oppressed consciences.

This, however, never takes place without afflictions, and the cross in various forms. But as gold and silver are proved by the fire, so the true knowledge and purity of the word is not preserved in the church but by means of the truly spiritual and godly, who for the word’s sake are exercised without and within by Satan, with various temptations: for these, like gold, are proved in the fire, and thus grow daily and flourish in the knowledge of the gospel, and the great things of God.

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

PSALM XIII.

David complaineth of delay in help.—He prayeth for preventing grace.—He boasteth of divine mercy.

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

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

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

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

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

This is a prayer full of the sighings and groanings of an afflicted heart in the hour of darkness, and almost overwhelmed, under that darkness, with the extreme of grief and sorrow, and driven to the greatest strait of mind. Of which sorrow the spirit of sadness himself, the devil, is the author, who casts the unwary into these temptations and perturbations in a moment, when he finds them unarmed with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; which unarmed state he himself causes by turning away our eyes from the promises and the word of God, to look at the incredible ingratitude and iniquity of the world, at the perplexed variety of offences, and at the greatness of the perils which must be undergone for the sake of God’s word and of his holy name. For it cannot be but that even a man of a sound mind must be thrown into tribulation when he considers with what infernal arts, with what stratagems of deceit, and with what bitter and Cainish hatred, Satan and wicked men oppose themselves to the word of God; and then, what fallings away and what monstrous instances of ingratitude there are among those who pretend to be with us; all which offences Satan raises up through the instrumentality of those who are unwilling to appear not to be followers of godliness.

But the prayer of the church has great power; it breaks through and victoriously overcomes all hatred, all perils, and all snares, how craftily soever they may be laid; and faith is more powerful than any violence or storm of temptation. “This (saith John) is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” And this Psalm gives us an example of that faith which enables us to stand fast in the midst of death, and not to doubt that God is able, and will deliver us from our terrible straits, and comfort us after all our fears; and which teaches to believe that we shall struggle through all our distress victoriously, though it may appear to be endless, if we do but turn ourselves away from all dark and dismal appearances of things, lay hold of that which is true and real, and lift ourselves up against the weight that lays upon us, by resting in the consolation of the word of the Lord: as James saith, “Is any afflicted, let him pray.”

This Psalm also refers to the second precept, and to the first and last petition of the Lord’s Prayer; where we pray “Hallowed be thy name,” and “Deliver us from evil.”

PSALM XIV.

David describeth the corruption of a natural man.—He convinceth the wicked by the light of their conscience.—He glorieth in the salvation of God.

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

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

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

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

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

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

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

This Psalm is a prophecy; and it also teaches us, that all human doctrines and works without faith are an abomination in the sight of God; and that the God of all such hypocrites (of which kind are the pope and his papists) is their belly; for they serve their belly, not God or Christ, and devour widow’s houses.

But such hypocrites, although they have always in their mouth the name of God, and boast of the law and the works of the law, know not what the true worship of God is, but always hate and persecute the name and word of God, but the true doctrine, concerning faith and the fear of God, they will not hear.

Against such characters as these we must fight by prayer; which prayer will certainly be heard, as is intimated in the last verse of this Psalm, which promises the kingdom and dominion of Christ. For this Psalm especially strikes at those seemingly holy pharisees, those teachers of the law, who, before the coming of Christ, by enforcing works and the righteousness of the law, were cruel torturers, and tormented men’s consciences. And this Psalm promises that wished-for day of Christ, and the redemption that should be wrought by his coming. For the gospel was revealed from Zion, and the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles at Jerusalem.

This Psalm has reference to the First and Second Commandment: for it gloriously exalts the word of God and promises the day of salvation, that is, of Christ: but it rebukes hypocrites who despise the true worship of God, and his faith and fear, and who serve not God but their own belly. And it refers also to the first and second petition of the Lord’s Prayer: where we pray, “Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come.”

PSALM XV.

David describeth a citizen of Zion.

A Psalm of David.

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

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

He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

This Psalm strikes at the hypocrites who say that holiness stands in the pretended works of the law of God, or in the vain and foolish works of human invention and tradition; and it teaches us how to understand the law of God rightly, and to live godly and righteously. It shows us that we are to walk in the spirit and to mortify the desires of the flesh. For the sum of all godliness is this;—to love and worship God with a pure heart by faith, and then, to direct our lives for the good of our neighbour; and to avoid all those things which militate against these two; that is, to shun all hypocrisy and pretended holiness, which militates against both faith and love: for such an one is ignorant of the true worship of God, and neglects all truly good works, which should be done for the benefit of his neighbour.

It has reference to the Third Commandment of the Decalogue, concerning keeping holy the sabbath day, which is done when we hear and learn the word. And it refers also to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XVI.

David, in distrust of merits, and hatred of idolatry, fleeth to God for preservation.—He sheweth the hope of his calling, of the resurrection, and life everlasting.

Michtam of David.

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

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

The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night-seasons.

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

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

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

This is a prophecy concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; and the apostles quote it, Acts ii. and xiii. as having a striking reference to Christ.

This is a glorious Psalm and a precious jewel among all the Psalms on this account,—because it shows forth in clear words that all that splendid and magnificent worship of the law of Moses, its sacrifices, its sabbath worship, its circumcision, in all which the Jews so unceasingly boasted, is done away with by the gospel; for in the fourth verse, David plainly says, that those who follow works and the righteousness of the law, follow strange gods and idols: and he shows that the Jews, although a sacred people, should be rejected, and another people chosen, even a people who should believe in Christ, who were the true elect, inheritance, and peculiar people of God.

This Psalm also has reference to the First, Second, and Third Commandments; for it foretels a new glory of God, a new work and word, and that new kind of worship which was to be revealed to the world: and it refers also to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XVII.

David, in confidence of his integrity, craveth defence of God against his enemies.—He sheweth their pride, craft, and eagerness.—He prayeth against them in confidence of his hope.

A Prayer of David.

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

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

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

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

Shew thy marvellous loving-kindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.

From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down; deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness.

This Psalm is a prayer against false teachers, and those very delicate saints, that is, hypocrites, who by their human doctrines, call men off from the word of God, and hate and persecute the truly godly teachers. These are the characters whom Paul also calls “enemies of the cross of Christ:” for they are not willing to suffer anything for God’s sake, but shun the cross; but make a pretext of the name and worship of God, and under all the artifices of their hypocrisy, seek nothing else than earthly advantages, honors, wealth, the favour of men, and the pleasures and gratifications of the world. Hence David calls them, in the last verse but one, ‘men of this world,’ and ‘men of this life.’ Of this kind also are all those animals of the belly in monasteries, those cumberers of the earth, the monks, and lazy priests.

This Psalm also has reference to the Second and Third Commandments, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray “Hallowed be thy name.”

PSALM XVIII.

David praiseth God for his manifold and marvellous blessings.

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them.

Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet and setteth me upon my high places.

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people unto me.

He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which David gives thanks to God (as the title of the Psalm shows) because of his deliverance from all his enemies. And this Psalm I should divide into four parts, for David had combatted with four kinds of enemies—King Saul, the neighbouring nations, his son Absalom, and his seditious subjects.

At the beginning of the Psalm, in the first six verses, David describes the greatness of his perils, his distresses and his straits in the midst of so many and great afflictions, out of which the Lord delivered him, “The sorrows of hell (saith he) compassed me about, &c.”

Then in the seventh verse, after the manner of the prophets, he alludes in his song of praise to the deliverance out of Egypt, and to those mighty works at Mount Sinai and in the Red Sea; intimating, that as God then powerfully delivered his people from the midst of death, so, he also more than once had been delivered by the powerful arm and the high hand of God, again, as it were from the hand of Pharaoh, and from the midst of surrounding death.

And then again, when he says verses 16, and 17, “He delivered me from my strong enemies and from them that were mightier than I,” he alludes to King Saul, who had persecuted him with hostile hatred and bitterness for the word of God’s sake, because he was chosen from on high to be King and to be his successor.

At verse 28, he celebrates the goodness of God who stands by the humble and those who are despised by the world and defends them against the proud and the mighty: as he did in giving David the victory over Goliah, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and other nations.

At verse 34, he intimates something respecting his third and domestic adversary his son Absalom, who, on that account, was by far the more dreadful and atrocious enemy.

Then at verse 42, he gives thanks to God who so wonderfully stood by him against the crafty counsels and snares of the seditious, of which kind was Siba and, in the time of Absalom almost the whole of Israel. For this most excellent and most godly king had many national and domestic enemies, and seditious citizens; so much so, that, as he himself here says, many gentile nations were far more kind and obedient to him than his own people.

Therefore any afflicted one, especially if in magisterial office, may use this Psalm in giving thanks to God for his deliverance out of various perils and distresses which fall upon those who govern the state, or who are set over the Church.

And if any one wishes to understand the Psalm allegorically, David signifies here Christ; Saul signifies the Jews; the nations that persecuted David, the tyrants of the world who set themselves against the Gospel; Absalom, heretics who proceed out from us but are not of us; the seditious subjects, outside-show-Christians who sound forth Christ with their mouth, but in their heart are far from him: from all which this afflicted David, that is, Christ and those who are Christians, are at length delivered.

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

PSALM XIX.

The creatures show God’s glory.—The word his grace.—David prayeth for grace.

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun;

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple:

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes:

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold; yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.

Moreover, by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors! cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins: let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

This is a prophecy concerning the preaching of the Gospel to every creature under the whole heaven wherever the wide earth extends. “Day unto day, (saith David) uttereth the word;” that is, ‘from day to day;’ or, day and night shall the Gospel be propagated by the voice of the apostles and the ministers of the word, farther and farther; and that, not only in Judea but every where in all the earth, and in all languages throughout the world.—And says David, as by the life-giving light of the Sun, all things in nature are illuminated, recreated, and cherished: so this new light, this voice of the Gospel shall illumine the world, and, by communicating the Spirit, shall revive and purify the hearts of men, and shall lift up and comfort distressed consciences.

Here also David intimates, that the old law which was the ministration of death was to be done away with; and that the Gospel was to succeed, which should be the ministration of life and of the Spirit; and which should be a word sweet and lovely, illumining the eyes and purifying the heart.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment; for it shews us what is the true Sabbath, namely, the day or time, in which the Gospel should be preached throughout the whole world and received by those who should believe it.

PSALM XX.

The Church blesseth the King in his exploits.—Her confidence in God’s succour.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.

Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.

Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah.

Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed: he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright.

Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

This is a prayer for kings, rulers, magistrates, and all who sustain that most heavy burthen of governing the state:—that God, in such momentous concerns, to which all human diligence and wisdom are unequal (as even heathen rulers have confessed from their own experience), would stand by magistrates when exposed to the hatred of all, to their secret councils and plans of deceit; and would keep all subjects in their duty, and give his blessing in the preservation of a good and happy constitution, and public peace; especially when Satan with horrible hatred against God and the works of God, is endeavouring to destroy the constitutions of kingdoms, and to confound all things with slaughter and blood-shed.

Those great and eminently spiritual men who produced this and the like Psalms, plainly saw that such great and important matters could not be managed and governed by any human wisdom or human counsels; and therefore they wished to pen forms of prayer of this kind for the safety of magistrates and transmit them to posterity. For such prayers as these were especially necessary for the people of God at that time, when David and other godly rulers after him, were continually exercised with new enemies and new afflictions, and those the most severely distressing.—Therefore all Kings and Rulers are fools who do not seek for, and expect, the happy government and the success of their affairs from heaven.

This Psalm belongs to the second commandment, as do all the other supplicatory Psalms; for it contains a calling upon the name of the Lord. And it belongs also to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray that the will of God, not of the devil, may be done.

PSALM XXI.

A thanksgiving for victory.—Confidence of further success.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord: and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

For the king trusteth in the LORD; and, through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform:

Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.

Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

This is a prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ;—that his kingdom shall be temporal and eternal. The beginning of the Psalm gloriously predicts that it shall come to pass that this king and this people shall rejoice in this kingdom, and that the glory of it shall be great. But you must understand that all this will be, not before the world or according to the flesh, but in God. For Christ entered into glory through the flesh and by the cross.

This Psalm foretels also that this kingdom, that is, the Church of Christ, although afflicted before the world, shall be enriched with spiritual blessings and glorified; and that this word of grace and the remission of sins, this joyful and all-sweet Gospel shall be diffused abroad among all nations, and that the godly and those that believe, shall rejoice and be glad, and exult in it with a full and perfect joy, which no creature shall be able to destroy or to take away.

On the other hand, David shews that the Jews who opposed this counsel of God, and the whole of their kingdom should be destroyed by the awful judgment of God, “Thou shalt make them (says he) to turn their back;” that is, because that people opposed themselves to the Gospel, and crucified Christ, thou shalt afflict them with heavy calamities; and, having rejected the people destroyed their kingdom, and having done away with, and abrogated the whole of their law and worship for which they so furiously fight, thou shalt reduce them to a miserable slavery, so that they shall be oppressed under a foreign yoke and laws, and shall thus suffer the punishment due to their sins.

This Psalm belongs to the first commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer: for it foretells of a people that should not be under the law of Moses, but in a kingdom of rejoicing and thanksgiving, and it speaks of a new manner of worship.

PSALM XXII.

David complaineth in great discouragement.—He prayeth in great distress.—He praiseth God.

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent.

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.

I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

But be not thou far from me, O LORD; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the LORD, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the LORD; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom is the LORD’S; and he is the governor among the nations.

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul.

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation.

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

This Psalm is a kind of gem among the Psalms that contain prophecies concerning Christ and his kingdom, and it is peculiarly excellent and remarkable. For here, if anywhere, it may be said that David does not seem to be delivering a prophecy of the future, but a history of the past; a history of circumstances that took place within his own sight and knowledge; for his expressions concerning Christ are not at all more obscure than those of Peter or Paul, or any other of the Apostles: and he speaks of Christ being nailed to the tree, and of the piercing of his hands and his feet, as if the whole had taken place before his own natural sight.

This Psalm contains those deep, sublime, and heavy sufferings of Christ, when agonizing in the midst of the terrors and pangs of divine wrath and death, which surpass all human thought and comprehension. And I know not whether any Psalm throughout the whole Book contains matter more weighty, or from which the hearts of the godly can so truly perceive those sighs and groans, inexpressible by man, which their Lord and head Jesus Christ uttered when conflicting for us in the midst of death, and in the midst of the pains and terrors of hell. Wherefore this Psalm ought to be most highly prized by all who have any acquaintance with these temptations of faith, and these spiritual conflicts.

Let Epicureans despise these things: examples of this kind will be more precious to the truly godly and spiritual, whether they be found in Christ himself, or (as St. Peter saith,) in our brethren that are in the world, than all the treasures and riches of which the world can boast.

David as I said, describes most clearly and expressively the sufferings of Christ, so much so, that you seem to see the circumstances to take place before your eyes. And as he so clearly pourtrays the forerunning sufferings of Christ, so does he with equal plainness set forth the glories which followed them; for in the end of the Psalm he shows that Christ should be delivered from the mouth of the lion and of the dog, and from the midst of death and sufferings, and should, through his resurrection wrought by divine power, be glorified; that his Gospel should be preached, not only among that people and in that kingdom, such narrow limits, but throughout all the nations and kingdoms of the world; that the fat ones of the earth, that is the rich and powerful of this world, and the poor also, should be converted unto Christ; that his Church should be eternal, and his posterity infinite; and that as King he should be adored throughout the whole world, that his name should be praised and celebrated throughout all ages, and his kingdom endure for ever, and remain invincible against all the kingdoms of the world, and against all creatures.

The Psalm belongs to the first commandment of the Decalogue, for it foretels a new worship of God; and it has reference to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXIII.

David’s confidence in God’s grace.

A Psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

This Psalm is a remarkable offering of thanks to God for the gift and reception of the word: and it contains the description of a godly heart acknowledging how incomparable and unspeakable a blessing and gift of God the knowledge of his word is. It also gloriously declares and extols the greatness of the goodness and mercy of God in leading us in the right way, and in lifting us up and consoling us under every temptation, while hypocrites are left to walk in their own crooked ways.

Under a beautiful similitude he compares himself to a sheep, in seeking, (if perchance it has strayed) saving, defending and feeding which, the faithful shepherd spares no labour nor anxiety. And as, under a good and watchful shepherd, the sheep have fattening pastures, and wholesome brooks and fountains; so do the godly find all these same pastures for their hearts in the word which God has provided for them.

David alludes in this Psalm to the table and shew bread, and to the balsam and the oil of gladness. For God will feed and comfort the Ministers of the word, and the hearers, and will gladden them with his cup though they are made sorrowful by the world.

He calls the word of God a shepherd’s staff, refreshing waters, green pastures, that by all such similitudes he may show that true salvation, settled peace, and sure and eternal consolation are established in men’s consciences by the word of God only.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXIV.

God’s lordship in the world.—The citizens of his spiritual kingdom.—An exhortation to receive him.

A Psalm of David.

The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

This Psalm is a prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ to be spread and extended throughout the whole world by the Gospel.

By a striking apostrophe David turns himself to the kings, princes, and wise ones of the earth, and the men of power and authority, whom he calls after the genius of the Hebrew language, the ‘gates of the world.’ Remember, (saith he to such,) that the earth is the Lord’s, he is Lord of all. It was he that gave you your kingdoms. He has set up his Christ as King over all, whom if ye adore and acknowledge not, ye shall perish together with your kingdoms, and shall be dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

He exhorts such to acknowledge themselves sinners: for these powerful ones, these pharisees and these wise ones of the world, being blinded with a conceited opinion of human wisdom and righteousness, are above all others enfuriated against the Gospel: for when the kingdom of grace and of the remission of sins is preached; when this Christ is declared and proclaimed by the Gospel to be the only King of eternal peace, the only victorious King over sin, death, and the devil; then these tyrants and powerful ones of the world immediately burst out with their cry of pride “Who is this King of Glory? Who?” As if they should say, what! Shall those poor abject fishermen, those dross of the earth teach us? Shall they, instead of the law of Moses, and instead of the religion which we received from our forefathers, force upon us this new worship of God, and this King of theirs who was hanged upon the cross? Shall they persuade us to believe such dreams as these?

This Psalm, therefore, at the same time intimates that this kingdom of Christ should not be corporeal or earthly, nor of such a kind as should destroy political governments: but a kingdom in which the preachers of it should bring into subjection unto Christ the world and the kingdoms of the world by the word and the Gospel.

To this kingdom (says David) kings and rulers shall oppose themselves and shall crucify the King and Lord of Glory, and shall persecute the Apostles and Ministers of the word: but he nevertheless shall break through all kingdoms, and in defiance of every opposer shall enter into the world and reign by the Gospel in the midst of his enemies: he shall give to his Apostles a mouth and wisdom which none of their adversaries shall be able to gainsay or resist: and while the mightiest kingdoms of the earth, as Daniel saith, shall be moved and destroyed, this eternal king shall endure for ever and be truly manifested to be the Lord of victory and of glory.

It has reference to the First Commandment of the Decalogue, and to the first, second, and third petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXV.

David’s confidence in prayer.—He prayeth for remission of sins, and for help in affliction.

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies, and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose;

His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Look upon mine affliction, and my pain: and forgive all my sins.

Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

This is a prayer in which the prophet prays, with wonderful fervency of heart, to be strengthened in the faith and in the love of the Word, although he should have on this account great and bitter enemies in the world: that is, that he may not be broken down in mind by the afflictions, nor by the greatness and multiplicity of his own encompassing infirmities when he saw that Epicurean hypocrites despised the true religion and the true word with so much confidence and secure presumption, as if they were things in which it was a disgrace for men of a sound mind and a liberal education to be in the least engaged.

Ah Lord (saith David) preserve and glorify thy name and thy word. Let us (saith he) who are thus derided, spit upon, and, for thy sake, well nigh overwhelmed in the midst of so many afflictions and so many offences, not be confounded, but let us expect thy consolations. Let those haughty hypocrites and despisers be confounded both before God and men, who, on account of their carnal wisdom and powers, and riches, and other things of this world which they admire and value, so despise thy word and thy worship, that they deem it a disgrace to have such things in their thoughts. Our eyes (saith he) are unto thee O Lord? Do thou, if there be any infirmity in us, pardon it. Keep us in the knowledge of thy holy word and of that mystery of thine which is hidden from the world, and stand by us in our great straits and perils.

This Psalm belongs to the Second Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXVI.

David resorteth unto God in confidence of his integrity.

A Psalm of David.

Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes; and I have walked in thy truth.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I have hated the congregation of evil-doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I compass thine altar, O LORD?

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men;

In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

This is a prayer unto God, containing a complaint against hypocrites who want to be justified by the works of the law, and who always persecute the true doctrine of faith and condemn its supporters for heretics. David calls these characters dissemblers, heretics, bloody men, wicked persons. For although they boast of great sanctity, yet their hearts are full of hatred and bitterness against God, and craft and iniquity against their neighbour: as Christ says of all such pharisees when he rebukes them by Luke, “Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts.” For such worship God with their lips, but their heart is far from him: they worship him not in truth, but do all for gain.