with the preced ing. Alphabetic in structure. thus does faith now stand at its Lilybæum and see the longtossed fleet entering safely the desired haven, enjoying the bliss of that still distant day, as if it was already come. It is a Psalm for "times of trouble" (ver. 1), like the preceding, (ix. 9). In it we again hear the cry, "Arise," addressed The connection to the Lord, as in the preceding (ix. 20). Here, too, man is felt as the oppressor (ver. 18), even as in Psa. ix. 19. So much does it resemble the preceding, that the Septuagint have reckoned it a continuation. There is, however, this obvious difference, viz., while the ninth dwells much on the ruin of the ungodly, this Psalm dwells much on their guilt. Both Psalms also are in some measure alphabetic. (See Hengstenberg.) Both, however, are alphabetic in a very irregular manner. Perhaps it was intended by the fact of irregularity in the first two instances of an alphabetic kind, to teach us not to lay too much stress upon this kind of composition. God occasionally employs all the various ways in which men are wont to express their thoughts, and by which they are wont to aid the memory in retaining them. The contents. Three parties are presented to our view in succession. God —the wicked-the righteous. God (ver. 1) is seen standing afar off, covering his eyes from the painful sight ( scil. y), being of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. The wicked (vers. 2-11) is seen in all his ungodliness and unprincipled selfishness, practising evil as if no eye regarded. The righteous (vers. 12-14) calls God's attention to these scenes, and raises the cry for his interposition. Then, at ver. 15, and onward, the scene suddenly changes. God has come nigh; "the arm of the wicked is broken." In the Hebrew, the first clause is a prayer, "Break thou the arm of the wicked and evil man ;" and the next seems to be the response to that prayer, q. d., Yes, it shall be broken." And thou shalt seek out his wickedness, and find none." His extirpation shall be complete, (compare Jer. 1. 20). "The Lord is King." He has heard the desire of the humble; "he has judged the fatherless* * Augustine gives one reason why saints are called fatherless:“ Pupillus ; id est, is cui moritur pater hic mundus, per quem carnaliter genitus est ; et jam potest dicere, 'mundus mihi crucifixus est, ego mundo."" in Christ's days. and the oppressed," ie., he has acted to them as Othniel, and Gideon, and Samson, and other judges of Israel did when they brought down the foe, and set things to right in the land. Our Master, in the days of his flesh, might see all that is Exemplified here described verified before him. He saw the buyers and sellers making gain in the courts of the Temple, and probably fulfilling there, Zech. xi. 5, "Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich," -even as it is said, ver. 3, “And whosoever makes gain blesses (God for it), and yet despise Jehovah." In the Sadducees, he saw before him men of whom it might be said, "There is no God,' in all their thoughts." (ver. 4.) 66 in all ages. Their ways were firm (ver. 5, Hengstenberg). They feared no adversity, saying (as the Prayer-book version graphically renders ver. 6), "Tush! I shall never be cast down." The Pharisees, and Scribes, and Elders furnished abundant exemplification of "mischief is under his tongue," (ver. 7,)--the storehouse, or cellar, that seemed to lie under their tongue, ever providing their lips with plans and suggestions of evil. Their lying in wait, as a lion in his covert, most vividly paints. the plots entered into against Christ, and against his disci- Christ's Churc ples afterwards. At the same time, The servant is not above the master," the members of Christ have ever met with the same treatment, and found the world lying in the same wickedness. Any member of Christ can use this Psalm who feels earth's unholiness and atheism, and who is at all like Lot in Sodom, "his righteous soul vexed from day to day by their unlawful deeds." It will be well fitted for those who are on earth when Antichrist practises and prospers ere his final overthrow. In short, it is so comprehensive, that whether used by Christ or by his people, whether in the days of the First Advent, or in the days that precede and usher in the Second, it may be said to be The Righteous One detailing earth's wickedness in anticipation of earth's deliverance. plan of the Psalm. PSALM XI. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 IN the Lord put I my trust:-how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mouutain ? 2 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. 3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? 4 The Lord is in his holy temple! the Lord's throne is in heaven: 5 The Lord trieth the righteous. But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. 6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares,-fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: This shall be the portion of their cup. 7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. The tone and THE combatants at the Lake Thrasymene are said to have been so engrossed with the conflict, that neither party perceived the convulsions of nature that shook the ground "An earthquake reeled unheedingly away, None felt stern nature rocking at his feet.” From a nobler cause, it is thus with the soldiers of the Lamb. “In the Lord I have put my trust :-how say ye to my soul, Flee, sparrows, They place their arrow upon the string The enemy may thus array his terrors, as if the Lord's host were a partridge on the mountains. (1 Sam. xxvi. 20.) There is a sneer at Mount Zion, in ver. 1 it has been suggested; but the words may as well mean, they have their secure resort, their Zoar mountain (Gen. xix. 17), on which they shall stand and see the rain of "snares, fire, and brimstone" on these men of Sodom (ver. 6); their Judean mountain, where they shall be safe when the abomination of desolation appears (Matt. xxiv. 16). It is this-the Lord himself. Though all the pillars of social and religious order were destroyed, still "The Lord is in his holy temple ; The Lord's throne is in heaven!" The enemy has not reached up to this fortress; he has not shaken this sure defence.* On the other hand, the Lord is preparing to make a sortie in behalf of his own. He is surveying, in preparation for this burst of judgment. "His eyes behold” Nay, more, he is in the position of one who contracts his eyebrows and fixes his eyelids in order to discern accurately the mark he aims at ; "His eyelids try the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous." And the result is interposition in behalf of his own; for in the trial he discovers the difference between the principles of the two hostile parties, and now makes it known : "The wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone : And an horrible tempest (a wrath-wind) shall be the portion of their cup.” All that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah shall be realized at the Lord's appearing "in flaming fire,” (2 Thess. i. 8). At the very time, perhaps, when men imagine they have got the righteous in their snares, the Lord comes and his net is spread over them; his "snare" suddenly starts up (Luke xxi. 35) and they are taken; caught unexpectedly in a net whose meshes they can never break; seized by the hands of the living God, and doomed to "the vengeance of eternal fire," as the "portion of their cup." It is the measured, just, and due amount of wrath for their sins; for it is called a cup-portion, "Shall the pillars be brangled," says Leighton somewhere, "because of the swarms of flies upon them ?" Christ using this Psalm. The Church. "Ne quid præter modum atque mensuram, vel in ipsis peccatorum suppliciis per divinam providentiam fieri arbitremur." (August.) All this proceeds from the rectitude of Jehovah's character: "For righteous is the Lord; he loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright. His righteousness sees it meet thus to visit the ungodly with a Sodom-doom; and on the other hand, to look with favour on his Abrahams at Mamre, and no longer “hide himself,” as in Psalm x. 4. It is somewhat remarkable that in ver. 7 the Hebrew uses the plural for “His countenance." Critics are content to call this use of . "THEIR countenance," by the name pluralis majestatis; and to say that it may express perfection, or greatness, in Him of whom it is used. But if we admit of a reference to the Trinity in Gen. i. 26, why not here? The countenance of the Godhead-Godhead in all its fulness-each person of the Godhead-shall give a look of delighted approval. "With a countenance full of paternal affection he beholds them in the midst of their sorrows, until, admitted through mercy to the glory from which he excludes the wicked, they behold that countenance which has always beheld them." (Horne.) And Our Lord might sing this Psalm at Bethany on such occasions as that mentioned in Luke xiii. 31, 32, when they came and said, "Get thee out hence, for Herod will kill thee.” he has left it for us, that we may use it, as no doubt David used it when it was first given to the Church, in times of danger and threatening. Dr Allix would apply it specially to the Church after she fled into the wilderness; comparing ver. 2, with Rev. xiii. 14. It applies with almost equal fulness to all these cases, and yet also to an individual believer's case when tempted, like that good man who said, "Sirs, it is a great thing to believe that there is a God !" It exhibits to us The Righteous One's faith under apparent disaster. |