10 The oppressed he also bringeth low,

And causeth the afflicted to fall by his strong ones. 11 He saith in his heart-God forgetteth,

He hideth his face, he will never behold.

12 Arise, O Jehovah! O God, lift up thy hand; Forget not the oppressed!

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God,

And say in his heart, Thou wilt not avenge?

14 Thou seest, for thou beholdest mischief and villainy, To requite it with thy hand:

The oppressed committeth himself unto thee;

Thou art the helper of the friendless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked, and of the evil doer; Search out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever.

The nations have perished out of his land.

17 O Jehovah! thou hearest the desire of the afflicted,

Thou supportest their heart, thou causest thy ear to hearken; 18 To decide the cause of the friendless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may no longer oppress.

PSALM XI.

We have this Psalm from the pen of David; and it appears, from the tenor of it, to have been written while he was a resident in the court of Saul. The jealousy and ill-will that were displayed towards him by Saul, roused the apprehensions of his friends; and they advised him to consult his safety by withdrawing from the court, and taking refuge in the mountainous parts of the land of Judah, where he would have the best means of defending himself from the dangers that threatened his life. They assured him that Saul was intent upon his destruction; and that his innocence and integrity would afford him no security. The Psalm is constructed in the form of a dialogue, in which David replies to the suggestions of his counsellors, by avowing his unshaken confidence in God, and his sure belief that he would protect him from the machinations of all his unrighteous adversaries.

TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 IN Jehovah do I put my trust: wherefore do ye say to me,

2" For lo! the wicked bend the bow, they make ready the arrow

"To shoot privily at the upright in heart. 3" When the foundations are destroyed, "What can a righteous man do?"

4 Jehovah is in his holy temple; Jehovah's throne is in heaven: His eyes behold, his-eyelids try the children of men.

5 Jehovah trieth the righteous:

But the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. 6 Upon the wicked, he will send down lightnings, fire, and sulphur; The scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For Jehovah the righteous loveth righteousness; His countenance is favourable to the upright.

PSALM XII.

THE last verse of this Psalm renders it probable that it was written during the reign of Saul. The profane and impious conduct of this prince emboldened bad and unprincipled men to make an open avowal of their unrighteous and

3. The foundations.]—This is a question which David's advisers put to him. Saul, they suggest, had shown his disregard of all laws, human and divine, the only foundations of public justice and safety, when they stood in the way of his wishes: they, therefore, ask David, what security his innocence and rectitude could furnish, against the power and malevolence of a despotic prince. The noble and animated reply which follows is descriptive of the strength and fearlessness of mind which just and extensive views of the character and government of God communicate to those by whom they are entertained.

6. He will send down lightnings, &c.]— This is an illustration of the divine judgments upon the wicked, taken from the

fearful destruction of Sodom. Gen. xix. 14.

6. The scorching wind.]—By this is meant the poisonous wind, called in Arabia Smûm, or Simoom. Niebuhr, in his account of Arabia, says, that men and animals are suffocated by this wind: and that when any one is thus suffocated, or, as the Arabs express it, when his heart is broken, the blood sometimes flows out violently from the nose and ears, two hours afterwards. The corpse retains its heat for a long time; it swells, turns blue and green; at length, when they wish to raise it by an arm or leg, these limbs come off. By this appalling figure the portion which wicked men shall receive at the hands of God is depicted.

pernicious sentiments. We are unable to assign any specific events as occasions of the composition; but it is very expressive of the detestable conduct that was predominant among the higher ranks, the nobles, courtiers and officers, who were countenanced at this period. Such a state of things was ruinous to the public interests, and inexpressibly painful to the pious and patriotic feelings of David, and all good men. In despair of any improvement, but from divine interference, he, therefore, pathetically implores it. After lamenting the diminution of good men, he describes the impieties that were prevalent, and introduces God himself announcing his determination to put an end to the afflicted condition of his servants. The Psalmist then expresses his confidence in the divine veracity, and his expectation of the fulfilment of the assurances which God had given.

TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. ON SHEMINITH, i, e. AN INSTRUMENT OF EIGHT

STRINGS. A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 HELP, O Jehovah! for the good man ceaseth:

For the faithful fail from among the children of men.

2 Men speak deceitfully one with another;

With flattering lips, and a double heart do they speak. 3 Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips;

The tongue that speaketh proud things;

4 Who say,

"With our tongue will we prevail;

"Our lips are our own: who is Lord over us?"

5 For the oppression of the afflicted, for the sighing of the destitute,

Now will I arise, saith Jehovah ;

I will set him in safety, he shall scorn him.

6 The words of Jehovah are pure words,

Silver refined in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou, O Jehovah ! wilt keep us:

Thou wilt preserve us for ever from this generation.

8 The wicked walk on every side, When worthless men are exalted.

6. The words of Jehovah, &c.] - The words intended are especially those that are contained in the preceding verse. The Psalmist encourages himself and his pious associates to maintain an inviolable confidence in the truth of divine promises, which he compares, with great beauty, to silver, which by repeated refining is freed from all its dross and alloy.

7. Thou, O Jehovah!]-In this and the next clause the English Bible reads the pronouns in the third person, which renders the passage obscure. There is a. considerable diversity in the readings of the Hebrew text, as may be seen in Kennicott and De Rossi. The LXX. and the Vulg. have preserved the reading that is here adopted.

PSALM XIII.

THE long and harassing persecution that David underwent from the jealousy and ill-will of Saul, is the most probable cause of the composition of this Psalm. The vehement and reiterated exclamations that are contained in it, are strongly descriptive of the agony which the Psalmist endured, and of the distressing fears that daily pressed upon him, lest he should become a victim to the furious rancour with which he was pursued. In this deep distress he has recourse to God, whose goodness he had frequently experienced, and by a renewed exercise of dependence upon him, he gains a superiority over his desponding apprehensions, and rejoices in the hope that deliverance, though long delayed, would finally be afforded.

TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Jehovah? for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

2 How long shall I be in suspense, in daily sorrow of heart? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider answer me, O Jehovah ! my God! Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep in death :

4 Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him." Lest my adversaries exult at my overthrow.

5 As for me, I trust in thy mercy, my heart rejoiceth in thy help. I will sing to Jehovah, for he dealeth bountifully with me.

PSALM XIV.

THE most probable opinion that can be formed respecting the time when this Psalm was written is, that it was during the alarm and danger that were occasioned by Absalom's rebellion. On that occasion, great numbers of the

2. How long shall I be in suspense ?]· The anxiety here expressed relates to the measures that were to be taken to secure himself from the vigilance and power of his formidable adversary. Every step he could take for this purpose was uncertain in its issue; and conscious as he was of the insufficiency of his means to contend against an opposition so incessant and

deadly, his breast was continually agitated by the daily recurrence of tumultuous thoughts and feelings.

3. Enlighten my eyes.]—This has reference to the effect upon the countenance of which joyful feelings are productive; the eye sparkles, the whole face beams with delight.

principal persons in the country joined in the revolt against David; and induced multitudes of inferior rank to unite with them. The defection seemed to be all but universal. The causes which led to this ruinous state of affairs are indicated in this Psalm, and traced up to the open impiety and secret atheism which were diffused among all classes of the people. It was impossible for David to witness the wretched condition of his people, and the atrocious crimes which dishonoured God, and brought inexpressible troubles upon himself, without deep affliction and dismay. Under the influence of these feelings he breaks forth into a vehement invective against the authors of these calamities, and portrays the mournful scene with the pen of a poet, a patriot, and a saint.

TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. A PSALM OF DAVID.

1 A FOOL saith in his heart, "There is no God! 99

They are corrupt, they do abominable works, none doeth good. 2 Jehovah looketh from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there be any that understandeth, that seeketh God: 3 They are all gone aside, they are together become polluted: None doeth good, no, not one.

4 Have none of the workers of iniquity any understanding?
They devour my people as they devour bread :
They call not upon Jehovah !

5 They shall be in great fear!

For God is among the generation of the righteous. 6 Ye put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, Because Jehovah is his refuge.

O that from Zion were the deliverance of Israel!
When Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

1. A fool saith, &c.]-In Scripture wickedness is denominated folly, Gen. xxxiv. 7; and wicked men are called fools, 1 Sam. xxv. 25, and such they assuredly are though the appellation is here used to express rather the obliquity of the heart than any weakness of the intellectual faculties.

4. Have none of the workers, &c.]— This interrogation is addressed to the authors and promoters of the impious rebellion that was now raging: these men, in order to gratify their own passions, and to establish their usurped power, were

subjecting the people at large to the greatest calamities; while they themselves were altogether unmoved at the sight of the miseries which they were creating, careless of every thing but their own pride and ambition.

5. They shall be in great fear, &c.]— The Psalmist here predicts the failure of the conspiracy, and the signal protection which God would, in the end, confer on David, and those faithful adherents to him, who were ready to expose their lives and substance in defence of his rights.