is here praised for its relation to God, ver. 1-2. For God's care of it, ver. 3. For the terror it strikes upon its enemies, ver. 4-7. For the pleasure it gives to its friends, who delight to think of what God has done, doth, and will do for it, ver. 8. Of the gracious discoveries he makes of himself in and for that holy city, ver. 9, 10. Of the effectual provision which is made for its safety, ver. 11-13. Of the assurance we have of the perpetuity of God's covenant with the children of Sion, ver. 14.

VER. 1. "Great is the Lord."]-The same that in the foregoing psalm is said to be gone up to heaven with a shout, to sit on the throne of his holiness, to reign over the heathen, and to be king over all the earth; who is great, and the Son of the Highest, the great God and our Saviour, great in his person as God-man, God manifest in the flesh, his Father's fellow and equal; and in the perfections of his nature, being of great power, and of great wisdom, and of great faithfulness.

"And greatly to be praised in the city of our God."]— Jerusalem is a figure of the gospel church, which is often compared to a city, Isaiah xxvi. 1. and Ixii. 12. of which saints are citizens and fellow-citizens of each other; this is a city built on Christ the foundation, is full of inhabitants when together, and considered by themselves; is governed by wholesome laws, enacted by Christ its King, who has appointed officers under him to explain and enforce them, and see that they are put in execution; and has many privileges and immunities belonging to it; and this is the city of God, of his building, and of his defending, and where he dwelis.

Ver. 2. "Beautiful for situation."]-This and what follows are said of the city of God, the city of Jerusalem, which was delightfully situated on an eminence, in a wholesome air, the brook Kidron gliding by it, the water of Siloah running through it, or at least through some parts of it, and mountains all around it: and so the church of Christ is built upon Christ, the Rock; the river of divine love runs by it, the streams whereof make it glad; the green pastures of the word and ordinances are in it, and salvation is as walls and bulwarks about it; and so healthful is it, that the inhabitants have no reason to say they are sick, since the people that dwell therein have their iniquities forgiven, Isaiah xxxiii. 24.

"The city of the great King."]-That is, of the Messiah, the King of kings, whose city the church is. It is here that he displays his greatness, his blessings, his beauty, and

his glory and he is therefore to be greatly loved, reverenced, and adored by his people.

Ver. 3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge."]As there were palaces in Jerusalem, (see ver. 13. and Psalm cxxii. 7.) so there are in the church of Christ; every place in it is a palace fit for a king, and every one that has truly a name and a place there, is a king and priest unto God; and here God is a refuge both for saints and sinners to fly unto, (see the note on Psalm xlvi. 1.) and is known to be so: the ministers of the gospel being here appointed to direct and encourage souls to flee to Christ for refuge, who is the hope set before them in the everlasting gospel, preached by them to lay hold upon; and all that do flee to him, know by experience that he is a refuge for them, as all the people of God do in every time of distress, and when all refuge fails them elsewhere.

Ver. 4. "For lo, the kings were assembled."]-As the princes of the philistines to seek for David, when in the strong hold of Zion, 2 Sam. v. 17. as the Ethiopians in the time of Asa, 2 Chron. xiv. 9. and the Moabites and Ammonites in the times of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 1. and the kings of Syria and Israel in the times of Ahaz, Isaiah vii. 1. and Sennacherib with his princes, who in his esteem were kings, in the times of Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii. 17. which are instances of the kings of the nations gathering together against Zion, the city of Jerusalem, and people of the Jews, who were typical of the church of Christ, and that without success, to their own confusion and destruction; though this seems to refer to the latter day of the gospel dispensation, when all the kings of the earth will be gathered together at the instigation of satan, to the battle of the great day of the Lord God Almighty, in a place called Arma-geddon, where they will be defeated by Christ, the King of kings, Rev. xvi. 13, 14, 16. and xix. 19-21.

Ver. 6. Fear took hold upon them there."]-That is, either when they came up to the city, and passed by it, and saw what they did, or in the place where they thought to bave made a great slaughter; that is, in Arma-geddon, Rev. xvi. 16. so upon the slaughter of the seven thousand names of men, or men of name and renown, such as the kings here assembled, the remnant will be affrighted, Rev. xi. 3.

"And pain, as of a woman in travail."]-This figure is made use of elsewhere, when the destruction of Babylon,

and the coming of Christ are spoken of: see Isaiah xiii. S. 1 Thess. v. 2, 3.

Ver. 7. "Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind."]-This is either another simile, expressing the greatness of the dread and fear that shall now seize the kings of the earth, which will be as if they were smitten with a strong east wind, which breaks the ships of Tarshish, and the psalmist compares the pain that shall take hold upon them, to an east wind in the sea, which breaks the ships; for by Tarshish is meant, not Tartessus in Spain, nor Tarsus in Cilicia, or the port to which the prophet Jonah went and took shipping, but the sea in general; or else this phrase denotes the manner in which the anti-christian kings and states will be destroyed, just as ships upon the ocean are dashed to pieces with a strong east wind; or it may design the loss of all their riches and substance, brought to them in ships: hence the lamentations of merchants, sailors, and ship-masters, Rev. xviii. 15—19.

Ver. 8. In the city of our God."]-The covenant God of his people; wherefore, as the former title declares his power, this shews his love and affection, and both together secure the happiness of the saints; wherefore it follows,

"God will establish it for ever. Selah."]-Not only particular believers, of which the church consists, are established on the foundation, Christ; but the church itself is built on him, the Rock," against which the gates of hell cannot prevail.'

Ver. 9. "We have thought of thy loving-kindness, O God."]-The loving-kindness of God towards his people in Christ is a very delightful and profitable subject to dwell in meditation upon, to consider the objects, instances, cause, and nature of it, and serves greatly to encourage faith and hope, to draw out love to God, and engage to a ready and cheerful obedience to his will; and this is sometimes done in public as well as in private conversation, and in the closet; as follows.

"In the midst of thy temple."]-The church of Christ, which is of his building, where he dwells, and grants his presence, and is often called the temple of God in the new testament, in allusion to Solomon's temple: see 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.

Ver. 10. "According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth."]-That is, as he him self is in the perfections of his nature, which are dis

played in the works of his hands, throughout the whole creation, so is, or ought his praise to be: or rather, as in the. latter day his name will be great in all the earth, Mal. i. 11. so will his praise be; and as his name will be one, Zech. xiv. 9. he will be one Lord, there will be one faith and one baptism; his worship, word, and ordinances will be uniformly observed and attended to; so will be his praise; all the saints will unite together in giving glory to him; he, and he alone, shall be exalted. Moreover, his gospel is his name, Acts ix. 15. and that in the latter day will be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, Rev. xiv. 8. and multitudes, both of jews and gentiles, will be converted, and from the uttermost parts of the earth will be heard songs of praise and glory unto him, Isaiah xxiv. 15, 16.

"Thy right hand is full of righteousness."]-Of all spiritual blessings for his people, and particularly of the righteousness of Christ, which God accepts of, imputes unto, and liberally bestows upon them: and it is also full of punitive justice, which he inflicts on his and their enemies; his right hand teaches him terrible things, and these terrible things he does in righteousness; all his works are in righte ousness, which the right hand, being the instrument of action, is a token of. Moreover, Christ is the right hand of God; he is the man of his right hand, and as dear to him as his right hand; he is the right hand of his righteousness, by which he upholds his people; and this right hand of his is full of righteousness; he does nothing else but righteousness; he is the author and donor of it to his people, and will execute righteousness upon his enemies; in righteousness he will make war with them, Rev. xix. 11.

Ver. 11. "Let mount Zion rejoice."]-The church in general; see Heb. xii. 22. Rev. xiv. 1.

"Let the daughters of Judah be glad."]-Particular churches, or particular believers, such as are called the daughters of Jerusalem, and the daughters of Zion, Cant. iii. 10, 11. these are exhorted to joy and gladness, at the loving-kindness of God, at the spread of his name and glory to the ends of the earth, and at his righteousness his right hand is full of; and as it follows,

"Because of thy judgments."-Executed on the antichristian kings, ver. 4-7. and on all the anti-christian states, and on the whore of Babylon, and those who have committed fornication with her; see Rev. xix. 1, 2.

Ver. 12. "Tell the towers thereof."]-See 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Isai. xxxiii. 18. the Lord himself is the tower of his peo

ple, high and strong, which secures and defends them from all their enemies, Psalm xviii. 2. and Ixii. 3. Prov. xviii. 10. the ministers of the gospel, who are immoveable, and are set for the defence of it, Jer. vi. 27. the scriptures of truth, which are like a tower built for an armoury, out of which the saints are furnished and provided with proper armour, whereby they are able to engage with false teachers, and to overcome the evil one, Cant. iv. 4. and the ordi nances of the gospel, the church's two breasts, said to be as towers, Cant. viii. 10. Some render the words, tell in the towers,' publish on the house tops, declare in the high places of the city, in the most public manner, the great things of the gospel, which relate to the glory of Christ and his church.

Ver. 13. "Consider her palaces."]-For Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have their dwelling-places in Zion; and here every saint is a prince and a king, and has a place and a name here, better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest potentate on earth; every dwelling-place in mount Zion is a palace.

"That ye may tell it to the generation following."]— That is, the beauty and glory, strength and safety of the church: this is the end proposed, by taking a circuit round Zion, and making observations on it.

PSALM XLIX.

This psalm is a sermon, and so is the next. In most of the psalms we have the penman praying or praising; in these we have him preaching; and it is our duty in singing psalms to teach and admonish ourselves and one another. The scope and design of this discourse, is to convince the men of this world of their sin and folly in setting their hearts upon the things of this world; as also to comfort the people of God, in reference to their own troubles, and the grief that ariseth from the prosperity of the wicked, by setting before them the preciousness of their redemption, ver. 8. the certainty of their resurrection, and their great triumphs in that happy morning, ver. 14, 15.

VER. 5. "Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil?"]-This is the principal thing that all are before called to hearken to. This is the wisdom and understanding the psalmist had been meditating upon, and was about to utter; this is the parable he inclines his ear to, and the dark saying he would open; namely, that a saint has no