10 And all my bones shall say, O LORD, Who dost the poor set free from him The poor and needy from the man 13 But as for me, when they were sick, My humbled soul did fast, my pray'r 14 Myself I did behave as he Had been my friend or brother; I heavily bow'd down, as one That mourneth for his mother. lowers. All oppressors shall be broken in pieces, and the oppressed: delivered from their power, and made to triumph in their fall. In verses 11-16. he gives a striking description of the malice of his persecutors against him, and of his love towards them, and concern for their happiness.-They laid to my charge, Heb. asked me things that I knew not, to extort self-condemnation. This could not be more literally verified in David, than it was in our Lord, when false witnesses rose up against him in the presence of Pilate, whom the Jewish rulers subor ned for that purpose. All this was a rewarding evil for good. From what David says as a type of his Lord, in humbling, er afflicting his soul with fasting for his enemies, we see what the latter has done for his; and can his fasts and prayers prove always ineffectual, in respect of any of his enemies?--Ver. 14, Heb. I walked as if he had been my friend; er brother; I bowed down heavily, as a mother that mourneth; that is, for the death of her child or children. Our Lord's weeping over Jerusalein verifies and illustrates this verse, in reference to him. Did not God commend in Solomon, that he did not ask the life of his enemies? and did not he and his Father, David, typify Messiah in this respect? Is it possible then, that those can perish without end, for whom Christ fasted, prayed, and died, and in whose death he is so far from taking pleasure, that he seeks the recovery of their life? Let the advocates ef common systems reflect on the sorrow of a mother over her dead child, and cease to blaspheme the God of love. Though millions of the child! N 15 But in my trouble they rejoic'd, 17 How long, LORD, look'st thou on? from those Rescue my soul; from lions young My darling do defend. 18 I will give thanks to thee, O LORD, 19 Let not my wrongful enemies Nor, who me hate without a cause, 20 For peace they do not speak at all, Against all those within the land dren of ancient and modern Jerusalem have perished; yet Messiah, who is the God that bringeth the outcasts of Israel into one, will yet prevail in gathering these her rebellious children together. He is the great Shiloh, to whom the gathering together of the people, or of mankind, shall be. In verses 17-25. The Psalmist urges his fervent supplications for deliverance, promiseth to render grateful thanks and praise for it, and deprecates the cruel insults and base treatment of his enemies, whose impeuding miseries he above deplorer. We may pray, as David and our Lord did, to be defended or delivered from the malice and crafty designs of wickcd men; and yet bear them all that Christian love, which comes thus exemplified and recommended. If the experience of such treatment in David, or the foreknowlege and experience of still worse in Christ, did not prevent their fervent supplications for their enemies; will not the ef fectual fervent prayers of such righteous characters, with whom the faith 21 With mouths set wide, they 'gainst me said, 22 LORD, thou hast seen, hold not thy peace; 23 Stir up thyself; wake, that thou may'st Ev'n to my cause, O thou that art 24 O LORD my God, do thou me judge And let them not their joy 'gainst me 25 Nor let them say within their hearts, Nor suffer them to say, that he 26 Sham'd and confounded be they all Let those against me that do boast, 27 Let them that love my righteous canse To say, The LORD be magnify'd, Who loves his servants' peace. ful in every age join, finally avail much, even to the complete recovery of all the enemies of the true David? While in the last three verses of this psalm he foretelleth the destruction of his irreclaimable enemies, and the triumphant exaltation of his faithful people, he introduces himself in language that precludes every idea of the endless misery of the former, or of the entrance of that horrid notion into the triumph of the latter. Does he not foretel that they who rejoiced at his hurt, and magnified themselves against him, shall be ashamed and brought to confusion together, and clothed with shame and dishonour?-for Dr. H. renders all the verbs in these verses in the future time. All this beautifully describes true repentance, as we find it also expressed, Ps. cxxxii. 18. And does not Daniel use the like phrase to denote true repentance, "To us belongeth confusion of face?" Dan. ix. 8. Thus, as elsewhere expressed by the Psalmist, shame, or the process of shame, As at the close of the shall be the promotion of fools, or terminate in it. 28 Thy righteousness shall also be Declared by my tongue; The praises that belong to thee PSALM XXXVI. THE title of this psalm is—A psalm of David the servant of the LORD. If the persecution which he endured from Saul and his partizans led to it, as is thought, the malice and wickedness so discovered gave occasion to his thoughts, to view the sad case and condition of the world at large, and even of the Church of God at that time. The above title occurs only here, and in the xviiith psalm, and seems to be used to express the Psalmist's firm resolution to adhere to the worship and service of God, in the path of his commandments amidst that general corruption, of which he here speaks. In contrast with such abounding wickedness, he celebrates the mercy and loving-kindness of the LORD towards all men, and fervently prays for their continuance to himself and all others, even while he foresees and foretells the overthrow of the ungodly. The student of divine wisdom will here, as also frequently in this Book, find more than obscure hints of the extent and benignity of God's saving plan; which hints claim his devout attention. We make it our business to point them out where they appear to occur. cixth psalm, Messiah here declares his resolution—My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, or justice, and of thy praise all the day long; and, no doubt, this blessed consummation of his mediatory work, when judgment shall terminate in righteousness, and all shall be upright in heart, will then accentuate his praises, and those of his redeemed. Notes on Psalm XXXVI. The Psalmist describes, in the four first verses of this psalm, the principles of wicked men, and persecutors, and the corresponding actions and conversation to which they give birth; also their vain imaginations and false reasonings. The last clause of verse 2d. is thus rendered-when his sin is ready to be found out, and to be hated; even then he flattereth himself. And the last clause of next verse-to understand, that he may do good, intimating that when men have no deie to grow in knowlege, with view to moral improvement, little hope of 2 Because himself he flattereth In his own blinded eye, Until the hatefulness be found Of his iniquity. 3 Words from his mouth proceeding are, He to be wise, and to do good, 4 He mischief, lying on his bed, He sets himself in ways not good, Ill be abhorreth not. f them can be entertained. When the fear of God is not in the heart, iniquity and deceit will be under the tongue; and then follows apostacy from every thing like true wisdom. We may know our real state from the habitual tendency of our thoughts; for he that does not abhor sin, even in thought, is not far from taking delight in it, and being overcome by it. Verses 5-9. From describing the conduct of the wicked, the Psalmist proceeds here to celebrate the mercy and loving-kindness of the LORD. The heavens, in which mercy is said to be, chiefly intend the mystical ones, the churches of the saints; and his faithfulness unto the clouds or skies, as the administration of truth in gospel ordinances, in which the mystical sun and stars shine, should exhibit his faithfulness in fulfilling all his promises, and executing all his threatenings, in the pure light so emitted. As the heavens encompass the earth, and the clouds are the medium trough which dew and rain are shed on the earth; so the mystical heavens, clouds and skies, should be allowed to do the same to the Church, and the rest of mankind. His righteousness or justice is said to be like the great mountains, which though sublimely awful, are yet useful in nature, attracting the dew by their summits, dispensing it in rivulets, that flow down their sides, and paying continual tribute to the rivers that adorn and water extensive regions. Their bowels also are stored with precious ores, which the sun prepares, from whose heat nothing even there remains hid. Divine justice, like the element of fire; contributes to all this; whence the mystical mountains, or the kingdoms of the world, shall be cultivated to their very tops, and shake with precious, mystical fruit like Lebanon, I's. lxxii. 16. His judgments, whether those of his written word, or as carried to effect in his providence, are a great deep. Justice and judgment are reiated, as also mercy and truth; and we see their union and its effects celebrated, Ps. lxxxv. 10, &c. In the 12th, righteousness, or justice, we are told, shall go before him: and shall set us in the way of his scops; intimating that it shall act as the harbinger of the King of kings, and |