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PSALM XX.

ALLOWING David may have penned this psalm to direct the devotion of his people, in the prospect of going forth upon some military expedition against his enemies; yet is it evident, that the faith of the Church is here taught to rise to a greater than David, and to an event of which all his victories were only a faint shadow. Commentators therefore view it as a prayer of the faithful for success to Messiah in going forth to the spiritual warfare against his and our enemies; in which view alone the battles of David are interesting to us, as foreshadowing his conquests and those of his people. They here pray, that as their invincible Champion, and great Intercessor, he might be accepted of the Father in all his interprises and labours of love, and succeeded in accomplishing his will in the salvation of his people. Here the Church declares her full assurance of faith in the success of his undertaking, and firm purpose to trust in him alone, as her victorious Leader, and not in the arm of flesh. Foreseeing the total overthrow of her enemies, and her own consequent triumph and exaltation, she concludes with prayer for that blessed consummation, and that King Messiah would propitiously hear all their supplications.

1 JEHOVAH hear thee in the day

When trouble he doth send:

And let the name of Jacob's God

Thee from all ill defend.

Notes on Psalm XX.-Verse 1. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; &c. As Messiah is Zion's King in every age, this prayer is to be viewed as addressed to him, whose support and defence in his arduous work they here solicit. The successful accomplishment of his warfare, through the name of Jacob's God dwelling in him, is the great object of her request. His name often denotes his attributes and works, by which he is known and distinguished from false gods, and more frequently God himself. He is designed the God of Jacob, to signify his covenant relation to his people, in their inferior state, even before they attain the honourable character of Israel. Here we have a proof that our Lord is indeed Jehovah, and that prayer was made to him by his Jewish people; which cannot be denied, but by suppressing the true and evangelical sense of this psalm, and confining it wholly to the literal David.

2 O let him help send from above,
Out of his sanctuary:

From Sion, his own holy hill,

Let him give strength to thee.

3 Let him remember all thy gifts,
Accept thy sacrifice:

4 Grant thee thine heart's wish, and fulfil,
Thy thoughts and counsel wise.

5 In thy salvation we will joy;

In our God's name we will
Display our banners: and the LORD
Thy prayers all fulfil.'

Verse 2. Send thee help &c. That Messiah as the God of Jacob, should be prayed to by the ancient church, to help the man Christ Jesus in the days of his flesh, and also his people in every age, who are his mystical body, corresponds perfectly to his revealed character and work. The ark in Sion, from which they pray help may be sent, was the stated visible emblem of Messiah himself, and so this farther corroborates the sense given. Help in the time of trouble and danger must be sought from and through him, by the prayer of faith, and waited for by the patience of hope.

Verse 3. Remember all thy offerings, &c. Heb. turn to ashes, in token of acceptance, as Lev. ix. 24. 1 Kings xvii. 38. This includes all our Lord's acts of devotion, his sacrifice of himself on the cross, and intercession in heaven; and also all the prayers of his people in every age. As assuredly as the Lord heard those of David and his people on such emergencies, will he fully answer in due time ail the supplications thus presented.

Messiah's

Verse 4. Grant thee according to thine own heart &c. heart's desire and counsel was, that God might be glorified by his labours and sufferings, and in the complete salvation of his people, whether elect, or non-elect, and both will be fulfilled in due time to their full extent. The Church may ever plead the merits of his obedience and sacrifice in arrest of judgment, in one stage or other of its progress, and that for herself and all her children; for the judgments of God are still at work in the Church and in the world. We therefore act in character, when we pray, that what yet remains unaccomplished of the desire of our Lord's heart, and the wise counsel of his plan, may be all realized in due time.

Verse 5. We will rejoice in thy salvation &c. The joy of Israel in the victories of David, was an emblem and pledge of the consolation of the Church in her Lord's salvation, and in the application of it to herself, and all its objects. Because of Truth, personal and doctrinal, God hath given his Church a banner; and when the enemy comes in as a flood, this i

6 Now know I GOD his king doth save:
He from his holy heav'n

Will hear him, with the saving strength
By his own right hand giv'n.
7 In chariots some put confidence,
Some horses trust upon:

But we remember will the name

Of our LORD God alone.

8 We rise, and upright stand when they
Are bowed down and fall.

to be displayed in his name, and in dependance on the promised aid of his Spirit. The banner is displayed in the king's name, and here in his name, all whose petitions they pray Jehovah would fulfil; and will he not do so without a single exception?

Verse 6. Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; &c. The Jewish church built her assurance of the salvation of Messiah, personal and mystical, upon the predictions of old given concerning him; and ours may firmly rest on those already accomplished as a pledge of the full completion of what remains to be fulfilled. The resurrection and subsequent exaltation of Christ, is to be viewed as a first fruit and earnest of the whole. When the church militant and triumphant are all along thus exercised; and the Redeemer giving efficacy to the whole by his own prevalent intercession, may we not confidently conclude, that Jehovah will fulfil all the petitions that are thus inforced, from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand? Christ is the arm and right hand of Jehovah, and with him dwells everlasting strength for this very purpose.

Verse 7. Some trust in chariots, &c. The verb remember might be better supplied from the next clause. The original verb signifies to make mention of, that is, in the way of boasting of their number and strength, and confiding in them in the time of danger. The wisdom and strength of nature are as chariots in which Christians are as prone to trust as Jews and Heathens; but such false confidence proves fatal to those who indulge it. But let us ever remember that in the name, by the merits, through the power, and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, we come off more than conquerors in the Christian warfare; and that this is the more excellent way which secures strength in battle, and complete triumph at the close of the warfare:

Verse 8. They are brought down and fallen, &c. While such as trust. to refuges of lies are defeated and perish, the faithful shall rise from every conflict, and from death and the grave, and stand upright at the bar of future judgment, and in the courts of heaven, there singing the song of ; Moses and of the Lamb.

9 Deliver, Lord; and let the King

Us hear, when we do call.

PSALM XX7.

THIS psalm appears to have the same writer and occasion as the former, only this celebrates the success prayed for in the last. The church here, by the pen of David, celebrates Messiah's victory, and the glory resulting from it. She foretels the stability of his kingdom, and the consequent destruction of his enemies, and so 'concludes with praying for his exaltation and final triumph. The celebration of this divine work, in the unceasing songs of the blessed, will be the delightful and transporting eployment of heaven.

1. THE king in thy great strength, O LORD,

Shall very joyful be:

In thy salvation rejoice

How veh'mently shall he!: 2 Thou hast bestowed upon him

All that his heart would have;

Verse 9. Save, LORD, or, as some render this verse; LORD save the king, he will hear us, or let him hear when we call upon him, or cry unto him, Thus the psalm concludes, as it began, with a hosanna to the son of Da vid, that he might hear the prayers of his people, and present them to the Father, when they call upon him, and so send them prosperity.-Here is our encouragement in all our prayers, and let us not fail to avail ourselves of it, as our case from time to time may require.

Notes on Psalm XXI-Verse 1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD, &c. Great as David's joy was, when God favoured him with victory over his enemies at home and abroad, compared to that of Messiah, it scarce deserves the name. In the salvation promised him by the Fa ther, and achieved by his own right hand, how greatly shall he rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory!- As saints are called kings and priests, they derive their chief joy from a similar source. Let him that glorieth, whatever be the occasion, glory in the Lord, and in the belief that he will exercise loving kindness and tender mercies, not only in and towards the elect, but also to the earth, or the rest of mankind.

Verse 2. Thou hast given him his heart's desire, &c. This was prayed for in the preceding psalm, and is here gratefully acknowleged as granted. Did the Lord commend Solomon, because he did not desire the life of his enemies; and shall he himself fall unspeakably short of him in this espect? We may learn his heart's desire, and the request of his lips, from

And thou from him didst not withhold
Whate'er his lips did crave.

3 For thou with blessings him prevent'st
of goodness manifold;
And thou hast set upon his head
A crown of purest gold.
4 When he desired life of thee,
Thou life to him didst give;

Ev'n such a length of days, that he
For evermore should live.

5 In that salvation wrought by thee
His glory is made great;
Honour and comely majesty
Thou hast upon him set.

the prayer which he offered up for his murderers on the cross; Father, f give them, for they know not what they do. We see his acknowleged lation to such, and declared purpose to bless them, Psal. xxii. 22. I declare thy name unto my brethren. May we not then conclude, t such requests for the conversion and salvation of sinners, will be gran to the full, and in no case withheld?

Verse 3. For thou preventest him, &c. with the blessings, of goodness as some render it, with abundance of good, or happiness, and all the prequisites of it; were bestowed upon Christ, not so much for himself, as his people. With this God is represented as preventing him, just as prevented David with the promise of the kingdom, Psalm ii. 8. 2 S xvi. 12. A crown of gold is the most enviable object on earth, and very summit of human ambition. As supreme King and Priest, Chri crown will infinitely exceed that of Aaron and Solomon. His saints regarded as jewels in this crown; and who would not be ambitious this honour? Other crowns are perishing things; but his and theirs s be unfading. As the Father crowned Christ, so will he all his faith followers.

Verse 4. He asked life of thee, &c. Of all blessings, life is the n precious, and that which was bestowed upon Christ concentres in whatever can be called life. He asked this not merely for himself, to bestow it upon all his obedient people, as the gracious reward of fid ty. Do these act like Christ's disciples, who would live here alw and have no desire to depart, and to be with him, which is far better Verse 5. His glory is great in or by thy salvation, &c. The glory, h our and majesty bestowed upon our Lord, by means of that salva which he hath procured, and will finally confer on all his subjects, exc

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