A.C. 1034. kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this k Rom. iii. 4. evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my * Heb, warm mother * conceive me. mc. 1 Lev. xiv. 6. Num. xix. 18. + Or, a constant spirit. + Heb. bloods. Or, that I should give it. m Is. lvii. 15. & lxvi. 2. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 1 7 1 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew ta right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O LORD, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; §else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 m The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Although God, upon the repentance of David, pardoned his sin, yet we find a series of temporal judgments were inflicted upon him, both as a just punishment for his crime, and as a solemn warning to others. The remainder of his days was as disastrous as the beginning had been prosperous and flourishing. Rape, incest, murder, and rebellion raged among his children—he was deserted by his friends-reviled by his enemies-banished from his capital-and plunged into the deepest affliction, by the ingratitude and death of his favourite and rebellious son Absalom.-Vide Hales' Anal. vol. ii. p. 377. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righ- A. C. 1034. teousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. PSALM XXXII. 1 Blessedness consisteth in remission of sins. 3 Confession of sins giveth ease to the conscience. 8 God's promises bring joy. ¶ A Psalm of David, Maschil. Or, A Psalm of David giv 1 Blessed is he whose "transgression is forgiven, whose sin ing instruc is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. n Rom. iv. 7. 5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions o Prov.xxviii. unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. 1 John i. 9. Selah. 6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee tin a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 13. Is. lxv. 24. Heb. in a time of finding. 7 P Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me p Ps. ix. 9. from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye. 9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. : 11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. PSALM XXXIII. 1 God is to be praised for his goodness, 6 for his power, 12 and for his providence. 20 Confidence is to be placed in God. 1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. 4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. A.C. 1034. r Ps. cxix. 64. * Or, mercy. s Gen. i. 6, 7. t Is. xix. 3. +Heb. maketh frustrate. u Prov. xix. 21. Is. xlvi. 10. Heb. to ge neration and generation. cxliv. 15. 5 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD. S 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. 11 " The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. X 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and XXIV. 4. & the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The LORD looketh from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men. y Job xxxvi.7. Ps. xxxiv. 15. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear 1 Pet. iii. 12. him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. 22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. PSALM CIII. 1 An exhortation to bless God for his mercy, 15 and for the constancy thereof. A Psalm of David. 1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crown- A.C. 1034. eth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and 3, EX XXXV. *plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his for ever. 6, Num. anger 18. * Heb. great 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor re- of mercy. warded us according to our iniquities. his + Heb. ac 11 For + as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is cording to the toward them that fear him. mercy 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. height of the heaven. 16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the Heb. it is not. place thereof shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; a 18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that re- a Deut. vii. 9. member his commandments to do them. 19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. in strength. 20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, § that excel in strength, Heb. mighty that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. 2 SAMUEL XII. LATTER PART OF VER. 15-24. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David | fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. Heb. fasted 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to a fast. A.C. 1031. raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. * Heb. do hurt. + Heb. my name be called upon it. b 1 Chr. xx. 2. 18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then *vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 1 CHRONICLES XX. LATTER PART OF Ver. 1. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it. 2 SAMUEL XII. VER. 26, to THE END. 26 ¶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28 Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and tit be called after my name. 29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. 30 And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the Heb. very spoil of the city in great abundance. great. 31 And he brought forth the people that were therein, |