for which, as well as for the explanation of the whole, the reader is referred to the comment on Psalm fourteen.

PSALM LIV.

ARGUMENT.-David, as it has been supposed, when betrayed by the Ziphites, and surrounded by Saul, 1, 2. committeth his cause, and preferreth his prayer to God; 3. complaineth of his cruel treatment; 4, 5. expresseth his assurance of the divine favour, and the destruction of his enemies. 6.7. Being delivered from his danger, he blesseth and praiseth God. See the history, 1 Sam. xxii. The application to Christ, and to Christians, is plain and easy; for which reason, our church hath appointed this Psalm to be read on Good Friday.

1. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me, by thy strength. 2. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Happy the man, to whom, in the day of trouble, the name of the Lord is a strong tower,' into which he runneth, and is safe.' Prov. xviii. 10. Happy the man that can, with an holy confidence, commit his cause to the judgment and determination of God, and expect redress from the Almighty. His prayer mounteth up to heaven, and returneth not without a blessing.

3. For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them.

The Ziphites, though David's countrymen, acted the part of strangers,' or 'aliens,' in seeking to deliver him up to his unjust and cruel enemy. Such a part did the whole Jewish nation act towards their anointed Prince and Saviour, when

they actually delivered him over to the Roman power. And the church frequently meeteth with such treatment at the hands of her children, as she had reason to expect only from 'strangers to the covenant of promise.' Something like this always happens, when men, instead of setting God, set the world before their eyes.

4. Behold, God is mine helper; the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. 5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off, or, thou shalt cut them off, in thy truth.

In all dangers and difficulties, whether temporal or spiritual, the faithful sons and servants of God fix their eyes upon their heavenly Father, and gracious Master: they have recourse to the divine promises, the performance of which they know to be certain, and therefore can foresee and foretel the destruction of their enemies. Thus David, and a greater than David, supported themselves in their troubles; and the church, with her children, must do likewise.

6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Lord, for it is good. 7. For he hath delivered me out of all my trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire, Heb. mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies.

Saul, under the direction of the Ziphites, having encompassed David on every side, was suddenly called off to defend his country from an invasion of the Philistines; by which means David escaped, and beheld his enemies' retreating. 1 Sam. xxiii. 27. For this event he offers the sacrifice of a heart freed from fear, and praises the name of his great

Deliverer. Christians should follow his example: they should consider how great things God hath done for them, and should never suffer the voice of praise and thanksgiving to cease in the church of the redeemed. Beautiful and emphatical will these two concluding verses appear, when conceived as proceeding from the mouth of our Lord, upon his resurrection. And we hope one day to repeat them, on a like occasion, saying each in his own person: 'I will freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Lord, for it is good. For he hath delivered me out of all my trouble, and mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies.'

PSALM LV.

ARGUMENT.-David, as it is supposed, when driven out of Jerusalem by the rebellion of Absalom, and in danger of being suddenly cut off, 1-8. maketh his prayer to God, and describeth the sorrowful state of his soul; 9-11. entreateth that the iniquitous counsels of the rebels may be divided and confounded; 12-14. upbraideth Ahithophel, the Judas of those times, with his foul treason; 15-19. foretelleth the tragical end of faction, and his own re-establishment through faith in God, notwithstanding the base treachery of his favourite son and favourite servant.

1. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my petition. 2. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, Heb. am dejected in my meditation, and make a noise, Heb. am in a violent, tumultuous agitation, as the waves of the

sea.

In the person of David, driven from his throne, and put in fear of his life, by Absalom and Ahitho

phel, we here behold our blessed Redeemer, on the day of his sufferings, praying earnestly, and repeating his supplications, as in the garden of Gethsemane, at the prospect of that sea of sorrows which was then about to overwhelm his agonizing soul. In all our afflictions he was afflicted: in all his afflictions, let us be so.

3. Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

0 my God, how can we repine and murmur at any oppression and calumny which we suffer from the world, when we see, not only thy servant David, but thy Son Jesus, thus hated, slandered, and persecuted, by their own subjects, and their own children ?

4. My heart is sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. 5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

These words describe the state of David's mind, when he went over the brook Cedron, and up mount Olivet, weeping as he went,' and expecting speedily to be cut off: 2 Sam. xv. 23-30, they describe the agony of the Son of David, when he likewise went over the same brook Cedron, John xviii. 1, at the time of his passion, when his soul was 'sore amazed and very heavy, and exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: Mark, xiv. 33, 34: and every man will too surely find them applicable to himself, if not often before, yet certainly in the day when the king of terrors shall draw up all his forces in array against him.

6. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. 7. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. 8. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

The calamitous situation of the Israelitish monarch forced from him a wish, that, like the bird of innocence and peace, he could in a moment banish himself from the distractions of his rebellious kingdom, and enjoy, in holy solitude, that repose which his sceptre and his guards were not able to procure him. There are few crowned heads, perhaps, which have not more than once found occasion to form, if not to utter, a wish of the same nature. Much more must it have been the wish of that King of Israel, whose crown was literally one of thorns; and it often will be the wish of the devout Christian, who, sensible of the sins and follies that overspread the earth, is taught to aspire after his heavenly country, and to delight in that resemblance of it which the closet best affords.

9. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

In these words king David beseecheth God to divide, confound, and bring to nothing, the counsels of an iniquitous and rampant faction; for so, in the history, we find him saying, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.' 2 Sam. xv. 31. The royal prayer was heard; the counsel of Ahithophel was overthrown by Hushai, and the disappointed traitor became his own executioner. The treason of Judas, against the son of David, brought him likewise to the same end. Every one who finds himself tempted to be