The Psalmist here exemplifying the precept laid down in the foregoing verse, ascribes to God the glory of his appearance in the sanctuary as the God and king of Israel, terrifying and dismaying his enemies, comforting and invigorating his people. Such is the presence of a glorified Saviour, by his Spirit, in the Christian church. For this, and all other his mercies, she is bound continually to say, and, by her holy services continually doth she say, blessed be God.

Thirteenth Day.-Evening Prayer.

PSALM LXIX.

ARGUMENT.-The application of many passages in this Psalm to our Lord, made by himself and his apostles, as well as the appointment of the whole, by the church, to be used on Good Friday, direct us to consider it as uttered by the Son of God, in the day of his passion. 1-5. He describeth his sufferings undergone for the sins of men ; 6, 7. prayeth that his disciples may not be offended at the pain and shame of the cross; 18-12. relateth the usage he met with at the hands of the Jews; 13-19. maketh his prayer to the Father; 20, 21. complaineth of his desolate estate, of the reproach cast upon him, and of the gall and vinegar administered to him; 22-28. foretelleth the judgments of heaven, about to

1 In confesso est apud Christianos, in Psalmo lxix. nobis ob oculos poni Christum, eumque passum. Nos addimus, eumque crucifixum ; quia evangelistæ Matthæus, Marcus, et Johannes, comma vigesimum secundum certæ circumstantiæ crucifixionis Christi applicârunt-Notatum igitur volumus, Christum in tota sua ad Patrem supplicatione, (est enim ejusdem argumenti cum Ps. xxii.,) describere mortis et calamitatis suæ genus, ut maxime pudendum, et ignominiosum. Item, ad ver. 8, 20, 21.-Christus nullas hic negligit voces, quæ probrum aut ignominiam status, in quo tunc erat, designare valent. Vitringa, Observ. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. 10.

fall upon the Jewish nation; 29. returneth to the consideration of his own sorrows, and prayeth for deliverance; 30, 31. praiseth the Father for the accomplishment of that deliverance; 32, 33. exhorteth all men to come and partake of it, and, 34. the whole creation to join in a chorus of thanksgiving for it; 35, 36. predicteth the salvation, edification, and perpetuity of the church.

1. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. 2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

The Gospels inform us concerning the constancy and patience of Christ under his sufferings: the sufferings themselves (those in particular of his soul) are largely described in the Psalms; many of which, and this among the rest, seem to have been indited beforehand by the Spirit, for his use in the day of trouble. As the head of the church, he here beseecheth the Father to 'save,' through him, his mystical body. He compares the sad situation into which he was brought, to that of a drowning man. The divine displeasure, like a stormy tempest, was let loose upon him; the sins of the world, as deep mire, enclosed and detained him; whilst all the waters of affliction went over his head, and penetrated to his vitals.

3. I am weary of my crying, my throat is dried; mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God.

This verse describes the effects of those supplications which the Son of God offered up, with strong crying and tears, in the days of his flesh;' Heb. v. 7; of that thirst which, through loss of blood on the cross, dried his throat;' and of that long and patient endurance, when his eyes failed,'

and were closed in darkness, while his faithwaited' for the deliverance promised by the Father. The hour is coming when our eyes must fail, and be closed; but even then, let us wait for our God' in this respect, let us die the death of that righteous person who died for us; and let our last end be like his.'

4. They that hate me without a cause, are more than the hairs of my head; they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

The Jews, the Romans, and the spirits of darkness, made up that multitude of enemies, which, like an herd of evening wolves, surrounded the Lamb of God, thirsting after his blood, nor resting till they had drawn forth the very last drop of it from his heart. And thus the only innocent person in the world suffered for all its guilt, making satisfaction for wrongs which he never did, and 'restoring that which he took not away.''

5. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

These words, in the mouth of David, or any other sinful son of Adam, are plain enough. They may, nevertheless, be spoken, as the rest of the Psalm is, in the person of Christ, concerning the iniquities committed by us, but laid on him;' which he therefore mentions as if they had been

Quæ non rapui'-Ex personâ Christi: ita mecum agitur, ac si rapta ab altero, ab altero, eoque innoxio, repetas; neque enim impiorum exemplo, Deo rapui honorem debitum ; pro eis solvo quicunque rapuerunt; sicut scriptum est: Propter scelus populi mei, percussi eum.' Isa. liii. 8. Bossuet.

his own; the head complaining of diseases incident only to the members. 1

6. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake; let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. 7. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

The Son of God prefers a petition to the Father that his disciples may not be scandalized on account of his passion, or be tempted to relinquish their trust in God, at beholding his only and beloved Son forsaken on the cross; since it was not for any demerit of his own, but for the sake of God's glory, as well as man's salvation, that 'he bore reproach, and shame covered his face.' It ought to be the prayer of every Christian, especially if he be a minister of the gospel, that his sufferings in the world may not give just offence to the brethren, or the church; which they never will do, if he suffers in a good cause, with a good conscience.

8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. 9. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

The Jews were Christ's brethren,' according to the flesh. To them he was a stranger and an alien.' He came to his own, and his own received him not.' 'We know,' said they, that God

So this verse is interpreted by the Fathers, and many of the commentators cited by Poole, in his Synopsis. Thus also Bossuet: Insipientiam meam et delicta mea' -Quæ in me suscepi. Quia posuit in eo Dominus iniquitates omnium nostrûm.' Isa. liii. 6.

spake unto Moses; but as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.' And again, ‘Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil.' John, i. 11; ix. 29; viii. 48. The ground of all this enmity was the zeal' of Christ for the reformation and purification of the church, which he manifested in his reproofs and exhortations, as also by the emblematical act of driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple. Upon this latter occasion, the evangelist tells us, 'his disciples remembered that it was written,' that is, it was predicted of Messiah in this Psalm, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' John, ii. 17. Therefore, as he adds immediately, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.' In calumniating and blaspheming the works of the Son of God, the Jews reproached both the Father, who gave him those works to do, and the Spirit, by which he did them: all which reproaches fell on the man Christ, as the visible instrument employed in the doing of them. This last passage is thus quoted and applied by St. Paul :- Even Christ pleased not himself: but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.' Rom. xv. 3. The usage our Lord met with from his brethren, because of his zeal for the house of God, should comfort those who meet with the same usage on the same account.

10. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. 11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. 12. They that sit in the gate speak against me: and I was the song of the drunkards.

To expiate the sins of his creatures, the King of glory became a man of sorrows; he put on mortal