PSALM LXXXIII.

ARGUMENT.-In this Psalm the church, 1-8. complaineth to God of the insolence, subtilty, rage, and malice of her enemies, united in close confederacy against her; 9-12. she prayeth for a manifestation of that power which formerly discomfited Jabin, Sisera, and the Midianites; that so the hostile nations, 13—15. made sensible of the superiority of Israel's God, 16-18. might either themselves be induced to acknowledge him, or else, by their destruction, become a warning and admonition to others. As, while the world endureth there will be a church, and while there is a church she will have her enemies, who are to increase upon her as the end approacheth, this Psalm can never be out of date. And to the spiritual adversaries of his soul, every private Christian may apply it at all times.

1. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up their head.

The church entreateth God again and again to hear and help her in the day of trouble. Her enemies and haters are here said to be the enemies and haters of God, because Christ and the church, like man and wife, are one; they have one common interest; they have the same friends and the same foes. To him therefore she applieth, terrified by the tumultuous noise of confederated nations, roaring against her like the roaring of the sea, and 'lifting up their heads,' as so many monsters of the deep, to devour her at once. When temptations are urgent upon the soul, and the passions rise in arms against her peace and innocence, then do the enemies of God make a tumult, and they

that hate him lift up their heads;' and then is the time for her to be instant in prayer.

3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

The combination, so much dreaded, is described as having been formed upon the best principles of secular policy, with much subtilty, and the most determinate malice, against the 'people' of God, and his 'hidden ones; that is, his peculiar nation, separated from the world, and taken under the cover and protection of his wings. To root up the plantations of paradise, to extirpate the holy seed, to extinguish the very 'name of Israel,' was the scheme intended by these associated adversaries of Sion. Such are our spiritual enemies; such is their cunning, their rage, and their resolution: what prudence, what vigilance, what courage are necessary, that we may oppose them with success!

5. For they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate against thee.

When Christ was about to be crucified, it is observed by St. Luke that the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together; for before they were at enmity between themselves.' Luke, xxiii. 12. And however the enemies of the church may quarrel with one another, when they have nothing else to do, yet if a favourable opportunity offer itself for making an attack upon her, they lay aside their differences, and unite as one man;

by no means refusing the friendly aid even of infidels and atheists, who are always ready to join in carrying on the war against the common adversary.

6. The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites : of Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre: 8. Assur also is joined with them; they have holpen the children of Lot.

These are the names of the confederates. The Edomites were descended from Esau, that old original enemy of Jacob; the Ishmaelites from Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman, and sworn foe to Isaac, heir of the promises; the Moabites sprang from Moab, one of the incestuous children of Lot; the Hagarenes were other descendants of Hagar; who the Gebalites were is uncertain; the Ammonites came from Ammon, the son of Lot, and incestuous brother of Moab; the Amalekites were the progeny of Amalek, the grandson of Esau; Gen. xxvi. 16. The Philistines and Tyrians are well known; and to complete all, Assur, or the power of Assyria, was called in by the children of Lot, the Moabites and Ammonites, to assist in the great work of exterminating Israel from the face of the earth. These were the ten nations banded together, by a solemn league and covenant, against the people of God. And as Israel was the grand figure of the Christian church, which is now 'the Israel of God,' so her enemies are often represented by the above-recited nations, and in prophetical language are called by their names. Every age has its Edomites, and its Ishmaelites, &c. &c. The actors are changed, and the scenes

are shifted; but the stage and the drama continue the same.

9. Do unto them as unto the Midianites: as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: 10, Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. 11. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zeba and Zalmunna : 12. Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

The church, having recounted the enemies which compassed her about on every side, looks up for succour to that Almighty power which had of old so graciously interposed on her behalf, and rescued her from her persecutors, in the days of Deborah, Barak, and Gideon. See Judg. iv. viii. Fully sensible that those deliverances were wrought by the immediate hand of Jehovah, she offers the prayer of faith for a like manifestation of his glory, and a like victory over those who intended, in the same manner, to seize and devour his inheritance. Of how great use and comfort are the Old Testament histories to us in all our afflictions!

13. O my God, make them like a wheel; or, like thistle-down; as the stubble before the wind. 14. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; 15. So persecute, or, thou shalt pursue, them with thy tempest, and make, or, thou shalt make, them afraid with thy storm.

The fate of those is here predicted who invade the inheritance of Jehovah, and say, 'Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.' The inconstancy and mutability of their fortunes is

resembled to thistle-down,' or some such light revolving body, and to stubble' or chaff, whirled about and dissipated by the wind:' the suddenness, horror, and universality of their destruction are set forth by the similitude of a 'fire' consuming the dry trees in a forest,' or some combustible matter on the 'mountains.' Such is the storm and tempest of God's indignation, which pursues and terrifies the sacrilegious and ungodly.

16. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O Lord. 17. Let them, or they shall, be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them, or, they shall, be put to shame and perish. 18. That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.

The punishments inflicted by heaven upon wicked men are primarily intended to humble and convert them. If they continue incorrigible under every dispensation of merciful severity, they are at last cut off, and finally destroyed; that others, admonished by their example, may repent and return, and give glory to God. Salutary are the afflictions which bring men, and happy the men who are brought by them, to an acknowledgment of Jehovah our Righteousness,' our exalted and glorified Redeemer, the Most High over all the earth;' whom all must acknowledge, and before whom all must appear to be judged, in the great and terrible day.

PSALM LXXXIV.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm, for the subject-matter of it, bears a resemblance to the sixty-second. Under the figure of an Is