Ver. I. TRULY my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.] Let the dangers be never so great which threaten my destruction, I am resolved quietly and patiently to commit myself to God; expecting what he will be pleased to do for me, who alone is able to deliver me.

Ver. 2. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence, I shall not be greatly moved.] Be my enemies never so powerful, I doubt not by his providence to be safe, so secure, that though they give me some disturb ance, they shall not be able to do it long, much less to throw me quite out of my throne.

Ver. 3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.] I wonder at your obstinacy, who continue thus to contrive the ruin of a man whom God hath so visibly declared that he favours to what purpose are all your conspiracies, but only to bring sudden destruction upon yourselves? for you shall all perish in this enterprize, and fall to the ground, like a wall that is not evenly built; or like a partition made only of loose stones, that have no mortar to cement and hold them fast toge

ther.

Ver. 4. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency; they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.] It is plain what they design, and whither all their consultations tend; to dethrone him whom God hath been pleased to advance to the highest dignity: this they hope now to effect by lies and calumnies; in which they please themselves, as formerly they did in fawning and flattery speaking fairly to me with their mouth, when in their heart they wished my utter ruin. (See Psal. lv. 21.)

place any confidence in man; for as the multitude are vain, giddy, and unconstant, so the greater sort are false, deceitful, and treacherous: take them altogether, they are no more to be depended on, than the vainest thing in the world; which, thrown into the balance against them, will prove more solid and ponde

rous.

Ver. 10. Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.] And do not by any means, when all human helps may fail you, betake yourselves to frauds, cheating, and calumnies, for support; much less ondeavour to enrich yourselves by rapine, spoil, and robbery. Be not so vain as to trust to ill-gotten goods; for, if your riches increase by honest means, they are not things wherein to place either your confidence and hope, or your love and joy.

Ver. 11. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God.] For God hath frequently declared, in the course of his providence, as well as in his word, I myself have been witness of it more than once, that by his power he disposes things quite otherwise than men project; dashing all their worldly confidences in pieces, and especially defeating the hopes of those that think to prosper in evil courses.

Ver. 12. Also unto thee, O LORD, belengeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.] And that thou, O Lord, art also exceeding gracious to those that piously trust in thee; preserving and providing for them, when they are destitute of human succour: for thou art not an idle spectator of men's actions, nor acceptest any man's person; but an exact dispenser of rewards and punishments, to every man according to his work.

PSALM LXIII.

Ver. 6. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.] By his providence, as I said before, I doubt not I shall be so safe, so secure, that, do what they can, they shall not be able to take one step more, to throw me out of my throne.

Ver. 7. In God is my salvation, and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.] Both my safety, and my honour and dignity, depends upon God alone, and not upon their will and pleasure: and I trust not either in fortresses or armies, but make him my confidence, on whom I rely for defence and protection against the strongest enemies.

Ver. 8. Trust in him at all times, ye people; pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.] And so I would advise all my people to do continually; in whatsoever condition you be, repose a pious confidence in him: be not fearful, nor too solicitous, but commit yourselves to God by earnest prayer, and implore his help; for he will never fail us.

Ver. 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance; they are altogether lighter than vanity.] But do not VOL. III,

U

Judah.

THE ARGUMENT.-This psalm, the title informs us, represents the thoughts which David had when he was in the wilderness of Judah. But whether by that he meant the forest of Hareth, wherein, after other places, he secured himself when he fled from Saul, (1 Sam. xxii. 5.), or the wilderness he went through when he fled from Absalom, (2 Sam. xvii. 29.), may be questioned. Theodoret takes it for the former, but I incline to the latter, for the same reason I gave before; because he calls himself a king, ver. 11. which he would not have done, as I said, (upon Psal. lxi.), during the reign of Saul; because it would have given him too jast cause to persecute him, and made the people look upon him as a traitor. Unless we say that he did not publish this psalm, but reserve it for his own private use, till he came to the kingdom. When he delivered it to the chief musician, for the service of the tabernacle; where he longed very much to be, when he was in his banishment. As appears by this psalm, in which he expresses ex

ceeding great love to God, (as Theodoret notes), and predicts the destruction of his enemies.

Ver. I.

God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is:] O God, the governor of the world, who hast ever been my gracious God, and art my only confidence; to thee I early direct my morning thoughts, most earnestly beseeching thee to take pity upon me, in this desolate condition: wherein I languish, and am ready to faint, as I travel through this dry and tiresome wilderness, (2 Sam. xvii. 29.), where there is no water to refresh me.

Ver. 2. To see thy power, and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.] It is not so much some satisfaction to my hunger and thirst that I desire, as to be restored again to worship thee before the ark of thy presence, (2 Sam. xv. 25.); which is the token of thy power and majesty residing among us: and there to enjoy thee, as I have done heretofore, when I had the liberty to go into thy sanctuary.

Ver. 3. Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.] My lips shall then praise thee with the same devotion that I now pray unto thee for nothing is so dear unto me as thy favour and love; without which, life itself, and the all pleasures of my court, would be of little value.

Ver. 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up hands in thy name.] The greatest pleasure of my life shall be continually to bless thee for such a happy restoration; and with the most thankful acknowledgements for what thou hast done for me, to implore thy future kindness towards me.

Ver. 5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.] My hungry appetite would not now receive greater satisfaction, if the best cheer in the world

fall upon those that endeavour to destroy me; who seeking to take away life, shall lose their own, (2 Sam. xviii. 7. 8. &c.)

Ver. 10. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.] They shall perish by the sword; and their carcases have no other sepulchres but in the bowels of foxes, and other such like ravenous creatures, who live as they do by stealth and deceit.

Ver. 11. But the king shall rejoice in God: every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.] But I their sovereign shall be filled with joy; and so shall all pious men, who preserved their loyalty, and would by no means violate their oath, wherein they stood engaged to me: they shall triumph when my calumniators, (2 Sam. xv. 2. 3.), and all perfidious persons, shall be so silenced, that they shall not have a word to say for themselves.

PSALM LXIV.

To the chief musician. A Psalm of David.

THE ARGUMENT.-The enemy of whom David here complains, it is most probable, was Saul; whose hatred to him was very much heightened, and made more malignant, by the calumnies and false stories. which were told of him by some ill men in his court; who were always plotting and contriving in their cabals, (as we speak), how to compass his destruction, (and found no means more effectual for that end than lies and calumnies), though in truth they were all that time (as he foretold) devising their own. In memory of which he delivered this psalm, together with several others, (which he made on the same subject), to the master of music, to be sung in the tabernacle.

withal in that sweet employment; when, with the highest expressions of joy, my mouth shall, with a loud voice, sing thy praises.

Ver. 6. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.] Mean time I comfort myself with the hope of that happiness; calling to mind, as I lie upon my bed, and seriously considering, as oft as I awake, how gracious thou hast

been unto me.

Ver. 7. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.] From whence I conclude, that since thou hast relieved me in my greatest straits, I shall be safe under thy almighty protection; and at last triumph over all my enemies.

Ver. 8. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.] Though thou seemest to cast me off, my soul, notwithstanding, cleaveth fast unto thee; and will not part with its hope in thee: and I feel the happy fruit of it, for by thy mighty aid I am supported and preserved from sinking under these sore cala- mities that have lain upon me.

Ver. 9. But those that seek my soul to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. Which now shall

preserve my life from fear of the enemy.] O God, the governor of the world, who seest the danger I am in by a dreadful enemy, be thou my friend, I humbly beseech thee; and preserve the life of thy persecuted servant, who by earnest prayer commends himself unto thy custody.

Ver. 2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity.] Protect me from the secret plots, and the open violence of those wicked men who make a great stir against me, and unjustly seek my ruin.

Ver. 3. Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.] Their tongue is their principal weapon; which they have in readiness (as soldiers have their swords) upon all occasions, to wound my reputation: calumnies and slanders, like so many poisoned arrows, are ever at their tongue's end.

Ver. 4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect; suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.] Which, when they are in private with Saul, they shoot at me, who never did him or them any wrong; but am perfectly guiltless of that which they charge me withal :

yet I find these false accusations, which I never expected, spread abroad by those who have no fear of God to restrain them from doing mischief to their innocent neighbours.

Ver. 5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?] They use their utmost endeavours to make their calumnies be believed, and confirm one another in their resolved prosecution of their wicked design; which they consult how to effect, though it be by falsehood and treachery, or by wiles and crafty practices, so subtily contrived, that nobody, they hope, shall be able to discover them.

Ver. 6. They search out iniquities, they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and their heart, is deep.] They employ all their wit and diligence in these wicked devices; and leave nothing unattempted to produce the most exquisite and absolute piece of villany that can be invented by men of the deepest reach and policy.

Ver. 7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow : suddenly shall they be wounded] But all to no purpose; for when they little think of it, they and all their projects shall perish, by a sudden stroke of the divine vengeance.

Ver. 8. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves; all that seek them shall flee away.] Their slanders shall reflect upon themselves; and their wicked counsels prove so pernicious to those that gave them, that they shall be forsaken even of their friends, and they that were wont to visit them shall flee away from them.

Ver. 9. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God, for they shall wisely consider of his doing.] And all other men shall be afraid to imitate them, not being able to deny the just vengeance of God, the judge of all, upon them; for they shall be convinced, that it was not by chance, but by his counsel, that they were not only defeated, but insnared in their own contrivances.

Ver. 10. The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him, and all the upright in heart shall glory] Which shall both fill my heart, whom they unjustly maligned, with such joy in the Lord, as shall encourage me to commit myself unto him for ever in well-doing; and make all true lovers of piety triumph in the victory, which integrity and simplicity hath gotten over falsehood and subtilty.

PSALM LXV.

To the chief musician. A Psalm and Song of David. THE ARGUMENT.-The latter part of this excellent hymn of praise (as the title calls it; see more, Psal. Ixvii.) hath moved some judicious interpreters to think, that it was delivered by David to the master of music, after some great drought, which had brought, or threatened to bring, a dearth upon the land; and there are those who imagine it relates to the three years famine after the rebellion of Absalom, 2 Sam. xxi. which being removed by

I

commemorates.

plentiful showers of rain, the psalmist gives God public thanks in this hymn, for sending them seasonably to his people, whom he had formerly obliged by several other great benefits, as he doth all other nations, which David here first of all can find nothing more probable than this.. For as to the title which I find in the vulgar Latin, out of some Greek copies, that it is a psalm sung by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, with the people of the captivity, when they were about to go into or come out of it, (I know not well which they mean); there is no sense that I can see to be made of it. For Jeremiah was not carried captive, as Theodoret observes, but left at liberty to go whither he pleased, and Ezekiel was gone long before; nor are there any such words, as the same Theodoret notes, to be found either in the Hebrew, or in other interpreters; no, not in the LXX. which was in the Hexaplus. But somebody who neither attended to the sense of the psalm, (as he passes this censure,) nor understood the history, added this inscription. Yet he himself thinks it was spoken by them in captivity, when, far from their own land, they longed to sing God's praises, but could not do it publicly in Babylon; and therefore prayed God, in the words of this hymn, to turn their captivity, and to bring them again to Sion; which I know not how to contradict; but seeing no proof of it, I shall not meddle with that sense in my paraphrase.

Ver. 1. PRAISE waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion; and unto thee shall the vow be performed.] It becomes us, O God, above all other people, to praise thee in thy sanctury, (though we cannot worthily express, but must rather silently adore, thy incomparable excellences), and to pay the vows which we made unto thee in the time of our distress.

Ver. 2. O thou that bearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.] And more especially to magnify thy clemency in hearing my prayer, (2 Sam. xxi. 1.), which may invite all mankind, even those that are most miserable, to make their addresses unto thee.

Ver. 3. Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.] Nor need their sins discourage them, for thou hadst matter enough of that kind against me, to have hindered the prevalency of my prayer, if thou hadst charged my iniquities upon me; but thou hast been graciously pleased to forgive not only me, but all thy people their transgressions, whereby they have provoked

thee.

Ver. 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts; we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.] O how happy is the condition of a priest, or a Levite, whom thou hast chosen to minister before thee, and hath the privilege to be continually employed in thy service! though we cannot all be so blessed, yet such is thy goodness, we enjoy most sweet refreshments in thy house, when

we offer our prayers and praises to thee, and taste of the sacrifices of thanksgiving which we there present for the benefits we have received from thee: Ver. 5. By terrible things in righteousness. wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation, who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea. a.] Who hast done wonderful and astonishing things for us, out of thy mere mercy and bounty, when in our necessity we implored thy help, O God; who not only marvellously savest and deliver est us in this nation from destruction, but art the support and safeguard of all mankind in the remotest parts of the earth, or islands of the sea.

Ver. 6. Which by his strength settest fast the mountains, being girded with power.] For God's power, which is ready at all times to execute his pleasure, is not inferior to his mercy, but hath settled the mountains in their places, and sustains their vast weight from sinking down into the earth.

Ver. 7. Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.] Against which, when the sea beats tempestuously, he composes and silences its swelling and roaring waves; as he doth, with the same ease, the rage and fury of the people, when, by the breath of unquiet seditious spirits, they rise up tumultuously, and break out into rebellion.

Ver. 8. They also that dwell in the uttermost parts, are afraid at thy tokens; thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.] The most barbarous people, who live in the remotest corners of the earth, behold with wonder and amazement the heavenly bodies, which thou hast appointed for signs and tokens, (Gen. i. 14.), by the rising of the sun, the moon and stars, in the morning and evening, thou fillest them with joy, as well as admiration.

Ver. 9. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn when thou hast so provided for it.] But we are more particularly bound unto thee, whose land, which was lately visited with drought, thou hast now refreshed and enriched with such liberal showers out of the clouds, (which, like a vast river, are never exhausted), as have made it exceeding fruitful, for from thence thou hast ordained it should be constantly replenished.

Ver. 10. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly; thou settlest the furrows thereof; thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof:] And accordingly, when the ground is ploughed up, thou sendest abundance of rain upon its ridges, which settle the clods, and make them sink down upon the seed that is newly sown; and when the ground grows too hard, and hinders its sprouting forth, thou softenest and openest it with gentle showers, which bringeth up the blade; and that thy blessing makes to prosper and thrive, till it grow up into corn.

Ver. 11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness.] Thus thy goodness hath made this a most plentiful year, and magnificently adorned it with variety of fruits; for thy clouds have

wheeled about, and every where distilled a fattening juice into the earth.

Ver. 12. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness; and the little bills rejoice on every side.] They have made green pastures, even in desolate places; and the little hills, which before looked ruefully, appear now most beautiful, and have, as it were, put on the garments of joy and gladness.

Ver. 13. The pastures are cloathed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.] The pastures, which were bare before, are cloathed now with flocks, as they are with grass; the fields also are so covered with corn, that the face of the earth cannot be seen; they keep a kind of festival, which hath filled us all with an universal mirth, and made us triumph in thy goodness.

PSALM LXVI.

To the chief musician. A Song or Psalm.

THE ARGUMENT.-The vulgar Latin here again (so little trust is to be given to it) hath an inscription, which, as Theodoret witnesses, is not to be found in other interpreters, no more than in the Hebrew; no, not in the LXX. translation, which was in the famous Hexaplus. Nor can any good reason be given why they call it, A song-psalm concerning the resurrection; unless thereby we understand the resurrection of the dry bones, of which Ezekiel prophesied, chap. xxxvii. which was the bringing the people in Babylon, where they seemed to be buried, to their own land again, ver. 12. And so Theodoret himself takes it for a psalm which David, by a prophetical spirit, composed for the people in captivity, not praying for their return (as, he fancies they do in the psalm foregoing), but upon their way home, and praising God for their liberty.

Certain it is, this psalm was made after a very remarkable deliverance from some sore calamity under which the nation had groaned. And it not being said by whom it was penned, nor who the enemies were that oppressed them, it is generally thought not to be David's, whose name it doth not bear in the title, as the foregoing do; but to have been made by some holy man after, or in their return from the fore-mentioned captivity. But he that collected the psalms contained in this second book, though he did not find David's name in the front of it; yet took him, I believe, to be the author both of this and of the next psalm, as well as of the foregoing: otherwise he would not have placed them between those on both sides which certainly belong to him, when he intended, it ap. pears by the conclusion of this book, (lxxii. 20.), to put together all the prayers that he had then met withal of David's. He that considers also that the 71st and 72d psalms have not David's name in the title, and yet are generally thought to be of

his composing, will not take the want of the usual inscription here to be a sufficient argument why we should seek for some other author of this psalm.

Which was penned, I judge, after God had advan ced David to his throne, and peacefully settled him in his kingdom. Till which time they had been in a very unsettled condition, not only during the rule of the judges, (when, as he speaks here, ver. 12., many of their neighbours rid over their heads, or, as we now speak, domineered over them as they pleased), but also in the reign of Saul, when the Philistines were so powerful, that the Israelites durst not look them in the face, but hid themselves in caves, and thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits, 1 Sam. xiii. 6. For they had disarmed them; so that when they came to fight, there was not a man had a sword or a spear but only Saul and Jonathan, ver. 22. And though they prevailed over the Philistines afterward in several battles, chap. xiv. xvii. ; yet they grew so strong again, that they penetrated into the country as far as Mount Gilboa, where Saul and his sons were slain, (chap. xxxi.); and the people thereupon were so dismayed, that they about Jordan forsook their cities, and the Philistines came and dwelt in them, ver. 7. To these things the 10th, 11th, and 12th verses of this psalm may have respect. And then the freeing the country from that oppression, and forcing these insolent enemies to submit to David, ver. 3. (where there is the same expression in substance with that which he uses, Psal. xviii. 45. after he had overcome all his enemies), may be the thing for which he here gives praise to God; exciting all the country to join with him, in blessing his divine Majesty, not only for this, but for former deliverances he had vouchsafed to that nation. Which he would have acknowledged with their most chearful thanksgivings, (which may be the meaning of a song-psalm, see lxvii.), especially in the public service of God, at the tabernacle. Into which he promises to go, ver. 13. 14. (a sign the psalm was not made at their coming out of Babylon, when there was no house to go unto), and pay his vows, which he had made before these victories. But at their return from Babylon, it is like they might use this psalm, and apply it to that purpose, going to the place where the house of God formerly stood.

MAKE a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:] Let all the people of this land shout aloud, and triumph in the liberty which God hath restored unto us.

Ver. 2. Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.] Sing psalms in honour of his most glorious majesty; and do not merely praise him, but do it in the most splendid manner; and place your principal glory in this, that you have the honour to sing his praises.

Ver. 3. Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine

enemies submit themselves unto thee.] Saying, O God, thy stupendous works fill us with wonder and amazement; but we are not able to express the greatness of them they strike terror into the hearts of thy enemies, who, feeling the dreadful effects of thy power, dare not oppose thee any longer, but, dissembling their hostility, shall come and offer thee their service, (2 Sam. viii. 1.)

Ver. 4. All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.] For which be thou adored by all the inhabitants of this country; let them all sing joyful hymns unto thee: let them sing the praise of thy power, which hath thus daunted our enemies, and delivered us.

Ver. 5. Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doings toward the children of men.] Approach, I beseech you, and attentively consider what our God hath done, and then I need not exhort you to praise his name; for the works and counsels of his providence over all mankind are very astonishing:

Ver. 6. He turned the sea into dry land: they went. through the flood on foot; there did we rejoice in him.] Especially over us, for whose fathers, to their unspeakable joy, (Exod. xv.), he opened a passage through the Red Sea; when they were so shut up between that before, and the army of Pharaoh behind, there was no way left for their escape, (Exod. xiv. 16.). And also led them dry-shod through the river Jordan, when it was so full of water, that it overflowed its banks, (Josh. iii. 15. 16. 17.); which created a new joy in the hearts of our nation.

Ver. 7. He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes bebold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selab.] And it ought to continue still in succeeding. ages, since the same divine power which did those wonders governs the world throughout all generations: he sees and observes the motions of all nations, who may learn, by the Egyptians and Canaanites, that they who contemn his authority, in vain endeavour to exalt themselves to greater eminence; for they shall certainly be abased.

Ver. 8. O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard.j We have reason to say, that he is our God, and takes care of us, as well as of those before us; and therefore let all the tribes of Israel agree together to bless him, and proclaim his praises; that it may be for ever known how good he is, and how grateful they are.

Ver. 9. Which boldeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.] For he hath wonderfully

preserved us from perishing in our affliction; and not suffered our enemies to pursue their advantages to our utter overthrow and ruin.

Ver. 10. For thou, O God, bast proved us: thou bast tried us, as silver is tried.] Thou hast proved our constancy indeed, O God, by most severe chastisements; and as a refiner tries his silver by throw ing it into the fire, so thou hast dealt with us, as well as with our forefathers; whose labours in the iron furnace of Egypt, we have been forced to imitate under our oppressors.

Ver. 11. Thou broughtest us into the net, thou laidest