longer the care of that providence to which they are so ungrateful; O my soul! never imitate their impiety or negligence, but be excited thereby to the greater diligence, in praising thy great Creator and Benefactor. And let all those who have any sense of him, stir up themselves, and join with me in his praises.

PSALM CV.

THE ARGUMENT.-Though this psalm have no title, yet we are assured by what we read in Chron. xvi. 8. &c. that the first part of it at least (to the end of ver. 15.) was made by David; and delivered by him to Asaph and his brethren, for the constant service of God in the tabernacle, when, after several victories over the Philistines, (1 Chron. xiv.), he had settled the ark of God in Sion. And it is most

probable that he afterwards enlarged this psalm, (for who else would adventure to do it?), that it might be a more complete commemoration of all the mercies of God towards their nation, from the days of Abraham, to their taking possession

of the land of Canaan. Into which, he shews, their glorious Lord conducted them by so many miraculous providences, in several ages, (according to his faithful promise made to Abraham his faithful servant), that it deserved their most hearty acknowledgements; to which he excites them, by ten several expressions, in the five first verses of the psalm.

To which the Greeks prefixed an Hallelujah, (for they take the last word of the foregoing psalm, and set it on the head of this), as a note how much they were obliged to praise the Lord, according to that exhortation; when they remembered in this psalm the benefits that he had bestowed upon their forefathers, which were sufficient to excite and whet their minds to the imitation of their virtue.

And it may serve to admonish the new people of God, (as Theodoret speaks), that is, us Christians, how much we ought to rejoice in God's goodness to us, and how dangerous it is to be ungrateful to him which provoked him to deprive the Jews of that fatherly care he had taken of their ancestors.

Ver. 1. people.] Stir up yourselves, all ye that are here assembled, to make your most grateful acknowledgements unto the great Lord, who is pleased to come and dwell among you; never approach his presence to make your petitions to him, but join his praises together with them; and proclaim to all the people round about, what great things he hath done for you, and for your forefathers.

GIVE thanks unto the LORD; call upon

O his name ; make known his deeds among the

Ver. 2. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.] Sing his praise with a chearful voice, and with all the instruments of music; and let the subject of your hymns, and of your or

dinary discourse, be his many marvellous acts, of which let not one be forgotten.

Ver. 3. Glory ye in his hely name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.] For nothing can be so great an honour to you, as that you are the servants of such a mighty Lord, who infinitely transcends all other beings; triumph, therefore, and make your boast of this, as a greater happiness, than all worldly goods; let it fill the hearts of all his faithful worshippers with the highest joy and gladness.

evermore.] Let it encourage them to address themVer. 4. Seek the LORD and his strength: seek his face themselves before the ark of his presence, (2 Chron. selves unto him upon all occasions; and, prostrating vi. 41.), commend themselves to his powerful protection; let them unweariedly seck his favour, and im plore his gracious assistance.

Ver. 5. Remember his marvellous works he hath done, his wonders, and the judgements of his mouth.] Which you may with the greater confidence expect, if you call to mind, and thankfully commemorate the marvellous things he hath done for your deliverance; and his terrible executions, (Exod. iii. 20.), according to his just sentence passed (Exod. vii. 4.) upon your

enemies.

dren of Jacob his chosen.] The benefit of which you Ver. 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye chilstill enjoy, O ye who are the posterity of his servant Abraham, (whose faith and obedience you ought to imitate); the children of Jacob, whom he chose (rejecting Esau) to inherit the promised blessing. in all the earth.] He is still the same mighty Lord, Ver. 7. He is the LORD our God, his judgements are and our most gracious God, who continues to execute his judgements every where upon our enemies, (2 Sam. v. 7.-10.-17. &c.); and, therefore, let us and faithfully depend upon him. never cease to praise him, and chearfully serve him,

Ver. 8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, For he is never unmindful of his engagements to us, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.] but punctually performs, in all ages, what he hath promised in his covenant.

his oath unto Isaac:] Which he first solemnly made, Ver. 9. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and (Gen. xv. 17. 18.), and then sware (xxii. 16.) unto Abraham; and renewed with his son Isaac, to whom he promised to perform that oath which he sware unto Abraham, Gen. xxvi. 3.

And

Ver. 10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.] again confirmed it to Jacob, both when he went to Haran, (Gen. xxviii. 13. &c.), and at his return, when he changed his name into Ísrael, (Gen. xxxv. IC. &c.), and at last passed it into a law, in that nant which he made with their posterity, (Exod. xxiii. 22. 23.—31. 32.), never to be altered, if they keep their covenant with him.

Ver. 11. Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:] The sum of which was this, I bestow upon thee, and will bring thee into

that good land, the land of Canaan; which, according to this faithful covenant, you now possess; as by lot it was distributed to your several tribes, for their inheritance, Josh. xiv. 1. 2.

Ver. 12. When they were but a few men in number: yea, very few, and strangers in it.] This covenant he began to make with your forefathers, (and shewed his intention to perform it, by his singular care over them), when their family was very small, (Gen. xii. 1.-5.), and consequently so weak, that they might easily have been destroyed in the land where they were strangers, (Gen. xxiii. 4.), and had no friends nor allies to support them:

Ver. 13. When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people.] Nor any settled habitation; but were forced to wander to and fro, from one part of Canaan into another, (Gen. xii. 6.— 8. 9.), and then to sojourn in other kingdoms; sometimes in Egypt, (Gen. xii. 10.), sometimes in Gerar, (Gen. xx. 1. xxvi. 1.), and sometimes in the eastern country from whence they came, Gen. xxix. 1.

Ver. 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sake.] And wheresoever they sojourned, he took them into his protection, and suffered no man to do them any injury, (Gen. xxxi, 14. 42.); but gave severe checks, even to the king of Egypt, (Gen. xii. 16.), and the king of Gerar, (xx. 3. &c.), to prevent the mischief which they were de signing to them.

Ver. 15. Saying, Touch not mine anointed; do my prophets no harm.] For he told them, these were sacred persons, whom he designed to make greater men than themselves; and therefore charged them not to hurt them; but to honour them, not merely as princes, (Gen. xxiii. 6.), but as prophets, (xx. 7.), by whose prayers they should receive great blessings, if they were kind to them.

Ver. 16. Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land; he brake the whole staff of bread.] And when, in the days of Jacob, he punished the land of Canaan, as well as other countries, with such a dearth, (Gen. xli. 54. &c.), that the earth brought forth no kind of grain, for the support of human life;

Ver. 17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant :] He took a special care, in a most wonderful way, to provide both for him, and for his family; for Joseph (whom his brethren first conspired to destroy, but afterward were diverted from their purpose, and only sold for a slave) was brought into Egypt, by the secret counsel of God, (Gen. xlv. 5.-7. &c.), to be the instrument of their preservation.

Ver. 18. Whose feet they burt with fetters; he was laid in iron.] He was oppressed, indeed, for a long time, by a most grievous calumny; which was a sorer affliction to him, than the chains and fetters that were at first laid upon him in prison;`

Ver. 19. Until the time that his word came; the word of the LORD tried him.] Till mention at last was made of him to Pharaoh, by one of his officers; who related how exactly Joseph predicted what had befallen him, and another of his fellow-servants,

as if he were a man inspired, Gen. xl. 21. 22. xli. 12. 13.

Ver. 20. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.] Whereupon the king presently sent for him, (Gen. xli. 14.); that great prince, whose dominion extended over many provinces, and commanded him to be set at liberty;

Ver. 21. He made him lord of bis house, and ruler of all his substance.] And received such satisfaction. from him about his dream, which none of his wise men could interpret, that he not only wholly dischar ged him from his imprisonment, but made him the chief officer in the court; and, under himself, the supreme governor of his whole kingdom, Gen. xli. 40. 41.

Ver. 22. To bind bis princes at bis pleasure, and teach his senators wisdom.] Yea, intrusted him with an absolute power to command all the rulers of his several provinces what he pleased, and to punish their disobedience according to his discretion; the most ancient and wisest counsellors in the realm were ordered to repair to him, and to do nothing without his instructions, Gen. xli. 44.

Ver. 23. Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.] By which great authority he procured not only the leave, but the invitation of Pharaoh, (Gen. xlv. 16. 17. &c.), to his father, to come and bring all his family with him into Egypt; and accordingly he came and dwelt in the best part of all the country, Gen. xlvi. 26.-28.

Ver. 24. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.] Where, according to his promise, when he bade Jacob accept that invitation, (Gen. xlvi. 3. 4.), the Lord multiplied them exceedingly, (Exod. i. 7.), and made them mightier than the Egyptians, (Exod. i. 9.), who, of friends, were now become their enemies.

Ver. 25. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilely with his servants.] For the kinder God was to the Israelites, and the more he increased their numbers, the greater jealousy it begat in the heart of the Egyptians, which turned at last into an absolute hatred of them, and provoked their malice to invent the cruellest ways, first to diminish, (Exod. i. 10. 11. &c.), and then to destroy them, (ver. 15. 16.)

Ver. 26. He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen.] This moved the divine compassion, when he saw their oppression grew intolerable, to give commission to Moses, whom he had in an extraordinary manner preserved from perishing, (Exod. iii. 13.), and to Aaron, whom he chose to be his assistant, (Ex d. iv. 15.), to go and demand their li berty of Pharaoh, Exod. iv. 23. v. 1.

Ver. 27. They shewed his sign, among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. And he disputing their commission, (and refusing to let Israel go), they proved it, and persuaded him to obey it, by many miraculous works; which God commanded them to do, as tokens that he had sent them.

Ver. 25 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebeiled not against his word.] Among which the

pitchy darkness, which overspread the whole land three days, (except only where the Israelites dwelt), was a very remarkable punishment of Pharaoh's blindness; who would not see the hand of God in all other plagues, which Moses and Aaron, not fearing his displeasure, but pursuing their orders, had inflicted on him.

Ver. 29. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.] As, first of all, the Lord commanded them to stretch their hand upon all the waters of Egypt, which he turned into blood; and made them so putrid, that the fish which was in the river died, Exod, vii. 20. 21

Ver. 30. Their land bought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of their kings.] And, at the next stroke, produced such a vast number of frogs out of the stinking waters and mud, that not only the whole earth was covered with them, but no house, no room in their houses, no, not the cabinets of their king and his princes, were free from their annoyance, Exod. viii. 3.-6.

Ver. 31. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts.] And then followed an infinite swarm of the most pestilent sort of flies, (see Psal. lxxviii. 45.), after a troublesome and filthy plague of lice, which had infested all the country, Exod. viii. 17.-24.

Ver. 32. He gave them bail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.] Which was succeeded (after a murrain upon their cattle, and a fiery ulcer on their own bodies) by a dreadful storm of hail, (when fruitful showers of rain were most desirable), together with such lightning as was never seen; for it ran upon the ground, and burnt up all that was not destroyed by the hail, Exod. ix. 23. 24. &¤.

Ver. 33. He smote their vines also, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.] Which not only struck down the grapes and the figs, but shattered the vines and fig-trees themselves, together with many other fruit-trees in the land,

Ver. 34. He spake, and the locusts came; and caterpillars, and that without number ;] And whatsoever escaped this tempestuous storm, (for some things were not then grown up, Exod. ix. 31.), was not long after devoured by an innumerable army of various sorts of locusts, Exod. x. 5.-12. &c.

Ver. 35. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.] Which, by his command, came and covered the whole face of the country, eating up the very leaves of the trees, as well as all the grass and herbs upon the ground, Exod. x. 15.

Ver. 36. He smote also all the first-born in their land; the chief of all their strength.] And at last he finished these plagues in the slaughter of all the first-born, both of man and beast; the angel of the Lord killing, in one and the same night, (Exod. xii. 29.), the principal prop of every family, and the best of all their flocks and their herds.

Ver. 37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.] Which terrible destruction so affrighted them,

that they not only let Israel go, but were forward to thrust them out of Egypt, and that loaded with silver and gold, (Exod. xii. 31-35.); and, which is very wonderful among so many thousand persons, (ver. 37), there was not one at that time so feeble, as to be unable to travel.

Ver. 38. Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them.] And great was the joy at their departure, not only among the Israelites, but among the Egyptians, who thought themselves not safe till the Israelites had their liberty, but were in dread of another plague, which they thought might kill them, as the former had done their chil dren, Exod. xii. 33.

Ver. 39. He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.] Nor did the divine provi dence desert our fathers after it had brought them out of Egypt, but, lest they should suffer any prejudice by the exceeding great heats, or mistake their way in a desolate wilderness, he defended them in the day from the scorching rays of the sun by a cloud, which itself gave them light to comfort, and (if need were) to guide them in the night, Exod. xiii. 21. 22.

Ver. 40. The people asked, and he brought quails ; and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.] He provided also a delicate food for that vast multitude, even when they were so ungrateful as to murmur against him, (Exod. xvi. 12. &c.); sending them in the evening such flights of quails, and in the morning such showers of corn out of the clouds, as abundantly satisfied every one of them.

Ver. 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.] And when they murmured again for want of drink, (Exod. xvii. 2.-6.), he was so kind as to stop their com plaints, by making water to spring out of the rock; from whence it gushed so constantly, and in such abundance, that it made a stream, which followed them in all the parched grounds through which they marched.

Ver. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.] For the Lord was resolved punctually to perform his promise, passed in former ages, (Gen. xv. 18. Exod. ii. 24.), which made him reward the fidelity of his servant Abraham, even upon his incredulous posterity, at that very time which he had prefixed for it, Gen, xv. 13. Exod. xii. 41.

+3.

Ver. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness.] and his chosen with gladness.] When, with much mirth and joy, he brought his people out of the Egyptian bondage, and made them shout to see the difference he made between them and the Egyptians, who were drowned in the Red Sea, while they were conducted safe through it on dry land, Exod. xv. 1. 13.-19.

Ver. 44. And gave them the lands of the heathen ; and they inherited the labour of the people.] And, in conclusion, he cast out seven nations, to make room for them in the land of Canaan; where their posterity took possession of cities and towns, fields and

PSALM CVI.

Hallelujah, i. e. Praise the LORD.

THE ARGUMENT.-There is little doubt to be made, but this is the title of the psalm, as it is of many other, (cxi. &c.), whereby the author excites them to acknowledge God's bounty to their ungrateful forefathers. For as in the foregoing psalm, (they are the words of Theodoret), the divine benefits are commemorated, so in this, the psalmist both commemorates them, and also upbraids the ingratitude of those that received them. Which magnified the mercies of God the more, in being so very kind to those wicked people, that when he punished them, he did not utterly destroy them. The opinion of that father is, That the psalm was composed in the person of the more pious sort of people, who bewail the common calamities, and implore the divine indulgence. And most interpreters that I have met withal, imagine it to have been made in the time of the captivity of Babylon; but the proof of it is very weak. For the last verse but one, upon which they ground that conjecture, may have another construction, and mean no more but this, that God would be pleased, when the nation, or any part of it, should be carried captive, to take pity upon them, and restore them again to their country. Or rather, in my opinion, it refers to those who, in the days of Saul, or before, were taken prisoners by the Philistines, and other nations; whom David prays God to gather to their own land again, that they might worship him in that place, which he had prepared for the ark of his presence. For it seems plain enough that this was one of the songs which he delivered then to Asaph; the first verse and the two last being set down in 1 Chron. xvi. 36. 37. as the beginning and ending of another psalm, (which can be none but this), which he then gave in with the other two there mentioned, (xcvi. and cv.), to praise the Lord withal.

continue his kindness, you may hope, unto all succeeding ages.

Ver. 2. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD ? who can shew forth all his praise ?] Praise him with all your might, for when you have done your best, you must acknowledge that it is impossible to express your obligations to his omnipotent goodness. For who is able to tell how miraculous that power was, which wrought such wonders for us in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan? where shall we find a man that can set forth, as they deserve, all the praise-worthy acts of the Lord?

Ver. 3. Blessed are they that keep judgement, and be that doeth righteousness at all times.] Which are sɔ great and many, that they are most happy men, who, by faithful obedience to all his precepts, (not only when they have newly received his benefits, but throughout the whole course of their lives), preserve themselves in the favour of so gracious a Lord and master, (which our forefathers foolishly lost, by revolting presently from their merciful deliverer.)

Ver. 4. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit me with thy salvation;] Make me, good Lord, one of this happy number, and let me partake of the favour thou still designest for thy people, and find thee ready at hand, in all dangers, to preserve and deliver me, (t Chron. xviii. 6.—13. 14.)

-Ver. 5. That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation; that 1 may glory with thine inheritance.] That I may live to see thy chosen people Israel settled in a peaceful enjoyment of all thy blessings, (1 Chron. xxii. 18.), and have my share in their joy and felicity, (1 Chron. xxix. 9.; nay, triumph together with them, in the highest praises of thy bounty towards thy own nation, and peculiar inheritance, 1 Chron. xxix. 10. 11. 12. 13. &c.

Ver. 6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.] Our sins indeed may hinder these blessings from us, for we are no better than our forefathers, but have offended after their example, by which we ought to have been amended; we are guilty of many iniquities against one another, and much impiety against thee.

Ver. 7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercus, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.] We are the wicked offspring of those who were so stupid, as not to be affected with the prodigious works thou didst in Egypt, or presently to forget that long series of miraculous preservations and deliverances, by which they were brought from thence; but in the very next strait into which they fell, (at the borders cf the sea, that remarkable place the Red Sea), distrust

ed his power; and wished he had left them in tat cruel servitude, of which before they so heavily complained, Exod. xiv.,

Ver. 8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake; that he might make his mighty power to be known.]

And yet (such was his stupendous goodness) he would not let them perish in their ingratitude; but to preserve the name he had gotten of their mighty Saviour, gave them a new deliverance; that the world might not imagine he wanted power to complete what he had begun to do for them.

Ver. 9. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; so he led them through the depths as through the wilderness.] On this consideration, he checked the course of that sea by so strong a wind, that he made a path in the midst of it; and led them through those depths on as hard and dry ground, as they trod upon in their march through the parched desarts, Exod. xiv. 21. 22.

Ver. 10. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them; and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.] By which means he saved them from Pharaoh's army; which pressed hard upon their backs, as the sea was before their face, (Exod. xiv. 9. 10.) He rescued them from the power of those implacable enemies, whose hatred carried them to pursue them cagerly even into the sea, (Exod. xiv. 23.)

Ver. 11. And the waters covered their enemies; there was not one of them left.] Where they were drowned every man of them; the sea, which had stood fixed as a wall to save the Israelites, returning back with a mighty violence to overwhelm their adversaries.

bis

Ver. 12. Then believed they his words; they sang praise.] Which was so evident a token of his power and goodness, that they were persuaded by it, at that present, to believe God's promises, (Exod. xiv. 31.), and to sing a song of praise to him for this miraculous deliverance, Exod. xv. 1. &c.

Ver 13. They soon forgot his works, they waited not for his counsel;] But within three days they grew impatient again, (Exod. xv. 22. 24.), and for getting the great and many pledges they had received of his divine power, quarrelled with his servants; and would not expect till he shewed what way he intended to relieve them.

Ver. 14. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desart. But not long after this, murmured again, (Exod. xvi.) And though, instead of punishing them for it, he satisfied them with bread from heaven, and gave them several other demonstrations of his divine presence among them in the wilderness, (Exod. xvi. xx. xxiv. &c.), yet, to please their wanton appetite, they mutinied another time, and cried out vehemently for flesh to eat, (Numb. xi. 4. 5. &c.), and desired new proofs of his power to su ply them.

Ver. 15. And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into ther soul.] Which he was pleased to grant in such abundance, that they surfeited of the quails which he sent them; and, instead of being nourished, fell into a grievous disease, whereby great numbers of them were wasted and consumed, Numb. xi. 31. 32. &c.

Ver. 16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.] And they that escaped were not cured of their rebellious humour; but

seditiously disputed the authority of Moses; and accused both him and Aaron, whom the Lord had consecrated for the service of the altar, as ambitious men, that took too much upon them, Numb. xvi. 3. '

Ver. 17. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.] Which moved the divine justice to punish their presumption with a most terrible vengeance, for the earth opened, and buried alive both Dathan and Abiram, and the faction that adhered to them, Numb. xvi. 32. 33.

Ver. 18. And a fire was kindled in their company ; the flame burnt up the wicked.] And the other company raised by Korah, were smitten with lightning from heaven; which burnt up those impious men, who were so bold as to invade the office of the priests of the Lord, Numb. xvi. 35.

Ver. 19. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.] Whose anger they began very early to incense; for even at that very place where the Lord had newly appeared to them, in astonishing thunder, and lightning, and clouds, (Exod. xx. 18.), and had spoken to them with an audable voice, and at the second word he spake had charged them not to make any graven image, (Exod. xx. 4.), and had called Moses up into the Mount to receive the rest of his laws, (which he had begun in a most dreadful manner to deliver to them), they stupidly made a golden calf, and prostrated themselves before the work of their own hands.

Ver. 20. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.] Slighting that glorious presence of the majesty of God, (Exod. xxiv. 16. 17.), which, appearing in the cloud, had done many wonders for them; and chusing rather to commend themselves to the protection of an image, in which they saw no glory; the image of a dull ox, a creature without reason, a servant of man, that is supported itself by so weak a thing as hay, Exod. xxxii. 14.

Ver. 21. They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt ;] The root of which sottish apostacy was, that they did not keep in mind what deliverances God had granted them under the conduct of Moses, whom now they despised; (Exod. xxxii. 1.) But forgot his great works in the land of Egypt, where they never saw any similitude of him.

Ver. 22. Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.] Miraculous works, which filled the whole country with wonder and astonishment; and concluded at last in the fearful overthrow of Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea, through which they passed safely.

Ver. 23. Therefore be said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach; to turn away his wrath, lest he shoula destroy them.] Which provoked the divine displeasure so highly, that he resolved to destroy them, (Exod. xxxii. 9. 10.); and had done it, if Moses, for whom he had a great respect, had not, by his earnest intercession, made up this breach; and reconciled him so far to them, that he did not proceed then to take such vengeance on them, Exod. xxxii. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.