The Treasury of David (Psalms)

Title. — "To the Chief Musician, on the lilies, of David." "On the lilies," points to the beauty of the subject treated of. — E. W. Hengstenberg.

Whole Psalm. — The subject of the Psalm is an ideal person, representing the whole class of religious sufferers. The only individual in whom the various traits meet is Christ. That he is not, however, the exclusive, or even the immediate subject, is clear from the confession inverse 5. There is no Psalm, except the twenty-second, more distinctly applied to him in the New Testament. — Joseph Addison Alexander.

Whole Psalm. — This has usually been regarded as a Messianic Psalm. No portion of the Old Testament Scriptures is more frequently quoted in the New, with the exception of Psalm xxii. When Jesus drives the buyers and sellers from the temple (John ii. 17), his disciples are reminded of the words of verse 9 (first clause). When it is said (John xv. 25) that the enemies of Jesus hated him without a cause, this is looked upon as the fulfilment of Scripture, the reference is probably to verse 4, though it may be also to xxv. 18. To him, and the reproach which he endured for the sake of God, St. Paul refers the words of this Psalm, verse 9 (second clause), " The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." In verse 12 we have a foreshadowing of the mockery of our Lord by the soldiers in the prsetorium (Matt, xxvii. 27 — 30); in verse 21, the giving of the vinegar and the gall found their counterpart in the scenes of the crucifixion, Matt, xxvii. 34. In John xix. 28 there is an allusion, probably to verse 21 of this Psalm, and to xxii. 15. The imprecation in verse 25 is said, in Acts i. 20, to have been fulfilled in the case of Judas Iscariot, though, as the words of the Psalm are plural, the citation is evidently made with some freedom. According to Rom. xi. 9, 10, the rejection of Israel may best be described in the words of verses 22, 23. — J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Whole Psalm. — This Psalm follows in striking connection with the preceeding, and in contrast with the glory of his kingdom. The two have been compared to the transfiguration on the mount, where, after the manifestation of Christ in glory, there appeared also Moses and Elias, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. The clearest anticipation of future glory must not shut out the conviction, that it is through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom. — W. Wilson.

Whole Psalm. — Remember this is the fourth Psalm which declares at length the passion and resurrection of our Lord. Through the whole Psalm Christ speaks in person. He prays for deliverance by the Father, because he has suffered by the

Jews, without cause, many afllictions and persecutions. He supplicates on behalf of his members, that the hope of the faithful, resting on his resurrection, may not be disappointed. By the power of his prescience he declares the future events which should occur to his enemies. — Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, circa 468 — 560.

Whole Psalm. — In this Psalm the whole Christ speaks; now in his own person, now crying with the voice of his members to God his father. — Gerhohus.

Verse 1. — "Save me, 0 God." Let his distances be never so great, he is resolved to cry after the Lord; and if he get but his head never so little above water, the Lord shall hear of him. One would think his discouragements such as he were past crying any more; the waters entered into his soul, in deep waters, the streams running over him: he stickelh fast in the mire where is no standing (he is at the very bottom, and there fast in the mire), he is weary of crying; yet, verses 6, 13: But, Lord, 1 make my prayer to thee: and as he recovers breath, so breathes out fresh supplications to the Lord. If men or devils would be forbidding to pray, as the multitude some times did the poor blind man to cry after Jesus; yet, as he, so an importunate suppliant "will cry so much the more, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Mark x. 47, 48. — Thomas Cobbet.

Verse 1. — "The waters are come in unto my soul." What means he by coming in unto his soul? Surely no other than this: — that they oppressed his spirit, and, as it were, penetrated into his conscience, raising fears and perplexities there, by reason of his sins, which at present put his faith and hope to some disorder; so that he could not for a while see to the comfortable end of his affliction, but was as one under water, covered with his fears, as appears by what follows (verse 2): "/ sink in deep mire, where there is no standing." He compares himself to one in a quagmire that can feel no ground to bear him up; and, observe whence his trouble rose, and where the waters made their entrance (verse 5): "0 God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." This holy man lay under some fresh guilt, and this made him so uncomfortable under his affliction, because he saw his sin in the face of that, and tasted some displeasure from God for it in his outward trouble, which made it so bitter in the going down; and, therefore, when once he had humbled himself by confessing his sin, and was able to see the coast clear between heaven and him, so as to believe the pardon of his sin, and hope for good news from God again, he then returns to his sweet temper, and sings in the same affliction, where before he sunk. — William Gurnall.

Verse 2. — "/ sink in deep mire." I was taking a quiet walk along the banks [of the Nile], when I came to a part so soft and miry that I was brought to a stand, as my foot sank at every step Being brought to a stand, I hailed the reis to

heave to, and take me on board. One of the men was, therefore, sent in the small boat; but the river, near the western side, was so shallow that he could not get the boat within some distance of the bank. He, consequently, as is usual in such cases, jumped overboard that he might carry me to the boat on his back. No sooner, however, had he sprung from the boat than I heard him scream. I turned to see what was the matter, when I found him struggling in the mud. He was sinking as though in quicksand; and the more he struggled, the faster and deeper he sank. His fellow-boatmen were not slack. They quickly saw the dilemma he was in, and two of them dashed into the water and swam to the small boat. I was almost choked with terror, and I breathed, or rather gasped, with difficulty. " Can they reach the poor fellow? " I said to myself; " if not, he must inevitably be swallowed up alive I " Now they reach the boat 1 Now they near him! And now, praise the Lord, he grasps firmly hold. O that death-like grasp of the side of the boat! But this was not until he had sunk up to his bosom 1 Seeing him safe, I breathed more freely; and I feel that now, though only relating the circumstance, the ex citement has caused an increased and painful action of the heart. How I thought of poor David! Had he really witnessed a similar scene to this literally when, speaking of the feelings of his soul, spiritually, he said: "/ sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me " (.) what an agonising state to be in I and yet many of my readers, I have no doubt, who never witnessed such a scene literally, know something about it spiritually, as David did, whether he had seen it with his bodily eyes or not. Well might he, in the struggling of his soul, exclaim: "Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink! " Let me grasp firmly hold of the ark, and be pulled safely on board I Well I just

at the right time, just before the poor fellow's arms (shall I say his arms of faith?) were disabled, swallowed up, deliverance came. — John Gadsby, in "My Wanderings."

Verse 2. — "/ sink," — " there is no standing." I saw indeed there was cause of rejoicing for those that held to Jesus; but as for me, I had cut myself off by my transgressions, and left myself neither foot-hold, nor hand-hold, amongst all the stays and props in the precious word of life. And truly I did now feel myself to sink into a gulf, as an house whose foundation is destroyed; I did liken myself, in this condition, unto the case of a child that was fallen into a mill-pit, who, though it could make some shift to scrabble and sprawl in the water, yet, because it could find neither hold for hand nor foot, therefore, at last, it must die in that condition. — John Banyan.

Verse 2. — "Mire." If the abyss be only full of water, a good swimmer has still the hope of rising again to the surface. — The Berleb. Bible.

Verse 2. — "Where the floods overflow me." The plea in effect is this: Lord, I am ready to drown; if ever thou wouldst save a poor perishing servant of thine, save me: my troubles and temptations are too deep for me, I am ready to sink over head and ears in them, and therefore, Lord, reach hither thy gracious hand, and bear up my head above water, lest otherwise I miscarry. Especially if such ex tremities continue, the continuance of them may be pleaded. — Thomas Cobbet.

Verse 2. — "The floods overflow me." The word flood in these two verses is the well-known Shibboleth which the Ephraimites were unable to pronounce. Jud. xii. 6. It occurs again, Isaiah xxvii. 12, " Hood of the river." — J. J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 3. — "I am weary of my crying." The word P; means properly, to gape, to gasp, then, to become weary but, to gasp in his crying, is not so much to grow weary because of the great vehemence thereof, but while the crying lasts, and while he is in the act, to succumb under the burden of his dangerous and shameful calamity. — Hermann Venema.

Verse 3. — "/ am weary of my crying." He had cried to God for the ways of man; he had cried to man of the ways of God; he had not ceased, from his first beginning to teach, till he said upon the cross, " I thirst." His eyes had grown dim, and his flesh was faint and weary with his sufferings, through the long passion of his life on earth. He had been waiting in poverty, and insult, and treachery, and scourging, and pain, until he cried, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " — From "A Plain Commentary."

Verse 3. — "/ am weary of my crying," etc. David is like the post, who layeth

by three horses as breathless; his heart, his throat, his eyes Objection. But

I have neither weeping one way or other, ordinary nor marred. Answer. Looking up to heaven, lifting up of the eyes, goeth for prayer also in God's books. " My prayer unto thee, and will look up," (Psalm v. 3). "Mine eyes fail with looking upward " (Psalm Ixix. 3). Because, first, prayer is a pouring out of the soul to God, and faith will come out at the eye, in lieu of another door: often affections break out at the window, when the door is closed; as smoke venteth at the window, when the chimney refuseth passage. Stephen looked up to heaven (Acts vii. 55). He sent a post; a greedy, pitiful, and hungry look up to Christ, out at the window, at the nearest passage, to tell that a poor friend was coming up to him. Second. I would wish no more, if I were in hell, but to send a look up to heaven. There be many love-looks of the saints, lying up before the throne, in the bosom of Christ. The twinkling of thy eyes in prayer are not lost to Christ; else Stephen's look, David's look, should not be registered so many hundred years in Christ's written Testament. — Samuel Rutherford, in "The Trial and Triumph of Faith."

Verse 3. — "Crying." Meanwhile, we see how the saints, in the vicissitudes of affairs, even when they are innocent, are not insensible and stony; they do not despise the threatening perils; they become anxious, they cry and sigh during their temptations. — Musculus.

Verse 3.— "Mine eyes fail." O pitiable sight! that that sight should fail, by which Jesus saw the multitudes and, therefore, ascended the mount to give the precepts of the New Testament; by which, beholding Peter and Andrew, he called them; by which, looking upon the man sitting at the receipt of custom, he called and made him an evangelist; by which, gazing upon the city, he wept over it.... With these eyes thou didst look upon Simon, when thou didst say, "Thou art the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas." With these eyes thou didst gaze upon the woman who was a sinner, to whom thou didst say, "Thy faith hath saved thee;

0o i/i peace." Turn these eyes upon us, and never turn them away from our continual prayers. — Gerhohus.

Verse 3. — "/ wail for my God." The hour is coming when our eyes must fail, and be closed; but, even then, "Lei us wait for our God; " in this respect, let us die the death of the righteous person, who died for us; " and let our last end be like his." — George Home.

Verse 4. — "Wilhoul a cause." In suffering, let not the mind be disturbed; for the injustice which is done to the innocent in his sufferings, is not laid to the charge of the sufferer, but to his who inflicts suffering.... It is well known what Tertullian relates of Socrates, when his wife met him after his condemnation, and addressed him with a woman's tears: "Thou art unjustly condemned, Socrates." His reply was, "Wouldsl than have me justly? " — Lorinus.

Verse 4. — "Then I restored that which I look not away." It was the great and blessed work of our Lord Jesus here upon the earth, to restore what he took not away. In handling this: I. Show what is it which was taken away, and from whom? II. Wherein it appears that Christ took it not away. III. How he restored it? IV. Why he did so? V. Use.

I. What is it which was taken away, and from whom? 1. There was glory taken from God. Not his essential glory, nor any perfection of his being, for that cannot be taken away; but that glory which shines forth in the moral government of his creatures, and that glory which we are bound to give him. 2. There was righteous ness, holiness, and happiness taken from man also. (1) There was a loss of righteousness to the guilty sinner; (2) of holiness to the polluted sinner; (3) of happiness to the miserable sinner. II. Wherein it appears thai Christ did not lake away those things from either. 1. It is plain, as to God, he never took away any glory from him; for he never did anything dishonourable or offensive to God. John viii. 29; Isaiah 1. 5; Luke i. 35. 2. It is also clear, as to man, that he took not away any righteousness, holiness, or happiness from him. He was not such a fountain of guilt, pollution, and misery, as the first Adam had been, but the contrary. 3. The Scripture, therefore, speaks of Christ's being cut off, but not for himself, Dan. ix. 26; 1 Pet. iii. 18; Isa. liii. 4, 5. 4. The innocency of Christ was conspicuous in his very sufferings. Though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. Acts xiii. 28. III. How did Christ restore those things which he took not away? In general, by his active and passive obedience. 1. Christ's doing the will of God in such a manner as he did it, was a greater honour to God than ever had been, or could be done before. 2. Christ's suffering of the will of God, made a considerable addition to the glory of God, which had been impaired by the sin of man, Heb. v. 8; John xvii. 4; and xiii. 31. 3. Christ hath provided for the justification of the sinner by the obedience which he fulfilled, Rom. v. 8. 4. Christ communicates that grace which is necessary for our sanctification also. 5. Christ hath merited for us a present blessedness in this world. 6. Jesus Christ hath procured for us a more full and absolute blessedness in the world to come. IV. Why did Jesus Christ make it his work to restore what he took not away? 1. It was a necessary work, a work which must be done, in order to his being a Saviour. 2. It was a work impossible for any mere creature to do; so that if Christ did not, it could not be done by any person besides him. — Timothy Cruso's Sermon.

Verse 4. — "Then 1 restored thai which I look not away." Rosenmiiller observes, that this seems to be a proverbial sentence, to denote an innocent man unjustly treated. According to the law, if a man stole and killed, or sold an ox, he was to restore five oxen; or a sheep, he was to restore four; and if the ox or sheep was found alive, he was to restore two. Hence, to oblige a man to restore when he had taken nothing, was the greatest injustice. Exod. xxii. 1 — 5. Ainsworth observes, that though it may be taken for all unjust criminations, whereof David and Christ were innocent, yet in special, it was verified in Christ, who, " being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God," Phil. ii. 6; notwithstanding, for witnessing himself to be the Son of God, he was put to death by the Jews. John xix. 7. — Benjamin Boothroyd.

Verse 4. — "/ restored that which I took not away." The devil took away by arrogating in heaven what was not his, when he boasted that he was like the Most High, and for this he pays a righteous penalty.... Adam also took away what was not his own, when, by the enticement of the devil, " You will be as gods," he sought after a likeness to God, by yielding to the deception of the woman. But the Lord Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God.... And yet his enemies said, " Let him be crucified, for he hath made himself the Son of God." — Gerhohus.

Verse 4. — "I restored that which I took not away." What a blessed verse is here! Amidst all the opposition and contradiction of sinners against himself, Jesus mani fested that character, by which Jehovah had pointed him out to the church by the prophet; " Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shall be called, the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in." Isaiah Iviii. 12. But what was it Christ restored? Nay, all that was lost. Adam by sin had done all that he could to take away God's glory, and with it his own glory and happiness. He had robbed God of his glory, God's law of its due, himself of God's image, and of God's favour. Sin had brought in death, spiritual and eternal; and he and all his descendants stood tremblingly exposed to everlasting misery. All these and more Jesus restored. As man's Surety and man's Representative, and called to it by the authority of Jehovah, the Lord Christ restored to God his glory, and man God's image of favour; and having destroyed sin, death, hell, and the grave, he restored to his redeemed a better paradise than our nature had lost! Hail I oh, thou blessed Restorer of all our long lost privileges. — Robert Hawker.

Verse 5. — "Thou knowest." The knowledge of God is of a double use to pious men. The first is, as we observe in this place, to console the innocent: the second is, to make them circumspect, since all their thoughts, and words, and deeds are under the very eye of God. — Musculus.

Verse 5. — "Thou knowest my offences," etc., that is to say, that I am not an offender. This verse is not a confession of sin, but a protestation of innocence. The writer maintains that he is a sufferer, not for his sins, but for his piety. See verses 7, etc. — George R. Noyes, in "A New Translation of the Book of Psalms, with Notes," etc. 1846.

Verse 5. — "My sins are not hid from thee." The sins of those for whom Christ died, by being imputed to him, no doubt became his in the eye of the law, in such a sense as to make him answerable for them. But the Scriptures, be it observed, while they speak of him as " wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and as " bearing our sins in his own body on the tree," as if afraid to use any forms of expression which would even seem to derogate from his immaculate purity, never speak of the sins of those for whom he died as his own sins. — James Anderson's Note to Calvin in loc.

Verse 5. — "My sins are not hid." Not as the first Adam, do I, the second Adam, hide myself or my sins, especially in thy sight, O God; but lifted up upon the cross I suffered without the gate for sins in such a way, that I desire that my sins should be conspicuous to every creature in heaven, earth, and hell — my sins which, as they refer to my person, are marked with no taint, and, as they pertain to my people believing in me, are blotted out by my blood. — Gerhohus.

Verse 6. — "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake," etc. This says, that unless the carriage and deportment of the godly man redounds to the comfort of all the rest of the godly, it in some way tends to the discredit of the godly. Since this is the case, when they slip aside, or carry not aright; since they are all in hazard of doing so, it should be matter of affecting and afflicting exercise, lest they do so. Fellow professors are ashamed of the person that walketh not aright; they are ashamed that ever they should have been in company or fellowship with him; they are ashamed that ever such a person should have owned such a cause, and that ever such a thing should have befallen a professor of such a cause; and, besides, they are weakened by him in their hopes of persevering for themselves. Again, they are in hazard of being a discredit to all the godly, because, say they, it seems the Lord has granted no peremptory promise, as to the manner of their final perseverance; and corruption enough remains in them still, to overturn all their stock of grace, if they get not present renewed influences. — William Guthrie, 1620 — 1655.

Verse 6. — "Ashamed for my sake." I pray that they may not be confounded by external enemies with their boundless insults and reproaches, because they seem to be the worshippers of a God crucified and dead, and are themselves like dead men, and lie rotting before his sepulchre, as if their good name were gone. Rather let my enemies who do not wish me to live be terror-stricken at my angelic coun tenance, and fall like the dead. — Gerhohus.

Verse 6. — "For my sake." '»: more exactly, "in me." In these words the voice of the Sponsor of his people's peace is clearly audible. The prayer of the Sufferer has its answer in the declarative testimony which now forms the basis of the gospel: " He that believeth on him shall not be confounded." 1 Peter ii. 6. — Arthur Pridham.

Verse 6. — Because I, for their sakes, do at thy command bear that shame which they should else have done, Lord, take it of! from them, because thou hast laid it upon me; so it expressly follows, verse 7: " Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face." — Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 7. — "Shame hath covered my face." It is a great question whether shame or death be the greater evil. There have been those who have rather chosen death, and have wiped off a dishonour with their blood. So Saul slew himself rather than lie would fall into the hands of the Philistines, who would have insulted over him, and mocked him as they did Samson. So that king (Jer. xxxviii. 19) rather chose to lose his country, life, and all, than to be given to the Jews, his subjects, to be mocked of them.... Confusion of face is one of the greatest miseries that hell itself is set forth unto us by. There is nothing that a noble nature more abhors than shame, for honour is a spark of God's image; and the more of God's image there is in any one, the more is shame abhorred by him, which is the debasing of it. and so the greater and more noble any one's spirit, the more he avoids it. To a base, low spirit, indeed, shame is nothing; but to a great spirit (as to David), than to have his " glory turned into shame," as Psalm iv. 2, is nothing more grievous. And the greater glory any loseth, the greater is his shame. What must it be then to Christ, who because he was to satisfy God in point of honour debased by man's sin, therefore of all punishments besides, he suffered most of shame; it being also (as was said) one of the greatest punishments in hell. And Christ, as he assumed other infirmities of our nature, that made him possible in other things — as to be sensible of hunger, want of sleep, bodily torments, of unkindnesses, contempt, so likewise of disgrace and shame. He took that infirmity as well as fear; and though he had a strength to bear and despise it (as the author to the Hebrews speaks), yet none was ever more sensible of it. As the delicacy of the temper of his body made him more sensible of pains than ever any man was, so the greatness of his spirit made him more apprehensive of the evil of shame than ever any was. So likewise the infinite love and candour of his spirit towards mankind made him take in with answerable grief the unkindnesses and injuries which they heaped upon him. — Thomas Goodwin.

Verse 8. — "A stranger unto my brethren." Unless this aversion of his brethren had pained him, he would not have complained of it. It would not have pained him unless he had felt a special affection for them. — Musculus.

Verse 8. — In the east where polygamy prevails, the husband is a stern and unfeeling despot; his harem a group of trembling slaves; and the children, while they regard their common father with indifference or terror, cling to their own mother with the fundest affection, as the only part, as the only parent, in whom they feel an interest. Hence it greatly aggravated the allliction of David that he had become "an alien unto his mother's children: " the enmity of the other children of his father, the children of his father's other wives, gave him less concern. — W. Greenfield, in Comprehensive Bible.

Verse 9. — "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." He who recollects that the Scriptures speak of a " peace which passeth understanding," and a " joy unspeakable and full of glory," will be more disposed to lament the low state of his own feeling, than to suspect the propriety of sentiments the most rational and scriptural, merely because they rise to a pitch that he has never reached. The Sacred Oracles alford no countenance to the supposition that devotional feelings are to be condemned as visionary and enthusiastic merely on account of their in tenseness and elevation; provided they be of the right kind, and spring from legitimate sources, they never teach us to suspect they can be carried too far. David danced before the Lord with all his might, and when he was reproached for degrading himself in the eyes of his people by indulging in such transports, he replied, " If this be vile, I will yet make myself more vile." That the objects which interest the heart in religion are infinitely more durable and important than all others will not be disputed; and why should it be deemed irrational to be affected by them in a degree somewhat suitable to their value? — Robert Hall. 1764 — 1831.

Verse 9. — "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." Consider the examples of the saints of old, who have taken heaven by force. David broke his sleep for meditation. Psalm cxix. 148. His violence for heaven was boiled up to zeal, Psalm cxix. 139: " My zeal hath consumed me." And Paul did "reach forth (£TrfKTeiv6fj.ei>os) unto those things which were before. The Greek word signifies to stretch out the neck, a metaphor taken from racers that strain every limb, and reach forward to lay hold upon the prize. We read of Anna, a prophetess (Luke ii. 37); " she departed not from the temple, but served G^d with fastings and prayers night and day." How industrious was Calvin in the Lord's vineyard. When his friends persuaded him for his health's sake to remit a little of his labour, saith he, " Would you have the Lord find me idle when he comes? " Luther spent three hours a day in prayer. It is said of holy Bradford, preaching, reading, and prayer, was his whole life. I rejoice, said bishop Jewel, that my body is exhausted in the labours of my holy calling. How violent were the blessed martyrs I They wore their fetters as ornaments, they snatched up torments as crowns, and embraced the flames as cheerfully as Elijah did the fiery chariot that came to fetch him to heaven. Let racks, fires, pullies, and all manner of torments come, so I may win Christ, said Ignatius. These pious souls " resisted unto blood." How should this provoke our zeal 1 Write after these fair copies. — Thomas Watson.

Verse 9. — "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." Zeal in and for true religion is a praiseworthy thing. Was David zealous? it may then become a royal spirit. Was Christ our Savour zealous? it may become an heroical spirit. Albeit, zeal is out of grace with most men who sit still, and love to be at quiet rest; yet it is no disgrace to any generous spirit that is regenerate, to have the zeal of God's house to eat him up. It is a slander to call it folly. Was not zealous David wiser than his teachers, than his enemies, than the aged? Lukewarm men call it fury; God's Spirit names it a " live coal," that hath a most vehement flame. Wrhy bears zeal the imputation of indiscretion, rashness, puritanism, or headiness? Was it David's rashness? It was fervency in religion. Was Christ indiscreet? The wisdom of his Father. Festus called Paul mad, with a loud voice (Acts xxvi. 24), when he spake but words of truth and soberness (verse 25). Christ's kinsmen thought that he wras beside himself. Mark iii. 21. Was the judgment of such stolid men any disparagement to our Saviour's zeal? Nay, it is a commendation. To root out evil from, and to establish good in, the house of God is a good thing. Gal. iv. 18. Thomas Wilson, in "A Sermon preached before sundry of the Honourable House of Commons," entitled, "David's Zeale for Zion." 1641.

Verse 9. — "Zeal," "reproaches." Grace never rises to so great a height as it does in times of persecution. Suffering times are a Christian's harvest times. Let me instance in that grace of zeal: I remember Moulin speaking of the French Protestants, saith, " When Papists hurt us for reading the Scriptures, we burn with zeal to be reading of them; but now persecution is over, our Bibles are like old almanacks," etc. All the reproaches, frowns, threatenings, oppositions, and persecutions that a Christian meets with in a way of holiness, do but raise his zeal and courage to a greater height. Michal's scoffing at David did but inflame and raise his zeal: " If this be to be vile, I will be more vile," 2 Sam. vi. 20 — 22. Look, as fire in the winter burns the hotter, by an avrnrtpiffTOffis, because of the coldness of the air; so in the winter of affliction and persecution, that divine fire, the zeal of a Christian, burns so much the hotter, and flames forth so much the more vehemently and strongly. In times of greatest affliction and persecution for holiness' sake, a Christian hath, first, a good captain to lead and encourage him; secondly, a righteous cause to prompt and embolden him; thirdly, a gracious God to relieve and succour him; fourthly, a glorious heaven to receive and reward him; and, certainly, these things cannot but mightily raise him and inflame him under the greatest opposition and persecution. These things will keep him from fearing, fawning, fainting, sinking, or flying in a stormy day; yea, these things will make his face like the face of an adamant, as God promised to make Ezekiel's. Ezekiel iii. 7 — 9, and Job xli. 24. Now an adamant is the hardest of stones, it is harder than a flint, yea, it is harder than the nether-millstone. The naturalists [Pliny] observe, that the hardness of this stone is unspeakable: the fire cannot burn it, nor so much as heat it through, nor the hammer cannot break it, nor the water

cannot dissolve it, and, therefore, the Greeks call it an adamant from its untameableness; and in all storms the adamant shrinks not, it shrinks not, it fears not, it changeth not its hue; let the times be what they will, the adamant is still the same. In times of persecution, a good cause, a good God, and a good conscience will make a Christian like an adamant, it will make him invincible and unchangeable. When one desired to know what kind of man Basil was, there was presented to him in a dream, saith the history, a pillar of fire with this motto, Tails est Basilius, Basil is such a one, he is all on a-light fire for God. Persecutions will but set a Christian all on a-light fire for God. — Thomas Brooks.

Verse 9. — "Eaten me up." The verb means, not only " to eat up, to devour," but " to corrode or consume," by separating the parts from each other, as fire. And the radical import of the Hebrew word for "zeal " seems to be " to eat into, corrode, as fire." The word, says Parkhurst, is in the Hebrew Bible generally applied to the fervent or ardent ailections of the human frame; the effects of which are well known to be ever like those of fire, corroding and consuming. And, accordingly, the poets, both ancient and modern, abound with descriptions of these ardent and consuming affections, taken from fire and its effects. — Richard Mont.

Verse 9. — "Eaten me up." He who is zealous in his religion, or ardent in his attachments, is said to be eaten up. " Old Muttoo has determined to leave his home for ever; he is to walk barefoot to the Ganges for the salvation of his soul: his zeal has eaten him up." — J. Roberts' Oriental Illustrations.

Verse 9. — "The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me." We should, if it were possible, labour to wipe off all the reproach of Christ, and take it upon ourselves that we might rather be spit upon and contemned than Christ. It was a brave speech of Ambrose, " he wished it would please God to turn all the adversaries from the church upon himself, and let them satisfy their thirst with his blood: " this is a true Christian heart. And, therefore, if it be for our sakes, and we have anything in the business by which Christ is reproached, we should be willing rather to sacrifice ourselves, than that Christ should be reproached; and as Jonah, when he knew that the tempest rose for his sake, says he, " Cast me into the sea; " and so Nazianzen, when contention rose about him, says he, " Cast me into the sea, let me lose my place, rather than the name of Christ should suffer for me." — Jeremiah Burroughs.

Verse 10. — "When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach." Behold here, virtue is accounted vice; truth, blasphemy; wisdom, folly. Behold, the peace-maker of the world is judged a seditious person; the fulfiller of the law, a breaker of the law; our Saviour, a sinner; our God, a devil. O poor troubled heart! wherefore dost thou weakly wail for any injury or abuse that is offered to thee? God handleth thee no otherwise in this world than he handled his only Son, who hath pledged thee in this bitter potion; not only taking essay thereof, but drinking to thee a full draught. It is not only a comfort, but a glory, to be a partner and fellow-sufferer with Christ, who delighteth also to see in us some representation of himself. Dogs bark not at those whom they know, and with whom they are familiar; but against strangers they usually bark; not always for any hurt which they feel or fear, but commonly by nature or depraved custom. How then canst thou be a stranger to the world, if it doth not molest thee; if it detracteth not from thee? — Sir John Hayward (1560—1627), in "The Sanctuary of a Troubled Soule."

Verse 10. — There is nothing so well meant, but it may be ill interpreted. — Simon Patrick.

Verses 10, 11. — That Christ was derided and scoffed at is plain, from Mark v.; for, when he said, " The girl is not dead, but sleepeth, they laughed him to scorn; " and when he spoke of the necessity of giving alms, " Now, the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him." And, in his passion, he was derided by the soldiers, by Herod, by the high priests, and many others. — Robert Bellarmine.

Verse 11. — "I made sackcloth also my garment," etc. Though we nowhere read that Jesus put on sackcloth on any occasion, yet it is not improbable that he did; besides, the phrase may only intend that he mourned and sorrowed at certain times, as persons do when they put on sackcloth; moreover, as the common garb of his forerunner was raiment of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle; so it is very likely

his own was very mean, suitable to his condition, who, though he was rich, for our snkes became poor. "And I became a proverb to them; " a by-word; so that, when they saw any person in sackcloth or in vile raiment, behold, such an one looks like Jesus of Nazareth. — John Gill.

Verse 11. — "/ became a proverb." Two things are usually implied when a man is said to be a by-word. First, that he is in a very low condition: some men are so high that the tongues of the common people dare not climb over them, but where the hedge is low every man goes over. Secondly, that he is in a despised condition: to be a by-word carries a reflexion of disgrace. He that is much spoken of, in this sense, is ill spoken of; and he is quite lost in the opinion of men, who is thus found in their discourse Hence, observe, great sufferers in many things of this world, are the common subject of discourses, and often the subject of disgrace. Such evils as few men have felt or seen, all men will be speaking of. Great sorrows, especially if they be the sorrows of great men, are turned into songs, and poetry

plays its part with the saddest disasters Holy David met with this measure

from men in the day of his sorrows: "When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb (or a by-word) to them." In the next verse he tells us in detail who did this: "They that sit in the gate (that is, great ones) speak against me, and I was the song of the drunkard," that is, of the common sort. — Joseph Caryl.

Verse 12. — "They that sit in the gate:" i.e., as it is generally interpreted, the judges or chief persons of the state; for the gates of cities were the places of judi cature. But Hilary interprets this of those who sat to beg at the gates of the city; which seems a more probable interpretation, better to agree with the design of the Psalmist, and to suit with the "drunkards," mentioned in the next clause. — Samuel Burder.

Verse 12. — "They that sit in the gate." The magistrates at the gate. Literally, "assessors at the gate;" "judges sitting to determine causes." — John Mason Good.

Verse 12. — "/ was the song of the drunkards." Holy walking is the drunkards' song, as David was; and so preciseness and strictness of walking is ordinarily: the world cannot bear the burning and shining conversations of some of the saints; they are so cuttingly reproved by them, that with those heathens, they curse the sun, that by its shining doth scorch them. It is no new thing; the seed of the serpent did alway persecute the seed of the woman; and he that was born after the flesh, persecuteth him that was born after the spirit; even so it is now, saith the apostle; and so it is now, may we say. Ishmael mocked Isaac, and is it not so still? Or, if it be not so bold a sin as formerly, it is because the times, not sinners' hearts, are changed; they malign them still, watch for their halting: " report, say they, and we will report it." — John Murcot.

Verse 12. — "/ was the song of the drunkards." When magistrates discountenance true religion, then it becometh a matter of derision to rascals, and to every base villain without controlment, and a table-talk to every tipler. The shame of the cross is more grievous than the rest of the trouble of it: this is the fourth time that the shame of the cross is presented unto God, in these four last verses: " / was the song of the drunkards; " after complaining of his being reproached and being made a proverb. — David Dickson.

Verse 12. — There is a tavern, or profane mirth, in drinking, and roaring, and revelling, and instead of another minstrel, David must be the song of the drunkards; nor can the Philistines be merry unless Samson be made the fool in the play (Judges xvi. 25): " Unless they scoff and jeer the ways and servants of God " (as Mr. Greenham saith), " the fools cannot tell how to be merry; " and then the Devil is merry with them for company. But what? Not merry without abusing their host? This some must dearly pay for, when a reckoning is called for; or, they rather called to make it. Then they will be off from their merry pins, and will find that this was very far from being the " Comfort of the Holy Ghost," wherein and whereby that good Spirit and our Comforter was grieved, and holiness scoffed and laughed at. — Anthony Tuckney (1599 — 1670), in "A Good Day Well Improved."

Verse 13. — "But as for me, my prayer," etc. The phrase is full of emphasis; And I, my prayer to thee: that is, such am I altogether, this is my main occupation; as it is in Psalm cix. 4: And I, a prayer; this was my employment, this ever my only refuge, this my present help and remedy. — Venema.

Verse 13. — "An acceptable time." All times are not alike. We will not always find admittance at the same rate, with the same ease. As he will not always be chiding, so he will not always be so pleasing neither. We may knock, and knock again, and yet stand without a while; sometimes, so long, till our knees are ready to sink under us, our eyes ready to drop out, as well as drop with expectation, and our hearts ready to break in pieces, while none heareth, or none regardeth. We should have come before, or pitched our coming at a better time The prophet

David expressly speaks of "an acceptable time " to make our prayers in. And, " To-day if you will hear his voice," in the Psalmist, paraphrased by the apostle, " To-day, while it is called to-day," shows there is a set day, or days, of audience with God, wherein he sets himself, as it were, with all readiness to hear and help us — an accepted time. And will ye, next, know what it is that makes it so? There are but two things that do. Either God's being in a good or pleasing disposition towards us, or our being in a good and pleasing disposition towards him. Come we but to him in either of these, and we have nicked the time; we are sure to be accepted.— Mark Frank. 1613—1664.

Heavier the cross, the heartier prayer. The bruised herbs most fragrant are. If sky and wind were always fair, The sailor would not watch the star; And David's Psalms had ne'er been sung If grief his heart had never wrung.

Verse 15. — Faith in God giveth hope to be helped, and is half a deliverance before the full deliverance come; for the Psalmist is now with his head above the water, and not so afraid as when he began the Psalm. — David Dickson.

Verse 15. — "The pit." According to Dean Stanley, the word Beer here used is always rendered " well," except in this and three other cases. When such wells no longer yielded a full supply of water they were used as prisons, no care being taken to cleanse out the mire remaining at the bottom. The Dean also tells us in the Appendix to his " Sinai and Palestine," that " they have a broad margin of masonry round the mouth, and often a stone filling up the orifice." The rolling of this stone over the mouth of the well was the well's " shutting her mouth; " and the poor prisoner was, to all intents and purposes, buried alive. — C. H. S.

Verse 17. — "Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble." An upright servant, albeit he be troubled for God's cause, and do miss comfort from God; yet will he not change his Master, nor despair of his favour. — David Dickson.

Verse 17. — "Hide not thy face." The proper sense of the word vq gives the meaning to the phrase, veil not thy face from thy servant. In this there is a reference to a king, who, to prevent promiscuous approach to his chamber, spreads a veil before it, and admits to his presence only his minister of high confidence. So in Psalm xxxi. 21. The face of God is his majesty, and his gracious and favourable presence; the servant of God is his minister enjoying intimate access, and to veil the face from him is to prevent him coming into the presence of God; and, therefore, it belongs to the servant of God to be treated in a widely different manner. — Hermann Vencma.

Verse 17. — "Thy servant." Hide not, he says, from thy servant; as if he should say, such as I am, I am thy servant. It belongs to the Master to take care of his servant, if in peril for his sake. In this same verse he says he is in a strait. In verse 18 he declares that he is in jeopardy of his life. — Musculus.

Verse 19. — "Thou hast known my reproach," etc. It is a great deal of comfort that God does take notice of our reproaches; this was the comfort of the Psalmist. If a man suffer reproach, and disgrace, and trouble for his friends, while he is abroad from them; O, says he, did my friends know what I suffer, and suffer for them, it would comfort me: if it be comfort to be known, much more when they shall be accounted their own. Christ is acquainted with all the sufferings of every member; and, therefore, do not say, I am a poor creature; who takes notice of my sufferings? Heaven takes notice of your sufferings; Christ takes notice of them better than yourselves. — Jeremiah Burroughs.

Verse 20. — "Reproach hath broken my heart." Mental emotions and passions

are well known by all to affect the actions of the heart, in the way of palpitation, fainting, etc. That these emotions and passions, when in overwhelming excess, occasionally, though rarely, produce laceration or rupture of the walls of the heart, is stated by most medical authorities who have written on the affections of this organ; and our poets even allude to this effect as an established fact.

" The grief that does not speak, Whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break."

But, if ever human heart was riven and ruptured by the mere amount of mental agony that was endured, it would surely, we might even argue, a priori, be that of our Redeemer, when, during those dark and dreadful hours on the cross, he, " being made a curse for us," " bore our griefs, and carried our sorrows," and suffered for sin the malediction of God and man, " full of anguish," and now " exceeding sorrowful even unto death." There are theological as well as medical arguments in favour of the opinion that Christ, in reality, died from a ruptured or broken heart. If the various wondrous prophecies and minute predictions in Psalms xxii. and Ixix., regarding the circumstances connected with Christ's death, be justly held as literally true, such as, " They pierced my hands and my feet," " They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture," etc., why should we regard as merely metaphorical, and not as literally true, also, the declarations in the same Psalms, "Reproach hath broken my heart," "My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels." — Sir James Young Simpson (1811 — 1870) in W. Stroud's "Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ."

Verse 20. — "/ looked for some to take pity, but there was none." Even under ordinary circumstances we yearn for sympathy. Without it, the heart will contract and droop, and shut like a flower in an unkindly atmosphere, but it will open again amidst the sounds of frankness and the scenes of love. When we are in trouble, this want is in proportion still more pressing; and, for the sorrowful heart to feel alone, is a grief greater than nature can sustain. A glance of sympathy seems to help it more than the gift of untold riches; and a loving look, even from a little child who is sorry for us, or a simple word from some homely friend, will sometimes brace the spirit to new exertions, and seem almost to waken life within the grasp of death. — Charles Stanford, in "Central Truths." 1859.

Verse 21. — "They gave me also gall," etc. Such are the comforts often adminis tered, by the world, to an afflicted and deserted soul. — George Home.

Verse 21. — "Gall and vinegar " are here put together to denote the most unpalat able forms of food and drink. The passion of our Lord was providentially so ordered as to furnish a remarkable coincidence with this verse. The Romans were accus tomed to give sour wine, with an infusion of myrrh, to convicts on the cross, for the purpose of deadening the pain. This practice was adhered to in our Saviour's case (Mark xv. 23). Though in itself not cruel, but the contrary, it formed part of the great process of murderous persecution. On the part of the Roman soldiery it may have been an act of kindness; but considered as an act of the unbelieving Jews, it was giving gall and vinegar to one already overwhelmed with anguish. And so Matthew, in accordance with his general method, represents it as a verification of this passage (Matt, xxvii. 34). He does not contradict Mark's account, before referred to, but merely intimates that the wine and myrrh thus offered were to be regarded as identical with the gall and vinegar of this prediction. And, in order to prevent the coincidence from being overlooked, our Lord, before he died, com plained of thirst, and vinegar was administered. — Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 21. — "Gall for my meat." Since the life of sin first began in tasting, contrary to the obedience due to God, the Redeemer of sinners willed to be obedient even unto death, upon the cross, and to end his life, in fulfilment of the prophecy, with the bitter taste of gall and vinegar, that, in this manner, we, seeing the beginning of our perdition and the end of our redemption, might feel ourselves to be most sufficiently redeemed and most perfectly cured. — Thome de Jesu (1582), in "The Sufferings of Jesus."

Verse 21. — "Vinegar." Commentators have frequently remarked the refreshing quality of the Eastern vinegar. I shall not repeat their observations, but rather would ask, why the Psalmist prophetically complains of the giving him vinegar to drink, in that deadly thirst, which, in another Psalm, he describes by the tongue's cleaving to the jaws, if it be so refreshing? Its refreshing quality cannot be doubted; but may it not be replied, that, besides the gall which he mentions, and which ought not to be forgotten, vinegar itself, refreshing as it is, was only made use of by the meanest people? When a royal personage has vinegar given him in his thirst, the refreshment of a slave, of a wretched prisoner, instead of that of a prince, he is greatly dishonoured, and may well complain of it as a bitter insult, or represent such insults by this image.

Sweet wines, as appears from the ancient Eastern translators of the Septuagint, were chiefly esteemed formerly, for that which our version renders "royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the King," (Esth. i. 7.) they translate, " much and sweet wine, such as the King himself drank." Perhaps, it was with a view to this, that the soldiers offered our Lord vinegar (wine that was become very sour), in opposition to that sweet wine princes were wont to drink: for Luke tells us that they did this in mockery (ch. xxiii. 36.) " And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar." Medicated wine, to deaden their sense of pain, was wont, we are told, to be given to Jewish criminals, when about to be put to death; but, they gave our Lord vinegar, and that in mockery — in mockery (as they did other things) of his claim to royalty. But the force of this does not appear, if we do not recollect the quality of the wines drank anciently by princes, which, it seems, were of the sweet kind. — Thomas Harmer.

Verse 22. — The imprecations in this verse and those following it are revolting only when considered as the expression of malignant selfishness. If uttered by God, they shock no reader's sensibilities, nor should they, when considered as the language of an ideal person, representing the whole class of righteous sufferers, and particularly him, who, though he prayed for his murderers while dying (Luke xxiii. 34), had before applied the words of this very passage to the unbelieving Jews (Matt, xxiii. 38), as Paul did afterwards (Rom. xi. 9, 10). The general doctrine of providential retribution, far from being confined to the Old Testament, is distinctly taught in many of our Saviour's parables. See Matt. xxi. 41; xxii. 7; xxiv. 51. — Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 22. — "Let their table become a snare." Their table figuratively sets forth their prosperity, the abundance of all things. It represents peace and security, as in Psalm xxxiii. 5; Job xxvi. 16. It likewise describes mutual friendship, a blending of minds and plans; the emblem and sign whereof convivia are accustomed to be. Psalm xli. 10; Dan. xi. 27. — Hermann Venema.

Verse 22. — "Let their table," etc. One said well, Licitis perimus omnes, etc., " Ruin usually ariseth from the use of lawful things; " there being most danger where it is least suspected. In all our comforts, there is a forbidden fruit, which seemeth fair and tasteth sweet, but which must not be touched. — Henry Wilkinson (1675), in "Morning Exercises."

Verse 22. — "Let their table become a snare." — Many would have excused them selves from following Christ, in the parable of the feast: some had bought land, some had married wives, and others had bought yokes of oxen, and could not come (Luke xiv. 18 — 20), that is, an immoderate love of the world hindered them: their lawful enjoyments, from servants, become their idols; they worshipped them more than God, and would not quit them to come to God. But this is recorded to their reproach; and we may herein see the power of self upon the worldly man, and the danger that comes to him by the abuse of lawful things. What, thy wife dearer to thee than thy Saviour I and thy land and oxen preferred to thy soul's salvation. O beware, that thy comforts prove not snares first, and then curses: to over-rate them, is to provoke him that gave them to take them away again. Come, and follow him that giveth life eternal to the soul.— William Perm (1644—1718), in "No Cross, No Crown."

Verse 22. — "Let their table become a snare." That is, for a recompense for their inhumanity and cruelty towards me. Michaelis shows how exactly these comminations were fulfilled in the history of the final siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. Many thousands of the Jews had assembled in the city to eat the paschal lamb, when Titus unexpectedly made an assault upon them." In this siege, the greater part of the inhabitants of Jerusalem miserably perished. — William Walford.

Verses 22, 23. — Observe the Divine retribution of the Jews. They gave gall and vinegar as food and drink to Christ; and their own spiritual food and drink has become a snare to them. His eyes were blindfolded; their eyes were darkened. His loins were scourged; their loins were made to shake. — Christopher Wordsworth.

Verses 23 — 28. — He denounceth ten plagues, or effects of God's wrath, to come upon them for their wickedness. — David Dicksnn.

Verse 24. — "Pour out." Observe what is denoted by pouring out. First, the facility with which God is able, without any labour, to destroy his enemies, as easy is it as to incline a vial full of liquid and pour it out. Secondly, the pouring out denotes the abundance of his anger. Thirdly, that his wrath is sudden, overwhelming, and inevitable. When it drops, one must take care; when it is poured forth, it crushes the thoughtless. — Thomas Le Blanc.

Verse 25. — "Let their habitation; " — that is, not only the place where they dwell, but even their very offices and functions, "be void," viz., by thy just taking them away from amongst men; "and let none," viz., of their seed and posterity, "dwell in their tents," viz., that they have dwelt in: he meaneth, that he would have them die without heir or issue. — Thomas Wilcocks.

Verse 25. — "Let none dwell in their tents." After the temple itself was taken, or rather turned to ashes, the miserable remnant of the Jewish people begged of Titus that he would permit them to pass through the breaches of the wall with their wives and children, and go into the wilderness — a request which he indignantly refused. (Josephus.) So that, literally, " there was no inhabitant for their tents."- John Mason Good.

Verse 26. — When David's misery deserved compassion, Shimei's foul mouth loaded him with malediction. Hereof he complained: "They persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded." The picking out of such an opportunity doubled his malicious rancour. Such words would have galled at another time, which now are ready to kill. Let an arrow fly against the wind, it will hardly stick upright; with the wind, it pierceth deep. While thine enemy stands, he may ward thy blows; but once fallen on his back, he is at thy mercy: and how base is that spirit which will prey on prostrate fortunes I Little children have so much valour and justice, as to call him a coward that strikes his adversary when he is down. To insult upon those whom God hath humbled, and to draw blood of that back which is yet blue from the Maker's stripes, is even the murder of a virulent tongue. Nor will it be any rare thing at the day of judg ment for cursers to be indicted of murder. They would kill if they durst; they do kill as far as they can. I would be loth to trust his hand, that bans one with his lips. Balaam would soon have been the death of all Israel, if either tongue or sword could have effected his will. — Thomas Adams.

Verse 26. — "They talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded." The very talking and venting of ill speeches, to the prejudice of Christ's cause and truth, and true holiness in his saints, especially when they are under suffering and afflictions, whatsoever, is a high provocation of God's wrath. — David Dickson.

Verse 26. — It were to be wished, that the sorrows of the penitent, when wounded with a sense of sin, never subjected him to the scorn and contempt of those who would be thought Christians. — George Home.

Verse 27. — "Add iniquity unto their iniquity." This is that retaliation of sin which God returns into their bosoms that foster it; that since " they loved cursing, it shall be unto them." Psalm cix. 17. So David here (though it was not in him precantis votum, but prophetantis vaticinium, he did not desire it to be so, but he knew it would be so), "Add iniquity unto their iniquity." Neither doth God this by infusion of wickedness, but by subtraction of his Spirit. He is causa deficiens, non efficiens: as the recalling of the sun from us causeth darkness; so the privation of grace creates the prevalence of ungodliness. It is in him not peccatum, sed judicium, — not sin, but judgment. When he leaves us to ourselves, it is no wonder if we fall into horrid and prodigious sins. Peccatum est malum in se: effectum prioris mali, el causa subsequentis: est et supplicium, et causa supplicii: Sin is evil in itself, th« effect of former evil, the cause of future: it is both punishment itself, and the cause of punishment. In all the storehouse of God's plagues there is not a greater vengeance. With other punishments the body smarteth; the soul groaneth under this. Hence, sins multiply without limits, that the plagues may be withont end. Every affliction is sore that offends us; but that is direful which offends God. Such do at once act and suffer: it is both an active and a passive sin. The punishment they suffer is (in them) sin; the sin they do is (from God) a punishment. — Thomas Adams.

Verse 27. — "Add iniquity unto their iniquity." Or, as the original signifies, perverscness, treat their perverseness with pcrverseness: act, in thy judgments, as crookedly towards them as they dealt crookedly towards thee. They shall get, in the way of punishment, what they have dealt out in the way of oppression. — Adam Clarke.

Verse 27. — "Add iniquity unto their iniquity." Sin, carried far enough, becomes its own punishment. Let but a voracious glutton be bound to sit at a well-furnished table but two hours after he had filled his stomach, he would account it an intolerable penance. Let but the drunkard be forced to drink on with those that can drink him down, how is he a burden to himself, and a scorn to his fellow drunkards! Let but a lazy sluggard be confined three days to his bed, and how weary will he be of his bed of down 1 How is the idle person more weary of his idleness than another is of work! — Samuel Anneslcy (1620 — 1696), m "Morning Exercises."

Verse 28. — "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living." All the Israelites who came up out of Egypt were put down in a muster-roll of the living, called " the writing of the house of Israel " (Ezek. xiii. 9), and " the book of life." Those who had died were excluded when the names were written out afresh each year. They were, thereby, consigned to oblivion (Prov. x. 7). Hence, the book of life was used as an image for God's book of predestination to eternal life (Psalm cxxxix. 16; Exod. xxxii. 32; Psalm Ixxxvii. 6; Dan. xii. 1; Phil. iv. 3; Rev. xvii. 8; xiii. 8; xxi. 27; Luke x. 20). The book of life, in the human point of view, has names written in it who have a name to live, but are dead, being in it only by external call, or in their own estimation, and in that of others. But, in the divine point of view, it contains only those who are elected finally to life. The former may be blotted out, as was Judas (Rev. iii. 5; Matt. xiii. 12; xxv. 29; vii. 23; Exod. xxxii. 33); but the latter never (Rev. xx. 12, 15; John x. 28, 29; Acts xiii. 48). — A. R. Fausset.

Verse 28. — "Let them be wiped out," etc. This verse alludes to the ancient Jewish practice of recording the names of the inhabitants of every division, or tribe, of the people, in a volume somewhat similar to the Dom-boc of the Saxons. See Luke ii.l. The names of those who died were blotted or wiped out, and appeared no longer on the list of the living. Such a book is attributed to God in Psalm cxxxix. 16. and the blotting out of Moses from God's book, in Exod. xxxii. 32, is a figurative expression, for depriving him of life. — Richard Warner.

Verse 28. — "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living," etc. We come to the question, Whether to be written in heaven be an infallible assurance of salvation, or, whether any there registered may come to be blotted out? The truth is, that none written in heaven can ever be lost; yet they object against it this verse. Hence, they infer, that some names once there recorded are afterwards put out; but this opinion casteth a double aspersion on God himself. Either it makes him ignorant of future things, as if he foresaw not the end of elect and reprobate, and so were deceived in decreeing some to be saved that shall not be saved; or, that his decree is mutable, in excluding those upon their sins whom he hath formerly chosen. From both these weaknesses St. Paul vindicates him (2 Tim. ii. 19): "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." First, " The Lord knows them that are his; " this were not true if God's prescience could be deluded. Then, his " foundation stands sure; " but that were no sure foundation, if those he hath decreed to be his should afterwards fall out not to be his. The very conclusion of truth is this, impossibilis est deletio; they which are " written in heaven " can never come into hell. To clear this from the opposed doubt, among many, I will cull out three proper distinctions: —

1. One may be said to be written in heaven simpliciter, and secundum quid. He that is simply written there, in quantum prxdestinalus ad vilam, because elected to life, can never be blotted out. He that is written after a sort may, for he is written non secundum Dei prtrscientiam, sed secundum pnesenlem juslitiam — not according to God's former decree, but according to his present righteousness. So they are said to be blotted out, not in respect of God's knowledge, for he knows they never were written there; but according to their present condition, apostatising from grace to sin.*

2. Some are blotted out non secundum rei veritatem, sed hominum opinionem —

not according to the truth of the thing, but according to men's opinion. It is usual in the Scriptures to say a thing is done quando innotescat fieri, when it is declared to be done. Hypocrites have a simulation of outward sanctity, so that men in charity judge them to be written in heaven. But when those glistening stars appear to be only ignes fatui, foolish meteors, and fall from the firmament of the church, then we say they arc blotted out. The written ex existenlia, by a perfect being, are never lost; but ex apparentia, by a dissembled appearance, may. Some God so writes, in se ut simpliciter habituri vitam — that they have life simply in them selves, though not of themselves. Others he so writes, ut habeant non in se, sed in sua causa; from which falling they are said to be obliterated.*

3. Augustine says, we must not so take it, that God first writes and then dasheth out. For if a Pilate could say, Quod scripsi, scripsi — " What I have written, I have written," and it shall stand; shall God say, Quod scripsi, expungam — What I have written, I will wipe out, and it shall not stand? They are written, then, secundum spem ipsorum, qui ibi se scriptos putabant — according to their own hope that presumed their names there; and are blotted out quando ipsis constet illos non ibi fuisse — when it is manifest to themselves that their names never had any such honour of inscription. This even that Psalm strengthens whence they fetch their opposition: "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." So that to be blotted out of that book, it is, indeed, never to be written there. To be wiped out in the end, is but a declaration that such were not written in the beginning. — Thomas Adams.

Verse 32. — "Your heart shall live that seek God." As such who are poor in spirit, and truly humbled, do live upon God's alms, and are daily at his doors for relief of their necessities, and for communion with his gracious goodness; so shall they thrive well in this trade. — David Dickson.

Verse 32. — " Your heart shall live." The heart, or the soul, is said to live, to be converted, or to return, when it is refreshed and cured of its pains and griefs. In this way it could be said of Jacob, when the good tidings were brought, that his spirit revived On the contrary, when Nabal heard the bad news, it is recorded that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. — Lorinus.

Verse 33. — "The Lord heareth the poor." The consolation is much greater when it is said, " The Lord heareth the poor," than if it were written, He hath heard poor David. — JMusculus.

Verse 1. — Our trials like waters. I. They should be kept out of the heart. II. There are, however, leaks which admit them. III. Take note when the hold is filling. IV. Use the pumps, and cry for help.

Verses 2, 3. — The sinner aware of his position, unable to hope, overwhelmed with fear, finding no comfort in prayer, unvisited with divine consolation. Direct and console him.

Verse 3. — I. Here is faith in the midst of trouble: " My God." II. Hope in the midst of disappointment: " Mine eyes fail," etc. III. Prayer in the midst of discouragement: " I am weary," etc.; " My throat," etc.

Verse 4. — Jesus as the Restorer, the Christian imitating him in the same office; Christianity a power which will do this for the whole race in due season.

Verse 5. — Our foolishness. Wherein it appears generally, how it may display itself in individuals, what it occasions, and what are the divine provisions to meet it.

Verse 5. — I. God's knowledge of sin is an inducement to repent. 1. Because it is foolish to endeavour to hide any sin from him. 2. Because it is impossible

to confess all our sin to him. II. It is an encouragement to hope for pardon.

I. Because, in the full knowledge of sin, he has declared himself to be merciful and ready to forgive. 2. Because he has made provision for pardon, not according to our knowledge of sin, but his own. — G. R.

Verse 9. — I. The object of zeal: " thy house; " thy Zion; thy Church. II. The degree of zeal: " hath eaten me up." Our Lord was consumed by his own zeal. So Paul: " And I if I be offered up," etc. III. The manifestation of zeal: " The reproaches," etc.; of thy justice; of thy law; of thy moral government; of thy lovingkindness. " Who himself bare our sins," etc. — G. R.

II. Of his fasting. III. Of reproach. IV. Of his humiliation: " I made sack cloth," etc. V. Of the perversion of his words: as, " I will destroy this temple," etc. VI. Of the opposition of the Pharisees and rulers: " They that sit in the gate," etc. VII. Of the contempt of the lowest of the people: " I was the song," etc.— G. R.

Verse 11. — Proverbial sayings of a scoffing character.

Verse 13. — "An acceptable time." While life lasts usually, and especially when we are repentant, feel our need, are importunate, give all glory to God, have faith in his promise, and expect a gracious reply.

Verse 13. — "Multitude of thy mercy." Seen in many forbearances before con version, countless pardons, innumerable gifts, many promises, frequent visits, and abundant deliverances. Of all these who can count the thousandth part?

Verse 13. — "The truth of thy salvation." An instructive topic. Its reality, certainty, completeness, eternity, etc., all illustrate its truth under various aspects.

Verses 14 — 16. — I. The depth from which prayer may rise. II. The height to which it may ascend. Thus Jonah, when at the bottom of the sea, says, " My prayer came up," etc. — G. R.

Verse 15 (last clause). — A tremendous evil, our desert of it, our hope against it, our fear of it, and the reasons which secure us against it.

Verse 19. — I. God knows what his people suffer; how much, how long, from whom, for what. II. His people should find consolation in this knowledge. 1. That trial is permitted by him. 2. That it is apportioned by him. 3. That it has its design from him. 4. That when the design is accomplished, it will be removed by him. — G. R.

Broken hearts, such as are sentimental, caused by disappointed pride, penitence, persecution, sympathy, etc.

Verse 21. — The conduct of men to Jesus throughout his entire life, rendering to him evil for all his good, and where good would have seemed to be the inevitable return.

Verse 22. — The table a snare. Excess in feasting; looseness in conversation; want of principle in confederate councils; superstition in religion.

Verse 23.— The judicial curse which falls on some despisers of Christ; their understandings fail to perceive the truth; and they tremble, because they are unable to receive strengthening comforts.

Verses 30, 31.— I. The effect of deliverance upon the people of God. It fills them with praise and thanksgiving. II. The effect in relation to God. He is more pleased with it than with any other offerings: " Whoso offereth praise," etc. — G. R.

Verse 32.— I. The joy of a good man's heart is in the experience of others. II. The life of his heart is in God.

Verse 33. — I. What the people of God are in their own esteem: " poor " and " prisoners." II. What they are in the divine esteem: not unnoticed; not unheard; not despised.

Verse 34. — "The sea," etc. How God is, should be, and shall be praised by the sea.

Verse 36.— I. The sure evidence of grace: " love his name." II. The blessing given. III. The enduring character of it: " shall dwell."

Verse 36. — I. The covenant inheritance. II. To whom it belongs. III. The certainty of their obtaining; and, IV. The perpetuity of their possessing it.