Exposition of the Whole Bible

for his king an@ country’s good; and David befides had many wives, and was alfo king of J/racl, and fhould have fet a better example to his fub- ‘jects 3 and it was followed with other fins, as the murder of Uriah, and the death of. feveral others; with fcandal to religion, and with fecurity and impenitence in him for a long time, until Nathan the prophet was fent to him of God, to awaken him to a fenfe of his fin; which he immediately acknowledged, and fhewed true repentance for it: upon which, either whilft Nathan was prefent, or after he was gone, he penned this pfalm.; that it might remain on record, as a teftification of his repentance, and for the inftruction of fuch as fhould tall into fin, how to behave, where to apply, and for their comfort. The hiftory of all this. may. be feen in the 14th and x2th chapters of the fecond book of Samuel. akin y¥.1. Have mercy upon me, O.God, &c.]. David, under a fenfe of fin, does not run away from God, but applies unto him, and cafts himfelf at his feet, and upon his mercy; which fhews the view he had of his miferable condition, and that he faw there was mercy in God, which.gave him hope; and upon his bended knees, and in, the exercife of faith, he afks for it.. According to. thy loving kindne/s; not according to his merits, nor according to the general mercy of God, which carnal men rely upon; but according to his everlafting and unchangeable love in.Chrift; from. which as the fource, and through whom as the. medium, fpecial mercy comes to the children of men.,,, The acts of {pecial mercy are according to the fovereign will of God: he is not moved. to mercy, neither by the merits nor mifery of men, but by his free grace and favour;. it. is: love that fets mercy to work: this is a moft glaring gleam of gofpellight, which none of the infpired writers befides, except the apoftle Paul, faw,. Eph. ii. 4. Titus ite 45 5. According unto the multitude. of thy. tender mercies, blot out my tran[grefions for his fin was,complicated, attended with many, others;. and. befides, upon a view of this, he was led.to obferve all his other fins;. and particularly the corruption, of, his nature, his original fin, which he mentions,,¥.'4. Thefe he defires might, be dlotied out out-of the book of account,. out. of God’s debt-book;. that they might not ftand againft him, being debts. he was not able to pay or make fatisfaction for; and out of the table of his own heart and con{cience, where they, were ever before. bim, and,feemed to be engraven; that they, might be caufed to_pafs from him,, and he might have.no more con{cience of them; or that they might,be blotted out, as a cloud by the clear fhining of the fun of righteoufnefs, with the healing of pardoning grace in his wings; or that they might be wiped away, as any.

filth is wiped from any.perfon or thing; and _all this according to the multitude of his tender mercies. The mercy of God is plenteous and abundant; he is rich in it, and various are the inftances of it; and it is exceeding tender, like that of a father to his children, or like that of a mother to the fon of her womb; and from this abundant and tender mercy {prings the forgivenefs of fin, Lukei.. 77, 78. The pfalmift makes mention, of the multitude of the mercies of God, becaufe of, the multitude of his fins, which required a multitude of mercy to forgive, and to encourage his hope of |

Which fuppofes defilement by fin, and that very great, and {uch as none can remove but the Lord himfelf; who, when he takes it in hand, does it effectually and thoroughly; fee Ezek. xxxvi. 25. Devid’s fin had long lain upon him, the filth of it had. as it were eat into him, and {pread itfelf over him, and therefore he needed much wafhing; wa/h me much, all over, and thoroughly: dnd cleanfe me from my jin; which only the blood of Chrift can do, 1 fohni. 7. The pfalmift makes ufe of three words to exprefs his fin by, in this and the preceding verfe; py which fignifies rebellion, as all fin has in it rebellion againft God the lawgiver, and a.contempt of his commandments; sy perver fenefs, crookednefs, fin being a going out of the plain way of God’s righteous law; and ARVN 4 mifing the mark, going befides it, or not coming up to it: and thefe he makes ufe of to fet forth the malignity of fin, and the deep fenfe he had of the exceeding finfulnefs of it; and thefe are the three words ufed by the Lord in Exod. xxxiv. 7. when he declares himfelf to be a fin-forgiving God; fo that David’s fin came within the reach of pardoning mercy. y¥. 3. For I acknowledge my tranjgreffions, &c.} Before God.and man, Acknowledgment of fin is what the Lord requires, and promiles forgivenefs upon, and therefore is ufed here as a plea for it 5 and moreover the pfalmift had done fo before, and | had fucceeded in this way, which muft encourage him to take the fame courfe again; fee P/al. xxxii. 5. And my fin is ever before mex ftaring him in the, face; gnawing upon his con{cience, and fill- | ing him with remorfe and diftrefs; fo that his life was a burden to him: for though God had put a- | way fin out of his own fight, fo that he would not condemn him for it, and he fhould not die; not-

| withftanding. as yet it was not caufed to pafs from

David, or the guilt of, it removed frony his cone

| All fin, though committed againft a fellow-creature, being a tranfgreffion of the law, is againft the Lawgiver; and indeed begins at the neglect or contempt of his commandment, as Davia’s fin did, that had beftowed fo many favours upon him, was a cutting confideration. to him, which made his forrow appear to be of a godly fort; wherefore he | makes. his,,humble and: hearty confeffion to the

Lord, and who only could. forgive his fin, | And done this\evil in thy fight,; for with refpect to men: | it was fecretly done; and was only known to God, with whom the darknefs and the light are both alike... That thou mighteft be juftified when thou Jpeakeft, and be clear when thou judgeft; not that | David committed this fin that God might be jutt, and pure, and holy;-but <his was the event and confequence of it: God, by taking notice of it, refenting it, and reproving for it, appeared to be a righteous Being, and of purer eyes than to behold fin with pleafure; fee Exod. ix. 27. Or thefe words may be connected with his acknowledgment and. confeffion of fin;, which were done to this end and, purpofe, to juftify God in his charge of it upon him, and in threatning him with evils on account. of it, by the mouth ot JVatban the prophet: or with his petitions for pardoning grace and mercy; that fo he might appear to be juft to his promifé,. of forgiving iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin, to humble penitents; and particularly that he might appear to be juft and faithful to his Son, in foris er - giving 8 N giving fin for his fake; whom he had fet forth, in his purpofes and promifes, to be the propitiation for fin, to declare his righteoufnefs, Kom. iii. 25, 26. fee Rom. iii. 4.

¥.5. Bebold, I was fhapen in iniquity, &c,.] This cannot be underftood of any perfonal iniquity of his immediate parents; fince this refpects his wonderful formation in the womb, in which both he and they were wholly paflive, as the word here ufed is of that form; and is the amazing work of God himfelf, fo much admired by the pfalmitt, Pfal. cxxxix. 1316. and cannot defign any finfulnefs then infufed into him by his Maker, feeing God cannot be the author of fin; but of original fin and corruption, derived to him by natural generation: and the fenfe is, that as foon as ever the mafs of human nature was fhaped and quickned, or as foon as foul and body were united together, fin was in him, and he was in fin, or became a finful creature. dnd in fin did my mother conceive me; by whom cannot be meant Eve; for though fhe is the mother of all living, and fo of David, yet could not, with any propriety, be faid to conceive him: this only could be faid of his immediate parent, not even of his next grandmother, much lefs of Eve, at the diftance of almoft three thoufand years. Nor does the fin in which he was conceived, intend any fin of his parents, in begetting and conceiving him, being in lawful wedlock; which aéts cannot be finful, fince the propagation of the human fpecies by natural generation, is a principle of nature implanted by God himfelf; and is agreeable to the firft law of nature, given to man in a ftate of innocence, Increafe and multiply. Marriage is the inftitution of God in paradife; and in all ages has been accounted onourable in all, when the bed is undefiled. Nor does it defign his being conceived when his mother was in profluviis, of which there is no proof, ‘and is a mere imagination, and can anfwer no purpofe; much lefs that he was conceived in adultery,.as the contenders for the purity of human: nature broadly intimate; which fhews how much they are pinched with this text, to give into fuch an interpretation of it, at the expence of the character of an innocent perfon, of whom there is not the leaft fuggeftion of this kind in the holy fcriptures; but on the contrary, fhe is reprefented as a religious woman, and David valued himfelf upon his relation to her as fuch, P/a/. Ixxxvi. 16. and cxvi. 16. Befides, had this been the cafe, as David’ would have been a baftard, he would not have been fuffered to enter into the congregation of the Lord, according to the law, in Dew/. xxiii. 2. whereas he often did with great delight, P/a/. xlii. 4. and lv. 14, Moreover, it is befide his fcope and defign to expofé the fins of others, much lefs his own parents, whilft he is confeffing and lamenting his own iniquities: and to what purpofe fhould he mention theirs, efpecially if he himfelf was 'not affected by them, and did not derive a corrupt nature from them? Nor is the fin he fpeaks of any actual fin of his own, and therefore-he does not call it as before, my iniquity and my fin; though it was fo, he having finned in Adam, and this-being in -his nature; but zviguity and fin, it being common to him with all mankind. » Hence we learn the earlinefs of the corruption of nature; it is as foon as man is conceived and fhapen; and that it is propagated from one to another by natural generation;

and that it is the cafe of all men: for if this was the cafe of David, who was born of religious parents, was famous for his early piety, and from whofe feed the Meffiah fprung, it may well be concluded to be the cafe of all. And this corruption of nature is the fountain, fource and {pring of all fin, fecret and open, private and public; and is mentioned here not as an extenuation of David’s a€tual tranfgreffions, but as an aggravation of them; he having been, from his conception and formation, nothing elfe but a mafs of fin, a lump of iniquity; and in his evangelical repentance for them, he is led to take notice of and mourn over the corruption of his nature, from whence they arofe.. The heathens themfelves affirm, that no man is born without fin®, et ¥. 6. Bebold, thou defireft truth in the inward parts, &c.} With delight and pleafure, as the word * fignifies: meaning either Chrift, the truth and the life, formed and dwelling in the hearts of his people; or the gofpel, the word of truth, which has a place there; and particularly that branch of it which proclaims pardon to fenfible finners, and is the ground of hope within them: or elfe a true | and hearty confeffion of fin, which David now made; or rather internal holinefs and purity of heart, in oppofition to the corruption of nature before acknowledged: this is what is agreeable to the nature of God, is required by his holy Law, and is wrought in the hearts of his people in regeneration; and this is ruth, real, and not imaginary, genuine and unfeigned; where it is, there is a true fenfe of fin, a right fight of Chrift, unfeigned faith in him, fincere love to him, hope in him without hypocrify, anda reverential fear of God upon the heart; the inward parts are the feat of all this, and in the exercife of it the Lord takes great delight and plea-. fure. dnd in the bidden part thou foalt make me to know wifdem; either Chrift, the wifdom of God; or the gofpel, and particularly that part of it which concerns the pardon of fin; or a true knowledge of fin, and of the way of life and falvation by Chrift, which is the trueft and higheft wifdom: and the phrafe hidden or fecret, may either denote the nature of the wifdom made known, which is © hidden wifdom, the wifdom of God ina myftery; or the manner in which it is made known; it is in a hidden way, privately, and fecretly, and indifcernibly like the wind, by the Spirit and grace of God; or the featand fubject of it, the hidden part, as we fupply it; the hidden man of the heart. David begins to rife in the exercife of his faith in the grace of — God, thou /halt make me to know, 8c. unlefs the words fhould be rendered as a prayer, as they are © by fome, make me to know‘, &c. and as are the following. a | either y. 7. Purge me with byffop, &c.} Or thou fhalt purge me with byffop* or: expiate me; which was ufed in fprinkling the blood of the pafchal lamb on the door-pofts of the J/raelites in Egypt, that the deftroying angel might pafs over them, Exod xii, 22, 23. and in the cleanfing of the leper, Lev. xiv. 47. and in the purification of one that was unclean by the touch of adead body, 8c. Numb. xix. 6, 18. which the Targum on the text has refpe&t to; and this petition of the pfalmift fhews, that he faw himfelf a guilty creature, and in danger of the deftroying angel, and a filthy creature like the leper, and deferving to be excluded from the fociety of the faints, andthe houfe of God; and ah that — 4 FMAM delestaris, Junius & Tremellius, Pife f92NONIM puri.

that he had refpect not hereby to ceremonial prink- lings and purifications, for then he would have applied toa prieft; but to the fprinkling of the blood of Chrift, typified thereby; and therefore he applies to God to purge his confcience with it; and as Suidas * from Theodoret obferves, hyffop did not procure remiffion of fins, but has a myftical fignification, and refers to what was meant by the iprinkling of the blood of the paffover; and then hefays, And I /hall be clean, thotoughly ‘clean; for the blood fprinkled on the heart by the Spirit, clears it from an evil confcience, purges the con- {cience from dead works, and cleanfes from all fin. Wafe me; or thou foalt wafh me"; alluding to the wafhing at the cleanfing of a leper, and the purification of an unclean perfon, Lev. xiv. 8. Numb. xix. 1g. but had in view the fountain of Chrift’s blood, in which believers are wafhed from all their fins, Zech. xiii. 1. Rev. i. 5. And I fhall be whiter than fnow; who was black with original corruption, and actual tranfgreffions; but the blood of Chrift makes not only the converfation-garments white that are wafhed in it; but even crimfon and fcarlet fins as white as wool, as white as fnow, and the perfons of the faints without fpot or blemith, Rev. vii. 14. Tfai.i. 18. Eph. v. 25—27. whiter than the fnow, is a phrafe ufed- by Homer*, and others, to defcribe what is exceeding white.

y.8. Make me to hear joy and gladne/s, &c.] Which he had not heard for fome time; fin had fadly broke in upon, and interrupted his fpiritual peace and joy; for though the love and favour of God cannot be loft; yet his fenfible prefence, which puts joy and gladnefs into the heart, may; and tho’ an intereft in Chrift ever continues, and union to him is always the fame; yet a view of intereft in him, which fills with joy unfpeakable and full of glory, and communion with him, may not be had for a time: and though juftification by his righteoufnefs, from whence flows much peace, is an invariable blefling; yet the comfortable perception of it may be taken away: and though falvation by Chrift is a certain thing; yet the joy of it may be loft for a feafon; which was now the cafe of the pfalmift: ‘and when he defires that God would caufe him to hear joy and gladnefs, his meaning is, that he might have that made known unto him; namely, the forgivenefs of his fins, which would give him joy; not by an articulate voice from heaven, which he did not expeét; nor by an angel from thence, which was not ufual; but by the prophet, who as yet might not have declared to him that God had put away his fin; or if he had, he might defire to have it repeated, for his fuller affurance, and greater joy; or by his Spirit, in an impulfe on his mind, faying to him, thy: fins are forgiven thee; which would give him great joy, fulnefs of it, even what is inconceivable and inexpreffible, fignified by thefe two words, joy and gladnefs. That the bones which thou haft broken may rejoices a backfliding believer is not only like a bone out of joint, Gal. vi. 1. but his falls are fometimes both to the bruifing of him, and to the breaking of his bones; of which when he is fenfible, the quick fenfe of his fin is as the pain of a broken bone; fee Pfal. xxxviii. 3, 6, 8, 9. and here the breaking of them js afcribed to God; not that he is the caufe or occafion of falling into fin, which breaks the bones, Fam. i, 13. but of afflictions, corrections and chaftifements for fin, which are fometimes expreffed by this phrafe, J/ai, xxxvili. 13. Lam. iii. 4, 16. and which David was threatned with, and gave him great uneafinefs; and of the menaces and threatnings of the law, which being let into his confcience,; worked wrath and terror there; and alfo of that true contrition of heart, and brokennefs of fpirit, which the Lord produces, and can only cure, by the difcoveries of pardoning grace; which affects the whole frame of nature, the report of which makes the bones fat, and all of them to fay, Who isa God like unto thee! Prov. xv. 30: Pfal. XXXV. 9, 10,

¥. 9. Hide thy face from my fins, &c.] In whofe fight they were committed; being now afhamed of them himfelf, and afhamed that any fhould fee them; and efpecially his God; and being filthy and naufeous, he knew they muft be abominable to him; who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and being breaches of his law, muft be offenfive to him, and provoke the eyes of his glory; and were fuch that he knew would not bear the examination of juftice; and that if God was ftri@t to mark them, he could not ftand before him: moreover, in this petition the pfalmift deprecates a fevere chaftifement of them, which is fometimes exprefied by fetting fins before him, Pfa/. xc. 8. and intreats the pardon of them, or oblivion and non remembrance of them, that they might be caft behind his back, and into the depths of the fea. And blot out all mine iniquities; as in y. 1. here repeated, to fhew his deep fenfe of them, and his great importunity for the forgivenefs of them; and adds the word all, including all his other fins, with thofe he had lately committed; for he knew, that if any one was left unpardoned, he could never an- {wer for it.

¥. 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, &c.J Which was now defiled with fin, and of which being convinced, he was led more and more to fee the impurity of his heart and nature, from which all his evil actions flowed; and being fenfible that he could not make his heart clean himfelf, and that this was the work of God, and a work which required’ creating power, he intreats it of him: for as the firft work of converfion is no other than a creation, of a production of fomething new, which was not before; fo the reftoring of a backflider, as it goes by the fame name, it requires the fame power; and as the implantation of grace at firft, and — particularly of faith, is a work of almighty power; fo the fame power muft be put forth to bring it into exercife, after falls into fin; that it may afrefh’ deal with the heart-purifying blood of Chrift, which only can make it clean, and is what is here meant. And renew a right f{pirit within me, by which is defigned, not the holy Spirit of God*; for he is the renewer; nor the fpirit or foul of man as to its effence; but with-refpect to the qualities of it: and here it fignifies a renewing of the inward man, or an increafe of grace, and caufing it to abound in act and exercife; and intends a fpirit of uprightnefs and integrity, in oppofition to diffimulation and hypocrify; a {pirit prepared and'ready ' to every good work, Maét. xxvi. 41. one firm™ and unmoved from obedience to the Lord, by fin, temptations and {nares; a heart fixed, trufting in the Lord, and comfortably affured of an intereft in pardoning grace and mercy.

¥. 11. Caf me not away frou thy prefence, &ec.) As abominable; as a veflel in which he had no pleafure; with indignation and wrath; as one that is angry with another, cannot bear himin his fight, but bids him be gonefrom him.. Nothing is more defirable to a child of God, than the prefence of

God; and nothing gives him more fenfible pain than his abfence; and even to be deprived of, or denied the means of enjoying, his prefence, the word and ordinances, makes them very uneafy; to be utterly, and for ever deprived of it, is the cafe of the damned in hell, and is the punifhment of lofs they fuftain; and on the other hand, the happinefs of the faints in heaven is to enjoy it. without interruption. The people of God are never caft away from his. favour, or out of his heart’s love; but they may for a while be without his gracious prefence, or not fee his face, nor have the light of his countenance, nor fenfible communion with him, which! is here deprecated. David might call to mind the cafe of Cain, Gen. iv. 14,16. or rather the more recent, one of Sau/, whom the. Lord rejected, and from whom he departed upon his finning, and which he might fear would be his cafe, 1. Sam xxviii. 15. dnd take not thy holy Spirit from me; or the Spirit of thine holinefs; the third perfon in the Trinity; fo called, not becaufe this epithet of 4oly is peculiar to him; for it is ufed alfo of the Father, and of the Son, Fobn xvii. 12. Pfal. xvi. 10. but becaufe he is equally. holy with them, and is the author of holinefs in his people, which is therefore -called the fanctification of the Spirit, 1 Pet. i. 2, knew, that purity and holinefs of heart and {pirit he had-defired, could not be renewed and increafed in him; and therefore deprecates the taking of him away; which fhews that he was not as yet removed from him, notwithftanding he had fallem into great fins; and his fenfe of fin, and confeffion of it, and his fervent application for pardoning grace, and:

purity of heart, abundantly prove it... Fhe. Spirit of God is a gift of his, which is. without repentance,’ and where he once is as a Spirit of regenera-, tion and fanctification, he ever abides:. his external gifts may be taken away; but internal grace is an incorruptible feed, and always continues. By fin the Spirit of God may be grieved, fo as to withdraw his gracious influences, and his powerful operations. may not.be felt;.and this is what is here deprecated,;, The:Targum interprets this ofthe fpirit of prophecy which David had, by which he compofed pfalms and fongs prophetic of Chrift, and of

Xi 12s, Refkore unto me. the joy of thy falvation, &c.]... Net temporal, but fpiritual and eternal, and defigns either Chrift himfelf, whois God’s falvation, of his appointing and providing, in the view of whom, as fuch, David had much {piritual joy 3 or thé falvation he was to work out, which God the Father had contrived the fcheme of in him, had covenanted with him-to do, and had ap-

_ pointed his people to: falvation itfelf, isa fure thing, and can never fail, being founded upon the purpofe and counfel of God, which fhall ever ftand; and is fecured in the covenant of grace, which can never be removed; and is now compleatly wrought.

out by Chrift, and is applied by his Spirit to the heirs of it, who fhall certainly and fully enjoy, it; otherwife the glory of all the three perfons in it ing a frefh intereft in this falvation; and p ful to his promifes; and fo encour to him, and acknowledge their tran: feek pardoning grace at his hands, dantly pardon, and whole ways a their fee Ifa, lv. 7—9., And finners foall be converte: unto thee; or that finners may be converted unto thee”

would be loft: but the joy of it may be interrupted

_and difcontinued for a while, through falls into fin, _as this cafe of David, and the cafe of eo 5 and therefore a reftoration of it is defired, by fhew-, rticulary by an application of pardoning grace and mercy;, fee P/al, xxxv. 3, 9. and li. 3. And uphold me with thy free Spirit, or let thy free Spirit upbald

_me*; the fame with the holy Spirit of God; called free, becaufe he is a moft free and munificent giver:

he gives his grace, and beftows his gifts feverally, as he pleafes, and liberally, and upbraids not 3 and becaute he is freely given of God; his graces are freely given, as faith, hope, love, &c. and becaule he frees them to whom he is given from the bondage of fin and corruption, and makes them Chrift’s free /men, and delivers them into the liberty of the chil- | dren of God; and fo is a Spirit of adoption, in oppofition toa fpirit of bondage, by which they have

| freedom and boldnefs to call God their Father; and by whom alfo they have liberty of foul at the throne of grace, and can freely make known their requefts,: and fpread their cafes. before God; fee Rom. viii.

_becaufe he makes the faints ready and willing to obey the will of God, and to run with chearfulnefs the way of his commandments; and is moreover a princely Spirit °, or beneficent, as fome choofe to render the words; and which becomes fuch who are iet among princes,. and are made kings and priefts unto God: and with this Spirit the pfalmift defires to be upheld, to be ftrengthned by it, to do the will and work of God, that fo he might not ftumble and fall into fin as he had done; that he might be ftayed, fupported, and comforted with it, as the holy Spirit of promife; that fo he might not faint and fink under his prefent fenfe of fin, and the guilt of it; and that he would be not only a guide unto him in the ways ef God; but that he would hold up his goings in them, that fo he might wall both at liberty and in fafety. The Targum interprets this alfo of the fpirit.of prophecy. y. 13.. Then will [ teach tranfereffors thy ways, &c.] David was a prophet, as well as a king; fee Aéis ii.:30, and taught men the fear of the Lord, ‘Pfal, xxxiv. 11. and inftructed them in his ways, as he here promifes he would; by which are meant, either the ways which God prefcribes and directs men to walk in, as the paths of faith, boleiged truth, and the ways of his commanc ments; or which he himfelf has walked in; meaning not the ways of his providence, which are fometimes paft finding out; but the ways of his grace, the fte: and methods he has taken in the falvation of by, forming the fcheme of it, by choofing by making a covenant with his Son, and ing him to effect it; and particularly his methods in receiving and pardoning ba when returned by repentance to him; and y be meant by éranfgreffors here: and then is, that. David, upon his being received doned, would teach others like himéfelf, | cioufly God had dealt with him; how p is in mercy; how ready to forgive, an

.. Pf li. ¥.14—18: this being the end of teaching by the word, and the means of the cofverfion of profane and unregenerate finhers, through the power of divine grace; though rather this feems to be underftood of the converfion of God’s own people after backflidings, and not of firft converfion; fee Luke xxil. 32. Fam. Vv. 19, 20.

nd to‘be free from the guilt and condemnation of it, is very defirable, Kom. vii. 24, but either from capital punifhment in his family, the effufion of blood, and flaughter in it, threatned him on account of his fin, 2 Sam. xii. 10. fo the Targum is, «« deliver me from the judgment of flaying or kill-

« ing;” or rather, from the guilt of the blood of

Uriah, and other fervants of his he had been, the occafion of fhedding, and was chargeable with, being acceffary thereunto, 2 Sam. xi. 15—-17. and xii. g. which lay heavy upon his confcience, preffed him on every fide, as if he was in prifon, and brought upon him a fpirit of bondage to fear; and therefore he prays to be delivered from it, by the application of pardoning grace, which would be like proclaiming liberty to the captive. O God, thou God of my falvation; who has contrived it for his people, chofen them to it, fecured it for them in covenant, and provided his Son to be the author of it, and fends his Spirit to, apply it. The pfalmift knew, that being God he could pardon his fin, remove his guilt, and free him from obligation to unifhment, which none elfe could; and being the God of his falvation, and his covenant-God, he had reafon to hope and believe he would. And my tongue fhall fing aloud of thy righteoufnefs; goodnefs, grace, and mercy in forgiving fin; for righteoufne/s fometimes defigns clemency,. goodnefs, and mercy; fee P/a/. xxxi. 1. and faithfulnefs in making good the divine promife to forgive fuch who are fenfible of fin, and repent of it, acknowledge it, and afk for mercy; or the righteoufnefs of Chrift, well known to David, Rom. iv.

6. which juftifies from all fin, removes the guilt of it, and fills the foul with joy and gladnefs, Jai. Ixi. 10.

y. 15. O Lord, open thou my lips, &c.]. The Targum adds, in the Law; which were fhut with.a fenfe of fin, with fhame of it, and forrow for it; and though they were in fome meafure opened in prayer to God for the forgivenefs of it, as appears by various petitions in this pfalm; yet he ftill wanted a free fpirit and boldnefs at the throne of grace, which the believer has when his heart is fprinkled from an evil confcience by the blood of Chrift; and efpecially his lips were fhut as to praife and thanksgiving; the guilt of fin had fealed up his lips, that he could not fing the praifes of God as he had formerly done; and only a difcovery of pardoning grace could open’ them, and for this he prays. And my mouth fall foew forth thy praife; the praife of his mercy, grace, goodnefs, truth, and faithfulnefs, in pfalms, hymns, and fpiritual fongs; fee Pfal. cili. 13+";

y. 16. For thou defireft not facrifice, &c.] Legal facrifice; for there was no facrifice appointed under the Law for murder and adultery. E//e would T give it; he would: gladly have offered it up. Thou delightes not in burnt-offering; at leaft fuch kind of facrifices, though they were of divine appointment, and at that time in full force and ufe;

meaning not the corruption of yet they were not the only and principal {acrifices God defired and delighted in; nor were they at all acceptable to him without faith in Chrift, and a humble fenfe of fin; and when offered in the beft manner, yet fpiritual obedience, acts of mercy, and facrifices of praife and thank{giving; were more pleafing to him, 1 Sam. xv. 15, 22. ‘Hof. vi. 6.

Pfal. xix. 30, 31.wherefore the pfalmift propofed to offer praife in the preceding verfe, and adds what

¥. 17. The facrifices of God are a broken /pirit, &c.] That is’ humbled under a fenfe-of fin; has true repentance for it; is fmitten, wounded, and broken with it, by the word of God in the hand of the Spirit, which is a hammer to break the rock in pieces; and that not merely. in a legal, but in an evangelical. way; grieving for fin as committed againft a God of love; broken and melted down under a fenfe of it, in a view of pardoning grace; and mourning for it, whilft beholding a pierced and wounded Saviour: the facrifices of fuch a broken heart and contrite fpirit are the facrifices God defires, approves, accepts of, and delights in, 4 broken and a contrite beart, O God, thou wilt not de-

Spife; but regard, and receive with pleafure; fee

Pfal. cil. 17. the Lord binds up, and heals fuch broken hearts and fpirits, P/a/. cxlvii. 3. Jf. 1xi. 1. he is nigh to fuch perfons, looks upon them, has refpect unto them, and comes and dwells among them, P/a/. xxxiv, 18. J/a, Ixvi. 15 2. and Ivil. 15.

¥. 18. Do good in thy good pleafure unto Zion, &c.] This, and the following verfe, are thought, by a Spanifb Rabbi mentioned by Aben Ezra, ta have been added. by one of the holy men that lived in the time of the Babyloni/h captivity; though rather it is thought, by the latter, to be wrote by David, under a {pirit of prophecy,. concerning times to come; and fo Kimchi thinks they are prophetical of future things; of the deftruction of the firft and fecond temple, and of the acceptablenefs of facrifices in the times of the Meffiah: and by Zion is meant the church, under the gofpel-difpenfation, Heb. xii. 22. Rev. xiv. 1. and. the good prayed for includes all the good and glorious things {poken of the church of Chrift in the latter day 5 fuch as an increafe of its numbers, the bringing in the fulnefs of the Gentiles, the converfion of the

Jews, and the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Chrift; the {pread of the gofpel all over the world, the purity of gofpel-doétrine, worfhip, and ordinances, the {pirituality of religion, the power of godlinefs; and an abounding of brotherly love, “ad the like. The good pleafure of God, iz which t's is defired to be done, may denote either p1¥9 Fly ¢he acceptable time; or time of good pleafure, the gofpel-difpenfation fo called, -J/ai. xlix. 8. 2 Cor. vi. 2. in which it has been foretold, and may be expected thefe things fhall be done; or elfe the caufe, fource, and {pring of them, which is the fovereign good-will and pleafure of God, from whence, flow all the bleffings of grace and goodnefs, Build thou the walls of Ferufalem; not literally taken; for thefe do not appear to have ftood in need of being repaired or rebuilt in David’s time; but the church of God, which is a fpiritual houfe, built up of lively ftones, true believers; which may be faid to be more and more built up by an addition of fuch unto it: it is as a city compact together, whofe walls are falvation, and its gates praife, J a. xxvi, y¥. 19. Then foalt thou be pleafed with the facrifices of righteoufne/i, &c.] Which mutt be different from the legal ones he defired not, and did not delight in, ¥. 16. but defign facrifices under the gofpel-difpenfation, as the word shen fhews, which connetts this verfe with the preceding: and in the firft place intend the facrifice of Chrift, which is of a fweet-fmelling favour to God; and his righteoufnefs, with which he is well pleafed, becaufe the law is magnified and made honourable by it; and next. the faints themfelves, who prefent their bodies to him a holy, living, and acceptable facrifice, they being accepted with him-in Chrift the beloved; as alfo their good works, particularly acts of charity and beneficence, with which facrifices God is well-pleafed; and efpecially the fpiritual facrifices of praife and thankfgiving, which are acceptable to him through Jefus Chrift; as all are that are offered in faith through him, and from

Pf. Itt. y. T love, and with a view to the glory of God; fe Eph. v. 2. Rom. xii. 1. Heb. xiii. 15, 16, With burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offéring; the difference between thefe two, according to Aben Ezra and Kimchi, was, that the mp o/a, or burnt-offering, was the daily facrifice; and the additional ones, which were of beafts and birds, Lev. i. and the 9995 cali/, was the meat-offering of the priefts, which was wholly confumed, Lev. vi. 22, 23. though this alfo is fometimes ufed of beafts, 1 Sam. 7,9. and both may fignify love to God, and to our neighbour; or a man’s devoting himfelf to the Lord in the flames of love, as a whole burnt-offering to him, and which is better than all burntofferings, Mark xii. 33. Then hall they offer bullocks upon thine altar; or calves’ meaning the calves of the lips, Hof: xiv. 2. interpreted the fruit of the lips, even giving thanks to the name of God, Heb. xiii. 16. which facrifices of praife being offered up on the altar Chrift, come with acceptance before God, Hed, xiii. 10, 16, J/a. lvi. 7.

To the chief mufician, Mafchil, 4 p/alm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and faid unto him, David is come to the houfe of Ahimelech..

F the title Ma/chil, fee the note on P/al. xxxii.

The occafion of this pfalm is here related, the hiftory of which is in 1 Sam, xxi, 7. and xxii, 8, 9, 10, 18, 21, 22. The fum of itis this; David having fled from Saul, came to Abimelech the prieft at Nob, and defired bread and a fword of him, which were given him, Doeg the Edomite being prefent at the fame time. Sw/picius Severus * calls him a Syrian, following the Greek verfion of 1 Sam. xxi, and xxii. and fo does Fofepbus *, through a miftake of the letter 4 for", an Aramite inftead of an Edomite; fee the note on 1 Sam. xxi, 7. and xxii, g. this man obferved what was done for David by the prieft; and when. Sau? complained to his captains, that they all confpired againft' him, and no man was forry for him, or fhewed him the intrigue between David and his fon; Daeg ftood up and related what, and morethan what he had heard and feen pafs between David and Abimelech; upon which Saul fent for the prieft, and all his father’s houfe with him, and charged him with treafonable practices; and though he folemnly protefted his innocency, Saul would not believe him, but ordered his. footmen to fall upon him, and upon all the priefts with him; but they refufing, he commanded Doeg to do it, who accordingly did, and flew eighty-five priefts; and deftroyed all in the city of Nob, men, women, children, and fucklings, oxen, afles and fheep; only Abitub, the fon of 4- himelech, efcaped, who fled to David, and reported the whole affair; upon which he penned this pfalm: in which he has refpect not only to the then prefent cafe, but to future times, Doeg being a type of Antichrift, the man of fin; in his name, which fignifies anxious and folicitous", as he was to gain the king’s favour, and obtain wealth and honour; fois Antichrift to grafp all power, civil and ectlefiaftical, and to get worldly honour and riches: inthe country he was of, being an Edomite; and it is éafy to obferve, that Edom is the name which the Jews commonly give to the Roman empire, in which Antichrift has his feat and power: in his religion, being a profelyte of the Jews, and was at an act of devotion, detained before the Lord, when he faw and heard what pafied between David and Abimelech; fo Antichrift appeared with the mafk of réligion, rofe up out of the church, and fat in the temple of God, fhewing himfelf as though he was God: in his office, the chiefeft of the herdmen, or mighteft among the fhepherds of Saul; fo Antichrift calls himfelf princeps paftorum, the chief of pyftors; affuming to himfelf the title which belongs to Chrift, the chief fhepherd and bifhop of fouls: and laftly, in his cruelty in laying the priefts of the Lord, Antichrift is notorious for thedding and drinking the blood of the faints, the faithful confeffors and witneffes of Jefus Chrift. In this pfalm David upbraids him with his glorying imhis wickednefs, and checks it, by obferving that the grace and goodnefs of God to his people ever endures, ¥. 4. charges him with devifing mifchief, and loving it, ¥. 2—~4, and foretels his everlafting ruin and deftruction, y. 5. which will be feen by the righteous with pleafure, who will have juft reafon to infult over him, y¥. 6, 7. and the pfalm is concluded with an account of the happy condition, and comfortable frame of foul the pfalmift was in, in a view of all his troubles and enemies; he was. flourifhing- in the church of God, trufted in the mercy of God for ever,, and determined always to praife him and wait upon him, which is good for the faints to do, ¥. 8, g. a), P ht + ¥. 1. Why boaftet thou thyfelf in mifebief 2 &c.] Or in evil”; in that which is finful; to glory in riches, wifdom and ftrength, which are not in themfelves evil, is wrong; and. to rejoice in fuch - boaftings, all fuch rejoicing is evil; to be a doer of mifchief, or fin, is bad; to make a fport of it, worfe; but to glory in it, and boaft of it when done, is worfer ftill: to be boafters of evil things, is the charaéter of Antichrift and his followers, 2 Tim,

2 Tim. iii. 2. who not only*boaft of their merit, their good works, and works of fupererogation, and ‘of their riches, and honour, and grandeur, faying, I fit as a queen, Rev. xviii. 7. but of their wickednefs in fhedding the blood of the faints, thinking thereby they do God good fervice, and merit heaven, and eternal happinefs; as Doeg boafted of his flaughter of the priefts, and of his gaining the king’s favour by it. O mighty man! referring either to his office, being the chief of Saui’s herdmen, and fet over his fervants, 1 Sam, xxi. 7. and xxii. 9. or ironically, to the mighty deed he had done, in flaying the unarmed priefts, and putting to death the very fucklings at the breaft, and even the innocent fheep, oxen and affes; or to his great wickednefs and power to commit it; though man has no power and free-will to that which is good, yet he has to that which is evil; fo the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the Eajftern verfions, render it, O thou! mighty in wickedne/s; and to the fame purpofe the Targum paraphrafes it, mighty to foed innocent blood, and the note of Aben Ezra is, mighty to do evil. A learned writer * thinks this relates to Sau/, and defcribes him as a man of power and dignity. The character well agrees with the little hornand Roni/h beaft, Dan. vi. 20. Rev. xiii. 2, 4, 7. The goodnefs of God endureth continually; that is, the love, grace, and mercy of God; this is obferved as what is the matter of the faints boafting, in oppofition to the wicked boatt- ing of Deeg; they glory in the love of God, and ¥ in that they know him who exercifeth loving-kindnefs, which is the fource of all the bleffings of grace and goodnefs; andin Chrift, through whom all are communicated to them;"and in him, as made every blefling to them, wifdom, righteoufnefs, fanctification, and redemption: they afcribe the whole of their falvation, and all they have, to the erace of God, and glory in nothing as of themfelves, and. as though not received of the Lord. Moreover, the pfalmift may take notice of this, as what was his fupport under all the perfecutions he endured from men; that he had an intereft in the grace and goodnefs of God, which is immutable and everlafting, invariably the fame in all ftates and conditions and that he was encompafied about with the favour of God as with a fhield; and that it was not in the power of his moft implacable enemies to feparate him from the love of God; and therefore it was egregious folly in Doeg to boaft himfelf in mifchief; for be he as mighty as he might, he could not prevent his fharing in the divine goodnefs, which always continues.

¥. 2. Thy tongue devifeth mifchiefs, &c,] Abundance of mifchiefs, in a variety of ways, againft many perfons, even all good men. What properly belongs to the heart is here afcribed to the tongue; becaufe, as Aben Ezra obferves, it is the interpreter and difcoverer of the thoughts of the heart: out of the abundance of that the tongue fpeaks and declares the mifchief it has devifed. Doeg intended mifchief to David, when he {poke to Saul, 1 Sam. xxii. 9, 10. fo Antichrift devifes mifchiefs againft the faints of the moft High, to wear them out, and thinks to change times and laws, Dan, vii.25. Like a fharp razor, working deceitfully; that is, bis tongue was like a razor; the razor is but a {mall inftrument, and the tongue is but a little member: the razor is a fharp and cutting one, and fo is the tongue; and therefore com- pared toa fharp fword, Pal. lvii. 4. fee Fer. xviii. 18. the razor takes off the beard cleanly and wholly; Doeg’s tongue was the caufe of the utter ruin of Abimelech’s family and the city of Nob; and asa razor may be faid to work deceitfully, when it turns afide in the hand of him that ufeth it, and with the hair takes off more than it fhould, even fkin and flefh, or cuts the man’s throat; fo, in a deceitful and infidious manner did Doeg work the deftruction of Abimelech and the priefts ofthe Lord.

¥.3.Thou loveft evil more than good, 8éc.] Indeed not good at all; fuch comparatives being ftrong negatives; fee P/al. cxviii. 8, 9. a wicked man loves evil, and nothing elfe; his carnal mind being enmity to all that is good. And /ying, rather than to Speak righteoufnefs; as appears by his affirming that Abimelech enquired of the Lord for David, when he did not, 1 Sam. xxii. 10, 15. and by fuffering fome things to pafs for truths which were falfhoodsy when it lay in his power to have difproved them: and fuch a lover of lies is Antichrift; fee 1 Tim. iv. 2. 2Zheff. ii. 11. Selah; of this word, fee the note on P/al, iii. 2.

¥. 4. Thou loveft all devouring words, &c.] Or words of /wallowing up”; fuch as lies, calumnies, and detractions are, which devour the characters and reputations of men, and are the caufe fometimes of their utter ruin and deftruction; of the devouring and blafphemous words of Antichrift fee Rev. xiii. 5, 6. O thou deceitful tongue; as ‘in

Og) yy. 5. God fhall likewife deftroy thee for ever, &c.] AS a juft retaliation for the mifchief done to others; or, ¢herefore Ged fhall destroy *, 8c. even body and foul in hell, with an everlafting deftruction, which will be the cafe of every wicked man, and particularly of the antichriftian party, Rev. /Xiv. 10, 11. the word is ufed of breaking down the houfe in which the leprofy was, Zev. xiv. 45. and denotes: the utter extinction of Doeg’s family, and the irrecoverable ruin of Antichrift, Rev. xviii, 21. He fhall take thee away; as fire fron the hearth, Tfai, XXX. 14. or as burning coals from the altar, a word from the root here ufed fignifies a cenfer: and the meaning is, that as his tongue was a fire, and fet on fire of hell, and he was as a burning coal, he was fit for nothing but to be caft into everlafting burnings. And pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place; tent, or tabernacle*; referring to the tents of fhepherds, he being the chief of Sau/’s fhepherds; or to fome ftately palace he had built for himfelf to dwell in, upon his advancement at court; or rather, to the tabernacle of the Lord, where he had been an hypocritical worfhipper; but now fhould be cut off from the church of God, as a rotten member, and caft out of the tabernacle of Facob, Mal. it. 12. whilft David flourifhed as an Olive tree ‘in the houfe of the Lord, y¥. 8. And root thee out of the land of the living. Selab. in retaliation for his rooting out Abimelech’s family, and the inhabitants of Nob; fo in like manner he and his fhould be deftroyed root and branch, and not fee the goodnefs of the Lord in the land of the living, nor enjoy eternal life in the world to come. The Targum renders the word Se/ah here for ever, as in y. 3.

y. 6. The righteous alfo fhall fee, &c.] The Targum adds, the punifhment of the wicked; particularly what is before predicted of Doeg. The judgments of God upon the ungodly, as they are certain, certain, fo they will be vifible, either in this world,’

And fear, the Targum adds, from before the Lord; they are planted there by the Lord himfelf, and not with a flavith fear, with a dread of the fame -fhall never be rooted up; they are fixed there, and punifhment, from which they are free, through the righteoufnefs of Chrift imputed to them, by which they are denominated righteous ones; tho’ the judgments of God on others ftrike them with folemn awe and reverence, P/fal. cxix. 120. but with a filial, godly fear; with a fear of God for his goodnefs to them, in delivering them out of the hands of wicked men, which engages them more and more to fear the Lord, and to ferve and worfhip him; fee Rev. xv. 4. And fhall laugh at him; at Doeg; and fo at any other wicked man, when they fee the vengeance of God upon him, Pfal. \viii. 10. not that they rejoice at that barely confidered in itfelf, or as it is an evil and mifchief to wicked men; for that does not become them, Prov. xxiv. 17, 18. but as it i$ expreffive of the care of God over them, and love to them, in avenging their enemies; and more efpecially as the glory of divine juftice is difplayed therein; fee Rev. XVili. 20. and xix. 1, 2, forall this will be eminently fulfilled in the deftruction of Antichrift.

y. 7. Lo, this is the man that made not God bis.

Strength, &c.] The Targum renders it, that made not the Word of the Lord bis ftrength. 'Thefe are the words the righteous would fay, when they fhould fee the deftruétion of Doeg: See the man, the mighty man, and his end; what all his ill-gotten honour and riches are come to; and what his wickednefs, deceit and cruelty, have brought upon him. The righteous make the Lord their ftrength, put their truft in him, in whom is everlafting ftrength; do all they do in his ftrength; fly to him as their Stronghold, as the word» may be rendered; thither they run and are fafe: but the rich man’s wealth is his ftrong city, Prov. xviii. 10, 11. there he thinks himfelf fafe, and places his confidence in it, as follows: But trujted in the abundance of bis riches; fee the note on Pfal. xlix. 6. fo the antichriftian whore is reprefented as boafting of her riches and honour, and trufting in them, that they would always continue, Rev. xviii. 7. like the fool in Luke xii. 19, 20. And ftrengthned himfelf in bis wickednefs; encouraged and hardened himfelf in fin, gave up himfelf to it; and, by an obftinate continuance in it, ftrengthned the vicious habits contracted 5 ftretched out his hand againft God, and ftrengthned himfelf againft the Almighty; went on ina daring manner, promifing himfelf impunity; and as if his wickednefs was his ftrength, his fafeguard and protection: or iz bis mammon, his wealth and fubftance, as the Targum interprets it; and foR. Saadiah Gaon ©, and with which the Syriac verfion agrees; and then the fenfe is the fame with the other claufe. But alas! what are all fuch forces of ftrength, when wrath comes forth from the Lord of hofts? ‘fob xxxvi. 18, 19. Prov. xi. 4.

+y. 8. But IJ am like a green olive-tree in the houfe of God, &c.] Or rather, it fhould be fupplied, 7 feall be* fince David was at this time an exile from the houfe of God: and this exprefies his faith and confidence, that, notwithftanding his prefent troubles, he fhould be reftored again, and be in a very flourifhing condition, in the church of God; which is here meant by ¢he houfe of God: it being