mercy, as well as with devout thanksgivings for former deliverances; and he exhorts the righteous, from his own example, patiently to wait for the Lord. Part of the sixth verse was uttered by our Saviour, when on the cross. Luke xxiii. 46.

2 Chron. 16. 7, 12. 1 Pet. 5. 7.

Job 7. 21.

Ps. 23. 3.

John 6. 56.

Neh. 9. 19.
John 16. 13.

1 Cor. 1. 25. 2 Cor. 12.9.

Luke 23. 46.
Acts 7. 59.

Ps. 139. 21, 22.' 1 Cor. 10. 20.

Jer. 33. 10, 11.
John 10. 27, 28.

1 Sam. 17. 46. Ps. 18. 19.

IN

N thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me never be put to confusion [ashamed]; deliver me in thy righteousness;

2 Bow down thine ear to me; make haste to deliver me;

3 And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence, that thou mayst save me.

4 For thou art my strong rock, and my castle; [therefore] be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy name's sake.

5 Draw me out of the net, that they have laid privily for me, for thou art my strength.

6 Into thy hands I commend [commit] my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.

7 I have hated them that hold of [regard] superstitious vanities, and my trust hath been in the Lord.

8 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy; for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities.

9 Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy, but hast set my feet in a large room.

1 In thy righteousness. As thou art just, faithful, and merciful. 3 And be thou, &c. And let thy protection be to me instead of a defensive and impregnable tower, situated on the top of a high mountain. Psalm xviii. 1.

4 For thou art, &c. Because (see on Psalm xvi. 9.) hitherto thou hast always been my safeguard, now also "glorify" thyself, by so guiding my steps, that I may escape the present danger.

5 That they have laid. Which has been laid. Of this impersonal or indefinite kind of construction, no nominative being expressed or intimated, there are many instances in scripture. 2 Kings xix. 35. Isai. xxxviii. 16. Joel ii. 17.

6 Thou hast redeemed me, &c. Thou, who art faithful in performing thy promises, hast often before rescued me from peril. Psalm xix. 15. 7 That hold of, &c. Who run after false gods, vainly expecting to receive aid from them. Jon. ii. 8.

8 And hast known, &c. When I was in distress and danger, thou didst not neglect me (see on Psalm vii. 2), as if I were unknown to thee, but, by thy timely succour, thou acknowledgedst me for thy servant. Matt. vii. 23.

9 Thou hast not, &c. Thou hast not allowed me to be reduced into such straits, that I could not avoid becoming an easy prey to my ene

10 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am | Esth. 4. 1, &c. in trouble, and mine eye is consumed for very Matt. 26. 37, 38. heaviness [with grief], yea, my soul and my

body;

11 For my life is waxen old with heaviness, and my years with mourning.

12 My strength faileth me, because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

13 I became a reproof among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours; and they of mine acquaintance were afraid of me; and they, that did see me without, conveyed themselves from me.

14 I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of mind: I am become like a broken vessel. 15 For I have heard the blasphemy [slander] of the multitude; and fear is on every side, while they conspire together against me, and take their counsel to take away my life.

16 But my hope hath been in thee, O Lord; I have said, Thou art my God.

17 My time is in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

mies; on the contrary, by thy means I have obtained deliverance out of all my difficulties, and have been enabled to "walk at liberty." Psalm cxviii. 5. See on Psalm iv. 1.

12 Because of mine iniquity. Personal sufferings are very often considered by the sacred writers as the effect of personal sin (Psalm cvii. 17. 1 Cor. xi. 30); consequently, when the suffering has been removed, the sin is said to be forgiven. Psalm ciii. 3. Matt ix. 1, &c.

-My bones, &c. The marrow, which nourishes them, is dried up, so that they are completely without moisture. Psalm cii. 3. By this figure is intimated the extreme debility of the author's bodily powers. Psalm xxii. 15.

13 I became, &c. No sooner didst thou see cause to afflict me, than I became, &c.- -Were afraid of me. The last member of the sentence will explain this one. Influenced as if by fear at my wretched appearance, whenever they saw me in the streets or highways, they all forsook me and fled. Mark xiv. 50.

14 Out of mind. Who is no longer remembered by any person.Like a broken vessel. Which is utterly neglected, and even thrown away, as no longer of any value or use.

15 The blasphemy. See on Psalm Lxxiii. 8.

16 I have said, &c. The persuasion of my soul, notwithstanding my affliction, has ever been, that thou, &c. Ver. 24. Psalm LXXXix. 2. 17 My time, &c. David well knew, that the duration of his troubles, equally with the continuance of his life, was under the control of God; and that his enemies, how deadly soever their hatred, and how de

Num. 6. 25, 26.

Neh. 6. 16.

Joel 2. 26, 27.

1 Sam. 2. 3. Jude 15.

Isai. 64. 4.

1 Pet. 1. 3, 4.

Job 5. 19, &c.
Col. 1. 12, &c.

Ps. 17.7.

2 Cor. 2. 14. Lam. 3. 54.

2 Chron. 33.11,&c.

Heb. 5. 7.

Mark 13. 33.
Acts 12. 23.

Rom. 15. 13.

18 Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance, and save me for thy mercy's sake.

19 Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee: let the ungodly be put to confusion, and be put to silence in the grave. 20 Let the lying lips be put to silence, which cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully, speak against the righteous.

21 O how plentiful is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them, that fear thee; and that thou hast prepared for them, that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men!

22 Thou shalt hide them privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men: thou shalt keep them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues.

23 Thanks be to the Lord, for he hath shewed me marvellous great kindness in a strong city. 24 And, when I made [in my] haste, I said, I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes.

25 Nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my prayer, when I cried unto thee.

26 O love the Lord, all ye his saints; for the Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.

27 Be strong, and he shall establish your heart, all ye that put your trust in the Lord.

structive soever their calumny, could neither increase the one, nor shorten the other, without the divine permission. Matt. x. 29Persecute. See on Psalm xxxviii. 17.

18 The light, &c. See on Psalm iv. 7. 19 Confounded. See on Psalm xxii. 5.

21 Before the sons of men. Publicly in the sight of all men; so that the whole world must acknowledge, that "there is a reward for the righteous." Psalm Lviii. 10.

22 Thou shalt hide them, &c. God is, perhaps, said to hide by his presence, those who fear him, from the insults of the wicked, because he may be considered as peculiarly present in that place, whither they flee for refuge.From the strife,&c. From the attacks of contentious and slanderous men. See on Psalm xxvii. 5.

23 In a strong city. His merciful protection of me has been as conspicuous, as if he had placed around me, for a defence, the walls of a fortified city. But David may allude to his deliverance, when Saul had resolved to besiege him in Keilah. 1 Sam. xxiii. 10, &c.

24 And, when, &c. Yet, when I was overwhelmed by the greatness of my sorrows, nor knew which way to turn for help, I inconsiderately imagined within myself, that thine eyes had ceased to take any notice of my distress. Psalm cxvi. 10.

Evening Prayer.

PSALM XXXII.

IT has been conjectured, that David wrote this Psalm after he had obtained pardon from God for his adultery with Bathsheba, and for his murder of Uriah. He declares the supreme happiness of that man, whose sin has been forgiven: he shews, by his own example, that confession and prayer are the appointed means of procuring this happiness: then, in conclusion, he solemnly warns all transgressors to beware of obstinacy and perverseness.

BLESSED is he, whose unrighteousness is Rom. 4. 6, 7.

forgiven, and whose sin is covered.

2

Cor. 5. 19.

2 Blessed is the man, unto whom the Lord Rom. 4.8. imputeth no sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 For, while I held my tongue, my bones consumed away through my daily complaining. 4 For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night; and my moisture is like the drought in

summer.

5 I will acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine unrighteousness have I not hid.

6 I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord, and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.

2

Prov. 28. 13.
Heb. 4. 16.
Job 33. 5, 7.

Josh. 7. 19.

1 John 1. 8, &c.

Sam. 12. 13. Isai. 65. 24.

1 Whose sin is covered. Whose sin has been hidden from view by God, so that, being no longer seen, it should not again enter into his remembrance, nor provoke his displeasure. Psalm LXXXV. 2.

2 In whose spirit, &c. Whose repentance is sincere, and springs from an unfeigned resolution utterly to forsake his wickedness.

3 For, while I held, &c. For, as long as I remained unpardoned by neglecting to confess my sin, my bones, &c.

4 Thy hand is heavy. The Hebrew writers, but especially the poets, do not observe the utmost accuracy in their employment of the tenses of verbs. "Thy hand was heavy," in accordance with the Bible version, agrees best with the preceding verse. Several instances of a similar discrepancy occur in the Psalms. xxxiii. 6,7: LXXviii. 9.

-The drought, &c. Incessant rain during the winter, but none' at all during the summer, constitutes the most common state of the weather in the hot countries of the East. The image, therefore, employed by the Psalmist is taken from the withered and ordinary appearance of the earth in a usual Eastern summer.

5 I will acknowledge, &c. "I said" may be understood from ver. 6. I determined to make confession of my sin, wherefore I did not wickedly strive any longer to palliate or to excuse "mine unrighteousness"even to myself. But see on Psalm cxvi. 10. Bib. ver.-I acknowledged.

Luke 19. 42, &c. 2 Cor. 6. 2.

Ex. 15. 1, &c.
Judg. 5. 3, &c.

Prov. 8. 10, 11.
Matt. 11. 29.

Job 35. 11.
Jam. 3. 3.

Jer. 17. 7.
Rom. 2. 5, 11.

Rom. 5. 11.
Phil. 4. 4.

7 For this shall every one, that is godly, make his prayer unto thee, in a time when thou mayst be found; but, in the great water-floods, they shall not come nigh him.

8 Thou art a place to hide me in: thou shalt preserve me from trouble: thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.

9 I will inform [instruct] thee, and teach thee in the way, wherein thou shalt go; and I will guide thee with mine eye.

10 Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding, whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, lest they fall upon thee.

11 Great plagues [Many sorrows] remain for the ungodly; but, whoso putteth his trust in the Lord, mercy embraceth him on every side.

12 Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; and be joyful, all ye that are true of heart.

PSALM XXXIII.

THIS is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which the righteous are exhorted to praise God for his goodness, for his creative power, and for his providential care of all men, especially of those, who devoutly trust in him. The author of it may have been David. The occasion of its composition, however, cannot be accurately ascertained, though it has been assigned, like the former, to the pardon of his sin " in the matter of Uriah."

1 Cor. 1. 30, 31. Col. 2. 6, 7

EJOICE in the Lord, O ye righteous, for it becometh well the just to be thankful.

7 For this. Because I obtained mercy.- -But, in the great, &c. We must not designedly wait until an inundation of misery and ruin breaks in furiously upon us, since then there will be no power to any one of approaching God, or of propitiating his favour. Isai. XLIX. 8: v. 6. Him. See on Psalm xxii. 25.

8 Thou art a place, &c. See on Psalm xxvii. 5.

9 I will inform thee, &c. These are sometimes thought to be the words of God himself. But they may be looked upon as David's own address to all, who are "in search of godly wisdom," whom he engages to teach (see on Psalm xxxviii. 17), and to guide into the right path, at the same time promising diligently to watch over them, to see that they do not wander from it. Psalm Li. 13.

11 Plagues. See on Psalm xxxviii. 17.

12 Be glad, &c. The Psalm ends with the same sentiment that is expressed at its commencement. "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins," sing and rejoice, in the conviction that God will not refuse to pardon your iniquities, and to restore you to his favor.