17 [Some manifeft roken of thy Favour toward me.]

16 O turn thee then unto me, and have mercy upon me: give thy ftrength unto thy fervant, and help the son of thine handmaid.

17 Shew [fome token upon me for good,] that they who hate me may fee it and be afhamed because thou, Lord, haft holpen me, and comforted me.

This Pfalm was compofed by an uncertain Hand, in commendation of the City of Zion, or Jerufalem. He begins with an elegant abruptness.

Fundamenta ejus. Pfal. LXXXVII.

Her foundations,] that is, the Foundations of Zion. See the Notes in Vindication, &c. For there he has chofe to be worship'd, and to be prefent in an efpe

cial manner.

3[I will not forget Rahab in Egypt, nor the Great Babylon, in my Converfation among my Friends and Acquaintance.] 4,5,6. HE in thefe

three Verfes fignifies

fome very extraordi

nary Perfon: So the

4 [Behold ye the Philiftines alfo: and they of Tyre, with the Morians, lo there was HE born.]

Pythagoreans called their Mafter HE.

4 Confider and admire, as much as you please, the Philiftines, the Tyrians, the Ethiopians. (See Pfalm LXVIII. 31.) do not only admire them in general, but allow that there is not one of thefe People, but that fome one eminent Perfon has been born amongst them.

5 [And as to Zion,

it shall not only be reported by us Mortals, that fuch a very extraordinary Perfon

was

5 [And of Sion it fhall be reported, that HE was born in her; and the most high fhall ftablish her.]

born

born in her; but God himself shall do her the Honour, to confirm and ratify what is faid of her. ].

6 The peculiar care which God took of the

6 [The Lord fhall rehearse it when he writeth up the peo- People of Ifrael, is freple: that HE was born there.]quently denoted in Scripture by a Book or Register which he was fupposed to keep of them, and all that befel them. See Pfal. Ixix. 29. This is called in Ezekiel xiii. 9. the Writing or Roll of the House of Ifrael. Now the difference which the Pfalmift makes between a famous Man of any other Nation, and a famous Man of the People of Ifrael, is this, that the Heathen fhall be only well fpoken of by Men; but the Jew by God himfelf; and therefore this is the full meaning of the 6th Verle, viz.

[The Lord himself fhall take notice in drawing up the Lift of the People of Ifrael, that this Great Man was born amongst them.]

7 [The fingers alfo and trumpeters fhall he rehearfe: all my fresh springs fhall be in thee.]

7 [Nay, he shall not only distinguish thole great Worthies who had their Birth in Zion,

but he fhill defcend even to us, who humbly chant forth his Praifes with our Voices and Wind-Mufic. All my beft Strains will I referve for thee, O Zion, I shall never speak of thee without a Holy Rapture.]

A Song or Pfalm of Heman the Ezrahite, that is, on? of the Pofterity of Zerah, mentioned 1 Chron. ii. 6. of a Family famous for Wifdem, 1 Kings iv. 31. Bishop Patrick obferves, who fuppofes him alfo to have been one of thofe that are faid to have been carried away Captive, 2 Kings xxiv. 14. and miferably treated, if not thrown into a Dungeon, as fome Expreffions in this Pfalm would incline one to believe. See ver. 5, 8. Domine Deus. Pfal. LXXXVIII.

Lord God of my falvation, I have cried day and night before thee: O let my prayer enter into thy prefence, incline thine ear unto my calling.

my

*

2 Hell, that is, the ftate of the Dead.

2 For foul is full of trouble: and my life draweth nigh See Vocabulary. N 3

unto *hell.

3 I

3 † For fome time.

4 [Like one of them that are already entred Freemen amongst the Inhabitants of the otner World; like,thofe who are dead of their Wounds, and buried all in one common Grave, who are no more regarded, and can no longer receive the Bleffings of thy gracious hand.]

[My Acquaintance are afraid to own or come near me: They rather fhun me as plague, and as one forfaken by thee.]

a

9 [I am almoft-blind with Weeping and Mifery.] fery.]!

ro Wilt thou by a -Miracle reftore me,after Iam dead, again to this Mortal Life? Doft thou ufe to give Men frequent occafion to praise

I am counted as one of 3 them that go down into the pit and I have been even t, as a man that hath no ftrength.

4 [Free among the dead, like unto them that are wounded, and lie in the grave: who are out of remembrance, and are cut away from thy hand.]

5 Thou haft laid me in the loweft pit: in a place of darknefs and in the deep.

6. Thine indignation lieth hard upon me: and thou hast vexed me with all thy ftorms. 7 [Thou haft put away mine acquaintance far from me: and made me to be abhorred of them] 8 I am fo faft in prifon: that I cannot get forth.

a

9 [My fight faileth for very trouble]: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have ftretched forth my hands unto thee.

10 [Doft thou fhew wonders among the dead: or fhall the dead rife up again, and praife thee?]

II Shall thy loving-kindness thee for fuch extraor-be fhewed in the grave; or thy

dinary Works?]

faithfulness in deftruction?

12 Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark: and thy righteoufnefs in the land where all things are forgotten?

13 Unto thee have I cried, O Lord and early fhall my prayer come before thee.

14 Lord

15 I am in mifery, and like unto him that is at the point to die even from my youth up, thy terrors have I fuffered with a troubled mind.

16 Thy wrathful displeasure goeth over met: and [the fear of thee hath undone me.]

17 [They came round about me daily like water: and compaffed me together on every fide.]

me as Water to one that 18 [My lovers and friends haft thou put away from me: and hid mine acquaintance out of my fight.]

diftance from me: The Affliction which makes them afraid to come near me.]

Evening Prayer.

A Pfalm of Ethan the Ezrahite, who (fays Bifhop Patrick) was near of Kin to Heman that wrote the former, and lived in the fame time with him, viz. about the time of the Babylonifh Captivity. In this he forely laments the publick Calamity; efpecially the fall of the Government, and Succeffion in the Line of David: And 'tis to be obferved that what is faid of the perpetuity of David's Kingdom, cannot rationally be underftoed of any but Chrift, who was of the Seed of

David.

Mifericordias Domini. Pfal. LXXXIX. Y fong fhall be alway of the loving-kindnefs of the Lord; with my mouth will

M

I ever

N 4

1,2. [Faithfulness in I ever be fhewing thy [truth] fulfilling of Promises.] from one generation to another. 2 [For I have faid, Mercy fhall be fet up for ever: thy truth fhalt thou ftablish in the heavens.]

2 [For I have always faid, and been perfwaded, that thy Mercy is like a durable Building, whofe Foun

dations cannot eafily be fubverted; and that thou wilt keep thy Faithfulness firm and unshaken, like the Ordinances of the Sun, Moon, and Stars in the Heaven.] See ver. 35, 36:

3 I have made a covenant with my chofen I have fworn unto David my fervant,

4 Thy feed will I stablish for ever and fet up thy throne. from one generation to another.

5 O Lord, the very heavens fhall praife thy wondrous works: and thy truth in the congregation of the faintst..

6 For who is he among the clouds: that fhall be compared unto the Lord?

And what is he among the [gods]: that fhall be like unto

the Lord?

8 God is very greatly to be feared in the counfel of the faints and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him.

9 O Lord God of hofts, who is like unto thee: thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every fide.

10 Thou ruleft the raging of the fea thou ftilleft the waves thereof when they arife. II Thou haft fubdued Egypt

and