her ministers, the sons of the true Aaron, do this, who are the peculiar portion of their God, employed continually in his service, and designed to build up others in faith and hope; and let all who have been instructed by their ministry, in the fear of the Lord, trust always in him, nor suffer any apprehension of danger or distress to separate them from him.

12. The Lord hath been, or, is, mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron. 13. He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. 14. The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15. Ye are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

The heart of the Psalmist is full of "blessing," and on his tongue is the word of kindness and comfort. The "blessings" formerly confined to Israel, have since been extended to the whole race of mankind. Jehovah, ever "mindful" of his creatures, hath visited the world by his Son and by his Spirit; he hath formed a church from among the Gentiles, appointed a priesthood and ministry in it, and given his benediction to both; he hath "blessed," with the blessings of grace, "them that fear him," of all nations, and of every degree; he hath "increased" and multiplied his people exceedingly; and the faithful members of the Christian church are now "the blessed of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth," and who is, consequently, possessed of all power in both.

16. The heaven, even the heavens, or, the heavens of heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men. 17. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence. 18. But we will bless the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the Lord.

He who himself dwelleth in the highest heavens, where he is praised and glorified by angels, hath "given the earth" for an habitation, at present, "to the sons of men," whose duty it is to praise and glorify him here below, as the angels do above. Now as "the dead cannot praise him," as they who sleep in the silent grave cannot celebrate him, we may be certain, that he will not suffer his people to be destroyed and extirpated, but will always preserve a church to "bless him" in all ages, till the end of the world; when the dead shall be raised, and the choirs of heaven and earth shall be united, to praise and glorify him together before his throne for

ARGUMENT.-It is not certain by whom, or upon what occasion, this Psalm was composed. It plainly appears, however, to be a song of thanksgiving for deliverance from trouble, either tempora!, or spiritual, or both. To render it of general use, let it be considered as an evangelical hymn, in the mouth of a penitent, expressing his gratitude for salvation from sin and death. 1, 2. He declareth his love of God,

who hath vouchsafed to hear his prayer; 3-9. describeth his distress, his deliverance out of it, and subsequent peace and comfort; 10, 11. he acknowledgeth himself to have been tempted to despond, but was supported by faith, in the day of trouble; 12-19. he determineth to receive the cup of salvation, to praise and to serve Jehovah, who thus delivereth the souls of his people.

1. I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2. Because he hath inclined his ears unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

In the original it is, "I love,* because Jehovah hath heard," &c. The soul, transported with gratitude and love, seems at first to express her affection without declaring its object, as thinking that all the world must know who is the person intended. Thus Mary Magdalen, in her conversation, at the sepulchre, with one whom she supposed to have been the gardener, though no previous mention had been made of Jesus, saith, "Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." John, xx. 15. And ought not the love of God to be excited in all our hearts by the consideration that, when we were not able to raise ourselves up to him, he mercifully and tenderly "inclined" and bowed down "his ear" to us; he "heard our supplications,” and descended from heaven to help and deliver us? With hope, therefore, and confidence should we "call upon him," in all our troubles, แ as long as we live."

3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow. 4. Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

These "sorrows," or "bands of death," once "compassed" the human race: these "pains of hell" were ready to seize on every son of Adam. The awakened and terrified conscience of a sinner hath felt the oppression of the former, and experienced some foretaste of the latter. In this situation he is described by St. Paul as crying out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Let him take the course which the Psalmist took; let him "call upon the name of the Lord," even the Lord Jesus, who put himself in the sinner's place, and suffered for him unspeakable 66 sorrows and pains;" let him do this, and he shall be saved; and shall sing the praises of his Almighty Saviour, in the words of this beautiful Psalm.

5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous: yea, our God is merciful. 6. The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

In the salvation of a sinner we contemplate God's "grace," by which the work is effected; his "righteousness," which causeth him. to perform what he hath promised through Christ; his "mercy," which induced him to send his Son, and to make the promise. This mercy is the mercy of a parent, and such as a parent showeth to those young and "simple" ones, who have been overreached and

* Some critics prefer our old version,-"I am well pleased."

deceived by a crafty adversary; to those who fall, and are unable of themselves to rise again: "I was brought low, and he helped me."

7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

That peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost, which the penitent experienceth, as the effect and fruit of pardon, afford him some idea of the rest and felicity of heaven; and, accordingly, he speaks as one translated to those happy mansions where there is no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, because there is no more sin. A Christian, delivered out of the miseries of this troublesome world, and at rest in Abraham's bosom, would express himself, as one should think, in these very terms. Remission of sins ought to be followed by newness of life, and the resolution of him whose "soul" hath been "delivered from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling," should always be this, "I will walk before the Lord," as one under his inspection, "in the land of the living," or amongst the redeemed in the church; until the time come for me to depart hence, and to be numbered with the saints in glory everlasting.

10. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted; 11. I said in my haste, all men are liars.

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In affliction and distresses, those of the spirit and conscience more especially, the soul is tempted to despond, and can only be supported by faith exerting itself in prayer: "I believed, and therefore have I spoken," or, "therefore spake I," that is, as above, verse 4. "I called upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." And this I did, though so "greatly afflicted," that I had "said in my haste," in my hurry and trepidation occasioned by fear and amazement, "all men are liars ;" there is no credit to be given to their promises of deliverance; I am lost and undone for ever. Yet my faith failed not entirely, and, lo, my prayer hath been heard and answered. St. Paul, relating the troubles which came upon him, and the manner in which he sustained them, thus cited a part of the tenth verse: "We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken: we also believe, and therefore speak; knowing that he, which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you." 2 Cor. iv. 13, 14.

12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.

The grateful penitent now asketh, what return he shall make to his kind Benefactor, for the most valuable of all blessings conferred upon him. And he presently resolveth to make the only return in his power, namely, to acknowledge and declare before men the goodness of Jehovah, ascribing all the glory where it is all due. This he determineth to do, by "taking the cup of salvation,” which,

as Dr. Hammond observes, among the Jews was two-fold; one offered in a more solemn manner in the temple; Numb. xxviii. 7; the other more private in families, called the cup of thanksgiving, or commemoration of any deliverance, begun by the master of the family, and attended, on festival days, with a suitable hymn; such as was that sung by our Lord and his disciples on the night when he advanced that cup into the sacrament of his blood, which hath ever since been to Christians "the cup of salvation," and which all penitents should now receive in the church, with invocation, thanksgiving, and payment of the "vows" made in time of trouble.

15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. The notion of the original word,, in this place, for "rare," or, "precious," must be so taken as not to signify that which is spoken of to be desirable to, or in the presence of, the Lord; for it is the life, not the death, of his servants which is precious, in that sense, to God, the preserver of their lives. But when it is said that their "death is precious," it means in effect no more than that it is so considered, it is rated at so high a price by God, as that he will not easily grant it to any one who most desires it of him. Thus far Dr. Hammond. We may add, that much less will God be easily prevailed on to give up his people to death eternal. Rather will he work wonders of mercy and loving kindness to save them; as the penitent happily experienceth in himself.

16. O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds. 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. 18. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. 19. In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.

Every penitent is the "servant" of God, "the son of his handmaid," the church, "loosed from his bonds," and redeemed from a state of slavery under sin, the world, and the devil, that he may serve a better Master, whose "yoke is easy and his burden light." This blessed Master is from thenceforth the object of his love, duty, and adoration to him he "offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving," to him he "payeth his vows," among his fellow-servants in the church on earth; longing for that day to come when, loosed also from the bonds of death and the grave, he shall be admitted to sing hallelujahs with saints and angels, in the "courts" of the eternal temple, even "in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem," the holy, heavenly, and glorious city of God Most High.

PSALM CXVII.

ARGUMENT.-This Psalm, like the hundred and tenth, seems to be altogether prophetical of the joy that all the world should couceive, at the coming of the Messiah, to give salvation, first to the Jews, and then to all other nations, according to his faithful promise.-Patrick.

1. O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2. For

his merciful kindness is great towards us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.

It is remarkable that of so short a Psalm one verse is quoted in the New Testament by St. Paul; the second verse is explained, though not quoted. Two questions naturally arise upon reading the Psalm; first, who are the "nations and people" exhorted to praise Jehovah? secondly, what is that "merciful kindness," and that "truth," for which they are exhorted to praise him? The apostle hath given a satisfactory and decisive answer to both these questions, Rom. xv. 8, 9, &c. "Now, I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people." From the apostle's reasoning, the verse of our Psalm, which he hath cited, appears to be a proof that "the Gentiles," or the heathen world, should one day "glorify God;" they are, therefore, the "people" whom the Psalmist, in the spirit of prophecy, exhorted to "praise Jehovah." It appears also, why the Gentiles were to glorify God; namely, for his "mercy," and "truth," shown in confirming or accomplishing the "promises," concerning their vocation and conversion, "made unto the fathers ;"* to Abraham, and his seed for ever; to all believers, whether of the circumcision or the uncircumcision. Such, then, is the "merciful kindness" of Jehovah, which is said, in the Psalm, to be "great," mighty, and powerful, "toward us;" such his "truth," which is affirmed to "endure for ever;" as the promises were made good to the Gentiles, when the Jews, because of unbelief, had been cast off. Let the hallelujahs of the redeemed be suitable to that "mercy," and coeternal with that "truth."

PSALM CXVIII.

ARGUMENT.-In this Psalm, a king of Israel appears leading his people in solemn procession to the temple, there to offer up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for the marvellous deliverance from his enemies, and a glorious victory gained over them. After inviting the whole nation, 1-4. to join with him upon this joyful occasion, he describeth at large, 5—18. his danger, and his deliverance from it, which latter is wholly attributed to the power and goodness of Jehovah. After this, as Mr. Mudge has rightly observed, there ensues a kind of sacred dialogue. Being come to the temple, the victorious monarch speaks the 19th verse; they open the gate, the 20th; he again, as he enters, the 21st; they with him seem to speak the next four verses, to the 25th; the priests of the temple the 26th: the first part to the king, the other to the people; the people the 27th; he the 28th; the 29th is the chorus verse, concluding as it began. The repeated application made of the 22d verse in the New Testament, and the appointment of the Psalm, by the church, to be used on Easter-day, lead us to consider the whole as a triumphant hymn, sung by King

"Confirmata-et veritas Domini"-Promiserat enim Abrahamo Deus futurum, ut per Christum, benedictum illud Abrahami semen, benedicerentur omnes Gentes, Gen. xii. 3; xv. 18. interprete Apostolo, Gal. iii. 16. Quod cum præstitum videamus, jam intelligimus verè advenisse Christum, ac promissa Dei firma esse omnia.-Bossuet.