Chapter II: Part 2

This Psalm refers to the second precept in the Decalogue, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM VIII.

_God’s glory is magnified by his works, and by his love to man._

To the chief Musician upon Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent _is_ thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What _is_ man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all _things_ under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, _and whatsoever_ passeth through the paths of the seas.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

This is a prophecy concerning Christ,—concerning his passion, his resurrection, and his dominion over all creatures; and it is thus that the apostle cites it, Ephes. i. with reference to the kingdom of Christ: where he foretels, that the power and might of his kingdom will be invincible against all enemies, how violent soever they may be in their determination to wreak their vengeance:—that is, that he will be victoriously mighty against all the wise and the powerful of the world, and against all hypocrites and pharisaical saints:—that he will be invincible and victorious, I say, not by arms, nor by mighty forces of horse and foot, but by the word of his gospel; which shall be preached by “babes and sucklings,” (that is, by humble men, men who are weak and contemptible in the sight of the world,) and believed in by his church of poor, afflicted, crying, and complaining creatures:—that this word of the gospel, I repeat, preached and believed in by such poor creatures, shall nevertheless confound all the wisdom of the world, and break and crush under it all the strength of the world, and that no creature power whatever shall impede it in its work and course, but that it shall stand firmer than the heaven, or the sun, or the moon, and shall endure for evermore!

This Psalm pertains to the First Commandment, where God declares that he will be our God: and also to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as I have before observed under Psalm II.

PSALM IX.

_David praiseth God for executing of judgment.—He inciteth others to praise him.—He prayeth that he may have cause to praise him._

To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David.

I will praise _thee_, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.

When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

O thou enemy! destructions are come to a perpetual end; and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment;

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble _which I suffer_ of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

The heathen are sunk down in the pit _that_ they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

The LORD is known _by_ the judgment _which_ he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

The wicked shall be turned into hell, _and_ all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall _not_ perish for ever.

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail; let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

Put them in fear, O LORD; _that_ the nations may know themselves _to be but_ men. Selah.

This Psalm is a prophecy: its title is “concerning the beautiful youth:” that is, concerning the children that are born anew in Christ, the people of God and the church of God. For the people and sons of God, and his new-born children by faith in Christ, must be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ.

Christians and the true sons of God are variously afflicted in the world; and the blood of the innocents is daily shed by the fury and cruelty of Satan, raging against the word and the works of God. These are the flourishing and undefiled youth, the sons and children of God, of whom the title of the Psalm speaks; who are blameless, without rebuke, and babes in the midst of wolves, and among a perverse generation.

This Psalm has its striking descriptions of persons: and the prophecy which it contains is written in the manner of a thanksgiving: and therefore it may be numbered among the consolatory Psalms. For, (as is generally the case with these spiritual canticles and songs,) the Prophet here speaks in his own person, and in that of all the saints also who are afflicted for the word of God’s sake: all of whom give thanks with wonderful sensations of heart, that God does not forsake his own. But God requires, at times, the tears and the blood of the saints: though he preserves and saves his Church, and renders her invincible against sword or fire, and against all the power of enemies temporal or spiritual, nay, in the midst of blood and death; and he raises her up, as it were, from the blood, slaughter, and ashes of the saints, and makes her flourish again and increase the more, in a wonderful manner, in this and that part of the world: so that many, even of the most bitter enemies, have been converted to the faith, and even a Saul has been made a Paul; and sometimes also the judgments of God have fallen on the wicked, and they have perished before the eyes of the godly.

This Psalm has reference to the First Commandment of the Decalogue, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer, as we have observed concerning the preceding Psalm.

PSALM X.

_David complaineth to God of the outrage of the wicked.—He prayeth for remedy.—He professeth his confidence._

Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? _Why_ hidest thou _thyself_ in times of trouble?

The wicked in _his_ pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, _whom_ the Lord abhorreth.

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek _after God_: God _is_ not in all his thoughts.

His ways are always grievous; thy judgments _are_ far above out of his sight: _as for_ all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for _I shall_ never _be_ in adversity.

His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud: under his tongue _is_ mischief and vanity.

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily laid against the poor.

He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

He croucheth, _and_ humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see _it_.

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require _it_.

Thou hast seen _it_; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite _it_ with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil _man_: seek out his wickedness _till_ thou find none.

The LORD _is_ King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

This Psalm is a fervent prayer, and contains complaints of the deepest concern against Antichrist, that most atrocious enemy of God and the gospel, who will ever assail and lay waste the church, not by force and tyranny only, but with all the πανᴕργίᾳ of Satan, all his frauds and impostures, and with an infinite variety of outside deception and hypocrisy.

This “Man of Sin” is descriptively pourtrayed in the present Psalm;—that he really rages against the body with the sword, ruins and destroys souls by his all-crafty and infinite hypocrisy, and with his sweet poison of false doctrines, and imposing forms of worship; but that he has no concern whatever about teaching any one kindly and with gentleness, nor instructing them seriously unto godliness or true comfort, but has his mouth ever full of cursing and deceit.

This we have manifested in the kingdom of the Pope, and in the tyranny of the Romish-church. All those fulminating and thundering excommunications are mere execrations and _cursing_, by which he has wished to make himself, and has succeeded in making himself, formidable even to kings, under the false pretence of the apostolic name, and divine authority. And his ‘_craft_’ and lies are all that infinite and inexplicable variety of hypocrisy and traditions of men; together with all that outward whitewash of holiness, and those deceptive forms of worship, by means of which, and his delusions of masses at one time, and of indulgences at another, this Antichrist ceases not to turn to wicked lucre all things human and divine, under the blasphemous cover and pretext of the name of God.

In the end of the Psalm we have a consolation; which declares that such an abomination shall, in the end of the world, be revealed, and, having been made openly manifest by the sudden judgment of God, shall be rooted out.

This Psalm has reference to the Second Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer; as have all the Psalms of supplication.

PSALM XI.

_David encourageth himself in God against his enemies.—The providence and justice of God._

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, flee _as_ a bird to your mountain?

For, lo, the wicked bend _their_ bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The LORD _is_ in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne _is_ in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: _this shall be_ the portion of their cup.

For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

This Psalm is a complaint against erroneous and fanatical spirits: of which kind are all those who in the present day draw men astray from the pure and true doctrine of faith, and from the true worship of God, (which stands in true faith and the fear of God in the heart,) to hypocrisy, which has always an outward show of something great and wonderful:—these, I say, are the erroneous and fanatics, who thus draw away men like so many birds, and make them fly over to their mountains: that is, make them turn easily over to hypocrisy, and white-wash holiness, which, in outward show, appears to be something great and wonderful, and a firm rock, whereas it is all a thing of nought.

David ascribes to these characters that which is the peculiar characteristic of hypocrites,—that they arrogantly, proudly, and with high looks, despise and deride the truly godly. What, say they, can that righteous one, that fine fellow of a Christian, that poor miserable creature, do?

In the end we have a consolation that God will certainly hear, and regard the afflicted; that he will be present with them, and show them by manifest tokens of his hand that he will not forsake them, and that he will, by horrible judgment, take vengeance on scoffers of this kind; on these pharisees and other enemies of David.

This Psalm has reference to the Second precept of the Decalogue, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XII.

_David, destitute of human comfort, craveth help of God.—He comforteth himself with God’s judgments on the wicked, and confidence in God’s tried promises._

To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, a Psalm of David.

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: _with_ flattering lips _and_ with a double heart do they speak.

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, _and_ the tongue that speaketh proud things;

Who have said, with our tongue will we prevail; our lips _are_ our own: who _is_ lord over us?

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set _him_ in safety _from him that_ puffeth at him.

The words of the LORD _are_ pure words: _as_ silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

This is a prayer containing a heavy complaint against them, who, introduce human doctrines instead of the word of God, and who, afterwards, by various new traditions and forms of worship disturb the church, and fill all things with a white-wash show of religion, and with the outward daubing of pharisaism and hypocrisy, so that wicked men and hypocrites reign on every side, as the last verse complains. For when human doctrines have once invaded the church, they go on to rage far and wide, and spread in all directions like a cancer; there is no end to their corruption and destructive influence; they take possession of all things and wonderfully vex and torment consciences: so that the number of the true saints and of those that truly fear God is few and small indeed: of this the infinite variety of papistical hypocrisy affords a manifest example.

But we are consoled and comforted under all these afflictions by the consideration that God always raises up in his church, sometimes in this place and sometimes in that, his salvation; that is, his word and gospel; which, while the prophets, apostles, and other ministers throughout the world, boldly and plainly teach against all heresy, they detect and bring to light false doctrines, and overturn all false worship; for where the salvation of God is, (that is, the saving word of Christ and his gospel) it burns up and consumes, like a suddenly-kindled fire, all the chaff and straw of human traditions, and delivers oppressed consciences.

This, however, never takes place without afflictions, and the cross in various forms. But as gold and silver are proved by the fire, so the true knowledge and purity of the word is not preserved in the church but by means of the truly spiritual and godly, who for the word’s sake are exercised without and within by Satan, with various temptations: for these, like gold, are proved in the fire, and thus grow daily and flourish in the knowledge of the gospel, and the great things of God.

This Psalm refers to the second and third precept of the Decalogue, and to the first and second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XIII.

_David complaineth of delay in help.—He prayeth for preventing grace.—He boasteth of divine mercy._

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, _having_ sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Consider _and_ hear me, O LORD my God; lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the _sleep_ of death;

Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; _and_ those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

This is a prayer full of the sighings and groanings of an afflicted heart in the hour of darkness, and almost overwhelmed, under that darkness, with the extreme of grief and sorrow, and driven to the greatest strait of mind. Of which sorrow the spirit of sadness himself, the devil, is the author, who casts the unwary into these temptations and perturbations in a moment, when he finds them unarmed with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; which unarmed state he himself causes by turning away our eyes from the promises and the word of God, to look at the incredible ingratitude and iniquity of the world, at the perplexed variety of offences, and at the greatness of the perils which must be undergone for the sake of God’s word and of his holy name. For it cannot be but that even a man of a sound mind must be thrown into tribulation when he considers with what infernal arts, with what stratagems of deceit, and with what bitter and Cainish hatred, Satan and wicked men oppose themselves to the word of God; and then, what fallings away and what monstrous instances of ingratitude there are among those who pretend to be with us; all which offences Satan raises up through the instrumentality of those who are unwilling to appear not to be followers of godliness.

But the prayer of the church has great power; it breaks through and victoriously overcomes all hatred, all perils, and all snares, how craftily soever they may be laid; and faith is more powerful than any violence or storm of temptation. “This (saith John) is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” And this Psalm gives us an example of that faith which enables us to stand fast in the midst of death, and not to doubt that God is able, and will deliver us from our terrible straits, and comfort us after all our fears; and which teaches to believe that we shall struggle through all our distress victoriously, though it may appear to be endless, if we do but turn ourselves away from all dark and dismal appearances of things, lay hold of that which is true and real, and lift ourselves up against the weight that lays upon us, by resting in the consolation of the word of the Lord: as James saith, “Is any afflicted, let him pray.”

This Psalm also refers to the second precept, and to the first and last petition of the Lord’s Prayer; where we pray “Hallowed be thy name,” and “Deliver us from evil.”

PSALM XIV.

_David describeth the corruption of a natural man.—He convinceth the wicked by the light of their conscience.—He glorieth in the salvation of God._

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

The fool hath said in his heart, _There_ is no God. They are corrupt; they have done abominable works; _there is_ none that doeth good.

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, _and_ seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are _all_ together become filthy: _there is_ none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people _as_ they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.

There were they in great fear: for God _is_ in the generation of the righteous.

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.

Oh that the salvation of Israel _were come_ out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, _and_ Israel shall be glad.

This Psalm is a prophecy; and it also teaches us, that all human doctrines and works without faith are an abomination in the sight of God; and that the God of all such hypocrites (of which kind are the pope and his papists) is their belly; for they serve their belly, not God or Christ, and devour widow’s houses.

But such hypocrites, although they have always in their mouth the name of God, and boast of the law and the works of the law, know not what the true worship of God is, but always hate and persecute the name and word of God, but the true doctrine, concerning faith and the fear of God, they will not hear.

Against such characters as these we must fight by prayer; which prayer will certainly be heard, as is intimated in the last verse of this Psalm, which promises the kingdom and dominion of Christ. For this Psalm especially strikes at those seemingly holy pharisees, those teachers of the law, who, before the coming of Christ, by enforcing works and the righteousness of the law, were cruel torturers, and tormented men’s consciences. And this Psalm promises that wished-for day of Christ, and the redemption that should be wrought by his coming. For the gospel was revealed from Zion, and the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles at Jerusalem.

This Psalm has reference to the First and Second Commandment: for it gloriously exalts the word of God and promises the day of salvation, that is, of Christ: but it rebukes hypocrites who despise the true worship of God, and his faith and fear, and who serve not God but their own belly. And it refers also to the first and second petition of the Lord’s Prayer: where we pray, “Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come.”

PSALM XV.

_David describeth a citizen of Zion._

A Psalm of David.

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

_He that_ backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. _He that_ sweareth to _his own_ hurt, and changeth not.

_He that_ putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these _things_ shall never be moved.

This Psalm strikes at the hypocrites who say that holiness stands in the pretended works of the law of God, or in the vain and foolish works of human invention and tradition; and it teaches us how to understand the law of God rightly, and to live godly and righteously. It shows us that we are to walk in the spirit and to mortify the desires of the flesh. For the sum of all godliness is this;—to love and worship God with a pure heart by faith, and then, to direct our lives for the good of our neighbour; and to avoid all those things which militate against these two; that is, to shun all hypocrisy and pretended holiness, which militates against both faith and love: for such an one is ignorant of the true worship of God, and neglects all truly good works, which should be done for the benefit of his neighbour.

It has reference to the Third Commandment of the Decalogue, concerning keeping holy the sabbath day, which is done when we hear and learn the word. And it refers also to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XVI.

_David, in distrust of merits, and hatred of idolatry, fleeth to God for preservation.—He sheweth the hope of his calling, of the resurrection, and life everlasting._

Michtam of David.

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

_O my soul_, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou _art_ my Lord: my goodness _extendeth_ not to thee;

_But_ to the saints that _are_ in the earth, and _to_ the excellent, in whom _is_ all my delight.

Their sorrows shall be multiplied _that_ hasten _after_ another _god_; their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

The LORD _is_ the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant _places_; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night-seasons.

I have set the LORD always before me: because _he is_ at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence _is_ fulness of joy; at thy right hand _there are_ pleasures for evermore.

This is a prophecy concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; and the apostles quote it, Acts ii. and xiii. as having a striking reference to Christ.

This is a glorious Psalm and a precious jewel among all the Psalms on this account,—because it shows forth in clear words that all that splendid and magnificent worship of the law of Moses, its sacrifices, its sabbath worship, its circumcision, in all which the Jews so unceasingly boasted, is done away with by the gospel; for in the fourth verse, David plainly says, that those who follow works and the righteousness of the law, follow strange gods and idols: and he shows that the Jews, although a sacred people, should be rejected, and another people chosen, even a people who should believe in Christ, who were the true elect, inheritance, and peculiar people of God.

This Psalm also has reference to the First, Second, and Third Commandments; for it foretels a new glory of God, a new work and word, and that new kind of worship which was to be revealed to the world: and it refers also to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XVII.

_David, in confidence of his integrity, craveth defence of God against his enemies.—He sheweth their pride, craft, and eagerness.—He prayeth against them in confidence of his hope._

A Prayer of David.

Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, _that goeth_ not out of feigned lips.

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited _me_ in the night; thou hast tried me, _and_ shalt find nothing; I am purposed _that_ my mouth shall not transgress.

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept _me from_ the paths of the destroyer.

Hold up my goings in thy paths, _that_ my footsteps slip not.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, _and hear_ my speech.

Shew thy marvellous loving-kindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust _in thee_, from those that rise up _against them_.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.

From the wicked that oppress me, _from_ my deadly enemies, _who_ compass me about.

They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

Like as a lion _that_ is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down; deliver my soul from the wicked, _which is_ thy sword:

From men _which are_ thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, _which have_ their portion in _this_ life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid _treasure_ they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness.

This Psalm is a prayer against false teachers, and those very delicate saints, that is, hypocrites, who by their human doctrines, call men off from the word of God, and hate and persecute the truly godly teachers. These are the characters whom Paul also calls “enemies of the cross of Christ:” for they are not willing to suffer anything for God’s sake, but shun the cross; but make a pretext of the name and worship of God, and under all the artifices of their hypocrisy, seek nothing else than earthly advantages, honors, wealth, the favour of men, and the pleasures and gratifications of the world. Hence David calls them, in the last verse but one, ‘men of this world,’ and ‘men of this life.’ Of this kind also are all those animals of the belly in monasteries, those cumberers of the earth, the monks, and lazy priests.

This Psalm also has reference to the Second and Third Commandments, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray “Hallowed be thy name.”

PSALM XVIII.

_David praiseth God for his manifold and marvellous blessings._

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD _is_ my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, _and_ my high tower.

I will call upon the LORD, _who is worthy_ to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, _even_ into his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness _was_ under his feet.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him _were_ dark waters _and_ thick clouds of the skies.

At the brightness _that was_ before him his thick clouds passed, hail _stones_ and coals of fire.

The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail _stones_ and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them.

Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his judgments _were_ before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

_As for_ God, his way _is_ perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he _is_ a buckler to all those that trust in him.

For who _is_ God save the LORD? or who _is_ a rock save our God?

_It is_ God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

He maketh my feet like hinds’ _feet_ and setteth me upon my high places.

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

They cried, but _there was_ none to save _them_: _even_ unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; _and_ thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people _whom_ I have not known shall serve me.

As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

The LORD liveth; and blessed _be_ my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

_It is_ God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people unto me.

He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in which David gives thanks to God (as the title of the Psalm shows) because of his deliverance from all his enemies. And this Psalm I should divide into four parts, for David had combatted with four kinds of enemies—King Saul, the neighbouring nations, his son Absalom, and his seditious subjects.

At the beginning of the Psalm, in the first six verses, David describes the greatness of his perils, his distresses and his straits in the midst of so many and great afflictions, out of which the Lord delivered him, “The sorrows of hell (saith he) compassed me about, &c.”

Then in the seventh verse, after the manner of the prophets, he alludes in his song of praise to the deliverance out of Egypt, and to those mighty works at Mount Sinai and in the Red Sea; intimating, that as God then powerfully delivered his people from the midst of death, so, he also more than once had been delivered by the powerful arm and the high hand of God, again, as it were from the hand of Pharaoh, and from the midst of surrounding death.

And then again, when he says verses 16, and 17, “He delivered me from my strong enemies and from them that were mightier than I,” he alludes to King Saul, who had persecuted him with hostile hatred and bitterness for the word of God’s sake, because he was chosen from on high to be King and to be his successor.

At verse 28, he celebrates the goodness of God who stands by the humble and those who are despised by the world and defends them against the proud and the mighty: as he did in giving David the victory over Goliah, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and other nations.

At verse 34, he intimates something respecting his third and domestic adversary his son Absalom, who, on that account, was by far the more dreadful and atrocious enemy.

Then at verse 42, he gives thanks to God who so wonderfully stood by him against the crafty counsels and snares of the seditious, of which kind was Siba and, in the time of Absalom almost the whole of Israel. For this most excellent and most godly king had many national and domestic enemies, and seditious citizens; so much so, that, as he himself here says, many gentile nations were far more kind and obedient to him than his own people.

Therefore any afflicted one, especially if in magisterial office, may use this Psalm in giving thanks to God for his deliverance out of various perils and distresses which fall upon those who govern the state, or who are set over the Church.

And if any one wishes to understand the Psalm allegorically, David signifies here Christ; Saul signifies the Jews; the nations that persecuted David, the tyrants of the world who set themselves against the Gospel; Absalom, heretics who proceed out from us but are not of us; the seditious subjects, outside-show-Christians who sound forth Christ with their mouth, but in their heart are far from him: from all which this afflicted David, that is, Christ and those who are Christians, are at length delivered.

This Psalm belongs to the second precept of the Decalogue, and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XIX.

_The creatures show God’s glory.—The word his grace.—David prayeth for grace._

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

_There is_ no speech nor language _where_ their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun;

Which _is_ as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, _and_ rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth _is_ from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD _is_ perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD _is_ sure, making wise the simple:

The statutes of the LORD _are_ right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD _is_ pure, enlightening the eyes:

The fear of the LORD _is_ clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD _are_ true _and_ righteous altogether.

More to be desired _are they_ than gold; yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.

Moreover, by them is thy servant warned: _and_ in keeping of them _there is_ great reward.

Who can understand _his_ errors! cleanse thou me from secret _faults_.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous _sins_: let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

This is a prophecy concerning the preaching of the Gospel to every creature under the whole heaven wherever the wide earth extends. “Day unto day, (saith David) uttereth the word;” that is, ‘from day to day;’ or, day and night shall the Gospel be propagated by the voice of the apostles and the ministers of the word, farther and farther; and that, not only in Judea but every where in all the earth, and in all languages throughout the world.—And says David, as by the life-giving light of the Sun, all things in nature are illuminated, recreated, and cherished: so this new light, this voice of the Gospel shall illumine the world, and, by communicating the Spirit, shall revive and purify the hearts of men, and shall lift up and comfort distressed consciences.

Here also David intimates, that the old law which was the ministration of death was to be done away with; and that the Gospel was to succeed, which should be the ministration of life and of the Spirit; and which should be a word sweet and lovely, illumining the eyes and purifying the heart.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment; for it shews us what is the true Sabbath, namely, the day or time, in which the Gospel should be preached throughout the whole world and received by those who should believe it.

PSALM XX.

_The Church blesseth the King in his exploits.—Her confidence in God’s succour._

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee.

Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.

Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah.

Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up _our_ banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed: he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Some _trust_ in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright.

Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

This is a prayer for kings, rulers, magistrates, and all who sustain that most heavy burthen of governing the state:—that God, in such momentous concerns, to which all human diligence and wisdom are unequal (as even heathen rulers have confessed from their own experience), would stand by magistrates when exposed to the hatred of all, to their secret councils and plans of deceit; and would keep all subjects in their duty, and give his blessing in the preservation of a good and happy constitution, and public peace; especially when Satan with horrible hatred against God and the works of God, is endeavouring to destroy the constitutions of kingdoms, and to confound all things with slaughter and blood-shed.

Those great and eminently spiritual men who produced this and the like Psalms, plainly saw that such great and important matters could not be managed and governed by any human wisdom or human counsels; and therefore they wished to pen forms of prayer of this kind for the safety of magistrates and transmit them to posterity. For such prayers as these were especially necessary for the people of God at that time, when David and other godly rulers after him, were continually exercised with new enemies and new afflictions, and those the most severely distressing.—Therefore all Kings and Rulers are fools who do not seek for, and expect, the happy government and the success of their affairs from heaven.

This Psalm belongs to the second commandment, as do all the other supplicatory Psalms; for it contains a calling upon the name of the Lord. And it belongs also to the third petition of the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray that the will of God, not of the devil, may be done.

PSALM XXI.

_A thanksgiving for victory.—Confidence of further success._

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord: and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

He asked life of thee, _and_ thou gavest _it_ him, _even_ length of days for ever and ever.

His glory _is_ great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

For the king trusteth in the LORD; and, through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, _which_ they are not able _to perform_:

Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, _when_ thou shalt make ready _thine arrows_ upon thy strings against the face of them.

Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: _so_ will we sing and praise thy power.

This is a prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ;—that his kingdom shall be temporal and eternal. The beginning of the Psalm gloriously predicts that it shall come to pass that this king and this people shall rejoice in this kingdom, and that the glory of it shall be great. But you must understand that all this will be, not before the world or according to the flesh, but in God. For Christ entered into glory through the flesh and by the cross.

This Psalm foretels also that this kingdom, that is, the Church of Christ, although afflicted before the world, shall be enriched with spiritual blessings and glorified; and that this word of grace and the remission of sins, this joyful and all-sweet Gospel shall be diffused abroad among all nations, and that the godly and those that believe, shall rejoice and be glad, and exult in it with a full and perfect joy, which no creature shall be able to destroy or to take away.

On the other hand, David shews that the Jews who opposed this counsel of God, and the whole of their kingdom should be destroyed by the awful judgment of God, “Thou shalt make them (says he) to turn their back;” that is, because that people opposed themselves to the Gospel, and crucified Christ, thou shalt afflict them with heavy calamities; and, having rejected the people destroyed their kingdom, and having done away with, and abrogated the whole of their law and worship for which they so furiously fight, thou shalt reduce them to a miserable slavery, so that they shall be oppressed under a foreign yoke and laws, and shall thus suffer the punishment due to their sins.

This Psalm belongs to the first commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer: for it foretells of a people that should not be under the law of Moses, but in a kingdom of rejoicing and thanksgiving, and it speaks of a new manner of worship.

PSALM XXII.

_David complaineth in great discouragement.—He prayeth in great distress.—He praiseth God._

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? _why art thou so_ far from helping me, _and from_ the words of my roaring?

O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent.

But thou _art_ holy, O _thou_ that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I _am_ a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, _saying_,

He trusted on the LORD _that_ he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

But thou _art_ he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope _when I was_ upon my mother’s breasts.

I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou _art_ my God from my mother’s belly.

Be not far from me, for trouble _is_ near; for _there_ is none to help.

Many bulls have compassed me: strong _bulls_ of Bashan have beset me round.

They gaped upon me _with_ their mouths, _as_ a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

But be not thou far from me, O LORD; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Ye that fear the LORD, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

My praise _shall be_ of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the LORD; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom _is_ the LORD’S; and he _is_ the governor among the nations.

All _they that be_ fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul.

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the LORD for a generation.

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done _this_.