Chapter III: Part 3

This Psalm is a kind of gem among the Psalms that contain prophecies concerning Christ and his kingdom, and it is peculiarly excellent and remarkable. For here, if anywhere, it may be said that David does not seem to be delivering a prophecy of the future, but a history of the past; a history of circumstances that took place within his own sight and knowledge; for his expressions concerning Christ are not at all more obscure than those of Peter or Paul, or any other of the Apostles: and he speaks of Christ being nailed to the tree, and of the piercing of his hands and his feet, as if the whole had taken place before his own natural sight.

This Psalm contains those deep, sublime, and heavy sufferings of Christ, when agonizing in the midst of the terrors and pangs of divine wrath and death, which surpass all human thought and comprehension. And I know not whether any Psalm throughout the whole Book contains matter more weighty, or from which the hearts of the godly can so truly perceive those sighs and groans, inexpressible by man, which their Lord and head Jesus Christ uttered when conflicting for us in the midst of death, and in the midst of the pains and terrors of hell. Wherefore this Psalm ought to be most highly prized by all who have any acquaintance with these temptations of faith, and these spiritual conflicts.

Let Epicureans despise these things: examples of this kind will be more precious to the truly godly and spiritual, whether they be found in Christ himself, or (as St. Peter saith,) in our brethren that are in the world, than all the treasures and riches of which the world can boast.

David as I said, describes most clearly and expressively the sufferings of Christ, so much so, that you seem to see the circumstances to take place before your eyes. And as he so clearly pourtrays the forerunning sufferings of Christ, so does he with equal plainness set forth the glories which followed them; for in the end of the Psalm he shows that Christ should be delivered from the mouth of the lion and of the dog, and from the midst of death and sufferings, and should, through his resurrection wrought by divine power, be glorified; that his Gospel should be preached, not only among that people and in that kingdom, such narrow limits, but throughout all the nations and kingdoms of the world; that the fat ones of the earth, that is the rich and powerful of this world, and the poor also, should be converted unto Christ; that his Church should be eternal, and his posterity infinite; and that as King he should be adored throughout the whole world, that his name should be praised and celebrated throughout all ages, and his kingdom endure for ever, and remain invincible against all the kingdoms of the world, and against all creatures.

The Psalm belongs to the first commandment of the Decalogue, for it foretels a new worship of God; and it has reference to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXIII.

_David’s confidence in God’s grace._

A Psalm of David.

The LORD _is_ my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou _art_ with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

This Psalm is a remarkable offering of thanks to God for the gift and reception of the word: and it contains the description of a godly heart acknowledging how incomparable and unspeakable a blessing and gift of God the knowledge of his word is. It also gloriously declares and extols the greatness of the goodness and mercy of God in leading us in the right way, and in lifting us up and consoling us under every temptation, while hypocrites are left to walk in their own crooked ways.

Under a beautiful similitude he compares himself to a sheep, in seeking, (if perchance it has strayed) saving, defending and feeding which, the faithful shepherd spares no labour nor anxiety. And as, under a good and watchful shepherd, the sheep have fattening pastures, and wholesome brooks and fountains; so do the godly find all these same pastures for their hearts in the word which God has provided for them.

David alludes in this Psalm to the table and shew bread, and to the balsam and the oil of gladness. For God will feed and comfort the Ministers of the word, and the hearers, and will gladden them with his cup though they are made sorrowful by the world.

He calls the word of God a shepherd’s staff, refreshing waters, green pastures, that by all such similitudes he may show that true salvation, settled peace, and sure and eternal consolation are established in men’s consciences by the word of God only.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXIV.

_God’s lordship in the world.—The citizens of his spiritual kingdom.—An exhortation to receive him._

A Psalm of David.

The earth _is_ the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This _is_ the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who _is_ this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift _them_ up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.

Who _is_ this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he _is_ the King of glory. Selah.

This Psalm is a prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ to be spread and extended throughout the whole world by the Gospel.

By a striking apostrophe David turns himself to the kings, princes, and wise ones of the earth, and the men of power and authority, whom he calls after the genius of the Hebrew language, the ‘gates of the world.’ Remember, (saith he to such,) that the earth is the Lord’s, he is Lord of all. It was he that gave you your kingdoms. He has set up his Christ as King over all, whom if ye adore and acknowledge not, ye shall perish together with your kingdoms, and shall be dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

He exhorts such to acknowledge themselves sinners: for these powerful ones, these pharisees and these wise ones of the world, being blinded with a conceited opinion of human wisdom and righteousness, are above all others enfuriated against the Gospel: for when the kingdom of grace and of the remission of sins is preached; when this Christ is declared and proclaimed by the Gospel to be the only King of eternal peace, the only victorious King over sin, death, and the devil; then these tyrants and powerful ones of the world immediately burst out with their cry of pride “Who is this King of Glory? Who?” As if they should say, what! Shall those poor abject fishermen, those dross of the earth teach us? Shall they, instead of the law of Moses, and instead of the religion which we received from our forefathers, force upon us this new worship of God, and this King of theirs who was hanged upon the cross? Shall they persuade us to believe such dreams as these?

This Psalm, therefore, at the same time intimates that this kingdom of Christ should not be corporeal or earthly, nor of such a kind as should destroy political governments: but a kingdom in which the preachers of it should bring into subjection unto Christ the world and the kingdoms of the world by the word and the Gospel.

To this kingdom (says David) kings and rulers shall oppose themselves and shall crucify the King and Lord of Glory, and shall persecute the Apostles and Ministers of the word: but he nevertheless shall break through all kingdoms, and in defiance of every opposer shall enter into the world and reign by the Gospel in the midst of his enemies: he shall give to his Apostles a mouth and wisdom which none of their adversaries shall be able to gainsay or resist: and while the mightiest kingdoms of the earth, as Daniel saith, shall be moved and destroyed, this eternal king shall endure for ever and be truly manifested to be the Lord of victory and of glory.

It has reference to the First Commandment of the Decalogue, and to the first, second, and third petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXV.

_David’s confidence in prayer.—He prayeth for remission of sins, and for help in affliction._

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou _art_ the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies, and thy loving-kindnesses; for they _have been_ ever of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.

Good and upright _is_ the LORD; therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.

All the paths of the LORD _are_ mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it _is_ great.

What man _is_ he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way _that_ he shall choose;

His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The secret of the LORD _is_ with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

Mine eyes _are_ ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I _am_ desolate and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Look upon mine affliction, and my pain: and forgive all my sins.

Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

This is a prayer in which the prophet prays, with wonderful fervency of heart, to be strengthened in the faith and in the love of the Word, although he should have on this account great and bitter enemies in the world: that is, that he may not be broken down in mind by the afflictions, nor by the greatness and multiplicity of his own encompassing infirmities when he saw that Epicurean hypocrites despised the true religion and the true word with so much confidence and secure presumption, as if they were things in which it was a disgrace for men of a sound mind and a liberal education to be in the least engaged.

Ah Lord (saith David) preserve and glorify thy name and thy word. Let us (saith he) who are thus derided, spit upon, and, for thy sake, well nigh overwhelmed in the midst of so many afflictions and so many offences, not be confounded, but let us expect thy consolations. Let those haughty hypocrites and despisers be confounded both before God and men, who, on account of their carnal wisdom and powers, and riches, and other things of this world which they admire and value, so despise thy word and thy worship, that they deem it a disgrace to have such things in their thoughts. Our eyes (saith he) are unto thee O Lord? Do thou, if there be any infirmity in us, pardon it. Keep us in the knowledge of thy holy word and of that mystery of thine which is hidden from the world, and stand by us in our great straits and perils.

This Psalm belongs to the Second Commandment, and to the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXVI.

_David resorteth unto God in confidence of his integrity._

A Psalm of David.

Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; _therefore_ I shall not slide.

Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

For thy loving-kindness _is_ before mine eyes; and I have walked in thy truth.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I have hated the congregation of evil-doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash mine hands in innocency; so will I compass thine altar, O LORD?

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men;

In whose hands _is_ mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

This is a prayer unto God, containing a complaint against hypocrites who want to be justified by the works of the law, and who always persecute the true doctrine of faith and condemn its supporters for heretics. David calls these characters dissemblers, heretics, bloody men, wicked persons. For although they boast of great sanctity, yet their hearts are full of hatred and bitterness against God, and craft and iniquity against their neighbour: as Christ says of all such pharisees when he rebukes them by Luke, “Ye are they who justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts.” For such worship God with their lips, but their heart is far from him: they worship him not in truth, but do all for gain.

In a word they serve not God but Mammon and their own belly: as Paul saith to the Philippians. And this Psalm saith, “And their right hand is full of bribes.” Yet their hypocrisy has a wonderful outside appearance. And indeed the false church who has power and dominion on her side, has always a more wonderful and showy appearance than the true, which lies hidden under the various forms of the cross.

Therefore we have need to pray in no slothful manner that God would preserve us in his true Church, and would not suffer us to be mingled and carried away with these characters, lest we have our portion with such hypocrites, whose end, though they may for a time make a show before the world, shall be destruction, and whose glory shall be turned into confusion: as we have seen it exemplified in the Pope and his kingdom.

This Psalm belongs to the Third Commandment, and to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: for it speaks of the true worship and kingdom of God.

PSALM XXVII.

_David sustaineth his faith by the power of God, by his love to the service of God, by prayer._

A Psalm of David.

The LORD _is_ my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD _is_ the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this _will_ I be confident.

One _thing_ have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me: he shall set me upon a rock.

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in this tabernacle sacrifices of joy: I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

Hear, O LORD, _when_ I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

_When thou saidst_, seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not thy face _far_ from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help: leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

_I had fainted_, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

This Psalm is a thanksgiving, containing also a prayer and consolation against false teachers.

David having been taught and exercised by such great afflictions, by so many perils and sorrows, and by such fiery conflicts, for the word’s sake, and having been supported therein against the devil, and the world, now finds a greater truth and reliance on God, and is more encouraged and fortified against all his enemies.

The Lord (saith he) is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? That is, the Lord hath so often and so wonderfully comforted me under, and so powerfully delivered me from, various darknesses and storms of temptations, that he will not leave nor forsake me in time to come. If God, then, be for me, who can be against me? If God uphold me, what power or violence of the enemy can cast me down, or who can destroy me?

I will not fear thousands of enemies (says he) though they should raise up war against me. All that I am anxious about is this one thing;—that I may remain and dwell in the house of the Lord; that is, in the true church, and among those where the word of God is purely and sincerely taught and learned. If I can hold fast this jewel I am rich. For if I hold fast the word of God, no terrors, how great soever they may be, nor even death itself, can destroy my light and my life; that is, my sure and eternal consolation. But if I love not the word, no human consolations, how great soever they may be, will be able to afford me that light and life.

David directs the whole of this Psalm against hypocrites and false teachers, who are so soon carried away from the word, and who teach human things and seduce men’s consciences. Here he calls these characters false witnesses; that is, such as nothing can shame, and who know not how to blush. The audacity of these inexperienced characters is prodigious, who, without any calling, and without the word, boastingly make use of the name of God and seduce men, and do infinite damage both to the state and to the church. For we generally find it to be the case, that the more inexperienced such characters are, and the more devoid of spiritual things, the more easily they rush forth to teach: and such as these are those fanatical spirits who afterwards raise up divisions and sects against the truly godly.

This Psalm belongs to the First and Second Commandments, and to the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXVIII.

_David prayeth earnestly against his enemies.—He blesseth God.—He prayeth for the people._

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, _if_ thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief _is_ in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours; give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Blessed _be_ the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

The LORD _is_ my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

The LORD _is_ their strength, and he _is_ the saving strength of his anointed.

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

This is a prayer of David, which in his time he used against Saul, and others like him; but especially against all those Cainish hypocrites who in word pretended to desire peace, but burned with secret hatred in their hearts. Such a viper as this was Absalom, his son, against him; and such an one also was Joab against Amasa and Abner, 2 Kings iii. David, therefore, fearing lest the same things should be laid to his charge, prays, “Draw me not away with the wicked, nor with the workers of iniquity.”

We may use the Psalm against tyrants and fanatical spirits; for in this way are tyrants and persecutors of the word wont to pretend peace in word, and yet secretly plan counsels of slaughter and murder all the while. And so also fanatical spirits and all false prophets boast with ‘big swelling words’ of the word of God, and tumultuously cry out that they seek the glory and the worship of God, and promise nothing but divine and heavenly things, and yet seek all the while their own advantage and their own glory, destroying souls, and walking about in sheep’s clothing, while they are inwardly nothing but ravening wolves.

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

PSALM XXIX.

_David exhorteth princes to give glory to God, by reason of his power, and protection of his people._

A Psalm of David.

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of the LORD _is_ upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

The voice of the LORD _is_ powerful; the voice of the LORD _is_ full of majesty.

The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of _his_ glory.

The LORD sitteth upon the flood: yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.

The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

This is a prophecy concerning the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world, and concerning the preaching of the name of Christ before kings and nations, and the children of Israel.

“Give unto the Lord, ye mighty;” that is, ye kings, ye rulers, and ye wise and rich ones of the world, ye Pharisees and rabbi, acknowledge your wisdom, righteousness, and all your excellent political virtues, your works of the law, and all that is high and excellent before men, to be abomination in the sight of God; repent ye and believe the gospel, that ye may quit yourselves under that one King and Lord, Christ, and his church and kingdom, and, by faith and the wisdom of God, acknowledge Christ, this son of God, to be God; for God, by a manifest work of his power, in the beginning sent a flood upon the whole world, and destroyed all flesh; and the same God, by his gospel and by baptism, will drown and mortify the flesh, that is, the old fleshly Adam, by a new and spiritual baptism: that as many as are baptized into Christ, being crucified according to the old Adam, may be raised up together with the second Adam, and become new men and new creatures.

He calls, by a figure, the kingdoms, nations, and powerful cities of this world, forests; the wilderness of Kadesh, confused places of many waters, places for hinds to calve, &c. These confused places the Lord has revealed and discovered, and brought to the light of the gospel.

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

PSALM XXX.

_David praiseth God for his deliverance.—He exhorteth others to praise him by example of God’s dealing with him._

A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the House of David.

I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

For his anger _endureth but_ a moment; in his favour _is_ life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy _cometh_ in the morning.

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, _and_ I was troubled.

I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

What profit _is there_ in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness:

To the end that _my_ glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

This is a remarkable Psalm, and truly Davidical. Here, with a wonderful fervency of heart, he gives thanks unto God for having delivered him from spiritual temptations and unspeakable conflicts with Satan, and for having refreshed and comforted his heart when brought down to such a state of weakness, when broken with such views of misery, terror, and wrath, and when almost overwhelmed with the greatness of his temptations. “Thou hast (saith he) brought my soul up from hell:” that is, thou hast enabled me to overcome the violence and fury of Satan, which never could be overcome by any human power.

This Psalm contains, as you see, those sublime and heavenly feelings of one rejoicing in the Holy Ghost, because God has turned such deep distress, such overwhelming terrors and fears, so many tears and sighs from the very belly of hell, into a joy that has refreshed and healed the soul that was just before burning with the fiery darts of the devil, and with the very flames of hell.

The Psalm contains also a most sweet consolation: “His anger (says David) endureth but for a moment: in his favour is life;” that is, God, although he exercises the godly in these deep temptations, and these intense agonizings of soul, yet he does not so try them with the intent to slay them; nor does he afflict, in order to destroy his people; nor is he the God of misery, of terror, and of death, but the God of peace and of life, the God of joy and of consolation.

This Psalm belongs to the third precept and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

PSALM XXXI.

_David, shewing his confidence in God, craveth his help.—He rejoiceth in his mercy.—He prayeth in his calamity.—He praiseth God for his goodness._

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David.

In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.

For thou _art_ my rock and my fortress: therefore, for thy name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for thou _art_ my strength.

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.

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

And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my foot in a large room.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble; mine eye is consumed with grief, _yea_, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.

For I have heard the slander of many: fear _was_ on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou _art_ my God.

My times _are_ in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.

Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, _and_ let them be silent in the grave.

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

_Oh_ how great _is_ thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; _which_ thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man; thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

Blessed _be_ the Lord; for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.

For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications, when I cried unto thee.

O love the LORD, all ye his saints: _for_ the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

This Psalm is a thanksgiving, and contains also prayers and consolations. And the way to arrive at a right understanding of the deep feelings and circumstances contained in this Psalm, is to know that this Psalm is the general and continual cry of Christ and his members, groaning and sighing under the cross and various afflictions. For the Church is a congregation of afflicted, poor, and tried persons. The wicked men of the world, the rich, the despisers of all religion, and the atheistical Epicureans have, as Christ saith, their consolation; while the godly, the spiritual, and those that believe, being exposed to the horrible hatred and envy of the devil, are exercised and distressed through all their life, inwardly with fears and terrors in their hearts, and outwardly by persecutions, blasphemies, and contempt for the word of God’s sake; and yet, from all these they are delivered: for, as St. Paul saith, “Where afflictions abound, there consolations abound also.”

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

ADMONITORY OBSERVATIONS.

And here I will cease to show, like a schoolmaster, to which precept of the Decalogue, and to which member of the Lord’s Prayer each Psalm belongs; for from what I have already said upon these points, my seriously-disposed readers will be enabled to observe and judge for themselves. All the supplicatory Psalms belong to the second precept and to the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer, for they honour and sanctify the name of the Lord. And the Psalms which teach, console, and give thanks for deliverance, belong to the second and third precepts of the Decalogue, and also to the first and third petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: for they teach us how, in truth, to keep holy the Sabbath day, how to worship God with the true and highest worship, and how to offer the most acceptable sacrifice; namely, the sacrifice of praise. And most of the Psalms refer to all those three precepts of the Decalogue, and to all those petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

My reason for giving these hints respecting the commandments, and petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, to which the different Psalms belong, in this my brief summary of the contents of the Psalms, is this: to show that the whole Scripture flows from the Decalogue as from a fountain; and that in the Ten Commandments and in the Lord’s Prayer are contained the sum and substance of all theology or divinity; and that nothing can be taught in the Church more sublime or more excellent than these two parts of Divine revelation. For we see how the greatest prophets and Moses himself, drew their great and divine discourses from the first, the second, and the third Commandments; and, in a word, from the whole of the Decalogue; how diligently they weighed every thing and made it harmonize with this; and how they continually delivered new things, yet all with reference to this great general Decalogue. Hence indeed it was that Moses, that most eminent man of God, gave this precept, “These words (says he,) thou shalt meditate, when thou standest up and when thou liest down; and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children,” &c.

In all their discourses and writings, therefore, the prophets and apostles allude and refer to the Decalogue or Ten Commandments. From these Ten Commandments flow all the doctrines, and all the godly living of the saints: for there is no holiness or godliness of life or true religion, apart from the Ten Commandments: because they are the never-failing inexhaustible fountain of all wisdom, righteousness, and of all perfection in the saints. Nor is there any of the complaints uttered by the Prophets or Apostles, nor will you find any other in all their discourses, but that against false prophets, hypocrites and false teachers, who, disregarding, nay, totally despising and spitting upon, the true and highest worship of God, (which is that of the first Commandment, that requires faith and the fear of God,) teach their own human dreams, which have nothing whatever to do with the Decalogue, and do not at all belong to it.

Against these characters it is, (as we see in Moses himself, in Isaiah, in Jeremiah, and in the epistles of Paul and Peter,) that the Prophets and Apostles complain bitterly, and that with tears; against these it is that they cry aloud and wage war with all their powers; that they might preserve this true and highest worship of God, and might destroy from among men, hypocrisy and all human doctrines and fanatical dreams.

PSALM XXXII.

_Blessedness consisteth in remission of sins.—Confession of sins giveth ease to the conscience.—God’s promises bring joy._

A Psalm of David, Maschil.

Blessed _is he whose_ transgression _is_ forgiven, _whose_ sin _is_ covered.

Blessed _is_ the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit _there is_ no guile.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Thou _art_ my hiding-place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, _or_ as the mule, _which_ have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

Many sorrows _shall be_ to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all _ye that are_ upright in heart.

This Psalm is a very remarkable and valuable one. St. Paul quotes it in that profound discussion of his, Rom. iv. where he teaches us what sin is, and how we obtain the remission of sins, and, in a word, how we are justified before God: for it is in this matter that all hypocrites so deeply err: because human reason cannot imagine that sin is accompanied with such great and such infinite guilt before God, and with a guilt that no human powers nor works can wash away. In a word, it knows not what sin is, and thinks that it can be washed off, and taken away by works.

Whereas David here plainly says, “For this shall every one that is godly pray:” and he says also, that no one can be justified or sanctified before God, unless he acknowledge himself to be a sinner, and know that he is to obtain the remission of sins without any works and merits, by the mere mercy of God, and by a free and gratuitous imputation. In a word, our righteousness is not placed in us, or in our works; but is such, that the remission of our sins is truly and rightly called the free REMISSION of our sins: and also that our sins are truly said ‘_not to be imputed_,’ but ‘_to be covered_.’ ‘Blessed (says David) are they (that is, such are accepted before God, and are truly righteous and reconciled to God) whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered.’

Here David says, in plain words, that all the saints are, and still remain, sinners; and that they are justified and sanctified in no other way than this;—God of his free mercy, for Christ’s sake, is pleased not to impute their sins unto them, nor to judge them, but, in mercy, to forgive them, and cover over their sins, and forget them. And although in many other respects there is a great difference between the saints and the wicked, yet, in this point there is no difference,—they are all equally sinners, and all equally sin every day. But the sins of the saints are not imputed unto them: they are covered and forgiven on account of their faith in the promise of free grace. Whereas the sins of the wicked are imputed unto them, and they are exposed to the eye and to the awful judgment of God. The wounds of the latter are not bound up: but the wounds of the former are bound up, and are cured with healing plasters and oil: and yet they are both truly wounded and truly sinners! But of this, more in its place; and I have said much upon it in others of my writings.

PSALM XXXIII.

_God is to be praised for his goodness, for his power, and for his providence.—Confidence is to be placed in God._

Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: _for_ praise is comely for the upright.

Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery, and an instrument of ten strings.

Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

For the word of the LORD _is_ right: and all his works _are done_ in truth.

He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

For he spake, and it was _done_; he commanded, and it stood fast.

The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Blessed _is_ the nation whose God _is_ the LORD; _and_ the people _whom_ he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works.

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.

An horse _is_ a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver _any_ by his great strength.

Behold, the eye of the LORD _is_ upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy:

To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he _is_ our help and our shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

This Psalm is a remarkable thanksgiving, where the prophet calls upon all the saints, and those that fear God, to rejoice and give thanks unto God for his preserving the church so wonderfully in the midst of the world, in the midst of the kingdom of the devil, and exposed to so many evils and perils on every side,—to give thanks unto God, I say, who never forsakes the godly, and those that fear him, when tossed to and fro on such waves of temptation, nor suffers them to be overwhelmed, nor to perish, though conflicting in so perilous a manner.

God, says David, created the heaven and this whole universe of things by his word. “He spake, and they were made:” therefore he is omnipotent, and nothing is difficult to him: and hence he can deliver his own from the midst of death, and from the midst of hell. And then, again, his goodness and his truth are exceedingly great and infinite. He regardeth and heareth the afflicted, he is ever present with them in the hour of temptation: and, as David says in another Psalm, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”

Therefore God is not only willing to help and succour the godly, but to succour them even as a father would his children; even as that gracious promise which is comprehended in the First Commandment, declares “I am the Lord thy God:” that is, I will be the Lord thy God: I will be thy life, thy salvation, thy shield, thy defence, thy eternal strength, thy eternal salvation, and consolation; thy eternal and infinite good, against all the evils that can come upon thee:—For this is to be God!

In the first place, therefore, David proclaims with great fulness of expression this unequalled wisdom and power of God,—that God has in his hand all the hearts and thoughts of all men, kings, rulers and potentates throughout the whole world; that he turns them and orders them just as he will; that he governs and overrules all their deliberations and counsels, and directs them all according to his own mind and pleasure. “The Lord (saith David) bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought:” that is, he wonderfully breaks off and disappoints the counsels of the wise, of the kings, of the potentates of this world: and suddenly defeats all the attacks of the enemies against his people and his church, how sure soever of success they may appear, and he turns all their destruction upon the heads of the enemies themselves, so that they cannot perform their enterprises nor accomplish the devices which they plot against the righteous, but they fall themselves into the pits which they have digged, and there perish and rot.

This is no small consolation to those that fear God, amidst all that bitterness and Satanic cruelty which the tyrants of this world execute against the godly, when they fearfully threaten that they will fill all things with blood if they do not deny Christ and his gospel. These make no end of their threats, because they are as if they would terrify God himself, and hurl Christ down from the throne of his majesty. Whereas God, all the while, holds in his power the thoughts and imaginations of every one of them, and also their life and the breath that is in their nostrils: and therefore such are subverted and destroyed in a moment before they have accomplished their designs. Only meditate upon all the examples of this since the beginning of the world. What became of all the counsels of the people of Sodom against Lot? Where is that great monarch and terror of the world, Sennacherib? What (to come to our own times) has become of Pope Leo X. and all the other bitter enemies of the word?

PSALM XXXIV.

_David praiseth God, and exhorteth others thereto by his experience.—They are blessed that trust in God.—He exhorteth to the fear of God.—The privileges of the righteous._

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise _shall_ continually _be_ in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear _thereof_, and be glad.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him, and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard _him_, and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

O taste and see that the LORD _is_ good: blessed _is_ the man _that_ trusteth in him.

O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for _there is_ no want to them that fear him.

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good _thing_.

Come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

What man _is he that_ desireth life, _and_ loveth _many_ days, that he may see good?

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil, and do good, seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD _are_ upon the righteous, and his ears _are open_ unto their cry.

The face of the LORD _is_ against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

_The righteous_ cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

The LORD _is_ nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Many _are_ the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

This Psalm is a remarkable thanksgiving, and is nearly of the same import with the preceding, as the title of the Psalm, and the sixth verse show: for David here sets forth himself as an example and proof before all the godly, to show, that God always hears the prayers and supplications of the godly, and them that believe, and does not despise the sighings of the afflicted.

David here, after a majestic opening of the Psalm, promises that he will set forth the sum of all godliness. “What man is he (saith the Psalmist) that desireth life, and loveth many days. Keep thy tongue from evil, &c.” Here, he requires before all things, the fear of the Lord, and the worship of the First Commandment: that, cleaving closely to the word, we might avoid hypocrisy and lying doctrines, and that we might truly trust in God, endure his will, and not rebel or murmur against him. And then, that we should live in peace with our neighbour, not rendering evil for evil, but blessing even our adversaries and our enemies, and, as much as in us lies, living in peace with all men, whether they be good or evil.

For thus does the counsel of God stand, which cannot be changed or altered,—that the saints should live in affliction in this life. Wherefore, if thou wilt be a godly man, if thou wilt cleave unto God, prepare thy soul (as David here saith) to temptations, to the cross, and to afflictions: for thus it is immutably decreed of God, (as he says again afterwards) “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” And again, this firm and eternal counsel of God stands also immutably fixed,—that it is God’s will to deliver the saints from all these evils, and so wholly and faithfully so, that not even the least bone of them shall perish: nay, in the resurrection, and in glorification, every bone shall return to the body with greater perfection than ever; as Christ says in his Gospel, “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

What then is this light and momentary tribulation, in comparison with that eternal weight of glory, which shall be revealed in us? For although the bones and members of the saints are, above all others, cruelly scattered and broken, burnt in the fire, and left to rot in graves; yet, even though they be thus sown in ignominy, they shall be raised in glory: they shall be quickened again with all their limbs and bodies; and all their bones shall be restored; and the just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. For that maddened and insatiable fury of the devil, shall not be able to mangle the bones of the saints, or so to extinguish the church as that it shall be annihilated altogether. The death, and the cruel bruising of the bones of the saints, shall be temporary only: but their glorification in God, shall be for ever and ever.