"14. Let them, or, they shall, be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them, or, they shall, be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. 15. Let them, or, they shall, be desolate for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha."

The shame, confusion, and desolation to be brought on the Jews, by the resurrection, exaltation, and power of him, whose blood they thirsted after, and whom they mocked and insulted, when in his last agonies on the cross, are here foretold; and the prophecy hath been punctually fulfilled. But a more horrible confusion and desolation awaiteth them, and all other impenitent sinners, at the future revelation of the righteous judgment of God; when vengeance must destroy those whom mercy cannot reclaim. And, to this ultimate issue of things, the church directeth her views.

"16. Let all those that seek thee, or, all those that seek thee shall, rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation, or, such as love thy salvation shall, say continually, The LORD be magnified."

As the last verses predicted the calamities which should befall the enemies of Messiah, this describeth the unfeigned joy and gladness, springing up in the hearts of such as love the salvation of Jesus, and evermore magnify his holy name in the church, for the blessing of redemption, "eating their meat," as the first Christians are said to have done, "with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God," Acts ii. 46.

"17. But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God."

The church, like her Redeemer, is often poor and afflicted in this world, but Jehovah thinketh upon her, and is solicitous for her support; she is weak and defenceless, but Jehovah is her help and her deliverer. With such a Father, and such a friend, poverty becometh rich, and weakness itself is strong. In the mean time, let us remember that he who once came in great humility, shall come again in glorious majesty. "Make no tarrying, O our God;" but "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly," Rev. xxii. 20.

EIGHTH DAY.-EVENING PRAYER.

PSALM XLI.

ARGUMENT.

The application made of the 9th verse of this Psalm, John xiii. 18. showeth that the prophet is speaking in the person of Messiah. 1-3. He declareth the blessedness of the man that considereth the poor; he prayeth for mercy and favour; 5-9. describeth the behaviour of his adversaries, and of one person in particular; 10. petitioneth for deliverance; 11, 12. rejoiceth in hope; and, 13. breaketh out into thanksgiving.

"1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the LORD will deliver in time of trouble, Heb. in the day of evil."

As Christ considered us in our state of poverty, so ought we most attentively to consider him in his; to consider what he suffered in his own person; to discern him suffering in his poor afflicted members; and to extend to them the mercy which he extended to us. He who was " blessed" of Jehovah, and "delivered in the evil day," by a glorious resurrection, will "bless" and "deliver," in like manner, such as, for his sake, love and relieve their brethren.

"2. The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, or, revive him; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto

the will of his enemies."

The compassionate and charitable disciple of the holy Jesus is often won

derfully "preserved," and rendered prosperous even in this world; but his greatest comfort is, that, like his Master, he shall one day be "revived," to inherit the "blessing," in a better country, where no "enemy" can approach to hurt or molest him.

"3. The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness."

An exemption from sorrow and sickness is not promised to the children of God; but strength and comfort are given unto them from above, to support and carry them through their trials; and they who, in the days of their health, have, by their alms, given rest to the bodies, or, by their counsels, restored peace to the consciences of others, shall have the bed of pain made easy under them by the hand of their heavenly Father.

"4. I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee."

Every son of Adam may, and ought, in these words, to acknowledge his sin, and to entreat for mercy and grace to heal the disorders of his nature. If we suppose Messiah ever to have uttered this verse in his devotions, as we know he applied the 9th verse to his own case, it is obvious that he must be understood to confess the sins, not of his own righteous person, but of the nature he had assumed, in order to cleanse and purify it, by his sufferings. See above, Psalm xl. 12.

"5. Mine enemies speak evil of me; When shall he die, and his name perish ?"

Here we may undoubtedly consider the poor and lowly Jesus in the day of his humiliation, when he was daily and hourly calumniated by his adversaries: when restless and impatient at beholding him still alive, they said "What do we, for this man doth many miracles? If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him," John xi. 47. xii. 19, and when grown more furious and clamorous, they cried, “ Away with him, away with him, crucify him, crucify him." How many, with the same bitterness of spirit, "speak evil" continually of his doctrines, his church, his ordinances, and his ministers; in effect saying, "When shall he die, and his name pe

rish?"

66

"6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it."

Thus the enemies of Christ "sent out spies, who should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him into the power and authority of the governor," Luke xx. 20. Thus Judas sat down at the last supper, all the while meditating the destruction of his Master; till at length, rising from the table, and going abroad, he put his design into execution: and thus the mystical body of Christ frequently suffers, as his natural body once did, by means of hypocrites and traitors.

"7. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. 8. An evil disease, say they, Heb. a word, or matter, of Belial, namely, the crime charged upon him, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more."

The whispers of the Pharisees, the counsels of the Sanhedrim, and their taunts and scoffs at the blessed Jesus, when on the cross "numbered with the transgressors," nor ever expected to "arise" again from the dead, are here most significantly and plainly pointed out. The same weapons are frequently employed against the servants of Christ; but let them not be, on that account, discouraged from following their Master,

9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

"I speak not of you all," saith our Lord to his disciples; "I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up his heel against me," John xiii. 18. The

sufferings of the church, like those of her Redeemer, generally begin at home: her open enemies can do her no harm, until her pretended friends have delivered her into their hands: and, unnatural as it may seem, they who have waxed fat upon her bounty, are sometimes the first to "lift up the heel" against her.

"10. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them, or, and I shall requite them."

The holy Jesus here maketh his prayer unto the Father, for the accomplishment of the promised resurrection, and foretelleth the righteous judg ment that would be executed on his enemies, after their rejection of the gracious offers made them by the apostles in his name, notwithstanding all that they had said and done against him. Then the kingdom of God was taken from them, and their house was left unto them desolate. The hour is coming, when the church shall arise to glory, and all her enemies shall be confounded.

11. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 12. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever."

The Christian, like his Master, must expect sorrow and tribulation, but he is not thereby deprived of the "favour" of heaven; his spiritual enemies, whatever trouble they may give him, yet do not "triumph" over him; he is preserved in his "integrity," and his reward will be the "vision" of God. For the exaltation, therefore, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all believers in, by, and through him.

"13. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen."

PSALM XLII.

ARGUMENT.

David, by Absalom's rebellion, driven from Jerusalem to the country beyond Jordan, is there supposed to have indited this Psalm; which, as it is appli cable to the case of our Lord, in his state of sojourning and suffering on earth, for our sins; as also that of the church under persecution, or that of any member thereof, when deprived of the opportunities of public worship; 60 doth it, in the most beautiful and pathetical strains, describe the vicissitudes of joy and sorrow, of hope and despondency, which succeed each other in the mind of the Christian pilgrim, while, exiled from the Jerusalem above, he suffereth affliction and tribulation in this valley of tears. The last is the application chiefly made in the comment, as it is the most general and useful one; the others naturally offer themselves, being coincident with, or subordinate to it.

"1. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O GOD."

The thirst which the "hart" experienceth, when chased in sultry weather over the dusty plains, is here set before us, as a representation of that ardent desire after the waters of eternal comfort, which the temptations, the cares, and the troubles of the world produce in the believing soul. Happy they who feel this desire, and fly to the well of life, that it may be satisfied. "Blessed are they that thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled," Matt. v. 6.

"2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?"

Whoever considers what it is to "appear before God;" to behold the glorious face of Jesus; to contemplate a beauty which never fadeth; to be enriched by a beneficence which can never be exhausted, and blessed in a love unmerited and infinite; will find abundant reason to say, again and again, "My soul thirsteth after God;" why is the time of my banishment

prolonged; when shall the days of my pilgrimage have an end; "when shall I come and appear before God?"

"3. My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy GOD?"

So long as soul finds herself absent from him whom she loveth, sorrow is still her portion, as well in the day of worldly prosperity, as in the night of adversity. And this sorrow is greatly aggravated by the taunts of the enemy; who, because the promise is delayed, and she suffereth affliction in the mean season, ridiculeth and insulteth her faith and hope as vain and ground less; intimating that God hath forsaken her, and tempting her to renounce her principles.

"4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy-day."

As the royal prophet, when driven from Jerusalem by Absalom, was melted into tears at the comparison of his destitute and forlorn situation with his former glory and happiness, when upon some joyous festival, with all his subjects about him, he had attended the service of the tabernacle in the city of God: so the Christian pilgrim cannot but bewail his exile from the heavenly Jerusalem, out of which sin hath driven him, and doomed him to wander for awhile in the valley of misery. Led by repentance and faith, to look back to the place from whence he is fallen, he sighs after the unspeakable joys of the celestial Zion; longing to keep a festival, and celebrate a jubilee in heaven; to join in the songs of angels, and bear a part in the music of hallelujahs."

"5. Why art thou cast, or, bowed, down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help, or, salvation, of his countenance."

The holy mourner now expostulates with his soul, for suffering herself to sink into a kind of despondency on account of her afflictions, and the insolent triumph of the adversary; and, as a sovereign cordial for melancholy, prescribes "faith" in God, which will show the morning of salvation dawning, after the night of calamity shall have run its course; a night, which cannot be long, and may be very short. When the sun arises, we cannot be without light; when God turns his countenance towards us, we cannot be without "salvation."

"6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar, or, the little hill.

The soul, although exhorted in the last verse to "put her trust in God," yet, considering her own infirmity, still continueth to be dejected: the prophet, therefore, confesseth as much; and maketh his complaint to God, from whom alone he expecteth comfort; and whom he did not forget, while, far from the sanctuary, he wandered up and down in the country beyond Jordan, whither he had fled from the face of Absalom. This world is, to us, that "country beyond Jordan;" Lord, make us to "remember" thee, under all the afflictions and tribulations we meet with therein, until, restored to thy Jerusalem, we shall praise thee in heaven for the mercies experienced upon earth.

7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me."

The prophet describeth the troubles which successively came upon him, by the vengeance of heaven, from above, "raising up evil against him, out of his own house" and kingdom, from beneath, according to the prediction of Nathan. 2 Sam. xii. 11. The ideas seem to be borrowed from the general deluge, or, from a storm at sea, when, at the "sound" of descending "waterspouts," or torrents of rain, the depths are stirred up, and put into horrible commotion; the clouds above calling, as it were, to the waters below, and one wave encouraging and exciting another, to join their forces,

and overwhelm the despairing sufferer.* The compass of creation affordeth not, perhaps, a more just and striking image of the nature and number of those calamities, which sin hath brought upon the children of Adam.†

“8. Yet the LORD will command his loving-kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."

The gloomy prospect begins again to brighten, by a ray of hope shooting through it; and the prophet returneth to his rest and confidence in the mercy of God: determining, not only to give him thanks in the day of prosperity, but as Paul and Silas afterwards did, to sing his praises at midnight, in adversity and affliction.

9. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy! 10. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me: while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?"

He ventureth, notwithstanding, meekly and humbly, upon the 'strength of the promises, to expostulate with him, who was the "rock" of his salvation, as to his seeming destitution, while continually oppressed and insulted by the cutting reproaches of the adversary. See above, ver. 3. These might be thought to render it in some sort necessary for God to arise and vindicate his own honour, by the protection and deliverance of his servant. The Psalmist concludes with that exhortation to his soul, to trust in God, and to wait for his salvation, which makes the mournful chorus of this beautiful Psalm.

"11. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." See above, ver. 5.

PSALM XLIII.

ARGUMENT.

This Psalm seemeth to be a continuation of the former, written by David in the same circumstances, on the same subject, and closing with the same chorus.

"1. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly, or, unmerciful, nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

David, in the same situation as before, appealeth to God against a people who had driven their sovereign from his capital, to wander, like a fugitive and vagabond, in the remotest parts of his dominions: against the hypocrisy of Absalom, and the villany of Ahitophel. The Son of David may be supposed to make the same appeal against the same nation, for their far more cruel, treacherous, and iniquitous usage of him, their King and their God. And the words suit the circumstances of an oppressed church or an injured prince, of all who suffer for truth and righteousness' sake, or who groan under the tyranny of their spiritual enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil.

"2. For thou art the God of my strength; why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? See above, Psalm xlii. 9. 3. O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles."

Thus, as the learned Merrick observes, one river in Homer, " calls upon another," to assist in overwhelming the Grecian hero. And in Eschylus, the fire and sea are said to "swear together," and to give each other their "pledge of confederacy" against the Grecian army.

Since this was written, I find the author of "Observations on divers passages of Scrip ture," agreeing entirely with me in the notion, that David is here describing those waterspouts, and storms at sea, which were common on the Jewish coast, as we learn from Dr. Shaw. Observations, p. 324. 1st edit. So Mr. Merrick likewise, in his Annotations.