4. 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.

The victories of David ended in his restoration to Jerusalem, and the service of God: the victories of Christ terminated in his triumphant return to a better Jerusalem; and this ought to be the one thing desired" by the Christian, that after his conquest over the body of sin, he may pass the unnumbered days of eternity in the courts of heaven, contemplating the beauty and the glory of his Redeemer.

5. 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.

The protection and consolation, experienced by believers of the church militant, give them a taste of the loving-kindness of the Lord, aud make them impatiently desirous of quenching their thirst at the fountain of divine pleasures, after they shall have been exalted upon the Rock of ages, from whence that fountain flows. 6. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy, I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

These words, as they are supposed to be spoken by David, by Christ, or by the church, express their respective assurances, through faith, of final victory over their several enemies, with their determined resolution of singing hallelujahs to Jehovah for the same.

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

From the assurances of faith it is always good to descend to the humiliation of prayer to God, who alone can grant unto us that one thing which we desire, and long after, while in the land of our captivity, and house of our pilgrimage. See ver. 4.

8. When thou saidest, seek ye my face: my heart said unto thee, thy face, LORD, will I seek.

The voice of God throughout the Scriptures exhorteth the be liever to turn away from the delusive appearances of the creature, and to seek after Him who is "altogether lovely," until he behold "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." To this voice the believer answers, like a well-tuned instrument to the master's touch, declaring his resolution so to do.

9. 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.

The suppliant, having determined to seek the face of God, here prayeth, that he would permit himself to be found, and to be seen; and that he would not, by "hiding his face," cause the light of knowledge to become darkness, and the fire of charity to go out. The church dreadeth nothing so much as an eclipse of the " Sun of righteousness."

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

*

A time will come, when the dearest earthly friends and relations can no longer be of any assistance to us. The case of the church and of the soul is oftentimes compared to that of a poor, helpless, exposed orphan. Where worldly comforts end, heavenly ones begin. See Isai. xlix. 15. Matt. xxiii. 37. John ix. 35.

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

The child of God, learning to walk in the law of his heavenly Father, prayeth to be directed and strengthened from above, that the enemy may neither pervert his steps, nor triumph in his fall.

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

David had his enemies and false accusers; Christ also had his; and every child of God hath need to petition for deliverance from the great enemy of his salvation, the grand accuser of the brethren, who is ever breathing out malice and cruelty against the body and members of Christ.

13. 1 had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

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"Faith" in the comfortable promises of God is the only sovereign cordial for a fainting" spirit. Earth is the land of the dying we must extend our prospect into heaven, which is the land of the "living," where the faithful shall "see," and experience evermore "the goodness of the Lord."

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

The person speaking concludes with an apostrophe to his own soul, resulting from the confidence in God, expressed, ver. 1. from the desire and the hope of heaven, 4-13. and from the manifold pledges of the divine love already received in this life; 5. the proper inference from all which considerations is this; that we should

As there seems to be some difficulty in supposing the Psalmist's parents to have "deserted" him, they might perhaps he said to have “forsaken" him (as Muis conjectures) that is, to have left him behind them, as being dead. Merrick.

patiently "wait on the Lord," till the few and evil days of our pilgrimage pass away, and we arrive at the mansions prepared for us in the house of our heavenly Father; till our warfare be accomplished, and terminate in the peace of God; till the storms and tempests of wintry time shall give place to the unclouded calm, and the ever blooming pleasures of eternal spring.

PSALM XXVIII.

ARGUMENT.

This Psalm, like the xxiid. and many others, consisteth of two parts. For, 1-5. the true David appeareth in his state of humiliation and suffering; he prayeth for deliverance, and prophesieth the destruction of his enemies. 6-9. He singeth a sweet, though short hymn of triumph, and intercedeth for his church and people.

1. 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.

The true David here maketh supplication, "with strong crying," to the Father, that he may not be suffered to continue, like other men, under the dominion of the "grave." The Christian prayeth, in the same words, to be delivered from the " pit" of corruption; and mightily should he "cry" to Jehovah, the "rock" of his salvation, until his prayer be heard and answered.

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

Christ frequently interceded for his people, with his "hands. lifted up' toward " heaven," in fervent prayer: and—“ I will,” saith the apostle, " that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands," 1 Tim. ii. 8. Shall our Redeemer pray for us, and shall we not pray for ourselves?

3. 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.

Christ, who alone is without sin, petitioneth that he may not be oppressed by sinners; he who is truth and love, prayeth to be preserved from the "false and malicious." Let us pray to be made like him; and, like him, to be delivered from evil, especially from the evil of a "lying and slandering" tongue.

4. 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. 5. Because they regard not

the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hand, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

In these verses, as indeed in most of the imprecatory passages, the imperative and the future are used promiscuously; "Give them-render them-he shall destroy them." If therefore the verbs, in all such passages, were uniformly rendered in the future, every objection against the scripture imprecations would vanish at once, and they would appear clearly to be, what they are, namely, prophecies of the divine judgments, which have been since executed against the Jews, and which will be executed against all the enemies of Jehovah, and his Christ, whom neither the "works" of creation, nor those of redemption, can lead to repentance.

6. Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7. The LORD is my strength and my shield: my heart trusted in him, amd I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, and with my song will I praise him.

The scene now changes from the humiliation and sufferings, to the glory and triumph of Christ our Head, who, through the power of the Divinity, having overcome his enemies, may be supposed at his resurrection from the dead, to have sung this strain; a strain which they who have been delivered from sin and sorrow, will best understand by using it.

8. The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed, or, Christ.

He who saved and exalted the Head, will also save and exalt the members; or, as St. Paul expresseth it, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you; he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you," Rom. viii. 11. And for the accomplishment of this glorious salvation, the salvation of his church, the Redeemer intercedeth in the remaining verse of this Psalm.

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

Save us, O Lord Jesus, from our sins; bless us, O thou Son of Abraham, with the blessing of righteousness; feed us, O thou good Shepherd of the sheep; and lift us up for ever from the dust, O thou who art the resurrection and the life!

PSALM XXIX.

ARGUMENT.

In this Psalm, the prophet, 1, 2. calleth the kings of the earth to give glory to Jehovah, and to the VOICE or WORD of his power; the effects of which in the world and in the church, are most magnificently described; the same things being true of thunder and lightning in the former, and of the word of God in the latter; as each of them is styled the "voice of the LORD;" and both, 3, 4. are mighty in operation; both, 5. rend, and, 6, 7. shake, and, 8. piece and melt, and, 9. make manifest. The Psalm concludes with, 10. an acknowledgment of the extent and glory of God's kingdom, and, 11. a promise of victory and peace through him.

1. Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 2. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name ; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

The prophet addresseth himself to the "mighty" ones of the earth, exhorting them to "give" God the "glory," and to submit themselves to the kingdom of Messiah; to honour that holy "name," by which they must be saved; to bow before his altars, "by whom kings reign;" and to cast down their crowns at the foot of the eternal throne.

3. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the GoD of glory thundereth; the LORD is upon many waters.

The reason why the mighty are exhorted to serve Jehovah, is because of his wondrous works in the world, and in the church.

By the "voice" or "word" of God, the "waters" were driven down into the deep, and forbidden to overflow the earth any more; by the voice of God, the tumultuous and raging nations subsided, and the church was immoveably fixed upon the rock of her salvation; and by the gospel of the "God of glory," all those effects were produced in the hearts of men, which are wrought upon terrestrial substances, by its well-known and most significant emblem, in the material heavens.

4. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

Of the power and majesty of God's voice when he speaketh from heaven in thunder, few hearts are insensible; of the power and majesty of his voice, when he spoke from heaven by his apostles, those "sons of" the spiritual "thunder," the world was once fully sensible; O may the evangelical" Boanerges" so cause the glorious sound of the gospel to be heard, under the whole heaven, that the world may again be made sensible thereof; before