cations from above; such may reasonably be supposed here referred to. (See Matt. iv. 11; John xii. 28.)

That this psalm refers solely and exclusively to our Redeemer is certain, from its application, in the New Testament; and, indeed, this was freely admitted by the more ancient Jews, as may be seen in Pool's Synopsis, and other commentaries; though now they find it necessary in many cases to pervert the Old Testament, to excuse their rejection of the New.

PSALM CXI.

(0) A Psalm of general Thanksgiving.It commences with an admiration of the works of nature and providence,which" are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." "Nothing (says Bishop Horne) cometh from the hands of the divine artist, but what is excellent and perfect in its kind. . . . . Happy are they who, with humility and diligence, with faith and de

votion, give themselves to the contemplation of these works, and take pleasure and delight therein. To them shall the gate of true science open; they shall understand (to a certain extent) the mysteries of creation, providence, and redemption; and they who thus seek shall find the treasures of eternal wisdom :" for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and should be laid as the foundation of all our studies and enquiries.

"They that would grow divinely wise,
Must with his fear begin;
Our fairest proof of knowledge lies
In hating every sin."
Watts.

The great naturalist, Linnæus, affords here a bright example. It is said, that "wherever he found an opportunity of expatiating on the greatness, the providence, and omnipotence of God, which frequently happened in his lectures and botanical excursions, his heart glowed with a celestial fire, and his mouth poured forth torrents of admirable eloquence."

PSALM CXH. Ver. 1. Praise, &c.-This psalm is also alphabetical. See op ver. 1. of the preceding.

Exhortations]

[to praise.

3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house and his righteousness endureth for ever.

4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righte

ous.

5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

6 Surely he shall not be moved for ever the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth,

PSALM CXII.

PSALM CXIII. ORAISE ye the LORD. Praise,

PRAI

Oye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.

2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.

3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the LORD'S name is to be praised.

4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high;

6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;

8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. (Q)

(P) The happiness of them that fear God.-Bishop Patrick considers this psalm as a short commentary on the final verse, of the preceding. It founds all the happiness of man on delight in God, and on benevolence to our fellow-creatures: the greatest luxury that a good man can enjoy. "Love and liberality (says Bishop Horne,) do good to themselves, by doing it to others, and enjoy all the happiness which they cause." On the other hand, the wicked are envious at the prosperity of the righteous; they are grieved, enraged, and finally melt (or faint) with envy, to see their enjoyments, even in this life, while their own desires perish.

But to the upright, "there ariseth light in darkness." A gleam of light from hea

ven will penetrate the most gloomy situa tion-the most distressful scene.

"There is a light that gilds the darkest hour, When dangers thicken, and when tempests lower: That calm to faith, and hope and love is givenThat peace remains when all besides is rivenThat light shines down on earth direct from heaven." Edmeston.

PSALM CXIII.

(Q) An invitation to praise God continually. This psalm, and the five following, constitute what the Jews call the great Hallel, or Hymn of Praise, which was recited at most of their festivals, and parti cularly at the Passover, and was probably the hymn which our Lord sang (or chanted) with his disciples on that occasion. The Psalm before us, which formed the first part of the great Hallel, represents

Ver. 4. Light ariseth-"Springeth up," as the sun riseth. See Mal. iv. 2.

Ver. 5. With discretion-Heb. "with judgment." According to Bp. Horne, this verse might be rendered, "It is well with the man who is gracious and communicative: He will support (or maintain) his words (or transactions) in judgment."

Ver. 9. He hath dispersed.-See 2 Cor. ix. 9. Ver. 10. Melt-Either from fear, Josh. ii. 11. or grief, Ps. xxii. 15.

PSALM CXIII, Ver. 5. Who dwelleth on highHeb. "Exalteth himself to dwell." See Psalm cxxxviii. 6.

Ver. 9. To keep house-Heb. "To dwell in an house." Dr. Boothroyd renders the verse thus: "She who resideth barren at home, he maketh & joyful mother of children."Praise ye the Lord. -Dr. Boothroyd considers this as the title of the following psalm, which we think very probable.

The waters divided.]

PSALM CXIV.

[Idols ridic' led,

PSALM CXV.

the house of Jacob from a peo

ple of strange language;

2 Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

3 The sea saw it, and fled; Jordan was driven back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. (R)

but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

Jehovah as "dwelling on high;" so that he looks down upon the most elevated of his creatures, and yet stooping to the copcerns and circumstances of the lowest. (Comp. 1 Sam. ii. 8.)-Barrenness was considered as one of the greatest misfortunes to which females are subject, and therefore did the Lord, in several instances, interfere by miracle to remove it; but this idea is, in the New Testament, applied to the Gentile church, which, after long ages of barrenness, became prolific aud the mother of us all. (Compare Isaiah liv. 1. with Gal. iv. 27.)

PSALM CXIV.

(R) Praise for deliverance from Egypt.

This is a very animated composition, in which the sea is represented as beholding the symbol of the divine presence, and fleeing from before it, as did the Jordan forty years afterwards, to admit Israel into Cauaan. The earth also is described as trembling before Jehovah, and the hills as fleeing like affrighted sheep: an emblem of that more awful convulsion, which shall take place when the same Almighty being shall come, arrayed in superior splendour to the final judgment; and not the earth only, but these lower heavens also shall flee before him. (Isaiah xxxiv. 4; Rev. vi. 13, 14, &c.)

PSALM CXIV. Ver. 1. A people of strange language-Kennicott, " A strange," .e. á foreign "Leople."

Ver. 2. Judah was his sanctuary - Some learned men, with more critical acumen than poetic taste, have supposed the divine name here omitted by an accident of the transcribers; but Dr. Watts justly remarks. that this would destroy the beauty of the poem; for had the name of Jehovah been here introduced, "there could be no (cause to) wonder why the mountains should leap,' and the sea retire." See his Note in the early editious of his Psalms. Dominions Sacred heritage." Bp. Lowth. Ver.4 Like lauabs-"Like the sons of the flock." Bp. Lowth. So in ver. 6.

Ver. 5. Thu Jordan-Lowth, "O Jordan, that Chou turnedst back."

Ver. 7. At the presence of the Lord. Notwith standing many of our English Bibles read LORD, in capitals, for Jehovah, our printed Hebrew Bibles

read Adon, and even Dr. Boothroyd. See Note on Ps. cx. 1.

Ver. 8. A standing water Lowth, "A lake of waters; the flint into a water-spring."

PSALM CXV. Ver.3. But-Or" for;" Heb, vau. Ver. 9, 10, 11. O Israel-Or, "House of Israel," as many MSS and Versions read. "The church is here divided into three parts; 1. The members of the commonwealth. 2. The ministers. 3. The fearers of Jehovah, of all nations." Ainsworth. See Acts ii. 5; x. 35.

Ver. 13. Both small and great-Heb. "The small with the great."

Ver. 16. The heavens, &c.-Bp. Horsley renders this literally; "The heavens of heavens are for Jehovah." See Exposition

Ver. 17. The dead praise not. of Ps. vi.

9 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD he is their help and their shield.

12 The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

13 He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.

14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD. (S)

PSALM CXV.

[to praise God.

PSALM CXVI.

LOVE the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplica

tions.

2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

(S) A contrast between the God of Israel and the idols of the heathen.-The former, as the God of truth and mercy; the latter, as insensible images of wood and stone; and neither their makers, nor their worshippers, are much more intelligent. There is indeed a degree of stupidity among idolators hardly credible, if it were not notorious. The following anecdotes will illustrate this subject.

"When W. T. Money, esq. resided some years since in the Mahratta country, as his daughter, not then three years old, was walking out with a native servant, they came near an old Hindoo temple, when the man stepped aside and made his salaam,' as they call it, to a stone idol at the door. The child, in her simple language, said, Saamy, (that was his name) what for you

do that? Oh, missy! (said he,) that my god. Your god, Saamy! why your god no see, no hear, no walk,-your god stone! My God see every thing, my God make you, make me, make every thing.'-At Buhapuram, in the northern Circars, a child about eight years old, who had been educated in Christianity, was ridiculed on that account by some heathen older than himself. In reply, he repeated what he had been taught respecting God. 'Show us your God!' said the heathens. I cannot do that,' answered the child; but I can soon show yours to you.' Taking up a stone, and daubing it with some resemblance of a human face, he placed it very gravely on the ground, and pushed it towards them with his foot: "There,' said he, 'is such a god as you worship!'"' (Burder's Mission. Anec. 2d edit. pp. 321, 322.)

PSALM CXVI. Ver.1. I love the Lord-Heb. "I love," (Old Version, "Am well pleased;" so Horsley)" that (or because) the Lord," &c.My voice and, &c.-LXX, "The voice of my supplications." So Bp. Horsley.

Ver. 2. As long as I live-Heb. "In my days." Ver.3. The sorrows of death.--See P's. xviii. 5, 6, and Notes.Gat hold upon-Heb. " Found me.""

Ver. 11. I said in my haste-That is, through fear or unbelief-All men are liars-Even the prophets themselves, in whom the author, whether David or Hezekiah, had placed confidence. So Ains

worth and Bp. Horne. Compare Pa. xxxi. 2.

Ver. 13. The cup of salvation—Or " of blessing," (as St. Paul calls it, 1 Cor. x. 16.) was taken as an offering of praise to God, either in the temple, (Num. xxviii. 7.) or in private families, and typified the sacramental cup. (Luke xxii. 17.)

Ver. 16. Thy servant, the son of thine handmaidThat is, thy property, as born in thine house. See Ps. lxxxvi. 16; ixxxvii. 5.

The Septuagint translators divide this psalm into two, at the end of ver. 9; but evidently without authority.

Exhortations]

[to praise.

spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.

12 What shall I render unto the

LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD, now in the presence of all his people.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now, in the presence of all his people.

19 In the courts of the LORD'S

PSALM CXVI.

PSALM CXVII.

O PRAISE the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD Praise ye the

endureth for ever. LORD. (U)

PSALM CXVIII.

GIVE thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

4 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 5 I called upon the LORD in dis

(T) The psalmist encouraged to trust in God, from a recollection of former mercies. -In those psalms which have no title, as is the case with this, we can only guess at the author, and seldom with any confidence. Bishop Patrick attributes this psalm to David, when he was obliged to leave Jerusalem, in consequence of AbsaJom's unnatural rebellion: (2 Sam. xv. 14, &c.) and it is certain that many of the expressions are found in David's acknowledged psalms. Others, however, from some forms of expression in the original, assign to it a later date, and attribute it to Hezekiah on his recovery from his illness; to which occasion, it must be acknowledged, it is not ill adapted. (2 Kings, chap. IX. This was the opinion of Bishop Horsley: but we confess ourselves inclined to the former. The psalm is evidently the language of a true penitent, devoting himself to God, in gratitude for mercies received, and determined, in future, to live solely to his praise.

"Here in thy courts I leave my vow,
And thy rich grace record:

(U) All nations exhorted to praise the true God.-This, like the hundredth psalin, seems to predict the conversion of the Gentiles, since it calls upon men of all tribes and countries to praise the Lord for his mercy and his truth, and is so applied by St. Paul himself. (Rom. xv. 9-11.) Some, as Bishop Horsley, consider it only as an exordium to the psalm following; but it was probably used separately, as there seems no necessary connexion between them; and other learned men consider them as composed at very different periods. Dr. Watts' popular version is the best commentary we can offer on this psalm.

PSALM CXVII. Ver. 1. All ye nations.-The term nations is equivalent to gentiles, and is therefore so quoted by the apostle, Kom. xv. 11.

"From all that dwell below the skies
Let the Creator's praise arise:
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
Thro' every land, by every tongue.
Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends thy word;

Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more."