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7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

14 Behold, he travaileth with ini

[Psalm.

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PSALM VII.

EXPOSITION.

(G) An Elegy of David.-" David is said to have composed this psalm" concerning the words (or the matter) of Cush the Benjamite. "Whether Saul, or Shimei, or any one else, be intended under this name, it is sufficiently clear that David had been maliciously calumniated, and that this psalm was written to vindicate himself from the imputation." The writer declares his trust to be in God alone, protests his innocence of the accusation, and requests that judgment may be given on his behalf. He then prays for the suppression of wickedness and the establishment of righteousness, denounces the most awful judgments against sinners, and praises God for his deliverance.

That the psalmist requests to be "judged according to his righteousness," has been used as an argument, not only to apply, but to confine this psalm to the Messiah,

but with how little force may be seen by considering the cases of Hezekiah and Nehemiah (referred to in the Notes.) We have no objection, however, to such an application, if not made exclusive. The following remarks of Bishop Horne are both just and striking :

،، Conscious of his righteousness and integrity, as to the matter in question, David desires to be judged by him who is to judge the world at the last day. How few, among Christians, have seriously and deliberately considered whether the sentence of that day is likely to be in their favour ! Yet, how many, with the utmost composure and self-complacency, repcat continually the words of this psalm, as well as those in the Te Deum, We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge !' Legal, or perfect, righteousness and integrity, are peculiar to the Redeemer; but evangelical righteousness and integrity all must have who would be saved."

NOTES-Psalm VII. Con.

Ver. 4. Yea, rau) "but-rather" I have delivered. -See ver. 10, 11, of the chapter just quoted. Ver. 5. Selah-See Note on l's, ii. 2. Ver. 8. According to my righteousness.-See Neh. xiii. 14, 22, 3 : 2 Kings xx. 3. and Expos.

Ver. 10. My defence is of God-Heb. My buckler is upon God;" Ainsworth, “In God; the meaning unquestionably is, "God is my buckler,' "shield."

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Ver. 11. God judgeth the righteous-Marg, “God is a right rots Jedge," So Ainsworth, Horsley, &c.

-God is angry with the wicked-This should be understood in the singular," the wicked man," which agrees with the following sentence, If he, &c.

Ver. 14. Behold, he travaileth. — The verbs travaileth and conceiveth should be transposed; "Hath conceived iniquity, travailed with mischief, and brought forth falsehood; i e. an abortion: to this effect Boothroyd.

Ver. 15. He hath made-Heb. “He hath digged a pit, and sunk it" (deep), &c.

Ver. 16. Pate-The crown of his hend.

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3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thon visitest him?

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

beasts of the field;

[Psalm.

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 Ŏ LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (H)

PSALM IX.

To the chief Musician upon Muth-labben.
A Psalm of David.

6 Thou madest him to have domi-WILL praise thee, O LORD, with

nion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the

PLALM VIII.

my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee:

EXPOSITION.

A Psalm of David, for the vintage. -We consider this as an evening or midit hymn, in which the psalmist, overwhelmed with the brilliant glories of an eastern sky, is led to reflect upon the comparative littleness and insignificance of man and of himself, though king of Israel. It is not necessary to suppose David acquainted with the modern system of astroomy, to account for his humiliating views. Supposing the golden orbs, which he sureye, to be only floating meteors, their brilliancy and beauty, and especially that of the moon, might well command his admiration. Man is mean and little, compared with the globe which he inhabits, Bach more compared with the vaulted skies around him-well might he, therefore say, "Lord, what is man that thou art dful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?"

From the title of this psalm, we think A Lighly probable that it was composed for the time of vintage, which we know was a time of great rejoicing, in which not only

the young people, but the children also, joined in praising God for the bounties of his providence; which marked Israel, under that dispensation, as the chosen people of God, and was calculated to silence the reproaches of their enemies. This circumstauce may account for our Lord's application to himself of the hosannahs of the Jewish children, Matt. xxi. 16.

The New Testament, however, gives us another and widely different view of human nature. Adam fell aud lost his prerogative of supremacy, and in fact, his all: but a second Adam has been appointed to supersede the former; and not only to restore, but to raise our nature to higher honour and felicity than his predecessor lost. This second Adam, this "Lord from heaven," whose peculiar character is that of Son of Man, has been for "a little while" made lower than the angels, to the end that he might, in his own person, exalt human nature far above them; and herein is a display of the divine power and goodness that may well excite our admiration and our praise: "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

NOTES.

PSALM VIIL Title,-Upon Gittith. Some have pposed this to be a musical instrument, which and brought from Gath, where he long resided: the Chaldee paraphrase; and if this be correct, it doubtless a stringed instrument, as it does not Ar that David played on any other. But Gath

50 a wine press; and the LXX understand this Che intimating that it was composed for the time stage, with which the purport of the psalm very Trees, as it is a thanksgiving to God for the of his providence

O LORD our Lord-The first word here LoSD, in capitals, is JEHOVAH, the second Adenai, Governor, or Master. 1.2. Ordained-Heb. " Founded" strength. The Jews considered the divine ordination as the Ashton of all strength.-That thou mightest

solle. suence) the enemy and the avenger. Ye A little lower-The Hebrew, (says Mr.

Ainsworth) means either "a little while," or "a little deal," in both which senses it is used in Ps. xxxvii. 10, 16. Bishop Horsley renders it, “Thou hast somewhat abased him incomparison of angels." Dr. J. P. Smith, "Thou hast reduced him a little below the angels; the Heb. thus translated is Elohim, the gods; which is explained of angels, not only by the Greek and Chaldee, but also by the apostle to the Hebrews, chap. ii. 7, 9.

Ver. 7. All sheep and oxen-Heb. "Flocks and oxen, (or cattle) all of them."

PLALM IX. Title,-Upon the death of Labben.~ -Among the great variety of interpretations here given, we shall name a few only. 1. We have no idea that any of these Hebrew terms refer to hymn tunes. The Hebrews had no musical characters, nor any metrical tunes, like modern psalmody.

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I will sing praise to thy name, O thou people his doings. most High.

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

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

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

ever.

6 0 thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

7 But the LORD shall endure for ever he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

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

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

trouble.

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

11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the

PSALM IX.

[for victory.

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

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

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

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

16 The Lo n D is known by the judgment which he executeth : the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

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

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

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

20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (I)

EXPOSITION.

(1) A Psalm of David-in thanksgiving for victory.-There seems no doubt but this was a song of triumph and thanksgiving for a signal victory over some pow

erful pagan adversary, whose object seems to have been the overthrow of the Jewish church and state. David, however, piously attributes his victory to divine interference, and thanks his deliverer for rescuing him from the gates of death, which had probably

NOTES-Psalm IX. Con.

Their hymns were all chaunted, as already remarked. 2. We do not conceive Labben to be Goliath: internal evidence is strong to the contrary. This psalm must have been composed after David laid claim to the crown, ver. 4.-after he had taken Zion, ver. il; and the conquest here referred to, was in defence of his throne and his religion ; ver. 4, 5. Ben signifies a son, and the Chaldee so here explains it; but David's feelings on the death of his son Absalom were very different from those of joy and triumph. Farther, Labben sigmbies white; and it is very possible that the fallen chieftain bere meant, may have been named the white prince, perhaps from wearing a remarkable white feather, just as one of our English princes was called the black prince, from the colour of his armour.

Ver. 4. Thou hast maintained-Heb. "Thou hast made my judgment;" i, e. given judgment.Judg ing right-Heb. " In righteousness."

Ver. 6. O thou enemy-Bishop Lowth reads, "Destructions have consumed the enemy for ever; and

as to the cities which thou (O God) hast destroyed,
their memory is perished with them." This nearly
corresponds with the margin of our common Bibles,
but isclearer.

Ver. 9. A refuge-Heb. "A high place."
Ver. 12. Humble-Marg. "Aflicted."

Ver. 13. The gates of death.-The invisible world is constantly represented in the Scriptures as a place of confinement, having gates and bars, Job xvii. 15, xxxviii. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 10.

Ver. 16. Higgaion-is generally allowed to mean, as in the margin, "a meditation." As we have sup posed Seluk (Ps. iii.) to answer in some respects to hold in our music, it is probable that the pious Israelites were here required seriously to meditate during this musical panse.

Ver. 17. Turned into hell.-The place of future punishment; not the grave, nor the state of death merely; for this is equally true of the righteous as of the wicked.

IL

A Prayer]

PSALM X.

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doth he murder the innocent: his
eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a

WHY standest thou afar off, Olion in his den: he lieth in wait to
LORD? why hidest thou thyself
in times of trouble?

2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. 3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetsus, whom the LORD abhorreth.

4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he peth at them.

6 He hath said in his heart, I shall ot be moved : for I shall never be in adversity.

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

8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages in the secret places

catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his

net.

10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his

strong ones.

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

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

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

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

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 The LORD is King for ever and

EXPOSITION.

closed many both of his enemies and friends; and determines, in consequence of being so spared, that he will enter the rates of the daughter of Zion, and worship mong her children.

We have reason to bless God that we live in times of peace, and in a land that has long been exempted from the miseries

war. But all true Christians have enemies, if not externally, yet in their own sos; against these enemies they have turn thanks for every victory obtained fed, most earnestly, to pray, and to re

ver them.

The church of God also, as a body, have

their enemies, and will always be liable t suffer from the hostilities both of infidels and wicked men and though, under the Christian dispensation, we are forbidden to pray for the destruction of our enemies, there is nothing unchristian in praying that they may be made sensible of their frailty and bumbled before their Maker and their Judge, and thereby be prevented from showing their enmity against the people and the cause of God.

NOTES.

PSALM X. The LXX have united this psalm to the preceding, for which we know no reason, except test it has no distinct title; but this alteration makes adference in the numbering, till we come to the 47th palm, which is divided into two, and makes de fral number right. Father Calmet, Dr. Grey, posed daring the time of the Babylonish captivity; Bubop Horne, suppose it to have been com. there is no certainty of this.

V3 Heart's (Heb. "soul's) desire, and bless A-Marg. "The covetous blesseth (himself);

rreth the Lord."

A God is not in all his thoughts---Marg. As thoughts are, there is no God." Vet. Never be in adversity-Heb. Not unto encration and generation.”

"Rise, great Redeemer, from thy seat, To judge and save the poor; Let nations tremble at thy feet,

And man prevail no more."-Watts.

Ver. 7, Vanity---Marg. "Iniquity.” Ver. 2. His eyes are privily set --- Heb. "Hide themselves;" i. e. to watch for the poor.

Ver.9. Secretly---Heb. "In secret places." Ver. 10. He croucheth Heb. "breaketh," or rather, bendeth himself, as a wild beast crouches down to spring at his prey. By his strong ones--Marg. "Into his strong parts;" i. e. into his paws. Ainsworth.

Ver. 12. The humble---Marg. “Afflicted.” Ver. 14. Committeth himself (Heb. " cleaveth ") unto thee.

Ver. 15. Break thou the arm---' ---That is, the power

of the wicked.

Ver. 17. Prepare (Marg. "establish ") their heart.

Confidence]

PSALMS.

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[in God. upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

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

4 The LoRD is in his holy temple, an the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

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

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

7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright. (L)

EXPOSITION. *

(K) A Prayer for deliverance from atheistical and cruel enemies.-This psalm having no title, it is in vain to guess at either its author or occasion. Bishop Horsley calls it "a supplication in behalf of certain helpless people cruelly persecuted by a powerful enemy; who, renouncing all fear of God and regard of men, uses both force and deceit as means of oppression." The heathen formerly, as well as at present, were divisible into two classes; the one extremely ignorant and superstitious-the other more enlightened, as to general knowledge, but atheistical and profane. Persecutors may be found in both classes; the one jealous for their favourite superstition-the other rejecting superstition, and with it all religious worship; the true God as well as idols. The Lord Jehovah is, however, the universal sovereign. He will punish impenitent sinners of every class. At the same time, he hears the desire of the humble, before that desire is expressed in words; and will never fail to answer the prayer which his spirit teaches them to offer.

God will" prepare their hearts to pray,
And cause his ear to hear;
He bearkens what his children say,
And puts the world in fear."

PSALM XI.

Watts.

(L) A Psalm of David, expressive of his confidence in God.-Whether this was writ

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"As the choicest of heavenly blessings (says Bishop Horne) are frequently in scripture represented by the salutary effects of wine, a cup of which the master of the family is supposed to hold in his hand, ready to distribute due portions of it to those around him; so, from the noxious and intoxicating qualities of that liquor, when drunk strong, and in too large a quantity, is borrowed a most tremendous image of the wrath and indignation of Almighty God. Calamity and sorrow, fear and trembling, infatuation and despair, the evils of the present life, and of that which is to come, are the bitter ingredients which compose this most horrible cup of mixture. It is entirely in the hand and disposal of God, who, through every age, has been pouring out its contents, more or less, in proportion to the sins of men. But much of the strength and power of the liquor still remains behind, until the day

NOTES.

PSALM XI. Ver. 2. Privily shoot - Marg. "Shoot in darkness."

Ver. 3. If the foundations---Heb. "For the foundations are cast down." ... The just, what hath bhe done?" Ainsworth,

Ver. 6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, &c. -Bishop Lowth renders this verse,

He shall rain live coals upon the ungodly, Fire, and sulphur, and a burning storm; This shall be the contents of their cup."

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