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5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

PSALM XIX.

[of God's word.

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EXPOSITION.

(U) To the chief musician. A Psalm of David, on the works and word of God.-As the 8th psalm describes the beauties of a midnight scene, this celebrates the glories of an unclouded eastern day. "Day unto day, and night unto night," in perpetual succession, declare the glory of their Creator; and though their instructions are conveyed in silence, and no sound is heard, yet those instructions are universally understood, and equally intelligible in all nations. "Their line (or sound) is gone out through all the earth," &c. that is, the instructions they are intended to convey, as to the being and power, wisdom and goodness of the Creator, are seen without letters, and heard without sound, because they speak not to the eye or the ear only, but to the heart.

"In them," (says the Psalmist) that is, in the visible heavens, "hath he set a tabernacle for the sun," which is here compared to "a bridegroom" coming "out of his chamber" on the bridal morning; or to." a giant prepared to run a race.' Such is the diffusion of divine truth, and such the extent of its powerful influence, as displayed in the following verses. The

law of God here spoken of, though it always includes "the preceptive parts of Scripture, is seldom confined to them; but includes"the doctrine,” (as in the margin) and in short the whole of divine revelation, every part of which is occasionally employed by the Holy Spirit in the conversion of the soul of man, or in restoring it to God, from whom it has miserably departed.

David follows his eulogy on the word of God with a prayer for renewing and re straining grace; the latter, as Bishop Horne expresses it, "to keep him back from " presumptuous sins," or sins committed knowingly, deliberately, and with a high hand, against the convictions and remonstrances of conscience. "The Rabbins (as did Moses himself) distinguish all sins into those committed ignorantly and presumptuously: "the former we consider here intended by "secret faults," as forming a contrast to the latter. (See Levit. iv. 2,3; Num. xv. 30.) And by the great transgression, commentators understand either idolatry or apostacy, which, indeed, as respected the ancient Jews, was the same thing; for whenever they apostatized from Jehovah, they became idolaters. He that would avoid great sins, must beware of little ones.

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"Truth." The and, in Italic, is better omitted, as by Ainsworth and Lowth, just altogether." Ver. 10. The honeycomb-11eb. The dropping of honeycombs."

Ver 13. Presumptuous sins - Literally, swelling sin; as pride, haughtiness, tyranny.

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3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Selah. 4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.

5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.

6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call. (X)

PSALM XXI.

To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. THE king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

PSALM XX.

[the king.

2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

5 His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

6 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

7 For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

8 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. 10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy

EXPOSITION.

(X) To the chief musician. A Psalm of David, after he became king, containing the prayer of the Hebrew church on his behalf. This is a loyal as well as a devotional psalm. It is evidently intended to express the attachment of Israel, and particularly of Judah, to David's government, and may very properly be applied to David's Son and Lord, the King of Zion, interpreting only Old Testament types according to the apostolical examples. The sixth verse seems to be the language of David himself, who, contemplating the pious petitions offered on his behalf, says, "Now know 1," seeing the Lord's people are stirred up to prayer for me, and for my success"Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed!" In the following

verses, David and his subjects unite in the same petitions, and conclude with an hosanna, or prayer for salvation, which, as it was offered to our Saviour while on earth, peculiarly belongs to him. "Thus (says Bishop Horne) the psalm concludes with a general hosanna' of the church, praying for the prosperity and success of the then future Messiah, and for her own salvation in him, her king; who, from the grave and gate of death, was, for this end, to be exalted to the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, that he might hear, and present to his Father, the prayers of his people, when they call upon him.'"

NOTES.

PSALM XX. Ver. 1. Defend thee-Heb. "Set thee on a high place;" i. e. a place of defence. Ver. 3. Accept (Heb." turn to ashes") thy burnt offerings.

Ver. 5. We will set up our banners." The sense is, We will take the field against our enemies, in sull reliance upon God's assistance." Bishop Horsley.

Ver. 6. From his holy heaven, &c.-Heb. " From the heaven of his holiness, by the strength of the salvation of his right band."

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Ver. 7. Some trust, &c.-Bishop Lowth renders this verse,

"These in chariots, and those in horses; But we in the name of Jehovah our God will be strong."

PSALM XXI. Ver. 2. Selah. See Ps. iii. 2. Ver. 6. Made him most blesse1-Heb. "Set him to be blessings.Exceeding glad-Heb. "Gladdened him with joy."

Ver. 9. As a fiery oven.--Dr. Kennicott, on the

Messiah's]

PSALMS.

[prayer

from the earth, and their seed from far from helping me, and from the among the children of men. words of my roaring?

11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.

13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power. (Y)

PSALM XXII.

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar. A Psalm of David.

2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

7 All they that see me, laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they MY God, my God, why hast thou shake the head, saying,

forsaken me? why art thou so

PSALM XXI.

8 He trusted on the LORD that he

EXPOSITION.

(Y) A Psalm of David.-Bishop Horsley divides this psalm into two parts. "The first part, consisting of the first seven verses, (he remarks) is addressed to a certain king. The second part, beginning with the eighth and ending with the twelfth verse, is addressed to that king, assuring him of success and triumph over his enemies, as the reward of his trust in God. The thirteenth verse closes the whole song with a prayer to God, to exert his power for the speedy destruction of his enemies." The king here referred to, the Bishop, in harmony with the Chaldee paraphrast, explains of the king Messiah. There seems no necessity, however, wholly to exclude the type. When God blessed

Abraham, he was made a blessing, and so David; and this, indeed, is God's method of blessing mankind. Israel were blessed for the fathers' sakes, and we are blessed for Christ's sake. (Rom. xi. 28; Ephes. iv. 32.)

"The church concludes with a joyful acclamation to her Redeemer, wishing for his exaltation in his own strength as God, who was to be abased in much weakness as man. We still continue to wish and pray for his exaltation over sin, in the hearts of his people by grace, and finally over death, in their bodies, by his glorious power at the resurrection." Bishop Horne.

NOTES.

authority of three or four MSS, would read, " Thou shalt put them is a fiery furnace." But Bishop Horsley says, “The common reading seems preferable. It describes the smoke of the Messiah's enemies perishing by fire, ascending like the smoke of a furnace." See Rev. xiv. 11.

Ver. 10. Their fruit-That is, their children. Ps. cxxvii. 3.

Ver. 12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their backs-Marg "Thou shalt set them as a butt." So Ainsworth. Horsley, &c. See Job vii. 20.—xvi. 12; Lam. ii. 12.

PSALM XXII. Title,-To the chief Musician

upon Aijeleth Shahar. We have not the least idea that this psalm has reference to any musical instrument or tune, for in none of these titles is any known instrument mentioned, only the different bands of wind or stringed instruments. The Margin explains the Hebrew words Aijeleth Shahar to mean, "the hind of the morning," with which agree Ainsworth, Patrick, and many others, who compare the illustrious subject of this psalm to a hind hunted by dogs (see ver. 16, 20.) in the mornis, the usual time for hunting. Some Rabbins,

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however, translate these words, "the morning star;" and Bishop Chandler tells us that Ayelta is the name of Venus among the Arabs; and this name, "the morning star," is, we know, applied to our Saviour by St. John, in Rev. xxii. 16. But we prefer the former interpretation.

Such titles of poetical compositions are, we know, quite in the Eastern taste. One of the most celebrated Persian poems is called "the Bed of Roses;' another," the Garden of Knowledge;" and certain celebrated Arabian works are called, "Fragrant Plants," Approved Butter," "Pure Gold,” “The Lion of the Forest," "The Bright Star," &c. &c. See Oriental Literat. No. 755. Rev. T. H. Horne's Introd. vol. ii. p. 165. (Very similar was the taste of authors in our own country, in the 16th century.) See also the titles of the 15th, 6th, 60th, and 80th Psalmis.

Ver. 1. From helping me-Heb. "From my salvation. From my roaring.-The word is ap plied to the roaring of a lion, (Amos iii. 8, and else where) and we learn from St. Matthew, (ch, xxvii. 46, 47.) that when Jesus uttered the preceding words, it was with a loud voice, and in great agony. (Heb. v. 7.)

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would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God ever since I was born.

11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet.

17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

[sufferings.

19 But be not thou far from me, LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

26 The meek shall eat and be satisthey shall praise the LORD that him: your heart shall live for

fied

seek

ever.

27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

NOTES..

Ver. 2. Am not silent-Heb. "There is no silence for me;" i. e. no interval of rest, or ease.

Ver.3. Inhabitest the praises, &c.-That is, that dwellest in the temple, where praises are perpetually

sung.

Ver.6. A worm-A maggot; implying excessive weakness in himself, and contempt from others, as in the verse following.

Ver. 8. He trusted (Heb. "he rolled himself") on the Lord-A Hebrew phrase, expressing faith and confidence; but used here in ridicule.Seeing he delighted-Or, "If he delighteth in him." See Matt. xxvii. 43.

Ver. 9. Thou didst make me hope-Marg. " Keepest me in safety."

Ver. 10. Ever since I was born.-These words are borrowed from the Version in the Common Prayer Book; the Bible translation, "from my mother's belly," being not only indelicate, but also irreverent, in speaking of the mother of our Lord.

Ver. 11. None to help-Heb. "No helper." Ver. 12. Strong (bulls) of Bashan - A country famous for cattle and sheep. Deut. xxxii. 14, 15; Amos iv. 1.

Ver. 13. They gaped upon me-Heb, “Opened their mouths against me."

Ver. 14. I am poured out. This describes a state of extreme lassitude and weakness.

Ver. 16. Dogs have compassed me.-Dogs in the

East are not domesticated as with us. See Note on Exod. xi. 7; they are therefore furious and dangerous. See Orient. Lit. No. 757.

Ver. 17. Tell all my bones.-The body of our Lord, being distended by crucifixion Le Clerc. They look and stare--Who? It is generally supposed his enemies are here referred to; but may not the bones themselves, by a bold prosopopaia, be intended? Is it not often said, of a person in the last stage of consumption, that his bones stare through the skin?

Ver. 20. My darling-Heb. " only one;" i. e. my life. See Ps. xxxv. 17.-From the power-Heb. "From the hand;" i. e. the paw of the dog, ready to tear the sufferer to pieces.

Ver. 21. For thou hast heard me.-This is unhap. pily transposed, contrary to the order of the original. Ainsworth reads literally," from the horns of the unicorns, thou hast answered me." Bishop Horne renders it," From the horne, &c. hear thou me." But Bishop Horsley's conjecture, given in our Expesition, removes all the obscurity.

Ver. 29. All they that be fat-That is, says Ainsworth," the rich and mighty. fat with plenty." See Isa. Ix. 1-10; Rev. xxi. 24. If so, the following sentence refers to the poor and wretched, None (of whom) can keep alive his own soulThat is, the poor as well as rich shall bow before him. But see Exposition.

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PSALM XXII.

[our shepherd.

PSALM XXIII.

A Psalm of David.

THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall

not want.

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

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

4 Yea, though I walk through the

EXPOSITION.

(Z) A Psalm of David.-Our Lord is here set forth, as Bishop Horne remarks, under the image of a hind (or bart) roused early in the morning of his mortal life, chased all the day, and, in the evening of that day, hunted to the death. This psalm appears to belong exclusively to the Mes siah, several passages not meeting the circumstances of David, whose garments were not parted by lot; whose hands and feet were never pierced, &c. Dr. Kennicott (with many others) divides this psalm into two parts-a prayer and thanksgiving. The first sentence of the former was uttered by our Saviour on the cross in an agony of distress, and with a voice so loud, that it is here compared to the roaring of a lion: a cry so strong and agonizing as to be indistinct, which accounts for its being misunderstood by the by-standers, some of whom supposed he was calling for Elias. The other circumstances herewith connected, imply a state of extreme lassitude, weakness, and fatigue, previous to the execution of our Lord, in consequence of which he fainted in carrying his cross; and the peculiarity of his death by crucifixion, which was not a Jewish, but a Roman punishment, is here pointed out by the "piercing of his hands and feet, and the parting of his garments;" but the casting lots for his vesture was still more singular, and occurred perhaps in no other instance. (Compare Matt. xxvii. 35, and John xix. 23, 24.)

The twenty-first verse, which concludes the petitionary part of the psalm, is obscure and difficult, (as may be seen in our note subjoined :) but Bishop Horsiey has a very ingenious conjecture, which removes the difficulty without violence to the text. By restoring the words to the order of the

Hebrew original, he divides the verse thus

"Save me from the mouth of the lion,
And from the horns of the unicorns :-
PART II.

-Thou hast answered me.

I will declare," &c. And then the psalmist proceeds (according to Bishop Lowth's idea) with the hymn of praise here referred to. This second part of the psalm expresses Messiah's triumph after his resurrection, the universal spread of his gospel among the rich and the poor-those who are fattened like the bulls of Bashan, and those, who, for poverty and distress, can scarcely keep life in them all, that is, many of both classes shall submit, and become "a seed to serve him," even the generation of the righteous.

On the authority of the Septuagint, and some of Kennicott's Hebrew manuscripts, Bishop Louth disjoins the last member of the twenty-ninth verse, in a manner simi lar to the above correction of Bishop Horsley on ver. 21; and, by a very slight departure from the present edition of the Hebrew Bible, reads as follows, ver.35:

"But my soul shall live to him; my seed shall It shall be accounted," &e.

serve him:

With this correction, agree Bishop Horsley and others, and it is mentioned by Bishop Horne without censure.

The two great points to be considered by us in this psalm, are, 1. The extreme sufferings of the Son of God for our sins, which ought to humble us at his feet with gratitude and with shame; and, 2. The blessed consequences resulting to mankind from his death and resurrection, which call upon us for the most animated praises, and the utmost devotion to his service.

NOTES.

PSALM XXIJI. Ver. 2. In green pastures-Heb. "Pastures of tender grass." Beside the still waters-Heb. "Waters of quietness, or stillness;" 1. a gently purling stream.

Ver. 3. He restoreth my soul-from backsliding; See as a wandering sheep from the mountains. Luke xv. 4, 5.

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