titudes of their countrymen in sight of the besieged, did in a wonderful manner "reprove them, and set before them the things which they had done." The day of judgment will do this to all sinners, if temporal chastisements effect it not, before that day shall

come.

22. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

The stupendous desolation of Jerusalem, for rejecting so kind an admonition of her Saviour, and suffering him to weep over her in vain, should, in a most powerful manner, enforce that admonition on the inhabitants of Christendom, to prevent its falling, after the same example of unbelief.

23. Whoso offereth me praise, glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God. This verse resumes and repeats the conclusion intended, by the whole Psalm, concerning the Jewish and the Christian worship; and St. Paul, in the place above cited, affords us a complete comment upon it: "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; nor is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God."

PSALM LI.

ARGUMENT.

cy, which rejoiceth to relieve that misery. The riches, the power, and the glory of a kingdom, can neither prevent nor remove the torment of sin, which puts the monarch and the beggar upon a level. Every transgression leaves behind it a guilt, and a stain; the account between God and the sinner is crossed by the blood of the great propitiatory sacrifice, which removes the former; and the soul is cleansed by the Holy Spirit, which takes out the latter.

2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

The soul that is sensible of her pollution, fears she can never be sufficiently purified from it; and therefore prays, yet again and again, continually, for more abundant grace, to make and to keep her holy.

3. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

The penitent's second plea for mercy is, that he doth not deny, excuse or palliate his fault, but confesses it openly and honestly, with all its aggravations, truly alleging, that it haunts him night and day, causing his conscience incessantly to reproach him with his base ingratitude to a good and gracious Father.

4. Against, or, to, thee, the only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest, or, therefore thou wilt, be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

A third reason why the penitent sues for mercy at the hand of God is because God alone In this Psalm, composed upon a sad occasion, certainly knows, and is always able to punish, but too well known, we have a perfect the sins of men. David sinned "against " model of penitential devotion. The royal many; as against Uriah, whom he slew; supplicant, robed in sackcloth, and crowned against Bathsheba, whom he corrupted; and with ashes, entreats for mercy, 1, 2, from against all the people, to whom he became a consideration of his own misery, and of the cause of much offence and scandal. But the divine goodness; 3, from that of his the sin was committed in secret; and if it had confession, 4, of God's sole right to judge not been so, he, as king, had no superior, or him; 5, laments the corruption of his na- judge, in this matter, but God only; who, beture; but, 6, without pleading it as an ex-ing able to convict the offender, as he did, by cuse; 7, prays for Gospel remission, in legal terms; 8, for spiritual joy and comfort; 9, 10, for pardoning and cleansing grace; 11, 12, for strength and perseverance, that he may, 13, instruct and convert others; 14, 15, deprecates the vengeance due to blood; 16, 17, beseeches God to accept an evangelical sacrifice; and, 18, 19, concludes with a prayer for the church.

1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

the prophet Nathan, would assuredly be justified in the sentence he should pronounce. And he will appear to be so in his determinations at the last day, when he will surprise the wretched unthinking sinner, with a declaration similar to that which he made by his prophet, to the royal offender, 2 Sam. xii. 12. "Thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun."

5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The divine mercy is implored by the penitent, fourthly, because that alone can dry up the fountain of original corruption, from The penitent's first ground for hope of par- which the streams of actual transgression dedon, is his own misery, and the divine mer-rive themselves; and which is here only la

mented as their cause, not alleged as their ex- | decayed through sorrow and anguish, is comcuse; seeing, that the greater our danger is of pared to setting broken bones, and restoring falling, the greater should be our care to stand. them again to perfect strength. At the reDavid was the offspring of the marriage-bed, surrection of the body, this petition will be which is declared to be "honorable and un- granted in a literal sense, when the "bones,” defiled." No more, therefore, can be intend- that are mouldered into dust, shall "rejoice," ed here, than that a creature begotten by a and flourish as "an herb." Isai. lxvi. 14. sinner, and formed in the womb of a sinner, cannot be without that taint which is hereditary to every son and daughter of Adam and Eve.*

6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward part, Heb. the reins: and in the hidden part thou shalt make, or, hast made, me know wisdom.

9. Hide thy face from my sins; and blot out all mine iniquities.

The soul, still restless and uneasy, reiterates her request, that God would not only cease to behold her iniquity for the present, as a man who turneth away his face from a writing, but that he would not behold it more, as a man who blotteth out what is written, so that it can never be read again.

10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right, or, constant, spirit within

The force of "Behold," is-"It is too plain; I feel it but too sensibly; the punishment I suffer is evidence sufficient, that thou are not contented with a superficial appear-me. ance of goodness: thou lovest truth and sincerity in the bottom of the heart. This God was now teaching him, by the correction he made him suffer. The punishment inflicted tended to give him a right understanding of things, and to work it deep into him. MUDGE. 7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than

snow.

The purification and renovation of the heart and spirit of a man is a work to which that power only is equal which, in the beginning, created all things, and, in the end, will create all things new. "A right spirit is renewed within us," when the affections turn from the world to God, and charity takes the place of concupiscence.

11. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not the holy Spirit from me.

12. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free, or, princely, or,

He therefore petitioneth, in this verse, for the purification which cometh from God only, The soul that is truly penitent, dreads noththrough the one great propitiatory sacrifice, ing but the thought of being rejected from the by the Holy Spirit; and which was fore- "presence," and deserted by the "Spirit" of shown, under the law, by the ceremony of God. This is the most deplorable and irresprinkling the unclean person with a bunch mediable effect of sin; but it is one, that in of "hyssop," dipped in the "water of sepa-general perhaps is the least considered and ration." This rite is described, Numb. xix., regarded of all others. and explained, Heb. ix. 13, 14. "If the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the puri-liberal, Spirit. fying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of CHRIST, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!" From the latter part of the verse we learn, that, by grace and mercy, the pardoned penitent is arrayed in garments no less pure and splendid than those of innocence itself.

8. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Next to the blessing of forgiveness, is to be desired that joy and comfort in the conscience which forgiveness only can inspire: the effect of this, in repairing the vigor of the spirit,

And so much must surely be intended, as the the learned Bossuet observeth-Numquid David de adulterio natus erat? De Jesse viro justo natus erat, et conjuge ipsius. Quid ergo se dicit in iniquitate conceptum, nisi quia suscepti personam humani generis, et attendit omnium vincula, propaginem mortis originem iniquitatis advertit?

David prayeth to God to restore to him the unspeakable joy of that salvation which, as a prophet, he had so often contemplated, and celebrated in his divine compositions; he prayeth also to be preserved and continued in that state of salvation, by the Spirit of God, which might enable him to act as became a prophet and a king, free from base desires and enslaving lusts.

13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

He that would employ his abilities, his influence, and his authority, in the reformation of others, must take care to reform himself, before he enters upon the work. "When thou art converted," said Christ to St. Peter, "strengthen thy brethren:" Luke xxii. 32. The history of David has "taught" us many useful lessons; such as, the frailty of man, the danger of temptation, the torment of sin, the nature and efficacy of repentance, the

mercy and the judgments of God, &c. &c. by which many "sinners" have in all ages since been "converted," and many more will be converted, so long as the Scriptures shall be read, and the 51st Psalm recited in the church.

14. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteous

ness.

The unhappy criminal entreats, in this verse, for the divine help and deliverance, as if he not only heard the voice of innocent blood crying from the ground, but as if he saw the murdered Uriah coming upon him for vengeance, like an armed man. If he can but obtain the pardon of this sin, he promises to publish to all the world the righteousness of God, who justifieth sinners, and showeth mercy to the penitent; though he must, at the same time, publish likewise his own heinous and horrid wickedness.

15. O LORD, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

The mouth which sin hath closed, can only be opened by pardon; and to show this, he who came, conferring pardon, caused the tongue of the dumb to speak, and to sing praises to the Lord God of Israel. Our church, with great propriety, daily maketh her prayer in the words of this verse, before she entereth upon that part of her service, which consisteth of praise and thanksgiving.

16. For thou desirest not sacrifice, e'se would I give it; thou delightest not in burnt offerings. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.

David, in this Psalm, is so evangelical, and has his thoughts so fixed upon Gospel remission, that he considers the Levitical sacrifices as already abolished, for their insufficiency to take away sin; affirming them to be (as indeed they were) nothing in the sight of God, if compared with the sacrifice of the body of sin, offered by contrition and mortification, through faith in Him who, in the fulness of time, was to die unto sin once, that we, together with him, might forever live unto God.

18. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

man, especially if he be placed in any exalted station, ecclesiastical or civil, that no sins by him committed, may any way prejudice others, or obstruct the edification of the church.

19. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousnesss, with burnt offering, and whole burnt offering; then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

This had its literal accomplishment, when Jerusalem was finished; when the temple was erected on Mount Sion; and when the Lord graciously vouchsafed to accept the sacrifices, there offered on his holy altars, by king Solomon, at the head of his faithful and devout people. It is spiritually true in the Christian church, where the substance of all the Mosaic types and shadows is offered and presented to the Father, by the Prince of Peace, at the head of the Israel of God. And it will be eternally verified in the kingdom of heaven, where the sacrifices of righteousness and love, of praise and thanksgiving, will never cease to be offered to him that sitteth on the throne, by the church triumphant in glory.

PSALM LII.

ARGUMENT.

In the person of Doeg the Edomite, who
was the persecutor of David, aud the mur-
derer of the priests, are described, 1-4,
the enemies of the truth and the church in
all
ages; whose utter destruction from the
presence of the Lord is foretold, 5, with
the exultation of the righteous over them,
6,7; these last rejoice, 8, in the flourish-
ing state under grace, 9, in hope of future
glory, through faith and patience.

1. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually.

"The Psalmist thought it strange," says the pious and ingenious Norris, "that any man should value himself for being able to do mischief, when God esteemed it his glory to do good." In vain did Doeg the Edomite boast himself, in the mischief he had done, by massacring the innocent priests and their families; since "the goodness of God," which is "unchangeable," had decreed the The king forgets not to ask mercy for his preservation of David. As vainly did Herod, people, as well as for himself; that so neither the Idumean, or Edomite, glory in the his own nor their sins might prevent either slaughter of the Bethlemitish infants, since the building and flourishing of the earthly heaven had determined, that the child Jesus Jerusalem, or, what was of infinitely greater should not be one of the number. A perseimportance, the promised blessing of MESSIAH, cution may produce martyrs; but the gates of who was to descend from him, and to rear hell are never to prevail against the church. the walls of the new Jerusalem. And thus 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a it ought to be the fervent prayer of every sharp razor working deceitfully.

The mischief done to religion by men of Doeg's turn, is done by the tongue, before it is done by the hand; it is planned leisurely, and executed speedily and deceitfully.*

3, Thou lovest evil more than good: and lying rather than to speak righteousness. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

As the Christian spirit delighteth itself in goodness, truth, and charity, so the antichristian spirit is here characterised by its offending, not out of ignorance, or inadvertence, but mere love of wickedness, falsehood, and malice. To this pitch many have arrived; and who, that enters upon a course of sin, can say, that he shall stop short of it?

5. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever; he shall cast thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living.

Wonderful is the force of the verbs in the original, which convey to us the four ideas of "laying prostrate, dissolving as by fire, sweeping away as with a besom, and totally extirpating root and branch," as a tree is eradicated from the spot on which it grew. If a farther comment be wanted, it may be found in the history of David's enemies, and the crucifiers of the Son of David: but the passage will be fully and finally explained by the destruction of the world of the ungodly at the last day.

6. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him saying, 7. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

Such shall be the triumph of Messiah, and of all his faithful servants with him, over the enemies of man's salvation, at that hour, when, the world being in flames, the confidence that hath been placed in it, must perish for ever

more.

8. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I will trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

The representative of Messiah portrays himself, as the reverse of Doeg and the wicked, in terms applicable likewise to his great original. He was in the house of God, they were in the world; he was as a fruitful olive tree, they were as barren unprofitable wood; he was to be daily more and more

"Sicut novacula acuta"-quæ cum tangere leniter et tantum radere videretur, alte infigitur, ac velut blandiendi specie vulnerat: ita Doeg cum Achimelech in tabernaculo Domini amicitiæ pietatisque specie versatus, fœdo indicio viros optimos prodigit. Reg. xxi. 7, xxii. 9. BossUET. So MUDGE" Working treacherously," that is, Thy tongue is like a sharp razor, that cuts one's throat before one is aware of it.

PSAL. 54.

strengthened, established, settled, and increased; they were to be cast down, broken, swept away, and extirpated; and all this, because the abundance of their riches. We Gentiles he had trusted in the mercy of God, they in were branches of the "wild olive," but are now grafted into the good one: Lord, make "courts," world without end! us to flourish and bear fruit, in thy immortal

hast done it; and I will wait on thy nume, 9. I will praise thee for ever, because thou for it is good* before thy saints.

day of victory and triumph; in the mean Faith foresees salvation, and anticipates the time, while she waiteth patiently for its comwith frequent meditation on the virtue and ing, she refresheth and comforteth herself power of that saving "name," which is "as ointment pored forth;" by the fragrance of converts to run after their beloved Redeemer, its odors inviting and alluring innumerable in the way of his commandments.

TENTH DAY.-EVENING PRAYER.
PSALM LIII.

THIS Psalm is in a manner the same with
Psalm xiv. except that there is some dif-
ference in ver. 5, for which, as well as for
the explanation of the whole, the reader is
referred to the comment on Psalm xiv.

PSALM LIV.

ARGUMENT.

DAVID, as it has been supposed when betrayed by the Ziphites, and surrounded by Saul, 1, 2, committeth his cause, and preferreth his prayer, to God; 3, complaineth of his cruel treatment; 4, 5, expresseth his assurance of the divine favour, and the destruction of his enemies. 6, 7, Being delivered from his danger, he blesseth and praiseth God. See the history, 1 Sam. xxiii. The application to Christ, and to Christians, is plain and easy; for which reason, our church hath appointed this Psalm to be read on Good Friday.

me by thy strength. 2. Har my prayer, O 1. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

trouble, the "name of the Lord is a strong
Happy the man, to whom, in the day of
Prov. xviii. 10. Happy the man, that can,
tower," into which "he runneth, and is safe :"
with an holy confidence, commit his cause to
the judgment and determination of God, and

ance, it looks well before the friends of God, to see
*It is a "goodly thing," it carries a good appear-
me praising him, and putting my trust in him.

MUDGE.

expect redress from the Almighty. His of all my trouble, and mine eye hath looked prayer mounteth up to Heaven, and returneth upon mine enemies."

3. For strangers are risen up aginst me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them.

The Ziphites, though David's countrymen, acted the part of "stangers," or 66 aliens,” in seeking to deliver him up to his unjust and cruel enemy. Such a part did the whole Jewish nation act towards their anointed Prince and Saviour, when they actually delivered him over to the Roman power. And the church frequently meeteth with such treatment at the hands of her children, as she had reason to expect only from strangers to the covenant of promise." Something like this always happens, when men, instead of setting God, set the world before their eyes.