8 Sion heard of it, and re- souls (y) of his saints; he shall joiced : and the daughters of deliver them from the hand of the Judah were glad, because of thy ungodly. judgements, o Lord.

u There is sprung up a light 9 For thou, Lord, art higher for the righteous : and joyful than all that are in the earth : gladness for such as are true thou art exalted far above all hearted. gods.

1. Rejoice in the Lord, se 10 Oye that love the Lord, righteous : and give thanks fra see that ye hate the thing which remembrance (z) of his holis is evil : the Lord preserveth the

Lessons for the Nineteenth Day of the Month throughout the rear.

March 19.

April 19.

January 19.

February 19.
Morn. Gen. xxxv. Morn. Numb.xxvii. Morn.Judges vi.
Matt. xvii.

Luke ii. (2) John vi. (3)
Even. Gen. xxxvii. Even. Numb. xxx. Even. Judges vii.
1 Cor.i.(1) Gal. ii.

1 Tim. ii. iii.

Morn. 2 Sam. A

Aas xvi. Even. 2 Sam. xi.

1 Pet. 2.14

(5) amte 193

(1) ante 204. (2) ante 49 65. 54. (3) ante 88.

(4) ante 174. 123. (6) ante 152. (7) ante 71. 187. (8) ante 31. (9) ante 175. (10) ante 196. (11) ante 147 158

5 Shew yourselves joyful unto thy Name : which is great, wonthe Lord, all ye lands : sing, re- derful, and holy joice, and give thanks.

4 The king's power loveth 6 Praise the Lord upon the judgement; thou hast prepared harp : sing to the harp with a equity : thou hast executed judgepsalm of thanksgiving.

ment and righteousness in Jacob. 7 With trumpets also, and 5 O magnify the Lord our shawms : 0 shew yourselves joy- God : and fall down before his ful before the Lord the King. footstool, for he is holy. 8 Let the sea make a noise, and

6 Moses and Aaron among all that thereinis: the round world, his priests, and Samuel among and they that dwell therein. such as call upon his Name :

9 Let the floods clap their these called upon the Lord, and hands, and let the hills be joy- he heard them. ful together before the Lord': 7 He spake unto them out of for he is come to judge the earth. the cloudy pillar (d) : for they

10 With righteousness shall he kept his testimonies, and the law judge the world : and the people that he gave them. with equity

8 Thou heardest them, O Lord

our God : thou forgavest (e) them, Psalm xcix. (6)

O God, and punishedst their own The Lord is King, be the people inventions. never so inpatient : he sitteth 9 O magnify the Lord our God, between the cherubims (c), be the and worship him upon his holy hill: earth never so unquiet.

for the Lord our God is holy. 2 The Lord is great in Sion : and high above all people.

3 They shall give thanks unto O be joyful in the Lord, all ye

Psalm c. (f)

V.I.

(6) Upon the propriety of making God the object of worship, on account of his power, his justice, and his attention to the prayers of his servants.

(c) “ Between the cherubims" In Solomon's temple, the ark (which was the type of God) was placed between the cherubims, 2 Chron. v. 7, 8. Saying of him, therefore, that he « sitteth be“ tween the cherubims," was a figurative mode of expressing that he was the

true, all-powerful God. 0.7.

(d) “ Cloudy pillar." This may refer to the time when the Israelites left Egypt, and God went before them in the pillar of a cloud, and spake to them out of the cloud (see Exod. xiii. 21.—Exod. xiv. 1, &c.) or it may apply to the time when Moses went into the cloud, and God delivered him the ceremonial law. See

Exod. xxiv. v. 8. (e) “ Thou forgavest," &c.

This

part of the verse is not easily understood. The reading should perhaps be “ thou “ wast prevailed on by them to desist “ from punishing the people for their “ inventions, i.e. their idolatry, apos

tacy,' &c. When the golden calf was made, God would have destroyed all the people, had it not been for the intercession of Moses, Exod. xxxii. 10, &c.; and after the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Numb. xvi. “ when “ God said unto Moses, Get you

from among this congregation” (víz. all the congregation of Israel,) “ that I may

consume them as in a moment," Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces, and made an atonement for the people, and caused the plague which was then destroying the people to be stayed. See Numb. xvi. 44 to 50.

(s) See ante, p. 8. where thie Psalm also occurs.

lands : serve the Lord with glad- 5 A froward heart shall depart ness, and come before his presence from me: I will not know (b) a with a song

wicked person. 2 Be ye sure that the Lord he 6 Whoso privily slandereth his is God; it is he that hath made neighbour, him will I destroy. us, and not we ourselves : we are 7 Whoso hath also a proud his people, and the sheep of his look and high stomach : I will pasture.

not suffer him. 3 O go your way into his

gates 8 Mine eyes look upon such as with thanksgiving, and into his are faithful in the land : that they courts with praise : be thankful

may dwell with me. unto him, and speak good of his 9 Whoso leadeth a godly life : Name.

he shall be my servant. 4 For the Lord is gracious; his 10 There shall no deceitful mercy is everlasting : and his truth person dwell in my house : he : endureth from generation to ge

that telleth lies shall not tarry neration.

in my sight.

ii I shall soon destroy all the Psalm ci. (8)

ungodly that are in the land : that My song shall be of

shall be of mercy and I may (i) root out all wicked doers
judgement : unto thee, O Lord, from the city of the Lord.
will I sing.
2 O let me have understand-

MORNING PRAYER.
ing: in the way of godliness!
3 When wilt thou come unto

Psalm cii. (k)
me : I will walk in my house with

Hear a perfect heart.

let my crying come unto thee. 4 I will take no wicked thing 2 Hide not thy face from me in hand; I hate the sins of un- in the time of my trouble : incline faithfulness : there shall no such thine ears unto me when I call; cleave unto me.

O hear me, and that right soon.

my prayer, O Lord : and

VII.

(8) Resolutions (supposed to be David's) for private and public conduct humbly submitted to God, to procure

his countenance and favour. v.5. (1) Know," i.e. countenance. See

note on Ps. i. 7.

(i) For “ that I may,” the reading should perhaps be “and.”

(k) Ån earnest prayer to God for the re-establishment, of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was probably written either about the end of the Babylonish captivity, or during the opposition the people of the land made to the rebuilding Jerusalem, of which Ezra and Nehemiah give an account. It describes the condition to which the writer was reduced, or in this instance refers to the melancholy state of all the Jews ; it alludes to God's

promise for bringing them back to Jeru. salem, and notices the impression it would make upon the minds of the hea. then and of posterity, in turning them to the worship of God, when they should see this promise performed. The Jews were subjected to the king of Babylon about 607 years before the birth of Christ. Some of them were carried thither about 599, and the rest when the temple, the king's house, and every great man's house was burnt with fire (see 2 Kings xxv. and Jer. lii.) about 588, and they remained captive in Babylon 70 years. Their captivity and its duration had both been foretold; and Isaiah had prophesied, Isaiah xliv. 28. that Cyrus should perform the pleasure of the Lord, “ even saying to Jerusalem, thou

3 For my days are consumed were bread : and mingled my away like smoke : and my bones

drink with weeping ; are burnt up, as it were a fire- 10 And that, because of thine inbrand.

dignation and wrath: for thou hast 4 My heart is smitten down, taken me up(m),and cast medown. and withered like grass : so that 11 My days (n) are gone like I forget to eat my bread.

a shadow : and I am withered like 5 For the voice of my groan.

grass. ing : my bones will scarce cleave 12 But thou, O Lord, shalt to my flesh.

endure for ever : and thy remem6 'I am become like a pelican brance throughout all generations. in the wilderness : and like an owl 13 Thou shalt arise, and have that is in the desert.

mercy upon Sion : for it is time 7 I have watched, and am even

that thou have mercy upon her ; as it were a sparrow : that sitteth yea, the time (6) is come. alone upon the house-top.

14 And why? thy servants 8 Mine enemies revile me (1) think upon her stones : and it all the day long : and they that pitieth them to see her in the dust. are mad upon me, are sworn 15 The heathen (p) shall fear together against me.

thy Name, O Lord : and all the 9 For I have eaten ashes, as it

kings of the earth thy Majesty ;

12.

«« shalt be built, and to the temple, thy
« foundation shall be laid.” This was
above 100 years before the event, and
long before Cyrus was þorn. Cyrus
(who was king of Persia) afterwards
conquered Babylon, and on being ap-
prized of this prophecy, dismissed the
Jews, and ordered them to return to Je-
rusalem and rebuild the temple. The
account of their return, and of the re-
building the temple, is set forth in Ezra
and Nehemiah. This Psalm was anciently
used among the Jews in times of humilia-
tion; it is one of the seven penitential
Psalms, and is used on Ash Wednesday.

(1) • Revile me,'' &c. This may re-
fer to the opposition made to the rebuild-
ing of the temple : Artaxerxes, at the in-
stance of the people of the land, ordered
the work to be stopped: but Darius, on
finding Cyrus's decree for building it,
directed it to proceed, and made another
decree for advancing its progress. See
Ezra iv. v. vi. It was 91 years after their
return from Babylon, before the Jews could
rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, Nehem. vi.
15. It appears by Nehem. i. 3. that in
the 20th

year

of Artaxerxes (about 446 years before the birth of Christ) the people were “ in great affliction and * reproach.”

(m) “ Taken me up,” &c. This may mean, thou hast given me hopes, by

bringing me back to Jerusalem, and
dispirited me by the opposition against
me ; or it may refer to the great in-
stances of protection God had from early
times shewn the nation, till he cast them
down by suffering them to be carried
into captivity.

(n) "My days are gone,” &c. So v.11. Isaiah xl. 6. 8. « An flesh is

grass,

and
“ all the goodliness thereof is as the
" Alower of the field: the grass

wither
“ eth, the flower fadeth ; but the word
" of our God shall stand for ever." It is
not improbable that the passage in Isaiah
suggested that in the Psalm, particularly as
the attention of the Jews was at this time
strongly drawn to Isaiah's prophecies.
(0)

“The time," &c. God had stated 2.13.
distinctly by Jeremiah, that the Baby-
lonish captivity should continue 70 years,
and that at the end of that time the peo-
ple should return. In Jer. xxv. 8. II.
6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, this
" whole land shall be a desolation, and

an astonishment : and these nations
« shall serve the king of Babylon seventy
“ years." And Jer. xxix. 10. “ Thus
o 'saith the Lord, that after seventy
“ years be accomplished at Babylon, I
« will visit you, and perform my good
“ word towards you, in causing you to

return to this place."
o) “ The heathen," &c.

This is 0.15.

BB

16 When the Lord shall build 26 They shall perish, but thou
up Sion : and when his glory shall shalt endure : they all shall wax
appear;

old, as doth a garment;
17 When he turneth him unto 27 And as a vesture shalt thou
the prayer of the poor destitute : change them, and they shall be
and despiseth not their desire. changed : but thou art the same,

18 This shall be written for and thy years shall not fail. those that come after : and the 28 The children of thy serpeople, which shall be born, shall vants shall continue : and their praise the Lord.

seed shall stand fast in thy sight. 19 For he hath looked down from

ih his sanctuary : out of the heaven

Psalm ciii. (r) did the Lord behold the earth; Praise the Lord, O my soul(s): 20 That he might hear the and all that is within me, praise

s Ye mournings of such as are in cap- his holy Name. tivity : and deliver the children 2 Praise the Lord, O my soul: 140 appointed unto death ;

and forget not all his benefits ; 21 That they may declare (9) 3 Who forgiveth all thy sin : the Name of the Lord in Sion : and healeth all thine infirmities;

. For and his worship at Jerusalem ; 4 Who saveth thy life from

22 When the people are ga- destruction : and crowneth thee thered together : and the king- with mercy and loving-kindness ; doms also to serve the Lord. 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth 23 He brought down my with good things : making thee

! strength in my journey : and young and lusty as an eagle (t). shortened my days.

6 The Lord executeth right24 But I said, “O my God, eousness and judgment : for all

1 "take me not away in the midst them that are oppressed with « of mine age : as for thy years, wrong. “ they endure throughout all 7 He shewed his ways unto

Ger “ generations.”

Moses : his works unto the chil

. 25 Thou, Lord, in the begin- dren of Israel. ning hast laid the foundation of 8 The Lord is full of compasthe earth : and the heavens are sion and mercy : long-suffering, the work of thy hands.

and of great goodness.

ir 12

:

Fur

Gen Car.

V.21.

IS con

another instance of urging as a reaso

ason for deliverance, the influence it would have in inducing the heathen to think upon God with astonishment, reverence, &c.

(9) “ Declare," i.e. praise, looking forward to the times when the temple should be rebuilt, the worship re-established at Jerusalem, and the people should again repair thither to serve the Lord.

(v) A hymn, written with much ener. gy, taste, and spirit, after recovery from sickness. David is supposed to have been the author.

(s)“ O my soul.” There is great warmth and vigour in calling upon

his soul, and all that is within him (that is

, all his faculties,) to join in praising God.

(1) “ An eagle.” The eagle sidered by some as renewing it's strength, and as it were becoming young again and when it changes it's feathers. Isaiah C probably refers to the same supposition, when he says, Isaiah xl. 31. “They that “ wait upon the Lord shall “strength, they shall mount up with

wings as eagles, they shall run and not “ be weary,” &c.

renew

their