without light; when God turns his countenance towards us, we cannot be without 'salvation.' 6. 'O my GoD, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar,' or the little hill. The soul, although exhorted, in the last verse, to 'put her trust in God, yet, considering her own infirmity, still continueth to be dejected: the Prophet, therefore, confesseth as much; and maketh his complaint to God, from whom alone he expecteth comfort: and whom he did not forget, while, far from the sanctuary, he wandered up and down in the country beyond Jordan, whither he had fled from the face of Absalom. This world is, to us, that country beyond Jordan ;' Lord, make us to remember' thee, under all the affliction and tribulations we meet with therein, until, restored to thy Jerusalem, we shall praise thee in heaven, for the mercies experienced on earth. 7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.' The Prophet describeth the troubles which successively came on him, by the vengeance of heaven, from above, raising up evil against him, out of his own house' and kingdom, from beneath, according to the prediction of Nathan: 2 Sam. xii. 11. The ideas seem to be borrowed from the general deluge, or from a storm at sea, when, at the 'sound' of descending waterspouts,' or torrents of rain, the depths are stirred up, and put into horrible commotion; the clouds above calling, as it were, to the waters below, and one wave encouraging and exciting another to join their forces, and overwhelm the despairing sufferer.' The whole compass of creation affordeth not, perhaps, a more just and striking image of the nature and number of those calamities which sin hath brought on the children of Adam.2 Thus, as the learned Merrick observes, one river, in Homer, 'calls upon another, to assist in overwhelming the Grecian hero. And, in Aschylus, the fire and sea are said to swear together,' and to give each other their pledge of confederacy,' against the Grecian army. 2 Since this was written, I find the author of 'Observations on divers " 8. 'Yet the LORD will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.' The gloomy prospect begins again to brighten, by a ray of hope shooting through it; and the Prophet returneth to his rest and confidence in the mercy of God, determining, not only to give him thanks in the day of prosperity, but, as Paul and Silas afterwards did, to sing his praises at midnight, in adversity and affliction. 9. 'I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?' 10. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me ; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?' He ventureth, notwithstanding, meekly and humbly, on the strength of the promises, to expostulate with him, who was the 'rock' of his salvation, as to his seeming destitution, while continually oppressed and insulted by the cutting reproaches of the adversary. See above, ver. 3. These might be thought to render it in some sort necessary, for God to arise, and vindicate his own honor, by the protection and deliverance of his servant. The Psalmist concludes with that exhortation to his soul, to trust in God, and to wait for his salvation, which makes the mournful chorus of this beautiful Psalm: 11. 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.' See above, ver. 5. PSALM XLIII. ARGUMENT. [This Psalm seemeth to be a continuation of the former, written by David in the same circumstances, on the same subject, and closing with the same chorus.] 1. 'Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an Passages of Scripture,' agreeing entirely with me in the notion, that David is here describing those waterspouts, and storms at sea, which were common on the Jewish coast, as we learn from Dr. Shaw, Observations, p. 324, 1st edit. So Mr. Merrick likewise, in his Annotations. ungodly,' or unmerciful nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.' David, in the same situation as before, appealeth to God, against a people who had driven their sovereign from his capital, to wander like a fugitive and vagabond in the remotest parts of his dominions; against the hypocrisy of Absalom, and the villany of Ahithophel. The son of David may be supposed to make the same appeal against the same nation, for their far more cruel, treacherous, and iniquitous usage of him, their king and their God. And the words suit the circumstances of an oppressed church, or an injured prince, of all who suffer for truth and righteousness' sake, or who groan under the tyranny of their spiritual enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. 2. For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (See above, Ps. xlii. 9.) 3. 'O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.' The chief desire of the Christian, analogous to that of the Prophet in distress, is to be saved from sin, as well as sorrow; to be instructed in the way of righteousness, by the light' of heavenly wisdom, shining in the face of Jesus Christ; to see the accomplishment of the promises, in him who is the 'truth;' and to be 'led,' by this light and this truth, from the land of his pilgrimage, to the 'holy hill,' and the mansions' of the just, in the new Jerusalem. 4. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy,' or the gladness of my joy; 'yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.' The royal Prophet, on his restoration to his throne, was to sacrifice on the altar of his God, with the voice of thanksgiving, and to celebrate his mighty Deliverer, in a new song, on the melodious harp. The Christian, in like manner, foresees a day coming, when sorrow and sighing shall be no more; when he and his brethren are to be made kings and priests;' when they are to reign with their Redeemer for ever; and on their golden harps, tuned to an unison with those of angels, to sing his ever lasting praises in the courts of the heavenly temple. Therefore, 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.' See above, Ps. xlii. 5. NINTH DAY.-MORNING PRAYER. ARGUMENT. [In this Psalm we hear the voice of the church, under persecution; 1-3. recounting the mercies of God vouchsafed to his servants of old time; 4-8. declaring her confidence, that she shall experience the same in her present distress, and shall at length overcome through the power of her Redeemer; for that, notwithstanding her seeming desertion and manifold sufferings, 9-16. there is still a faithful remnant, 17-22. of those who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and who cease not, 23-26. to cry unto God for mercy and deliverance.] 1. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what works thou didst in their days, in the times of old.' The works wrought of old, by the arm of Jehovah, for the salvation of his people, are recorded by the Spirit in the Scriptures of truth, that through patience and comfort of those Scriptures,' as the apostle expresses it, the church and people of God, whensoever oppressed and afflicted, in any age or country, may have hope,' that the same God will exert the same power in their behalf. And great is the light, great is the consolation, which the sacred history, when thus applied, will always afford to the troubled mind. 2. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them: how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.' If the dispossession of the Canaanites, and the establishment of the house of Jacob in their land, furnished the distressed church of Israel with sufficient ground for confidence; how much force hath the argument since re ceived, by the accomplishment of what was than typified; by the victories of the true Joshua, or Jesus, by the fall of Paganism, and the plantation of the Christian faith in its stead! 3. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them.' As it sufficiently appears, that the settlement of Israel in the promised land was the work of God, from the miraculous fall of Jericho; from the prolongation of the day, at the word of Joshua; from the slaughter of the enemy by hailstones from heaven, &c. &c. so was it the first thing which an Israelite was in duty bound to acknowlege, if he hoped for more mercies at the hand of God. The Christian, in like manner, begins and ends all his prayers with an humble and thankful acknowlegement of the free mercy of God in Jesus Christ; confessing, that he got not' his title to salvation, nor should enter into the possession of it, by his own' power or merit, but by the right hand and the arm of his Redeemer, and the light of his countenance, because he had a favor unto him.' 6 6 4. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.' In these words, the church sums up her argument; as if she had said, O thou, who, going forth before thy people, hast so often and so wonderfully wrought salvation of old time, I still acknowlege thee as my King, able and willing to save; O manifest yet again thy power, yet again let me experience thy mercy. Behold all things are at thy command; all events are at thy disposal. O gracious Saviour, let all work together for good, to her whom thou lovest. 5. Through thee will we push down our enemies : through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. The people of God, however persecuted by the power of the world, here declare, that their faith faileth not; that the adversary cannot take from them their holy confidence in God, through whom, and in whose saving } |