hear of the ruin of those malicious men, who set themselves with all their might to destroy me.

Ver. 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palmtree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.] Which may be an encouragement to every good man to hope in God, and not question the justice of his providence, if at present he be afflicted; for as he shall overturn all his enemies at the last, so he will make the righteous flourish (not as the wicked do, like the grass, ver. 7. but) in a durable prosperity, like the fruitful palm and the stately cedar in Lebanon.

Ver. 13. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD, shall flourish in the courts of our God.] For they are under the care of the Lord our God, whose house they frequent; and there partake of his divine blessing, for the growth and increase of their happi

ness.

Ver. 14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age: they shall be fat and flourishing.] Which shall not decay, as the strength and f.eshness of those trees will do with age; but the older they grow, the more happy fruits shall their piety produce; and they shall abound in wealth and honour as much as they do in that.

Ver. 15. To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.] To demonstrate to all the world, that the Lord is a most impartial governor, whom I have found my firm unmoveable friend; and, assure yourselves, is so just and kind, that he will never let wickedness go unpunished, nor virtue be always unrewarded.

PSALM XCIII.

THE ARGUMENT.-There is no title in the Hebrew to tell us who was the author of this psalm: nor was there any in Origen's Hexaplus, or in Eusebius, as Theodoret confesses; who found in the Greek copy which he used, this psalm, called, An ode of David, in praise of God: To which hath been since added, in the day before the Sabbath, when the earth began to be inhabited. Which Musculus thinks was not rashly done by the Greeks, but suspects they were moved to it; because they knew perhaps that the Jews used this psalm upon that day. As indeed they did; for the words of the Talmud, in the title Kedishim, confirm his suspicions; which are these, (as I find them set down by De Dieu, upon the foregoing psalm.) The Canticles which the Levites sung in the sanctuary, were as follow; on the first day of the week, the 24th; on the second, the 48th; on the third, the 82d; on the fourth, the 94th; on the fifth, the 81st; on the sixth, the 93d; and on the seventh, the 92d. Nor is the matter of this psalm more distant from the foregoing, than the sixth day is from the seventh; for it seems to me to have been composed, when some of those potent enemies began to take heart again, and threaten to disturb David's peace and tranquillity; which, in the foregoing psalm, he had said, he was confident they should never be able to overthrow. Though, in the more sublime sense, it ought to be applied to the stability of Christ's

kingdom; which several of the Jews acknowledge is prophesied of in this, and in all the psalms that follow unto the hundredth.

Ver. 1.

Ver. 1. THE LORD reigneth; he is cloathed with majesty; the LORD is cloathed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is established, that it cannot be moved.] Let the nations boast of the power and splendour of their kings, and trust to their military preparations; this is our glory and our confidence, that the Lord reigneth over us; whose royal ornaments are not gold and precious stones, but majesty itself; and is not armed with sword and spear, but with almighty strength, which is ready to fight for us; who have this comfort also, that he who made the world, will support that excellent order wherein we are settled; so that it shall not be in the power of man to disturb what he had established.

Ver. 2. Thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting.] This we know, because thy kingdom, O Lord, is fixed and immoveable; and did not begin now, when we were made thy peculiar people, but was, as thou art, from everlasting.

Ver. 3. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.] We will not be afraid, therefore, though multitudes of combined enemies threaten to break in upon us like a flood; though they storm and rage, and insolently vaunt, as if they were sure to overwhelm us;

Ver. 4. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.] Though they roar terribly, and be as numerous as the waters of the sea, swelling, like its boisterous waves, in a furious tempest; the great Lord is above them all, and can instantly depress them as low as he pleases.

Ver. 5. Thy testimonies are very sure; holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.] And thy fidelity, in performing the promises wherein thou hast testified thy good-will to us, is as unquestionable as thy power; no age shall find it fail; for it becomes not thee to start from thy word delivered to us by thy oracle, but it is thy glory to observe it sacredly for ever.

PSALM XCIV.

THE ARGUMENT.-This psalm also wants an inscription in the Hebrew, to tell us who was the author of it; but the later Greeks entitle David to it, and call it, A psalm of his for the fourth day of the week which they had (as I shewed in the argument of the foregoing psalm) from the Hebrew tradition in the Talmud; and he hath little acquaintance with the history of David, who doth not see that here is an exact description of the court of Saul, who abused their authority to all manner of oppression and violence, (especially against David), without any fear of God, or

thought that he would call them to an account for it; as he complains in several other psalms, particularly lvii. Îviii. lix.

But it might as well be penned by any other holy man, who lived in times of general corruption; when (as Theodoret expresses it) their kings, and their princes, (i. e. judges), loved not to be tied to the law, but pronounced unjust sentences, and committed murders; selling the blood of innocents for bribes; of whom the prophet Isaiah sadly complains, ver. 21. of the first chapter; where, ver. IC. he calls them rulers of Sodom. Certain it is, the psalmist, whosoever he was, desires he may see justice done upon such atheistical oppressors; and desires good men not to be discouraged under their tyranny, but patiently expect an happy issue of all the vexation which they gave them.

Ver. I.

LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.] O eternal Lord, the Sovereign of the world, in whose power it is to punish the highest of fenders, and to whom alone it belongs to take revenge on those who oppress thy people, when they should protect them; make thy justice conspicuous in a severe vengeance upon them.

Ver. 2. Lift up thyself, thou Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.] Call them to an account, O thou righteous Judge of the whole earth! and, by making them suffer according to the wrong they have done, let these proud men, who have acted as if they thought none could controul them, know they have a superior.

Ver. 3. LORD, how long shall the wicked, bore long shall the wicked triumph ?] We can scarce behold these wicked men without indignation; it tempts us to impatience, O Lord, to see how they prosper and triumph in their injurious proceedings;

Ver. 4. How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast them selves? And to hear their insolent and provoking language; for they care not what they say; but as they intolerably abuse us, so they audaciously blaspheme thee; the whole company of them priding themselves in the mischief they do, and scornfully deriding those that tell thy judgements will overtake

them.

Ver. 5. They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine beritage:] They have crushed thy people so, that they dare scarce complain of their tyranny; which cruelly afflicts those who are dear unto thee, with all manner of rapines and extortions.

Ver. 6. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.] They have no compassion upon the widow or the stranger, but rather spoil them; nay, condemn them to die upon false accusations, (that they may possess themselves of their estates), because they have no patron to defend them; and in the same manner they murder, for it is no better, the poor fatherless children, whom they ought to protect from violence.

Ver. 7. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see; neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.] And to harden themselves in their wickedness, they say, What do you tell us of the Lord? he knows not, nor minds not, what we do here: though there are such evident demonstrations of the divine providence over Jacob and his posterity, yet for all that, they fancy he doth not regard, nor will call them to any account for their doings.

Ver. 8. Understand, ye brutish among the people and ye fools, when will ye be wise?] What stupid wretches are these! who think themselves the wisest, but are in truth the most brutish of all mankind; whom I would advise, if they have not perfectly lost their reason, to consider this, (and sure they are not such fools, but they may soon understand it.)

Ver. 9 He tht planted the ear, shall be not kear ? be that formed the eye, shall he noi see?] Shall not he hear your blasphemies, who gave you the faculty of hearing? and shall not he see all you do, who gave you the power of seeing? Is it possible he could give to others what he wants himself?

Ver. 10. He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not be correct? be that teacheth man knowledge, shall not be know?] He that taught all nations his will, shall not he correct them when they transgress it? to what purpose did he make man to know the difference be tween good and evil, but that he should observe it, and expect, if he did not. to suffer for it.

Ver. 11. The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.] Let them devise what ways they please, and flatter themselves with hopes to escape his vengeance, the Lord knows them all, and will make them see one day, that all such counsels and contrivances are but mere folly and vanity.

Ver. 12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law:] And far better had it been for them to have been punished sooner; for not he that prospers in his wickedness is happy, but he whom thou chastenest, O Lord, when he doth amiss, and thereby teachest to study and obey thy law with greater care and diligence.

Ver. 13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.] Which will quiet his mind under all his troubles, and at last procure the removal of them; when absolute destruction and ruin, meantime, is preparing for the ungodly.

Ver. 14. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will be forsake bis inheritance:] For the Lord will never abandon the care of his people, nor leave those whom he owns for his peculiar possession, to be utterly undone by the oppressions which for time they may endure.

But

Ver. 15. But judgement shall return unto righteousness; and all the upright in heart shall follow it.] how much soever his judgements may seem to depart from the rules of righteousness, while the wicked flourish, and the godly are afflicted, they shall retura to such a perfect conformity with them, that all ho nest-hearted men shall be encouraged thereby still to

follow the Lord; and by no means to depart from their integrity, though all things look as if they were unequally carried.

Ver. 16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?] Let them learn by my example not to despod; for who is it but he alone, from whom I have expected, and still do expect, to receive protection and help against these malicious men? who make no conscience of what they do, and design my utter ruin. Ver. 17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.] Whose power also is so great, that if the Lord had not seasonably interposed for my assistance and deliverance, I had not now been praying to him, but laid in a silent grave.

Ver. 18. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.] This was my constant support, if at any time my heart even failed me, and I was ready to conclude, I cannot subsist any longer; then thy mercy, O Lord, sent me relief, and preserved me from the danger, wherein I was afraid I should have unavoidably perished.

Ver. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.] I have had innumerable perplexed thoughts, fand anxious cares, which have extremely disquieted me; but as soon as ever I reflected on thy goodness, justice, and truth, they all vanished; and I felt such consolation from thence, as revived my dejected soul;

Ver. 10. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?] And made me say, I will never imagine it possible, that thou shouldst favour the tyrannical proceedings of these unrighteous judges, who not only oppress thy people, but do it in a form of justice, and under the colour and pretext of law, make them miserable.

Ver. 21. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.] They assemble themselves together, and in full council combine to destroy the righteous; upon whom they pass a solemn sentence, though he be perfectly guiltless, to lose his life.

Ver. 22. But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.] But this doth not discourage me, (whose case this is), let them decree what they please, and be too hard for all laws; the Lord, who hates unrighteousness, will be my defence; he, who hath been long very gracious to me, I am confident, will secure me from their violence;

Ver. 23. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.] And more than that, retort it upon themselves; for the mischief they intended against me, shall fall upon their own head: he shall cut them off in their own wicked contrivances; though it be not in our power, yet the Lord our God, who hath undertaken the patronage those that confide in him, shall cut them off.

PSALM XCV.

of

THE ARGUMENT. This psalm likewise is without any title in the Hebrew; but the Greeks call it.

A Psalm of David; because the apostle to the Hebrews cites a passage out of it, under his name, iv. 7. Though that, it must be confessed, is no concluding argument of its being composed by him, because it is usual to call the whole five books by the name of the Psalms of David, when it is certain he did not make them all, but only the greater part.

Whoever was the author, it looks as if it were intended to be a gormes, or solemn invitation of the people, (when they were all assembled together on the Sabbath, on some public occasion, Grotius, in Heb. iii. 7.-13. thinks on the feast of tabernacles, for which this psalm was composed), to praise the Lord their God, and hear instructions out of his law; and is justly employed still by the church, in the entrance of our morning-service, for the very same purpose. For it plainly relates to the days of Christ, as the Jews confess, and the apostle proves, iii. iv. to the Hebrews; where he demonstrates to them of that nation, that the rest here spoken of, could not be merely that in the land of Canaan, which their forefathers fell short of, by their disobedience to God in the wilderness; but another, far better, into which they, in that day, were to be brought by the Messiah, a far greater Captain of salvation than Joshua. And therefore, it concerned them then, he shews, above all other times, to take care they did not harden. their hearts against him, when he came to invite them to a participation of the greatest blessedness, but entertain his holy gospel with a chearful and joyful obedience to it. Theodoret is of opinion, that it was particularly designed for the times of Josiah, when he made that notable reformation, (which we read of 2 Chron. xxxiv. xxxv.), and called them from the worship of idols to the service of the true God. But it could never be more properly used by that nation, than when the Lord Christ came to call them to repentance.

Ver. 1. make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.] O stir up yourselves, all ye that are come hither to worship the Lord, and with united affections let us chearfully sing his praises: let us lift up our voices, and triumphantly land the author of all the good we enjoy, and in whom we may safely confide

COME, let us sing unto the LORD; let us

for ever.

Ver. 2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.] Let us approach unto his presence with thankful hearts, to acknowledge the benefits we have received from him, and devoutly proclaim with triumphant hymns, what a joy it is to us, that we may address ourselves unto him.

Ver. 3. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.] For the Lord is infinitely powerful, and hath a sovereign authority, not only over all the princes on the earth, but all the angels and principalities in heaven.

Ver. 4. In his hand are the deep places of the earth:

the strength of the hills is his also.] All those treasures are in his possession, which lie in the deepest and most secret parts of the earth, whither none of our monarchs can extend their power; and the loftiest hills, which none but the clouds can touch, are part of his dominion.

Ver. 5. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.] The sea also obeys him. alone, who hath an unquestionable title to it, and to all the rest of his wide empire; for he made both it and the dry land, with all the things contained therein.

Ver. 6. O come, let us worship, and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.] O be not backward, then, to comply with this renewed invitation; but let us all with the lowest protestations devoutly adore his majesty; let it not suffice us to do it once, but again let us, with humble reverence, bow both our bodies and souls, in token of our subjection to him: let us fall on our knees, and submissively acknowledge the duty we owe to the great Lord, who gave us our being.

Ver. 7. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To-day, if ye will hear his voice,] Which we above all people have reason to do, because he hath a peculiar relation to us, and kindness for us; providing for all our wants most liberally, and continually defending us from all dangers: O that you would, therefore, without delay, listen to him, and be obedient to the voice of your Creator, Conserver, and Benefactor, who calls upon you most graciously, (by his own Son, Hab. iii. 6. 7. iv. 7.), saying;

Ver. 8. Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness :] Lay to heart what I have done for you, and be not so stupidly insensible as your fathers were; at that place, whose name (Meribah and Massah) preserves the memory of their provoking strife with Moses, and temptation of God in the wilderness, Exod. xvii. 2.-7.

Ver. 9. When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.] When they doubted of my power, and demanded new proofs of my presence among them, (Exod. xvii. 7.), though they had seen my wonderful works in their late deliverance at the Red Sea; and in making the bitter waters sweet; and in sending them bread from heaven, Exod. xiv. xv.

xvi.

Ver. 10. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:] Nor did they then cease their discontented murmurings, and distrust of me; but continued their stubborn infidelity, vexing, nay, tiring my patience, for the space of forty years; long before the end of which, I concluded that they were a people whose heart would never be stedfastly resolved to adhere unto me; for they did not mind what wonderful things I did for them, nor what I commanded them to do for me.

Ver. 11. Unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.] Which so highly

PSALM XCVI.

THE ARGUMENT.-This psalm also wants a title in the Hebrew but the Greeks are justified in the former part of their inscription, (which calls it an Ode of David's), by 1 Chron. xvi. where we find, that at the bringing up the ark from the house of Obed-Edom, to the place he had prepared for it on Mount Sion, David delivered this psalm (together with the 105th) into the hand of Asaph, to express the joy he had in God's special presence among them; which all their neighbours round about, he foretells, should be made sensible of, as well as themselves.

This psalm indeed is not exactly the very same with that, but there is a difference in some expressions; ex. gr. it is called here, A new Song, but not there; which shews it was afterward altered by some divine person, who accommodated it to other uses. And very probably by Ezra, when they came out of Babylon; which occasioned the Greeks to add, in the latter part of the inscription of this psalm, these words, "when the house was built after the captivity." Ezra, that is, made use of it to express their joy at the re-edification of the temple.

But it never had a complete fulfilling, answerable to the height of it, till the Messiah (who was indeed the temple of God) came to dwell among us; to give eternal salvation to us. Several of the Jewish writers acknowledge that it belongs to his times; and accordingly we not only may, but ought, to have him in our minds, when we say, Sing unto the Lord a new song, (for his new grace, that is, in sending him to give salvation to all nations), and the Lord reigneth, ver. 10. and hath all things put under his feet. See Euseb. in his Demonstrat. Evangelica, 1. i. c. iv.

SING unto the LORD a new song: sing

Ver. 1. unto the LORD, all the earth.] O sing praises unto the Lord, for his new and extraordinary benefits which he hath bestowed upon us; let all the earth join together with us to sing his praises.

Ver. 2. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.] We can never praise him enough; and therefore cease not to bless his name, and to spread the fame of his almighty goodness towards us; but publish every day, with joyful hearts, the great deliverances he hath wrought for us.

Ver. 3. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.] Tell the nations round a bout, how he hath glorified himself; let none of them be ignorant of the wonderful things he hath done 2mong us.

Ver. 4. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be

praised: he is to feared above all gods.] For all our praises fall infinitely short of the greatness of the Lord, who is worthy of the highest praise of the whole world; and hath shewn both to us, (1 Chron. xiii. 10.-12. 1 Sam. vi. 20.), and to others, (1 Sam. v. 3. 4. &c.), how dreadful he is above all that are called gods.

Ver. 5. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.] For all the gods of the nations are nothing worth, being able to do neither good nor harm; but the Lord not only made the earth, but the heavens too, which abundantly declare the greatness and splendour of his majesty.

Ver. 6. Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.] Whose heavenly court infinitely outshines all the state and pomp, wherein the greatest earthly monarchs live, (Esther, i. 4.). For all the words we have are not able to express the brightness and magnificence, the power and comely order, of so much as his ministers; an image of which we have in his holy place, wherein he manifests himself among us.

Ver. 7. Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.] Ascribe, therefore, unto the Lord, O ye people, from whatsoever family ye come, ascribe unto him that incomparable majesty, and supreme dominion and authority, which you give to imaginary gods.

Ver. 8. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.] And renounce them all; and, acknowledging the Lord alone to be the omnipotent King of all the world, do him honour suitable to the excellency of his majesty : bring him an oblation in token of your subjection to him, and humbly worship him in his temple.

Ver. 9. O worship the LORD in the beauty of heliness; fear before him all the earth.] O come and cast down yourselves before the Lord in his sanctuary, where he hath fixed his glorious residence among us: adore his transcendent perfections; and let all the people approach into his presence with a pious trembling, and dread to offend their Sovereign.

Ver. 10. Say among the heathen, that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established, that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.] Go, ye that are already become proselytes unto him, and publish every where, in all countries, that the Lord (Christ) is the Sovereign of the world, who alone can make it happy; for he shall settle those in peace that submit unto his government; and they shall not be so disturbed, as they were wont, with wars and tumults: he shall administer equal justice unto all, and neither suffer the good to be unrewarded, nor the evil to escape unpunished.

Ver. 11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad: let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.] Let the whole universe, therefore, be filled with joy at this blessed news; which the angels themselves shall gladly receive, (Luke, i. 30. 32.); much more ought all mankind, wheresoever they are dispersed, on the earth, or on the sea, and the islands thereof, exceed

ingly rejoice, and fill all places with the loud sound of their joyful praises.

Ver. 12. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice,] Let the husbandmen, and the shepherds, and all that dwell in the fields, leap for joy, and the woodmen and foresters shout for joy, to see the happy day approaching, when all the idols that are worshipped there, shall be thrown down together with their groves.

Ver. 13. Before the LORD; for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.] Let them welcome that day, and meet the Lord with forward affection, who is coming to them: for he comes to reform the earth, and will govern mankind by righteous and merciful laws, and faithfully keep his word with all those that truly observe them.

PSALM XCVII.

THE ARGUMENT.-Some of the Hebrews conceive (as I observed upon Psal. xc.) that Moses was the author of this, as well as of the rest of these psalms which want an inscription. And indeed he excelled in this faculty of composing hymns, as we learn from Exod. xv. and Deut. xxxii. and might, upon some other occasion, as well as the overthrow of Pharoah in the Red Sea, make a song of triumph, after some of those great victories which, God gave them over their enemies. Which was a thing in use before his time, as it appears by the fragments of ancient songs recorded in his books; particularly that 'dixion made by some poet among the Amorites, after Sihon had taken Heshbon from the Moabites, to whom it formerly belonged, wherein they triumph over their god Chemosh, as unable to deliver his worshippers, Numb. xxi. 27. &c. And if we could be sure this psalm was made by Moses, I should think it to have been composed after the Israelites had conquered Sihon and his land; over whom they triumphed, as he had done over the former possessors of that country. But the psalm seems so plainly to have been composed in pursuance of what was said in the foregoing psalm, that the Lord reigneth, and is King, not only over Israel, but all the earth, that one cannot but think they had the same author: who shews the truth of that, by the illustrious victories which God, as their King, had given them over all those that opposed them. For the eighth verse makes it manifest, that this psalm hath respect to some conquests they had lately made over the heathen; which, I suppose, were no other than those which David won over divers nations, not long after ( Chron. xviii. 1.) he had brought the ark to Sion, and delivered the foregoing hymn to be sung, to put the Israelites in hope, and their enemies in fear, of the great things which should ensue upon this special presence of God among them.

Which moved the Greeks to call this, 4 Psalm of David, after his land was restored unto him; that is,