that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

PSALM CI. 48.

David having recovered his wives and daughters, and those of his followers who had been taken captive by the Amalekites, with the rest of the spoil they had pillaged from Ziklag, a city given him by Achish king of Gath; and David having heard, three days afterwards, of the wonderful change in his own affairs, occasioned by the death of Saul and his sons; and knowing that the promises of God were now about to be accomplished in his favour, composes this psalm as an anthem of praise to God his deliverer, and as a solemn vow, declaring the principles by which he proposes to conduct himself upon the throne. See 1 Sam. xxx. and xxxi. and 2 Sam. i.

A Psalm of David.

1. I WILL sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.

2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

4. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

5. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: be that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

LAMENTATION

Of David over Saul and Jonathan. 2 Sam. i. 19-27.

19. THE beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!

20. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uneircumcised triumph.

21. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be uo dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

23. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their deaths they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

25. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.

26. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of woman.

27. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!

Prayer composed towards the end of the Babylonish captivity; including both the subject of their temporal deliverance from the Babylonish yoke, and also a prayer for the coming of the Messiah, and the spiritual deliverance he should procure. A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. 1

1. HEAR my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.

2. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. 3. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

4. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass: so that I forget to eat my bread.

5. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

6. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

7. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

8. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

9. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.

10. Because of thine indignation and thy

wrath for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

11. My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

13. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

14. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour, the dust thereof.

15. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

17. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

18. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

19. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

21. To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;