to be praised; so shall I be,' or so was I, 'saved from mine enemies.'

As the Psalm so evidently throughout is a thanksgiving for past deliverances, the verbs in this verse seem to require the same rendering which is given to them below, at ver. 6. Jehovah is to be called upon,' both in adversity and in prosperity; in the former with the voice of prayer, in the latter with that of praise. 'Is any afflicted?' saith St. James, v. 13., 'let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing Psalms.'

4. The sorrows, or cords, of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men,' or Belial, made me afraid.' 5. The sorrows,' or cords, ' of hell,' or the grave, compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me.'

St. Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, says, when speaking of Christ-Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it:' Acts ii. 24. Now the Hebrew word ban' (as Dr. Hammond well observes on that place) signifies two things, a cord or band, and a pang, especially of women in travail; hence the LXX meeting with the word, Ps. xviii. where it certainly signifies axoria, cords, or bands, have yet rendered it wdives, pangs; and from their example here, St Luke hath used τας ὠδῖνας θανάτου, the pains, or pangs of death; when both the addition of the word Auras, loosing, and кpareiodai, being holden fast, do show the sense is bands, or cords.' From the passage in the Acts, with this learned and judicious remark upon it, we obtain not only the true rendering of the phrase 'n ban cords, or bands of death,' but also something more than an intimation that, in the verses of our Psalm now before us, David speaks of Christ, that the cords of death,' those bands' due to our sins, compassed him about, and the 'floods of Belial,' the powers of darkness and ungodliness, like an overwhelming torrent breaking forth from the bottomless pit, 'made him afraid,' in the day of his agony, when the apprehensions of the bitter cup cast his soul into unutterable amazement, and he beheld himself environed by those snares' which had captivated and detained all the children of Adam. David, surrounded by

Saul and his blood-thirsty attendants, was a lively emblem of the suffering Jesus, and therefore the same description is applicable to both; as the words of the second Psalm, in like manner, celebrate the inauguration of the son of Jesse, and that of the Son of God.

6. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.'

David was in distress; David called upon Jehovah, the God of Israel, who dwelt between the Cherubims in the holy place; and by him the prayer of David was heard. Much greater was the distress of Christ, who likewise, as St. Paul speaks, in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard; Heb. v. 7. his voice ascended to the eternal temple, his powerful cry pierced the ears of the Father everlasting, and brought salvation from heaven at the time appointed. The church also is distressed upon earth, she crieth, her cries are heard, and will be answered in the day of God.

7. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.'

At this verse the Prophet begins to describe the manifestation of divine power in favor of the Righteous Sufferer. The imagery employed is borrowed from mount Sinai, and those circumstances which attended the delivery of the law from thence. When a monarch is angry, and prepares for war, his whole kingdom is instantly in commotion. Universal nature is here represented as feeling the effects of its sovereign's displeasure, and all the visible elements are disordered. The earth shakes from its foundations, and all its rocks and mountains tremble before the majesty of their great Creator, when he ariseth in judgment. This was really the case at the resurrection of our Lord from the dead; when, as the Evangelist informs us, there was a great earthquake, and the grave owned its inability any longer to detain the blessed body, which had been committed, for a season, to its custody. And what happened at the resurrection of Jesus, should remind us of what shall happen, when

the earth shall tremble, and the dead shall be raised, at the last day.

8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it;' or fire out of his mouth devoured, with burning coals from before him.

The farther effects of God's indignation are represented by those of fire, which is the most terrible of the created elements, burning and consuming all before it, scorching the ground, and causing the mountains to smoke. Under this appearance God descended on the top of Sinai: thus he visited the cities of the plain; and thus he is to come at the end of time. Whenever therefore he is described as showing forth his power and vengeance for the salvation of his chosen, and the discomfiture of his enemies, a 'devouring fire' is the emblem made choice of, to convey proper ideas of such his manifestations. And from hence we may conceive that heat of his wrath against the adversaries of man's salvation, when, by raising his Son Jesus from the dead, he blasted their schemes, and withered all their strength.

9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down and darkness was under his feet.' 10. And he rode 6 upon a cherub, and did fly; yea, he did fly on the wings of the wind.' 11. He made darkness his secret place; his pavi lion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.'

Storms and tempests in the element of air are instruments of the divine displeasure, and are therefore selected as figures of it. When God descends from above, the clouds of heaven compose an awful and gloomy tabernacle, in the midst of which he is supposed to reside: the reins of whirlwinds are in his hand, and he directs their impetuous course through the world; the whole artillery of the aërial regions is at his command, to be by him employed against his enemies, in the day of battle and war. 12. At the brightness that was before him, his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.' 13. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.' 14. 'Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.'

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The discharges of the celestial artillerys on the adverse powers is here magnificently described. Terrible it was to them, as when lightnings and thunders, hail-stones and balls of fire, making their way through the dark clouds which contain them, strike terror and dismay into the hearts of men. Such is the voice,' and such are the arrows, of the Lord Almighty, wherewith he discomfiteth' all who oppose the execution of his counsels, and obstruct the salvation of his chosen. Every display and description of this sort, and indeed every thunderstorm which we behold, should remind us of that exhibition of power and vengeance, which is hereafter to accompany the general resurrection.

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15. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.'

As the former part of the Psalmist's description was taken from the appearance on mount Sinai, so this latter part seems evidently to allude to what passed at the Red Sea, when by the breath of God the waters were divided, the depths were discovered, and Israel was conducted in safety through them. By that event was prefigured the salvation of the church universal, through the death and resurrection of Christ, who descended into the lower parts of the earth, and from thence reascended to light and life. The 14th chapter of Exodus, which relates the passage of Israel through the Red Sea, is therefore appointed as one of the proper lessons on Easter-day. And thus we obtain the ideas intended to be conveyed in this sublime but difficult verse, together with their application to the grand deliverance of the true David, in the day of God's power. Indeed it is not easy to accommodate to any part of the history of the son of Jesse those awful, majestic, and stupendous images, which are made use of throughout this whole description of the divine manifestation, from verse 7. But, however this be, most certainly every part of so solemn a scene of terrors forbids us to doubt but it that a GREATER than David is here since creation scarce affords colors brighter and stronger than those here employed, wherewith to paint the appearance of Jehovah at the day of final redemption. Div. No. XXI.

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16. 'He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many,' or the great, 'waters.' 17. 'He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.'

For this purpose did God in so wonderful a manner display his power and glory, that he might deliver the sufferer out of his troubles. This deliverance is first expressed metaphorically, by drawing him out of the great waters,' and then plainly, he delivered me from my strong enemy,' &c. The great waters,' in ver. 16. are the same with the floods of the ungodly,' in ver. 4. By these was Messiah, like David, oppressed and overwhelmed for a time; but, like David, he arose at length superior to them all. The strong enemy' was obliged to give way to a stronger than he, who overcame him, and took from him his armor in which he trusted, and divided the spoil:' Luke xi. 22.

18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my stay.' 19. 'He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me because he delighted in me.'

The divine mercy is celebrated again and again through this sacred hymn, in a variety of expressions. Innumerable foes prevented,' that is, surrounded, inclosed Christ on all sides, 'in the day of his calamity,' when the powers of earth and hell set themselves in array against him; but Jehovah was his stay;' on him he reposed an unshaken confidence: Jehovah therefore supported his steps, and led him on to victory and triumph; from the narrow confines of the grave he translated him to unbounded empire, because he was the son of his love, in whom he delighted.

20. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.' 21. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God." 22. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.' 23. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity," or from iniquities. 24, Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eye-sight.