"The Hebrew idioms," says Addison, "run into the English with a peculiar grace and beauty. Our language has received innumerable elegancies and improvements from that infusion of Hebraisms which are derived to it out of the poetical passages in Holy Writ. They give a force and energy to our expressions, warm and animate our language, and convey our thoughts in more ardent and intense phrases. than any that are to be met with in our own tongue. There is something so pathetic in this kind of diction, that it often sets the mind in a flame, and makes our heart burn within us."

The utility of the two TABLES adverted to is too obvious to require to be dwelt upon. From the former the reader will perceive how completely the inspiration of the PSALMS is established by NEW TESTAMENT authority, and how highly they were appreciated by CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES, there being no portion of Old Testament Scripture from which they so frequently quoted. The other Table will readily serve as a guide to the selection of such PSALMS as may be adapted to the doctrines of the Christian system, the duties of the Christian life, or the varied circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, in which the Christian or the Church of God may be placed.

EDINBURGH, April 1849.

J. A.

COMMENTARY

UPON

THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

1

PSALM CXIX.

121. y I have done judgment and righteousness: give me not up to my oppressors.

122. Become surety for thy servant for good, that the proud may not oppress me.

123. My eyes have failed for thy salvation, and for thy righteous

word.1

124. Deal with thy servant according to thy goodness, and teach me thy statutes.

125. I am thy servant, give me understanding, that I may learn thy testimonies.

126. It is time for thee, O Jehovah! to be doing: for they have destroyed thy law.

127. And therefore I have loved thy statutes above gold,2 yea even above the most fine gold.3

128. Therefore I have esteemed all thy commandments to be altogether right, and have hated every way of lying.

Literally, "for the word of thy righteousness." Calvin understands it of the divine promises. Phillips translates" for the word of thy justice," "that is," says he, "for the sentence of justice on my oppressors, as the first part of the verse teaches; for the passing this sentence will be equivalent to the granting the salvation which the Psalmist so ardently desired."

2 "Above gold. 2, mizahab, more than resplendent gold; gold without any stain or rust."-Dr. Adam Clarke.

"Ou, marguerites."-Fr. marg.

66

Or, pearls." "DDI, umipaz,

above solid gold; gold separated from the dross, perfectly refined.”— Dr. Adam Clarke.

VOL. V.

A

121. I have done judgment and righteousness. The Prophet implores the help of God against the wicked who troubled him, and he does so in such a manner as at the same time to testify that the harassing treatment he received from them was on his part altogether undeserved. If we would have God to come down to succour us, it becomes us to see to it that we meet him with the testimony of a good conscience. As He everywhere promises his aid to the afflicted who are unrighteously oppressed, it is no superfluous protestation which the Prophet makes, that he had not provoked his enemies, but had restrained himself from all injury and wrong-doing, and had not even attempted to requite evil for evil. In asserting that he had at all times done judgment, he means that whatever the wicked practised, he steadfastly persevered in following after integrity, and never turned aside from what was just and right in any of his public or private transactions.

122. Become surety for thy servant for good. This prayer is almost similar to that of the preceding verse; for I prefer translating the Hebrew verb y, arob, by Become surety for, to rendering, as others do, Delight thy servant in good, or Make thy servant to delight in good. According to this second version, the words are a prayer that God would rejoice his servant with his benefits. There is a third translation, by which they become a prayer that God would inspire his heart with the love and desire of rectitude; for true perfection consists in our taking pleasure in justice and uprightness. But as from the last clause of the verse it is obvious that David here desires succour against his enemies, the verb Become surety is the more appropriate rendering.1 Lord, as if he had said, since the proud cruelly rush upon

"y. This verb signifies to be pleasant, acceptable. So Bucer has translated the first part of the verse, oblecta servum tuum bono; and indeed the Chaldee has given the same sense to the verb, for it is rendered by D, make merry. But the other meaning which it has, viz. to become surety, is evidently more suitable; for the expression Be surety for thy servant for good, corresponds very well with the previous and subsequent petitions, which are for deliverance from the hands of the enemy." Phillips.

me to destroy me, interpose,thyself between us, as if thou wert my surety. The letter, lamed, which signifies for, is not indeed prefixed to the noun, but this is no valid objection to our translation, as that letter is often understood. It is a form of expression full of comfort, to represent God as performing the office of a surety in order to effect our deliverance. He is said metaphorically to become surety for us, just as if, on finding us indebted in a large sum of money, he discharged us of the obligation, by paying down the money to our creditor. The prayer is to this effect, That God would not suffer the wicked to exercise their cruelty against us at their pleasure, but that he would interpose as a defender to save us. By these words the Prophet intimates, that he was in extreme danger, and that he had nothing else left him in which to hope but the help of God.

123. My eyes have failed for thy salvation. In the first place he testifies, that he had been afflicted with severe troubles, and that not for a short time only, but for a period so protracted as might have exhausted his patience and occasioned despondency. But so far was this from being the effect they produced, that he declares that in all these long and wearisome conflicts his heart had never sunk into despair. We have before explained failing for salvation as denoting that although there was no prospect of an end to his calamities, and although despair presented itself on every side, yet he strove against temptation even to the fainting of his soul. Should we understand the past tense of the verb as put for the present, in which sense it seems to be employed, the Prophet in that case intimates, that his eyes fail him not because they become fatigued, but because

1 "In times of great sorrow, when the heart is oppressed with care, and when danger threatens on every side, the human eye expresses with amazing accuracy the distressing and anguished emotions of the soul. The posture here described is that of an individual who perceives himself surrounded with enemies of the most formidable character, who feels his own weakness and insufficiency to enter into conflict with them, but who is eagerly looking for the arrival of a devoted and powerful friend, who has promised to succour him in the hour of his calamity."-Dr. Morison.

through earnest looking they contract as it were a dimness, and that yet he does not cease to wait continually for the salvation of God. In short, the failing of his eyes indicates perseverance combined with severe and arduous effort, and it is opposed to the momentary ardour of those who immediately faint, if God does not grant their requests. This expression also denotes a painful earnestness, which almost consumes all the senses. As to the term salvation, he does not limit it to one kind of help, but comprehends under it the continual course of God's grace, until he put his believing people in the possession of complete salvation. He expresses the manner in which he waited for salvation, which was by depending upon God's word: in which two things are to be attended to, first, that we can only be said to wait for salvation from God, when, confiding in his promises, we actually betake ourselves to him for protection; and secondly, that we then only yield to God the praise of salvation, when we continue to keep our hope firmly fixed on his word. This is the way in which He is to be sought; and although he may conceal from our view the working of his hand, we ought to repose in his bare promises. This is the reason why David calls God's word righteous. He would hereby confirm his faith in the truth of the divine promises; for God in promising liberally does not cherish in his people delusive expectations.

124. Deal with thy servant according to thy goodness. The two clauses of this verse must be read connectedly; for he does not first separately desire God to deal well with him, and next desire him to be his master and teacher. He rather beseeches him in the exercise of that goodness and mercy, which he is wont to display towards all his people, to instruct him in his law. The object of the Prophet's request then is, that God would teach him in his statutes. But he begins with the divine mercy, employing it as an argument to prevail with God to grant him what he desires. This prayer then must be resolved thus: Lord, deal gently with me, and manifest thy goodness towards me by instructing me in thy commandments. Our whole happiness undoubtedly consists in our having that true wisdom which is to be derived from