2. My goodness, and my munition, my citadel, and my deliverer, my shield, and in him I have hoped, who subdues my people under

me.

3. O Jehovah! what is man that thou acknowledgest him? the son of

man that thou thinkest of him?

4. Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow passing away.

1. Blessed be Jehovah, my strength. It is very evident that David, since he celebrates the favour of God in such high terms, had not only obtained the kingdom, but gained signal victories. When he calls God his strength, he acknowledges that any courage he had was given him from above, not only because he had been made from a country shepherd a mighty warrior, but because the constancy and perseverance he had shown was signally a gift from God. This term answers better than were we to translate it rock; for, by way of explanation, he adds immediately afterwards, that he had been formed under God's teaching for war. The words certainly imply an acknowledgment, that though of a warlike spirit, he was not born for warlike enterprise, but needed to undergo a change. What kind of a commencement, for example, did he show in the case of Goliah? That attempt would have been preposterous on any other supposition than his being upheld by secret divine support, so as to be independent of mere human help. (1 Sam. xvii. 40.)

2. My goodness, &c. This way of using the word in a passive sense, as in the Hebrew, sounds harsh in Latin; just as elsewhere (Ps. xviii. 50) he calls himself “God's king," not in the sense of his having dominion over God, but being made and appointed king by him. Having experienced God's kindness in so many ways, he calls him "his goodness," meaning that whatever good he possessed flowed from him.

of David against Goliah;" and that the Chaldee paraphrast took this to be the subject of the Psalm is evident from his reading in verse 10th, "the sword of Goliah." Judging, however, from internal evidence, the enemies referred to seem rather to be those of David and his kingdom, after he ascended the throne. Some refer the Psalm to David's war with the Ammonites and Syrians, recorded in 2 Sam. x.; and it may have been composed by him when about to encounter these hostile powers.

"Ou, mon rocher."-Fr. marg. "Or, my rock.”

The accumulation of terms, one upon another, which follows, may appear unnecessary, yet it tends greatly to strengthen faith. We know how unstable men's minds are, and especially how soon faith wavers, when they are assailed by some trial of more than usual severity. It is not enough, if God would sustain us under such weakness, to promise us his help in individual or single expressions; and, even however many aids he supplies us with, we are subject to very great vacillations, and a forgetfulness of his mercy creeps in upon us which almost overwhelms our minds. We are to remember that it is not merely in token of his gratitude that David heaps together so many terms in declaring the goodness of God, but to fortify God's people against all attacks of the world, and of the evil one. He had a reason for reckoning it among the chiefest of God's mercies, that he controlled the people under his government. For ', ami, my people, some read D'y, amim, peoples; and it is surprising they should prefer such a forced rendering, as David means simply that the settled state of the kingdom was owing not to any counsel, valour, or authority of his own, but to God's secret favour. The verb 777, radad, is used appropriately, signifying to spread out. The idea some have, that by a people spread out is meant a people set down at ease in a prosperous and happy condition, is far-fetched. I have as great objections to the idea of others, that he means a people laid prostrate, so as that they may be trodden under foot; for a violent domination like this would not have been desirable over the chosen people, and sacred inheritance of the Lord. When a people yields a cordial and willing obedience to the laws, all

Those who conjecture that D'Dy, amim, is the correct reading, refer to the parallel passage in Psalm xviii. 47, where the word is in the plural. They also observe in support of their opinion, that this reading is actually found in a great number of MSS. examined by Kennicott and De Rossi ; and they account for Dy, ami, having got into the text by supposing that it was written in the first instance as a contraction for Dy, amim. Rosenmüller supposes, but with less probability, that the original word was DY, and that the letter, yod, is paragogic, that is, has been annexed to improve the sound; DV, am, being taken collectively. The Masorets have noticed that "y, which the translators of our English Bible took to be Dy, with its possessive affix here, in 2 Sam. xxii. 44, and Lament. iii. 14, and consequently rendered by my people, is to be taken as the plural number of that noun.

subordinating themselves to their own place peaceably, this signally proves the divine blessing. And in such a settlement as this, where there is no turbulence, nor confusion, the people are appropriately represented, according to what we have said above, as being spread out. David accordingly having ascribed the victories he had gained over foreign enemies to God, thanks him at the same time for the settled state of the kingdom. Raised indeed as he was from an obscure station, and exposed to hatred from calumnious charges, it was scarcely to have been believed that he would ever obtain a peaceable reign. The people had suddenly and beyond expectation submitted to him, and so surprising a change was eminently God's work.

3. O Jehovah! what is man, &c. He amplifies the goodness shown by God by instituting a comparison. Having declared how singularly he had been dealt with, he turns his eyes inward, and asks, "Who am I, that God should show me such condescension?" He speaks of man in general; only the circumstance is noticeable that he commends the mercy of God, by considering his lowly and abject condition. In other places he mentions grounds of humiliation of a more personal or private nature,-here he confines himself to what has reference to our common nature; and though even in discussing the nature of man there are other reasons he might have specified why he is unworthy of the regard and love of God, he briefly adverts to his being like the smoke, and as a shadow. We are left to infer that the riches of the divine goodness are extended to objects altogether unworthy in themselves. We are warned, when apt at any time to forget ourselves, and think we are something when we are nothing, that the simple fact of the shortness of our life should put down all arrogance and pride. The Scriptures, in speaking of the frailty of man, comprehend whatever is necessarily connected with it. And, indeed, if our life vanish in a moment, what is there stable about us?

1 "Et mesmes combien qu'en espluchant la nature des hommes il eust peu toucher d'autres choses, pour lesquelles ils sont indignes neantmoins," &c.-Fr.

are taught this truth also-that we cannot properly estimate the divine goodness, unless we take into consideration what we are as to our condition, as we can only ascribe to God what is due unto him, by acknowledging that his goodness is bestowed upon undeserving creatures. The reader may seek for further information upon this point in the eighth Psalm, where nearly the same truth is insisted upon.

5. O Jehovah! bow thy heavens,1 and descend:2 touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

6. Thunder forth thunderings, and scatter them ;3 shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

7. Send thy hand from above, rid me and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of the sons of the stranger.

8. For their mouth hath spoken falsehood; and their right hand is a right hand of deceit.

5. O Jehovah! bow thy heavens. After extolling, as was due, the great goodness of God, he requests him to furnish such help for the preservation of the kingdom as was necessary in the present exigency. As formerly we saw that he had gloried in God with a heroical courage, so here he makes use of the same lofty terms in his prayers, That he would bow the heavens-that he would make the mountains to smoke-disturb the air with thunderings-and shoot forth arrows; forms of speech by which, doubtless, he would put away from him all the obstacles which stand between us and a believing apprehension of the omnipotence of God, and

1 "Bow thy heavens. This expression is derived from the appearance of the clouds during a tempest: they hang low, so as to obscure the hills and mountains, and seem to mingle heaven and earth together. Such an appearance is figuratively used to depict the coming of God, to execute vengeance upon the enemies of his people. See Psalm xviii. 10, and other instances."-Walford.

The verbs in this and the two following verses are in the imperative mood, whereas in the corresponding passages in the eighteenth Psalm they are in the past tense. This difference is best accounted for by supposing, with Calvin, that these verses are the language of prayer, uttered by David in a time of threatened danger from the enemies of his kingdom and people; whilst those of the eighteenth Psalm were spoken after some signal deliverance or deliverances had been vouchsafed.

"Scatter them. The antecedent of them' is 'peoples' in verse second."-Walford.

9. Deliver me, O Jehovah! from my enemies. This prayer is to the same effect, his enemies being so earnestly bent upon his destruction as to leave no outgate for him. The verb ''D, chisithi, some render to hope: the proper meaning is to cover, and I am unwilling to depart from it. The explanation some give is, that David upon perceiving the imminent danger to which he was exposed, betook himself to the covert of God's shadow, and concealed himself under the protection of it. This seems a very natural rendering, at least I prefer it to another which has recommended itself to some as being ingenious-that David, instead of having recourse to various quarters for relief, was satisfied to have God cognizant of his case, and called upon him in a hidden manner and apart.

10. Teach me that I may do thy will. He now rises to something higher, praying not merely for deliverance from outward troubles, but, what is of still greater importance, for the guidance of God's Spirit, that he might not decline to the right hand or to the left, but be kept in the path of rectitude. This is a request which should never be forgotten when temptations assail us with great severity, as it is peculiarly difficult to submit to God without resorting to unwarrantable methods of relief. As anxiety, fear, disease, languor, or pain, often tempt persons to particular steps, David's example should lead us to pray for divine restraint, and that we may not be hurried, through impulses of feeling, into unjustifiable courses. We are to mark carefully his way of expressing himself, for what he asks is not simply to be taught what the will of God is, but to be taught and brought to the observance, and doing of it. The former kind of teaching is of less avail, as upon God's showing us our duty we by no means necessarily follow it, and it is necessary that he should draw out our affections to himself. God therefore must be master and teacher to us not only in the dead letter, but by the inward motions of his Spirit; indeed there are three ways in which he acts the part of our teacher, instructing us by his word, enlightening our minds by the Spirit, and engraving instruction upon our hearts, so as to bring us