whom he prays, were not only immoveably determined to accomplish the ruin of him and his friends, but were perfons of the most profligate characters, hardened against the fear of God, and deftitute of all regard to truth, juftice, and humanity; by confequence, they were proper objects of the divine displeasure, and of the infliction of these punishments which he folicited, in order to the protection of his oppreffed and perfecuted innocence, and to the fupport of that form of religion which God had established among the people of Ifrael, according to the threatnings which were contained in the law itself. David, therefore, did no more than wish, that the divine conftitution fhould operate for his own and his country's welfare, when he poured out his foul in fuch requests against them. Thus his prayers for evil upon enemies, are not prayers flowing from spite and resentment on account of injuries and affronts which he had received already, and further feared from them, though the common fource of like petitions in men ; but were prayers directed by reasonable care of himfelf, and his righteous caufe, together with a becoming zeal for the honour of the Deity, in the fanctions by which the obfervation of his ordinances was enforced among them.

Or, fecondly, we may fuppofe the penman of these pfalms, to present the prayers which he offers to God for various judgements on his wicked and impious enemies, under an impulse of the fpirit, or upon a revelation of God's abfolute purpose and decree to inflict them. Of this fort were Elijah's+pray* See Pf. x. 2.-15. xvii. 2.— 14. lxviii. 1. &c.

+ See Morris's Sermons. Accordingly, the expreffion of the A

ers for the fufpenfion of rain, James v. 17. and for the descent of fire from heaven, to confume the companies dispatched to arreft him, 2 Kings i. 10. Of the fame kind alfo were Elifha's prayers for the blindness of the Syrians at Dothan, and for the deftruction of the fcoffers at Bethel, 2 Kings, vi. 18. i. 24. As indeed it is abfurd to fuppofe thefe extraordinary calamities would have followed on the fupplications of those prophets, unless they had been agreeable to the will of God, with whatever ardor and earnestness they were prefented. And why may we not add thefe of the Pfalmift to the number? In the case of such a discovery from God to him, as I have mentioned, it became his duty to will the arrival of thefe punishments, against all the workings of his own pity and compaffion, toward the guilty and criminal objects, as a measure which the all-wise and righteous Governor of the universe faw requifite to be purfued, for the vindication of his glory, and the support of his authority.

To one or other of these honourable fources, as feems to me, it should be admitted by all Chriftians at least, that these prayers are to be traced, when it is confidered, that the apoftle Peter, being about to produce fome of thefe execrations and curfes, as they have been called, that he might perfuade the other apoftles and brethren to find Judas's place vacant, and to choose a fit person in his room, to be a witness with them of Jefus's refurrection, ftiles them, the words of the Holy Ghoft;' for he intro

6

postle James, which we turn, the effectual prayer,' is properly, the inwrought, the infpired prayer, svepyrμern; and it feems neceffary to admit this tranflation, both for the fake of confiftency in his remark, and from a regard to his fcope and defign in introducing the fact.

*

duces them thus, This fcripture muft needs have 'been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghoft by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas.-For it ← is written in the book of Pfalms, Let his habita"tion be defolate, and let no man dwell therein, "and his office (or charge) let another take." Which is faying in effect, that the pfalmift uttered thefe words not from his own private motion, but as moved by the Holy Ghoft; he therefore leaves us no room to fuppofe, that they exprefs any irregular workings of human paffions, though from fuch, doubtlefs, the hearts of good men are not all times wholly free, even when they are employed in devotional exercises. Nor do I fee how the argument can be evaded, unless it be pretended, that Peter, not being yet infallible in his religious decisions, because this discourse was delivered by him, before the defcent of the Spirit which Christ promised to lead him and his companions into all truth, was herein miftaken, as in his remonftrance against our Saviour's dying, Matt. xvi. 2 3.—But even then, there would be evidence for the fame origin of them, from the declarations in the New Teftament about the infpiration of the Jewish Scriptures in general, and the appeals by the apoftles to different paffages of the lxix Pfalm in particular, after the fame manner as to other texts the most authoritative. See John ü. 17. Rom. xi. 9. 10.

Now by either of these folutions, which the reader may think is to be preferred, David's piety is maintained, the imputation of rancour and revenge upon bim for pronouncing fuch words, and of cruelty up,

See Acts, i. 16-20. and compare Pf. lxix. 25. cix. 8.

on the Jews for giving these compofitions, wherein they occur, a place among their facred books, is refuted; and all encouragement is also taken away from us who have not the extraordinary communications about the schemes and intentions of heaven, which he, by one hypothefis, here had, to pour out requests to God for the deftruction even of our wicked enemies, unless when this appears the fole expedient for felf-prefervation, or the fafety of the ftate against their machinations and efforts. *

But it is time to proceed to the other part of Mr. Voltaire's accufation, That the Jews were a carnal people. To fix this charge upon them, (the truth of which I mean not to deny however, though I believe it will be difficult to fhew they merited this opprobrious appellation beyond their neighbours, as much as fome perfons, unfriendly to revelation, stigmatize

About thofe imprecatory pfalms, whoever would be more fully informed of the reafonings of the learned, may confult Sykes's Introduction to his Commentary on the Epiftle to the Hebrews, Kennicott's Examination of the Hebrew text, Hammond and Merrick's Annotations on the Pfalms, and Chandler's Review of the History of the Man after God's own heart, fect. 22. I had once refolved to omit taking any notice of them, as Mr. Voltaire's account of them was agreeable to all verfions, as well as the Vulgate; while, moreover, it feemed a faithful enough transcript thereof. But, on maturer confideration, I judged it better to make these remarks concerning them, as they have been frequent matter of offence to believers, and triumph to infidels, and have real difficulty in them. And though I should be found to have faid little new, if I have explained the several opinions of able and inquifitive divines about them, to those who have not accefs to perufe their writings, and thereby brought into view any thing fatisfactory, in which their minds can acquiefce, for folving the objections which have thence been raised, the pains bestowed will be amply recompenced.

them distinguishingly or eminently by it;) he is, I think, guilty of very unfair conduct; for he profeffes to quote these words from the cvii. psalm, † Judah is 'a kettle full of meat. The mount of the Lord is a congealed mount, a fat mountain. Why do ye look upon the congealed mountains? But the first clause I cannot find at all. There is, indeed, in the Vulgate version of this pfalm, according to the method of numeration, which it follows after the Greek, by joining the ninth and tenth pfalms of the Hebrew pfalter together, and counting them only one, but according to the Jewish, and our manner of computing, the cviii. a sentence which hath some refemblance to it: Moab is the kettle of my hope.' And in like manner, in the lix. of that tranflation, which is with us the lx. it is faid, Moab | is the pot of || my hope.' But no where in it have I been able to difcover Mr. Voltaire's fcrap, not even among the various readings gathered from different manuscripts thereof, by the divines of Louvaine, and published by Plantin at Antwerp, Befides, our translation of it is far more just than any fuch rendering would be, did it at all lurk in fome copy of the Vulgate ; and it cannot be pretended it is to be met with in any other version. Moab is my washing pot,' § says

+ Page 212.

la fpei meae.'

Moab lebes fpei meae.'

I'Moab ol

Moab מאוב סיר רחצי The Hebrew in both places, runs $

fir rahatzi, of which the literal import is, 'Moab is a pot for my washing.' Which is excellently illustrated in Gataker's Cinnus, lib. 2. cap. 19. by a story from Herodotus. Amafis, king of Egypt, finding himself despised for the meanness of his extraction and breeding, contrived to break in pieces a golden bafon in which he and his guests had been accustomed to wash their feet, and to make it into an image of a god.