7 I will bless the Lord, who careth for me;

My heart so instructeth me in the night seasons. 8 I set the Lord always before me;

Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoiceth; My flesh also shall rest in hope.

10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave;

Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corrup⚫

tion.

11 Thou wilt show me the path of life; In thy presence is fulness of joy,

At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

are beautiful, the hills covered to a considerable distance with figs, olives, pomegranates, and vineyards. Of Hebron, the neighboring city, a modern traveller says: "When that ancient city burst on the view, we entered a romantic and well-cultivated region, the valleys covered with wheat, and the mountain-sides terraced, and planted with figs, vines, and olives."- Olin. Another thus describes the feelings awakened by the approach to this region: "I should see to-morrow the fields where Ruth gleaned among the maidens of Boaz, and the pastures where a shepherdboy once tended his father's flocks, now seeking smooth stones for his sling, among the brooks, and now delighting himself with that young song which was to grow divine, and to become the worship of future ages and nations, in the islands of the Southern Ocean, and the cathedrals of Europe, and among the forests of the Western world.". Martineau.

Ver. 9. "My heart," — "my spirit,"—"my flesh." These three terms are only an emphatic way of denoting the whole person. Comp. Ps. lxxxiv. 2. This and the succeeding verses are quoted by Peter, Acts ii. 25 et seq., and applied to Christ. See Dr. Noyes's notes on this Psalm.

PSALMS LXII. AND LXIV.

PERSECUTION BY SAUL AND HIS COURTIERS.

WE assign these Psalms to the time when David had left the pastures and valleys of Bethlehem, to be an attendant on Saul, the king. He soon found that his quiet pastoral life was exchanged for one of incessant peril and perplexity, from the waywardness of Saul and the treachery of the courtiers. When it was seen that Saul was jealous of him, doubtless the envious and crafty courtiers tried to supplant him, or, as he says, Ps. lxii. 4, "cast him down from his eminence." And the fickle multitude, who had hailed him with songs and dances when he returned from the victory over Goliath, seeing that he was out of favor with the powerful, fell off from him; so that he exclaimed, "Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie." The reflections in the tenth and following verses of Psalm lxii. are addressed to his adversaries, warning them that, if they should succeed in depriving him of his honors, they could not enjoy them long; for "power belongeth unto God," and he will render to every man according to his deserts.

PSALM LXII.

1 TRULY my soul waiteth upon God;
From him cometh my deliverance.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defence, I shall not wholly fall.

3 How long will ye continue to assault a single man? How long will ye all seek to destroy me,

Like a bending wall, or a tottering fence?

4 They consult to cast me down from my eminence; They delight in lies;

They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.

5 My soul, wait thou only upon God;
For my expectation is from him.

6 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defence, I shall not fall.
7 In God is my help and my glory;

The rock of my strength and my refuge is God. 8 Trust in him at all times, ye people;

9

Pour out your heart before him:

God is a refuge for us.

Surely men of low degree are vanity, And men of high degree are a lie;

To be laid in the balance,

They are altogether lighter than vanity.

10 Trust not in oppression,

Place no vain hopes in robbery;

If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. 11 God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; That power belongeth unto God.

12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy;

For thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Ver. 12. The word rendered "mercy" in this verse is by some translated "favor," and the sentiment seems to be the same as that expressed in Ps. lxxv. 6, 7.

PSALM LXIV.

IN the third verse the enemies are said to " sharpen their tongues like a sword," and in the eighth we are told, "Their own tongues shall make them fall." So in the fourth verse we read, "They shoot in secret at the upright," and in the seventh, "God shall shoot at them with an arrow." These contrasts are evidently intentional. We do not know to what particular incidents they refer; but they plainly signify that the machinations of David's enemies should recoil on themselves.

1 HEAR my voice, O God, in my prayer; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the secret council of the wicked;
From the brawling crowd of evil-doers;

3 Who sharpen their tongues like a sword,
And aim their poisoned words like arrows,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the upright;
Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They commune of laying snares privily;
They say, Who shall see them?

6 They meditate crimes.

7

they, "our plans."

"We have finished," say

The inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly shall they be wounded.

8 Thus their own tongues shall make them fall;

All that see them shall flee away.

9 And all men shall fear,

And shall declare the work of God;

For they shall perceive that it is his doing.

10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him;

And all the upright in heart shall glory.

PSALMS CXLII. AND CXLIII.

WHEN HE WAS IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM.

DAVID'S first resort, after leaving Saul, was to the cave of Adullam. Here he was joined by many, who, for various reasons, were dissatisfied with Saul's government, and soon found himself at the head of four hundred men.

Caves both natural and artificial are very numerous in Palestine; the chalk and limestone which prevail affording both such as are produced by running water, wearing away and enlarging natural fissures and chasms, and such as are excavated by the hand of man. Some of them are capable of containing fifteen hundred men; and there is one near Damascus which will even afford shelter to four thousand. The following is from the description by Irby and Mangles of one called "the Labyrinth," and which has been by some supposed to be the cave which afforded shelter to David. "On the southern side of a deep and picturesque ravine