grief, till he sinks to the brink of the grave; but when the word 'enemies' is uttered from his lips, his emotions change, his courage and hope return."

PSALM VI.

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger,
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure!
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak!
O Lord, heal me, for my bones tremble!

3 My soul is also sore troubled; but thou, O Lord,

4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul!

O, save me, for thy mercies' sake!

5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee; In the grave who shall give thee thanks?

6 I am weary with my groaning,

All the night make I my bed to swim;
I water my couch with my tears.

7 Mine eye is wasted with grief;

It waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The Lord hath heard my supplication;

The Lord will receive my prayer.

10 All mine enemies shall be ashamed and confounded;

They shall be turned back and put to shame sud

denly.

PSALM XXXII.

AFTER HIS REPENTANCE.

DAVID'S sense of justice and humanity, and of the obligations of God's law, had been for a time overpowered by other impulses, but they were not extinct. The appeal of the prophet Nathan, in the beautiful and touching parable of the ewe lamb, was successful. 2 Sam. xii. David pronounced his own condemnation in passing sentence in the supposed case. The prophet enforced the application with great plainness of speech, and drew from him the confession, "I have sinned against the Lord," which is the theme of the last psalm but one (Psalm li.). Those that follow express a calmer state of feeling, after the first agonies of self-reproach had subsided; and in the loss of his child he felt that he had in some sort paid the penalty of his crime. The psalm divides itself into two portions. In the first, David speaks in his own person; at the eighth verse, in that of the Deity.

1

PSALM XXXII.

BLESSED is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not

iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no guile.

3 When I kept silence, my bones were wasted,

By reason of my groaning all the day long.

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; My moisture dried up, as in the drought of summer. 5 At length I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And hid not mine iniquity.

I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;

And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.

6 Therefore shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, while thou mayest be found;

Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

7 Thou art my hiding-place; thou preservest me in trouble;

Thou compassest me about with songs of deliver

ance.

66

8 "I will instruct thee and teach thee the

which thou shalt go;

I will guide thee with mine eye.

9 Be not thou as the horse, or as the mule, which

have no understanding,

Whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle,

Or they will not come near unto thee."

10 Many sorrows are to the wicked;

But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy compasseth

him about.

11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Ver. 9. The meaning is, "Be not shy and distrustful towards God, but draw near to him."

PSALM CIII.

AFTER RECOVERY FROM SICKNESS.

THERE are plain allusions here to recovery from sickness, and to the cheerfulness and hope which restored health produces. The allusion to old age in the fifth verse leads us to inquire what was David's age at this time. It was between fifty and sixty years. The eighth and ninth verses contain allusions to his sin and forgiveness. The fourteenth and fifteenth verses, which speak of the frailness of mortal life, may allude to the death of the child, which event, we are told in the history, David felt so keenly.

1

PSALM CIII.

BLESS the Lord, O my soul!

And all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul !

And forget not all his benefits;

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

Who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy old age with good,

So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Ver. 5. "Thy youth is renewed," &c. It has been a popular opinion, that the eagle moults in its old age, renews its feathers, and is restored to youthful strength again. Harris in Noyes.

6 The Lord executeth righteousness
And judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He doth not always chide,

Neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor requited us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth,

So great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west,

So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth his children,

So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

14 For he knoweth our frame,

He remembereth that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are as grass;

As a flower of the field so he flourisheth.

16 The wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more. 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,

And his goodness unto children's children,

18 To such as keep his covenant,

19

And to those that remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord hath established his throne in the heavens,

And his kingdom ruleth over all.