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V. 20.

V. 21.

ข. 22.

v.25.

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"for it, whose it shall be: these things "therefore the soldiers did." John xix. 23, 24. Could any thing but the foresight of God have suggested so remarkable a prophecy, or any thing but his power have caused its completion?

(y)" My darling," i. e. my life, my existence, that about me which is most dear and precious. So Ps. xxxv. 17.

(x) "From the horns of the unicorn," a figurative expression, to express a situation of the greatest dangers: thou hast heard and delivered me when I was upon the point of being gored by the horns of the unicorns.

(a) Here the character of the Psalm changes the deliverance prayed for is foreseen, the success of Christ's kingdom contemplated, and praise and glory to God required on those accounts. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews considers this verse as spoken in the person of the Messiah, Heb. ii. 11, 12. "Both he that sanctifieth, and they "who are sanctified are all of one: for "which cause he" (that is, Jesus) “is "not ashamed to call them" (that is, those who are sanctified)" Brethren,

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saying, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church "will I sing praise unto thee."

(b) The great congregation." This phrase is generally used for the great religious assembly of the Jews, Ps. xxxv. 18. "I will give thee thanks in the great "congregation, I will praise thee among "much people." So Ps. xl. 11. 13.

of the seed of Jacob, and fear him, all ye seed of Israel;

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the low estate of the poor he hath not hid his face from him; but when he called unto him, he heard him.

25 My praise is of thee in the great congregation (b): my Vows (c) will I perform in the sight of them that fear him.

26 The poor shall eat (d), and be satisfied they that seek after the Lord, shall praise him; your heart shall live for ever.

27 All the ends (e) of the

(c) "My vows," &c. So Ps. cxvi. 16. v.5. "I will pay my vows unto the Lord, in "the sight of all his people, in the courts "of the Lord's house, even in the midst "of thee, O Jerusalem."

(d) "The poor shall eat," &c. It is a 25. a mark of great temporal prosperity, where there is such abundance, that the very poorest have enough, and the meaning here probably is, that in the times referred to, that is, the times of the Messiah, there shall be a proportionate abundance of spiritual blessings. See Ps.

lxxii. 16.

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(e)

"All the ends," &c. This is 9.27one, among many, of the predictions as to the extent to which the true worship of God should in time prevail. Isaiah, in his figurative language, says, "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the "mountain of the Lord's house" (that is, the worship of the true God) “shall "be established in the top of the moun"tains, and shall be exalted above the ❝hills, and all nations shall flow unto it" Is. ii. 2. So Hos. ii. 23. God is repre sented as saying, "I will say to them "which were not my people, thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou

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art my God." And again, Mal. i. 11. "From the rising of the sun even unto "the going down of the same" (that is, from the extremities of east and west) "my name shall be great among the "Gentiles, and in every place incense "shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be

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world shall remember themselves, and be turned unto the Lord : and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.

28 For the kingdom is the Lord's (ƒ): and he is the Governor among the people. 29 (g) All such as be fat upon earth have eaten and worshipped (b).

30 All they that go down into the dust shall kneel before him : and no man (i) hath quickened his own soul.

31 My seed shall serve him : they shall be counted unto the Lord for a generation.

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32 They shall come, and the

great among the heathen, saith the "Lord of Hosts." See Ps. ii. 8.lxxxvi. 9.

(f)"The kingdom is the Lord's." This may mean, that from the coming of the Messiah shall be peculiarly the time of "God's kingdom," that which is called continually in the New Testament "the kingdom of heaven."

(g) The last four verses have perhaps suffered from transcribers or transla

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บ.2.

"The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
"His presence shall my wants supply,
"My noon-day walks he shall attend,
"When in the sultry glebe I faint,

To fertile vales, and dewy meads,
"Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,

"Tho' in the paths of death I tread, "My steadfast heart shall fear no ill, "Thy friendly crook shall give me aid, "Tho' in a bare and rugged way, "Thy bounty shall my pains beguile, "With sudden greens and herbage crown'd, (1)" In a green pasture," i. e. provide for me as abundantly as a shepherd does for his sheep, when he puts them into a green pasture,

heavens shall declare his righte ousness unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.

Psalm xxiii. (k)

THE Lord is my shepherd: therefore can I lack nothing.

2 He shall feed me in a green pasture (1) and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.

3 He shall convert (m) my soul and bring me forth (n) in the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art

rich, and “they that go down into the "dust," the poor and abject.

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(i) "No man," &c. This may mean, 30. that no man can of himself give life to his own soul; that must depend on God.

(4) A hymn of great simplicity, written by David, on God's protection and kindness to him. Mr. Addison, in the 441st Number of the Spectator, says of it, "David has very beautifully repre"sented his steady reliance on God in "the 23d Psalm, which is a kind of "pastoral hymn, and filled with those "allusions which are usual in that "species of writing as the poetry is "very exquisite, I shall give the fol"lowing translation of it:

:

and feed me with a shepherd's care;
and guard me with a watchful eye;
and all my midnight hours defend.
or on the thirsty mountain pant,
my weary, wandering steps he leads,
amid the verdant landscapes flow.

with gloomy horrors overspread,
for thou, O Lord, art with me still;
and guide me thro' the dreadful shade.

thro' devious lonely wilds I stray,
the barren wilderness shall smile,
and streams shall murmur all around."

(m) Convert," i. e. direct, turn it v.3. into the right way, if it is going wrong. (n) "Bring me forth," i. e. conduct

me,

v.3.

v.5.

v.5.

v. 6.

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(o)" Against," i. e. notwithstanding the opposition of, in defiance of.

(p) “ Full,” i. e. of prosperity, of thy blessings.

(q)" Dwell," &c. David often mentions his opportunities of visiting the house of God as a source to him of great delight, and when he was driven from Jerusalem by Absalom's rebellion, laments the loss of those opportunities with great feeling. See Ps. xxvi. 8.-xxvii. 4.xlii. and lxxxiv.

(r) A spirited hymn, upon some solemn procession with the ark of God to the top of Mount Sion, either upon its removal from the house of Obededom the Gittite, about 1042 years before the birth of Christ, (See 2 Sam. vi. 12.) or upon some victory. It notices the universal dominion of God, and the qualities he requires in the persons he suffers to approach him, and concludes with a command for opening the gates for the admission of the ark. The ark's going up to Mount Sion, (which was looked upon as a type or representation of heaven,) was considered a type of the Messiah's ascension into heaven, and it is probably on that account that this Psalm is selected for Ascension day. It appears to be responsive, performed by several sets of singers, and the first six verses were probably sung as the procession advanced towards the tabernacle, and the other four just as they were reaching the gates. Dr. Blair has pointed out the manner in which it was sung, to give an idea, from this instance, of the grand effect their sacred performances were calculated to produce: "The "whole people are supposed to be at"tending the procession. The Levites

MORNING PRAYER.

Psalm xxiv. (r)

THE earth is the Lord's, and all that therein is the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For he hath founded it upon the seas and prepared it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend (s) into

"and singers, at least 4000 in number, "divided into 24 sets, and accompanied "with their musical instruments, lead "the way. After the introduction in "the first two verses, when the proces "sion is beginning to ascend the Mount, "the question is put, as by a semichorus, ""Who shall ascend," &c. and the re

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sponse is made by the full chorus," he "that hath clean hands,” &c. As the "procession approaches the doors of the "tabernacle, the chorus, with all their "instruments, join in this exclamation, ""Lift up your heads," &c. The "semichorus then put the question, ""Who is the King of Glory," and "the response is made by the burst of "the whole chorus, "The Lord strong "and mighty," &c. The effect resulting from the grandeur of the procession and the number of the performers, must have been surprising. No wonder that among the things which astonished the Queen of Sheba, when she went to see Solomon, was his "ascent by which he "went up to the house of the Lord." 1 Kings x. 5. Even in the times of Moses their hymns were responsive, and accompanied with music. In the first piece of poetry extant, the Song of the Children of Israel on the destruction of Pharoah, Moses and the Children of Is rael sang the song, and Miriam went out, and all the women after her, with timbrels and dances; and Miriam (either alone or with the women) answered them, "Sing ye to the Lord, for he "hath triumphed gloriously; the horse " and his rider hath he thrown into the "sea." Exod. xv.

(s) "Who shall ascend," &c. Nearly 3 the same question as that in Ps. XV. I.

3.4.

the hill of the Lord or who shall rise up in his holy place?

4 Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart (1): and that hath not lift his mind unup to vanity, nor sworn to deceive (u) his neighbour.

5. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness (x) from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation (y) of them that seek him : even of them that seek thy face (z), O Jacob (a).

7 Lift up(b) your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the King of glory (c) shall come in.

8 Who is the King of glory? it is the Lord, strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is the king of glory? even the Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

(t) "A pure heart." The external ceremony of going up with the ark was not sufficient; but inward purity was requisite to enable a man to approach God.

V.4. (u)

"Nor sworn to deceive," i. c. nor deceived after having sworn. The same as in Ps. xv. 5. "He that sweareth unto "his neighbour, and disappointeth him "not, though it were to his own hind

rance.

0.5. (*) "Righteousness," i. e. favour,

v. 6.

0.6.

v. 6.

mercy.

(y)" The generation," &c.i.e. the character or disposition: this is the race of people that seek him.

(z) "Seek thy face," i. e. approach thee, or seek for thy countenance or favour. In Ps. xxvii. 9. the Psalmist speaks of God's exhorting him to "seek "his face."

(a) O Jacob," i. e. O God of Jacob.

Psalm xxv. (d)

UNTO thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee: O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.

2 For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed: but such as transgress without a cause, shall be put to confusion.

3 Shew me thy ways, O Lord: and teach me thy paths.

4 Lead me forth in thy truth, and learn me for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee hath been my hope all the day long.

5 Call to remembrance, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old.

6 O remember not the sins and offences of my youth: but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O Lord, for thy good

ness.

7 Gracious and righteous is

The v.7.

(b)" Lift up," i. e. to open. manner of opening them was by lifting up the gates, as the gates of a portcullis.

(c) "The king of glory," i. e. the ark, v.7. the symbol of God's presence.

(d) A warm appeal to God for pardon, protection, and guidance, and a spirited eulogium on the advantages of God's assistance. In the Hebrew it is an alphabetical Psalm; the first word of the first verse beginning with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the first word of the second verse with the next letter, and so on. There are in the Old Testament twelve of these compositions, seven of which are in the Psalms. When perfect, they consist of twenty-two verses or parts, that being the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. One of the objects in this practice probably was, to assist the memory in repeating the composition.

v.7. v.8.

v. 10.

V. II.

the Lord therefore will he teach sinners (e) in the way.

8 Them that are meek (ƒ) shall he guide in judgement: and such as are gentle (f), them shall he learn his way.

9 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth: unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

10 For thy Name's sake (g), O Lord be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.

II What man is he that feareth (b) the Lord: him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose;

12 His soul shall dwell at ease: and his seed shall inherit the land. 13 The secret of the Lord is among them that fear him: and he will shew them his covenant.

14 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

15 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and in misery.

16 The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of my troubles.

17 Look upon my adversity and misery and forgive me all my

sin.

(e) "Sinners." Even them. (f) "Meek," and "gentle." These are the dispositions God will teach.

(g) "Thy name's sake." When distress or calamity fell upon any of God's followers, the heathen, &c. thought disrespectfully of God, as if he was unable to relieve them. This consideration is frequently pressed as an argument against punishing them as their sins deserved. See Numb. xiv. 15, 16.—Deut. ix. 28.— Isaiah xlviii. 9. 11.—Jer. xiv. 7.-Ezek. xx. 9.14.22.-Ps. xxxi. 4.-Ps. lxxiv. 23. -Ps lxxix. 9. 11.-Ps. cvi. 8.

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(b) "Feareth," &c. "The fear of "the Lord therefore is" (as is observed Ps. cxi. 10. and Prov. ix. 10.) "the beginning of wisdom.”

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