PSALM C. ARGUMENT. The Psalmist invites all the world to join with the Israelites in the service of Him who was kind and gracious to them beyond expression. Accordingly, we Christians now properly use this Psalm in acknowledgment of God's wonderful love to us in Christ; by whom we offer up continually spiritual sacrifices, for redeeming us by the sacrifice which He made of Himself; for making the world anew, and creating us again unto good works; according to his faithful promises, which we may depend upon for ever.-PATRICK. 1. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands: 2. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 66 The prophet addresseth himself to "all lands," or to all the earth;" to Gentiles, as well as Jews. He exhorteth them to "make a joyful noise," a noise like that of the trumpets at the time of jubilee, a sound of universal triumph and exultation, in honour of "Jehovah," now become their Lord and Saviour. The service of this our Master is perfect freedom; it is a service of love, a freedom from Pharaoh and the task-masters, from Satan and our own imperious lusts; it is a redemption from the most cruel bondage, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Let us therefore do as we are commanded; let us "serve the Lord with gladness;" and when we come "before his presence" in the temple, let it be "with singing" to the praise and glory of our Redeemer. Thus He is served in heaven, and thus He delighteth to be served on earth. 3. Know ye that the LORD he is God, it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Or, He hath made us, and we are his', his people, and the sheep of his pasture. The motives here urged for serving and praising Jehovah, are the same with those above, in Psal. xcv. 6, 7, namely, that He is our "God," engaged by covenant on our behalf; that his hands created us, and have since new created us; that we stand in the peculiar relation of his "people," whom He hath chosen to Himself, and over whom He presideth as King; that we are "the sheep of his pasture," for whom the good Shepherd laid down his life, and whom He nourisheth, by the word and sacraments, unto eternal life. These are points which every Christian ought to "know" and believe, unto his soul's health. And whoever doth know them aright, will ever be ready with heart and voice to obey the injunction which followeth in the next verse. 4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. The Christian Church is a temple, whose "gates" stand continually open, for the admission of the nations from all the four quarters of the world. Rev. xxi. 13. 25. Into the "courts" of this temple, which are now truly "courts of the Gentiles," all men are invited to come, and offer their evangelical sacrifices of "confession and praise;" to express their gratitude to their Saviour, and "bless" his gracious and hallowed "name. How glorious will be that day, which shall behold 1 "I am persuaded that the Masoretical correction (and we are his) is right: the construction and parallelism both favour it."-BISHOP LOWTH. A correspondent suggests-Might not the clause be rendered interrogatively-" Are not we his people, and the sheep of his pasture?" the everlasting gates of heaven lifting up their heads, and disclosing to view those courts above, into which the children of the resurrection are to enter, there, with angels and archangels, to dwell and sing for evermore! 5. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations. "Jehovah is good;" He is the source of all beauty and perfection in the creature; how altogether lovely must He needs be in Himself! His mercy is "everlasting," extending through time into eternity; and "his truth," or fidelity in accomplishing his promises, "endureth to all generations," evidenced to the whole race of mankind, from Adam to his last born son. The Psalms which celebrate these attributes, will never, therefore, be out of date, but each successive generation will chant them with fresh propriety, and fresh delight, until by saints and angels they are sung new in the kingdom of God. PSALM CI. ARGUMENT. In the person of David, advanced to the throne of Israel, we hear King Messiah declaring how He intended to walk, and to govern his household the Church; and also describing the qualifications which He should require in his ministers and servants. 1. I will sing of mercy and judgment; unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. David, having determined to sing unto Jehovah, chooseth for his theme "mercy and judgment;' either that mercy which God had shown to him, and that judgment which had been inflicted on his enemies; or else, that upright administration of mercy and judgment, with which he himself intended to bless his people. The righteous admi nistration of mercy and judgment in the kingdom of Messiah, is a topic on which his subjects always expatiate with pleasure and profit. His mercy encourageth the greatest of sinners to hope; his judgments forbid the best of men to presume. 2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way: O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. In return for the favours of Heaven, we hear the Israelitish monarch declaring his resolution, to set his court and kingdom an example of true wisdom, and unshaken integrity; at the same time, sighing for that visitation of Divine grace, which alone could enable him to put his resolution in practice"O when wilt thou come unto me?" This was ever the voice of the Church, longing for the presence of God in human nature, "O when wilt thou come unto me?" And this must ever be the wish of a Christian, who knoweth that though in himself he be nothing, yet that he can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth him by his Spirit in the inner man. Messiah was the only king of Israel, whose life held forth to his subjects a pattern of wisdom and righteousness, and whose death procured them grace, in their different measures and degrees, to follow it. 3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to me. "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes;" that is, I will not propose to myself, or think of carrying into execution, any iniquitous scheme of politics, however advantageous and tempting it may appear; I will turn away my eyes and my attention, and reject it at once: "I hate the work of them that turn aside;" of them who, in their counsels and their actions, deviate from the Divine "it shall not law to serve their own interest; cleave to me;" no such corrupt principle shall adhere to my soul, or find a place in my affections. How noble a resolution for a king to make; but how difficult an one for a king to keep! Thou only, O King of Righteousness, didst never set any wicked thing before thine eyes; Thou only hadst a perfect aversion to the ways of transgressors. 4. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person. As is the king, so will be the court; as is the master of the house, such will be those of his household. David, having resolved to "walk within his house with a perfect," a sincere and upright "heart," determines at the same time to expel from thence all whose hearts were perverted and depraved: as he would "set no wicked thing before his eyes," so neither would he form any connexions with "wicked persons;" they should not be of his acquaintance, much less should they be his favourites. In the same manner speaketh our heavenly King, with regard to the appointment of his ministers and servants-"I know you not, whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Luke xiii. 27. 5. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off; him that hath an high look, and a proud, or, extended, and therefore insatiable, heart, will not I suffer. Detraction, ambition, and avarice, are three weeds which spring and flourish in the rich soil of a court. The Psalmist declareth his resolution to undertake the difficult task of eradicating them, for the benefit of his people, that Israelites might not be harassed by informers, or oppressed by insolent and rapacious ministers. Shall we imagine these vices less odious in the eyes of that King, VOL. II. M |