selves they shall fall and perish, but we shall triumph, with our Redeemer, to eternity.

TWENTY-NINTH DAY.-EVENING

PRAYER.

PSALM CXLII.

ARGUMENT.

The title of this Psalm informs us, that it was a prayer of David, when he was in the cave, that is, most probably, the cave of Adullam, whither he fled when in danger both from Saul and from the Philistines: 1 Sam. xxii. 1. It containeth, 1, 2, a supplication; 3-5, an act of confidence in God at that season of danger and destitution; 6, a tender complaint of his sufferings, and, 7, a petition for deliverance. Our translators having rendered some of the verbs in the past tense, the liberty hath been taken to alter them, agreeably to the Hebrew, and to the tenor of the Psalm, which seemeth to be an actual prayer, and not the relation of one.

1. I will cry unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD will I make my supplication. 2. I will pour out my complaint before him; I will show before him my trouble.

The state of David in the cave of Adullam was a state of utter destitution. Persecuted by his own countrymen, dismissed by Achish, and not yet joined by his own relations, or any other attendants, he took refuge in the cave, and was there alone. But in that disconsolate, and seemingly desperate, situation, he desponded not. He had a Friend in heaven, into whose bosom he "poured forth his complaint," and told Him the sad story of his trouble and distress. When danger besetteth us around, and fear is on every side, let us follow the example of David, and that of a greater than David, who, when Jews and Gentiles conspired against Him, and He was left all alone in the garden and on the cross, gave Himself unto prayer.

3. When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, then thou knowest my path. In the way wherein I walk, have they privily laid a snare for me.

The meaning is, Though my thoughts are so broken and confused, that I am not able to counsel and direct myself in these straits, yet thou knowest the path wherein I walk, thou art with me, and wilt preserve me from those who watch all my steps, and lie in ambush for me. Such should be

at all times the confidence of believers in the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God, even when human prudence has done its utmost, and is at its wit's end.

4. Look on my right hand, and see that there is no man that will know me: refuge faileth me; no man careth for my soul. 5. I cry unto thee, O LORD; I say, Thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living.

David beseecheth God to consider his destitute condition, to "look on his right hand," the place where the advocate used to stand, and to "see that there was no man that would know," acknowledge him, and take his part; "refuge failed him;" there was on earth no patron to whom he could commit himself and his cause; no one, w, that would "seek, require, or avenge his soul." Thus Dr. Hammond expounds the words in a forensic sense. How affectingly do they describe the destitution of David in the cave, and that of the Son of David in the day of his passion, death, and burial! Death will, in like manner, strip us of all our earthly connexions and dependences. But even at that hour, may we, each of us, "cry unto thee, O Lord, and say, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living!"

6. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are

VOL. II.

Ff

stronger than I. 7. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for, or, when, thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

This prayer of David was heard and answered; he was delivered from his persecutors, enlarged from his distress, exalted to the throne, and joined by all the tribes of Israel. The true David was delivered from his stronger persecutors, brought from the sepulchre, exalted to his heavenly throne, owned and submitted to by the converted nations, who became the Israel and people of God. Nor let us fear, though we be brought very low, and our persecutors, the world, the flesh, and the devil, be at any time too strong for us. God will deliver us from the bondage of sin, and redeem us from the prison of the grave, to join the great assembly before the throne, and there to praise his name for ever.

PSALM CXLIII.

ARGUMENT.

This is the seventh and last of the Penitential Psalms; and as we are not informed of any particular temporal calamities, which gave occasion to its being composed, we shall explain it according to the general use now made of it in the Church, for which, indeed, it seems to have been originally and entirely designed. After the example of David, the penitent, 1, maketh his prayer to God for pardon; 2, acknowledgeth the impossibility of any man being saved but by grace; 3, 4, deploreth the lamentable effects of sin; 5, comforteth himself with a retrospect of God's mercies of old; and, 6-12, prayeth, in a variety of expressions, for remission of sin, sanctification, and redemption.

1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

When Mary Magdalene washed the feet of Christ with her tears, He knew what the petition

was which her soul desired to have granted, and answered it accordingly, before it was made in words, by saying, "Thy sins are forgiven thee." Thus the penitent, without mentioning the subject of his request, as being well known to God, begs that his "prayer and supplication may be heard and answered," agreeably to the "faithfulness and righteousness of Jehovah."

2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

In the first verse, the suppliant appealed to the promises of God, and his fidelity in performing them. Here he urgeth the fallen, sinful, wretched state of human nature, which hath rendered it absolutely impossible that any son of Adam can be saved, should God "enter into judgment with him,” and exact the punishment due to his offences according to the LAW, instead of pardoning them by an act of GRACE. The thoughts of such a trial are enough to appal the soul of the best man living, to make his flesh tremble, and all his bones shake, as if he stood at the foot of Sinai, and beheld Jehovah ready to break forth upon him in the flame of devouring fire.

3. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. 4. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

We have an "enemy" who "persecutes" us with unrelenting malice; he "smites our life down to the ground," as often as we yield to temptation, and fall from our state of holiness, to grovel in base and earthly desires; he "makes us to dwell in darkness," when he has thus withdrawn us from the light of heaven, which before illuminated

us, while we walked in it; the spiritual life, for a time, is extinguished, and we become, for all the purposes of faith and charity, "like those that have been long dead. Therefore," at the consideration of this our sad estate, when God has enabled us to see and know it, our "spirit is overwhelmed within us," with remorse, anxiety, and despondency; and "our heart within us," deprived of the comforts of conscience, the joys of the Spirit, and the presence of the Beloved, "is desolate," forlorn, miserable. To rescue the sinner from this disconsolate and lost condition, our blessed Saviour was forsaken on the cross; "his spirit was overwhelmed within him, and his heart within him was desolate; the enemy" was suffered to "smite his" precious "life down to the ground," and He "dwelt," for three days, "in darkness, as the men that have been long dead."

5. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

When sin has thus laid us low, and, as it were, slain and entombed us, we begin to revive and to arise from the dead, through hope of forgiveness and restoration to the Divine favour, by "remembering the days of old, and meditating on all the works" of love and mercy, which Jehovah then wrought towards those who were sinners like ourselves. While we "muse" on such instances of his goodness, the reflection is obvious, Is He not still the same gracious God? Will He not do as much for us, upon our repentance, as He hath formerly done for others, upon theirs? "Let us arise, and go to our Father!"

6. I stretch forth my hands unto thee; my soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land.

Prayer is the voice of faith. The sinner who views his situation, and believes, on having con