3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield || for me; My glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, And he heard me out of his 'holy hill. Selah. 5 * I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. 6 h I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, That have set themselves against me round about. 7 Arise, O LORD; save me, 0 my God: This Psalm was composed in a season of bitter suffering, when, in his old age, David was driven from his own capital city, Jerusalem, by his own people, and by his own beloved and rebellious son, Absalom; and when he crossed the Brook Kedron, and went up the mount of Olives barefoot, and wept as he went up. David was then a signal type of CHRIST, in His agony and sufferings. See the Prelim. Note to 2 Sam. xv., and on 2 Sam. xv. 30; and Hammond here. Here is a proof that the Psalms of David are not arranged chronologically. This Psalm belongs to the latest period of his life, a period long subsequent to that with which another Psalm, which is placed soon after it (viz., the seventh) is connected. The arrangement of the Psalms is not an external one of time, but it is an inner one of thought and spirit; it is regulated by a prophetic anticipation of the history of Christ, and is pre-adjusted to it. Not only are the Psalms inspired, but the order, in which they are placed, was regulated by the guidance of the Holy Ghost. S. Jerome says truly, "Psalmi in personâ Christi loquuntur;" and no less truly S. Augustine (in Ps. 150): "Ordo Psalmorum mihi magni sacramenti videtur continere secretum." David was a figure of Christ; to adopt the strong words of Origen here, "David is Christ;" that is, Christ speaks in him. David in his victories has been displayed to us in the two former Psalms, and we were raised from a view of them to a contemplation of CHRIST, enthroned as King of kings. We now descend into the lowlands of earthly sufferings through which David passed, and through which Christ passed to glory; and through which the Church of Christ must pass, and through which every Christian must pass, in order to attain the blessedness which has been revealed in the former Psalm. As S. Jerome says here, "Potest hic Psalmus et ad David, et ad Christum, et per Eum ad omnes sanctos pertinere." Accordingly, the present Psalm is appointed in the Gregorian use for Good Friday. It is worthy of remark, that in the present Psalm, and in all the four following Psalms, we have an expression of the personal feelings of David; the inspired representative of Christ, and of the suffering members of the Church of God in all ages. In every one of these five Psalms, we have frequent recurrence of the personal pronouns I and me, and of the possessive pronoun my. "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me; many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in his God." This is the tone of these five Psalms in succession. They are plaintive utterances of David, of Christ, of the Church Militant, and of every faithful soul in it. But, let us observe, that as these strains of suffering start from a promise of blessing in the first pair of Psalms, so they rise to a vision of glory in the octave, "O Lord, our Governor, how excellent is Thy name in all the world who hast set Thy glory above the heavens!" (Ps. 8). But to return. David, driven from his city by Absalom, and weeping on Mount Olivet, was eminently a type of Christ in His sufferings; and that period in his life seems therefore to have been selected here as a striking specimen of his afflictions, and as a very significant figure of Christ and His Church, and of every afflicted soul in it. The collocation of this Psalm (which describes the rebellion of Absalom against David) immediately next after the Psalm which describes the insurrection of the World against Christ, David's Divine Antitype, serves to bring out in a clear view this figura His trust in God. b 2 Sam. 16. 8. Ps. 71. 11. c Gen. 15. 1. Ps. 28. 7. & 119. 114. Or, about. d Ps. 27. 6. e Ps. 34. 4. f Ps. 2. 6. & 43. 3. & 99. 9. g Lev. 26. 6. Ps. 4. 8. h Ps. 27. 3. tive relation of David to Christ. And this is further displayed by the verbal resemblances in these two Psalms. Compare the words "rise up against me" in v. 1, and "thousands of people who set themselves against me" in v. 6, with the words in Ps. ii. 2, The Kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord, and against His Anointed; and compare the words, His holy hill, in v. 4, with the words in Ps. ii. 6, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill. We shall see that this first Book of the Psalter ends with a reference to a still more painful crisis of suffering, viz., the insurrection of his son Adonijah, leagued with Joab and Abiathar, against David in his old age on his sick bed (see Ps. 41). And the second Book of the Psalter begins with the same period in David's life as the present (see on Ps. 42, at the beginning). Those insurrections against David, the Anointed of God, the King and the Father, were, in his history, what the Agony and Crucifixion of Christ is in the Gospel. They were his Gethsemane and Calvary; but they were succeeded by victory and triumph. Hence the prominence of their position in the Psalter. They have a prophetic meaning. The present Psalm opens with a view of David's sorrows at the time when his people and his son were joined in insurrection against him, and supposed him to be cast off by God. The curses which he then endured from Shimei express that feeling (see 2 Sam. xvi. 8). He has no access to the Tabernacle, he has sent the Ark of God back to Jerusalem (2 Sam. xv. 24-29). But he feels God's spiritual presence: "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill," the holy hill mentioned in the foregoing Psalm (ii. 6). It is related, that when David, in his flight from Absalom, came to the top of the Mount of Olives, he worshipped God (2 Sam. xv. 32). 4.] The word SELAH is here introduced for the first time in the Psalter. It has been well called the "Sursum Corda" of the Hebrew ritual. It is probably derived from salal, to lift up, and denotes an elevation of the heart, and of the voice to God. It occurs in thirty-nine Psalms. Once in Psalms 7. 20. 21. 44. 47, 48. 50. 54. 60, 61. 75. 81, 82, 83. 85. 143. Twice in Psalms 4. 9. 24. 39. 49. 52. 55. 57. 59. 62. 67. 76. 84. 87, 88. Thrice in Psalms 3. 32. 46. 66. 68. 77. 140. Four times in Psalm 89. It never occurs at the end of a Psalm, except in Psalms which are coupled on to the following ones, as Psalms 3. 24. 46, which were festival hymns succeeded by others (see Dr. Kay, p. 331, 332, and Delitzsch, p. 22, who regards it as marking a transition from piano to forte). It is represented in Sept. by "diapsalma." It is observable that Selah, the musical note of elevation, which occurs first here, is connected in this place with a triple raising up. "Thou, O Lord, art the lifter up of my head. I cried unto the Lord, I lifted up my voice. I laid me down to sleep, and rose up again, for the Lord sustained me." 5. I laid me down and slept] Probably at Mahanaim, where he was hospitably entertained by Barzillai and others. See 2 Sam. xvii. 27. In a spiritual sense these words are applied by Theodoret and S. Augustine here and in his De Civ. Dei, xvii. 18, and by many others, to CHRIST sleeping on the Cross, and awaking from the dead, for the Lord sustained Him (cp. on Gen. xlix. 9); and the interpretation is expressed in Western Liturgies, in the Easter Antiphon, where Christ says: .... Ego dormivi, et somnum accepi, et surrexi. . David's enemies are compared, on account of their savage cruelty, to wild beasts; but God breaks their teeth (v. 7), and they are unable to devour their prey. Cp. lviii. 6. David remonstrance PSALMS III. 8. IV. 1—6. with his foes, and friends. i Job. 16. 10. & 29. 17. Ps. 58. 6. Lam. 3. 30. k Prov. 21. 31. Isa. 43. 11. Jer. 3. 23. Hos. 13. 4. Or, overseer, Hab. 3. 19. Or, be gracious unto me. a 2 Tim. 2. 19. 2 Pet. 2. 9. b Eph. 4. 26. c Ps. 77. 6. 2 Cor. 13. 5. d Deut. 33. 19. Ps. 50. 14. & 51. 19. 2 Sam. 15. 12. e Ps. 37. 3. & €2. 8. f Num. 6. 26. Ps. 80 3, 7, 19. & 119. 135. i For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame ? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. a But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself : The LORD will hear when I call unto him. 4 b Stand in awe, and sin not: C Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, e And put your trust in the LORD. 6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? 'LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 8. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD] He only can give the Victory. And whatever may happen to me, the King, let Thy blessing be upon Thy people! David had shown his disinterestedness and love for his people, even when rebelling against him, by sending back the Ark to Jerusalem (see above, on 2 Sam. xv. 25). He prayed for them, even when they rejected him, and here also he was a figure of Christ, who prayed for His murderers (Luke xxiii. 34), and Who is ever praying for His Church, now that He is gone up into heaven, from whence He is ever shedding down a shower of blessing upon His people. Cp. below, v. 12; and xxviii. 9; xxix. 11. Ps. IV.] Title.-To the chief Musician, or Precentor, on Neginoth, i. e. on stringed instruments. See Gesen. 531. This word occurs in the titles of Psalms 4. 6. 54, 55. 67. 76. In 61 it is neginath. The former Psalm was the Morning Hymn of David in his sufferings (see v. 5); the present was the Evening Hymn. Both probably belong to the same time of David's severe trial in his flight from Absalom, which was a foreshadowing of the sorrows of Christ. This is an Easter Even Psalm, Sarum use. See v. 8. 1. Hear me, O God of my righteousness] Thou, God, from Whom my righteousness comes, and Who wilt maintain my right against mine enemies and Thine. So in xviii. 47, the "God of my salvation" is the God from Whom it comes, and on Whom it rests. * 2. O ye sons of men] In the original it is bene ish (filii viri, sons of a strong man), as opposed to bene adam (filii hominis, xlix. 2; lxii. 9). He is addressing those who rely on human strength, and contrasts them with himself, who relies on the power of God. How long will my glory,-the glory of my kingdom, which God hath given me (see iii. 3),-be shamefully treated by you, who rebel against me? How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing, or lying? (cp. v. 6). But whatever ye may do, yet know that God is on my side. David then turns from his enemies to his friends, and checks their wrath. Be ye angry, but sin not (so Sept., Vulg. Cp. Gesen. 756; and Kay); and St. Paul seems to countenance this sense, by adopting this rendering of the Sept. in Eph. iv. 26. David may be supposed to be addressing such zealous partisans as Abishai, his nephew, who, when David was flying from Absalom, was transported with indignation against his persecutors, and craved leave to take off the head of Shimei, who cursed David (see 2 Sam. xvi. 9), and was restrained by him in the spirit of this Psalin. See also David's merciful charge with regard to the life of Absalom himself (2 Sam. xviii. 5). Commune with your own heart upon your bed (see v. 4), and be still. Commit my cause and yours to God. 5-8. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness] Ye are now excluded from the privilege of access to God's altar on Mount Zion; but still you may offer sacrifices of righteousness, the sacrifice of the heart. Offer sacrifices of righteousness in mercy and meekness, not with hands stained with blood; and put your trust in the Lord. Many among you (David is speaking to his followers, who accompanied him in his flight from Jerusalem, over the Mount of Olives, and looked wistfully and despondingly on the city, from which they were driven), many among you are saying, Where is any hope left? Who will show us any good? And he then turns from them, and raises his eyes to God: "Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us." We cannot now, it is true, offer the sacrifices of victims before the Ark at Jerusalem, but we may offer the sacrifice of the spirit. We have not access to the Urim and Thummim (the light and truth: see on Exod. xxviii. 30), on the High Priest's breastplate in the Sanctuary; but God will lift up the light of His countenance upon us. That is the true Urim and Thummim. We cannot now receive the Benediction of the Priests: "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace" (Numb. vi. 24-26); but the Lord Himself is ever present with us to bless us, and He lifts up the light of His countenance upon us. There is our true good. There is our genuine gladness,—a gladness of heart,-greater than any which our enemies can feel on account of the increase of their material blessings of corn and wine (v. 7). Compare the similar strain in Ps. xliii. 3, which belongs to the same crisis in David's history. If we examine the narrative concerning the gifts brought to David by Ziba and Barzillai at this time (2 Sam. xvi. 1, 2; xvii. 27-29), when he was flying from Absalom, we shall see that David himself was in need of a supply of corn and wine, and that the season in which he fled was the time of the ingathering of harvests; and probably Absalom and his friends were exulting at that time in the plenty of their own supplies, and were revelling in "the joy of harvest," and in the spoil which they had gotten from the King and his friends at Jerusalem and in its neighbourhood. But David has God's presence and protection, and therefore he has true gladness of heart, and he lays himself down in peace, probably at Mahanaim, and sleeps; for "Thou, Lord, only makest him dwell in safety." A reference to the parallel pair of Psalms in the second David's trust in God. g PSALMS IV. 7, 8. V. 1-11. His refuge in prayer. 7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, More than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. 8 h I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: g laa. 9. 3. h Job 11. 18, 19. Ps. 3. 5. i Lev. 25. 18, 19. & 26. 5. PSALM V. To the chief Musician upon Nehiloth, A Psalm of David. 1 GIVE ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: b For unto thee will I pray. 3 c My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. 4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: Neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 d The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: e Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing The LORD will abhor † the bloody and deceitful man. 7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy : 8 And in thy fear will I worship toward † thy holy temple. t 1 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of † mine enemies; Make thy way straight before my face. 9 For there is no || faithfulness † in their mouth; Their inward part is † very wickedness; k Their throat is an open sepulchre ; They flatter with their tongue. || Destroy thou them, O God; "Let them fall by their own counsels; Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; For they have rebelled against thee. But let all those that put their trust in thee " rejoice: Book of the Psalter, viz. Ps. 42 and 43, will throw much light on this pair, the 3rd and 4th. See on Ps. 42, and xliii. 3. Ps. V.] Title.-Nechiloth, or wind instruments (Gesen. 543). It only occurs here. In the former Psalm David has lain down in peace and slept (iv. 8); he now rises early in the morning, and prays to God, and gives thanks. Such is the life of the believer, especially in times of trial. In the two former Psalms we see David excluded from the worship of the Sanctuary at Jerusalem; but now, being able to resort to the Tabernacle, he repairs to it with joy (vv. 3. 7; iv. 5). In the Sept. and Vulg. this Psalm is entitled, "For her who obtains the inheritance," i. e. for the Church of God; for none but the Church of God, says S. Jerome, can have the hope which is expressed in this Psalm. The Syriac Version, therefore, inscribes this Psalm with the title, A Prayer, in the person of the Church, when he went up to the House of the Lord.” 1. Consider my meditation] The word meditate is a catchword, which connects the present Psalm with the first two Psalms (i. 2; ii. 1); and the voice of my cry refers us back to Ps. iii. 4. Thus the Psalms are woven together by delicate threads running through them, as in a tissue. a Ps. 3. 4. b Ps. 65. 2. c Ps. 30. 5. & 88. 13. & 130. 6. d Hab. 1. 13. ↑ Heb. before thine eyes. e Rev. 21. 8. f Ps. 55. 23. + Heb, the man g 1 Kings 8. 29, + Heb. those which observe me, Ps. 27. 11. i Ps. 25. 4. & 27.11. Or, stedfastness. ↑ Heb. in his month, that is, in the mouth of any of them. Heb. wicked nesses. k Luke 11. 44. Rom. 3. 13. 1 Ps. 62. 4. Or, Make them guilty. m 2 Sam. 15. 31 & 17. 14, 23. Or, from their counsels. n Isa. 65. 13. + Heb. thou coverest over, or, protectest them. will set it in order, like wood, and like the victim, laid in order on the altar by the Priest for the sacrifice (Lev. i. 6-8; vi. 5). On this use of the word arac, see below, on Ps. 1. 23. David lays his prayer on the altar as a sacrifice to God. The wood and the victim are of no avail without the spiritual sacrifice of the heart of the offerer. Cp. Rom. xii. 1. 1 Pet. ii. 5. Phil. iv. 18. 6. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing] Here is another repetition from the preceding Psalm (v. 2). How long will ye seek after leasing? (Heb. cazab). 7. In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple] That is, the Tabernacle. Heb. heycal (literally, a palace), a word applied to the Tabernacle, in 1 Sam. i. 9; iii. 3. Below, xi. 4; xviii. 6. See Gesen. 222. 8. Make thy way straight] Do not let me choose my own way, but Thine; and do Thou make Thy way level and manifest before me. Cp. Ps. xxiii. 3; xxv. 5; xxvii. 11. 9. they flatter with their tongue] They make their tongue smooth. 10. Destroy thou them, O God] Rather, Declare Thou their guilt. Let them fall by their own counsels] As David said of the counsel of Ahithophel. See 2 Sam. xv. 31; xvii. 14. 23: For they have rebelled (not so much against me as) against Thee. David's plea o Ps. 115. 13. + Heb. crown him. Or, upon the eighth: See 1 Chron. 15. 21. Ps. 12, title. a Ps. 38. 1. Jer. 10. 24. & 46. 28. b Ps. 41. 4. c Hos. 6. 1. d Ps. 90. 13. e Ps. 30. 9. & 88. 11. & 115. 17. & 118. 17. Isa. 38. 18. | Or, every night. f Job 17. 7. Ps. 31.9 & 38. 10. & 88.9. Lam. 5. 17. g Ps. 119. 115. Matt. 7. 23. & 25. 41. Luke 13. 27. h Ps. 3. 4. Hab. 3. 1. 2 Sam. 16. Or, business. a Ps. 31. 15. 12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; With favour wilt thou † compass him as with a shield. PSALM VI. To the chief Musician on Neginoth ||* upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. 1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2b Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: But thou, O LORD, how long? * Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, * concerning the || words of Cush the Benjamite. 1 O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: a Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me : 12. Thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous] Here is another repetition from the foregoing Psalms (i. 1; ii. 12; iii. 8). With favour wilt Thou compass him as with a shield; and thus we are brought back to the imagery of the preceding Psalm (iii. 3), "Thou, Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." But here the shield (Heb. tsinnah, scutum) is greater than the shield there (Heb. maghen, clypeus). In Ps. xxxv. 2, both are mentioned: "Take hold on shield and buckler, and stand up for my help." The prophetic declaration of the Psalmist here, that God will bless the righteous in all his sufferings, has received its full accomplishment in "Jesus Christ, the righteous." Accordingly, this Psalm is appointed in the Latin Church for use on Easter Even, when she is waiting in hope for its fulfilment in His Resurrection from the dead. Ps. VI.] Title. Sheminith, the bass voice. See Ps. 12; and 1 Chron. xv. 20, 21; and Delitzsch, p. 46. The three former Psalms were produced by troubles from without; by the rebellion of subjects, and of a son, and by the treachery of Ahithophel. Now we see a new form of suffering that of bodily pain and anguish. David is here like another Job, sitting in the ashes; and probably, like Job, taunted by some who ascribed his sufferings to his sin, and pointed to them as just punishments from God. Well has the Church placed this Psalm among her seven Penitential Psalms, which are the 6. 32. 38. 51. 102. 130. 143, and are appointed for use on Ash-Wednesday. It is recorded of S. Augustine, that in his last sickness he ordered these Psalms to be inscribed in a visible place, on a wall of his chamber, where he might fix his eyes and heart upon them, and make their words his own, in the breathing out of his soul to God: “Ultimâ, qua defunctus est, ægritudine, jusserat Psalmos Davidicos, qui sunt paucissimi de pœnitentià, scribi, ipsosque quaterniones jacens in lecto contra parietem positos diebus suæ infirmitatis intuebatur et legebat, et jugiter ac ubertim flebat" (Possidius, Vit. Aug. 42). 3. My soul is also sore vexed] The Septuagint has here ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη,-words adopted by our Lord Himself in His sufferings, as described in the Gospel (John xii. 27. Cp. Ps. xlii. 6, 7). 5. In death there is no remembrance] Or commemoration of Thee. These words, and their parallels, in xxx. 9; lxxviii. 11, appear to have been in the mind of the pious descendant of the Psalmist, the good King Hezekiah, after his sickness: "The grave cannot praise Thee, Death cannot celebrate Thee. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day” (Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19). Ps. VII.] Title.-Shiggaion of David (from shaga, to wander), supposed by some (as Ewald) to mean a desultory, erratic poem, so called from the variety and rapid succession of its emotions,-a dithyramb (Delitzsch). Or it may refer to the time of wandering or flittings under persecutions, in which David prays for defence PSALMS VII. 2-12. against his enemies. 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Rending it in pieces, while there is † none to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; If there be iniquity in my hands; 4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; 5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it ; Yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, 6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, Selah. Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies : And "awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. 7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: For their sakes therefore return thou on high. 8 The LORD shall judge the people : Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, 9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; *For the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. David lived when he composed it. This is the only Psalm which has this title. The title of Habak. iii. is, “A Prayer upon Shigionoth." It belongs to that series of Psalms which are called fugitivi by S. Augustine. See on lii. 1. Who this Cush the Benjamite was, named in the title of the Psalm, is not certain. Some suppose that it is an enigmatical name of Saul (Targum, Jerome, Luther, Hengst.), or of Shimei (Kay see 2 Sam. xvi. 7, 8), and that he may be called Cush, an Ethiopian, as not worthy the name of an Israelite. But it seems more probable that Cush is the real name of some person among the retainers of Saul, who distinguished himself by his enmity to David. This name of a person of whom no account has been preserved, is (as Ewald observes) an interesting and important evidence of the antiquity and independent historical value of the titles of the Psalms. It is like the names Jael and Bedan in the history of the Judges. See above, on Judg. v. 6. 1 Sam. xii. 12. This Psalm, which takes up the strain of thought and desire in the latter part of the preceding Psalm, where David resorts to God for defence from his enemies (see vi. 8. 10), represents another form of tribulation-that which arises from calumny and slander. David had been falsely accused of some heinous sins. Here also he resembled Job. See Job xxxi. 16: "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof. Yea, rather from my youth he was brought up with me." So David says here (v. 4), "If I have done, as I am slanderously accused of doing,-if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me,-yea, rather, I have delivered, or set free him that without cause is mine enemy." This was very true; for David had twice delivered Saul, his persecutor, from death. 1 Sam. xxiv. 7. 11; xxvi. 9. Some render this, 66 If I have spoiled him that without any cause was my foe (Gesen., Kay); others, If I have sent away my enemy empty (Jerome, Thrupp). But, as Tregelles observes (in Gesen. 283), we need not desert the common meaning of the verb: see vi. 4. VOL. IV. PART II.-9 See b Isa. 38. 13. c Ps. 50. 22. + Heb. not a deliverer. d 2 Sam. 16. 7, 8. e 1 Sam. 24. 11. f1 Sam. 24. 7. & 26.9. g Ps. 94. 2. h Ps. 44. 23. i Ps. 18. 20. & 35. 24. k 1 Sam. 16. 7. 1 Chron. 28 9. Ps. 139. 1. Jer. 11. 20. & 1 Ps. 125. 4. Or, God is a righteous judge. m Deut. 32. 41. This Psalm is connected with the foregoing by certain catchwords. Here, in v. 2, we have, "Lest he tear my soul,” and in v. 5. "Let the enemy persecute my soul; and in the foregoing Psalm, v. 3, "My soul is vexed;" and in v. 4, "Deliver my soul." Here we have, v. 6, "Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger;" there we had, v. 1, “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger." 6. Lift up thyself because of] Or rather, against the rage of mine enemies; and, awake for me to the judgment that Thou hast commanded; or rather, Thou hast ordained judgment. I appeal from their slanders to Thee, the Judge of all, Who wilt do me right, and condemn them. Let The 7.] The Authorized Version needs correction here. sense of what follows (v. 7) is, And let the gathering together of the people surround Thee, O God. Summon them before Thee, to hear Thy judicial sentence; and then, when Thou hast delivered it, return on high above it (i. e. above the gathering together of the people), to Thy heavenly throne. We may here compare the words of God Himself concerning Babel: "The Lord went down to see the City and the Tower. us go down, and there confound their language" (Gen. xi. 5. 7); and concerning Sodom, "I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it" (Gen. xviii. 21). So God is here invoked to come down to earth, and to gather the people to His tribunal, and to take cognizance of the cause, and then to return to heaven. Cp. Isa. lxiv. 1: "O that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, and that Thou wouldest come down." This is the appeal of the Church in her sufferings upon earth. She imitates David; she imitates her divine Master, "Who when He was reviled, reviled not again, but committed Himself to Him Who judgeth righteously" (1 Pet. ii. 23). 10. My defence, or rather, my shield is, or rests, upon God] He returns to the imagery of former Psalms (iii. 3; v. 12). 12. If a man will not turn and repent, God will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready] Yea, for that man He hath prepared the instruments of death. He hath C |