Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters

unto devils,

And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons, and of their daughters, whom they sacri

ficed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled

against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

And he gave them into the hand of the heathen ; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

Many times did he deliver them: but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:

And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

THIS is a Psalm of acknowledgment, of confession, and of thanksgiving. The Psalmist confesses all those sins of murmuring and unbelief, and those

other numerous transgressions against the first commandment, by which the people of Israel provoked God, and rendered themselves utterly unworthy of all his mercies.

At the conclusion of the Psalm, therefore, the Psalmist proclaims the exceeding greatness of the divine mercy of God; whereby he continued mindful of his counsel and his covenant, and did not pour forth all his wrath, but was merciful to them for his own name's sake. As Moses saith also, (Deut. ix.) "Know ye, that not for your righteousness doth the Lord God give unto you this good land: for ye are a stiff-necked people." Therefore as the Israelites, the whole of that people of God, could glory in nothing, but that they were saved by the mercy and grace of God; so also we cannot glory in any work or merit of our own, but in the mercy of God only!

PSALM CVII.

The psalmist exhorteth the redeemed, in praising God, to observe his manifold providence, over travellers, over captives, over sick men, over seamen, and in divers varieties of life.

O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men !

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron ;

Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour: they fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted :

Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble; and he saveth them out of their distresses.

He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his good

ness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanks

giving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.

Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men !

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into water-springs.

And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation ;

And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and suffereth not their cattle to de

crease.

Again, they are minished, and brought low, through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the LORD.

THIS is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in general; rendering praise for that infinite and incomparable mercy and goodness of God, wherewith he daily helps and succours all men, both the righteous and the wicked, under the various calamities of life, and defends them against the Devil: preserving also the public peace, giving healthfulness of air and climate, and blessing the earth to the springing of its productions; as Paul saith, 2 Tim. ii. "Who is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe."

In the fourth verse, where the Psalmist says, "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way," he refers to all kinds of calamities; and especially to the afflictions of those who are oppressed with poverty, who are exiles, and deserted, and wandering without any certain dwelling-place.

In the ninth verse by those "sitting in darkness," &c.