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7 That I may shew the voice of (n) thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works.

8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house: and the place where thine honour dwelleth (0). 9 O shut not up my soul with the sinners: nor my life with the blood-thirsty;

IO In whose hands is wickedness and their right hand is full of gifts (p).

II But as for me, I will walk innocently: O deliver me, and be merciful unto me.

12 My foot standeth right: I will praise the Lord in the congregations (q).

Lessons for the Fifth Day of the Month throughout the Year.

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v. 4.

v.5.

v. 9.

there rose up war against me, yet will I put my trust in him.

4 One thing (u) have I desired of the Lord, which I will require : even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple. For in the time of trouble 5 he shall hide me (x) in his tabernacle yea, in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me, and set me up upon a rock of

stone.

6 And now shall he lift up mine head above mine enemies : round about me.

7 Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great gladness I will sing, and speak praises unto the Lord.

8 Hearken unto my voice, O Lord, when I cry unto thee: have mercy upon me, and hear

me.

9 My heart hath talked of thee; "Seek ye my face (y).” Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

io O hide not thou thy face

is an equally courageous and confident assertion, Ps. iii. 6. I will not be afraid "for ten thousands of the people, that "have set themselves against me round "about."

(u)" One thing," &c. i. e. probably, this is my chief wish; the thing I have desired above all others. He often notices the delight it gives him to be able to visit the place of God's worship. See Ps. xlii. -Ps. lxxxiv.

(x)" Hide me," &c. So Ps. xxxi. 22. "Thou shalt hide them" (i.e. those that trust in thee)" privily by thy own presence, from the provoking of all men: "thou shalt keep them secretly in thy "tabernacle," &c.

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(y) The Bible translation is, "When "thou saidst, "Seek ye my face," my "heart said unto thee, "Thy face, Lord, " will I seek;" which seems preferable.

from me nor cast thy servant away in displeasure.

11 Thou hast been my succour leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salva tion.

12 When (x) my father and my mother forsake me : the Lord taketh me up.

13 Teach me thy way, 0 Lord and lead me in the right way, because of mine enemies.

14 Deliver me not over into. the will of mine adversaries: for there are false witnesses (a) risen up against me, and such as speak wrong.

15 I should utterly have fainted but that I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (b).

16 O tarry thou (c) the Lord's leisure be strong, and he shall comfort thine heart; and put thou thy trust in the Lord.

Psalm xxviii. (d)

UNTO thee will I cry, O Lord, my strength think no scom of

(2) "When," &c. An idea, nearly similar, is beautifully expressed, Isaiah xlix. 15. "Can a woman forget her suck"ing child, that she should not have "compassion on the son of her womb? "Yea, they may forget; yet will not I "forget thee."

(a)" False witnesses." He makes the "False same complaint, Ps. xxxv. 11. "witnesses did rise up they laid to my "charge things that I knew not."

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(b) In the land of the living," ie. 9 probably, even in this life, whilst I yet live.

(c) "Thou," i. e. probably, mankind in general. It does not appear to be addressed to any one in particular.

(d) An earnest prayer to God to hear his supplications, to deliver him, and to discomfit the wicked, concluding with a spirited song of exultation, as if God had

me, lest if thou make as though thou hearest not, I become like them that go down into the pit (e).

2 Hear the voice of my humble petitions, when I cry unto thee: when I hold up my hands towards the mercy-seat (f) of thy holy temple.

3 O pluck me not away, neither destroy me with the ungodly and wicked doers which speak friendly to their neighbours, but imagine mischief in their hearts.

V.I.

V.2.

4 Reward them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their own inventions.

5 Recompence them after the work of their hands: pay them that they have deserved.

6 For they regard not (g) in their mind the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands : therefore shall he break them down, and not build them up.

signified to him, during the him, during the progress of the Psalm, that he would grant his request. The first six verses contain the prayer; the other four the song of exultation. David is supposed to have been the author.

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(e) Them, that go down into the pit," i. e. the dead.

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(f) Mercy seat." In Exod. xxv. and xxvi. is an account of God's commands to the Israelites for making him "a sanctuary, that he might dwell ' among them ;" and after giving them directions as to the ark, he told them to make a mercy-seat of pure gold, and to put it above upon the ark, and there, said he, "I will meet with thee, and I will 66 commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two "cherubims which are upon the ark of "the testimony." It was natural, therefore, in his earnest prayers in the tabernacle that David should direct his eyes to that place. When Moses went into the tabernacle after its sanctification, and

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upon the ark of testimony, from be"tween the two cherubims," Numb. vii. 89. and it was probably to the mercyseat that they looked when they inquired of the Lord. See 1 Sam. xxiii. 2. 4.— Ezek. xiv. 3.-xx. 3. 31.

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(g)" Regard not," &c. So Is. v. 12. v.6. God denounces woe to those who riot and feast, but regard not the work of "the Lord, neither consider the opera"tion of his hands ;" and see Ps. lxxxvi. 10.-xcii. 4.-cxi. 2.

(b) A hymn of triumph, of great spirit and grandeur, after some victory, probably one in which a storm of thunder, lightning, and rain had contributed to discomfit the enemy. See Ps. xcvii.

(i) "The Lord," &c. How magnificent is Job's description of God's power, "which removeth the mountains, and they know not; which over

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not; he passeth on also, but I per<ceive him not. Behold he taketh

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away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, what doest thou?" Job ix. 5 to 12.

2.3. (k) "The waters," and, consequently, the rain.

9.4, 5. (1) The voice of the Lord," i. e. 7,8. probably, in these passages," the thun"der." Thunder is called "the voice "of the Lord," Job. xxxvii. 2. So Job xl. 9. "Hast thou an arm like God? 66 or canst thou thunder with a voice like " him?"

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(q)" Maketh the hinds to bring forth

young," from the terror it raises in them; hinds being remarkable, in gene ral, for bringing forth with difficulty. Bp. Lowth considers this below the dig nity and grandeur of the other images, and he reads, "shaketh the oaks." (r) "Discovereth," i.e. uncovereth, s strippeth, maketh bare.

() For "in his temple," &c. Le Clerc and Bishop Hare read, "In the "heavens" (poetically called "his temple") does every thing proclaim " his glory."

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(t) The waterflood," i. e. probably, the clouds of heaven: the storehouses of rain. So, "He rides in the whirlwind, "and directs the storm."

(u) A thanksgiving, either after a recovery from sickness, or deliverance from an enemy. Bp. Patrick thinks it was written by David, after his deliverance from the rebellion of Absalom.

3 Thou, Lord, hast brought my soul out of hell (x): thou hast kept my life from them that go down to the pit (y).

4 Sing praises unto the Lord, O ye saints of his and give thanks unto him for a remembrance of his holiness.

V.3.

5 For his wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye, and in his pleasure is life (z): heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

6 And in my prosperity I said, "I shall never be removed :" thou, Lord, of thy goodness hadst made my hill (a) so strong.

7 Thou didst turn thy face from me and I was troubled.

8 Then cried (b) I unto thee, O Lord and gat me to my Lord right humbly.

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9 (c)" What profit is there in my blood when I go down to "the pit?

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"Them that go down into the pit," i. e. the dead.

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"Life," i. e. for duration; the wrath so short, the pleasure so long. (a)" My hill," i. e. my situation, my condition.

(b) "Cried," &c. See Sam. v. 13. "Is any one afflicted, let him pray: the " fervent prayer of a righteous man

"availeth much." James v. 16.

(c) This is his prayer. When God 10,11. told Hezekiah to set his house in order, for that he should surely die, and he prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore, and the Lord added unto his life fifteen years; (see Is. xxxviii.) part of his thanksgiving for this mercy was, "The

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grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into

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In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust let me never be put to confusion; deliver me in thy righteousness.

2 Bow down thine ear to me: make haste to deliver me.

3 And be thou my strong rock, and house of defence: that thou mayest save me.

4 For thou art my strong rock, and my castle be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy Name's sake (g).

5 Draw me out of the net that

"the pit cannot hope for thy truth; the "living, the living, he shall praise thee,

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as I do this day." So Ps. vi. 5. “In "death no man remembereth thee, and "who will give thee thanks in the pit ?" and Ps. cxv. 17. "the dead praise not "thee, O Lord, neither all they that go "down into silence."

(d) "Sackcloth," i. e. the garment v.12. of misery.

(e) "Therefore, &c. The deliver- v. 13. ance, &c. of the good is repeatedly mentioned as a topic for praising God.

(f) An earnest prayer to God for protection, supposed to be written by David, mentioning the troubles he was in, the falling off of his friends, and the machinations of his enemies, but calling to mind the deliverances he had before received, and expressing the most confident assurance that God would still pre

serve him.

(g) "Name's sake," i. e. that thou v.4.

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