Ver. 1.-0 God, thou nrl my God; or, m!J Ver, 7.-Becauee thou hast been my d.-onr, God (Eli}--my Tower of streugth. help. Goel had already delivered David Early will i aeek thee. The aong woe, out of so many dangers e.nd troubles, that porhnps, composed in the night watches, he felt all the more confidence for th, and poured forth at early clown, when the future. Therefore in the ahadow of thy king woke "refreshed" ( comp. vere. 5, 6; wings will I rejo:ce (see the comment on nnd 2 8nm. xvi. 14), My soul thirsteth for Pd. lxi. 4). thee, my flesh longeth for thee; or, pineth Ver. 8.-My soul followeth hard aftu for tllee (Lhe verb occurs only in this thee; or, clin7eth close after thee (Kay, pince). Soul and body equally long for Cheyne); "'l'ibi adh:eret teque sequitur" God, nnd especially desire to worship him (Gesenius}--longs to come as near to thee in the sanctuo.ry ( ver. 2). In a dry and as possible; while, on thy p~rt, thy right thirsty ( or, weary) ln.nd, whero no water is. hand upholdeth me; i.e. with a reciprocal '£hie is figuro.tive, no doubt; but it may action, thou pultest forth thy right hand to also contain an all us ion to the literal fa.et sustain and support me, drawing me to thee, (2 Sam. xvi. 2; xvii 29). and holding me, ns it were, in thy embrace. Ver. 2.-To sae thy power and thy glory, Ver. 9.-But those that seek my soul, to so as I have aeen thee in the aa.nctuary. destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of This is the form which the longing ta.kes,- the earth. Professor Cheyne notes that" the to see God once more worshipped in the psalmist has no sense of any incongruity snnctua.ry in all the "beauty of holiness," between deeply spiritual musings and ns he had so often seen him previously vehement denunciations of his enemie.'l." (comp. 2 Sam. xv. 2S). And this is certainly true. But it is to Ver. 3.-Because thy loving-kindnesa is be remembered that he views bia enemies, better than life, my lips shall praise thee. not merely as his own foes, but as the foes The complete resignation of the psalmist, of God and of L!rael. AB the servant ol his sense of God's "loving-kindness," and God, he must hate those who are opposed his desire to" praise," not to complain, are, to God; as the King of Israel, be must hate undet the circumstances, most wonderful, those who seek to injure and ruin his most admire.hie, antl furnish a pattern to people. He does not, however, desire for the Church in a.II ages. them suffering or torment; he only asks Ver. 4.-Thus will I bless thee while I that they mo.y be removed from this sphere live: I will lift up my hands in thy Name into another world. (On David's concep- (comp. Pas. civ. 33; cxlvi. 2). The purpose tion of the lower world, see the comment of man's creo.tion, the end of his being, his upon Pss. xvi. 10 and lxxxvi 13.) main employment throughout eternity, is Ver. 10.-They shall fa.11 by the sword; the praise of God. i.e. in bo.ttle-the natural end of those who Ver. 5.-Mysoul shall be satisll.ed a.a with stir up civil strife. They shall be a portion marrow and fatnesa. The "marrow aud for foxes; rather, for jackals (see 2 Sam. fatness" of the sacrificial feasts caused a xviii. 6-8). delight to worshippers, which was no doubt Ver. 11.-But the king shall rejoice in partly sensuous. The memory of them God. The "king," thus suddenly intro- oocurs to the psalmist, but only ns the duced, cannot be an entirely new persone.ge, shadow and emblem of the far deeper joy unknown to the rest of the psalm, o.nd, and s11tisfaction which he finds in tl10 therefore, mwt be the oomposer, speaking spiritual worship of the Most High, and of himself in the third person (comp. Ps~. especially in the offering of praise and xviii 50; lxxii. l ). Every one that swear- thanksgiving. And my mouth shall praise eth by him (i.e. by God) &hall glory; or, thee with joyful lips; or, while my. moutl, shall triumph (Kay). Those who swear by praiaetli thoo (see the Pro.yer-book Version, the Name of G;id show themselves to be which brings out the true sense). believers in God, and will be upheld by Ver. 6.-When I remember thee upon my him iu time of danger (see Deut. vi. 13; bed, and meditate on thee in the night lea. lxv. 16). But the mouth of them tb.11.t watches. David had doubtless done this speak lies shall ba stopped. (On the false- during the long 11ud 11nxious night which hoods told by David's enemies, see 2 Sam. followed his fir~t day in the wilderness of xv. 8; xvi. 7, 8; and comp. Ps.3, .uxviii. Judma (2 Sam. xvi. 14). 12; xii. 5-S.)
HOMILETICS. Ver. 1.-.An invocation and a vow. "0 God ••• seek thee." Rightly understood, these are the sublimest words human lips can utter. " My God!" 'l'o claim God as his own with joyful, adoring intelligence and absolute faith, is the highest act of which 24 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [P8, LXIU, l-11,