4 Our Fathers hop'd in thee, they hop`d, ` And thou didst them release.

5 When unto thee they sent their cry
To them deliv'rance came :

Because they put their trust in thee
They were not put to shame.

6 But as for me, a worm I am,
And as no man am priz❜d:
Reproach of men I am, and by
The people am despis'd.

7 All that me see laugh me to scorn;
Shoot out the lip do they ;

They nod and shake their heads at me,
And, mocking, thus do say,

8 This man did trust in God, that he
Would free him by his might:
Let him deliver him, sith he
Had in him such delight.

9 But thou art he out of the womb
That didst me safely take;
When I was on my mother's breasts
Thou me to hope didst make.

10 And I was cast upon thy care
Ev'n from the womb till now;
And from my mother's belly, Lord,
My God and guide art thou.

11 Be not far off, for grief is near,
And none to help is found.

12 Bulls many compass me, strong bulls

Of Bashan me surround.

13 Their mouths they open'd wide on me, Upon me gape did they,

Like to a Lion ravining

And roaring for his prey.

14 Like water I'm pour'd out, my bones All out of joint do part:

Amidst my bowels, as the wax,
So melted is my heart.

15 My strength is like a potsherd dry'd;
My tongue it cleaveth fast
Unto my jaws; and to the dust
Of death thou brought me hast.
16 For dogs have compass'd me about :
The wicked, that did meet
In their assembly, me inclos'd;
They pierc'd my hands and feet.
17 I all my bones may tell; they do
Upon me look and stare.

18 Upon my vesture lots they cast,
And clothes among them share.

19 But be not far, O Lord, my strength; Haste to give help to me.

20 From sword my soul, from pow'r of dogs, My darling set thou free.

21 Out of the roaring lion's mouth
Do thou me shield and save:
For from the horns of unicorns
An ear to me thou gave.
22 I will shew forth thy name unto
Those that my brethren are;

Amidst the congregation

Thy praise I will declare.

23 Praise ye the Lord, who do him fear; Him glorify, all ye

The seed of Jacob; fear him all

That Isr'el's children be.

24 For he despis'd not nor abhorr'd
Th' afflicted's misery;

Nor from him hid his face, but heard
When he to him did cry.

25 Within the congregation great
My praise shall be of thee;

My vows before them that him fear
Shall be perform'd by me.

26 The meek shall eat, and shall be fill'd;
They also praise shall give

Unto the Lord that do him seek:
Your heart shall ever live.

27 All ends of th' earth remember shall,
And turn the Lord unto;

All kindreds of the nations
To him shall homage do:
28 Because the kingdom to the Lord
Doth appertain as his;
Likewise among the nations
The governor he is.

29 Earth's fat ones eat, and worship shall:
All who to dust descend

Shall bow to him; none of them can
His soul from death defend.

30 A seed shall service do to him;

Unto the Lord it shall

Be for a generation

Reckon'd in ages all.

31 They shall come, and they shall declare

His truth and righteousness

Unto a people yet unborn,

And that he hath done this.

PSALM XXIII:

As to this Psalm, which is evidently spoken wholly in one person, the only possible objection against supposing that person to be Jesus Christ, is this, viz. That he himself is the Lord, the good Shepherd, the Shepherd of Israel, who laid down his life for his flock; but this is such an objection as would lead the saints to conclude, that Jesus Christ is not

N

their Father, Lord, and God, (though he expressly declares himself to be so, John xiii. 13. Rev. xxi. 7.) because he himself, in a certain and peculiar respect, is the Son, even the Only Begotten, the Eterral Son of the Father, who became the servant of the Father, that he might bring many sons and daughters to glory.

O Isra'l, see thy Shepherd here,
For all his pasture-sheep prepare!
Thy Lord, thy Mediator, he,
For thee, a servant deigns to be!
Himself becomes like one of you,
And gives his Father glory due,
That ye may so adore the Son,
And tread the track that he hath run.

1 THE Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. He makes me down to lie

2

In pastures green: he leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

3 My soul he doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Ev'n for his own name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill:

For thou art with me: and thy rod
And staff me comfort still,

5 My table thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;

My head thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.

6 Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me:

And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be.

PSALM XXIV.

ALTHOUGH it seems perfectly true, as all the commentators say, that this Psalm (and perhaps all the rest) was used to be sung in parts, by the different bands of sacred music which David (no doubt by the direction of the Holy Ghost) had appointed for the service of the Sanctuary; yet, if we attend any further than that, to the dull, dry, bare, and beggarly disquisitions of those carnally-minded Jewish-spirited interpreters, concerning the procession of the ark, its being received into the temple, and set upon its own place, with such like, childish ideas, and/ nugatory observations, retailed and enumerated \ every day, and almost in every place of worship, in the most stale and tedious manner imaginable; now do we find our whole spirit, fervour, and devotion, in the most amazing manner, all at once, as if it were by enchantment, damped, destroyed, and shrunk to nothing, after the manner, if we may so say, of the plump kine, and full ears of corn, which were devoured and swallowed up by the lean, thin, blasted and shrivelled!-But if, ceasing from the Rabbies and Doctors, we take the spirit of the Psalm from the Spirit who inspired it, and read it in its own light, the light of its parallels, and especially the light of the New Testament, we will find, instead of the darkness of the Mosaic veil, the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus, filling our whole hearts ; particularly, we will discern, as here clearly represented, the three peculiarly distinguished estates of the Lord Jesus Christ, THE SON OF GOD:~I. Before his incarnation, as it is written, John i. 1. In the beginning was the WORD; and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.-All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.'—And Col. i. 17.' He' (the Son) is before all things, and by him all things consist." -So also says the Psalm, ver. 1,

6