C 6 speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul (or life) take counsel together, saying,' &c.What, pray, would a man in the flower of his age make of that same flower of his age, and prime of strength, more than an old man of his old age, if God were to leave him?-But we pass to ver. 17. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto I have declared thy wondrous works. Now also, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength to this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.'-The margin* has another reading, which is according to the Hebrew, Unto 6 old age, and gray hairs, O God, forsake me not'or, abandon me not.-Now, where is there any thing dark here, but the prepossessed judgments of the commentators?-How amazing is the power of prejudice!-When we hear of a man who has lived fast, and wasted his strength in riot and debauchery, it is reckoned even elegant, as it is indeed most expressive language, to say, that such a one is an old man, or an extreme old man, (meaning in constitution,) although he has not attained to what, in another situation, would be called the flower of his age. --but when THE SON OF DAVID, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs; who, when he was seen, had no form nor comeliness, why he should be desired; whose visage was more marred than the sons of men; who himself bare our infirmities and pains, and became like a bottle in the smoke, consumed with the zeal of his Father's house; who wasted himself in watchings, fastings, and prayers, by night and by day, doing the work which he came to finish in his blood :—when he, I say, describes his personal sufferings, and the real visible effects thereof upon his body, rendering him, when but about thirty years of age, apparently feeble and weak, like an old man; insomuch (which even the commentators allow, and make their own use of upon occasions) Prose Psalms of the Bible. that his countrymen, when ridiculing him for saying, Before Abraham was, I am,' cry out, • Thou art not yet FIFTY years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?—If his countenance had not borne the traces of near fifty years, they would surely have taken nearer marks of his age, to have insulted him the more. -But yet he cannot be allowed the common use of common language, to describe one of the plainest things in all the now revealed mystery of godliness!-But Satan and his ministers could not so effectually hide the gospel from the minds of men, nor have the honour of marching so popularly and cordially, upon the head of their thousands and ten thousands, to hell, were it not for their artful blinds, and deceitful manoeuverings about the Psalms. May the sovereign Lord of all, whose words they have grievously and fatally wrested, pluck the blind leaders, and the blind led, as brands from the fire, and save them by his own blood! In various forms, and various phrase, Preventing him with mercy sweet. 2 And let me, in thy righteousness, Cause me escape, incline thine ear 3 Be thou my dwelling-rock, to which Thou gav'st commandment me to save, 4 Free me, my God, from wicked hands, Hands cruel and unjust: 5 For thou, O Lord God, art my hope, 6 Thou from the womb didst hold me up; 7 To many I a wonder am; But thou'rt my refuge strong. 8 Fill'd let my mouth be with thy praise 90 do not cast me off, when as 11 They said, God leaves him; him pursue And take: none will him save. 12 Be thou not far from me, my God: Thy speedy help I crave. 13 Confound, consume them, that unto My soul are enemies: Cloth'd be they with reproach and shame 14 But I with expectation Will hope continually; And yet with praises more and more 15 Thy justice and salvation My mouth abroad shall show. Ev'n all the day; for I thereof 16 And I will constantly go on In strength of God the Lord; And thine own righteousness, ev'n thine 17 For even from my youth, O God, The wonders thou hast wrought. 18 And now, Lord, leave me not, when I Old and gray-headed grow: Till to this age thy strength and pow'r 19 And thy most perfect righteousness, Who hast so great things done: O God, 20 Thou, Lord, who great adversities, 21 My greatness and my pow'r thou wilt On ev'ry side against all grief 22 Thee, ev'n thy truth, I'll also praise, With harp I'll sing to thee. 23 My lips shall much rejoice in thee, My soul, which thou redeemed hast, 24 My tongue thy justice shall proclaim, For they confounded are, and sham'd, PSALM LXXII. THE same as Psalm ii. with its parallels. Resound aloud the voice of praise! 10 LORD, thy judgments give the king, His son thy righteousness. 2 With right he shall thy people judge, Likewise the little hills the same 4 The people's poor ones he shall judge, And those shall he in pieces break 5 They shall thee fear, while sun and moon Do last, through ages all. 6 Like rain on mown grass he shall drop, Or showers on earth that fall. 7 The just shall flourish in his days, He shall, while doth the moon endure, 8 His large and great dominion shall From sea to sea extend: It from the river shall reach forth Z |