OR

MORNING PRAYER.

Psalm i. (b)

BLESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of

(a) The book of Psalms is a collection of hymns or holy songs. Many of them were written by David, who lived about 1000 years before our Saviour's time; and those are more antient than the works of any classic writer now extant. Homer, one of the earliest classic writers, wrote about 840 years before the birth of Christ, above 100 years after the death of Solomon, David's son.

Their character is various; some triumphant, others penitential; some prophetical, others merely narrative, &c.: but in stile, energy, and classic elegance, they all rank amongst the best compositions; they are animated with the sublimest strains of devotion, and express the justest notions of God's providence and attributes.

They are all in metre; were used in the service at the tabernacle and temple; were generally learnt by heart by the people; and the ministers of every gradation were expected to be able at all times to repeat them from memory.

They are supposed to have been collected by Ezra, in their present arrangement, and to have been deposited in the temple, with the other books of the Old Testament, about 500 years before the

sinners and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful;

2 But (c) his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.

birth of Christ and they were translated into Greek, with the rest of the Old Testament, about 270 years before our Saviour's time.

This Greek translation is now extant. It is called the Septuagint.

The English translation in the Prayer Book was made by Tyndall, in the time of Henry the Eighth ; and was revised by Archbishop Cranmer, about 1548. The translation in the Bible was made, when the last translation of the whole Bible was made, in 1607. There had been an intermediate translation of the whole Bible in Queen Elizabeth's time. Where the translations therefore in the Prayer Book and the Bible differ, it may reasonably be supposed that that in the Bible (as being the later) is to be preferred.

(b) Upon the different fate of good and bad men: the prosperity of the former, and the failure of the latter. It is supposed to have been written by Ezra, who collected all the Psalms; and it may be considered as a spirited poetical proposition, the result of what the collection would prove.

(c) Read "whose delight," &c. and v.2. "who exercises himself in his law," &c.

V.3.

v.3.

.4.

(d) Omit "and."

(e) "Like a tree," &c.

In Jer. xvii. 5 to 8. is this passage: "Thus saith the "Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth "in man, and maketh flesh his arm," (i. e. his dependance)" and whose heart "departeth from the Lord: for he shall "be like the heath in the desert, and shall "not see when good cometh, but shall "inhabit the parched places in the wilder"ness, in a salt land, and not inhabited. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the "Lord, and whose hope the Lord is:

for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her "roots by the river; and shall not see "when heat cometh, but her leaf shall ❝ be green; and shall not be careful in "the year of drought, neither shall cease "from yielding fruit.". This was written about 600 years before Christ; and from hence the author of this Psalm probably borrowed his idea. The force of this passage would be striking, where the country was subject to great drought, as Judea was, and where they were in the habit of digging canals and, trenches to keep the water by their plantations. See Bp. Lowth's note on Isaiah i. 30.

(f)" Shall prosper." There are numberless assurances in Scripture that goodness leads to prosperity and wickedness to adversity. "All things work together

for good to them that love God," Rom. viii. 28. There is no peace, "saith the Lord, to the wicked," Isaiah xlviii. 22.➡lvii. 21. Remember, I pray "thee, who ever perished, being inno"cent? or where were the righteous cut "off? Even as I have seen, they that "plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, "reap the same: by the blast of God "they perish, and by the breath of his

"nostrils are they consumed." Job iv. 7 to 9. "Godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." I Tim. iv. 8.

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(g)" Knoweth," i. e. "protecteth," ".""preserveth." "Know" is often so used. Deut. ii. 7. "The Lord thy God "hath blessed thee in all the works of "thy hand; he knoweth thy walking "through this great wilderness; these forty years the Lord thy God hath "been with thee thou hast lacked nothing." So Ps. xxxi. 8. Thou "hast considered my trouble, and known my soul" (i. e. saved my life)" in ad"versities." Again, Ps. xxxvii. 18. The Lord knoweth the days of the

godly, and their inheritance shall en"dure for ever." And Ps. cxlii. 3. "When my spirit was in heaviness, thou "knewest my path."

(b) This psalm was written by David, and on account of its supposed reference to the Messiah, is selected as one of the proper psalms for Easter Day. The occasion of writing it, was (probably) some attempt against him, perhaps that of the Ammonites and Syrians, mentioned 2 Sam. x. 6. He foretells in a spirited way their discomfiture, and the certainty that God would establish him in his throne, by referring to an assurance God had made him, that he (that is, (probably) a descendant from him) should be to God a Son, &c. &c. The assurance might be that which is mentioned in Ps, lxxxix. 20, &c. which is probably the same as that in 2 Sam. vii. 11, &c. See Sykes on Hebr, Pref. and Appendix 1. David is recognized as the author, Acts iv. 25. and the first and second verses are there applied (probably by way

kings of the earth stood up, and the "rulers were gathered together, against "the Lord, and against his Christ." "For of a truth against thy holy child "Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both "Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the "Gentiles and the people of Israel, "were gathered together," &c. บ. 2. (i)

v.3.

v. 6.

0.7.

0.7.

"Anointed." The words "Mes"siah" and "Christ" mean nothing more than "the anointed." In John i. 41. Andrew saith unto his brother Simon Peter, "We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ."

(4) These are the words of "the kings "of the earth and the rulers," mentioned in verse 2.

(1) This is spoken by God.

(m) "I will preach the law," &c. i.e. I will publish or make known the assurance God has communicated to me, which is as certain and immutable as any law, and after this assurance to me, their threats must be in vain.

(n) "Thou," &c. This is the assurance God had made: and it is applied to the Messiah (of whom indeed David was in many respects a type or figure) Acts xiii. 33.-Heb. i. 5. and v. 5. When

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St. Paul was preaching at Antioch, he said unto his hearers, "We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise "which was made unto the fathers, God "hath fulfilled unto us, their children, "in that he hath raised up Jesus again: it is also written in the second psalm, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Acts xiii. 33. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, after speaking of Jesus Christ as having obtained a more excellent name than any of the angels, puts the question, Heb. i. 5. "Unto which of the angels saith he at any time, "Thou art my Son, this day "have I begotten thee?" And Heb. v. 5. is this passage, "Christ glorified not "himself to be made an high priest, but "he that said unto him, "Thou art my "Son, this day I have begotten thee.”

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(o)" The heathen," &c. This may v.8. refer prophetically to the extent to which Christianity and the worship of the true God would prevail, which is also foretold in other passages. In Isaiah ii. 2. the prophet predicts in his figurative language, that it shall come to pass in "the last days, that the mountain of the "Lord's house" (that is, the worship of the true God) "shall be established in "the top of the mountains, and shall be "exalted above all hills: and all nations "shall flow unto it." In speaking of the Messiah, Zech. ix. 10. it is said, "His dominion shall be from sea even to 66 sea, and from the river (i.e. the Eu"phrates) even to the ends of the earth." So Mal. i. 11. "from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the "same" (i.e. from the extremity of the east to the extremity of the west) my "Name shall be great among the Gen"tiles and in every place incense shall

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most parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 "Thou shalt bruise (p) them "with a rod of iron: and break "them in pieces like a potter's " vessel."

10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings be learned, ye that are judges of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord in fear: and rejoice unto him with reverence.

12 Kiss (q) the Son, lest he be angry, and so ye perish from the right way if his wrath be kindled, (yea, but a little) blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalm iii. (r) LORD, how are they increased that trouble me : many are they that rise against me.

2 Many one there be that say of my soul: "There is no help "for him in his God."

3 But thou, O Lord, art my

"be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering for my Name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of "Hosts." See also Isaiah xlv. 23.Ps. xxii. 27.-lxxxvi. 8.

(p) "Bruise," &c. It was one of the characteristics of the Messiah, that he should take severe vengeance upon the wicked. See ante 25. note on Rom. xiii. 11. and 29. note on Luke xxi. 25. And it is said of him in the prophetic psalm, Ps. cx. 5, 6. "The Lord upon thy right "hand shall wound even kings in the "day of his wrath: he shall judge among "the heathen, he shall fill the places with

the dead bodies: and smite in sunder "the heads over divers countries."

(q)" Kiss," i. e. reverence, acknowledge a subjection to; kissing being the ceremony by which this was expressed in the East. Thus, 1 Kings xix. 18. "Yet have I left me seven thousand "in Israel, all the knees which have not "bowed unto Baal, and all the mouths "which have not kissed him."

(r) This psalm is supposed to have been written by David, when he fled from

Absalom, which was in the 33d year of his reign, and about 1023 years before our Saviour's birth. After noticing the number of his enemies, and the inference drawn from thence that God had deserted him, he expresses in a sanguine and animated manner his confidence in God's protection.

(s) "Laid me down," &c. A strong 5. proof of his reliance on God's care of him, that he was not deterred by his dan ger from laying himself down to sleep. So Ps. iv. 9.

(4)David expresses similar confidence in God's protection, Ps. xxvii.3. "Though host of men were laid against me, 66 yet shall not my heart be afraid."

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(u) "Belongeth." Emphatically: .5 it is peculiarly his: agreeably to Isaiah xliii. 11. and Hos. xiii. 4. I am the "Lord: beside me there is no Saviour."

(x) Is supposed to have been written by David. It contains a devout address to God, and a spirited assurance to his enemies, "that his innocence had already "engaged God in his behalf, and would " continue to insure his protection."