The great sacrifice]

many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me: 81 delight to do thy will, O my Ged: yea, thy law is within my heart. 9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have Dot concealed thy lovingkindness and

PSALM XL.

[for man's sin. thy truth from the great congregation. 11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy loving-kindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame, that wish me evil.

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha!

16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified!

17 But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God. (S)

(S) A Psalm of David, relating partly to his own circumstances, and partly to Mesinh-We agree with Dr. Kennicott in dividing this psalm into three parts, but not exactly in our application of them. The first part, comprising the first five verses, we consider as capable of a double application, expressing first the psalmist's deep

sufferings, during some of his persecutions from his enemies; and, in a typical sense, the sufferings of our Redeemer. The imagery seems taken from one of the horrible dungeons of the Asiatic tyrants. (Jer. xxxviii. 6-12.) Applied to our Saviour, it may typify the extreme sufferings which he endured; yet a pit of mire, with the sound of waters and waterfalls, seems not to agree with the

Ver. 6. Mine ears hast thou opened-Heb. "Digred," or carved; and it is with much diffidence the ditor ventures to suggest, that cutting out, digging, or carving, is the radical idea of the root (karah) here used. It is very commonly used for digging pits, or wells; sometimes for carving sepulchres from a rock, Isa. xvi. 14; also for carving (or entting up) at for a feast, 2 Kings vi. 23. where, instead of *prepared a great provision," we would read more literally, "ent up a great cutting;" i. e. cat up many joints of meat amongst them; and in Job xli.6.

quarry

Wilt thou part the Leviathan (or carve him out) Song the merchants?" The same tern is transferred back from the grottoes of the sepulchre, to of human nature; "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hollow of the cave Wheee ye were digged;" referring to Abraham and Sure. Louth's Isa. li. 1, 9. Iu harmony with this imagery, a kindred Hebrew noun is used for birth, or origin. Ezek. xvi. 3.-xxxi. 30. The writer of

these Notes is well aware that many interpreters consider this as an allusion to the Jewish law, Exod. xxi. 6. But the Hebrew word there used for boring, is radically different from this. Compare the above Exposition.

Ver. 7. In the volume-That is, roll. All the ancient books were in this form, as are all the sacred MSS of the Synagogues to this day.

Ver. 8. Within my heart-Heb. "In the midst of my bowels;" i, e. in my most inward parts.

Ver. 11. We have mentioned above Dr. Kennicott's discovery, that this psalm should end with the 10th verse. Thus much is certain, that the last five verses form the 70th psalm. Perhaps they might be originally connected, as distinct parts of the same poem; but a short psalm being wanted for some particular occasion, these verses might be separated for the purpose. This is a circumstance not uncommon in church music.

Ver. 12. My heart faileth-Heb. "Forsaketh me."

quiet of the grave'; but would intimate (as indeed many of the ancients thought,) that our Lord's sufferings were not terminated with his parting breath.

The second part of the psalm, from ver. 5 to 10, appears to relate to the incarnation of the Messiah, and to that only. The purport of it is, that, seeing the insufficiency of all other sacrifices to take away sin, He presented himself as the great atoning sacrifice for human guilt. The language here used is peculiar, and requires explanation. "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire:" not that the sacrifices of the law were unenjoined or disapproved; yet they were not the ultimate object of the divine command; but were appointed only as typical, and derived all their value in the sight of God, from being the appointed types of Messiah's more perfect sacrifice: when offered to supersede the moral duties they became abominable. (Isa. li. 8; Amos v. 21.)

"Mine ears hast thou opened." In the language of the Hebrews, and of poetry, to open the ears of any one is to secure his favourable attention, (Job xxxiii. 16.) Isaiah, speaking in the person of Messiah, says, "The LORD God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters," &c. (Isa. 1. 5, 6.) But neither in this instance, nor in any other, (we believe,) is the same original word used for opening the ears, as in the psalm before us, which we conceive signifies "carved," "cut out," in the scuse of forming. (See Notes.) As if the psalmist had said, Mine ears hast thou made, or prepared,

or

for the most exact and complete obedi ence." This will partly account for the ver sion given of this passage by the Septua gint, and in Hebrews x. 5. to which we shall there again advert.

When it is added, "Lo, I come!" these words, we conceive, express the effect of the Messiah's ears being thus prepared, namely, a ready and prompt obedience, and that in the accomplishment of preceding predictions: "In the volume (or roll) of the book, it is written of me: I delight to do thy will," &c. the evidence of which appeared in preaching in "the great congregations" of the temple, the synagogue, and the public highways, till the speaker's lips were closed by violence and death.

The third part of the psalm comprehends from ver. 11 to the end; where, as the writer speaks of his sins laying hold upon him, and sinking him into despair, we re turn again to David. It appears to us, that the five intervening verses (6 to 10,) are a kind of parenthesis, though a most important one; and that the eleventh verse should be connected with the fifth: that declares the mercies of God to be innumerable; and this entreats that those mercies may neither be withheld or withdrawn from the petitioner, who is overwhelmed with sins and troubles, from which he prays to be delivered. The three following verses, (14 to 16,) which, in our version, are renply future, and so rendered, not only by dered imprecatory, are in the original simBishops Horne and Horsley, but also by Dr. Boothroyd, who is not governed by the

same system.

Desire after]

against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against

me.

10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. (T)

PSALM XLII.

To the chief Musician: Maschil: for the sons of Korah.

AS S the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

PSALM XLI.

[communion with God.

2 My soul thirsteth for Gol, for the living God when shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?.

4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy-day.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I'shall yet praise him for the help of his counte

nance.

6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mi

zar.

7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water-spouts : all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

8 Yet, the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day-time, and in the night his song shall be with me,

(T) A Psalm of David. The blessedness of charity and the baseness of treachery. The eulogy on true charity with which the psalm opeus, is of most extensive application. The poor, the weak, the sick, are all its objects, and those who display this kind and benevolent disposition, of which our Lord affords a perfect example, though they can have no pretensions to merit, have a promise of like sympathy and aid from the Lord himself in their afflictions. But it may be here asked, how then was our compassionate Lord himself surrendered to his enemies? why was not he, the most compassionate of all men, delivered from them? The answer is easy-"He was delivered for our offences." (Rom. iv. 25.) Bishop Horne, and other Hutchinsonian

writers, apply the whole of this, as of the Psalms generally, to our Saviour; but as the psalmist here also confesses sin, and pleads for mercy, we cannot, for reasons given in our exposition of Psalms xxx. and xxxi., admit him to be here the speaker; but perhaps we might divide the psalm not improperly into two parts: in the first five verses, we may consider the writer as speaking in his own person, and in the remainder in the person of the Messiab, our Lord Jesus having himself applied (or accominodated) the ninth verse to the treachery of Judas. To lift up the heel against a person, is not only to desert him, or run away; but to turn the back and treat him with contempt. Judas did this, and probably never looked his master in the face after he betrayed him.

PSALM XLII. Title- Maschil. See Note to the title of Ps. xxxii.--For the sons of Korahwho were choristers, 1 Chron. vi. 33, &c.

Ver. As the hart panteth-Heb. "brayeth." The Hebrew is feminine.

Ver. 3. Tears have been my meat-That is, I have been occupied in weeping, that I have neglected my necessary food. See Ps.lxxx. G.

Ver. 4. These (things)-Or times, rather. Boothroyd.

Ver. 5 and 11. Why art thou cast down?—Heb. "Bowed down." I shall ye! praise - Marg. "Give thanks" for the help of his countenance; Marg." His presence (or countenance) is salvation;" Heb. "salvations."

Ver. 6. The hill Mizar—Marg. “The little bill:"

and my prayer unto the God of my life.

9 I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (U)

[from the Lord.

PSALM XLIII.

JUDGE me, O God, and plead my

cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

2 For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

30 send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

4 Then will I go unto the altar of

PSALM XLII.

(U) David thirsts after communion with God in his sanctuary.-" David, by Absalem's rebellion, being driven from Jerusalem to the country beyond Jordan, is there supposed to have indited this psalm; which, as it is applicable to the case of our Lord, in his state of sojourning and suffering on earth for our sins; as also that of the church, or any individual believer under persecution, or deprived of the opportunities of public worship; so doth it, in the most pathetic manner, describe the vicissitudes of joy and sorrow, of hope and despondency, which succeed each other in the mind of the true Christian." Such is the general view of the psalm given by Bishop Horne. Without entering into this variety of discussion, we consider the first part of the psalm as exhibiting the essence of vital religion, namely, union and communion between the penitent sinner and his God. When he is ready to say with Dr. Young"O! for a glimpse of him my soul adores!

As the chased hart amid the desart waste
Pants for the living stream; so pants my soul
Amid the blank of sublunary joys."

This thirst for "the living God" was rendered the more painful by the taunting

language of the heathen, who surrounded him with the insulting inquiry, "Where is thy God?" Their gods, indeed, were to be met with everywhere, in a variety of forms of wood and stone; but the God of Israel and of Christians is too great, too glorious, for the conceptions of a pagan.

Again: the psalmist's desires were quickened by the recollection of former enjoyments, when, in time past, he went with the multitude of the pious worshippers to mount Zion, there to keep the holy festivals. These, while they called forth "the voice of joy and praise" for present mercies, pointed to the better days and higher enjoyments of "the age to come,' that is, of king Messiah. In the mean time, many and great were his anxieties and despondencies, but he encouraged himself, as at other times, in the Lord his God. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? . .'. Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God."

some inconsiderable hill, where David had taken refuge in his banishment.

Ver. 7. Deep calleth unto deep.—Mr. Merrick observes, that in Homer, one river is represented as calling upon another to aid the Greeks; and in Aschylus, fire and water are represented as covenanting together against them. The same ingenious writer quotes Dr. Shaw, as explaining these metaphors in allusion to the phenomena observed on the coasts of Judea, where he saw several cylindrical pillars of water, called water-spouts, which seemed to issue from the clouds above.

"As panting in the sultry beam

The hart desires the cooling stream;
So longs my soul, O God, for thee;
So to thy presence, Lord, I flee,
Athirst to taste thy living grace,

And see thy glory face to face."-Bowdler.

XLII. Con.

God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. (X)

PSALM XLIV.

To the chief Musician, for the sons of Korah. Maschil,

WE have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

2 How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.

3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.

5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will

PSALM XLIII.

[former mercies,

we tread them under that rise up against me.

6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah. 9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.

10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.

11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.

12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.

13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.

15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered ine.

(X)" This psalm (says Bishop Horne,) seemeth to be a continuation of the former, written by David in the same circumstances, on the same subject, ard closing with the same chorus." And Dr. Kennicall, on the authority of more than twenty manuscripts, considers this as a continnation of the same psalm, which opinion is followed by Bishop Lowth, and the best modern commentators. The fact, indeed, is self-evident, and easily accounted for. The Jewish choristers, having, on some occasion, found the anthem too long, have divided it for their own conveniency, (no uncommon thing among choristers ;) and

being once divided, it was ignorantly supposed, it ought to be so divided.

This fragment of a psalm, however, offers nothing new for remark, except the beautiful wish, or prayer, for the diffusion of divine truth: "O send out thy light and truth!" The morning sun shining from the east, in a clear, unclouded, oriental sky, attracts all eyes towards it; so the psalmist prays that the divine glory, that is, the knowledge of God and the only means of salvation, might be so eminently diffused, as it were to light up the way to the tabernacle, where he longed to see the symbols of his presence, who was his exceeding joy, and take an active part in the public worship.

Ter. 5. The health-See Note on ver. 5. of the preceding Psalm. Our translators have improperly rendered the Hebrew word for salvation (or salvathas, in one place help, and in the other, health.

PSALM XLIV. Title-Maschil. See Note on title, Pa. xxxii.

Ver. 1. Our fathers have told us.-See Exod. xii. 26-28; Deut. vii. 1. &c.

Ver. 11. Like sheep appointed, &c.-See ver. 22. Ver. 12. For nought Heb. "Without riches;" i. e. without enriching thyself. Sometimes, as Bp. Horne remarks, God permits his professing people "to be held cheap and vile, and to be sold into