Psalms 120 commentary

The psalmist was brought into great distress by a deceitful tongue. May every good man be delivered from lying lips. They forged false charges against him. In this distress, he sought God by fervent prayer. God can bridle their tongues. He obtained a gracious answer to this prayer. Surely sinners durst not act as they do, if they knew, and would be persuaded to think, what will be in the end thereof. The terrors of the Lord are his arrows; and his wrath is compared to burning coals of juniper, which have a fierce heat, and keep fire very long. This is the portion of the false tongue; for all that love and make a lie, shall have their portion in the lake that burns eternally.

It is very grievous to a good man, to be cast into, and kept in the company of the wicked, from whom he hopes to be for ever separated. See here the character of a good man; he is for living peaceably with all men. And let us follow David as he prefigured Christ; in our distress let us cry unto the Lord, and he will hear us. Let us follow after peace and holiness, striving to overcome evil with good.

1. I cried to Jehovah in my distress. The name of the author of the Psalm is not expressed, but the style of it throughout presents David to our view. Although, therefore, I cannot positively affirm, yet I am rather inclined to think that it was composed by him. Nor will it be improper, in my judgment, to explain it as if his name had been mentioned in the inscription. This, then, being granted, I would observe that although David, when in this verse he affirms that the Lord had heard him, gives thanks to him, yet his chief purpose was to set forth, in the form of complaint, how wickedly and cruelly Saul’s flatterers employed all their ingenuity and power to accomplish his destruction. He, however, sets out with an expression of his gratitude to God, telling us that he had not called upon Him in vain; and he does this, that by his own example he might encourage others, especially when oppressed with adversity, to confidence in prayer. Men, it is true, have need of God’s help every moment; but there is not a more suitable season for seeking him than when some great danger is immediately menacing us. It is therefore worthy of notice, that he was heard when, constrained and shut up by tribulation, he betook himself to the protection of God.

2. O Jehovah! deliver my soul from the lip of falsehood. David now points out the kind of his affliction, declaring that he was loaded with false accusations. In charging his enemies with lying and falsehood, he asserts his own innocence of the crimes which they slanderously imputed to him. His complaint therefore amounts to this, that as he was conscious of having committed no fault, he was assaulted by the wicked contrary to all law, human and divine, and that they brought him into hatred without his having given them any occasion for such injurious treatment. Deceitful tongues assault good and simple people in two ways’ they either circumvent them by wiles and snares, or wound their reputation by calumnies. It is of the second way that the Prophet here complains. Now if David, who was endued with such eminent virtue, and free from every mark of disgrace, and far removed from every wicked action, was yet assailed with contumely, is it to be wondered at if the children of God in the present day labor under false accusations, and that when they have endeavored to conduct themselves uprightly they are yet in reported of? As they have the devil for their enemy, it is indeed impossible for them to escape being loaded with his lies. Yea, we see that slanderous tongues did not spare even the Son of God — a consideration which should induce us to bear the more patiently our condition, when the wicked traduce us undeservedly; since it is certain that we have here described the common lot of the whole Church.

3. What shall the tongue of deceit give thee? The Psalmist here addresses himself in particular to his traducers. The Prophet aggravates the malice of his enemies by asserting that they were so wickedly inclined as to be driven to evil speaking when they saw no prospect of deriving any advantage from such a course of conduct. He however seems to express more than this, — he seems farther to intimate, that after they have poured forth all the venom of their calumnies, their attempts will nevertheless be vain and ineffectual. As God is the maintainer of the innocence of his servants, David, inspired with hope from this truth, rises up against them with heroic courage, as if about to triumph over the whole crowd of his calumniators, “Comme s’il avoit desia le triomphe contre toute la bande de scs ennemis.” — Fr. “As if he had already triumphed over the whole host of his enemies.” reproaching them for doing nothing else than betraying an impotent passion for evil speaking, which God at length would cause to recoil upon their own heads. It is a consideration well fitted to assuage the grief of all the godly, when their good name is unrighteously wounded by calumniators, that such malicious characters will gain nothing thereby in the end, because God will disappoint their expectation.

4. The arrows of a strong man sharpened, with coals of juniper. Here the Psalmist amplifies in another way the malice of such as distress the simple and innocent by their calumnies, affirming that they throw out their injurious reports just like a man who should draw an arrow, and with it pierce through the body of his neighbor; and that their calumnies were like coals of juniper, The Hebrew word רתם, rothem, here rendered “juniper,” occurs also in I Kings 19:4, 5, and Job 30:4, in both which places it is translated in our English Bible by “juniper-tree.” It would appear that this shrub was remarkable for the intense flame with which it burned, and for the length of time during which its embers retained their heat. Several critics, however, think that the Hebrew rothem means the genista or Spanish broom; and in support of this opinion it is said that the genista is much used as fuel by the Arabs, among whom the Psalmist describes himself as then living; and that, as Geierus asserts, it” sparkles, burns, and crackles more vehemently than any other wood.” (See Parkhurst on רתם.) It is somewhat difficult to decide in this matter. As more than thirty different trees are mentioned in the Bible, and as we are but imperfectly acquainted with the natural history of these remote countries, it is no wonder though we find it impossible to identify all these trees. It may be observed that Calvin in his translation brings out that beautiful gradation of sense, terminating in a point of severity, for which the Hebrew text is remarkable, but which does not appear in our English version. Slanderous words are first compared to “arrows,” secondly, to “arrows discharged from the bow by a strong man,” and in proportion to the strength of a man will be the force with which his weapon strikes; next to “sharp arrows;” and lastly, to “coals of juniper,” or some wood used in those days celebrated for burning fiercely and long, (for the particle עם, im translated with, is sometimes one of similitude, as in Psalm 106:6, “We have sinned like as our fathers,”) intimating not only that malignant slanders deeply penetrate, but that they inflame and burn for a long time. Hence the Apostle James (James 3:5, 6) compares the tongue of slander to a fire enkindled from hell, and inflaming the course of nature. Some interpreters think that this verse is not to be understood as a description of calumny, but rather as the punishment which God will inflict on the calumniator. They therefore regard it as an answer to the question in the preceding verse, “What shall be given unto thee,” etc.; observing that calumny and falsehood being frequently represented by the images of arrows and fire, the same images suitably express the requital which awaits them at the hand of God — the swift and terrible retributive vengeance of the Almighty, which will overtake all who practice falsehood and slander. See Psalm 57:4; Psalm 64:3, 7, 9; and Job 20:26. “Sharp arrows of the Mighty One, with coals of juniper,” await them. This opinion is adopted by Street, Mant, Morison, Paxton, Fry, French and Skinner. Calvin’s exposition is embraced by Walford and Phillips. The former, to elicit this meaning the more clearly, uses a supplement:

“Sharp arrows of a warrior, And burning coals of juniper, thou resemblest.”

He, however, in a footnote requests the reader “to observe, that this is given as what seems to be the most probable interpretation of the passage, though it cannot be regarded as absolutely certain.” which penetrate more effectually, and burn more intensely the substances with which they come in contact than the coals of any other kind of wood. The amount is, that the tongues of these slanderers were inflamed with the burning heat of fire, and, as it were, dipped in deadly poison; and that such persons were the less excusable, from the fact that, without deriving any advantage from it, they were impelled by an unbridled passion to inflict upon others deadly mischief. As the Prophet records nothing here which he did not experience in his own person, it may be inferred that if it behoved him and men of a similar character to be assailed by their enemies with lies, which were to them as arrows to pierce them, or coals to burn them, we need not be surprised at seeing the most eminent servants of God exercised with similar assaults.

Psalm 120:5-7

5. Alas for me! that I have been a sojourner “C’est, en exile;” —”That is, in exile.” — Fr-. Marg. in Mesech, and have dwelt among the tents of Kedar. 6. My soul hath long dwelt with him who hateth peace. 7. I am for peace; and when I speak they are for war. Literally it is, “I peace; and when I speak, they for war.”

5. Alas for me! that I have been a sojourner in Mesech. David complains that he was doomed to linger for a long time among a perverse people; his condition resembling that of some wretched individual who is compelled to live till he grows old in sorrowful exile. The Mesechites and Kedarenes, as is well known, were Eastern tribes; the former of which derived their original from Japhet, as Moses informs us in Genesis 10:2; and the latter from a son of Ishmael. (Genesis 25:13.) To take the latter for a people of Italy, who were anciently called Hetrurians, is altogether absurd, and without the least color of probability, Some ‘would have the word Mesech to be an appellative noun; and because מש mashak, signifies to draw, to protract, they think that the Prophet bewails his protracted banishment, of the termination of which he saw no prospect. This is the sense in which the word is rendered in most of the ancient versions. Thus the Septuagint has ἡ παροικία μρυ ἐμακρύνθη, “my sojourning is protracted;” and it is followed by the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic versions. Aquila has προσηλύτευσα ἐν μακρυσμῷ I was a stranger for a long time;” and Symmachus, παροικῶν παρίλκυσα “I have protracted sojourning.” Bishop Patrick and Dr. Hammond, following these authorities, render משך, mesech, adverbially. But though this is a meaning which the word will bear, yet as Calvin observes, there is little room for doubting that it is here a proper name. The parallelism which enables us in many instances to determine the accurate interpretation of a word in Hebrew poetry when other helps entirely fail, decidedly favors this interpretation. The term corresponding to משך mesech, in the next hemistich, is קרר kedar; and as it is universally admitted that this is the name of a place, it cannot be justly questioned that such is also the case with respect to משך mesech. To render it otherwise is destructive of the poetical structure of the passage. “If,” says Phillips, “the adverbial sense be intended, then the expression should not have been גרתי משך, but something analogous to רבת שכנה in the next verse. Many localities have been mentioned for the geography of Mesech, as Tuscany, Cappadocia, Armenia, etc., which proves that the particular district called by this name is uncertain.” It is however obvious that some barbarous and brutal tribes of Arabs are intended. But as immediately after he adds Kedar, by which term the Ishmaelites are unquestionably intended, I have no doubt that Mesech is to be understood of the Arabians who were their neighbors. If any one is of opinion that the Mesechites obtained this name from their dexterity in shooting with the bow, I will make no objections, provided it is admitted that the Prophet — as if he had been confined within a country of robbers — expresses the irksomeness of an uncomfortable and an annoying place of residence. Although he names the Arabians, yet under the terms employed he speaks metaphorically of his own countrymen, just as he elsewhere applies the appellation of Gentiles to the corrupt and degenerate Jews. A similar mode of speaking is not uncommon in our own day. Thus we are accustomed to call gross and ignorant people Turks and Hottentots. But here, with the view of putting still more dishonor upon his enemies, he has purposely selected the name by which to designate them from some of the savage and barbarous nations whose horrible cruelty was well known to the Jews. From these words we are taught, that scarcely a more distressing evil can befall the people of God, than for them to be placed in circumstances which, notwithstanding their living a holy and an inoffensive life, they yet cannot escape the calumnies of venomous tongues. It is to be observed, that although David was living in his own country, he yet was a stranger in it, nothing being more grievous to him than to be in the company of wicked men. Hence we learn that no sin is more detestable to God, by whose Spirit David spake, than the false accusations which shamefully deface the beauty of God’s Church, and lay it waste, causing it to differ little from the dens of robbers, or other places rendered infamous from the barbarous cruelty of which they are the scene. Now if the place where the uprightness of good men is overwhelmed by the criminations of lying lips is to the children of God converted into a region of miserable exile, how could they have pleasure, or rather, how could they fail to feel the bitterest sorrow, in abiding in a part of the world where the sacred name of God is shamefully profaned by horrible blasphemies, and his truth obscured by detestable lies? David exclaims, Alas for me! because, dwelling among false brethren and a bastard race of Abraham, he was wrongfully molested and tormented by them, although he had behaved himself towards them in good conscience. “D’autant que dcmeurant entre des faux freres et une race bastardc d’Abraham, a tort il est par eux molest4 et tourment( cornroe ainsi soit th’envers eux il se porte en bonne conscience.” — Fr. Since, then, at the present day, in the Church of Rome, religion is dishonored by all manner of disgraceful imputations, faith torn in pieces, light turned into darkness, and the majesty of God exposed to the grossest mockeries, it will certainly be impossible for those who have any feeling of true piety within them to lie in the midst of such pollutions without great anguish of spirit.

6. My soul My soul, for I. hath long dwelt with him who hateth peace. The Psalmist now shows, without figure, and, so to speak, points with the finger to those “Et (par maniere de dire) monstre au doigt ceux,” etc — Fr. whom he had before indirectly marked out by the terms Mesech and kedar, namely, the perfidious Israelites, who had degenerated from the holy fathers, and who rather wore the mask of Israelites than were the true seed of Israel. “Aseavoir les Israelites desloyaux qui avoyent forligne’ des saincts Peres, et qui estoyent plustost des masques d’Israclites, que non pas une vraye semence d’Israel.” — Fr. He calls them haters of peace, In describing those among whom he was now living as haters of peace, and, in the next verse, as bent on war, the inspired writer probably still alludes to the Arab tribes he had specified in the 5th verse, who have, from their origin to the present hour, been eminently characterized by their hatred of peace and propensity to war. Dr. Shaw thus writes concerning these barbarous tribes as they are to be found in our own day, and their character and habits were the same at the time when this Psalm was written: “The Arabs are naturally thievish and treacherous; and it sometimes happens, that those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning who were entertained the night before with all the instances of friendship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every person whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for those many implacable and hereditary animosities which continually subsist among them: literally fulfilling the prophecy to Hagar, that ‘Ishmael should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.’” because they wilfully, and with deliberate malice, set themselves to make war upon the good and unoffending. To the same purpose he adds immediately after, that his heart was strongly inclined to seek after peace, or rather, that he was wholly devoted to it, and had tried every means in order to win their favor, but that the implacable cruelty of their disposition invariably impelled them to do him mischief. When he says, I peace, it is an abrupt, yet not an obscure expression, implying that he had not done them any injury or wrong which could give occasion for their hatred there having been always peace on his part. He even proceeds farther, asserting, that when he saw them inflamed with resentment against him, he endcavourcd to pacify them, and to bring them to a good understanding; for to speak, is here equivalent to offering conditions of peace in an amicable spirit, or to treating of reconciliation. From this it is still more apparent, how savage and brutal was the pride of David’s enemies, since they disdained even to speak with him — to speak with a man who had deserved well at their hands, and who had never in any respect injured them. We are taught by his example, that it is not enough for the faithful to abstain from hurting others: they must, moreover, study to allure them by gentleness, and to bend them to good will. Should their moderation and kindness be rejected, let them wait in patience, until God at length show himself from heaven as their protector. Let us, however, remember, that if God does not immediately stretch forth his hand in our behalf, it is our duty to bear the wearisomeness occasioned by delay, like David, whom we find in this Psalm giving, thanks to God for his deliverance, while, at the same time, as if worn out with the weariness of waiting for it, he bewails the long oppression to which he had been subjected by his enemies.

PSALM 120

Psa 120:1-7. This is the first of fifteen Psalms (Psalms 120-134) entitled "A Song of Degrees" (Psa 121:1--literally, "A song for the degrees"), or ascents. It seems most probable they were designed for the use of the people when going up (compare 1Ki 12:27, 28) to Jerusalem on the festival occasions (De 16:16), three times a year. David appears as the author of four, Solomon of one (Psa 127:1), and the other ten are anonymous, probably composed after the captivity. In this Psalm the writer acknowledges God's mercy, prays for relief from a malicious foe, whose punishment he anticipates, and then repeats his complaint.

2-3. Slander and deceit charged on his foes implies his innocence.

tongue--as in Psa 52:2, 4.

4. Sharp arrows of the mighty--destructive inflictions.

coals of juniper--which retain heat long. This verse may be read as a description of the wicked, but better as their punishment, in reply to the question of Psa 120:3.

5. A residence in these remote lands pictures his miserable condition.

6-7. While those who surrounded him were maliciously hostile, he was disposed to peace. This Psalm may well begin such a series as this, as a contrast to the promised joys of God's worship.

In my distress - Through the causes afterwards mentioned.

I cried unto the Lord - Made strong supplication for help.

And he heard one - Answered my prayer by comforting my soul.

It appears to be a prayer of the captives in Babylon for complete liberty; or perhaps he recites the prayer the Israelites had made previously to their restoration.

Lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue - From a people without faith, without truth, without religion; who sought by lies and calumnies to destroy them.

What shall be given unto thee? - Thou art worthy of the heaviest punishments.

Sharp arrows - The Chaldee has, "The strong, sharp arrows are like lightning from above, with coals of juniper kindled in hell beneath." On the juniper, see the note on Job 30:4, where this passage is explained. Fiery arrows, or arrows wrapped about with inflamed combustibles, were formerly used in sieges to set the places on fire. See my notes on Eph 6:16 (note).

That I sojourn in Mesech - The Chaldee has it, "Wo is me that I am a stranger with the Asiatics, (אוסאי useey), and that I dwell in the tents of the Arabs." Calmet, who understands the Psalm as speaking of the state of the captives in Babylon and its provinces, says, "Meshec was apparently the father of the Mosquians, who dwelt in the mountains that separate Iberia from Armenia, and both from Colchis. These provinces were subjugated by Nebuchadnezzar; and it is evident from 2Kgs 17:23, 2Kgs 17:24; 2Kgs 18:11; 2Kgs 19:12, 2Kgs 19:13, that many of the Jews were held in captivity in those countries. As to Kedar, it extended into Arabia Petraea, and towards the Euphrates; and is the country afterwards known as the country of the Saracens."

My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace - A restless, barbarous, warlike, and marauding people.

I am for peace - We love to be quiet and peaceable; but they are continually engaged in excursions of rapine and plunder. It is evident that the psalmist refers to a people like the Scenitae or wandering Arabs, who live constantly in tents, and subsist by robbery; plundering and carrying away all that they can seize. The poor captives wished them to cultivate the arts of peace, and live quietly; but they would hear of nothing but their old manner of life.

Arrows - The wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in scripture is often compared to arrows, and here to coals of juniper, which burn very fiercely and retain their heat for a long time.

Mesech - Mesech and Kedar are two sorts of people often mentioned in scripture, and reckoned amongst the barbarous nations. But their names are here to be understood metaphorically. And so he explains himself in the next verse.

2. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips , and from a deceitful tongue .

From the unjust censures and malicious slanders of mine enemies, who traduce me as an egregious hypocrite, as a rebel and traitor.

Which covereth mischievous designs with pretences of kindness.

3 What shall be given unto thee ? or what be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

Whosoever thou art who art guilty of these practices. He applies himself severally to the consciences of every one of them. Or, he designs Doeg or some other person in Sauls Court eminent for this wickedness. The sence may be this, It is true, thou dost me some mischief. But what benefit dost thou get by it, if all thy accounts be cast up? For although thou mayst thereby obtain some favour and advantage from Saul, yet thou wilt assuredly bring upon thy self the curse and vengeance of God; and then thou wilt be no gainer by the bargain. And to do mischief to another without benefit to thy self, is an inhumane and diabolical wickedness.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word], What shall [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] give [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]? or, [illegible: 1 word] shall it [illegible: 1 word] thee?; [illegible: 1 word] ▪ added.

4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper .

So this verse contains an answer to the question v. 3. and declares the slanderers recompence: which is the wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in Scripture, and particularly in this Book, is oft compared to arrows, as Psal. 7. 13, 14, &c. and here to arrows of the mighty, i. e. shot by the hands of a strong man; and to coals, Psal. 140. 11. and here to coals of juniper, which being kindled burn very fiercely and retain their heat for a long time. And the Psalmist may possibly express it in these words, to shew the suitableness of the punishment to the sin, as thy tongue shoots arrows, (for so calumnies are called Psal. 57. 4. & 64. 3.) and kindles coals, so thou shalt bring Gods arrows and coals kindled by the fire of his wrath upon thy self. But according to the other Translation, which is in the margent, this is a further declaration of the sin of calumny. Though, all things considered, it doth thee no good, yet it doth others much hurt, to whom it is like sharp arrows, &c.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word], It is as [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] arrows [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] mighty [illegible: 1 word] with coals [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

5 Wo is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar .

Mesech and Kedar are two sorts of people oft mentioned in Scripture, and reckoned amongst the heathen and barbarous Nations. But their names are not here to be understood properly, (for we do not read that either David, or the Israelites in the Babylonish Captivity dwelt in their lands) but onely Metaphorically, as the ungodly Israelites are called Sodom and Gomorrha, Isa. 1. 10. and Amorites and Hittites, Ezek. 16. 3. 45. and as in common speech among us, men of an evil character are called Turks or Iews. And so he explains himself in the next verse by this description of them, him or them that hated peace, although David sought peace with them, v. 7. And so he speaks either, 1. of the Philistins, among whom he sojourned for a time. But he did not seek peace with them, but sought their ruine, as the event shewed; not did they wage war against him, whilst he lived peaceably among them. Or rather, 2. the Courtiers and Souldiers of Saul, and the generality of the Israelites, who to curry favour with Saul, sought Davids ruine, and that many times by treachery and pretences of friendship; of which he oft complains in this Book; whom as he elsewhere calls Heathen, as Psal. 9. 5▪ & 59. 5. it is not strange if he compare them here to the savage Arabians. And amongst such persons David was oft forced to sojourn in Sauls time; and with them he sought peace by all ways possible, but they hated peace, and the more he pursued peace, the more eagerly did they prosecute the war, as it here follows.

The Fifteen Songs of Degrees, or Gradual Psalm - Ps. 120-134

These songs are all inscribed שׁיר המּעלות. The lxx, according to the most natural signification of the word, renders: ᾠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμων; the Italic and Vulgate, canticum graduum (whence the liturgical term “gradual Psalms”). The meaning at the same time remains obscure. When, however, Theodotion renders ᾆσμα τῶν ἀναβάσεων, Aquila and Symmachus ᾠδὴ εἰς τάς ἀναβάσεις (as though it were absolutely למּעלות, as in Psa 121:1), it looks even like an explanation. The fathers, more particularly Theodoret, and in general the Syria church, associate with it the idea of ἡ ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδος. Ewald has long advocated this view. In his Introduction to Die poetischen Bücher des Alten Bundes (1839), and elsewhere, he translated it “Songs of the Pilgrim caravans” or “of the homeward marches,” and explained these fifteen Psalms as old and new travelling songs of those returning from the Exile. The verb עלה certainly is the usual word for journeying to Palestine out of the Babylonian low country, as out of the country of the Egyptian Nile Valley. And the fact that the Return from the Exile is called המּעלה מבּבל in Ezr 7:9 is enticing. Some of these Psalms, as Psa 121:1-8, Psa 123:1, Psa 129:1-8, Psa 130:1-8, Ps 132, Psa 133:1-3, are also suited to this situation, or can at least be adapted to it. But Psa 120:1-7, if it is to be referred to the Exile, is a song that comes out of the midst of it; Psa 126:1-6 might, so far as its first half is concerned, be a travelling song of those returning, but according to its second half it is a prayer of those who have returned for the restoration of the whole of Israel, based upon thanksgiving; and Psa 122:1-9 assumes the existence and frequenting of the Temple and of the holy city, and Psa 134:1-3 the full exercise of the Temple-service. It is also inconvenient that מעלה, which in itself only expresses a journey up, not a journey homewards, is without any closer definition; and more particularly since, in connection with this form of the word, the signification of a something (a step, a sun-dial, rising thoughts. Eze 11:5) is at least just as natural as that of an action. שׁיר העלים would have been at once palpable. And what is meant by the plural? The interpretation of the plural of the different caravans or companies in which the exiles returned, assumes a usus loquendi with which we are altogether unacquainted.

Relatively more probable is the reference to the pilgrimage-journeyings at the three great feasts - according to a later Hebrew expression, the שׁלשׁ רגלים. This going up to Jerusalem required by the Law is also usually called עלה. So Agellius (1606), Herder, Eichhorn, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, and so now even Ewald in the second edition (1866) of the Introduction to Die Dichter des Alten Bundes, so Kamphausen, and Reuss in his treatise Chants de Pèlerinage ou petit Psautier des Pèlerins du second temple (in the Nouvelle Revue de Théologie, i. 273-311), and Liebusch in the Quedlinburg Easter Programm, 1866: “The pilgrim songs in the Fifth Book of the Psalter.” But מעלה in this signification is without precedent; and when Hupfeld says in opposition to this, “the fact that a noun accidentally does not occur in the Old Testament does not matter, since here at any rate it is a question of the interpretation of a later usage of the language,” we may reply that neither does the whole range of the post-biblical Hebrew exhibit any trace of this usage. Thenius accordingly tries another way of doing justice to the word. He understands מעלות of the different stations, i.e., stages of the journey up, that are to be found in connection with the festive journeys to high-lying Jerusalem. But the right name for “stations” would be מסּעות or מעמדות; and besides, the notion borrowed from the processions to Mount Calvary is without historical support in the religious observances of Israel. Thus, then, the needful ground in language and custom for referring this title of the Psalms to the journeyings up to the feasts is taken from under us; and the consideration that the first three and the last three songs are suited to the hymn-book of a festal pilgrimage, and that they all bear in them, as Liebusch has demonstrated, the characteristic features of the spiritual national song, is not able to decide the doubtful meaning of מעלות.

We will now put the later Jewish interpretation to the proof. According to Middoth ii. 5, Succa 15 b, a semi-circular staircase with fifteen steps led out of the court of the Israelitish men (עזרת ישראל) down into the court of the women (עזרת נשׁים), and upon these fifteen steps, which correspond to the fifteen gradual Psalms, the Levites played musical instruments on the evening of the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in connection with the joyful celebration of the water-drawing,Vid., my Geschichte der jüdischen Poesie, S. 193f. and above them in the portal (upon the threshold of the Nicanor-gate or Agrippa-gate)It was called the Nicanor-gate in the Temple of Zerubbabel, and the Agrippa-gate in the Temple of Herod: in both of them they ascended to its threshold by fifteen steps; vid., Unruh, Das alte Jerusalem und seine Bauwerke (1861), S. 137, cf. 194. stood two priests with trumpets. It has been said that this is a Talmudic fable invented on behalf of the inscription שׁיר המעלות, and that the fifteen steps are not out of Eze 40:26, Eze 40:31 by reading the two verses together. This aspersion is founded on ignorance. For the Talmud does not say in that passage that the fifteen Psalms have taken their name from the fifteen steps; it does not once say that these Psalms in particular were read aloud upon the fifteen steps, but it only places the fifteen steps on a parallel with the fifteen Psalms; and, moreover, interprets the name שׁיר המעלות quite differently, viz., from a legend concerning David and Ahithophel, Succa 53a, Maccoth 11a (differently rendered in the section Chelek of the tractate Sanhedrin in the Jerusalem Talmud). This legend to which the Targum inscription relates (vid., Buxtorf, Lex. Talmud. s.v. קפא) is absurd enough, but it has nothing to do with the fifteen steps. It is not until a later period that Jewish expositors say that the fifteen Psalms had their name from the fifteen steps.Lyra in his Postillae, and Jacob Leonitius in his Hebrew Libellus effigiei templi Salomonis (Amsterdam 1650, 4to), even say that the Levites sang one of the fifteen songs of degrees on each step. Luther has again generalized this view; for his rendering “a song in the higher choir” is intended to say, cantores harum odarum stetisse in loco eminentiori (Bakius).

Even Hippolytus must have heard something similar when he says (p. 190, ed. Lagarde): πάλιν τε αὐτοῦ εἰσί τινες τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν ᾠδαί, τὸν ἀριθμὸν πεντεκαίδεκα, ὅσοι καὶ οἱ ἀναβαθμοὶ τοῦ ναοῦ, τάχα δελοῦσαι τάς ἀναβάσεις περιέχεσθαι ἐν τῷ ἑβδόμῳ καὶ ὀγδόῳ ἀριθμῷ, upon which Hilary relies: esse autem in templo gradus quindecim historia nobis locuta est; viz., 15 (7 + 8) steps leading out of the court of the priests into the Holy of holies. In this, then, the allegory in which the interpretation of the church delighted for a long time seemed naturally at hand, viz., as Otmar Nachtgal explains, “Song of the steps or ascents, which indicate the spirit of those who ascend from earthly things to God.” The furtmaier Codex in Maihingen accordingly inscribes them “Psalm of the first step” (Psalm der ersten staffeln), and so on. If we leave this sensus anagogicus to itself, then the title, referred to the fifteen steps, would indeed not be inappropriate in itself (cf. Graduale or Gradale in the service of the Romish Church), but is of an external character such as we find nowhere else.Hitzig, in his Commentary (1865), has attempted a new combination of these Psalms, in regard to the number of verses of 120 and 121 (7 + 8) and their total number, with the steps of the temple.

Gesenius has the merit of having first discerned the true meaning of the questioned inscription, inasmuch as first in 1812 (Hallische Lit. Zeitschrift, 1812, Nr. 205), and frequently since that time, he has taught that the fifteen songs have their name from their step-like progressive rhythm of the thoughts, and that consequently the name, like the triolet (roundelay) in Western poetry, does not refer to the liturgical usage, but to the technical structure. The correctness of this view has been duly appraised more particularly by De Wette, who adduces this rhythm of steps or degrees, too, among the more artificial rhythms. The songs are called Songs of degrees or Gradual Psalms as being songs that move onward towards a climax, and that by means of plokee' epiplokee'), i.e., a taking up again of the immediately preceding word by way of giving intensity to the expression; and they are placed together on account of this common characteristic, just like the Michtammim, which bear that name from a similar characteristic. The fact, as Liebusch objects, that there is no trace of מעלות in this figurative signification elsewhere, is of no consequence, since in the inscriptions of the Psalms in general we become acquainted with a technical language which (apart from a few echoes in the Chronicles) is without example elsewhere, in relation to poetical and musical technology. Neither are we refuted by the fact that this as it were climbing movement of the thoughts which plants upon a preceding word, and thus carried itself forward, is not without example even outside the range of these fifteen songs in the Psalter itself (e.g., Psa 93:1-5, Psa 96:1-13), as also elsewhere (Isa 17:12., Psa 26:5., and more particularly in the song of Deborah, Jdg 5:3, Jdg 5:5-6, etc.), and that it is not always carried out in the same manner in the fifteen Psalms. It is quite sufficient that the parallelism retires into the background here as nowhere else in fifteen songs that are linked together (even in Psa 125:1-5, Psa 127:1-5, Psa 128:1-6, Ps 132); ); and the onward course is represented with decided preference as a gradation or advance step by step, that which follows being based upon what goes before, and from that point advancing and ascending still higher.

Cry of Distress When Surrounded by Contentious Men

This first song of degrees attaches itself to Psa 119:176. The writer of Ps 119, surrounded on all sides by apostasy and persecution, compares himself to a sheep that is easily lost, which the shepherd has to seek and bring home if it is not to perish; and the writer of Psa 120:1-7 is also “as a sheep in the midst of wolves.” The period at which he lived is uncertain, and it is consequently also uncertain whether he had to endure such endless malignant attacks from foreign barbarians or from his own worldly-minded fellow-countrymen. E. Tilling has sought to establish a third possible occasion in his Disquisitio de ratione inscript. XV Pss. grad. (1765). He derives this and the following songs of degrees from the time immediately succeeding the Return from the Exile, when the secret and open hostility of the Samaritans and other neighbouring peoples (Neh 2:10, Neh 2:19; Neh 4:17, Neh 6:1) sought to keep down the rise of the young colony.

Psa 120:1-4

According to the pointing ויּענני, the poet appears to base his present petition, which from Psa 120:2 onwards is the substance of the whole Psalm, upon the fact of a previous answering of his prayers. For the petition in Psa 120:2 manifestly arises out of his deplorable situation, which is described in Psa 120:5. Nevertheless there are also other instances in which ויענני might have been expected, where the pointing is ויּענני (Psa 3:5; Jon 2:3), so that consequently ויּענני may, without any prejudice to the pointing, be taken as a believing expression of the result (cf. the future of the consequence in Job 9:16) of the present cry for help. צרתה, according to the original signification, is a form of the definition of a state or condition, as in Psa 3:3; 44:27; Psa 63:8, Jon 2:10, Hos 8:7, and בּצּרתה לּי = בּצּר־לּי, Psa 18:7, is based upon the customary expression צר לּי. In Psa 120:2 follows the petition which the poet sends up to Jahve in the certainty of being answered. רמיּה beside לשׁון, although there is no masc. רמי (cf. however the Aramaic רמּי, רמּאי), is taken as an adjective after the form טריּה, עניּה, which it is also perhaps in Mic 6:12. The parallelism would make לשׁון natural, like לשׁון מרמה in Psa 52:6; the pointing, which nevertheless disregarded this, will therefore rest upon tradition. The apostrophe in Psa 120:3 is addressed to the crafty tongue. לשׁון is certainly feminine as a rule; but whilst the tongue as such is feminine, the לשׁון רמיה of the address, as in Psa 52:6, refers to him who has such a kind of tongue (cf. Hitzig on Pro 12:27), and thereby the לך is justified; whereas the rendering, “what does it bring to thee, and what does it profit thee?” or, “of what use to thee and what advancement to thee is the crafty tongue?” is indeed possible so far as concerns the syntax (Ges. §147, e), but is unlikely as being ambiguous and confusing in expression. It is also to be inferred from the correspondence between מה־יּתּן לך וּמה־יּסיף לך and the formula of an oath כּה יעשׂה־לּך אלהים לכה יוסיף,    1Sa 3:17; 1Sa 20:13; 1Sa 25:22; 2Sa 3:35; Rth 1:17, that God is to be thought of as the subject of יתן and יסיף: “what will,” or rather, in accordance with the otherwise precative use of the formula and with the petition that here precedes: “what shall He (is He to) give to thee (נתן as in Hos 9:14), and what shall He add to thee, thou crafty tongue?” The reciprocal relation of Psa 120:4 to מה־יתן, and of. Psa 120:4 with the superadding עם to מה־יסיף, shows that Psa 120:4 is not now a characterizing of the tongue that continues the apostrophe to it, as Ewald supposes. Consequently Psa 120:4 gives the answer to Psa 120:3 with the twofold punishment which Jahve will cause the false tongue to feel. The question which the poet, sure of the answering of his cry for help, puts to the false tongue is designed to let the person addressed hear by a flight of sarcasm what he has to expect. The evil tongue is a sharp sword (Psa 57:5), a pointed arrow (Jer 9:7), and it is like a fire kindled of hell (Jam 3:6). The punishment, too, corresponds to this its nature and conduct (Psa 64:4). The “mighty one” (lxx δυνατός) is God Himself, as it is observed in B. Erachin 15 b with a reference to Isa 42:13 : “There is none mighty by the Holy One, blessed is He.” He requites the evil tongue like with like. Arrows and coals (Psa 140:11) appear also in other instances among His means of punishment. It, which shot piercing arrows, is pierced by the sharpened arrows of an irresistibly mighty One; it, which set its neighbour in a fever of anguish, must endure the lasting, sure, and torturingly consuming heat of broom-coals. The lxx renders it in a general sense, σὺν τοῖς ἄνθραξι τοῖς ἐρημικοῖς; Aquila, following Jewish tradition, ἀρκευθίναις; but רתם, Arabic ratam , ratem , is the broom-shrub (e.g., uncommonly frequent in the Belkâ).

Psa 120:5-7

Since arrows and broom-fire, with which the evil tongue is requited, even now proceed from the tongue itself, the poet goes on with the deep heaving אויה (only found here). גּוּר with the accusative of that beside which one sojourns, as in Psa 5:5; Isa 33:14; Jdg 5:17. The Moschi (משׁך, the name of which the lxx takes as an appellative in the signification of long continuance; cf. the reverse instance in Isa 66:19 lxx) dwelt between the Black and the Caspian Seas, and it is impossible to dwell among them and the inhabitants of Kedar (vid., Psa 83:7) at one and the same time. Accordingly both these names of peoples are to be understood emblematically, with Saadia, Calvin, Amyraldus, and others, of homines similes ejusmodi barbaris et truculentis nationibus.If the Psalm were a Maccabaean Psalm, one might think משׁך, from משׁך, σύρειν, alluded to the Syrians or even to the Jewish apostates with reference to משׁך ערלה, ἐπισπᾶσθαι τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν (1Co 7:18).

Meshech is reckoned to Magog in Eze 38:2, and the Kedarites are possessed by the lust of possession (Gen 16:12) of the bellum omnium contra omnes. These rough and quarrelsome characters have surrounded the poet (and his fellow-countrymen, with whom he perhaps comprehends himself) too long already. רבּת, abundantly (vid., Psa 65:10), appears, more particularly in 2Ch 30:17., as a later prose word. The להּ, which throws the action back upon the subject, gives a pleasant, lively colouring to the declaration, as in Psa 122:3; Psa 123:4. He on his part is peace (cf. Mic 5:5, Psa 119:4; Psa 110:3), inasmuch as the love of peace, willingness to be at peace, and a desire for peace fill his σου; but if he only opens his mouth, they are for war, they are abroad intent on war, their mood and their behaviour become forthwith hostile. Ewald (§362, b) construes it (following Saadia): and I - although I speak peace; but if כּי (like עד, Psa 141:10) might even have this position in the clause, yet וכי cannot. שׁלום is not on any account to be supplied in thought to אדבּר, as Hitzig suggests (after Psa 122:8; Psa 28:3; Psa 35:20). With the shrill dissonance of שׁלום and מלחמה the Psalm closes; and the cry for help with which it opens hovers over it, earnestly desiring its removal.

Confession and Complaints.

1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord , and he heard me. 2 Deliver my soul, O Lord , from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. 3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? 4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Here is, I. Deliverance from a false tongue obtained by prayer. David records his own experience of this.

1. He was brought into distress, into great distress, by lying lips and a deceitful tongue. There were those that sought his ruin, and had almost effected it, by lying. (1.) By telling lies to him. They flattered him with professions and protestations of friendships, and promises of kindness and service to him, that they might the more securely and without suspicion carry on their designs against him, and might have an opportunity, by betraying his counsels, to do him a mischief. They smiled in his face and kissed him, even when they were aiming to smite him under the fifth rib. The most dangerous enemies, and those which it is most hard to guard against, are such as carry on their malicious designs under the colour of friendship. The Lord deliver every good man from such lying lips. (2.) By telling lies of him. They forged false accusations against him and laid to his charge things that he knew not. This has often been the lot not only of the innocent, but of the excellent ones, of the earth, who have been greatly distressed by lying lips, and have not only had their names blackened and made odious by calumnies in conversation, but their lives, and all that is dear to them in this world, endangered by false-witness-bearing in judgment. David was herein a type of Christ, who was distressed by lying lips and deceitful tongues.

2. In this distress he had recourse to God by faithful and fervent prayer: I cried unto the Lord. Having no fence against false tongues, he appealed to him who has all men's hearts in his hand, who has power over the consciences of bad men, and can, when he pleases, bridle their tongues. His prayer was, "Deliver my soul, O Lord! from lying lips, that my enemies may not by these cursed methods work my ruin." He that had prayed so earnestly to be kept from lying (Ps. cxix. 29) and hated it so heartily in himself (v. 163) might with the more confidence pray to be kept from being belied by others, and from the ill consequences of it.

3. He obtained a gracious answer to this prayer. God heard him; so that his enemies, though they carried their designs very far, were baffled at last, and could not prevail to do him the mischief they intended. The God of truth is, and will be, the protector of his people from lying lips, Ps. xxxvii. 6.

II. The doom of a false tongue foretold by faith, v. 3, 4. As God will preserve his people from this mischievous generation, so he will reckon with their enemies, Ps. xii. 3, 7. The threatening is addressed to the sinner himself, for the awakening of his conscience, if he have any left: "Consider what shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done unto thee, by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, thou false tongue." Surely sinners durst not do as they do if they knew, and would be persuaded to think, what will be in the end thereof. Let liars consider what shall be given to them: Sharp arrows of the Almighty, with coals of juniper, that is, they will fall and lie for ever under the wrath of God, and will be made miserable by the tokens of his displeasure, which will fly swiftly like arrows, and will strike the sinner ere he is aware and when he sees not who hurts him. This is threatened against liars, Ps. lxiv. 7. God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. They set God at a distance from them, but from afar his arrows can reach them. They are sharp arrows, and arrows of the mighty, the Almighty; for they will pierce through the strongest armour and strike deep into the hardest heart. The terrors of the Lord are his arrows (Job vi. 4), and his wrath is compared to burning coals of juniper, which do not flame or crackle, like thorns under a pot, but have a vehement heat, and keep fire very long (some say, a year round) even when they seem to be gone out. This is the portion of the false tongue; for all that love and make a lie shall have their portion in the lake that burns eternally, Rev. xxii. 15.

Mournful Complaints.

5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! 6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. 7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

The psalmist here complains of the bad neighbourhood into which he was driven; and some apply the two foregoing verses to this: "What shall the deceitful tongue give, what shall it do to those that lie open to it? What shall a man get by living among such malicious deceitful men? Nothing but sharp arrows and coals of juniper," all the mischiefs of a false and spiteful tongue, Ps. lvii. 4. Woe is me, says David, that I am forced to dwell among such, that I sojourn in Mesech and Kedar. Not that David dwelt in the country of Mesech or Kedar; we never find him so far off from his own native country; but he dwelt among rude and barbarous people, like the inhabitants of Mesech and Kedar: as, when we would describe an ill neighbourhood, we say, We dwell among Turks and heathens. This made him cry out, Woe is me! 1. He was forced to live at a distance from the ordinances of God. While he was in banishment, he looked upon himself as a sojourner, never at home but when he was near God's altars; and he cries out, "Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged, that I cannot get home to my resting-place, but am still kept at a distance!" So some read it. Note, A good man cannot think himself at home while he is banished from God's ordinances and has not them within reach. And it is a great grief to all that love God to be without the means of grace and of communion with God: when they are under a force of that kind they cannot but cry out, as David here, Woe to me! 2. He was forced to live among wicked people, who were, upon many accounts, troublesome to him. He dwell in the tents of Kedar, where the shepherds were probably in an ill name for being litigious, like the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot. It is a very grievous burden to a good man to be cast into, and kept in, the company of those whom he hopes to be for ever separated from (like Lot in Sodom; 2 Pet. ii. 8); to dwell long with such is grievous indeed, for they are thorns, vexing, and scratching, and tearing, and they will show the old enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman. Those that David dwelt with were such as not only hated him, but hated peace, and proclaimed war with it, who might write on their weapons of war not Sic sequimur pacem—Thus we aim at peace, but Sic persequimur—Thus we persecute. Perhaps Saul's court was the Mesech and Kedar in which David dwelt, and Saul was the man he meant that hated peace, whom David studied to oblige and could not, but the more service he did him the more exasperated he was against him. See here, (1.) The character of a very good man in David, who could truly say, though he was a man of war, I am for peace; for living peaceably with all men and unpeaceably with none. I peace (so it is in the original); "I love peace and pursue peace; my disposition is to peace and my delight is in it. I pray for peace and strive for peace, will do any thing, submit to any thing, part with any thing, in reason, for peace. I am for peace, and have made it to appear that I am so." The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable. (2.) The character of the worst of bad men in David's enemies, who would pick quarrels with those that were most peaceably disposed: "When I speak they are for war; and the more forward for war the more they find me inclined to peace." He spoke with all the respect and kindness that could be, proposed methods of accommodation, spoke reason, spoke love; but they would not so much as hear him patiently, but cried out, "To arms! to arms!" so fierce and implacable were they, and so bent to mischief. Such were Christ's enemies: for his love they were his adversaries, and for his good words, and good works, they stoned him. If we meet with such enemies, we must not think it strange, nor love peace the less for our seeking it in vain. Be not overcome of evil, no, not of such evil as this, but, even when thus tried, still try to overcome evil with good.

PSAL. CXX.

A song of degrees.

VNto Iehovah, in my distressednesse, I cried, and he answered me. Iehovah, deliver thou my soule from the lip of falshood, from the tongue of deceit.

What shall it give thee, and what shall it adde to thee, tongue of deceit. Sharpe arrowes of a mightie one, with coales of Iuniper. Woe is me that I sojourne with Meshec, dwell with the tents of Kedar. My soule it hath much dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace, and when I speak, they are for warre.

Annotations. OF degrees] or, of ascensions, of heights: (Hebr. ham-mahaloth,) that is, a Psalme to be sung with an high voice; as the Levites are said to praise God with a great voice on high, (Hebr. le-mahlah,) 2 Chron. 20. 19. Or, this title noteth the excellencie of the song, for short, grave and pithy sentences; as Adam ham-mahalah, is a man of eminencie, (or of high degree,) 1 Chron. 17. 17. Sundry other waies is this title understood, as of the staires that went up to the house of the Lord, whereon the singers should stand; and this the Chaldee favoureth: also of the comming up from Babylon, (called mahalah, an a scension, Ezr. 7. 9,) &c. Fifteene Psalmes together have this title prefixed. distressednesse] that is, sore distresse: the Hebrew addeth a letter to increase the signification; so, helpfulnesse, for full helpe, Psal. 44. 27. cried] in Chaldee, prayed, and he received my prayer. Vers. 3. What shall it give] or, (as the Greeke hath) what shall be given, that is, what good, or profit shalt thou get? meaning, none at all. The verbe active is often used passively; see Psal. 32. 9. and 36. 3. Or, what shall be (meaning God, or any one) give to thee, O deceitfull tongue? it adde] or be added, to wit, as good, or advantage: so Psal. 115. 14. tongue] this may also be read, what shall the tongue of deceit give to thee, that is, profit thee, speaking to the calumniator. Vers. 4. arrowes, &c.] This may note out the hurt of a guileful tongue, whose evill words are like arrowes, Ps. 64. 4. Prov. 25. 18. or, the reward which God will give the deceitfull tongue, his plagues, like arrowes, Psal. 45. 6. Deut. 32. 23. Ezek. 5. 16. coales of Iuniper] which wood in burning smelleth sweet, but the coales thereof burne extremely, and last long; so that under the ashes the glowing coales may be kept (as some write) a yeere long. So it fitly noteth the long lasting infamy of an evill tongue. Or, if we referre it to Gods judgements, they are severe and durable, as Deut. 28. 59. Ps. 18. 9. and 140. 11. Vers. 5. sojourne] or am a pilgrim, a stranger. with Meshec] that is, with a profane and barbarous people, like the posteritie of Meshec and Kedar, mentioned in Gen. 10. 2. and 21. 13. Meshec signifieth length or protraction, and so may here be taken for no proper name, but I sojourne so long; and thus the Greeke turneth it, my peregrination is prolonged. Tents of Kedar] the sonne of Ismael, Gen. 25. 13. whose children dwelt in Arabia, Esa. 21. 13,—17. therefore the Chaldee here turneth it Arabians, they dwelt in Tents or Cottages in the wildernesse, as shepherds. See also Esa. 42. 11. Ier. 49. 28, 29. Ezek. 27. 21. Vers. 6. it hath much] or, to it selfe (in it own seeming) hath long dwelt: so Psal. 123. 4. Vers. 7. for peace] or, to peace (as after for or to warre) that is, addicted thereto; or understand, a man of peace, that is, peacefull, as the Greeke expoundeth it; so Iob 5. 24. and 21. 9. 2 Sam, 17. 3. See the like phrase Psal. 109. 4. Also in Obad. 7. thy bread, for, men of thy bread.

PSAL. CXX.

A Song of degrees] A moſt excellent Song. Tremellius rendreth it; and ſo indeed this and the fourteen following are, both for the matter, and for the form or manner of expreſſion which is wondrous ſhort and ſweet, as the very Epigrammes of the Holy Ghoſt himſelf, wherein each verſe may well ſtand for an oracle. And in this ſenſe, Adam Hammahalah, or a man of degrees is put for an eminent or excellent man, 1 Chron. 17.17. Others underſtand it otherwiſe; wherein they have good leave to abound in their own ſenſe; ſith ſine pericul[illegible: 1 letter] hic erratur, an errour here is not dangerous.

Verſ. 1 In my diſtreſſe I cryed unto the Lord] Oration [illegible: 1 span] eſt, ut avis ſi[illegible: 2 letters] alis, Diſtreſs addeth wings to our devotions. Our Saviour being in an agony prayed more earneſtly Luk. 22.44. So do all his members, and eſpecially when they ly[illegible: 1 letter] under the laſh of a lying tongue, as here verſ. 2. Being defamed wee pray, ſaith Paul, 1. Cor; 4.15.

And [illegible: 1 span] ] The effectuall fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, Jam. 5.16. Z[illegible: 1 letter]ch. 13.9. Hee that prayeth ardently, ſpeedeth aſſuredly, Pſal 91.15. and the unmiſcarrying return of prayer ſhould bee carefully obſerved, and thankfully improved, Pſal. 66. ult.

Verſ. 2. Deliver my ſoul, O Lord, from lying lips] This was Davids diſtreſſe, and it lay heavy upon his ſpirit; ſo it did upon Jobs and Jeremies, chap. 20.10. the ſcourge of tongues hee felt as ſharp as Scorpions. Of the miſchief of an evil tongue, See James 3. & Pſal. 52. & Pſal. 12.3. with the Notes.

Verſ. 3 What ſhall hee given unto thee, &c] That is (as Auſtin ſenſeth it) w[illegible: 1 letter]at remedy is there for thee? q. d. None at all. Contra ſycophantarum morfum non eſt remedium, ſaith Seneca. But others better, what gain getteſt thou? what profit makeſt thou of thy lying and ſlandering? Hurt thou mayeſt another, but not help thy ſelf. Thou art not like the Maid whom Avic[illegible: 2 letters] ſpeaketh of, who feeding her ſelf with poyſon, was her ſelf healthy, yet infected others with her venomous breath: But rather like the traitour of whom Auguſtus ſaid, I like the treaſon, but hate the traitour. The ſlander is oft applauded, when the ſlanderer is abhorred.

Or what ſhall bee done unto thee?] Heb. Added; Nihil prater plagas duriſſ[illegible: 3 letters] a[illegible: 1 letter], as verſ. 4.

Thou falſe tongue] This he ſeemeth to ſay to D[illegible: 2 letters]g, who is here called a falſe fellow, and a Lyar, though he ſpake but the truth againſt the Lord Prieſts, becauſe not for any love to the Truth, nor for reſpect to Juſtice, nor for the bettering either of Saul, or the Prieſts, but only to prejudice theſe, and to incenſe the other.

Verſ. 4 Sharp Arrows of the mighty] Arrows ſharp, and ſhot with a force. A falſe tongue is likened to a ſharp razour, Pſal. 52.4. to a ſharp ſword, Pſal. 57.5. to ſharp arrows, Prov. 25.18. here it hath ſharp for ſharp; as God loveth to retaliate; and he is the Giant, or mighty one here, that ſhooteth theſe ſharpeſt ſha[illegible: 1 letter]ts, that inflicteth moſt exquiſite puniſhments on ſuch; as once on Dives, whoſe tongue ſmoaked for it, Quia lingua plus peccaverat, as ſaith a Father, becauſe hee had ſo offended with his tongue.

With coals of Juniper] Which being a [illegible: 1 letter]at kind of wood of gummy or ſalty matter, Flamma redardeſcit quae modo nulla [illegible: 2 letters]it. Theophraſt. Plin. maketh a very ſcorching fire, and quick coals, ſuch as laſt long (ſome ſay a month and more) and ſmell ſweet; loc upon theſe coals will God broyl lying lips, and a deceitful tongue, pleaſing himſelf and others in that execution.

Verſ. 5. Wo is [illegible: 1 letter]e that I ſojourn in Meſech] that is, in Muſcovi[illegible: 1 letter] ſay ſome, in Hetruria ſay others, in Cappadocia rather, Mag[illegible: 1 letter]gs Country, Ezek 38. any where out of the boſome of the true Church, or (as ſome ſenſe it) in the Church, but among Iſraelites worſe than any Iſraelites o[illegible: 1 letter] Pagans.

That dwell in the [illegible: 1 word] of K[illegible: 1 letter]dar] With C[illegible: 1 letter]darens or Sa[illegible: 1 letter]ac[illegible: 2 letters], as they were afterwards called. Among theſe, David was in danger, Ne cum lupi[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 word], tande[illegible: 1 letter] & ipſe [illegible: 1 word]. Guilt, or grief, a good man is ſure to get by being in bad company, which maketh him cry, O that I had the wings of a Dove, &c. or if that Oh will not ſet him at liberty, then he taketh up this, Wa[illegible: 1 letter] is me, to expreſs his miſery. Pi[illegible: 1 letter] v[illegible: 1 letter]re eſt [illegible: 1 span], & ſi dici [illegible: 1 span], vitiis alienis tribulari, [illegible: 1 span] ſaith Auſtin, It is hard and happy not to comply with ill company.

Verſ. 6. My ſoul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace] With Saul, that implacable tyrant, and with other [illegible: 1 span]. The very ſociety of ſuch (oe they [illegible: 1 span] to a good ſoul; [illegible: 1 span] Toads and other [illegible: 1 span] it to a Saint to [illegible: 1 span] Death-bed, and [illegible: 1 span] the wicked, for thou [illegible: 1 span]

Verſ. 7 I am for [illegible: 1 span] But it is not peace, but pa[illegible: 2 letters]y, that many men mind, [illegible: 1 span]

But when I ſpeak, they are for Warre] They cry the alarm, being [illegible: 1 span] like they live in the fire of contention, Scorpion-like, that are always putting forth the ſting. Their ſpirits lye like that haven, Act. 27.12. [illegible: 1 span] South-weſt and North-weſt, two oppoſite points: neither will they be otherwiſe, but the more they are ſought to, the worſe they are. This is the guiſe of graceleſs perſons.

In my distress. Slander occasions distress of the most grievous kind. Those who have felt the edge of a cruel tongue know assuredly that it is sharper than the sword. Calumny rouses our indignation by a sense of injustice, and yet we find ourselves helpless to fight with the evil, or to act in our own defence. We could ward off the strokes of a cutlass, but we have no shield against a liar's tongue. We do not know who was the father of the falsehood, nor where it was born, nor where it has gone, nor how to follow it, nor how to stay its withering influence. We are perplexed, and know not which way to turn. Like the plague of flies in Egypt, it baffles opposition, and few can stand before it. Detraction touches us in the most tender point, cuts to the quick, and leaves a venom behind which it is difficult to extract. In all ways it is a sore distress to come under the power of "slander, the foulest whelp of sin." Even in such distress we need not hesitate to cry unto the Lord. Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander. I cried unto the LORD (or Jehovah). The wisest course that he could follow. It is of little use to appeal to our fellows on the matter of slander, for the more we stir in it the more it spreads; it is of no avail to appeal to the honour of the slanderers, for they have none, and the most piteous demands for justice will only increase their malignity and encourage them to fresh insult. As well plead with panthers and wolves as with black hearted traducers. However, when cries to man would be our weakness, cries to God will be our strength. To whom should children cry but to their father? Does not some good come even out of that vile thing, falsehood, when it drives us to our knees and to our God? "And he heard me". Yes, Jehovah hears. He is the living God, and hence prayer to him is reasonable and profitable. The Psalmist remembered and recorded this instance of prayer hearing, for it had evidently much affected him; and now he rehearses it for the glory of God and the good of his brethren. "The righteous cry and the Lord heareth them". The ear of our God is not deaf, nor even heavy. He listens attentively, he catches the first accent of supplication; he makes each of his children confess, —"he heard me". When we are slandered it is a joy that the Lord knows us, and cannot be made to doubt our uprightness: he will not hear the lie against us, but he will hear our prayer against the lie.

If these psalms were sung at the ascent of the ark to Mount Zion, and then afterwards by the pilgrims to Jerusalem at the annual festivals and at the return from Babylon, we shall find in the life of David a reason for this being made the first of them. Did not this servant of God meet with Doeg the Edomite when he enquired of the oracle by Abiathar, and did not that wretched creature believe him and betray him to Saul? This made a very painful and permanent impression upon David's memory, and therefore in commencing the ark journey he poured out his lament before the Lord, concerning the great and monstrous wrong of "that dog of a Doeg", as Trapp wittily calls him. The poet, like the preacher, may find it to his advantage to "begin low, "for then he has the more room to rise: the next Psalm is a full octave above the present mournful hymn. Whenever we are abused it may console us to see that we are not alone in our misery we are traversing a road upon which David left his footprints.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips. It will need divine power to save a man from these deadly instruments. Lips are soft: but when they are lying lips they suck away the life of character and are as murderous as razors. Lips should never be red with the blood of honest men's reputes, nor salved with malicious falsehoods. David says, "Deliver my soul": the soul, the life of the man, is endangered by lying lips; cobras are not more venomous, nor devils themselves more pitiless. Some seem to lie for lying sake, it is their sport and spirit: their lips deserve to be kissed with a hot iron; but it is not for the friends of Jesus to render to men according to their deserts. Oh for a dumb generation rather than a lying one! The faculty of speech becomes a curse when it is degraded into a mean weapon for smiting men behind their backs. We need to be delivered from slander by the Lord's restraint upon wicked tongues, or else to be delivered out of it by having our good name cleared from the liar's calumny. And from a deceitful tongue This is rather worse than downright falsehood. Those who fawn and flatter, and all the while have enmity in their hearts, are horrible beings; they are the seed of the devil, and he worketh in them after his own deceptive nature. Better to meet wild beasts and serpents than deceivers: these are a kind of monster whose birth is from beneath, and whose end lies far below. It should be a warning to liars and deceivers when they see that all good men pray against them, and that even bad men are afraid of them. Here is to the believer good cause for prayer. "Deliver us from evil", may be used with emphasis concerning this business. From gossips, talebearers, writers of anonymous letters, forgers of newspaper paragraphs, and all sorts of liars, good Lord deliver us!

What shall be given unto thee? What is the expected guerdon of slander? It ought to be something great to make it worth while to work in so foul an atmosphere and to ruin one's soul. Could a thousand worlds be bribe enough for such villainous deeds? The liar shall have no welcome recompense: he shall meet with his deserts; but what shall they be? What punishment can equal his crime? The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences —this detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But what punishment could be heavy enough? What form shall the chastisement take? O liar, "what shall be given unto thee?" Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? How shalt thou be visited? The law of retaliation can hardly meet the case, since none can slander the slanderer, he is too black to be blackened; neither would any of us blacken him if we could. Wretched being! He fights with weapons which true men cannot touch. Like the cuttlefish, he surrounds himself with an inky blackness into which honest men cannot penetrate. Like the foul skunk, he emits an odour of falsehood which cannot be endured by the true; and therefore he often escapes, unchastised by those whom he has most injured. His crime, in a certain sense, becomes his shield; men do not care to encounter so base a foe. But what will God do with lying tongues? He has uttered his most terrible threats against them, and he will terribly execute them in due time.

Sharp arrows of the mighty. Swift, sure, and sharp shall be the judgment. Their words were as arrows, and so shall their punishment be. God will see to it that their punishment shall be comparable to an arrow keen in itself, and driven home with all the force with which a mighty man shoots it from his bow of steel, —"sharp arrows of the mighty". Nor shall one form of judgment suffice to avenge this complicated sin. The slanderer shall feel woes comparable to coals of juniper, which are quick in flaming, fierce in blazing, and long in burning. He shall feel sharp arrows and sharper fires. Awful doom! All liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. Juniper coals long retain their heat, but hell burneth ever, and the deceitful tongue may not deceive itself with the hope of escape from the fire which it has kindled. What a crime is this to which the All merciful allots a doom so dreadful! Let us hate it with perfect hatred. It is better to be the victim of slander than, to be the author of it. The shafts of calumny will miss the mark, but not so the arrows of God: the coals of malice will cool, but not the fire of justice. Shun slander as you would avoid hell.

Woe is me, that sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! Gracious men are vexed with the conversation of the wicked. Our poet felt himself to be as ill at ease among lying neighbours as if he had lived among savages and cannibals. The traitors around him were as bad as the unspeakable Turk. He cries "Woe is me!" Their sin appalled him, their enmity galled him. He had some hope from the fact that he was only a sojourner in Mesech; but as years rolled on the time dragged heavily, and he feared that he might call himself a dweller in Kedar. The wandering tribes to whom he refers were constantly at war with one another; it was their habit to travel armed to the teeth; they were a kind of plundering gypsies, with their hand against every man and every man's hand against them; and to these he compared the false hearted ones who had assailed his character. Those who defame the righteous are worse than cannibals; for savages only eat men after they are dead, but these wretches cat them up alive.

"Woe's me that I in Mesech am

A sojourner so long;

That I in tabernacles dwell

To Kedar that belong.

My soul with him that hateth peace

Hath long a dweller been;

I am for peace; but when I speak,

For battle they are keen.

My soul distracted mourns and pines

To reach that peaceful short,

Where all the weary are at rest,

And troublers vex no more."

My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. Long, long enough, too long had he been an exile among such barbarians. A peace maker is a blessing, but a peace hater is a curse. To lodge with such for a night is dangerous, but to dwell with them is horrible. The verse may apply to any one of the Psalmist's detractors: he had seen enough of him and pined to quit such company. Perhaps the sweet singer did not at first detect the nature of the man, for he was a deceiver; and when he did discover him he found himself unable to shake him off, and so was compelled to abide with him. Thoughts of Doeg, Saul, Ahithophel, and the sons of Zeruiah come to our mind, —these last, not as enemies, but as hot blooded soldiers who were often too strong for David. What a change for the man of God from the quietude of the sheepfold to the turmoil of court and the tumult of combat! How he must have longed to lay aside his sceptre, and to resume his crook. He felt the time of his dwelling with quarrelsome spirits to be long, too long; and he only endured it because, as the Prayer book version has it, he was constrained so to abide.

I am for peace. Properly, "I am peace"; desirous of peace, peaceful, forbearing, —in fact, peace itself. But when I speak, they are for war. My kindest words appear to provoke them, and they are at daggers drawn at once. Nothing pleases them; if I am silent they count me morose, and if I open my mouth they cavil and controvert. Let those who dwell with such pugilistic company console themselves with the remembrance that both David and David's Lord endured the same trial. It is the lot of the saints to find foes even in their own households. Others besides David dwelt in the place of dragons. Others besides Daniel have been cast into a den of lions. Meanwhile, let those who are in quiet resting places and peaceful habitations be greatly grateful for such ease. "Deus nobis haec otia fecit": God has given us this tranquillity. Be it ours never to inflict upon others that from which we have been screened ourselves.

TITLE. "A Song of Degrees". A most excellent song, Tremellius rendereth it; and so indeed this and the fourteen following are, both for the matter, and for the form or manner of expression, which is wondrous short and sweet, as the very epigrams of the Holy Ghost himself, wherein each verse may well stand for an oracle. And in this sense, "adam hammahalah", or, a man of degrees, is put for an eminent or excellent man: 1Ch 17:17. Others understand it otherwise; wherein they have good leave to abound in their own sense; an error here is not dangerous. —John Trapp.

Whole Psalm. In the interpretation of these psalms, which sees in them the "degrees" of Christian virtues, this psalm aptly describes the first of such steps —the renunciation of the evil and vanity of the world. It thus divides itself into two parts.

1. The Psalmist, in the person of one beginning the grades of virtue, finds many opponents in the shape of slanderers and ill advisers.

2. He laments the admixture of evil —"Woe is me". —H.T. Armfield.

Whole Psalm. It is a painful but useful lesson which is taught by this first of the Pilgrim Psalms, that all who manifest a resolution to obey the commands and seek the favour of God, may expect to encounter opposition and reproach in such a course... This these worshippers of old found when preparing to seek the Lord in his Temple. They were watched in their preparation by malignant eyes; they were followed to the house of prayer by the contempt and insinuations of bitter tongues. But their refuge is in him they worship; and, firmly convinced that he never can forsake his servants, they look up through the cloud of obloquy to his throne, and implore the succour which they know that his children shall ever find there. "O Lord, in this my trouble deliver my soul". —Robert Nisbet.

Whole Psalm. The pilgrims were leaving home; and lying lips commonly attack the absent. They were about to join the pilgrim caravan; and in the excitements of social intercourse their own lips might easily deviate from truth. The psalm, moreover, breathes an intense longing for peace; and in this world of strife and confusion, when is that longing inappropriate? Is it any marvel that a Hebrew, with a deep spiritual longing for peace, should cry as he started for the Temple, "Let me get out of all that, at least for a time. Let me be quit of this fever and strain, free from the vain turbulence and conflicting noises of the world. Let me rest and recreate myself a while in the sacred asylum and sanctuary of the God of peace. God of peace, grant me thy peace as I worship in thy presence; and let me find a bettered world when I come back to it, or at least bring a bettered and more patient heart to its duties and strifes". —Samuel Cox.

In my distress I cried unto the Lord, etc. See the wondrous advantage of trouble, —that it makes us call upon God; and again see the wondrous readiness of mercy, that when we call he heareth us! Very blessed are they that mourn while they are travelling the long upward journey from the Galilee of the Gentiles of this lower world to the heavenly Jerusalem, the high and holy city of the saints of God. —J.W. Burgon, in "A Plain Commentary."

In my distress. God's help is seasonable; it comes when we need it. Christ is a seasonable good... For the soul to be dark, and for Christ to enlighten it; for the soul to be dead, and Christ to enliven it; for the soul to be doubting, and for Christ to resolve it; and for the soul to be distressed, and for Christ to relieve it; is not this in season? For a soul to be hard, and for Christ to soften it; for a soul to be haughty, and for Christ to humble it; for a soul to be tempted, and for Christ to succour it; and for a soul to be wounded, and for Christ to heal it? Is not this in season? —R. Mayhew, 1679.

Cried. Heard. The verbs are in the past tense, but do not refer merely to a past occasion. Past experience and present are here combined. From the past he draws encouragement for the present. —J.J. Stewart Perowne.

And he heard me. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much: Jas 5:16; Zec 13:9. He that prayeth ardently, speeds assuredly (Ps 91:15); and the delayed return of prayer should be carefully observed and thankfully improved: Ps 66:20. —John Trapp.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, etc. An unbridled tongue is "vehiculum Diaboli", the chariot of the Devil, wherein he rides in triumph. Greenhorn doth describe the tongue prettily by contraries, or diversities: "It is a little piece of flesh, small in quantity, but mighty in quality; it is soft, but slippery; it goeth lightly, but falleth heavily; it striketh soft, but woundeth sore; it goeth out quickly, but burneth vehemently; it pierceth deep, and therefore not healed speedily; it hath liberty granted easily to go forth but it will find no means easily to return home; and being once inflamed with Satan's bellows, it is like the fire of hell." The course of an unruly tongue is to proceed from evil to worse, to begin with foolishness, and go on with bitterness, and to end in mischief and madness. See Ec 10:13. The Jew's conference with our Saviour began with arguments: "We be Abraham's seed, "said they, etc.; but proceeded to blasphemies: "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" and ended in cruelty: "Then took they up stones to cast at him." Joh 8:33,48,59. This also is the base disposition of a bad tongue to hate those whom it afflicts: Pr 26:28. The mischief of the tongue may further appear by the mercy of being delivered from it, for,

1. So God hath promised it (Joh 5:15,21). "God saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty, "and "thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, "or from being betongued, as some render it, that is, from being, as it were, caned or cudgelled with the tongues of others. "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Ps 31:20); that is, from all calumnies, reproaches, evil speakings of all kinds. God will preserve the good names of his people from the blots and bespatterings of malicious men, as kings protect their favourites against slanders and clamours.

2. So the saints have prayed for it, as David: "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue." —Edward Reyner.

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, etc. In the drop of venom which distils from the sting of the smallest insect, or the spike of the nettle leaf, there is concentrated the quintessence of a poison so subtle that the microscope cannot distinguish it, and yet so virulent that it can inflame the blood, irritate the whole constitution, and convert day and night into restless misery; so it is sometimes with the words of the slanderer. —Frederick William Robertson.

Lying lips bore false witness against him, or with a "deceitful tongue" tried to ensnare him, and to draw something from him, on which they might ground an accusation. —George Horne.

What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? What dost thou expect, "thou false tongue, "in pleading a bad cause? What fee or reward hast thou for being an accuser instead of an advocate? What shall it profit thee (as we put it in the margin); what shalt thou gain by thy deceitful tongue? or (as our margin hath it again), "What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, "that thou goest about slandering thy brother, and tearing his good name? Hath thy deceitful tongue houses or lands to give thee? hath it any treasures of gold and silver to bestow upon thee? Surely, as itself is so it gives only "Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper" as the next verse intimates... The tongue indeed will speak often in these cases gratis, or without a fee; but it never doth without danger and damage to the speaker. As such speakers shoot arrows, like the arrows of the mighty, and as they scatter coals, like the coals of juniper, so they usually get an arrow in their own sides, and not only burn their fingers, but heap coals of fire upon their own heads. Ungodly men will do mischief to other men purely for mischief's sake: yet when once mischief is done it proves most mischievous to the doers of it; and while they hold their brethren's heaviness a profit, though they are never the better, they shall feel and find themselves in a short time much the worse. —Joseph Caryl.

What shall be given? Intimating that his enemy expected some great reward for his malice against David; but, saith the Psalmist, he shall have "sharp arrows of the Almighty, with coals of juniper"; as if he had said, "Whatever reward he have from men, this shall be his reward from God". —John Jackson, in "The Morning Exercises," 1661.

What shall be given? Intimating that his enemy expected some great reward for his malice against David; but, saith the Psalmist, he shall have "sharp arrows of the Almighty, with coals of juniper"; as if he had said, "Whatever reward he have from men, this shall be his reward from God". —John Jackson, in "The Morning Exercises," 1661.

The victim of slander, in these heavy complaints he has just uttered, may be indulging in excess, which pious friends are represented as coming forward to reprove by reminding him how little a true servant of God can be really injured by slander. Hence, as in the margin of our Bibles, the psalm assumes the dramatic form, and represents his fellow worshippers as asking the complainer: What evil, O servant of God, can the false tongue give to thee! Nursling of Omnipotence, what can it do to thee... The answer of suffering nature and bleeding peace still returns: "It is like the sharp arrows of the mighty, like coals of juniper". An arrow from the bow of a mighty warrior, that flies unseen and unsuspected to its mark, and whose presence is only known when it quivers in the victim's heart, not unaptly represents the silent and deadly flight of slander; while the fire which the desert pilgrim kindles on the sand, from the dry roots of the juniper, a wood which, of all that are known to him, throws out the fiercest and most continued heat, is not less powerfully descriptive of the intense pain and the lasting injury of a false and malicious tongue. —Robert Nisbet.

The victim of slander, in these heavy complaints he has just uttered, may be indulging in excess, which pious friends are represented as coming forward to reprove by reminding him how little a true servant of God can be really injured by slander. Hence, as in the margin of our Bibles, the psalm assumes the dramatic form, and represents his fellow worshippers as asking the complainer: What evil, O servant of God, can the false tongue give to thee! Nursling of Omnipotence, what can it do to thee... The answer of suffering nature and bleeding peace still returns: "It is like the sharp arrows of the mighty, like coals of juniper". An arrow from the bow of a mighty warrior, that flies unseen and unsuspected to its mark, and whose presence is only known when it quivers in the victim's heart, not unaptly represents the silent and deadly flight of slander; while the fire which the desert pilgrim kindles on the sand, from the dry roots of the juniper, a wood which, of all that are known to him, throws out the fiercest and most continued heat, is not less powerfully descriptive of the intense pain and the lasting injury of a false and malicious tongue. —Robert Nisbet.

Coals of juniper, these "shall be given unto thee". As if he had said, thou shalt have the hottest coals, such coals as will maintain heat longest, implying that the hottest and most lasting wrath of God should be their portion. Some naturalists say that coals of juniper raked up in the ashes will keep fire a whole year; but I stay not upon this. —Joseph Caryl.

Coals of juniper, these "shall be given unto thee". As if he had said, thou shalt have the hottest coals, such coals as will maintain heat longest, implying that the hottest and most lasting wrath of God should be their portion. Some naturalists say that coals of juniper raked up in the ashes will keep fire a whole year; but I stay not upon this. —Joseph Caryl.

Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. The world's sin is the world's punishment. A correspondence is frequently observed between the transgression and the retribution... This law of correspondence seem to be here indicated. Similar figures are employed to express the offence and the punishment of the wicked. "They bend their tongue like a bow for lies." "Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot in secret at the perfect." But let the slanderer be upon his guard. There is another bow besides that in his possession. The arrows are sharp and burning; and when they are sent from the bow by the arm of Omnipotence, nothing can resist their force, and in mortal agony his enemies bite the dust. "He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death: He ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors." "God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded; so shall they make their own tongue fall upon themselves." This train of thought is also pursued in the illustration of fire. James compares the tongue of slander to fire. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among the members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." Such is the tongue, and here is the punishment: "Coals of juniper, "remarkable for their long retention of heat. And yet what a feeble illustration of the wrath of God, which burns down to the lowest hell! "His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire." Liars are excluded from heaven by a special enactment of the Sovereign; and all of them "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" With what solemn awe should we not cry out to the Lord, "Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody mens!" —N. McMichael, in "The Pilgrim Psalms," 1860.

Sharp arrows of the mighty. He compares wicked doctrine to an arrow which is not blunt, but sharp; and moreover which is cast, not of him that is weak and feeble, but that is strong and mighty; so that there is danger on both sides, as well of the arrow which is sharp and able to pierce, as also of him which with great violence hurleth the same. —Martin Luther.

Arrows. Coals of juniper. When the tongue is compared to "arrows", there is a reference (according to the Midrash), to the irrevocableness of the tongue's work. Even the lifted sword may be stayed, but the shot arrow may not. The special point to be drawn out in the mention of "coals of juniper", is the inextinguishableness of such fuel. There is a marvellous story in the Midrash which illustrates this very well. Two men in the desert sat down under a juniper tree, and gathered sticks of it where with they cooked their food. After a year they passed over the same spot where was the dust of what they had burned; and, remarking that it was now twelve months since they had the fire, they walked fearlessly upon the dust, and their feet were burned by the "coals" beneath it, which were still unextinguished. —H.T. Armfield.

Coals of juniper. The fire of the Retham burns for a very long time covered with its ashes; like malignant slander. But the secret malignity becomes its own terrible punishment. —William Kay.

Coals of juniper. We here at Wadf Kinnah found several Bedouins occupied in collecting brushwood, which they burn into charcoal for the Cairo market; they prefer for this purpose the thick roots of the shrub Retham, "Genista raetam" of Forskal, which grows here in abundance. —Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 1784-1817.

Coals of juniper. At this time we spoke four "ships of the desert", bound for Cairo, and loaded with "coals of juniper", or, in other words, with charcoal made from the roots or branches of the ratam, or white broom of the desert, the identical bush referred to by the sacred writer. —John Wilson, in "The Lands of the Bible visited and described," 1847.

By "coals of juniper, "we understand arrows made of this wood, which when heated possesses the property of retaining the heat for a long time; and consequently, arrows of this kind, after having been placed in the fire, would in the hands of the warrior do terrible execution. Some persons think that this verse is not to be understood as a figurative description of calumny, but rather of the punishment which God will inflict upon the calumniator. They therefore regard this as an answer to the question in the preceding verse: "What shall he give?" etc. —George Phillips.

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! Mesech was a son of Japheth; and the name here signifies his descendants, the Mosques, who occupied that wild mountain region which lies between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. Kedar, again, was a son of Ishmael; and the name here signifies his descendants, the wandering tribes, whose "hand is against every man, and every man's hand against them." There is no geographical connection between those two nations: the former being upon the north of Palestine, and the latter upon the south. The connection is a moral one. They are mentioned together, because they were fierce and warlike barbarians. David had never lived on the shores of the Caspian Sea, or in the Arabian wilderness; and he means no more than this, that the persons with whom he now dwelt were as savage and quarrelsome as Mesech and Kedar. After a similar fashion, we call rude and troublesome persons Turks, Tartars, and Hottentots. David exclaims, I am just as miserable among these haters of peace, as if I had taken up my abode with those savage and treacherous tribes. —N. McMichael.

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, etc. David exclaims, Alas for me because, dwelling amongst false brethren and a bastard race of Abraham, he was wrongfully molested and tormented by them, although he had behaved himself towards them in good conscience. Since then, at the present day, in the church of Rome, religion is dishonoured by all manner of disgraceful imputations, faith torn in pieces, light turned into darkness, and the majesty of God exposed to the grossest mockeries, it will certainly be impossible for those who have any feeling of true piety within them to lie in the midst of such pollutions without great anguish of spirit. —John Calvin.

The Arabs are naturally thievish and treacherous; and it sometimes happens, that those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning who were entertained the night before with all the instances of friendship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every person whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for those many implacable and hereditary animosities which continually subsist among them; literally fulfilling the prophecy of Hagar, that "Ishmael should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him". —Thomas Shaw, 1692-1751.

Our Lord was with the wild beasts in the wilderness. There are not a few who would rather face even these than the angry spirits which, alas, are still to be found even in Christian Churches. —Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 1879.

What holy and gentle delight is associated with the very name of peace. Peace resting upon our bosom, and soothing all its cares: peace resting upon our households, and folding all the members in one loving embrace: peace resting upon our country, and pouring abundance from her golden horn peace resting upon all nations, and binding them together with the threefold cord of a common humanity, a common interest, and a common religion! The man who hates peace is a dishonour to the race, an enemy to his brother, and a traitor to his God. He hates Christ, who is the Prince of peace. He hates Christians, who are men of peace. —N. McMichael.

What holy and gentle delight is associated with the very name of peace. Peace resting upon our bosom, and soothing all its cares: peace resting upon our households, and folding all the members in one loving embrace: peace resting upon our country, and pouring abundance from her golden horn peace resting upon all nations, and binding them together with the threefold cord of a common humanity, a common interest, and a common religion! The man who hates peace is a dishonour to the race, an enemy to his brother, and a traitor to his God. He hates Christ, who is the Prince of peace. He hates Christians, who are men of peace. —N. McMichael.

I am for peace, etc. Jesus was a man of peace; he came into our world, and was worshipped at his nativity as the Prince of peace: there was universal peace throughout the world at the time of his birth; he lived to make peace "by the blood of his cross": he died to complete it. When he was going out of the world, he said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid": Joh 14:27. When he was risen from the dead, and made his first appearance to his disciples, he said unto them. "Peace be unto you": he is the peace maker: the Holy Ghost is the peace bringer: his gospel is the gospel of peace; it contains the peace of God which passeth all understanding. "I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war". The bulk of the Jewish nation abhorred Christ, they were for putting him to death; to avenge which, the Lord brought the Roman army against them, and many of them were utterly destroyed. So David literally was for peace with Saul; yet, when opportunities made way for any negotiations, it was soon discovered Saul was for war, instead of peace, with him. May we see how this, which is the introductory psalm to those fourteen which follow, styled Songs of Degrees, hath a concern with our Lord Jesus Christ; and that David the son of Jesse was in many cases a type of him, and several of his enemies, sorrows, and griefs, forerunning figures of what would befall Messiah, and come upon him. Amen. —Samuel Eyles Pierce.

I am for peace. Good men love peace, pray for it, seek it, pursue it, will give anything but a good conscience for it. Compare Mt 5:9; Heb 7:14: W.S. Plumer. "It is a mark of a pious man, as far as in him is, to seek peace": Arnesius. "I would not give one hour of brotherly love for a whole eternity of contention": Dr. Ruffner.

When l speak, they are for war. He spoke with all respect and kindness that could be; proposed methods of accommodation; spoke reason, spoke love; but they would not so much as hear him patiently; but cried out, To arms! To arms! so fierce and implacable were they, and so bent on mischief. Such were Christ's enemies: for his love they were his adversaries; and for his good words and good works they stoned him; and if we meet with such enemies we must not think it strange, nor love peace the less for our seeking it in vain. "Be not overcome of evil", no, not of such evil as this; "but", even when thus tried, still try to "overcome evil with good". —Matthew Henry.

A reminiscence.

1. It is threefold; distress, prayer, deliverance.

2. It has a threefold bearing: it excites my hope, stimulates my petitions, and arouses my gratitude.

1. Special trouble: "In my distress."

2. Special prayer: "I cried unto the Lord."

3. Special favour: "He heard me." —G.R.

The unjustly slandered have, besides the avenging majesty of their God to protect them, many other consolations, as

1. The consciousness of innocence to sustain them.

2. The promise of divine favour to support them: "I will hide thee from the scourge of the tongue."

3. There is the consideration to soothe: "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, "etc.

4. That a lie has not usually a long life.

5. There is, lastly, for comfort, the repairing influence of time. —R. Nisbet.

A prayer against slander. We are liable to it; it would do us great injury and cause us great pain; yet none but the Lord can protect us from it, or deliver us out of it.

The rewards of calumny. What can they be? What ought they to be? What have they been?

1. What the reviler does for others.

2. What he does to himself.

3. What God will do with him.

The nature of slander and the punishment of slander.

1. The tongue is sharper than an arrow.

(a) It is shot in private.

(b) It is tipped with poison.

(c) It is polished with seeming kindness.

(d) It is aimed at the most tender part.

2. The tongue is more destructive than fire. Its scandals spread with greater rapidity. They consume that which other fires cannot touch, and they are less easily quenched. "The tongue", says an Apostle, "is a fire...and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell". A fiery dart of the wicked one. —G.R.

Bad lodgings. Only the wicked can be at home with the wicked. Our dwelling with them is trying, and yet it may be useful (1) to them, (2) to us: it tries our graces, reveals our character, abates our pride, drives us to prayer, and makes us long to be home.

1. None but the wicked enjoy the company of the wicked.

2. None but the worldly enjoy the company of worldlings.

3. None but the righteous enjoy the company of the righteous. —G.R.

1. Trying company.

2. Admirable behaviour.

3. Undesirable consequences: "When I speak, they are for war".

The character of the man of God. He is at peace. He is for peace. He is peace. He shall have peace.

1. Piety and peace are united.

2. So are wickedness and war. —G.R.

The 120. Psalme. I called vnto the Lord in my trouble, &c.

The argumēt of the Psalm. This Psalme I iudge to be an inuocation or prayer for the helpe of God against euill and pestilent tongues, or against such euils as pestilent tongues, that is to say, heretikes bring into the Church of God when they teach any thing against true and sound doctrine. For that is a most perilous tentation when doctrine is assayled and impugned. For the Deuil hath two wayes whereby he vexeth the Church of God, heresies and the sword or persecution. For this cause our Sauiour Christ also calleth him a lyer and a murtherer. Therefore all the Psalmes almost consist in these two points, namely to call vpon God for his helpe and protection either against Satan the murtherer, The Psalmes pray in two respctes agaynst Satan. or against Satan the lyer: that is, either against pestilēt doctrine, or els vnder the crosse and persecution, against cruell tyrannes. Of murther there be diuers kindes, whereby Satan afflicteth the Church of God. Some he exerciseth with the feare of death, Satan how he is a murtherer. some with sclaūders, some with iniurie and oppression of enemies, some with hatred and malice, and some with other troubles and calamities, and these do belong to persecution & cruelty. How he is a lyer. To lying doe belong those things which he worketh by his ministers, specially in ye church of God, through false doctrine and wicked opinions, whereby he troubleth mens consciences: also through inward tentations, when he vexeth the godly with the venimous dartes of desperation, mistrust and blasphemy, and so vnder the name of God, whom he may, murthereth and carieth vnto hell: for all these lying comprehendeth.

Of these perilous tentations we see the church of God to haue greuously complained, not only in the Psalmes, but also throughout the whole Scriptures, that it hath be[illegible: 3 letters]sore assayled with tyranny, errour, heresie, &c. But this Psalme (as I sayd) doth properly pertayne to the former kinde of tentation concerning pestilent doctrine▪ albeit it toucheth the other also. For it can not be, but that false and lying teachers must be also bloody and cruel, being bent to defend their wicked doctrine & impiety by all meanes possible. The Deuill also begnileth the hearts of men with lying and falshoode, that he may thereby stirre vp occasions of murther and bloodshed, as among many other examples of the church, the murther of our first parents in paradise doth well declare: Our first parents deceiued by lying. for Satan with lying deceiued them, that he might bring them to destruction. And because the Church of God, through lying and selaunderous conga[illegible: 1 letter]es suffereth now euery where the like tentation, the cruell hatred of the worl[illegible: 1 letter], and all calamities for the confession of pure and sincere doctrine, it is therefore necessary for vs to be feruent in prayer against y• like pestilēt tongues in those our dayes, that they may haue no power to hurt so much as they would▪

Verse .1. I called vnto the Lorde in my trouble and he hearde me.

This verse conteineth not onely an example, but also doctrine whereby we may learne what we ought to doe in these tentations of the lying tongue, namely when we haue to doe with such peruerse and obstinate heretiks as wil by no meanes be reduced from their false doctrine and errours into the way of truth. For by long experience and after many and great conflictes haue we learned, that (as Paule sayeth) they are condemned euen by theyr owne iudgement or the testimony of their owne conscience, and therfore after they haue bene once or twise warned, they ought to be geuen ouer and auoyded. The authors of wicked doctrine are incorrigible. And this haue we found especially in the chiefe defenders and maintayners of wicked doctrine, that for all that can be said or deuised, they wil neuer be the better. It may be that some times they will geue place to the trueth: for by the power of Gods word they may be conuinced, but they will neuer be conuerted. For if you stop their blasphemous mouthes one way, yet wil they not so geue ouer, but seeke new occasions to fight against the truth. Arius. This the histories, not only of the Arians and other heretikes doe declare, but also the examples of these our dayes geue witnes vnto the same. It is impossible therefore for vs vtterly to stoppe the mouthes of heretiks. To reproue them and to conuince them, is all that we can doe: Also to preserue others ouer whom God hath giuen vs a charge, from their errours and pestilent doctrine. For a minister of Gods word ought to be well armed and instructed, that he may be able, not onely to teache the simple, but also to reproue and conuince the peruerse and obstinate. Herewith let vs be content, that such as are vnder out charge being thus forewarned, may stand firme and stedfast. But that we shall be able to conuert the peruerse and obstinate, let vs neuer hope. How often did Christ stoppe the mouthes of the Pharises, not onely with manifest. Scriptures, but also with the finger of God and with miracles? and yet remayned they still as obstinate in their impiety and infidelity as they were before. Arius was vtterly conuinced and his heresie confounded, and yet he set forth his heresie againe with greater audacity & successe then he did before. What shall we say of our Papistes? Doe we not see euen the very same thing in them also?

Such therefore as wilfully striue against the trueth, and will not be conuerted, after o[illegible: 1 letter]ce or twise warning, let vs geue ouer, & by the example of Dauid let vs with prayer fight against them: Like as we must pray also for our brethren, that with the deceitfull shew of trueth they be not seduced. More then this we can doe nothing. For the deuil, the father of all heresies, is such a Proteus, Proteus was one that could chaūge him selfe into diuers formes, as nowe into a beast, nowe into a tree, and now into some other thing else. so slippery and full of sleights, that we shall neuer knowe howe or which way to lay hold on him. For if we stoppe one crest, he will finde twenty moe whereby he will wind him selfe out againe, and (as the winde enclosed by force) will seeke and search euery way howe he may get out. For against him chiefly we fight when we haue to doe with heretikes. Wherefore by disputing and contending we shal not preuaile against him. Notwithstanding we must doe herein what we may, that the ministers of Satan may be reproued and conuinced for the behoofe of the Church.

But to the externall word we must ioyne prayer, whereby specially the wicked spirit is repressed and bridled. This prayer did beate downe Arius, Manicheus, Sabellius. This confounded the Pharises and vnbeleuing Sinagoge. This hath subdued the authors of sects in these our dayes: And they that will not heare vs exhorting and reprouing them, shall feele the force of our prayer crying out vnto God for the sanctifying of his name, & ye cōming of his kingdom. This is the only way to obtayne the victory: So that these pestilen[illegible: 1 letter] tongues, although they seeme to preuaile against vs for a time, yet shall they at the length be vtterly rooted out.

We must therefore goe wisely and circumspectly to worke in this daungerous case, and cast away all confidence of our owne wisedom, yea although we haue the word of God neuer so much on our side. For we fight not against flesh and blood, but against spirituall wickednes. If we had to doe with flesh and blood onely, we would so defend and fortifie our cause with matter and force of argument sufficient, that nothing shoulde be able to counterueile the same. But now we haue experience, that when they are with arguments and authority of Scripture vtterly confounded, yet do they still with toth and nayle hold fast their errour, and labour by all meanes possible to defend the same. This sinne therefore I am wont to compare to the sinne of Iudas, who coulde not excuse his deuelishe purpose that he went about in betraying of Christ, and yet he neuer rested vntill he had brought the same to passe: for Satan moued him so to doe. Euen so when these authours and maintayners of hereticall doctrine are manifestly conuinced, yet Satan will not so geue them ouer, nor suffer them to rest.

Against heresies we must fight especially with prayer. Wherefore it is necessary that herewithall we adioyne prayer, and with prayer specially we must fight, according to the notable and most comfortable example of Dauid here in this place, which sayth: I called vpon the Lord in my trouble, &c. As if he shoulde say, in this daunger of wicked doctrine whilest I sought the conuersion of the false prophetes, and to bring them to the knowledge of their errour, all that I did, was but in vayne. For Satan who had possessed their heartes, is so slipperie, that it is not possible to take any holde on him. Moreouer, if ye looke to the number, they which set them selues agaynst me, were both moe in number and more mightie in power. What shoulde I miserable man doe in this distresse? Euen thus doe I. After that I haue diligently taught and set forth the worde of the Lorde, both warning my brethren of the daunger, & the other also of their errour, I ascende vnto my God by prayer, and shewe vnto him myne affliction, being vndoubtedly perswaded, that he will heare my prayer.

Thus Dauid setteth forth vnto vs his owne example, and sheweth what he himselfe was wont to doe. But, to talke of these thinges and to teache them vnto others, as it is an easie matter, so by experience we finde and in our selues we feele howe hard it is to performe the same in deede. For first these euills which the father of lyes styrreth vppe by wicked doctrine, the godly can not beholde without great griefe and sorrowe. Besides this, they are without all hope of remedie, for that the rage of pestilent doctrine is more horrible then the force and violence of fire and water which suddenly consumeth and destroyeth all thinges. The heart therefore is on ech side troubled and vexed, both with feare of the calamitie that shall followe, and also with the sense and feeling of the present euills. Nowe, if there be ioyned with all these thinges, an inward crosse and affliction, Inward tribulation and affliction of the soule. so that the hearte doe also feele the displeasure of God, here it seemeth impossible for a man to pray. And doubtlesse a man vnexpert and vnskilfull in these matters, and presuming of the worde and his owne knowledge, shall gayne nothing thereby but infinite troubles and vexation. For, to teache, to reproue and to conuince, is not sufficient, but God withall must giue the encrease, that not onely we with our brethren may be preserued in sound doctrine, but also such as teach the contrary may be rooted out and brought to naught. And this by prayer onely is obtayned. But howe hard a thing this is, we haue alreadie declared. To read the word, to heare the word, and to teach the word, are in deede excellent and heauenly works, which require the help and aide of the holy Ghost: The vse and practise of faith. but the inward practise of faith, so to conuert vnto the Lord, so to pray, so to presume of Gods fauour that thy prayer shall please him, and that he will heare the same, that is a hard matter in deede. For fearefull consciences many tymes feele not this certainty and assurance in them selues, but are brought to such doubting and mistrust, that they can conceaue no hope of helpe or comfort, especially such as are touched with the remorse of conscience, gilt of sinne, and the feeling of their owne vnworthines. For in this case it oftentimes commeth to passe, that the minde beginneth first to doubt whether prayer will any thing auaile or not. They that are brought to this poynt can not pray, especially if they measure the same after the sense & feeling of their owne vnworthines. But here thou must not regard what thou art, but rather looke to the promise of God, the necessitie of prayer, the daunger that followeth the neglecting thereof, and the thing it selfe for the which thou oughtest to pray. Setting these things before thine eyes, albeit thine owne conscience and vnworthines call thee from prayer, yet shalt thou be constrayned by prayer to flie to God for help and succour. For if a man, (for examples sake) haue committed theft, murder or some other notorious crime, and in flying away falleth into the water and so into daunger of drowning, shall he not pray because his conscience accuseth him that he hath done wickedly? Nay, how much the more great and grieuous the sinne is, and the necessity of praier more vrgent, so much the more earnestly ought the mind to be stirred vp and more ready to prayer.

In like maner must we doe also in this tentation and daunger of wicked doctrine. And whatsoeuer we be, we must rather consider ye great enormities that Satan raiseth vp by lying ministers, then whether we be worthie to be heard or no. Howe the mindes of men must be stirred vp to prayer. To this doth the promise also allure vs. For we haue a promise in Christ that we shall be heard: yea and Christ him selfe also hath prescribed vnto vs the very words, syllables & letters which we should vse in praier. We haue also a commaundemēt to pray: so that it is not in our choyse to pray or not to pray, but it is a work cōmaunded of God. Now, when we remember these thinges, and then consider on the one side how necessary a thing it is for vs to pray, and on the other side howe great the daunger is if we doe not pray, then are our mindes quickned and the tentation or conscience of our owne vnworthines is, Tribulation stirreth men vp to prayer. as it were swallowed vp. Like as it hapneth also in sudden daungers: as when a man in his iorney falleth into the hands of theeues or is in great perill of drowning, here, before he can once think of his own vnworthines, he bursteth out into these wordes, or this cogitation: O God, be mercifull vnto me. And here the saying of the Phisicians is found most true, that sharpe sawces prouoke the appetite. For there is no better scholemaster to teach vs to pray, then necessity. But whiles we walke in securitie and are not touched with any feeling of present daungers, no maruell is it if our prayer be either no prayer at all, or else in dede very faynt and cold. For mine owne part I can say by experience, Luther writeth that which he hath proued by experiēce. that I neuer pray more hartely then in the time of trouble and affliction. And this is that sharpe sawce which stirred vp also in Dauid a hunger, as it were, and an appetite to pray, as he sayth: I called vnto the Lord in my trouble, &c.

We may learne therefore out of this verse that Dauid vsed this remedy against lying tongues, that first by doctrine he stirred vp him selfe and others, The necessitie of prayer set forth vnto vs in the Lords prayer. and then he prayed. In like maner ought we to do euē in respect of ye cause or necessity, which the Lords praier also setteth forth vnto vs. For in yt the name of ye Lord is polluted, mens consciences peruerted, and the profession of the Gospel hindred, we haue in deede great cause to say: hallowed be thy name, that these abominations and blasphemies may haue an end: Thy kingdom come, which by the kingdom of Satan is in a manner oppressed. He that prayeth after this sort, shal fil heauen with his sighes and grones: wheras if we liue at ease and feele no trouble, our praier is so cold that scarcely our mouthes are filled therwith.

This cause and necessitie of prayer Dauid expresseth when he sayth: I called vnto the Lord in my trouble, &c. For there must be some great necessitie to constrayne vs to pray, as our owne saluation, the saluation of our brethren, death eternal, our sinnes, our troubles and afflictions, the glory of God, the kingdom of God, &c. all which are set forth in the Lordes prayer, and if we consider them as we should doe, they will constrayne vs to poure out true and harty prayer vnto God with sighes and grones. Let vs consider well these thinges, and with our prayer let vs burst, through the cloudes which hide from vs the presence of our most gracious God, Prayer is a seruice of God. and thinke that prayer is an acceptable sacrifice to God, and such a seruice as he him selfe requireth of vs. Some seeke a meane helpe and trust to other mens prayers: which in deede are not to be neglected, for the prayer of many hath a more force and power. But thou also must pray as a member of the Church, which with one voyce sayth: Our Father, &c. For he will not be the father of this or that man onely, but he will be also thy father.

Here is expresly added: How poore afflicted consciences are to be comforted which dare not call vnto ye Lord. vnto the Lord, contrary to that opinion of which I was once my selfe, and many poore soules besides in popery at this day are. For thus I thought: I am a sinner, and therefore I dare not pray vnto God being angrie with me for my sinnes. I wil therefore seeke such mediatours as are in the fauour of God, as Marie, Peter, Paule, &c. For timorous consciences euen at the hearing of the name of God are afraide. And in deede great is the Maiestie of God: but yet thou mayest not thinke it so great, that thereby thou shouldest be driuen from prayer. For if thou consider his Maiestie, why doest thou not consider it in this respect, that he hath commaunded thee to pray? The authority of the commaunder ought so to be regarded, that it should bind thee to obey. Marke well this commaundement of God, and commend thy selfe to his grace, and say: Lord, it is not in my choyse to pray or not to pray (as in monkery we did maintaine): Thou hast commaūded me to pray. I do acknowledge therefore that I am bound to obey thee. If I be vnworthy, yet is thy commaundement and thy will worthy to be obeyed: thy promise is worthy to be beleued and trusted. Therfore I pray not in the worthines of my selfe, either else of Marie, Peter, Paule, &c. but in the worthinesse of Iesus Christ, and of him who hath commaunded and charged me to pray.

Of this maner of prayer the whole papacie is ignoraunt. The prayers of ye Papistes. And by myne owne experience this I dare affirme, that as in all the tyme of my life that I ledde in monkerie I neuer once sayd the Lords prayer truely: so the Papistes at this day do not vtter one syllable thereof in faith. Yet peraduenture the Lord heard the vnspeakeable gron[illegible: 1 letter]ngs of my heart, which I thinke many other also had, although they were ignoraunt thereof. But where these sighes are not, no parte of ou[illegible: 1 letter] prayer is either vttered or vnderstand as it shoulde be, and as by the grace of God we nowe both pray and teache others to pray. There is a saying of a certayne Heremi[illegible: 2 letters], (which the Mon[illegible: 1 letter]es are wont to haue commonly in their mouthes) that there is no such labour as to pray. Nothing more hard then to pray. Which may be truely sayd of that prescript forme and maner of prayer without fayt[illegible: 1 letter], which was enioyned to the popishe Priestes: but muche more truely is it verif[illegible: 1 letter]ed of that prayer which is made in fayth▪ as when the heart striuet[illegible: 1 letter] against Satan, the terrour of conscience and desperation, and with boldnes layeth holde on the mercies of God. Albeit, not onely the promise of God made vnto vs when we pray, ioyned with the commaundement: but also the necessitie that constraineth vs thereto, maketh this difficulty and labour more easie in the exercise of prayer when it proceedeth of faith. For true prayer can not be without faith. Yea these two, the promise I meane, and tribulation doe make our prayer harty and feruent. In these exercise your selues & vse prayer in your chamber secretly and with your selues alone, as Christ commaundeth. And if Satan go about to hinder this prayer (as he is wont) then close your eyes and say: Beholde Lorde, here is trouble and anguishe: here am I in daunger: such a brother is grieuously afflicted: thus or thus he is vexed of Satan. The time suffereth me not nowe once to thinke whether I be worthy to be heard. Helpe nowe in tyme O Lorde, according to thy worde, &c. Thus, if we, considering the daunger on the one side, and also the promise on the other, doe flye vnto God for succour in our distresse, we shall vanquish Satan and gette the victorie. After this maner Dauid by his owne example stirreth vs vppe to prayer, not onely in the daunger of deuelishe doctrine, but also in all other troubles. And if thou doe so presume of God, that thou become euen impudent and shamelesse, it shall please God highly, according to that which followeth: and he heard me. As if he should say: The Lord declareth that our prayer pleaseth him which we make with a trust and confidence in his promise and mercie that he heareth our prayer.

And here see that thou diligently learne this name and title which Dauid here giueth vnto him, God the hearer of praiers that he is auditor precum, the hearer of prayers, and beware when thou prayest, that by doubting or incredulity thou take not from him this name, as many times we doe. Agaynst this doubting Dauid goeth about to confirme and strengthen vs with his owne example, and besides the promises of God, which we haue, he setteth before vs his owne experience, to stirre vs vp to call vpon God in faith, whereby we may assure our consciences, that God will heare vs in that he is the hearer of the sighes and grones of all those that pray vnto him in fayth. And if he heare not speedely, yet he will heare in his good tyme. If he [illegible: 1 letter]eare thee not in suche sorte as thou wouldest and doest desire, he will heare thee in much better wise. So sayth Bernarde. And I doe not remember that euer I redde in any of the fathers of the latter age a more godly saying. The saying of Bernard. Brethren, sayth he, as concerning your prayer, haue no doubt, but assure your selues that as soone as the worde passeth out of your mouth, your prayer is wrytten and regestr[illegible: 2 letters] in heauen in the presence and sight of God: and eyther it shalbe done that ye haue asked, or else it is expedient not to be done. What can be more Christianly spoken? what greater consolation can there be then that God, as a most gracious, riche and bountifull Prince, shoulde geue no other aunswere to all the supplications and prayers made vnto him▪ but fiat, that is to say, be it done that ye haue desired.

But ye will say: We see it commeth oftentimes otherwise to passe. God giueth not alwayes that we pray for. For notwithstanding the prayers that be made for women with childe and in [illegible: 1 letter]rauell, yet many dye in their trauell. Did not Iacob (thinke ye) pray for his wife Rachel in that extremity? Dauid also in like maner prayed with great feruencie of spirite for his sonne begotten of Bersaba, but it was in vaine. Many such examples we see also daily amōgst the Sainets of God. I answere, that howsoeuer it be, The prayer of yong children. we must vndoubtedly beleue that God is the hearer of prayers. This title we may neuer take from him. And in this faith yong children doe effectually pray: The godly youth in that reformed church being brought vp in ye n[illegible: 1 letter]rture of ye lord & cō tinuall catechising, may shame al our reformation, where the youth is so godles for lacke therof. which doe beleue that God heareth them and giueth them all thinges. This fayth children haue with full assurance, and without any doubting, and therefore their praier I both greatly commend, and also do oftentimes set the same before me as an example to follow. For albeit that children do learne the forme of prayer & words of vs, yet the efficacy & power, therof we may wel learne of them, because of our peruerse & corrupt nature, & also our euil education. First therfore we must beleue & not doubt yt our prayer is heard. Secondly this hearing must be thus defined, not that God geueth alway that which we pray for, but that which is profitable for vs. For God, in that he is good, can geue nothing but that which is good. But we many times doctraue that thing which is not good in deede, but seemeth so vnto vs. Howe God heareth our prayers. In such cases God euen then heareth our prayer, when he graunteth not that which we desire. In that prayer therefore which the Lord hath taught vs, first we pray for the sanctifying of his name, for the comming of his kingdom, & that his will may be done, before we pray for the things which do pertayne to the vse and commoditie of this life: so that in such things we desire that the Lord would do, not that seemeth good vnto vs, but that which is good in deede. The difference therfore in asking those things which we pray for, is here rightly set forth: So that in those things which pertaine to the glory of God & our saluatiō, we must beleue our praiers to be heard without condition. But in those things which pertayne to this life, albeit we must hope that the Lord will graunt our petitions, yet must we pray with condition, resigning our wils to the Lords will, to do therein as semeth good vnto him & profitable for vs. For he knoweth what is good for vs, but we do not, as a[illegible: 1 letter]so S. Paule sayth. Thus must we restru[illegible: 1 letter] this title to our most faithfull & gracious God, that he is audito[illegible: 1 letter] precum, a hearer of prayers, as Dauid here speaketh of him.

Verse. 2. Deliuer my soule, o Lord, from lying lippes and from a deceitfull tongue.

This verse sheweth the matter or argument wherof Dauid entreateth in this psalme. He prayeth for the prosperous successe of the holy word of God and pure doctrine, against false and hereticall tongues. I sayd in the beginning, that this Psalme must not only be taken as an exāple for vs to follow, or a doctrine to teach vs what Dauid did in this daungerous case, or what we ought to doe in the like: but also is set forth to comfort and confirme vs against this great offence and stumbling blocke, that wheresoeuer the Gospell beginneth to shine, there Satan stirreth vp theeues and robbers, enemies of true doctrine to hinder the course thereof: and therefore when we see that the Anabaptistes and other Sectaries spring vppe at the preaching of the Gospell, we should not thinke it straunge, but rather it shoulde be to vs a meanes to stirre vs vp, thereby the more diligently to watch and shake of all securitie, forasmuch as we see that he which tempteth vs sleepeth not, and to fight against spirituall wickednes, against the which the children of God haue bene alwayes at continuall warre. Abel was persecuted of Cain, Isaac of Ismael, Iacob of Esau. Of this enmitie Satan is the author, which alwayes persecuteth God and his trueth, not onely with slaughter, but also with lying and falshoode. To knowe these thinges it is a singuler consolation in such daungerous cases, that we be not discouraged or dismayed, but may be strengthened and confirmed thereby: and moreouer it keepeth vs from securitie, which lying tongues aud deceitfull lippes will not lightly suffer a man to fall into. We must be ready therefore, not onely with the word of God, but also and especially with prayer, to fight against false doctrine and deceitful tongues, considering, as Dauid here sayth, that the Lord is our deliuerer, who only in this daunger can deliuer vs and destroy our aduersaries. For the continuall exercise of the word and prayer must goe togither.

Deliuer my soule: that is, deliuer me. It is a phrase and kinde of speech proper to the Hebrewes.

Verse. 3. VVhat doth thy deceitfull tongue bring vnto thee, or what doth it auaile thee?

Verse. 4. It is as the sharpe arrow of a mightie man and as the coles of Iuniper.

In demaunding this question he goeth about to stirre vppe him selfe, and to finde occasion to accuse the deceitfull tongue: as he doth in deede most liuely sette forth by two notable similitudes what a pestilent thing wicked doctrine is, Wicked doctrine. and what the godly and such as are spirituall doe iudge thereof. First he compareth it to an arrowe that is not blunt, but sharpe: and moreouer which is cast, not of him that is weake and feeble, but that is stronge and mightie: so that there is daunger on both sides, as well of the arrowe that is sharpe and able to pearce, as also of him which with great violence hurleth the same. The Deuill therefore the father of all heresies is here plainly sette forth vnto vs as an olde exercised souldier, A liuely picture of the Deuill. strong and mightie: who from the beginning hath made warre against the Church of God, and albeit he hath bene often ouercome, yet will he neuer geue ouer, but returneth more fearce and subtill then before, and the better armed, the more holy and learned they be against whom he fighteth, so much the more strongly & fearcely he setteth vpon them. Therfore the holy Ghost here speaketh according to the sense of man, that is, according to the cogitations which the godly haue in this daungerous case, and he calleth a pestilent teacher an arrowe or dart in the hande of the strong and mighty. For if ye beholde the multitude of the aduersaries, their stoutnes, proud bragges, obstinacie, and fearcenes, with the subtill & deceitfull sleights wherby they auoyd or wickedly peruert all thinges that make against them, be they neuer so godly spoken, it seemeth no otherwise but that they will vtterly oppresse and destroy the Church, which appeareth to be in comparison of them, but a small number, and that also very weake and feeble. It seemeth therefore that Satan, as a dart which no armour is able to resist, must needes preuayle and haue the victory. But if you looke to the end, you shall see the contrary. As the Church when she compareth the multitude of her enemies with her poore litle flocke, through her infirmity is troubled and feareth destruction: euen so when Satan seeth his practises at the first to proceede as he would, he is puffed vp and swelleth at the successe therof. For wicked doctrine crepeth like a canker, and mightely encreaseth euery hower: so that if a teacher of erroneous and hereticall doctrine should be suffered in a reformed congregation, he would soone ouerthrow altogither: so violently perceth this dart. And why? because it is hurled of Satan: and the common people are, The commō people are the framehowse or workehowse of the deuill. Deut. 29. as it were the frame house of Satan, because they loth and despise that which is dayly taught them.

Now, because the heretikes doe not vse the accustomed and ordinary maner of teaching, but fede the people with new & straūge thinges, therefore (as Moises sayth) the drunken and the thirsty are mette togither, and these arrowes perse through with greater violence.

Moreouer it is a figure vsed in the Scriptures to call the word of God arrowes or darts, as it appeareth Psal. 45. Thy arrowes are very sharpe, &c. And in our language by a prouerbial speech, when a man vseth the wordes, the counsell, and iudgement of others, and not his owne, we say they be arrowes out of an other mans quiuer. But properly this name doth agre to false doctrine, which (as I sayd) perceth swiftly.

The other similitude likewise hath a notable signification of power and swiftnes By coles he meaneth here a hot burning fire and consuming flame: Coles. As also he doth in the 17. Psalme. He vseth the similitude of Iuniper, Iuniper. because that tree, besides the thicknes of the leaues, hath a great fatnes withal, & therefore is lightly set on fire & burneth vehemētly. The sense and meaning hereof is, that heresie and false doctrine which is full of strong delusion, hath a power to peruert and seduce men with no lesse celerity and swiftnes, then fire hath to burne being kindled in a forest of Iuniper. Likewise the Scripture in another place speaketh of a great fire, like to the flame of thornes vnder a potte, meaning such a fire as is suddenly kindled and swiftly encreaseth.

This description therefore is, as it were a complaynt, that the poysoned tongues of heretikes doe so suddenly preuaile, and with such successe worke mischiefe in the Church of God: as it came to passe after the preaching of S. Paule. For when he, with exceeding trauels had happily planted many Churches, as soone as he had once turned his back, all Asia was peruerted and turned from the Gospell. The fire of the heretikes is more swift then the fire of the holy Ghost. This is the calamitie of all ages, that whatsoeuer godly preachers haue builded with great trauells, the teachers of wicked doctrine doe suddenly ouerthrowe. Let vs therefore be thankfull vnto God for that litle poore remnant, which as yet by his speciall grace remaineth in the sound doctrine of the Gospell: and moreouer for this his gift, that we are able to iudge such doctrines to be the dartes of Satan although they be neuer so glorious and agree neuer so much with the wisedom and righteousnes of the fleshe: and further, that they are like to a vehement fire, euen suche as is the flame of Iuniper which we must labour to quench with all our power. These be the spirituall battells which the world knoweth not, farre passing all carnall conflictes: for in those conflicts like are matched with like, that is to say, men with men, but in these we fight not onely against the greater number, mightely armed with malice and power, but also against Satan him selfe, and against spirituall wickednes. Therfore in this warfare we haue neede of the helpe of the Lord and of the Angell Michael, as it is the Apocalyps. And for this cause the prayers and sighes of the godly in such a daungerous case are necessarie, saying on this wise: O Lord, behold, we will gladly teach and set forth thy word, but what are we except thou helpe vs? Stand for vs therefore against the enemies of thy truth, & defend thine owne cause. This hope we haue in such great successe of wicked doctrine, that that which is not of thy planting shall not endure, and that which suddenly springeth vppe, shall suddenly be cut downe. There hath bene hitherto no heresie which hath not bene confounded, and the word of God hath had alwayes the victory. Cain, Ismael, Arius, Manichee and such other haue perished for resisting the Gospell. Luther prophecieth. The Papacie also is now falling, but the word of the Lord abideth for euer, according to that sentence of the Psalme: They haue fought against me euē from my youth, but they could neuer preuaile.

But here perhaps you will aske what were thefe heresies and deceitful tongues in the time of Dauid, against the which he praieth in this place. In his kingdom there was Achitophel, Seme[illegible: 1 letter], and many others, which spake cursedly of him, & with crafty coū sell & conspiracy stirred vp the hearts of his subiects against him.

But it appeareth that Dauid speaketh here of some great daū ger. What is that you will say? Albeit the holy histories do sufficiently declare what trouble the true Prophets of God alwayes had with false and lying teachers, as the story of Ieremy doth declare, yet Dauid him selfe expresseth in diuers places of the psalmes, what was ye cause of these his conflicts, as in the fifty psalme it doth appeare, in the which he speaketh of the merite and deseruing which the vnbeleuing Iewes did trust vnto because of their sacrifices. For as it is now, so hath it bene in all ages, that many haue thought them selues righteous through their workes. And this opinion did maruelously encrease and multiply the Iewish sacrifices: for they thought that by their sacrifices their sinnes were forgeuen though their hartes were vnpure & without faith: Euen like to our aduersaries the Papistes, which doe therefore so highly extoll and so mightely maintaine and defend their sacrifice in the Masse, because, (as they say) of it self by the work wrought it is auaileable for the remission of sinnes. Against this heresie Dauid fought, and taught that to offer vppe a bullocke it was no great seruice vnto God, seeing he was both the creator and giuer of the same, and being the Lord of al, hath neede of nothing, much lesse of a bullocke, and therefore they that will offer a right sacrifice in deede, must acknowledge their sinnes, and also the great goodnes of the Lord, promising vnto them a blessing by the blessed seede, and giue him thankes for the same: inuocate, praise and magnifie his name, &c. Thus Dauid confuteth this heresie in that place.

But there were many other moe like vnto this. For the Iewes were not onely fallen to the worshipping of the gods of the Gentiles (as it is to be seene in Ieremy) but forsaking the temple, they resorted to those places wherin their forefathers were wont to offer sacrifice, whereas the Lorde had appoynted the Tabernacle in Ierusalem for a place of sacrifice and prayer. Some, of their owne brayne, did choose vnto them selues groues and hilles wherein they offered their sacrifice. Because these thinges were contrarie to the will and worde of God, and done of the Idolaters with great greedinesse, it was necessarie that the people shoulde be warned and taught of the Prophetes of God, not to choose to them selues any other way of seruing and worshipping God, or to seeke any other righteousnes then that which shoulde come by the blood of the sonne of God: whom S. Paule calleth the Lamb, because he should be the sacrifice that should take away the sinnes of the world. Thus we see that there hath alwaies bene for like matter like conflicts between the true Church and the false, and also like daungers haue thereuppon ensued. Wherefore we must vse like remedies also: that is, first by soūd doctrine to defend the glory of Christ, & exhort men to the study & loue of the wor[illegible: 1 letter]d: Secondly by prayer to fight against deceitful tongues and lying lippes. Now the Prouphet after his prayer addeth a complaint.

Verse. 5. VVoe is me that I remaine in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar.

Hitherto the Prophet hath declared the daungers both of him selfe and of the church, with prayer to be deliuered from the same. Now he addeth hereunto a complaint, for that the church of God being in the middes of her enemies, is continually vexed on euery side, and true doctrine assailed with power & subteltie. As though he should say: Being in this distresse and daunger, this is all that I am able to doe: faithfully to teach, feruently to pray and paci [illegible: 1 letter]ntly to suffer. To this ende I teache that the worde may be publikely mainteyned and kept: I pray, that the word may preuaile and haue the victory: and till it shall ouercome, I must paciently abide what trouble or affliction soeuer shall happen. He that will not thus doe, is but a shrinker and his fall will be fearefull.

In like maner haue we bene troubled in these our dayes with Epicures, Libertines, Anabaptistes, &c. We haue sustained the cruel oppression of the word by the power and subtelty of the Papists that cursed seede of Cain, & amongst vs there is also no smal number which fearing neither God nor deuill, doe not onely contemne ye ministery, but would wish it to be vtterly abolished. These are heauy crosses to the godly, when they must be compelled both to see them and suffer them, and yet can finde no remedie for the same. This forceth vs to say with Dauid: VVoe is me that I remayne in Mesech, &c.

By Mesech and Kedar he meaneth two sorts of people inhabiting neare vnto the Iewes: of which the first came of Iapheth as Moises teacheth, and the seconde of Ismael. Both of them were barbarous, cruel and without all humanity, dwelling in tents. By these he meaneth such as were of his owne nation, being no lesse cruell and spitefull against Gods people then these were: like as in an other place the corrupt & degenerate Iewes he calleth Gē tiles. And that he might the more sharpely reprehend Gods enemies and his, of purpose he nameth those people which ye Iewes knew to be most cruel and barbarous, meaning that if he dwelt in Mesech & Kedar, he could not be amongst more cruel enemies. As if he should say: I am compelled to comfort my self with hope and pacience, and would be glad yt the churches were in peace & quietnes, and ye pastors and rulers thereof in a godly vnity, but this wil not be. Wherfore I wil commit the whole cause of God by prayer, & teach the word faithfully. In the meane season we must beare these offences, that by the good we may ouercome the euill. Thus we se then that ye office of teaching is a miserable kind of life: For besides other calamities which the preachers & teachers of Gods word must suffer at ye hands of the vnfaithful, this also must nedes be vnto them a great crosse, to see the word of God and true doctrine miserably corrupted, and ye Church disquieted by false brethren. But for the Lords cause these things we suffer, and we say with Dauid. VVoe is me that I remayne in Mesech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar, barbarous and cruell people.

Verse. 6. My soule hath too long dwelt with him that hateth peace.

Here he sheweth plainly whom he meaneth by Me[illegible: 1 letter]ech & Kedar: Kedar and Mesech signifie the enemies of the church. to wit, those wicked Israelites, which forsaking the wayes of their godly fathers, became spitefull and cruell against the faithfull: amongst whom he was compelled to dwell a long season and to suffer great iniuries and cruelty at their hands. And this is the subteltie of the malignant spirite, that whom he can not ouer come by the multitude and greeuousnes of tentations, those he goeth about to weery with tediousnes & long continuance therof. Wherfore many being unskilful of this spiritual warfare, fight valiantly at the beginning, but in the ende they faynt and cowardly giue ouer. This daunger Dauid did foresee & complained therof. Long haue I dwelt (sayth he) amongest those that hate peace, that is, which continually trouble & disquiete the church of God, and neuer will be at peace with it, thinking by importunitie and long cōtinuance at the length to get the victory. So Iob with one kind of calamity was not discouraged, but whē one messenger followed an other, and one calamitie likewise came vpon an other, then his minde by litle and litle began to be troubled. And this is the malignity and malice of Satan. Wherefore let vs cast away all hope of peace so long as we liue here, and let vs assure our selues, that if this day we ouercome one kinde of tentation, to morrowe Satan will set vpon vs againe with an other.

And here behold the craft and subtelty of the worlde. The holy Ghost calleth them heretikes which are haters of peace and concord, and this name they spitefully apply vnto vs. Thou (say they) art he that troublest Israel. Thus they which trouble the Church in deede, accuse the true Church and call them selues the louers of peace and concord. This must we also suffer, and so content our selues with the testimony of a good cōscience which shall cleare vs before God, that we seeke the peace of the church, wherunto they are vtter enemies, as followeth.

Verse. 7. I seeke peace, & when I speake thereof, they are bent to warre.

This is the testimonie of my conscience that I loue peare and seke after it. Wherof then commeth all this trouble? all this deadly warre? of me, I graunt, but not by my default. For if I would suffer these disturbers and haters of all godly peace and concord, to say and to doe what they list, then would they not so rage, then woulde they not seeke my hurt as they doe, then would they liue in peace. But how can we hide those thinges that we haue seene, that we haue heard, & that we are commaunded to speake and declare, not in our chambers, but on the house toppes? For Christ saith: God and preach the Gospel to all creatures. And againe: No man hideth a light vnder a bushel. This is the cause that the word is in our mouth as a burning cole. which can not be kept in, but compelleth vs to open our mouthes. Hereof then come all these troubles, because they take away the commaundement of God, & yet would haue vs to holde our peace. And here we see it come to passe that Christ saith in the Gospell: Luke. 11. when a strong man kepeth the house all things are in peace, but when a stronger then he cometh, then troubles arise.

This is then our consolation, that what troubles soeuer doe arise, we rest vpon the testimony of our owne conscience that we do nothing else but speake and declare that we are commaunded. It is not our life therfore which they accuse, but our doctrine abideth the blame: which is not ours but Christes. Wherefore let vs not only contemne all peace and concord, but let heauen and earth also perish, rather then the doctrine of Christ or ye glory of his kingdom should be diminished or blemished in any point. The daūger whereof they see not or doe litle regard, which make so great a matter of the losse of that peace and tranquillity, which hath bene and yet is seene in the kingdom of Antichrist. Notwith standing let vs with all our power amplifie and set forth the glorie of our God and the frutes that come of the true preaching of the gospel, and let vs contemne all such sclaunders, which these Epicures do most maliciously and spitefully heap vpon vs, commending nothing else but that peace & tranquillity wherewith the deuill hath rocked them a slepe in all damnable security: wherby we see what horrible impietie reigneth in the papacie. There is not one word purely taught concerning sinne, grace, the merite of Christ, faith, the exercises of workes, concerning magistrates, and other degrees and kindes of life. All thinges are miserablie corrupted with pestilent gloses and expositions. Moreouer, what prophanation and selling of Masses was there? what deceite and robbery by pardons, purgatory, with such other abominations deuised only for vauntage and gayne? When I looke into the kingdome of the Pope as it was before we preached the Gospell, it seemeth to me that of verie purpose men were cast vnto Satan and eternall damnation by false teachers and ministers of iniquitie.

Now consider whether it were not better with trouble to kepe and enioy the word of God, then with losse of the word, to liue in peace and tranquillity, though it were neuer so heauenly a peace. As for me I woulde not desire to liue in paradise without ye word: and with the word to liue in hell it is an easie matter, like as in this world we liue as it were in hell, and comfort our selues only with hope which the word of God sheweth vnto vs, and with this hope we ouercome all kindes of troubles & crosses. Let vs therefore lay sure holde on this consolation which the holy Ghost here setteth forth vnto vs: whereof also all they haue great neede, that teach the word of trueth, namely that they are not the cause of offence, trouble and sedition. There must needes be offences: there must needes be Lucians, Epicures, contemners and scorners of religion, troublers of the peace and quietnes of the Church, but blessed are they which are not ye cause of these euills, but are preachers of peace, and seeke by all godly meanes, peace and christian vnitie. In the number of whom, by Gods speciall grace we are at this day, howe soeuer the world thinketh of vs, and we will pray vnto God that for Christes sake, he will so keepe vs euen to the vttermost breath.

Thus are the enemies of God and his word paynted out by Dauid in this Psalme, and also the true state of the Church, teaching vs thereby that we shoulde arme our selues against these daungers, and giue thankes vnto God for this great consolation, that whatsoeuer tumultes and troubles arise in the Church, he doth not impute the same vnto them that teach the word, but vnto the word it selfe, which is not ours but Christes, wherewith we may comfort our selues whatsoeuer followeth of the true preaching of the Gospell. Let them stoppe their mouthes and kepe silence that so greatly commend peace: but we wil speake and shew forth the wonderous workes of the Lord with boldnes, and will not be disobediēt in our vocation. If euil tongues be walking and troubles arise, we will with Dauid fight against them by prayer, commending to God the cause of his poore Church, wherein he hath promised to kepe & maintaine his word: who also shall burne & consume all wicked [illegible: 1 letter]ongnes with ye same fire of his heauy indignation, wherwith they thinke the church of God shalbe destroied.