Psalms 32 commentary

Sin is the cause of our misery; but the true believer's transgressions of the Divine law are all forgiven, being covered with the atonement. Christ bare his sins, therefore they are not imputed to him. The righteousness of Christ being reckoned to us, and we being made the righteousness of God in him, our iniquity is not imputed, God having laid upon him the iniquity of us all, and made him a sin-offering for us. Not to impute sin, is God's act, for he is the Judge. It is God that justifies. Notice the character of him whose sins are pardoned; he is sincere, and seeks sanctification by the power of the Holy Ghost. He does not profess to repent, with an intention to indulge in sin, because the Lord is ready to forgive. He will not abuse the doctrine of free grace. And to the man whose iniquity is forgiven, all manner of blessings are promised.

It is very difficult to bring sinful man humbly to accept free mercy, with a full confession of his sins and self-condemnation. But the true and only way to peace of conscience, is, to confess our sins, that they may be forgiven; to declare them that we may be justified. Although repentance and confession do not merit the pardon of transgression, they are needful to the real enjoyment of forgiving mercy. And what tongue can tell the happiness of that hour, when the soul, oppressed by sin, is enabled freely to pour forth its sorrows before God, and to take hold of his covenanted mercy in Christ Jesus! Those that would speed in prayer, must seek the Lord, when, by his providence, he calls them to seek him, and, by his Spirit, stirs them up to seek him. In a time of finding, when the heart is softened with grief, and burdened with guilt; when all human refuge fails; when no rest can be found to the troubled mind, then it is that God applies the healing balm by his Spirit.

God teaches by his word, and guides with the secret intimations of his will. David gives a word of caution to sinners. The reason for this caution is, that the way of sin will certainly end in sorrow. Here is a word of comfort to saints. They may see that a life of communion with God is far the most pleasant and comfortable. Let us rejoice, O Lord Jesus, in thee, and in thy salvation; so shall we rejoice indeed.

PSALM 32.

David having largely and painfully experienced what a miserable thing it is to feel God’s hand heavy on account of sin, exclaims that the highest and best part of a happy life consists in this, that God forgives a man’s guilt, and receives him graciously into his favor. After giving thanks for pardon obtained, he invites others to fellowship with him in his happiness, showing, by his own example, the means by which this may be obtained.

A Psalm of David giving instruction.

The title of this psalm gives some idea of its subject. Some think that the Hebrew word משכיל, maskil, which we have rendered giving instruction, “Pour lequel nous avons traduit, Donnant instruction.” — Fr. is taken from verse 7th; Where it is said, “I will instruct thee and teach thee.” but it is more accurate to consider it as a title given to the psalm in accordance with its whole scope and subject matter. David, after enduring long and dreadful torments, when God was severely trying him, by showing him the tokens of his wrath, having at length obtained favor, applies this evidence of the divine goodness for his own benefit, and the benefit of the whole Church, that from it he may teach himself and them what constitutes the chief point of salvation. All men must necessarily be either in miserable torment, or, which is worse, forgetting themselves and God, must continue in deadly lethargy, until they are persuaded that God is reconciled towards them. Hence David here teaches us that the happiness of men consists only in the free forgiveness of sins, for nothing can be more terrible than to have God for our enemy; nor can he be gracious to us in any other way than by pardoning our transgressions.

Psalm 32:1-2

1. Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose transgression is covered. 2. Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah imputeth no sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

1. Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven. This exclamation springs from the fervent affection of the Psalmist’s heart as well as from serious consideration. Since almost the whole world turning away their thoughts from God’s judgment, bring upon themselves a fatal forgetfulness, and intoxicate themselves with deceitful pleasures; David, as if he had been stricken with the fear of God’s wrath, that he might betake himself to Divine mercy, awakens others also to the same exercise, by declaring distinctly and loudly that those only are blessed to whom God is reconciled, so as to acknowledge those for his children whom he might justly treat as his enemies. Some are so blinded with hypocrisy and pride, and some with such gross contempt of God, that they are not at all anxious in seeking forgiveness, but all acknowledge that they need forgiveness; nor is there a man in existence whose conscience does not accuse him at God’s judgment-seat, and gall him with many stings. This confession, accordingly, that all need forgiveness, because no man is perfect, and that then only is it well with us when God pardons our sins, nature herself extorts even from wicked men. But in the meantime, hypocrisy shuts the eyes of multitudes, while others are so deluded by a perverse carnal security, that they are touched either with no feelings of Divine wrath, or with only a frigid feeling of it.

From this proceeds a twofold error: first, that such men make light of their sins, and reflect not on the hundredth part of their danger from God’s indignation; and, secondly, that they invent frivolous expiations to free themselves from guilt and to purchase the favor of God. Thus in all ages it has been everywhere a prevailing opinion, that although all men are infected with sin, they are at the same time adorned with merits which are calculated to procure for them the favor of God, and that although they provoke his wrath by their crimes, they have expiations and satisfactions in readiness to obtain their absolution. This delusion of Satan is equally common among Papists, Turks, Jews, and other nations. Every man, therefore, who is not carried away by the furious madness of Popery, will admit the truth of this statement, that men are in a wretched state unless God deal mercifully with them by not laying their sins to their charge. But David goes farther, declaring that the whole life of man is subjected to God’s wrath and curse, except in so far as he vouchsafes of his own free grace to receive them into his favor; of which the Spirit who spake by David is an assured interpreter and witness to us by the mouth of Paul, (Romans 4:6.) Had Paul not used this testimony, never would his readers have penetrated the real meaning of the prophet; for we see that the Papists, although they chant in their temples, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,” etc., yet pass over it as if it were some common saying and of little importance. But with Paul, this is the full definition of the righteousness of faith; as if the prophet had said, Men are then only blessed when they are freely reconciled to God, and counted as righteous by him. The blessedness, accordingly, that David celebrates utterly destroys the righteousness of works. The device of a partial righteousness with which Papists and others delude themselves is mere folly; and even among those who are destitute of the light of heavenly doctrine, no one will be found so mad as to arrogate a perfect righteousness to himself, as appears from the expiations, washings, and other means of appeasing God, which have always been in use among all nations. But yet they do not hesitate to obtrude their virtues upon God, just as if by them they had acquired of themselves a great part of their blessedness.

David, however, prescribes a very different order, namely, that in seeking happiness, all should begin with the principle, that God cannot be reconciled to those who are worthy of eternal destruction in any other way than by freely pardoning them, and bestowing upon them his favor. And justly does he declare that if mercy is withheld from them, all men must be utterly wretched and accursed; for if all men are naturally prone only to evil, until they are regenerated, their whole previous life, it is obvious, must be hateful and loathsome in the sight of God. Besides, as even after regeneration, no work which men perform can please God unless he pardons the sin which mingles with it, they must be excluded from the hope of salvation. Certainly nothing will remain for them but cause for the greatest terror. That the works of the saints are unworthy of reward because they are spotted with stains, seems a hard saying to the Papists. But, in this they betray their gross ignorance in estimating, according to their own conceptions, the judgment of God, in whose eyes the very brightness of the stars is but darkness. Let this therefore remain an established doctrine, that as we are only accounted righteous before God by the free remission of sins, this is the gate of eternal salvation; and, accordingly, that they only are blessed who rely upon God’s mercy. We must bear in mind the contrast which I have already mentioned between believers who, embracing the remission of sins, rely upon the grace of God alone, and all others who neglect to betake themselves to the sanctuary of Divine grace.

Moreover, when David thrice repeats the same thing, this is no vain repetition. It is indeed sufficiently evident of itself that the man must be blessed whose iniquity is forgiven; but experience teaches us how difficult it is to become persuaded of this in such a manner as to have it thoroughly fixed in our hearts. The great majority, as I have already shown you, entangled by devices of their own, put away from them, as far as they can, the terrors of conscience and all fear of Divine wrath. They have, no doubt, a desire to be reconciled to God; and yet they shun the sight of him, rather than seek his grace sincerely and with all their hearts. Those, on the other hand, whom God has truly awakened so as to be affected with a lively sense of their misery, are so constantly agitated and disquieted that it is difficult to restore peace to their minds. They taste indeed God’s mercy, and endeavor to lay hold of it, and yet they are frequently abashed or made to stagger under the manifold assaults which are made upon them. The two reasons for which the Psalmist insists so much on the subject of the forgiveness of sins are these, - that he may, on the one hand, raise up those who are fallen asleep, inspire the careless with thoughtfulness, and quicken the dull; and that he may, on the other hand, tranquillise fearful and anxious minds with an assured and steady confidence. To the former, the doctrine may be applied in this manner: ”What mean ye, O ye unhappy men! that one or two stings of conscience do not disturb you? Suppose that a certain limited knowledge of your sins is not sufficient to strike you with terror, yet how preposterous is it to continue securely asleep, while you are overwhelmed with an immense load of sins?” And this repetition furnishes not a little comfort and confirmation to the feeble and fearful. As doubts are often coming upon them, one after another, it is not sufficient that they are victorious in one conflict only. That despair, therefore, may not overwhelm them amidst the various perplexing thoughts with which they are agitated, the Holy Spirit confirms and ratifies the remission of sins with many declarations.

It is now proper to weigh the particular force of the expressions here employed. Certainly the remission which is here treated of does not agree with satisfactions. God, in lifting off or taking away sins, and likewise in covering and not imputing them, freely pardons them. On this account the Papists, by thrusting in their satisfactions and works of supererogation as they call them, bereave themselves of this blessedness. Besides, David applies these words to complete forgiveness. The distinction, therefore, which the Papists here make between the remission of the punishment and of the fault, by which they make only half a pardon, is not at all to the purpose. Now, it is necessary to consider to whom this happiness belongs, which may be easily gathered from the circumstance of the time. When David was taught that he was blessed through the mercy of God alone, he was not an alien from the church of God; on the contrary, he had profited above many in the fear and service of God, and in holiness of life, and had exercised himself in all the duties of godliness. And even after making these advances in religion, God so exercised him, that he placed the alpha and omega of his salvation in his gratuitous reconciliation to God. Nor is it without reason that Zacharias, in his song, represents “the knowledge of salvation” as consisting in knowing “the remission of sins,” (Luke 1:77.) The more eminently that any one excels in holiness, the farther he feels himself from perfect righteousness, and the more clearly he perceives that he can trust in nothing but the mercy of God alone. Hence it appears, that those are grossly mistaken who conceive that the pardon of sin is necessary only to the beginning of righteousness. As believers are every day involved in many faults, it will profit them nothing that they have once entered the way of righteousness, unless the same grace which brought them into it accompany them to the last step of their life. Does any one object, that they are elsewhere said to be blessed “who fear the Lord,” “who walk in his ways,” “who are upright in heart,” etc., the answer is easy, namely, that as the perfect fear of the Lord, the perfect observance of his law, and perfect uprightness of heart, are nowhere to be found, all that the Scripture anywhere says, concerning blessedness, is founded upon the free favor of God, by which he reconciles us to himself.

PSALM 32

Psa 32:1-11. Maschil--literally, "giving instruction." The Psalmist describes the blessings of His forgiveness, succeeding the pains of conviction, and deduces from his own experience instruction and exhortation to others.

1-2. (Compare Ro 4:6).

forgiven--literally, "taken away," opposed to retain (Joh 20:23).

covered--so that God no longer regards the sin (Psa 85:3).

3-4. A vivid description of felt, but unacknowledged, sin.

When--literally, "for," as in Psa 32:4.

5. A prompt fulfilment of the purposed confession is followed by a prompt forgiveness.

6. For this--that is, my happy experience.

godly--pious in the sense of Psa 4:3.

a time--(Is 55:6); when God's Spirit inclines us to seek pardon, He is ready to forgive.

floods, &c.--denotes great danger (Psa 18:17; 66:12).

7. His experience illustrates the statement of Psa 32:6.

8. Whether, as most likely, the language of David (compare Psa 51:13), or that of God, this is a promise of divine guidance.

I will ... mine eye--or, My eye shall be on thee, watching and directing thy way.

9. The latter clause, more literally, "in that they come not near thee"; that is, because they will not come, &c., unless forced by bit and bridle.

10. The sorrows of the impenitent contrasted with the peace and safety secured by God's mercy.

11. The righteous and upright, or those conforming to the divine teaching for securing the divine blessing, may well rejoice with shouting.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven - In this and the following verse four evils are mentioned:

1. Transgression, פשע peshwa.

2. Sin, חטאה chataah.

3. Iniquity, עון avon.

4. Guile, רמיה remiyah.

The first signifies the passing over a boundary, doing what is prohibited. The second signifies the missing of a mark, not doing what was commanded; but is often taken to express sinfulness, or sin in the future, producing transgression in the life. The third signifies what is turned out of its proper course or situation; any thing morally distorted or perverted. Iniquity, what is contrary to equity or justice. The fourth signifies fraud, deceit, guile, etc. To remove these evils, three acts are mentioned: forgiving, covering, and not imputing.

1. Transgression, פשע pesha, must be forgiven, נשוי nesui, borne away, i.e., by a vicarious sacrifice; for bearing sin, or bearing away sin, always implies this.

2. Sin, חטאה chataah, must be covered, כסוי kesui, hidden from the sight. It is odious and abominable, and must be put out of sight.

3. Iniquity, עון anon, which is perverse or distorted, must not be imputed, לא יחשב lo yachshob, must not be reckoned to his account.

4. Guile, רמיה remiyah, must be annihilated from the soul: In whose spirit there is no Guile. The man whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is hidden, God having cast it as a millstone into the depths of the sea; whose iniquity and perversion is not reckoned to his account; and whose guile, the deceitful and desperately wicked heart, is annihilated, being emptied of sin and filled with righteousness, is necessarily a happy man.

The old Psalter translates these two verses thus: Blissid qwas wikednes es for gyven, and qwas synnes is hyled (covered). Blisful man til qwam Lord retted (reckoneth) noght Syn: ne na treson es in his gast (spirit). In vain does any man look for or expect happiness while the power of sin remains, its guilt unpardoned, and its impurity not purged away. To the person who has got such blessings, we may say as the psalmist said, אשרי ashrey, O the blessedness of that man, whose transgression is forgiven! etc.

St. Paul quotes this passage, Rom 4:6-7 (note), to illustrate the doctrine of justification by faith; where see the notes.

When I kept silence - Before I humbled myself, and confessed my sin, my soul was under the deepest horror. "I roared all the day long;" and felt the hand of God heavy upon my soul.

I acknowledged my sin - When this confession was made thoroughly and sincerely, and I ceased to cover and extenuate my offense, then thou didst forgive the iniquity of my sin. I felt the hardness of heart: I felt the deep distress of soul; I felt power to confess and abhor my sin; I felt confidence in the mercy of the Lord; and I felt the forgiveness of the iniquity of my sin.

Selah - This is all true; I know it; I felt it; I feel it.

For this shall every one that is godly - Because thou art merciful; because thou hast shown mercy to all who have truly turned to thee, and believed in thee; every one who fears thee, and hears of this, shall pray unto thee in an acceptable time, when thou mayest be found; in the time of finding. When the heart is softened and the conscience alarmed, that is a time of finding. God is ever ready; men are not so. Who can pray with a hard heart and a dark mind? While you feel relentings, pray.

Surely in the floods - In violent trials, afflictions, and temptations; when the rains descend, the winds blow, and the floods beat against that godly man who prays and trusts in God; "they shall not come nigh him," so as to weaken his confidence or destroy his soul. His house is founded on a rock.

Thou art my hiding place - An allusion, probably, to the city of refuge: "Thou shalt preserve me from trouble." The avenger of blood shall not be able to overtake me. And being encompassed with an impregnable wall, I shall feel myself encompassed with songs of deliverance - I shall know that I am safe.

I will instruct thee - These are probably the Lord's words to David. Seeing thou art now sensible of the mercy thou hast received from me, and art purposing to live to my glory, I will give thee all the assistance requisite. I will become thy Instructor, "and will teach thee," in all occurrences, "the way thou shouldst go." I will keep mine eyes upon thee, and thou shalt keep thine upon me: as I go, thou must follow me; and I will continually watch for thy good.

Be ye not as the horse or as the mule - They will only act by force and constraint; be not like them; give a willing service to your Maker. "They have no understanding;" you have a rational soul, made to be guided and influenced by reason. The service of your God is a reasonable service; act, therefore, as a rational being. The horse and the mule are turned with difficulty; they must be constrained with bit and bridle. Do not be like them; do not oblige your Maker to have continual recourse to afflictions, trials, and severe dispensations of providence, to keep you in the way, or to recover you after you have gone out of it.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked - Every wicked man is a miserable man. God has wedded sin and misery as strongly as he has holiness and happiness. God hath joined them together; none can put them asunder.

But he that trusteth in the Lord - Such a person is both safe and happy.

Be glad - and rejoice - Let every righteous soul rejoice and glory, but let it be in the Lord. Man was made for happiness, but his happiness must be founded on holiness: and holiness, as it comes from God, must be retained by continual union with him. Probably this verse belongs to the next Psalm, and was originally its first verse.

Imputeth - Whom God doth not charge with the guilt of his sins, but graciously pardons and accepts him in Christ. No guile - Who freely confesses all his sins, and turns from sin to God with all his heart.

Silence - From a full and open confession of my sins. Old - My spirit failed, and the strength of my body decayed. Roaring - Because of the continual horrors of my conscience, and sense of God's wrath.

Hand - Thy afflicting hand. My moisture - Was dried up.

The iniquity - The guilt of my sin.

For this - Upon the encouragement of my example. Found - In an acceptable and seasonable time, while God continues to offer grace and mercy. Waters - In the time of great calamities. Not come - So as to overwhelm him.

I will - This and the next verse seems to be the words of God, whom David brings in as returning this answer to his prayers. Mine eye - So Christ did St. Peter, when he turned and looked upon him.

Will not - Unless they be forced to it by a bit or bridle. And so all the ancient translators understand it.

Sorrows - This is an argument to enforce the foregoing admonition.

1. BLessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered .

I did indeed say, that they and they only were Blessed, that did not walk in the Counsel of the ungodly, &c. But did delight in, and Meditate on Gods [illegible: 1+ letters]aw▪ Psal. 1. 1, 2. And it is true, this is the only way to Blessedness. But if enquiry be made into the Cause of mans Blessedness, we must seek that elsewhere. All men having sinned and made themselves Guilty before God, and fallen short of the Glory of God, and of that Happiness which was Conferred upon their first Parents, now there is no way to recover this lost Felicity, but by seeking and obtaining the Favour of God, and the pardon of our sins. Which is the very Doctrine of the Gospel: to the Confirmation whereof this Text is justly alledged, Rom. 4. 6, 7. Our sins are Debts, and they need forgiving: they are filthy and abominable in Gods sight, and need covering.

Marginal references: Rom. 4. 6. 7, 8.

2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity , and in whose spirit there is no guile .

Whom God doth not Charge with the guilt of his sins, as he might justly do, but graciously accepts and pardons him in Christ, and deals with him as if he had no[illegible: 1+ letters] sinned.

Who freely Confesseth all his sins without Dissembling or Concealing of them; which may seem to be the main thing here intended, by Comparing this with the following Verses; and who is sincere in his Professions of Repentance, turning from sin to God with all his Heart, and not seignedly.

Marginal references: Joh. 1. 47.

3. When I kept silence , my bones waxed old e; through my roaring all the day long .

To wit, from a full and open Confession of my sins, as appears from v. 5. and from pouring out my Soul to God in serious and servent Prayers, for pardon and peace. Whilst I concealed my sins: Or, smothered my Fears, and sti[illegible: 1+ letters]led the workings of my own Conscience.

My Spirits failed, and the strength of my Body decayed.

Because of the continual Horrors of my Conscience, and Sence of Gods wrath, wherewith I was as yet rather oppressed and overwhelmed, than brought to thorough Repentance.

4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture was turned into the drought of summer , Selah.

Thy afflicting hand bringing my sins to Remembrance, and filling me with thy Terrors for them.

My very Radical moisture was in a manner dryed up, and wasted through excessive Fears and Sorrows.

5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin , Selah.

At last I took up a full Resolution, that I would no longer dally nor deal deceitfully with God, nor vainly seek to hide my sins from the all-seeing God, but that I would openly and Candidly Confess, and bewail all my sins with all their Aggravations, and humbly implore the pardon of them.

(i. e.) The guilt of my sin. Or, Thou didst take away the Punishment (as this Hebrew word oft signifies) of my sin; Or, my exceeding sinful sin, two words signifying the same thing, being here put together by way of Aggravation, according to the manner of the Hebrews.

Marginal references: Prov. 28. 13▪ Isa. 65. 24. 1. Joh. 1. 9.

6. For this shall every one that is godly, pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be [illegible: 1+ letters]ound : surely in the flood of great waters , they shall not come nigh unto him .

(i. e.) Upon the Encouragement of my Example, and thy great mercy Vouchsafed to me, in Answer to my hurable Confession and Supplication.

Heb. in the time of finding thee; the Pronoun, thee, being easily and fitly repeated out of the next foregoing Clause, (i. e.) While he may be found, as it is expressed, Isa. 55. 6. or while he is near, Psal. 69. 13. in an acceptable and seasonable time, while God continues to offer Grace and Mercy to sinners, before the decree bring forth, Zeph. 2. 2. and Sentence be passed, or executed upon them. By which Clause he seems to intimate the Difference between the Godly, who pray and Cry earnestly to God for Mercy in its season; and the wicked, who will do so when it is too late, and the season is lost.

(i. e.) In the time of great Calamitles, which are frequently Compared to great Waters.

To wit, so as to overwhelm or hurt him. Or, God will set him in an high and safe place, out of the reach of them, as he provided an Ark for Noah, when the Deluge came: to which Peradventure he alludes in this place.

Marginal references: Heb. in a time of finding. Psal. 69. 13. Isa. 55. 6.; Psal. 69. 1, [illegible: 1+ letters].

7. Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve me from trouble: thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance , Selah.

(i. e.) With such great Deliverances on all sides, as will give just occasion to sing forth thy Praises.

Marginal references: Psal. 9. 9. & 27. 5.

8. I will instruct thee , and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee with mine eye .

This and the next Verse are the Words, Either, 1. Of God; whom David brings in as returning this Answer to his Prayers, and the pro[illegible: 1+ letters]ession of his trust in God. Or rather, 2. Of David himself: who having received sin[illegible: 1+ letters]lar Favours from God, and having declared what the Godly would do upon that [illegible: 1 word], v▪ 6. he no[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]rtakes to instruct the wicked, what thy should do. Which he doth, Partly, to express his thankfulness to God, for delivering himself and his Zeal, to advance the Honour and Service of God in the World; Partly, as an Act of Justice, that he might make some amends to those whom [illegible: 1+ letters]e had injured and provoke them to Repentance, whom by his sins he had Scandalized; and either drawn to sin▪ or incouraged and hardened in sin, which he was Obliged and did promise to do, upon this, or the like Occasion, Psal. 51. 13. and Partly, for the discharge of his Office and Duty, as he was both a King and a Prophet, and a good Man; in all which Capacities, he was Obliged to indeavour the Conversion and Salvation of sinners.

Thee Oh sinner, whosoever thou art, who hast no understanding, but art a wicked Man, as the two following Verses explain it. He speaks this to the Generality of impenitent Sinners, as the next Verse shews, which begins in the plural Number, Be not ye, &c Onely he expresseth it here singularly, as appealing and applying himself particularly, to the Conscience of every individual Person, which he thought the most effectual way of proceeding, as he had found in himself, when Nathan applyed his indefinite Discourse to him, saying, Thou art the Man.

(i. e.) In which thou oughtest to walk; the Future Tense oft noting a mans Duty as Gen. 20. 9. Mal. 1 6.

I will lend thee the Eyes of my Mind: Or, I will be to thee instead of Eyes, as the Phrase is, [illegible: 1 word]. 10. 31. to advise and direct, and Caution thee: which I am able to do, not only by those Gifts and Graces, which God hath given me, but also from my own Experience. I will guide thee, as the Rider doth his Horse, to which the person to be guided is Compared, v. 9. Or, as a Master doth his Scholar, Or, as a guide doth him, who knoweth not the right way. Or, the Words may be thus rendred, I will give thee Counsel, mine Eye shall be upon thee, as it is more fully expressed, Gen. 44. 21. Ier. 24. 6. and 40. 4. (i. e.) I will watch over thee, and instruct or admonish thee, as I have Occasion.

Marginal references: Heb: I will Counsel thee: mine eye shall be upon thee.

9. Be ye not as the horse, Or, as the mule which have no understanding : whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee .

Be not such brutish and sottish Creatures, as I have been, not having Reason or Grace to govern your selves, nor hearkening to the Counsels, and Admonitions of others.

Lest they should come too near to thee, so as to Bite or Kick thee. But neither is this the Common practise of Horses or Mules, of which he seems to speak; nor is this the proper use of a Bit or Bridle, to keep them from so doing, but rather to bring them nearer to the Rider for his use, and to keep them under his Conduct and Power, from whom they are otherwise apt to run away. The words therefore are, and may be otherwise rendred, because they do not, Or, will not come near unto thee: To wit, for thy Service, unless they be forced to it, by a Bit or Bridle. And so all the an[illegible: 1+ letters]ient Translators understand it.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 16. 3.

10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked : but he that trusteth in the LORD , mercy shall compass him about.

This is an Argument to enforce the foregoing Admonition, if any men will be Refractory and unruly, God hath many ways to Curb and Chastise them, and bring them to his Will.

Who relyes upon his Providence, and promise for his Preservation, and Deliverance, and commits himself to God's Care and Conduct, waiting upon him in his way, and not turning aside to Crooked or sinful Paths, for Safety or Satisfaction.

The Way to the Forgiveness of Sins

There are several prominent marks by which this Psalm is coupled with the preceding (vid., Symbolae §52). In both Psalms, with the word אמרתּי, the psalmist looks back upon some fact of his spiritual life; and both close with an exhortation to the godly, which stands in the relation of a general inference to the whole Psalm. But in other respects the two Psalms differ. For Ps 31 is a prayer under circumstances of outward distress, and Psa 32:1-11 is a didactic Psalm, concerning the way of penitence which leads to the forgiveness of sins; it is the second of the seven Psalmi paenitentiales of the church, and Augustine’s favourite Psalm. We might take Augustine’s words as its motto: intelligentia prima est ut te noris peccatorem. The poet bases it upon his own personal experience, and then applies the general teaching which he deduces from it, to each individual in the church of God. For a whole year after his adultery David was like one under sentence of condemnation. In the midst of this fearful anguish of soul he composed Ps 51, whereas Psa 32:1-11 was composed after his deliverance from this state of mind. The former was written in the very midst of the penitential struggle; the latter after he had recovered his inward peace. The theme of this Psalm is the precious treasure which he brought up out of that abyss of spiritual distress, viz., the doctrine of the blessedness of forgiveness, the sincere and unreserved confession of sin as the way to it, and the protection of God in every danger, together with joy in God, as its fruits.

In the signification psalmus didascalicus s. informatorius (Reuchlin: ut si liceret dicere intellectificum vel resipiscentificum), משׂכּי would after all be as appropriate a designation as we could have for this Psalm which teachers the way of salvation. This meaning, however, cannot be sustained. It is improbable that משׂכּיל, which, in all other instances, signifies intelligens, should, as a technical term, mean intelligentem faciens; because the Hiph. השׂכּיל, in the causative meaning “to impart understanding,” occurs only in solitary instances (Psa 32:8, Pro 21:11) in the Hebrew of the period before the Exile, and only came into common use in the later language (in Daniel, Chronicles, and Nehemiah). But, that which is decisive against the meaning “a didactic poem” is the fact, that among the thirteen Psalms which are inscribed משׂיל, there are only two (Psa 32:1-11 and Ps 78) which can be regarded as didactic poems. Ps 45 is called, in addition, שׁיר ידידת, and Psa 142:1-7, תּפּלּה, two names which ill accord with a didactic intention and plan. Even Psa 47:8, a passage of importance in the determining of the right idea of the word, in which משׂיל occurs as an accusative of the object, excludes the meaning “didactic poem.” Ewald observes (Dichter des Alten Bundes, i. 31) that “in Psa 47:8 we have the safest guide to the correct meaning of the word; in this passage משׂיל stands side by side with זמּר as a more exact definition of the singing and there can be no doubt, that an intelligent, melodious song must be equivalent to choice or delicate, skillfully composed song.” But in all other cases, משׂיל is only found as an attribute of persons, because it is not that which makes prudent, but that which is itself intelligent, that is so named. Even in 2Ch 30:22, where allusion is made to the Maskı̂l Psalms, it is the Levite musicians themselves who are called (שׂכל טוב) המשׂכילים (i.e., those who play skillfully with delicate tact). Thus then we are driven to the Hiphil meaning of pensive meditation in Psa 106:7, cf. Psa 41:2, Pro 16:20; so that משׂכּיל signifies that which meditates, then meditation, just like מכבּיר, that which multiplies, and then fulness; משׁחית, that which destroys, and then destruction. From the Maskı̂l Psalms, as e.g., from Psa 54:1-7 and Psa 142:1-7, we cannot discover anything special as to the technical meaning or use of the word. The word means just pia meditatio, a devout meditation, and nothing more.

Psa 32:1-2

The Psalm begins with the celebration of the happiness of the man who experiences God’s justifying grace, when he gives himself up unreservedly to Him. Sin is called פּשׁע, as being a breaking loose or tearing away from God; חטאה, as a deviation from that which is well-pleasing to God; עון, as a perversion, distortion, misdeed. The forgiveness of sin is styled נשׂא (Exo 34:7), as a lifting up and taking away, αἴρειν and ἀφαιρεῖν, Exo 34:7; כּסּה (Psa 85:3, Pro 10:12, Neh 4:5), as a covering, so that it becomes invisible to God, the Holy One, and is as though it had never taken place; לא חשׁב (2Sa 19:20, cf. Arab. ḥsb, to number, reckon, ου ̓ λογίζεσθαι, Rom 4:6-9), as a non-imputing; the δικαιοσύνη χωρὶς ἔργων is here distinctly expressed. The justified one is called נשׂוּי־פּשׁע, as being one who is exempted from transgression, praevaricatione levatus (Ges. §135, 1); נשׂוּי, instead of נשׁא, Isa 33:24, is intended to rhyme with כּסוּי (which is the part. to כּסּה, just as בּרוּך is the participle to כּרך); vid., on Isa 22:13. One “covered of sin” is one over whose sin lies the covering of expiation (כּפּר, root כף, to cover, cogn. Arab. gfr , chfr , chmr , gmr) before the holy eyes of God. The third designation is an attributive clause: “to whom Jahve doth not reckon misdeed,” inasmuch as He, on the contrary, regards it as discharged or as settled. He who is thus justified, however, is only he in whose spirit there is no רמיּה, no deceit, which denies and hides, or extenuates and excuses, this or that favourite sin. One such sin designedly retained is a secret ban, which stands in the way of justification.

Psa 32:3-5

For, as his own experience has taught the poet, he who does not in confession pour out all his corruption before God, only tortures himself until he unburdens himself of his secret curse. Since Psa 32:3 by itself cannot be regarded as the reason for the proposition just laid down, כּי signifies either “because, quod” (e.g., Pro 22:22) or “when, quum” (Jdg 16:16; Hos 11:10. The שׁאגה was an outburst of the tortures which his accusing conscience prepared for him. The more he strove against confessing, the louder did conscience speak; and while it was not in his power to silence this inward voice, in which the wrath of God found utterance, he cried the whole day, viz., for help; but while his heart was still unbroken, he cried yet received no answer. He cried all day long, for God’s punishing right hand (Psa 38:3; Psa 39:11) lay heavey upon him day and night; the feeling of divine wrath left him no rest, cf. Job 33:14. A fire burned within him which threatened completely to devour him. The expression is בּחרבני (like בעשׂן in Psa 37:20; Psa 102:4), without כ, inasmuch as the fears which burn fiercely within him even to his heart and, as it were, scorch him up, he directly calls the droughts of summer. The בּ is the Beth of the state or condition, in connection with which the change, i.e., degeneration (Job 20:14), took place; for mutare in aliquid is expressed by הפך ל. The ל (which Saadia and others have mistaken) in לשׁדּי is part of the root; לשׁד (from לשׁד, Arab. lsd, to suck), inflected after the analogy of גּמל and the like, signifies succus. In the summer-heat of anxiety his vital moisture underwent a change: it burned and dried up. Here the music becomes louder and does its part in depicting these torments of the awakened conscience in connection with a heart that still remains unbroken. In spite of this διάψαλμα, however, the historical connection still retains sufficient influence to give אודיעך the force of the imperfect (cf. Psa 30:9): “I made known my sin and my guilt did I not cover up (כּסּה used here as in Pro 27:13; Job 31:33); I made the resolve: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord (הודה = חתודּה, Neh 1:6; Neh 9:2; elsewhere construed with the accusative, vid., Pro 28:13) - then Thou forgavest,” etc. Hupfeld is inclined to place אמרתי before חטאתי אודיעך, by which אודיעך and אודה would become futures; but ועוני לא כסיתי sounds like an assertion of a fact, not the statement of an intention, and ואתה נשׂאת is the natural continuation of the אמרתי which immediately precedes. The form ואתה נשׂאת is designedly used instead of ותּשּׂא. Simultaneously with his confession of sin, made fide supplice, came also the absolution: then Thou forgavest the guilt (עון, misdeed, as a deed and also as a matter of fact, i.e., guilt contracted, and penance or punishment, cf. Lam 4:6; Zec 14:19) of my sin. Vox nondum est in ore, says Augustine, et vulnus sanatur in corde. The סלה here is the antithesis of the former one. There we have a shrill lament over the sinner who tortures himself in vain, here the clear tones of joy at the blessed experience of one who pours forth his soul to God - a musical Yea and Amen to the great truth of justifying grace.

Psa 32:6-7

For this mercy, which is provided for every sinner who repents and confesses his sin, let then, every חסיד, who longs for חסד, turn in prayer to Jahve לעת מצא, at the time (Psa 21:10; 1Ch 12:22; cf. בּעת, Isa 49:8) when He, and His mercy, is to be found (cf. Deu 4:29 with Jer 29:13; Isa 55:6, בּהמּצאו). This hortatory wish is followed by a promissory assurance. The fact of לשׁטף מים רבּים being virtually a protasis: quam inundant aquae magnae (ל of the time), which separates רק from אליו, prohibits our regarding רק as belonging to אליו in this instance, although like אף, אך, גּם, and פּן, רק is also placed per hypallage at the head of the clause (as in Pro 13:10 : with pride there is only contention), even when belonging to a part of the clause that follows further on. The restrictive meaning of רק here, as is frequently the case (Deu 4:6; Jdg 14:16; 1Ki 21:25, cf. Psa 91:8), has passed over to the affirmative: certo quum, etc. Inundation or flooding is an exemplificative description of the divine judgment (cf. Nah 1:8); Psa 32:6 is a brief form of expressing the promise which is expanded in Ps 91. In Psa 32:7, David confirms it from his own experience. The assonance in מצּר תּצּרני (Thou wilt preserve me, so that צר, angustum = angustiae, does not come upon me, Psa 119:143) is not undesigned; and after תצרני comes רני, just like כלו after בהיכלו in Psa 29:9. There is no sufficient ground for setting aside רני, with Houbigant and others, as a repetition of the half of the word תצרני. The infinitive רן (Job 38:7) might, like רב, plur. רבּי, חק, plur. חקּי, with equal right be inflected as a substantive; and פּלּט (as in Psa 56:8), which is likewise treated as a substantive, cf. נפּץ, Dan 12:7, presents, as a genitive, no more difficulty than does דעת in the expression אישׁ דּעת. With songs of deliverance doth Jahve surround him, so that they encompass him on all sides, and on occasion of exulting meets him in whatever direction he turns. The music here again for the third time becomes forte, and that to express the highest feeling of delight.

Psa 32:8-10

It is not Jahve, who here speaks in answer to the words that have been thus far addressed to Him. In this case the person addressed must be the poet, who, however, has already attained the knowledge here treated of. It is he himself who now directly adopts the tone of the teacher (cf. Psa 34:12). That which David, in Psa 51:15, promises to do, he here takes in hand, viz., the instruction of sinners in the way of salvation. It is unnecessary to read איעצך instead of איעצה, as Olshausen does; the suffix of אשׂכּילך and אורך (for אורך) avails also for this third verb, to which עליך עיני, equivalent to שׂם עליך עיני (fixing my eye upon thee, i.e., with sympathising love taking an interest in thee), stands in the relation of a subordinate relative clause. The lxx renders it by ἐπιστηριῶ ἐπὶ σὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, so that it takes יעץ, in accordance with its radical signification firmare, as the regens of עיני (I will fix my eye steadfastly upon thee); but for this there is no support in the general usage of the language. The accents give a still different rendering; they apparently make עיני an accus. adverb. (Since אעצה עליך עיני is transformed from איעצה עליך עיני: I will counsel thee with mine eye; but in every other instance, יעץ על means only a hostile determination against any one, e.g., Isa 7:5. The form of address, without changing its object, passes over, in Psa 32:9, into the plural and the expression becomes harsh in perfect keeping with the perverted character which it describes. The sense is on the whole clear: not constrained, but willing obedience is becoming to man, in distinction from an irrational animal which must be led by a bridle drawn through its mouth. The asyndeton clause: like a horse, a mule (פּרד as an animal that is isolated and does not pair; cf. Arab. fard, alone of its kind, single, unlike, the opposite of which is Arab. zawj, a pair, equal number), has nothing remarkable about it, cf. Psa 35:14; Isa 38:14. But it is not clear what עדיו is intended to mean. We might take it in its usual signification “ornament,” and render “with bit and bridle, its ornament,” and perhaps at once recognise therein an allusion to the senseless servility of the animal, viz., that its ornament is also the means by which it is kept in check, unless עדי, ornament, is perhaps directly equivalent to “harness.” Still the rendering of the lxx is to be respected: in camo et fraeno - as Jerome reproduces it - maxilas eorum constringere qui non approximant ad te. If עדי means jaw, mouth or check, then עדיו לבלום is equivalent to ora eorum obturanda sunt (Ges. §132, rem. 1), which the lxx expressed by ἄγξαι, constringe, or following the Cod. Alex., ἄγξις (ἄγξεις), constringes. Like Ewald and Hitzig (on Eze 16:7), we may compare with עדי, the cheek, the Arabic chadd, which, being connected with גּדוּד, a furrow, signifies properly the furrow of the face, i.e., the indented part running downwards from the inner corners of the eyes to both sides of the nose, but then by synecdoche the cheek. If `dyw refers to the mouth or jaws, then it looks as if בּל קרב אליך must be translated: in order that they may not come too near thee, viz., to hurt thee (Targ., Syriac, Rashi, etc.); but this rendering does not produce any point of comparison corresponding to the context of this Psalm. Therefore, it is rather to be rendered: otherwise there is no coming near to thee. This interpretation takes the emphasis of the בל into account, and assumes that, according to a usage of the language that is without further support, one might, for instance, say: בּל לכתּי שׁמּה, “I will never go thither.” In Pro 23:17, בל also includes within itself the verb to be. So here: by no means an approaching to thee, i.e., there is, if thou dost not bridle them, no approaching or coming near to thee. These words are not addressed to God, but to man, who is obliged to use harsh and forcible means in taming animals, and can only thus keep them under his control and near to him. In the antitype, it is the sinner, who will not come to God, although God only is his help, and who, as David has learned by experience, must first of all endure inward torture, before he comes to a right state of mind. This agonising life of the guilty conscience which the ungodly man leads, is contrasted in Psa 32:10 with the mercy which encompasses on all sides him, who trusts in God. רבּים, in accordance with the treatment of this adjective as if it were a numeral (vid., Psa 89:51), is an attributive or adjective placed before its noun. The final clause might be rendered: mercy encompasses him; but the Poel and Psa 32:7 favour the rendering: with mercy doth He encompass him.

Psa 32:11

After the doctrine of the Psalm has been unfolded in three unequal groups of verses, there follows, corresponding to the brief introduction, a still shorter close, which calls upon those whose happy state is there celebrated, to join in songs of exultant joy.

Who Are Blessed.

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

This psalm is entitled Maschil, which some take to be only the name of the tune to which it was set and was to be sung. But others think it is significant; our margin reads it, A psalm of David giving instruction, and there is nothing in which we have more need of instruction than in the nature of true blessedness, wherein it consists and the way that leads to it—what we must do that we may be happy. There are several things in which these verses instruct us. In general, we are here taught that our happiness consists in the favour of God, and not in the wealth of this world—in spiritual blessings, and not the good things of this world. When David says (Ps. i. 1), Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, and (Ps. cxix. 1), Blessed are the undefiled in the way, the meaning is, "This is the character of the blessed man; and he that has not this character cannot expect to be happy:" but when it is here said, Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, the meaning is, "This is the ground of his blessedness: this is that fundamental privilege from which all the other ingredients of his blessedness flow." In particular, we are here instructed,

I. Concerning the nature of the pardon of sin. This is that which we all need and are undone without; we are therefore concerned to be very solicitous and inquisitive about it. 1. It is the forgiving of transgression. Sin is the transgression of the law. Upon our repentance, the transgression is forgiven; that is, the obligation to punishment which we lay under, by virtue of the sentence of the law, is vacated and cancelled; it is lifted off (so some read it), that by the pardon of it we may be eased of a burden, a heavy burden, like a load on the back, that makes us stoop, or a load on the stomach, that makes us sick, or a load on the spirits, that makes us sink. The remission of sins gives rest and relief to those that were weary and heavily laden, Matt. xi. 28. 2. It is the covering of sin, as nakedness is covered, that it may not appear to our shame, Rev. iii. 18. One of the first symptoms of guilt in our first parents was blushing at their own nakedness. Sin makes us loathsome in the sight of God and utterly unfit for communion with him, and, when conscience is awakened, it makes us loathsome to ourselves too; but, when sin is pardoned, it is covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness, like the coats of skins wherewith God clothed Adam and Eve (an emblem of the remission of sins), so that God is no longer displeased with us, but perfectly reconciled. They are not covered from us (no; My sin is ever before me) nor covered from God's omniscience, but from his vindictive justice. When he pardons sin he remembers it no more, he casts it behind his back, it shall be sought for and not found, and the sinner, being thus reconciled to God, begins to be reconciled to himself. 3. It is the not imputing of iniquity, not laying it to the sinner's charge, not proceeding against him for it according to the strictness of the law, not dealing with him as he deserves. The righteousness of Christ being imputed to us, and we being made the righteousness of God in him, our iniquity is not imputed, God having laid upon him the iniquity of us all and made him sin for us. Observe, Not to impute iniquity is God's act, for he is the Judge. It is God that justifies.

II. Concerning the character of those whose sins are pardoned: in whose spirit there is no guile. He does not say, "There is no guilt" (for who is there that lives and sins not?), but no guile; the pardoned sinner is one that does not dissemble with God in his professions of repentance and faith, nor in his prayers for peace or pardon, but in all these is sincere and means as he says—that does not repent with a purpose to sin again, and then sin with a purpose to repent again, as a learned interpreter glosses upon it. Those that design honestly, that are really what they profess to be, are Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile.

III. Concerning the happiness of a justified state: Blessednesses are to the man whose iniquity is forgiven, all manner of blessings, sufficient to make him completely blessed. That is taken away which incurred the curse and obstructed the blessing; and then God will pour out blessings till there be no room to receive them. The forgiveness of sin is that article of the covenant which is the reason and ground of all the rest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, Heb. viii. 12.

IV. Concerning the uncomfortable condition of an unhumbled sinner, that sees his guilt, but is not yet brought to make a penitent confession of it. This David describes very pathetically, from his own sad experience (v. 3, 4): While I kept silence my bones waxed old. Those may be said to keep silence who stifle their convictions, who, when they cannot but see the evil of sin and their danger by reason of it, ease themselves by not thinking of it and diverting their minds to something else, as Cain to the building of a city,—who cry not when God binds them,—who will not unburden their consciences by a penitent confession, nor seek for peace, as they ought, by faithful and fervent prayer,—and who choose rather to pine away in their iniquities than to take the method which God has appointed of finding rest for their souls. Let such expect that their smothered convictions will be a fire in their bones, and the wounds of sin, not opened, will fester, and grow intolerably painful. If conscience be seared, the case is so much the more dangerous; but if it be startled and awake, it will be heard. The hand of divine wrath will be felt lying heavily upon the soul, and the anguish of the spirit will affect the body; to the degree David experienced it, so that when he was young his bones waxed old; and even his silence made him roar all the day long, as if he had been under some grievous pain and distemper of body, when really the cause of all his uneasiness was the struggle he felt in his own bosom between his convictions and his corruptions. Note, He that covers his sin shall not prosper; some inward trouble is required in repentance, but there is much worse in impenitency.

V. Concerning the true and only way to peace of conscience. We are here taught to confess our sins, that they may be forgiven, to declare them, that we may be justified. This course David took: I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and no longer hid my iniquity, v. 5. Note, Those that would have the comfort of the pardon of their sins must take shame to themselves by a penitent confession of them. We must confess the fact of sin, and be particular in it (Thus and thus have I done), confess the fault of sin, aggravate it, and lay a load upon ourselves for it (I have done very wickedly), confess the justice of the punishment we have been under for it (The Lord is just in all that is brought upon us), and that we deserve much worse—I am no more worthy to be called thy son. We must confess sin with shame and holy blushing, with fear and holy trembling.

VI. Concerning God's readiness to pardon sin to those who truly repent of it: "I said, I will confess (I sincerely resolved upon it, hesitated no longer, but came to a point, that I would make a free and ingenuous confession of my sins) and immediately thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, and gavest me the comfort of the pardon in my own conscience; immediately I found rest to my soul." Note, God is more ready to pardon sin, upon our repentance, than we are to repent in order to the obtaining of pardon. It was with much ado that David was here brought to confess his sins; he was put to the rack before he was brought to do it (v. 3, 4), he held out long, and would not surrender till it came to the last extremity; but, when he did offer to surrender, see how quickly, how easily, he obtained good terms: "I did but say, I will confess, and thou forgavest." Thus the father of the prodigal saw his returning son when he was yet afar off, and ran to meet him with the kiss that sealed his pardon. What an encouragement is this to poor penitents, and what an assurance does it give us that, if we confess our sins, we shall find God, not only faithful and just, but gracious and kind, to forgive us our sins!

VII. Concerning the good use that we are to make of the experience David had had of God's readiness to forgive his sins (v. 6): For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. Note, 1. All godly people are praying people. As soon as ever Paul was converted, Behold, he prays, Acts ix. 11. You may as soon find a living man without breath as a living Christian without prayer. 2. The instructions given us concerning the happiness of those whose sins are pardoned, and the easiness of obtaining the pardon, should engage and encourage us to pray, and particularly to pray, God be merciful to us sinners. For this shall every one that is well inclined be earnest with God in prayer, and come boldly to the throne of grace, with hopes to obtain mercy, Heb. iv. 16. 3. Those that would speed in prayer must seek the Lord in a time when he will be found. When, by his providence, he calls them to seek him, and by his Spirit stirs them up to seek him, they must go speedily to seek the Lord (Zech. viii. 21) and lose no time, lest death cut them off, and then it will be too late to seek him, Isa. lv. 6. Behold, now is the accepted time, 2 Cor. vi. 2, 4. Those that are sincere and abundant in prayer will find the benefit of it when they are in trouble: Surely in the floods of great waters, which are very threatening, they shall not come nigh them, to terrify them, or create them any uneasiness, much less shall they overwhelm them. Those that have God nigh unto them in all that which they call upon him for, as all upright, penitent, praying people have, are so guarded, so advanced, that no waters—no, not great waters—no, not floods of them, can come nigh them, to hurt them. As the temptations of the wicked one touch them not (1 John v. 18), so neither do the troubles of this evil world; these fiery darts of both kinds, drop short of them.

Devout Confidence.

7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord , mercy shall compass him about. 11 Be glad in the Lord , and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

David is here improving the experience he had had of the comfort of pardoning mercy.

I. He speaks to God, and professes his confidence in him and expectation from him, v. 7. Having tasted the sweetness of divine grace to a penitent sinner, he cannot doubt of the continuance of that grace to a praying saint, and that in that grace he should find both safety and joy. 1. Safety: "Thou art my hiding-place; when by faith I have recourse to thee I see all the reason in the world to be easy, and to think myself out of the reach of any real evil. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, from the sting of it, and from the strokes of it as far as is good for me. Thou shalt preserve me from such trouble as I was in while I kept silence," v. 3. When God has pardoned our sins, if he leaves us to ourselves, we shall soon run as far in debt again as ever and plunge ourselves again into the same gulf; and therefore, when we have received the comfort of our remission, we must fly to the grace of God to be preserved from returning to folly again, and having our hearts again hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. God keeps his people from trouble by keeping them from sin. 2. Joy: "Thou shalt not only deliver me, but compass me about with songs of deliverance; which way soever I look I shall see occasion to rejoice and to praise God; and my friends also shall compass me about in the great congregation, to join with me in songs of praise: they shall join their songs of deliverance with mine. As every one that is godly shall pray with me, so they shall give thanks with me."

II. He turns his speech to the children of men. Being himself converted, he does what he can to strengthen his brethren (Luke xxii. 32): I will instruct thee, whoever thou art that desirest instruction, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, v. 8. This, in another of his penitential psalms, he resolves that when God should have restored to him the joy of his salvation he would teach transgressors his ways, and do what he could to convert sinners to God, as well as to comfort those that were converted, Ps. li. 12, 13. When Solomon became a penitent he immediately became a preacher, Eccl. i. 1. Those are best able to teach others the grace of God who have themselves had the experience of it: and those who are themselves taught of God ought to tell others what he has done for their souls (Ps. lxvi. 16) and so teach them. I will guide thee with my eye. Some apply this to God's conduct and direction. He teaches us by his word and guides us with his eye, by the secret intimations of his will in the hints and turns of Providence, which he enables his people to understand and take direction from, as a master makes a servant know his mind by a wink of his eye. When Christ turned and looked upon Peter he guided him with his eye. But it is rather to be taken as David's promise to those who sat under his instruction, his own children and family especially: "I will counsel thee; my eye shall be upon thee" (so the margin reads it); "I will give thee the best counsel I can and then observe whether thou takest it or no." Those that are taught in the word should be under the constant inspection of those that teach them; spiritual guides must be overseers. In this application of the foregoing doctrine concerning the blessedness of those whose sins are pardoned we have a word to sinners and a word to saints; and this is rightly dividing the word of truth and giving to each their portion.

1. Here is a word of caution to sinners, and a good reason is given for it. (1.) The caution is, not to be unruly and ungovernable: Be you not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding, v. 9. When the psalmist would reproach himself for the sins he repented of he compared himself to a beast before God (so foolish have I been and ignorant, Ps. lxxiii. 22) and therefore warns others not to be so. It is our honour and happiness that we have understanding, that we are capable of being governed by reason and of reasoning with ourselves. Let us therefore use the faculties we have, and act rationally. The horse and mule must be managed with bit and bridle, lest they come near us, to do us a mischief, or (as some read it) that they may come near to us, to do us service, that they may obey us, Jam. iii. 3. Let us not be like them; let us not be hurried by appetite and passion, at any time, to go contrary to the dictate of right reason and to our true interest. If sinners would be governed and determined by these, they would soon become saints and would not go a step further in their sinful courses; where there is renewing grace there is no need of the bit and bridle of restraining grace. (2.) The reason for this caution is because the way of sin which we would persuade you to forsake will certainly end in sorrow (v. 10): Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, which will not only spoil their vain and carnal mirth, and put an end to it, but will make them pay dearly for it. Sin will have sorrow, if not repented of, everlasting sorrow. It was part of the sentence, I will greatly multiply thy sorrows. "Be wise for yourselves therefore, and turn from your wickedness, that you may prevent those sorrows, those many sorrows."

2. Here is a word of comfort to saints, and a good reason is given for that too. (1.) They are assured that if they will but trust in the Lord, and keep closely to him, mercy shall compass them about on every side (v. 10), so that they shall not depart from God, for that mercy shall keep them in, nor shall any real evil break in upon them, for that mercy shall keep it out. (2.) They are therefore commanded to be glad in the Lord, and to rejoice in him, to such a degree as even to shout for joy, v. 11. Let them be so transported with this holy joy as not to be able to contain themselves; and let them affect others with it, that they also may see that a life of communion with God is the most pleasant and comfortable life we can live in this world. This is that present bliss which the upright in heart, and they are only, are entitled to and qualified for.

PSAL. XXXII.

An instructing Psalme of David:

O Blessed hee whose trespasse is forgiven, whose sinne is covered. O blessed is the man, to whom Iehovah imputeth not iniquitie, and in whose spirit is no deceit. Because I ceased speaking, my bones wore away with age in my roring all the day. For day & night thy hand was heavy upō me; my moisture was turned into the droughts of summer Selah. My sin I acknowledged to thee, and my iniquitie I covered not; I said, I will confesse against me my trespasses to Iehovah: and thou forgavest the iniquitie of my sinne Selah. For this shall every gracious Saint pray unto thee at the time of finding: surely, at the floud of many waters, unto him they shall not reach. Thou art a secret place to me, from distresse thou wilt preserve me; with shouting songs of deliverance thou wilt compasse me Selah. I will make thee prudent, and will teach thee in the way that thou shalt goe: I will give counsell, mine eye shall be upon thee. Be not ye as the horse, as the mule, without understanding, whose mouth must be stopped with bit and bridle, which come not neere unto thee. Many pains are for the wicked, but he that trusteth in Iehovah, mercy shall compasse him. Rejoyce ye in Iehovah, and be glad ye just, and shout joyfully all ye upright of heart.

Annotations. AN instructing Psalme] or, A Psalme that maketh prudent, that causeth understanding. As in the 8. verse of this psalm he saith, I wil make thee prudent, or instruct thee. This title is set before sundry other Psalmes. whose sinne is covered] meaning, by the Lord, Psal. 85. 3. not by a man himselfe, who must not cover, but acknowledge sinne, Psal. 32. 5. otherwise, he shall not prosper, Prov. 28. 13. Now God covereth sinne, when hee imputeth it not, as the verse following sheweth: and as this is mans happinesse, so for God not to cover it, is woe and misery, Nehem. 4. 5. Vers. 2. not impute] not thinke, count, or reckon. And this is an effect of his grace in Christ, as it is written, God was in Christ, and reconciled the world to himselfe, not imputing their sinnes unto them, 2 Cor. 5. 19. And hereunto the Apostle applieth this Psalme thus; David saith, blessednesse is the mans unto whom God imputeth justnesse without works; saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sinnes are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sinne, Rom. 4. 6, 7, 8. Vers. 3. because I ceased speaking] or, when I kept silence, forbearing to confesse my sinnes, as after, vers. 5. Like doctrine Elih[illegible: 1 letter] teacheth, Iob 33. 19,—22. Vers. 4. thy haud] in Chaldee, thy plague. moisture] the chiefe sap, or radicall moisture, which is an airy and oily substance, dispred through the body, whereby the life is fostered, and which being spent, death ensueth. This word is used onely here and in Num. 11. 8. where it is applied to the best moisture (or creame) of oile. Vers. 5. confesse] Confessing of sinnes is when one freely manifesteth them, accusing himselfe, and praising Gods mercie, which he expecteth in faith: see Ios. 7. 19. against me my trespasses] or, concerning my trespasses; but both the Greeke version plainly hath, against me, and elsewhere the Hebrew ghnalei (here vsed) seemeth to bee put for ghnalai: as Psal. 108. 10. compared with Psal. 60. 10. the iniquitie of my sinne] that is, the guilt and punishment of it; as Psal. 31. 11. And thus he that confesseth and forsaketh sinne, shall have mercie, Prov. 28. 13. for if wee acknowledge our sinnes, God is faithfull and just, to forgive us them, 1 Ioh. 1. 9 See also Iob 33. 27, 28. Vers. 6. the time of finding] or, time to finde: which may be meant of the time when afflictions shall finde, that is, shall come vpon him; as Psal. 116. 3, 4. or the time when God may be found, as Isa. 55. 6. and that time is, when he is sought with the whole heart, Deut. 4. 29. Ier. 29. 13. 2 Chron. 15. 15. To this latter the Chaldee applieth it, saying, of favour. floud] or inundation. As waters signifie afflictions, Psal. 69. 2. so a floud of waters denoteth great troubles and persecutions, Dan. 9. 26. and 11. 22. Nahum 1. 8. Isa. 59. 19. Rev. 12. 15, 16. The Chaldee paraphraseth, in the time when many peoples come as waters, they shall not come neare him to doe him evill. Vers. 7. shouting songs of deliverance] or, of evasion, that is, thou wilt give me occasion by deliverance of me, to sing many songs of praise unto thee. Vers. 8. mine eie shall be upon thee] or, mine eie I will set upon thee, that is, I will have care of, and looke well unto thee, as Ier. 40. 4. Ezra. 5. 5. Deut. 11. 12. Psal. 34. 16. So the Chaldee explaineth it, I will counsell thee, and set mine eie upon thee for good. Or thus, I will give counsel unto thee with mine eie, that is, with my care and providence. Thus Christ counselled Peter with his eie, Luk. 22. 61. So the eie is said to mocke, Prov. 30. 17. Vers. 9. as the horse, &c.] that is, be not fooles, and brutish, so as ye must be ruled by force and rigour, not by reason. For unto the horse belongs a whip, unto the asse a bridle, and a rod to the fooles backe, Prov. 26. 3. mouth must be stopped] or, jaw is to be tied. Hebr. to stop; for, to be stopped: active for passive; as after Ps. 36. 3. which come not neare] that is, which will not obey or doe thee service, unlesse they be forced and ruled by the bridle: according to the saying of the Apostle, Behold, wee put bits into the horses mouthes that they should obey us, Iam. 3. 3. Vers. 10. Many paines] or, Great smarts (or sores) are for the wicked: So Solomon saith, Affliction followeth sinners, &c. Prov. 13. 21. and 19. 29. and 24. 20.

PSAL. XXXII.

A Pſalm of David, Maſchil] i.e. Giving inſtruction, or making prudent; for David here, out of his own experience, turneth Teacher, verſ. 7. and the leſſon that he layeth before his Diſciples is the Doctrin of Juſtification by Faith, that ground of true bleſſedneſs, Rom. 4.6, 7. Docet igitur hic Pſalmus verè precioſus pracipuum & proprium fidei Chriſtiana caput, ſaith Beza, This moſt precious Pſalm inſtructeth us in the chief and principal point of Chriſtian Religion, and it differeth herein from the firſt Pſalm, that there are ſet forth the effects of Bleſſedneſs; but here, the cauſe; Quon[illegible: 2 letters]dò etians eſt Paulus cum Jacobo conciliandus, ſaith he.

Verſ. 1. Bleſſed is be whoſe tranſgreſſion is forgiven] The heavy burthen of whoſe treſpaſſes is taken off, as the word importeth, and he is looſed, caſed, and lightned. Sin is an intollerable burden, Iſa. 1.3. ſuch as preſſeth down, Heb. 12.1.2. burden it is to God, Am. 2.13. to Chriſt it was, when it made him ſweat water and bloud; to the Angels, when it brake their backs, and ſunk them into Hell; to men, under whom the very earth groaneth, the Axeltree thereof is even ready to crack, &c. it could not bear Corah and his company, it ſpewed out the Canaanites, &c. O then the heaped up happineſs of a juſtified perſon, disburdened of his tranſgreſſions! The word here rendred tranſgreſſion ſignifieth Treachery, and wickedneſs with a witneſs. Aben-Ezra faith, David hereby intends his Sin with Bathſheba; and ſurely this Pſalm, and the one and fiftieth may ſeem to have been made upon the ſame occaſion, they are tuned ſo near together.

Whoſe ſin is covered] As excrements and ordure are covered, that they may not be an eye-ſore, or annoyance to any. Sin is an odious thing, the Devils duivell, or vomit, the corruption of a dead ſoul, the filthineſs of fleſh and ſpirit. Get a cover for it therefore (ſc. Chriſts righteouſneſs, called a propitiation, or coverture, and raiment, Rev. 3.18.) Ʋt ſic veletur, ne in judicio reveletur, that the ſhame of thy nakedneſs may not appear.

Verſ. 2. Bleſſed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity] Let no man think this triplication of the ſame thing needleſſe or ſuperfluous; ſith the poor ſoul afflicted with ſenſe of ſin and fear of wrath, is not eaſily perſwaded of pardon; but when faith would lay hold on the promiſe, Satan rappeth her on the fingers, as it were, and ſeeks to beat her off. Beſides, by ſuch an emphaticall repetition and heap of words to one purpoſe, the great grace of God in pardoning mens ſin, is plainly and plentifully declared and celebrated; it being a mercy that no words, how wide ſoever, can ſufficiently ſet forth. By the word iniquity, ſome underſtand originall ſin, that peccatum peccans, as the Schooles call it, that [non-Latin text not transcribed] common cauſe and impure ſeminary of all actuall diſobediences. Neither this, nor any of the fruites of it, doth the Lord impute, reckon count, or think to the pardoned finner, 2 Cor. 5.19. Cui non cogitat peccatum, ſo ſome render it, To whom he thinketh no ſin, that is, he reputeth or imputeth it not for a ſin he putteth it not into the reckoning, Iſa. 43.25. & 48.9, 11. the Bill or Bond is cancelled Col. 2.14. and there remaineth no action. Chriſt is our ſuerty, Heb. 7.22. Now the ſuerty and debtour are in law reputed as one perſon. Chriſt is made ſin for us, that is, in our ſtead or place, that wee might be made the righteouſneſſe of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. ult.

And in whoſe ſpirit there is no guile] Sed ſincere & ſine dolo à ſuis peccatis reſipiſcit, & ad Dei miſericordiam ſe recipit. The juſtified are alſo ſanctified, 1 Cor. 6.11. they hide not their ſins as Adam, thy neither excuſe nor extenuate what evills they have done, but think and ſpeak the worſt of their ſins, they lay load upon themſelves, they hate Hy pocriſie and deteſt diſſimulation; it is a queſtion whether they do more deſire to be good, or abhorre to ſeem only to be ſo. B ſil, as he commendeth that ſentence of Plato, that ſeeming ſanctity is double iniquity; ſo hee juſtly condemneth that ſaying of Euripides; I had rather ſeem to bee good, than be ſo indeed. That maxim of Machiavel is the ſame for ſenſe, that vertue it ſelf ſhould not be ſought after, but only the appearance; becauſe the credit is an help, the uſe a cumber. The pardoned finner is ſanctified throughout, waſhed not only from his ſin (the guilt and filth of it) but his ſwiniſh nature alſo (the love and liking of it) he hath no mind to return to his vomit, or wallowing in the mire, ſaith R. Solomon here; he ſaith not Reſipiſcam & denuo peccabo, vel peccabo & reſipiſcam, as R. David ſenſeth it, I will repent, and then ſin again; or ſin again, and then repent. This he knoweth to be incompatible with faith unfeigned, and hope unfailable, 1 Tim. 1.5. 1 Joh. 3.3.

Verſ. 3. When I kept ſilence] i.e. Whileſt I through guile of ſpirit (for this leaven of Hypocriſie is more or leſſe in the beſt hearts, though it ſway not there) concealed my ſin, and kept the Devills counſel, contenting my ſelf with his anodines and falſe plaiſters. That old man ſlayer knoweth well, that as ſin is the ſoules ſickneſſe, ſo confeſſion is the ſoules [illegible: 1 word]; and that there is no way to purge the ſick ſoul, but upwards. He therefore holdeth the lips cloſe, that the heart may not diſburden it ſelf. David by his perſwaſion, kept ſilence for a while, but that he found was to his ruthe; and if he had held ſo, it might have been to his ruine. Men, in pain of conſcience, will ſhark for eaſe, rather than ſue for pardon; as the Prodigall firſt joyned himſelf to a Citizen, then ate husks, &c. before he would reſolve to return. Satan had firſt ſeduced David, and then gagg'd him, as it were, that he might keep ſilence. But then God took him, and ſet him, upon the rack, where he roared till he reſolved to confeſſe. And the like befell Bilney, Bainbam, Whittle, and many other of the Martyrs, who having firſt yeelded, could never be at reſt within themſelves till they had publickly confeſſed their fault, and retracted their ſubſcriptions to thoſe Popiſh Articles.

My bones waxed old] i.e. My ſtrength waſted and wore away, I was in a pittifull plight, per febrim for ſan, ſaith an expoſitour, by a feaver, poſſibly, the fruit of his inward affliction. So bitter and burdenſome is ſin cloaked, and cloſe kept.

Through my rearing all the day long] Like a wild beaſt,Jun. belluinos potius quam humanos gensitus & querimonias fudi, I rather roared to the enfeebling of my body, than repented to the eaſing of my conſcience. I cryed out for pain, but prayed not for pardon. As a Lyon in a ſnare roareth, as a bird in a gin fluttereth, ſo it fareth with Hypocrites under Gods hand (and with better men too ſometimes, and for a ſeaſon) but eſpecially in pangs of conſcience, they bellow like bulls in a net, or ſwine, when a ſticking; they beat the air with many brutiſh roarings and ragings, which avail them no more than if an Ox ſhould break out of the ſlaughter-houſe after the deadly blow given him; the ſting of conſcience ſtill remaineth.

Verſ. 4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon mee] See what God can do when once he taketh a man to do. Day and night hee had ſinned againſt God; therefore day and night he ſuffereth; and glad he may be that he ſo ſcapeth, and is not forced to undergo an eternity of extremity. Some think that this Pſalm, and the ſixth, were made much about a time; when David was newly recovered of ſome grievous fit of ſickneſſe. It may be meant only of his inward terrours, or chiefly at leaſt; his body ſuffering by Sympathy, as having ſhared in his ſin.

My moiſture is turned into the drought of Summer] My naturall radicall moiſture, that oyl that maintaineth the lamp of life, is dryed up and become like a lump of clay; the vigour alſo and verdure of my ſoul is quelled and conſumed with the fire of thy fierce wrath. God will bring his beſt people to this, if they put him to it; that they ſhall find it to be the greateſt folly in the World, to buy the ſweeteſt ſin at ſo dear a rate.

Selah] I ſpeak it feelingly.Vat. O quantum tormentum, &c. O aridum & exhauſtuns me prae maſtitia, &c. O my pittifull condition!

Verſ. 5. I acknowledged my ſin unto thee] Though it were long firſt, yet thou broughteſt mee to it. The ſoul is ready to hang her comforts on every hedge, to ſhift and ſhark in every by-corner for comfort, rather than to repair to the right fountain. Let ſhould have eſcaped to the Mountaines at firſt; but he would needs to Zoar; which yet was ſoon too hot to hold him; David ſhould have acknowledged his ſin ere this time; he ſhould ſpeedily have caſt up the poyſon he had ſwallowed down, before it got to the vitalls; but he had no mind to it, till he had taſted of the whip, and then he agnized his ſin unto the Lord, he put himſelf into the hands of juſtice, in hope of mercy. The properties or conditions of ſound Confeſſion are theſe, ſay the Schoolmen in this Tetraſtich.

Sit ſimplex, humilis confeſſio, pura, fidelis, At que frequens, nuda & diſcreta, lubens, verecunda, Integra, ſecreta, & lachrymabilis, accelerata, Fortis, & accuſans, & ſe punire parata.

And mine iniquity have I not hid] In confeſſion wee muſt ſhew the Lord the iniquity of our ſin, the filthineſſe of our leudneſſe, the abomination of our provocations, Rom. 7.13. Wee muſt bring out our ſins (as they took the Veſſells of the Sanctuary, Ezra. 8.34.) by number, and by weight; laying open how many tranſgreſſions are wrap'd up in our ſins, and their circumſtances. See for this, Levit. 16.21.

I ſaid, I will confeſſe, &c. i.e. I reſolved and purpoſed ſo to do; but [illegible: 1 word] that could be done, thou forgaveſt, &c. Gods ear was in Davids heart, before his confeſſion could be in his tongue. So, at another time, he did but conceive a purpoſe to build God an houſe, and God rewarded it with the building and eſtabliſhing of Davids houſe, 2 Sam. 7.

And thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin] The ſting and ſtain of it, the criminall and penall part ofit,Vel peccatum peccati, Uti[illegible: 1 letter]ur duobus vocabulis ad aggravandum peccatum ſuum. Kimchi. As we ſay, terra pulveris, or [illegible: 1 word] luti. the worſt thing that was in it; not the fire only, but the filth that was in it; reſerving ſtill to thy ſelf a power of fatherly corrections, and medicinall miſeries. But the iniquity of ſin is wiped off by the ſpunge of true confeſſion. Homo agnoſcit, Deus ignoſcit. Man no ſooner acknowledgeth the debt, but God croſſeth the Book. It is therefore good counſell that a Father giveth, Fac confitendo propitium, quem tacendo non facis neſcium, Confeſſe and find mercy; ſith by a ſenſeleſſe ſilence thou canſt not keep thy ſins from Gods knowledge of them. Let out that bad blood by opening a vein, that good health may enter.

Per miſereremti, tollitur ira Dei.

Wot you what? (ſaid Henry the eighth to the Duke of Suffolk concerning Step[illegible: 1 letter]en Gardiner when he had confeſſed his Popery, for which he ſhould have been the morrow after ſent to the Tower) he hath confeſſed himſelf as guilty in this matter as his man,Act. & Mon. fol. 1177. and hath with much ſorrow and penſiveneſſe ſued for my pardon. And you know what my nature and cuſtome hath been in ſuch caſes, evermore to pardon them that will not diſſemble, but confeſſe their fault, &c.

Selah] q. d. I ſpeak it joyfully, there being no ſuch matter of mirth in all the World, as the ſweet ſenſe of forgiveneſſe of ſin. O ſingularem (inquit David hic) Dei erga homines peccata ſua agnoſcentes gratiam & benevolentiam!

Verſ. 6. For this ſhall every one that is godly pray unto thee] For this, that thou haſt ſo graciouſly done for mee, the godly ſhall gladly perform theſe two duties; the prayer of faith, and the obedience of faith. As I have been an example to them of ſin (which is now my grief) ſo I ſhall be to them of good, and that's my comfort. Where note firſt, That every godly man is a praying man. God hath no dumb children in his houſe. Secondly, That ſuch will be making uſe of Gods dealing with others for their own inſtruction and comfort, For this. Thirdly, That they will obſerve the fitteſt times to make their addreſſes to God; as Courtiers watch their — molliſſima fandi Tempora

In a time when thou maieſt be found] i.e. In a time of need, ſay ſome, Pſal. 50.15. Or, in a time of favour (as the Chaldee here hath it) Iſa. 53.6. before the decree bring forth, Zepb. 2.2. before the draw-bridge be taken up, the day of grace be expired, Joh. 7.34. & 8.21. Heb. 6.6. Luk. 13.29.

Surely in the floods of great Waters] In the greateſt of outward troubles, or inward perplexities.

They ſhall not come nigh unto him] ſc. To prejudice his eternall ſalvation; freed he ſhall be, if not from the ſmart, yet from the hurt of perſonall croſſes; and for publick calamities, he ſhall be delivered, if not from the common deſtruction, yet from the common diſtraction. Waſhed he may bee, as Paul was in the ſhipwrack, but not drowned with thoſe floods of great waters; be they never ſo great, they are bounded. Beſides, the godly man reſcipiſcit antequam ſuperveniant fluctus miſeriarum, as R. Obad. here noteth, repenteth before thoſe floods come upon him, and ſo redeemeth his own ſorrows. For he ſaith thus,

Verſ. 7. Thou art my hiding place, &c.] And therefore I being a pardoned perſon, ſhall be in ſafety under thy wings, Pſal. 91. per to[illegible: 1 letter]um.

Thou ſhalt preſerve mee from trouble] Either from it, or in it; that I be not hurt by it. The godly, after one trouble muſt prepare for another; after one deliverance expect another. A company cometh, as ſhe ſaid.

Thou ſhalt compaſs mee about with ſongs] i.e. Plentifully furniſh mee with matter of praiſe, ita ut latus Peana canam. And like as in a lottery at every prize the trumpet ſoundeth; ſo at every deliverance I will ſing aloud to thy glory. All my springs ſhall be in thee.

Verſ. 8. I will inſtruct thee and teach thee, &c.] No diſgrace is it then for great men to be teachers of others. Here we have 2 Prince-preacher; ſuch as was alſo Salomon, George Prince of Anbals, and others.

I will guide thee with mine eye] i. e. With my carefull inſpection and overſight. I will ſee that thou profit in godlineſſe. The Chaldee hath it, I will counſell thee, and ſet mine eye upon thee for good. Thus Chriſt counſelled Peter with his eye, Luk. 22.61. Miniſters muſt watch over their peoples and ſee that all go right. Hence they are called Seers, Superintendents, Biſhops.

Verſ. 9. Bee yee not as the horſe, or as the [illegible: 1 word] ] David having according to the title Maſchil promiſed to teach, uſeth this preface to beſpeak attention: Be not uncounſeilable, irreclaimeable, ſuch as Baſil complaineth of, qui ne que Ad Evag. Epiſt. 10. quid ſit veruns ſciun[illegible: 1 letter], ne que ſuſtineut diſcers, who neither knew, not would bee taught what was true, and fit to be practiſed. Of the Rhinoceros, ſome write, that ſlain he may be, caught he cannot be. Others, that he is animal an[illegible: 2 letters]e [illegible: 1 word], a moſt untameable creature; for if he be taken, he preſently dyeth of ſullenneſſe. Such ſpirits we meet with not a few, who yet would take it in foul ſcorn to bee reckoned horſes, and Aſſes that have no underſtanding, neither will be taught any. To theſe the Pſalmiſt here ſaith, No obſt upeſaite, & obbruteſcite ad exercitations Dai, &c. Be not as horſe or mule, leſt ye be led thorough a fools Paradiſe into a true priſon. Bee not headlong, headſtrong, untameable, untractable, &c. The horſe and mule are inſtanced, as well known amongſt the Jews; and uſed to bee ridden on.

Which have no underſtanding] And yet the horſe knoweth his owner, &c. Strange things are reported of Bucephalus, and Julius Ceſars great horſe. Of the Egpptian Mamalukes horſes it is reported, that they were ſo docible, that at certain ſignes or ſpeeches of the rider, they would with their teeth reach him up from the ground a launce, an arrow, or ſuch like thing; and as if they had known the enemy,Turk. hiſt. 529. run upon him with open mouth, and laſh at him with their heeles; and had by nature and cuſtome learned not to be afraid of any thing.

Wheſe mouth muſt be held in with bit and bridle] Leſt they kick and bite thee.Ne morde[illegible: 1 letter] noceatve [illegible: 1 word] Jun. Such is the mad Worlds wages and uſage of the moſt faithfull Preachers. B. Ridley lamented it in his time, the great ones ſpurned privily againſt thoſe that went about moſt buſily and whole[illegible: 1 letter]omely to cure their ſore backs.Act. & [illegible: 1 word] 1616. As for Latimers Lever, Bradford, Knox (ſaith he) their tongues were ſo ſharp, they ripped in ſo deep to their galled backs, to let out the filthy matter, that they could never abide them. Thus He, and much more concerning King Edward the ſixth his Courtiers. The words may be read thus, whoſe mouth, except it be held with bit and bridle, they wilnot come nigh unto thee, that is, thou wilt not be able to rule them. It is a good obſervation of a modern Divine, Not the unruly colt only, but the horſe that is broken, hath a bitt and bridle alſo; So even the godly need the bridle of the Law, n[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 1 span] excutiant, leſt they caſt their rider.

Verſ. 10. Many ſorrowes ſhall bee to the wicked] This is Davids Doctrin (his life followeth in the next verſe) Many pains, or great ſmarts are for the Wicked, &c. And as Luther ſaith, Let him that can rightly diſtinguiſh betwixt Law and Goſpel, give thanks to God, and know himſelf to bee a good Divine; ſo ſay I, Let him that is firmly perſwaded of this truth here delivered, know himſelf to be a good proficient in Chriſts School; for it is the principle of all holy learning.

Verſ. 11. Bee glad in the Lord] Joy is the just [illegible: 1 word] portion. A pardoned ſinner, as verſ. 1, 2. is here called upon (in an uſe of conſolation) to be as merry as mirth can make him; for what ſhould ayl ſuch an once as wee ſay of a rich man. Viſcaunt Liſte in Henry the eighths time dyed for joy of an unſpected pardon. [illegible: 1 word] what was that to Gods pardon of all fins?

Blessed. Like the sermon on the mount on the mount, this Psalm begins with beatitudes. This is the second Psalm of benediction. The first Psalm describes the result of holy blessedness, the thirty-second details the cause of it. The first pictures the tree in full growth, this depicts it in its first planting and watering. He who in the first Psalm is a reader of God's book, is here a suppliant at God's throne accepted and heard. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. He is now blessed and ever shall be. Be he ever so poor, or sick, or sorrowful, he is blessed in very deed. Pardoning mercy is of all things in the world most to be prized, for it is the only and sure way to happiness. To hear from God's own Spirit the words, "absolvo te" is joy unspeakable. Blessedness is not in this case ascribed to the man who has been a diligent law keeper, for then it would never come to us, but rather to a lawbreaker, who by grace most rich and free has been forgiven. Self righteous Pharisees have no portion in this blessedness. Over the returning prodigal, the word of welcome is here pronounced, and the music and dancing begin. A full, instantaneous, irreversible pardon of transgression turns the poor sinner's hell into heaven, and makes the heir of wrath a partaker in blessing. The word rendered forgiven is in the original taken off or taken away, as a burden is lifted or a barrier removed. What a lift is here! It cost our Saviour a sweat of blood to bear our load, yea, it cost him his life to bear it quite away. Samson carried the gates of Gaza, but what was that to the weight which Jesus bore on our behalf? Whose sin is covered. Covered by God, as the ark was covered by the mercyseat, as Noah was covered from the flood, as the Egyptians were covered by the depths of the sea. What a cover must that be which hides away for ever from the sight of the all seeing God all the filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit! He who has once seen sin in its horrible deformity, will appreciate the happiness of seeing it no more for ever. Christ's atonement is the propitiation, the covering, the making an end of sin; where this is seen and trusted in, the soul knows itself to be now accepted in the Beloved, and therefore enjoys a conscious blessedness which is the antepast of heaven. It is clear from the text that a man may know that he is pardoned: where would be the blessedness of an unknown forgiveness? Clearly it is a matter of knowledge, for it is the ground of comfort.

Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. The word blessed is in the plural, oh, the blessednesses! the double joys, the bundles of happiness, the mountains of delight! Note the three words so often used to denote our disobedience: transgression, sin, and iniquity, are the three headed dog at the gates of hell, but our glorious Lord has silenced his barkings for ever against his own believing ones. The trinity of sin is overcome by the Trinity of heaven. Non imputation is of the very essence of pardon: the believer sins, but his sin is not reckoned, not accounted to him. Certain divines froth at the mouth with rage against imputed righteousness, be it ours to see our sin not imputed, and to us may there be as Paul words it, "Righteousness imputed without works." He is blessed indeed who has a substitute to stand for him to whose account all his debts may be set down. And in whose spirit there is no guile. He who is pardoned, has in every case been taught to deal honestly with himself, his sin, and his God. Forgiveness is no sham, and the peace which it brings is not caused by playing tricks with conscience. Self deception and hypocrisy bring no blessedness, they may drug the soul into hell with pleasant dreams, but into the heaven of true peace they cannot conduct their victim. Free from guilt, free from guile. Those who are justified from fault are sanctified from falsehood. A liar is not a forgiven soul. Treachery, double dealing, chicanery, dissimulation, are lineaments of the devil's children, but he who is washed from sin is truthful, honest, simple, and childlike. There can be no blessedness to tricksters with their plans, and tricks, and shuffling, and pretending: they are too much afraid of discovery to be at ease; their house is built on the volcano's brink, and eternal destruction must be their portion. Observe the three words to describe sin, and the three words to represent pardon, weigh them well, and note their meaning. (See note at the end.)

Verses 3-5. David now gives us his own experience: no instructor is so efficient as one who testifies to what he has personally known and felt. He writes well who like the spider spins his matter out of his own bowels.

When I kept silence. When through neglect I failed to confess, or through despair dared not do so, my bones, those solid pillars of my frame, the stronger portions of my bodily constitution, waxed old, began to decay with weakness, for my grief was so intense as to sap my health and destroy my vital energy. What a killing thing is sin! It is a pestilent disease! A fire in the bones! While we smother our sin it rages within, and like a gathering wound swells horribly and torments terribly. Through my roaring all the day long. He was silent as to confession, but not as to sorrow. Horror at his great guilt, drove David to incessant laments, until his voice was no longer like the articulate speech of man, but so full of sighing and groaning, that it resembled to hoarse roaring of a wounded beast. None knows the pangs of conviction but those who have endured them. The rack, the wheel, the flaming fagot are ease compared with the Tophet which a guilty conscience kindles within the breast: better suffer all the diseases which flesh is heir to, than lie under the crushing sense of the wrath of almighty God. The Spanish inquisition with all its tortures was nothing to the inquest which conscience holds within the heart.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. God's finger can crush us —what must his hand be, and that pressing heavily and continuously! Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread. God's hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it presses down: better a world on the shoulder, like Atlas, than God's hand on the heart, like David. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. The sap of his soul was dried, and the body through sympathy appeared to be bereft of its needful fluids. The oil was almost gone from the lamp of life, and the flame flickered as though it would soon expire. Unconfessed transgression, like a fierce poison, dried up the fountain of the man's strength and made him like a tree blasted by the lightning, or a plant withered by the scorching heat of a tropical sun. Alas! for a poor soul when it has learned its sin but forgets its Saviour, it goes hard with it indeed. Selah. It was time to change the tune, for the notes are very low in the scale, and with such hard usage, the strings of the harp are out of order: the next verse will surely be set to another key, or will rehearse a more joyful subject.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee. After long lingering, the broken heart bethought itself of what it ought to have done at the first, and laid bare its bosom before the Lord. The lancet must be let into the gathering ulcer before relief can be afforded. The least thing we can do, if we would be pardoned, is to acknowledge our fault; if we are too proud for this we double deserve punishment. And mine iniquity have I not hid. We must confess the guilt as well as the fact of sin. It is useless to conceal it, for it is well known to God; it is beneficial to us to own it, for a full confession softens and humbles the heart. We must as far as possible unveil the secrets of the soul, dig up the hidden treasure of Achan, and by weight and measure bring out our sins. I said. This was his fixed resolution. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. Not to my fellow men or to the high priest, but unto Jehovah; even in those days of symbol the faithful looked to God alone for deliverance from sin's intolerable load, much more now, when types and shadows have vanished at the appearance of the dawn. When the soul determines to lay low and plead guilty, absolution is near at hand; hence we read, And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Not only was the sin itself pardoned, but the iniquity of it; the virus of its guilt was put away, and that at once, so soon as the acknowledgment was made. God's pardons are deep and thorough: the knife of mercy cuts at the roots of the ill weed of sin. Selah. Another pause is needed, for the matter is not such as may be hurried over.

"Pause, my soul, adore and wonder,

Ask, O why such love to me?

Grace has put me in the number

Of the Saviour's family.

Hallelujah!

Thanks, eternal thanks, to thee."

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. If the psalmist means that on account of God's mercy others would become hopeful, his witness is true. Remarkable answers to prayer very much quicken the prayerfulness of other godly persons. Where one man finds a golden nugget others feel inclined to dig. The benefit of our experience to others should reconcile us to it. No doubt the case of David has led thousands to seek the Lord with hopeful courage who, without such an instance to cheer them, might have died in despair. Perhaps the psalmist meant for this favour or the like all godly souls would seek, and here, again, we can confirm his testimony, for all will draw near to God in the same manner as he did when godliness rules their heart. The mercy seat is the way to heaven for all who shall ever come there. There is, however, a set time for prayer, beyond which it will be unavailing; between the time of sin and the day of punishment mercy rules the hour, and God may be found, but when once the sentence has gone forth pleading will be useless, for the Lord will not be found by the condemned soul. O dear reader, slight not the accepted time, waste not the day of salvation. The godly pray while the Lord has promised to answer, the ungodly postpone their petitions till the Master of the house has risen up and shut to the door, and then their knocking is too late. What a blessing to be led to seek the Lord before the great devouring floods leap forth from their lairs, for then when they do appear we shall be safe. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. The floods shall come, and the waves shall rage, and toss themselves like Atlantic billows; whirlpools and waterspouts shall be on every hand, but the praying man shall be at a safe distance, most surely secured from every ill. David was probably most familiar with those great land floods which fill up, with rushing torrents, the beds of rivers which at other times are almost dry: these overflowing waters often did great damage, and, as in the case of the Kishon, were sufficient to sweep away whole armies. From sudden and overwhelming disasters thus set forth in metaphor the true suppliant will certainly be held secure. He who is saved from sin has no need to fear anything else.

Thou art my hiding place. Terse, short sentences make up this verse, but they contain a world of meaning. Personal claims upon our God are the joy of spiritual life. To lay our hand upon the Lord with the clasp of a personal "my" is delight at its full. Observe that the same man who in the fourth verse was oppressed by the presence of God, here finds a shelter in him. See what honest confession and full forgiveness will do! The gospel of substitution makes him to be our refuge who otherwise would have been our judge. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Trouble shall do me no real harm when the Lord is with me, rather it shall bring me much benefit, like the file which clears away the rust, but does not destroy the metal. Observe the three tenses, we have noticed the sorrowful past, the last sentence was a joyful present, this is a cheerful future. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. What a golden sentence! The man is encircled in song, surrounded by dancing mercies, all of them proclaiming the triumphs of grace. There is no breach in the circle, it completely rings him round; on all sides he hears music. Before him hope sounds the cymbals, and behind him gratitude beats the timbrel. Right and left, above and beneath, the air resounds with joy, and all this for the very man who, a few weeks ago, was roaring all the day long. How great a change! What wonders grace has done and still can do! Selah. There was a need of a pause, for love so amazing needs to be pondered, and joy so great demands quiet contemplation, since language fails to express it.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. Here the Lord is the speaker, and gives the psalmist an answer to his prayer. Our Saviour is our instructor. The Lord himself deigns to teach his children to walk in the way of integrity, his holy word and the monitions of the Holy Spirit are the directors of the believer's daily conversation. We are not pardoned that we may henceforth live after our own lusts, but that we may be educated in holiness and trained for perfection. A heavenly training is one of the covenant blessings which adoption seals to us: "All thy children shall be taught by the Lord." Practical teaching is the very best of instruction, and they are thrice happy who, although they never sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and are ignorant of Aristotle, and the ethics of the schools, have nevertheless learned to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. I will guide thee with mine eye. As servants take their cue from the master's eye, and a nod or a wink is all that they require, so should we obey the slightest hints of our Master, not needing thunderbolts to startle our incorrigible sluggishness, but being controlled by whispers and love touches. The Lord is the great overseer, whose eye in providence overlooks everything. It is well for us to be the sheep of his pasture, following the guidance of his wisdom.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding. Understanding separates man from a brute —let us not act as if we were devoid of it. Men should take counsel and advice, and be ready to run where wisdom points them the way. Alas! we need to be cautioned against stupidity of heart, for we are very apt to fall into it. We who ought to be as the angels, readily become as the beasts. Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. It is much to be deplored that we so often need to be severely chastened before we will obey. We ought to be as a feather in the wind, wafted readily in the breath of the Holy Spirit, but alas! we lie like motionless logs, and stir not with heaven itself in view. Those cutting bits of affliction show how hard mouthed we are, those bridles of infirmity manifest our headstrong and wilful manners. We should not be treated like mules if there was not so much of the ass about us. If we will be fractious, we must expect to be kept in with a tight rein. Oh, for grace to obey the Lord willingly, lest like the wilful servant, we are beaten with many stripes. Calvin renders the last words, "Lest they kick against thee, "a version more probable and more natural, but the passage is confessedly obscure —not however, in its general sense.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. Like refractory horses and mules, they have many cuts and bruises. Here and hereafter the portion of the wicked is undesirable. Their joys are evanescent, their sorrows are multiplying and ripening. He who sows sin will reap sorrow in heavy sheaves. Sorrows of conscience, of disappointment, of terror, are the sinner's sure heritage in time, and then for ever sorrows of remorse and despair. Let those who boast of present sinful joys, remember the shall be of the future and take warning. But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Faith is here placed as the opposite of wickedness, since it is the source of virtue. Faith in God is the great charmer of life's cares, and he who possesses it, dwells in an atmosphere of grace, surrounded with the bodyguard of mercies. May it be given to us of the Lord at all times to believe in the mercy of God, even when we cannot see traces of its working, for to the believer, mercy is as all surrounding as omniscience, and every thought and act of God is perfumed with it. The wicked have a hive of wasps around them, many sorrows; but we have a swarm of bees storing honey for us.

Be glad. Happiness is not only our privilege, but our duty. Truly we serve a generous God, since he makes it a part of our obedience to be joyful. How sinful are our rebellious murmurings! How natural does it seem that a man blest with forgiveness should be glad! We read of one who died at the foot of the scaffold of overjoy at the receipt of his monarch's pardon; and shall we receive the free pardon of the King of kings, and yet pine in inexcusable sorrow? "In the Lord." Here is the directory by which gladness is preserved from levity. We are not to be glad in sin, or to find comfort in corn, and wine, and oil, but in our God is to be the garden of our soul's delight. That there is a God and such a God, and that he is ours, ours for ever, our Father and our reconciled Lord, is matter enough for a never ending psalm of rapturous joy. And rejoice, ye righteous, redouble your rejoicing, peal upon peal. Since God has clothed his choristers in the white garments of holiness, let them not restrain their joyful voices, but sing aloud and shout as those who find great spoil. And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Our happiness should be demonstrative; chill penury of love often represses the noble flame of joy, and men whisper their praises decorously where a hearty outburst of song would be far more natural. It is to be feared that the church of the present day, through a craving for excessive propriety, is growing too artificial; so that enquirers' cries and believers' shouts would be silenced if they were heard in our assemblies. This may be better than boisterous fanaticism, but there is as much danger in the one direction as the other. For our part, we are touched to the heart by a little sacred excess, and when godly men in their joy over leap the narrow bounds of decorum, we do not, like Michal, Saul's daughter, eye them with a sneering heart. Note how the pardoned are represented as upright, righteous, and without guile; a man may have many faults and yet be saved, but a false heart is everywhere the damning mark. A man of twisting, shifty ways, of a crooked, crafty nature, is not saved, and in all probability never will be; for the ground which brings forth a harvest when grace is sown in it, may be weedy and waste, but our Lord tells us it is honest and good ground. Our observation has been that men of double tongues and tricky ways are the least likely of all men to be saved: certainly where grace comes it restores man's mind to its perpendicular, and delivers him from being doubled up with vice, twisted with craft, or bent with dishonesty. Reader, what a delightful Psalm! Have you, in perusing it, been able to claim a lot in the goodly land? If so, publish to others the way of salvation.

Title. The term Maschil is prefixed to thirteen Psalms. Our translators have not ventured to do more, in the text, than simply print the word in English characters; in the margin however they render it, as the Geneva version had done before them, "to give instruction." It would be going too far to affirm that this interpretation is subject to no doubt. Some good Hebraists take exception to it; so that, perhaps, our venerable translators did well to leave it untranslated. Still the interpretation they have set down in the margin, as it is in the most ancient, so it is sustained by the great preponderance of authority. It agrees remarkably with the contents of the thirty-second Psalm, which affords the earliest instance of its use, for that Psalm is preeminently didactic. Its scope is to instruct the convicted soul how to obtain peace with God, and be compassed about with songs of deliverance. William Binnie, D.D., in "The Psalms: Their History, Teachings, and Use, "1870.

Whole Psalm. This is a Didactic Psalm, wherein David teacheth sinners to repent by his doctrine, who taught them to sin by his example. This science is universal and pertaineth to all men, and which necessarily we must all learn; princes, priests, people, men, women, children, tradesmen; all, I say, must be put to this school, without which lesson all others are unprofitable. But to the point. This is a mark of a true penitent, when he hath been a stumbling block to others, to be as careful to raise them up by his repentance as he was hurtful to them by his sin; and I never think that man truly penitent who is ashamed to teach sinners repentance by his own particular proof. The Samaritan woman, when she was converted, left her bucket at the well, entered the city, and said, "Come forth, yonder is a man who hath told me all that I have done." And our Saviour saith to St. Peter, "When thou art converted, strength thy brethren." Joh 4:29 Lu 22:32. St. Paul also after his conversion is not ashamed to call himself chiefest of all sinners, and to teach others to repent of their sins by repenting for his own. Happy, and thrice happy, is the man who can build so much as he hath cast down. Archibald Symson.

Whole Psalm. It is told of Luther that one day being asked which of all the Psalms were the best, he made answer, "Psalmi Paulini, " and when his friends pressed to know which these might be, he said, "The 32nd, the 51st, the 130th, and the 143rd. For they all teach that the forgiveness of our sins comes, without the law and without works, to the man who believes, and therefore I call them Pauline Psalms; and David sings, `There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared, 'this is just what Paul says, `God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.' Ro 11:32. Thus no man may boast of his own righteousness. That word, `That thou mayest be feared, 'dusts away all merit, and teaches us to uncover our heads before God, and confess gratia est, non meritum: remissio, non satisfactio; it is mere forgiveness, not merit at all." Luther's Table Talk.

Whole Psalm. Some assert that this Psalm used to be sung on the day of expiation. Robert Leighton.

The Penitential Psalms. When Galileo was imprisoned by the Inquisition at Rome, for asserting the Copernican System, he was enjoined, as a penance, to repeat the Seven Penitential Psalms every week for three years. This must have been intended as extorting a sort of confession from him of his guilt, and acknowledgment of the justice of his sentence; and in which there certainly was some cleverness and, indeed, humour, however adding to the iniquity (or foolishness) of the proceeding. Otherwise it is not easy to understand what idea of painfulness or punishment the good fathers could attach to a devotional exercise such as this, which, in whatever way, could only have been agreeable and consoling to their prisoner. M. Montague, in "The Seven Penitential Psalms in Verse...with an Appendix and Notes," 1844.

Blessed. Or, O blessed man; or, Oh, the felicities of that man! to denote the most supreme and perfect blessedness. As the elephant, to denote its vast bulk, is spoken of in the plural number, Behemoth. Robert Leighton.

Notice, this is the first Psalm, except the first of all, which begins with Blessedness. In the first Psalm we have the blessing of innocence, or rather, of him who only was innocent: here we have the blessing of repentance, as the next happiest state to that of sinlessness. Lorinus, in Neale's Commentary.

Blessed is the man, saith David, whose sins are pardoned, where he maketh remission of sins to be true felicity. Now there is no true felicity but that which is enjoyed, and felicity cannot be enjoyed unless it be felt; and it cannot be felt unless a man know himself to be in possession of it; and a man cannot know himself to be in possession of it, if he doubt whether he hath it or not; and therefore this doubting of the remission of sins is contrary to true felicity, and is nothing else but a torment of the conscience. For a man cannot doubt whether his sins be pardoned or not, but straightway, if his conscience be not seared with a hot iron, the very thought of his sin will strike a great fear into him; for the fear of eternal death, and the horror of God's judgment will come to his remembrance, the consideration of which is most terrible. William Perkins.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Get your sins hid. There is a covering of sin which proves a curse. Pr 28:13. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; "there is a covering it, by not confessing it, or which is worse, by denying it —Gehazi's covering —a covering of sin by a lie; and there is also a covering of sin by justifying ourselves in it. I have not done this thing; or, I did no evil in it. All these are evil coverings: he that thus covereth his sin shall not prosper. But there is a blessed covering of sin: forgiveness of sin is the hiding it out of sight, and that's the blessedness. Richard Alleine.

Whose transgression is forgiven. We may lull the soul asleep with carnal delights, but the virtue of that opium will be soon spent. All those joys are but stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret —a poor sorry peace that dares not come to the light and endure the trial; a sorry peace that is soon disturbed by a few serious and sober thoughts of God and the world to come; but when once sin is pardoned, then you have true joy indeed. "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." Mt 9:2. Thomas Manton.

Forgiven. Holy David, in the front of this Psalm shows us wherein true happiness consists: not in beauty, honour, riches (the world's trinity), but in the forgiveness of sin. The Hebrew word to forgive, signifies to carry out of sight; which well agrees with that Jer 50:20. "In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found." This is an incomprehensible blessing, and such as lays a foundation for all other mercies. I shall but glance at it, and lay down these five assertions about it. 1. Forgiveness is an act of God's free grace. The Greek word to forgive, deciphers the original of pardon; it ariseth not from anything inherent in us, but is the pure result of free grace. Isa 43:25. "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake." When a creditor forgives a debtor, he doeth it freely. Paul cries out, "I obtained mercy." 1 Ti 1:13. The Greek signifies, "I was be-mercied; "he who is pardoned, is all bestrewed with mercy. When the Lord pardons a sinner, he doth not pay a debt, but gives a legacy.

2. God in forgiving sin, remits the guilt and penalty. Guilt cries for justice: no sooner had Adam eaten the apple, but he saw the flaming sword, and heard the curse; but in remission God doth indulge the sinner; he seems to say thus to him: Though thou art fallen into the hands of my justice, and deserve to die, yet I will absolve thee, and whatever is charged upon thee shall be discharged.

3. Forgiveness of sin is through the blood of Christ. Free grace is the impulsive cause; Christ's blood is the meritorious. "Without shedding of blood is no remission." Heb 9:22. Justice would be revenged either on the sinner or the surety. Every pardon is the price of blood.

4. Before sin is forgiven, it must be repented of. Therefore repentance and remission are linked together. "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name." Lu 24:47. Not that repentance doth in a Popish sense merit forgiveness; Christ's blood must wash our tears; but repentance is a qualification, though not a cause. He who is humbled for sin will the more value pardoning mercy.

5. God having forgiven sin, he will call it no more into remembrance. Jer 31:34. The Lord will make an act of indemnity, he will not upbraid us with former unkindnesses, or sue us with a cancelled bond. "He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." Mic 7:19. Sin shall not be cast in as a cork which riseth up again, but as lead which sinks to the bottom. How should we all labour for this covenant blessing! Thomas Watson.

Sin is covered. Every man that must be happy, must have something to hide and cover his sins from God's eyes; and nothing in the world can do it, but Christ and his righteousness, typified in the ark of the covenant, whose cover was of gold, and called a propitiatory, that as it covered the tables that were within the ark, so God covers our sins against those tables. So the cloud covering the Israelites in the wilderness, signified God's covering us from the danger of our sins. Thomas Taylor's "David's Learning: or the Way to True Happiness." 1617.

Sin covered. This covering hath relation to some nakedness and filthiness which should be covered, even sin, which defileth us and maketh us naked. Why, saith Moses to Aaron, hast thou made the people naked? Ex 32:25. The garments of our merits are too short and cannot cover us, we have need therefore to borrow of Christ Jesus his merits and the mantle of his righteousness, that it may be unto us as a garment, and as those breeches of leather which God made unto Adam and Eve after their fall. Garments are ordained to cover our nakedness, defend us from the injury of the weather, and to adorn us. So the mediation of our Saviour serveth to cover our nakedness, that the wrath of God seize not upon us —he is that "white raiment" wherewith we should be clothed, that our filthy nakedness may not appear —to defend us against Satan —he is "mighty to save, "etc. —and to be an ornament to decorate us, for he is that "wedding garment:" "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." Re 3:18 Isa 63:1 Mt 22:11 Ro 13:14. Archibald Symson.

The object of pardon —about which it is conversant, is set forth under diverse expressions —iniquity, transgression, and sin. As in law many words of like import and signification are heaped up and put together, to make the deed and legal instrument more comprehensive and effectual. I observe it the rather, because when God proclaims his name the same words are used, Ex 34:7, "Taking away iniquity, transgressions, and sin." Well, we have seen the meaning of the expression. Why doth the holy man of God use such vigour and vehemency of inculcation. "Blessed is the man!" and again, "Blessed is the man!" Partly with respect to his own case. David knew how sweet it was to have sin pardoned; he had felt the bitterness of sin in his own soul, to the drying up of his blood, and therefore he doth express his sense of pardon in the most lively terms. And then, partly, too, with respect to those for whose use this instruction was written, that they might not look upon it as a light and trivial thing, but be thoroughly apprehensive of the worth of so great a privilege. Blessed, happy, thrice happy they who have obtained pardon of their sins, and justification by Jesus Christ. Thomas Manton.

Verses 1-2. In these verses four evils are mentioned; 1. —Transgression, (evp) pesha. 2. Sin, (hajx) chataah. 3. —Iniquity, (Nwe) avon. 4. —Guile, (hymd) remiyah. The first signifies the passing over a boundary, doing what is prohibited. The second signifies the missing of a mark, not doing what was commanded; but it is often taken to express sinfulness, or sin in the nature, producing transgression in the life. The third signifies what is turned out of its proper course or situation; anything morally distorted or perverted. Iniquity, what is contrary to equity or justice. The fourth signifies fraud, deceit, guile, etc. To remove these evils, three acts are mentioned: forgiving, covering, and not imputing.

1. TRANSGRESSION, (evp) pesha, must be forgiven, (ywsn) nesui, borne away, i.e., by a vicarious sacrifice; for bearing sin, or bearing away sin, always implies this.

2. SIN, (hajx) chataah, must be covered, (ywob) kesui, hidden from the sight. It is odious and abominable, and must be put out of sight.

3. INIQUITY, (Nwe) avon, what is perverse or distorted, must not be imputed, (bsxyal) lo yachshobh, must not be reckoned to his account.

4. GUILE, (hymd) remiyah, must be annihilated from the soul. In whose spirit there is no GUILE. The man whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is hidden, God having cast it as a millstone into the depths of the sea; whose iniquity and perversion is not reckoned to his account; and whose guile, the deceitful and desperately wicked heart, is annihilated, being emptied of sin, and filled with righteousness, is necessarily a happy man. Adam Clarke.

Verses 1-2. Transgression. Prevarication. Some understand by it sins of omission and commission.

Sin. Some understand those inward inclinations, lusts, and motions, whereby the soul swerves from the law of God, and which are the immediate cause of external sins.

Iniquity. Notes original sin, the root of all.

Levatus, forgiven, eased, signifies to take away, to bear, to carry away. Two words in Scripture are chiefly used to denote remission, to expiate, to bear or carry away: the one signifies the manner whereby it is done, namely, atonement, the other the effect of this expiation, carrying away; one notes the meritorious cause, the other the consequent.

Covered. Alluding to the covering of the Egyptians in the Red Sea. Menochius thinks it alludes to the manner of writing among the Hebrews, which he thinks to be the same with that of the Romans; as writing with a pencil upon wax spread upon tables, which when they would blot out they made the wax plain, and drawing it over the writing, covered the former letters. And so it is equivalent with that expression of "blotting out sin, "as in the other allusion it is with "casting sin into the depths of the sea."

Impute. Not charging upon account. As sin is a defection from the law, so it is forgiven; as it is offensive to God's holiness, so it is covered; as it is a debt involving man in a debt of punishment, so it is not imputed; they all note the certainty, and extent, and perfection of pardon: the three words expressing sin here, being the same that are used by God in the declaration of his name. Stephen Charnock.

Verses 1-2, 6-7. Who is blessed? Not he who cloaks, conceals, confesses not his sin. As long as David was in this state he was miserable. There was guile in his spirit Ps 32:2 misery in his heart, his very bones waxed old, his moisture was dried up as the drought in summer Ps 32:3-4. Who is blessed? He that is without sin, he who sins not, he who grieves no more by his sin the bosom on which he reclines. This is superlative blessedness, its highest element the happiness of heaven. To be like God, to yield implicit, ready, full, perfect obedience, the obedience of the heart, of our entire being; this is to be blessed above all blessedness. But among those who live in a world of sin, who are surrounded by sin, who are themselves sinners, who is blessed? He whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity; and especially does he feel it to be so, who can, in some degree, enter into the previous state of David's soul Ps 32:3-4. Ah, in what a wretched state was the psalmist previously to this blessedness! How must sin have darkened and deadened his spiritual faculties, to have guile in the spirit of one who could elsewhere exclaim, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, " any way of pain or grief, any way of sin which most surely leads to these. Ps 139:23-34. What a mournful condition of soul was his, who while he roared all the day long, yet kept silence before God, had no heart to open his heart unto God, was dumb before him, not in submission to his will, not in accepting the punishment of his iniquity Le 26:46, not in real confession, and honest, upright, and sincere acknowledgment of his iniquity to him against whom he had committed it. "I kept silence, "not merely I was silent, "I kept silence, "resolutely, perseveringly; I kept it notwithstanding all the remembrance of my past mercies, notwithstanding my reproaches of conscience, and my anguish of heart. I kept it notwithstanding "thy hand was heavy upon me day and night, "notwithstanding "my moisture, "all that was spiritual in me, my vital spirit, all that was indicative of spiritual life in my soul, seemed dried up and gone. Yes, Lord, notwithstanding all this, I kept it. But Nathan came, thou didst send him. He was to me a messenger full of reproof, full of faithfulness, but full of love. He came with thy word, and with the word of a King there was power. I acknowledged my sin unto him, and my iniquity did I not hide, but this was little. Against thee, thee only, did I sin, and to thee was my confession made. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, O Lord. I solemnly said that I would do so, and I did it. I confessed my transgression unto the Lord, "and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Behold the man who is blessed; blessed in the state of his mind, his guileless spirit, his contrite heart, the fruit of the spirit of grace; blessed in the forgiveness of a forgiving God; a forgiveness, perfect, entire, lacking nothing, signified by sin "covered, ""iniquity not imputed" of the Lord; blessed in the blessings which followed it. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Beneath the hollow of that hand which was once so heavy upon me, I can now repose. Thou art my hiding place, I dread thee no more; nay, I dwell in thee as my habitation, and my high tower, my covert, my safety, my house. Safe in thy love, whatever trouble may be my portion, and by the mouth of Nathan thy servant thou hast declared that trouble shall be my portion, I shall yet be preserved; yea, more, so fully wilt thou deliver me that I believe thou wilt encompass me so with the arms of thy mercy, as to call forth songs of grateful praise for thy gracious interposition.

Behold, the blessedness of him whom God forgives! No wonder, then, that the psalmist adds, for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. As much as if he had said, Surely after this thy gracious conduct towards me, all that truly love and fear thee, every one that is godly, when he hears of thy dealings with me, "will pray unto thee." Encouraged by my example, he will not keep silence as I foolishly and sinfully did, but will confess and supplicate before thee, since thou art to be "found, "and hast so wondrously shown that thou art, of all that truly seek thee, since there is the place of finding, as I lay my hand upon the victim, and look through that victim to him the promised Seed; since there is the time of finding, declared in thy word, and manifested by the secret drawing of my heart to thee by thy grace; since the unwillingness is not in thee, but in thy sinning creature to come to thee; for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, then, however deep the water floods may be, however fierce the torrent, and headlong the stream, they shall not even come nigh unto him, much less shall they overwhelm him. James Harrington Evans, M.A., 1785-1849.

Unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Aben Ezra paraphrases it, of whose sins God does not think, does not regard them, so as to bring them into judgment, reckoning them as if they were not; ou me logizetai does not count or calculate them; does not require for them the debt of punishment. To us the remission is entirely free, our Sponsor having taken upon him the whole business of paying the ransom. His suffering is our impunity, his bond our freedom, and his chastisement our peace; and therefore the prophet says, "The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed." Robert Leighton.

In whose spirit there is no guile. In the saint's trouble, conscience is full of Scripture sometimes, on which it grounds its verdict, but very ill interpreted. Oh, saith the poor soul, this place is against me! Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Here, saith he, is a description of a sincere soul, to be one in whose spirit there is no guile; but I find much guile in me, therefore I am not the sincere one. Now this is a very weak, yea, false inference. By a spirit without guile, is not meant a person that hath not the least deceitfulness and hypocrisy remaining in his heart. To be without sin, and to be without guile, in this strict sense are the same —a prerogative here on earth peculiar to the Lord Christ 1Pe 2:22, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." And therefore when we meet with the same phrase attributed to the saints, as to Levi, Mal 2:6; "Iniquity was not found in his lips; "and to Nathanael, Joh 1:47: "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!" we must sense it in an inferior way, that may suit with their imperfect state here below, and not put that which was only Christ's crown on earth, and is the glorified saint's robe in heaven, on the weak Christian while militant here on earth, not only with a devil without, but with a body of sin within him. Wipe thine eyes again, poor soul, and then if thou readest such places, wherein the Spirit of God speaks so highly and hyperbolically of his saint's grace, thou shalt find he doth not assert the perfection of their grace, free from all mixture of sin, but rather to comfort poor drooping souls, and cross their misgiving hearts, which, from the presence of hypocrisy, are ready to overlook their sincerity as none at all, he expresses his high esteem of their little grace, by speaking of it as if it were perfect, and their hypocrisy none at all. William Gurnall.

In whose spirit there is no guile. When once pardon is realized, the believer has courage to be truthful before God: he can afford to have done with guile in the spirit. Who would not declare all his debts when they are certain to be discharged by another? Who would not declare his malady when he was sure of a cure? True faith knows not only that guile before God is impossible, but also that it is no longer necessary. The believer has nothing to conceal: he sees himself as before God, stripped, and laid open, and bare; and if he has learned to see himself as he is, so also has he learned to see God as he reveals himself. There is no guile in the spirit of one who is justified by faith; because in the act of justification truth has been established in his inward parts. There is no guile in the spirit of him who sees the truth of himself in the light of the truth of God. For the truth of God shows him at once that in Christ he is perfectly righteous before God, and in himself he is the chief of sinners. Such a one knows he is not his own, for he is bought with a price, and therefore he is to glorify God. There is no guile in the spirit of him whose real object is to glorify Christ and not himself. But when a man is not quite true to Christ, and has not quite ceased to magnify self, there may be guile, for he will be more occupied with thoughts about himself than with the honour of Christ. But if the truth, and honour, and glory of Christ be his supreme care, he may leave himself out of the question, and, like Christ, "O commit himself to him that judgeth righteously." J. W. Reeve, M.A., in "Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm," 1860.

No guile. Sincerity is that property to which pardoning mercy is annexed. True, indeed, it is that Christ covers all our sins and failings; but it is only the sincere soul over which he will cast his skirt. Blessed is he whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. None will doubt this; but which is the man? The next words tell us his name; And in whose spirit there is no guile. Christ's righteousness is the garment which covers the nakedness and shame of our unrighteousness; faith the grace that puts this garment on; but what faith? None but the faith unfeigned, as Paul calls it. 2 Ti 1:5. "Here is water, "said the eunuch, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Ac 8:36. Now mark Philip's answer, Ac 8:37, "If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest; "as if he had said, Nothing but an hypocritical heart can hinder thee. It is the false heart only that finds the door of mercy shut. William Gurnall.

Guile. The guile of the spirit is an inward corruption in the soul of man, whereby he dealeth deceitfully with himself before God in the matter of salvation. Thomas Taylor.

My bones waxed old. God sports not at the sins of his elect, but outwardly doth deal with them more hardly, and chastise them more rigorously than he doth the reprobate. David's troubles and pains were partly external, partly internal: external I call those that were cast on his body; internal upon his conscience. And in the body were torments and vexations, seizing sometimes on his flesh —which was less painful —sometimes on his bones, which was more grievous, yea, almost intolerable, as experience teacheth. And this is God's just recompense; when we bestow our strength on sin, God abates it, and so weakens us. Samson spent his strength on Delilah, but to what weakness was he brought! Let us, therefore, learn, that God hath given us bones and the strength thereof for another use, that is, to serve him, and not waste or be prodigal of them in the devil's service. Archibald Symson.

My bones waxed old. By bones, the strength of the body, the inward strength and vigour of the soul is meant. The conscience of sin, and the terror of judgment doth break the heart of a true penitent, so long as he beholdeth his sin deserving death, his judge ready to pronounce the sentence of it, hell open to receive him for it, and the evil angels, God's executioners, at hand to hurry him to it. Samuel Page, in "David's Broken Heart, "1646.

My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. David here not only mourns for sin as a man, but he roars, as it were, like a pained beast. He seems fitter for a wilderness to cry out, than for a secret chamber to weep in; at other times he can "water his couch" in the night, now he "roars" all the day long; at other times, "his moisture is dried, "now his "bones, "the pillars of his house shake and wax old. Alexander Carmichael, 1677.

Thy hand. A correcting hand, whereby God scourges and buffets his own children. Now the sense of God's power punishing or correcting, is called God's hand, as 1Sa 5:11. The hand of God was sore at Ekron, because of the ark; and a heavy hand in resemblance, because when men smite they lay their hand heavier than ordinary. Hence, we may note three points of doctrine: first, that all afflictions are God's hand; secondly, that God lays his hand heavily often upon his dear children; thirdly, that God often continues his heavy hand night and day on them. Thomas Taylor.

My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Another meaning may be attributed to these words. We may suppose the psalmist to be referring to spiritual drought. Charles H. Bingham, B.A., in "Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm," 1836.

My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. The summer is from the middle of August to the middle of November. The intensity of the heat is great, and almost intolerable...Up to the beginning or middle of September there are no showers, rain being as scarce in summer as snow...The dry grass of the fields sometimes takes fire, and produces desolating conflagrations, and the parched earth is cleft and broken into chasms. John Eadie, D.D., LL.D., in Biblical Cyclopaedia, 1868.

The drought of summer. Dr. Russell, in his account of the weather at Aleppo, which very much resembles that of Judea, says that the verdure of the spring fades before the middle of May, and before the end of that month the whole country puts on so parched and barren an aspect that one would scarce think it capable of producing anything, there being but very few plants that have vigour enough to resist the extreme heat. Thomas Harmer's "Observations," 1775.

The drought of summer. During the twelve years from 1846 to 1859 only two slight showers fell in Jerusalem between the months of May and October. One fell in July, 1858, another in June 1859. Dr. Whitty's "Water Supply of Jerusalem," quoted in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.

If God striketh those so sore whom he favoureth, how sharply and sore will he strike them whom he favoureth not. Gregory.

Verses 4-5. If our offences have been not gnats, but camels, our sorrow must be not a drop, but an ocean. Scarlet sins call for bloody tears; and if Peter sin heinously he must weep bitterly. If, then, thy former life hath been a cord of iniquity, twisted with many threads, a writing full of great blots, a course spotted with various and grievous sins, multiply thy confessions and enlarge thy humiliation; double thy fastings and treble thy prayers; pour out thy tears, and fetch deep sighs; in a word, iterate and aggravate thy acknowledgments, though yet, as the apostle saith in another case, I say in this, "Grieve not as without hope, "that upon thy sincere and suitable repentance divine goodness will forgive thee thy sins. Nathanael Hardy.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. The godly man is ingenuous in laying open his sins. The hypocrite doth vail and smother his sin; he doth not abscindere peccatum, but abscondere; like a patient that hath some loathsome disease in his body, he will rather die than confess his disease; but a godly man's sincerity is seen in this —he will confess and shame himself for sin. "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly." 2Sa 24:17. Nay, a child of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale; he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David doth, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: "I have done this evil" Ps 51:4; he doth not say I have done evil, but this evil. He points at his blood guiltiness. Thomas Watson.

I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Be thine own accuser in the free confession of thy sins. Peccavi pater (as the prodigal child), "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight." For it fares not in the court of heaven as it doth in our earthly tribunals. With men a free confession makes way for a condemnation; but with God, the more a sinner bemoans his offence, the more he extenuates the anger of his Judge. Sin cannot but call for justice, as it is an offence against God; yet, when once it is a wound to the soul it moveth him to mercy and clemency. Wherefore as David having but resolved to confess his sins, was accosted eftsoon with an absolution: so, Tu agnosce, et Dominus ignoscet (Augustine.) Be thou unfeigned in confessing, and God will be faithful in forgiving. 1Jo 1:9. Only let confessio peccati be professo desinendi (Hilary.) —the acknowledgment of thy sin an obligation to leave it; and then thou mayest build upon it. "He that confesseth and forsaketh shall have mercy." Pr 28:13. Isaac Craven's Sermon at Paul's Cross, 1630

I said, I will confess, etc. Justified persons, who have their sins forgiven, are yet bound to confess sin to God...There are many queries to be dispatched in the handling of this point. The first query is, what are the reasons why persons justified and pardoned are yet bound to make confession of sin unto God in private? The reasons are six. First, they are to confess sin unto God because holy confession gives a great deal of ease and holy quiet unto the mind of a sinner: concealed and indulged guilt contracts horror and dread on the conscience. Secondly, because God loves to hear the complaints and the confessions of his own people. Lying on the face is the best gesture, and the mourning weed the best garment that God is well pleased with. A third reason is, because confession of sin doth help to quicken the heart to strong and earnest supplication to God (see Ps 32:6). Confession is to the soul as the whetstone is to the knife, that sharpens it and puts an edge on it; so doth confession of sin. Confessing thy evils to God doth sharpen and put an edge on thy supplication; that man will pray but faintly that doth confess sin but slightly. A fourth reason is, because confession of sin will work a holy contrition and a godly sorrow in the heart. Ps 38:18. Declaration doth work compunction. Confession of sin is but the causing of sin to recoil on the conscience, which causeth blushing and shame of face, and grief of heart. A fifth reason is, because secret confession of sin doth give a great deal of glory to God. It gives glory to God's justice. I do confess sin, and do confess God in justice may damn me for my sin. It gives glory to God's mercy. I confess sin, yet mercy may save me. It gives glory to God's omniscience. In confessing sin I do acknowledge that God knoweth my sin. A sixth reason why justified persons must confess sin unto God is, because holy confession of sin will embitter sin, and endear Christ to them, when a man shall let sin recoil on his conscience, by a confession. Condensed from Christopher Love's "Soul's Cordial," 1683.

I said, I will confess...and thou forgavest. It remaineth as a truth, remission is undoubtedly annexed to confession. Tantum valent tres syllabae PEC-CA-VI, saith St. Austin, of so great force are those three syllables in the Latin, three words in the English, when uttered with a contrite heart, "I have sinned." Nathanael Hardy.

Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. This sin seems very probably to have been his adultery with Bathsheba, and murder of Uriah. Now David, to make the pardoning mercy of God more illustrious, saith he did not only forgive his sin, but the iniquity of his sin; and what was that? Surely the worst that can be said of that, his complicated sin, is that there was so much hypocrisy in it, he woefully juggled with God and man in it; this, I do not doubt to say, was the iniquity of his sin, and put a colour deeper on it than the blood which he shed. And the rather —I lay the accent there —because God himself, when he would set out the heinousness of this sin, seems to do it rather from the hypocrisy in the fact than the fact itself, as appears by the testimony given this holy man 1Ki 15:5: "David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." Were there not other false steps which David took beside this? Doth the Spirit of God, by excepting this, declare his approbation of all that else he ever did? No, sure the Spirit of God records other sins that escaped this eminent servant of the Lord; but all those are drowned here, and this mentioned is the only stain of his life. But why? Surely because there appeared less sincerity, yea, more hypocrisy in this one sin than in all his others put together; though David in them was wrong as to the matter of his actions, yet his heart was more right in the manner of committing them. But here his sincerity was sadly wounded, though not to the total destruction of the habit, yet to lay it in a long swoon, as to any actings thereof. And truly the wound went very deep when that grace was stabbed in which did run the life blood of all the rest. We see, then, God hath reason, though his mercy prompted him, yea, his covenant obliged him, not to let his child die of this wound, yet so to heal it that a scar might remain upon the place, a mark upon the sin, whereby others might know how odious hypocrisy is to God. William Gurnall.

Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. We must observe the matter forgiven, and the manner of forgiving. The matter forgiven is the iniquity of his sin. It is disputed what is here meant by iniquity, whether culpa or paena. Some understand paenam, and think that an allusion is made in this word unto the message of Nathan, wherein God doth remit the heaviest stroke of his wrath, but yet retains some part in punishing the child, and permitting Absalom to rebel and abuse king David's concubines: so Theodoret, Deus non condigna paena Davidem punivit. Some understand culpam, and will have this phrase to be an amplification of that, as if superbia defendens, or taciturnitas celans, or impietas contra Deum assurgens, or some such great guilt were meant by this phrase. But as I do not censure these opinions, which may well stand, so I think the phrase looks back into that word which was in the confession. The sin confessed was (evp) and this is but an analysis of this word; for (ytajx Nwe), what is it, word for word, but the perverseness of my aberration? (hajx) is an aberration from the scope or mark whereat we aim; all men aim at felicity, but most men stray from it, because they are not led by the law that guides unto it, the violating whereof is called (hajx) But some do stray out of mere ignorance, and they only break the law; some out of stubbornness, which will not submit themselves to the Lawgiver; these men's sin is called perverseness, which God is said here to forgive. So that David did not confess more against himself than God includes in his pardon. Well may God exceed our desire; he never doth come short thereof if it do concern our spiritual, our eternal good. As he doth exclude no sinner that doth confess, so doth he except against no sin that is confessed. Arthur Lake.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found, etc. Seeing he is such a God, who should refuse or delay his return! Surely every rational and pious mind will, without delay, invoke so gentle and mild a Lord; will pray to him while he is exorable, or, as the Hebrew expresses it, in a time of finding. For he who promises pardon, does not promise tomorrow. There are tempora fandi —certain times in which he may be spoken with, and a certain appointed day of pardon and of grace, which if a man by stupid perverseness despise, or by sloth neglect, surely he is justly overwhelmed with eternal might and misery, and must necessarily perish by the deluge of divine wrath; since he has contemned and derided that Ark of salvation which was prepared, and in which whoever enters into it shall be safe, while the world is perishing. Robert Leighton.

For this shall every one that is godly pray to thee, saith David. For this! What? Because of his sins. And who? Not the most wicked, but the godly, in this respect, have cause to pray. And for what should he pray? Surely, for renewed pardon, for increase of grace, and for the perfection of glory. We cannot say we have no sin. Oh, then let us pray with David, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord!" Where there is a double emphasis observable, it is not ab hoste, but a servo. Though God's servant, yet he would not have God to enter into judgment with him. And again, ne intres, it is the very entrance into judgment that he dreads, and prayeth against; not only do not proceed, but do not so much as enter. Nathanael Hardy.

For this shall every one that is godly. We are here furnished with a fact which does not appear in the history of David. It is commonly supposed that after his grievous fall, till Nathan reproved him, he had been careless and stupefied; and this has often been adduced as a proof of the hardening nature of sin. But the thing was far otherwise. He was all the while tortured in his mind, yet unwilling to humble himself before God, and condemn himself before men, as he ought to have done. He kept silence and endeavoured to pass off the distress by time, palliation, and excuse. But the repression and concealment of his anguish preyed not only upon his peace, but his health, and endangered life itself. At length he was reduced to the deepest penitence, and threw himself, by an unqualified confession, on the compassion of God. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. Here we see not only that all the godly pray, but every one of them prays for pardon. This is the very thing which our Saviour teaches his disciples: "When ye pray, say, Forgive us our trespasses." And this praying does not only regard the manifestation of forgiving mercy, as some would have it, but the exercise of it. William Jay.

Godly. A godly man is like God, he hath the same judgment with God! he thinks of things as God doth; he hath a God like disposition; he partakes of the divine nature. 2Pe 1:4. A godly man doth bear God's name and image: godliness is God likeness. Thomas Watson.

A time. There be seasons, which, if taken, sweeten actions, and open the door for their better entertainment: Pr 25:11, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver; "the Hebrew is, A word spoken upon its wheels: fit times and seasons are wheels to carry words with great advantage. And so for actions; when things are done in due time they are beautiful, acceptable. When God gives rain to a land in season, how acceptable is it! when a tree bears fruit in its season, it is grateful: so when angels or men do things seasonably, it is pleasing to the Lord Christ: there are fit times, which, if we miss, actions are unlovely, and miss of their aims. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. There are times, if we have the wisdom to discern them, when prayer will be seasonable, acceptable, effectual. William Greenhill.

Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. The effects of prayer heretofore have been wonderful. Prayer hath sent down hailstones from heaven to overcome five kings with their armies. Prayer hath shut up the windows of heaven that it should not rain, and again hath opened them that the earth might give her increase. Prayer hath stayed the swift course of the sun and caused it to go backward fifteen degrees. Prayer hath held God's hands that he could not strike when he was ready to plague his people. Prayer without any other help or means hath thrown down the strong walls of Jericho. Prayer hath divided the sea that the floods thereof could not come near the Israelites. In this place it delivereth the faithful man from all the dangers of this world. Surely in the floods of many waters they shall not come nigh unto him. The sum is this, That no calamity of this world, no troubles of this life, no terrors of death, no guiltiness of sin, can be so great, but that a godly man by means of his faith and felicity in Christ shall wade out of them well enough. For howsoever other things go, still he shall have such a solace in his soul, such a comfort in his conscience, such a heaven in his heart, knowing himself reconciled to God and justified by faith, that, Surely in the floods of many waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Which, that it may better appear, I shall desire you to observe two things, the danger, the deliverance. The danger is in these words, In the floods of many waters; where the tribulations that the godly man is subject to in this life are likened, first, to waters; then to many waters; thirdly, to a flood of many waters. The deliverance is in these words, Surely they shall not come near him; where the deliverance of the godly man hath three degrees also. First, "they shall not come near; "secondly, him, "they shall not come near him; "then, surely —"surely they shall not come near him." Thomas Playfere.

The floods of great waters. The afflictions of the faithful are likened to waters. Fire and water have no mercy, we say. But of the two water is the worst. For any fire may be quenched with water; but the force of water, if it begins to be violent, cannot by any power of man, be resisted. But these our tribulations which are waters are "many waters." Our common proverb is, "Seldom comes sorrow alone:" but as waters come rolling and waving many together, so the miseries of this life. Thomas Playfere.

Floods of great waters. Unfamiliar with the sudden flooding of thirsty water courses, we seldom comprehend the full force of the most striking images in the Old and New Testaments. W.J. Conybeare, and J.S. Howson, in "Life and Epistles of St. Paul."

In the floods, etc. Washed he may be, as Paul was in the shipwreck, but not drowned with those floods of great waters: be they never so great they are bounded. Joseph Trapp.

Him. This word must in no case be omitted; it helpeth us to answer a very strong objection. For it may be said, Many holy men have lost their goods, have suffered great torments in their body, have been troubled also in mind; how then did not the "floods of many waters" come near them? The word him helps us to answer. The very philosophers themselves reckoned their goods pertained no more to them, than, be it spoken with reverence and regard, the parings of their nails. Zenon hearing news he had lost all he had by sea, said only thus, Thou hast done very well, Fortune, to leave me nothing but my cloak. Another, called Anaxarchus, when as Nicocreon the tyrant commanded he should be beaten to death in a mortar, spake thus to the executioner, Beat and bray as long as thou wilt Anaxarchus his bag or satchel (so he called his own body), but Anaxarchus thou canst not touch. Yet these, making so small reckoning of their goods and body, set their minds notwithstanding at a high rate. The mind of a man is himself, say they. Hence it is that Julius Caesar, when Amyclas the pilot was greatly afraid of the tempest, spake to him thus: What meanest thou to fear, base fellow? dost thou not know thou carriest Caesar with thee? As if he should say, Caesar's body may well be drowned, as any other man's may; but his mind, his magnanimity, his valour, his fortitude, can never be drowned. Thus far went philosophy; but divinity goeth a degree further. For philosophy defines him, that is, a man, by his reason, and the moral virtues of the mind; but divinity defines a Christian man by his faith, and his conjunction thereby with Christ. Excellently saith Saint Austin: Whence comes it that the soul dieth? Because faith is not in it. Whence that the body dieth? Because a soul is not in it. Therefore the soul of thy soul is faith. So that if we would know what is a faithful man, we must define him, not by his natural soul, as he is reasonable, but by the soul of his soul, which is his faith. And then we easily answer the objection, that a flood may come near a faithful man's goods, near his body, near his reasonable soul; but to his faith, that is, to HIM, it can never come near. Thomas Playfere.

Few verses in the Psalms are harder to be understood than this: and none has given rise to more varied expositions among the commentators. For this. Some will have it: encouraged by this example, that after so foul a fall God so readily forgave. Others again: for this, namely, warned by this example, they who are holy shall make their prayers that they may not be permitted to fall as David did. Whichever be the sense, they well argue from this passage, that the state of absolute and enduring perfection is impossible to a Christian in this life. Lorinus, and Cajetan (1469-1534), quoted by Neale.

Thou art my hiding place. David does not say, "Thou art a hiding place" merely, as one among many; or the "hiding place, "as the only one; but, "Thou art my hiding place." There lies all the excellency of the text. "He is mine; I have embraced the offer of his salvation, "says David; "I have applied to him in my own person: I have, as a sinner, taken shelter in his love and compassion; I have placed myself under his wings; I have covered myself with the robe of his righteousness; and now, therefore, I am safe." "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." This is having a part and a lot in the matter, having the personal and individual benefit of the Saviour's work of atonement. How different is an appropriating from a speculative faith! Men tell us that they believe the doctrine, that they acknowledge the truth, that they assent to our creed; and they say, that to declare to them the character of Christ as the sinner's only help and safety, is merely putting before them what they already know. Now, follow up the idea suggested by the figure in our text, and see the folly and danger of acting thus. Suppose a traveller upon a bleak and exposed heath to be alarmed by the approach of a storm. He looks out for shelter. But if his eye discern a place to hide him from the storm, does he stand still and say, "I see there is a shelter, and therefore I may remain where I am"? Does he not betake himself to it? Does he not run, in order to escape the stormy wind and tempest? It was a "hiding place" before; but it was his hiding place only when he ran into it, and was safe. Had he not gone into it, though it might have been a protection to a thousand other travellers who resorted there, to him it would have been as if no such place existed. Who does not see at once, from this simple illustration, that the blessings of the gospel are such only in their being appropriated to the soul? The physician can cure only by being applied to; the medicine can heal only by being taken; money can enrich only by being possessed; and the merchantman in the parable would have been none the wealthier for discovering that there was a "pearl of great price, "had he not made it his. So with the salvation of the gospel: if Christ is the "Balm in Gilead, "apply the remedy; if he is the "physician there, "go to him; if he is the "pearl of great price, "sell all that you have and buy it; and if he is the "hiding place, "run into it and be safe; there will be no solid joy and peace in the mind until he is your "hiding place." Fountain Elwin, 1842.

Thou art my hiding place. An allusion, probably, to the city of refuge. Adam Clarke.

Hiding place. Kirke White has a beautiful hymn upon this word, beginning, "Awake, sweet harp of Judah, wake." We have no room to quote it, but it will be found in "Our Own Hymn Book, "No. 381.

Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. If we content ourselves with that word which our translators have chosen here, trouble, we must rest in one of these two senses; either that God shall arm, and indue those that are his with such a constancy, as those things that trouble others shall not trouble them; but, "As the sufferings of Christ abound in them, so their consolation also aboundeth by Christ:" "As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" 2Co 1:5 6:9; for God uses both these ways in the behalf of his servants —sometimes to suspend the working of that that should work their torment, as he suspended the rage of the lions for Daniel, and the heat of the fire in the furnace for the others; sometimes by imprinting a holy stupefaction and insensibleness in the person that suffers; so St. Lawrence was not only patient, but merry and facetious when he lay broiling upon the fire, and so we read of many other martyrs that have been less moved, less affected with their torments than their executioners or their persecutors have been. That which troubled others never troubled them; or else the phrase must have this sense, that though they be troubled with their troubles, though God submit them so far to the common condition of men, that they be sensible of them, yet he shall preserve them from that trouble so as that it shall never overthrow them, never sink them into a dejection of spirit, or diffidence in his mercy! they shall find storms, but a stout and strong ship under foot; they shall feel thunder and lightning, but garlands of triumphant bays shall preserve them; they shall be trodden into earth with scorns and contempt, but yet as seed is buried, to multiply to more. So far this word of our translators assists our devotion, Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, thou shalt make me insensible of it, or thou shalt make me victorious in it. John Donne.

Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. In these words the prophet David riseth up by a gradation, and goeth beyond that which he had formerly said concerning his confidence in God. First, he had said that God was his hiding place; secondly, that he would preserve him in trouble; and now, thirdly, that the Lord would make him joyful, and to triumph over his troubles and enemies, by compassing him, instead of troubles, with mercies... Learn to acknowledge God's goodness to thyself with particular application, as David saith here, "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." Not only confess his goodness to others, as to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; nor only his deliverance of Noah, Daniel, Lot; but also his mercies to and deliverance of thyself, as Paul did: "Christ gave himself for me, and died for me." Ga 2:20. This will exceedingly whet up thankfulness; whereas only to acknowledge God good in himself, or to others, and not to thyself, will make thee murmur and repine. Thomas Taylor.

Thou shalt compass me about. This word imports, that as we are besieged on every side with troubles, so we are compassed with as many comforts and deliverances; as our crosses grow daily, so our consolations are augmented day by day. We are on every side offended and on every side defended; therefore we ought on every side to sound God's praise, as David saith, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me." Ps 103:1. Archibald Symson.

Songs of deliverance. In that he will not be content only with thanks, but also will have them conjoined with songs, he letteth us see how high all the strings of his heart are bent that he cannot contain himself for the mercies of God to his church, and for his manifold deliverances for the same. Many sing praises to God with an half open mouth; and, albeit, they can sing aloud any filthy ballad in their house, they make the mean, I warrant you, in the church, that scarce can they hear the sound of their own voice. I think they be ashamed to proclaim and show forth God's praises, or they fear to deafen God by their loud singing; but David bent all his forces within and without to praise his God. Archibald Symson.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. No other than God himself can undertake so much as is promised in the text. For here is faith, a rectifying of the understanding, I will instruct thee, and in the original there is somewhat more than our translation reaches to; it is there, Intelligere faciam te, I will make thee understand. Man can instruct, God only can make us understand. And then it is Faciam te, I will make thee, thee understand; the work is the Lord's, the understanding is the man's: for God does not work in man as the devil did in idols and in pythonissis, and in ventriloquis, in possessed persons, who had no voluntary concurrence with the action of the devil, but were merely passive; God works so in man as that he makes man work too, faciam te, I will make thee understand; that that shall be done by me, but in thee; the power that rectifies the act is God's, the act is man's; Faciam te, says God, I will make thee, thee, every particular person (for that arises out of this singular and distributive word, thee, which threatens no exception, no exclusion), I will make every person to whom I present instruction, capable of that instruction; and if he receive it not, it is only his, and not my fault. And so this first part is an instruction de credendis, of such things, as by God's rectifying of our understanding we are bound to believe. And then, in a second part, there follows a more particular instructing, Docebo, "I will teach thee, "and that in via, "in the way; "it is not only de via, to teach thee which is the way, that thou mayest find it, but in via, how to keep the way when thou art in it; he will teach thee, not only ut gradiaris, that you may walk in it and not sleep, but quomodo gradieris, that you may walk in it and not stray; and so this second part is an institution de agendis, of those things which, thine understanding being formerly rectified, and deduced into a belief, thou art bound to do. And then in the last words of the text, I will guide thee with mine eye, there is a third part, and establishment, a confirmation by an incessant watchfulness in God; he will consider, consult upon us (for so much the original word imports), he will not leave us to contingencies, to fortune; no, nor to his own general providence, by which all creatures are universally in his protection and administration, but he will ponder us, consider us, study us; and that with his eye, which is the sharpest and most sensible organ and instrument, soonest feels if anything be amiss, and so inclines him quickly to rectify us; and so this third part is an instruction de sperandis, it hath evermore a relation to the future, to the constancy and perseverance of God's goodness towards us; to the end, and in the end he will guide us with his eye: except the eye of God can be put out we cannot be put out of his sight and his care. So that, both our freight which we are to take in, that is, what we are to believe concerning God; and the voyage which we are to make, how we are to steer and govern our course, that is, our behaviour and conversation in the household of the faithful; and then the haven to which we must go, that is, our assurance of arriving at the heavenly Jerusalem, are expressed in this chart, in this map, in this instruction, in this text. John Donne.

This threefold repetition, I will instruct thee, I will teach thee, I will guide thee, teaches us three properties of a good teacher. First, to make the people understand the way of salvation; secondly, to go before them; thirdly, to watch over them and their ways. Archibald Symson.

The way. If we compare this way with all other ways, it will whet our care to enter into and continue in it; for, first, this is the King's highway, in which we have promise of protection. Ps 91:11. Secondly, God's ways are the cleanest of all. 2Sa 22:31. Thirdly, God's ways are the rightest ways; and, being rightest, they be also the shortest ways. Ho 14:9. Fourthly, God's ways are most lightsome and cheerful. Pr 3:17. Therefore, God's ways being the safest, cleanest, rightest, shortest, and lightsomest ways, we must be careful to walk in them. Condensed from Thomas Taylor.

I will guide thee with mine eye. We read in natural story (A reviewer remarks upon the bad natural history which we quote. We reply that to alter it would be to spoil the allusions, and we are making a book for men, not for babes. No person in his senses is likely at this day to believe the fables which in former ages passed current for facts.), of some creatures, Qui solo oculorum aspectu fovent ova (Pliny), which hatch their eggs only by looking upon them. What cannot the eye of God produce and hatch in us? Plus est quod probatur aspectu, quam quod sermone (Ambrose.) A man may seem to commend in words, and yet his countenance shall dispraise. His word infuses good purposes into us; but if God continue his eye upon us it is a further approbation, for he is a God of pure eyes, and will not look upon the wicked. "This land doth the Lord thy God care for, and the eyes of the Lord are always upon it from beginning of the year, even to the end thereof." De 11:12. What a cheerful spring, what a fruitful autumn hath that soul, that hath the eye of the Lord always upon her! The eye of the Lord upon me makes midnight noon; it makes Capricorn Cancer, and the winter's the summer's solstice; the eye of the Lord sanctifies, nay, more than sanctifies, glorifies all the eclipses of dishonour, makes melancholy cheerfulness, diffidence assurance, and turns the jealousy of the sad soul into infallibility...This guiding us with his eye manifests itself in these two great effects; conversion to him, and union with him. First, his eye works upon ours; his eye turns ours to look upon him. Still it is so expressed with an Ecce; "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon all them that fear him; "his eye calls ours to behold that; and then our eye calls upon his, to observe our cheerful readiness...When, as a well made picture doth always look upon him that looks upon it, this image of God in our soul is turned to him, by his turning to it, it is impossible we should do any foul, any uncomely thing in his presence...The other great effect of his guiding us with his eye, is, that it unites us to himself; when he fixes his eye upon us, and accepts the return of ours to him, then he "keeps" us as the "apple" of his "eye." Zec 2:8 ...These are the two great effects of his guiding us by his eye, that first, his eye turns us to himself, and then turns us into himself; first, his eye turns ours to him, and then, that makes us all one with himself, so as that our afflictions shall be put upon his patience, and our dishonours shall be injurious to him; we cannot be safer than by being his; but thus we are not only his, but he; to every persecutor, in every one of our behalf, he shall say, Cur me? Why persecutest thou me? And as he is all power, and can defend us, so here he makes himself all eye, which is the most tender part, and most sensible of our pressures. Condensed from John Donne.

I will guide thee with mine eye. Margin, I will counsel thee, mine eye shall be upon thee. The margin expresses the sense of the Hebrew. The literal meaning is, "I will counsel thee; mine eyes shall be upon thee." De Wette: "my eye shall be directed towards thee." The idea is that of one who is telling another what way he is to take in order that he may reach a certain place; and he says he will watch him, or will keep an eye upon him; he will not let him go wrong. Albert Barnes.

Mine eye. We may consider mercies as the beamings of the Almighty's eye, when the light of his countenance is lifted up upon us; and that man as guided by the eye, whom mercies attract and attach to his Maker. But oh! let us refuse to be guided by the eye, and it will become needful that we be curbed with the hand. If we abuse our mercies, if we forget their Author, and yield him not gratefully the homage of our affections, we do but oblige him, by his love for our souls, to apportion us disaster and trouble. Complain not, then, that there is so much of sorrow in your lot; but consider rather how much of it you may have wilfully brought upon yourselves. Listen to the voice of God. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way in which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye —mine eye, whose glance gilds all that is beautiful, whose light disperses all darkness, prevents all danger, diffuses all happiness. And why, then, is it that ye are sorely disquieted? why is it that "fear and the pit" are so often upon you; that one blessing after another disappears from your circle; and that God seems to deal with you as with the wayward and unruly, on whom any thing of gentleness would be altogether lost? Ah! if you would account for many mercies that have departed, if you would insure permanence to those that are yet left, examine how deficient you may hitherto have been, and strive to be more diligent for the future, in obeying an admonition which implies that we should be guided by the soft lusters of the eye, if our obduracy did not render indispensable the harsh constraints of the rein. Henry Melvill.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, etc. How many run mad of this cause, inordinate and furious lusts! The prophet Jeremiah, Jer 2:24, compares Israel to "a swift dromedary, traversing her ways, "and to "a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure." Be ye not, said the psalmographer, "as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle." Men have understanding, not beasts; yet when the frenzy of lust overwhelms their senses, we may take up the word of the prophet and pour it on them: "Every man is a beast by his own knowledge." And therefore "man that is in honour and understandeth not, is like unto beasts that perish" Ps 49:20. Did not the bridle of God's overruling providence restrain their madness, they would cast off the saddle of reason, and kick nature itself in the face. Thomas Adams.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, etc. According to the several natures of these two beasts, the fathers and other expositors have made several interpretations; at least, several allusions. They consider the horse and the mule to admit any rider, any burden, without discretion or difference, without debate or consideration; they never ask whether their rider be noble or base, nor whether their load be gold for the treasure, or roots for the market. And those expositors find the same indifference in an habitual sinner to any kind of sin; whether he sin for pleasure, or sin for profit, or sin but for company, still he sins. They consider in the mule, that one of his parents being more ignoble than the other, he is like the worst, he hath more of the ass than of the horse in him; and they find in us, that all our actions and thoughts taste more of the more ignoble part of the earth than of heaven. St. Hierome thinks fierceness and rashness to be presented in the horse, and sloth in the mule. And St. Augustine carries these two qualities far; he thinks that in this fierceness of the horse the Gentiles are represented, which ran far from the knowledge of Christianity; and by the laziness of the mule the Jews, who came nothing so fast, as they were invited by their former helps to the embracing thereof. They have gone far in these allusions and applications; and they might have gone as far further as it had pleased them; they have sea room enough, that will compare a beast and a sinner together; and they shall find many times, in the way, the beast the better man. John Donne.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, etc. Consider the causes why a broken leg is incurable in a horse, and easily curable in a man. The horse is incapable of counsel to submit himself to the farrier; and therefore in case his leg be set he flings, flounces, and flies out, unjointing it again by his misemployed mettle, counting all binding to be shackles and fetters unto him: whereas a man willingly resigns himself to be ordered by the surgeon, preferring rather to be a prisoner for some days, than a cripple all his life. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; but "let patience have its perfect work in thee." Jas 1:4. Thomas Fuller.

Bit and bridle (Norw-ntk) The LXX render the first of these two words by calinw, the second by kemw. The word calinos signifies the iron of the common bridle, which is put into the horse's mouth, the bit, or curb. But kemoz was something like a muzzle, which was put upon mischievous horses or mules to keep them from biting. Xenephon says, that it allowed them to breathe, but kept the mouth shut, so that they could not bite. Not knowing the term of art for this contrivance, I call it a muzzle. The verb (brq) is a military term, and signifies to advance, as an enemy, to attack. The "coming near, "therefore, intended here, is a coming near to do mischief. The admonition given by the psalmist to his companions, is to submit to the instruction and guidance graciously promised from heaven, and not to resemble, in a refractory disposition, those ill conditioned colts which are not to be governed by a simple bridle; but, unless their jaws are confined by a muzzle, will attack the rider as he attempts to mount, or the groom as he leads them to the pasture and the stable. Samuel Horsley.

Lest they come near unto thee. The common version of this clause would be suitable enough in speaking of a wild beast, but in reference to a mule or a horse the words can only mean, because they will not follow or obey thee of their own accord; they must be constantly coerced, in the way both of compulsion and restraint. J. A. Alexander.

"Be ye not like a horse or mule, which have no understanding, and whose ornament is a bridle and bit, to hold them: they do not come unto thee of themselves." Charles Carter, in "The Book of Psalms." 1869. A new Translation.

He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Even as in the midst of the sphere is the centre, from which all lines being drawn do tend towards their circumference: so a good Christian man hath God for his circumference; for whatever he thinketh, speaketh, or doth, it tendeth to Christ, of whom he is compassed round about. Robert Cawdray.

Mercy shall compass him about. He shall be surrounded with mercy —as one is surrounded by the air, or by the sunlight. He shall find mercy and favour everywhere —at home, abroad; by day, by night; in society, in solitude; in sickness, in health; in life, in death; in time, in eternity. He shall walk amidst mercies; he shall die amidst mercies; he shall live in a better world in the midst of eternal mercies. Albert Barnes.

"Mark that text, "said Richard Adkins to his grandson Abel, who was reading to him the thirty-second Psalm. "Mark that text, `He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.' I read it in my youth and believed it; and now I read it in my old age, thank God, I know it to be true. Oh! it is a blessed thing in the midst of the joys and sorrows of the world, Abel, to trust in the Lord." The Christian Treasury, 1848.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. This exhortation containeth three parts. First, what he doth exhort unto, to rejoice. Secondly, whom, the righteous, and upright men. Thirdly, the limitation, in the Lord. He exhorteth them three times —be glad, rejoice, and be joyful; and as he made mention of a threefold blessing, so doth he of a threefold joy. Wherein we have two things necessary to be observed. First the dulness of our natures, who as slow horses need many spurs and provocations to spiritual things, whereas we are naturally overmuch bent to carnal things, that we need no incitations thereunto. But by the contrary in spiritual things, we are cast into a deep sleep, who cannot be awakened at the first cry; but as men after drink have need to be roused often, that they may behold the light; so men drunken with the pleasures of sin, as Nazianzen saith, must be wakened by divers exhortations; as this same prophet in the subsequent Psalm redoubles his exhortations for the same effect. And the apostle to the Philippians saith: "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice, "Php 4:4. Next, perceive that this exhortation grows: for the word be glad, properly in the original signifieth an inward and hearty joy, by the presence or hope at least of a thing desirable or good. The word rejoice, to express our joy by some outward gesture, sometimes used for dancing, as, "The hills skip for gladness." Ps 65:12. The word be joyful, to cry for gladness, as the dumb man's tongue shall sing. This gradation teacheth us, that this is the nature of spiritual joy —that it still increaseth in us by certain degrees, until it come to the perfection of all joy, which is signified by the last word, importing, as it were, a triumph and shouting after victory. So that they are truly penitent who have overcome sin and Satan in their spiritual combat, and have triumphed over them as vanquished enemies. Archibald Symson.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous. There's never a joyful man alive but a believer. Will you say that men take pleasure in their sins? Why, that is the Devil's joy; or that they rejoice in full barns and bags? That is the fool's joy; or that they rejoice in wine, that is, all dainties that gratify the palate? That is a Bedlam joy. Read and believe Ec 2:3; indeed, from the first verse to the eleventh, the whole book, but especially that chapter, is the most divine philosophy that ever was or will be. Christopher Fowler (1610-1678), in "Morning Exercises."

Shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. When the poet Carpani enquired of his friend Haydn, how it happened that his church music was so cheerful, the great composer made a most beautiful reply. "I cannot, "he said, "make it otherwise, I write according to the thoughts I feel: when I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance, and leap, as it were, from my pen: and, since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve him with a cheerful spirit." John Whitecross's Anecdotes.

Here the sensual man, that haply would catch hold when it is said, Rejoice, by and by, when it is added, in the Lord, will let his hold go. But they that, by reason of the billows and waves of the troublesome sea of this world, cannot brook the speech when it is said, Rejoice, are to lay sure hold fast upon it when it is added, Rejoice in the Lord. Henry Airay.

O sing unto this glittering glorious King.

O praise his name let every living thing;

Let heart and voice, like bells of silver, ring

The comfort that this day doth bring. —Kinwellmersh, quoted by A. Moody Stuart.

It is storied by the famous Tully concerning Syracuse, that there is no day throughout the whole year so stormy and tempestuous in which the inhabitants have not some glimpse and sight of the sun. The like observation may be truly made on all those Psalms of David in which his complaints are most multiplied, his fears and pressures most insisted on; that there is not any of them so totally overcast with the black darkness of despair, but that we may easily discern them to be here and there intervened and streaked with some comfortable expressions of his faith and hope in God. If in the beginning of a Psalm we find him restless in his motions, like Noah's dove upon the overspreading waters; yet in the close we shall see him like the same dove returning with an olive branch in its mouth, and fixing upon the ark. If we find him in another Psalm staggering in the midst of his distresses, through the prevalence of carnal fears, we may also in it behold him recovering himself again, by fetching arguments from faith, whose topics are of a higher elevation than to be shaken by the timorous suggestions that arise from the flesh. If at another time we behold him like to a boat on drift, that is, tossed and beaten by the inconstant winds and fierce waves; yet we shall still find all his rollings and agitations to be such as carry him towards the standing shore, where he rides at last both in peace and safety. William Spurstowe.

Gospel benedictions. Take the first Psalm with thirty-second, show the doctrinal and practical harmoniously blended. Or, take the first, the thirty-second, and the forty-first, and show how we go from reading the word, to feeling its power, and thence to living charitably towards men.

Evangelical Blessedness. 1. The original condition of its possessor.

2. The nature of the benefit received.

3. The channel by which it came.

4. The means by which it may be obtained by us.

Verses 1-2. The nature of sin and the modes of pardon.

Non imputation, a remarkable doctrine. —Prove, explain, and improve it.

No guile. The honesty of heart of the pardoned man.

Retention of our griefs to ourselves. Natural tendency of timidity and despair; danger of it; means of divulging grief; encouragements to do so; the blessed person who is ready to hear confession. The silent mourner the greatest sufferer.

Verses 3-4. "Terrible Conviction and Gentle Drawings." See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 313.

The sorrows of a convinced soul. Daily, nightly, from God, heavy, weakening, destroying.

(last clause) Spiritual drought.

The gracious results of a full confession; or, confession and absolution scripturally explained.

The godly man's picture, drawn with a Scripture pencil. Thomas Watson.

The experience of one, the encouragement of all.

(first clause). —The day of grace, how to improve it.

(whole verse). —Pardon of sin the guarantee that other mercies shall be given.

(last clause). —Imminent troubles, eminent deliverances.

(last clause). —The felicity of the faithful. Thomas Playfere.

Danger felt, refuge known, possession claimed, joy experienced.

(first sentence). —Christ, a hiding place from sin, Satan, and sorrow, in death and at judgment.

(second sentence). —Troubles from which saints shall be preserved.

(last sentence). —The circle of song —who draws the circle, what is the circumference, who is in the centre.

Songs of deliverance. From guilt, hell, death, enemies, doubts, temptations, accidents, plots, etc. The divine schoolmaster, his pupils, their lessons, their chastisements and their rewards.

The power of the eye. Henry Melvill. In which he vainly tries to prove infant baptism and episcopacy, which he admits are not expressly taught in Scripture, but declares them to be hinted at as with the divine eye.

God's bits and bridles, the mules who need them, and reasons why we ought not to be of the number.

How far in our actions we are better, and how far worse than horses and mules.

The many sorrows which result from sin. The encompassing mercy of the believer's life even in his most troublesome times. The portion of the wicked, and the lot of the faithful.

A believer's gladness. Its spring, "in the Lord; " its vivacity, "shout; "its propriety, it is commanded; its beautiful results and its abundant reasons.

Upright in heart, an instructive description. Not horizontal or grovelling, nor bent, nor inclined, but vertical in heart.

WORKS UPON THE THIRTY-SECOND PSALM

This treatyse concernynge the fruytful sonnges of David the Kynge &prophete in the seuen penytencyall psalmes. Deuyded in seuen sermons was made and compyled by the ryght reuerent fader In god Juhau fyssher doctore of dyuynyte &bysshop of Rochester at the exortacyo and sterynge of the most excellet princesse Margarete contesse of Rychemont and Derby &moder to our souerayne lorde Kynge henry the VII. (No date, but marked in the B.M. Cat. 1509. An 8 volume edition has on Title Page, An. M.D.J.A.)

David's Learning, or Way to True Happiness: in a Commentarie upon the 32 Psalme. Preached and now published by THOMAS TAYLOR, late fellow of Christ's College in Cambridge. London: 1617. David's Teares. By SIR JOHN HAYWARD, Knight, Doctor of Lawe. London. Printed by John Bell. 1623. On Psalms VI, XXXII, and CXXX. Meditations on Psalm XXXII. in Archbishop Leighton's Works.

In the Works of JOHN DONNE: Sermons on Psalm XXXII. Vols. II., III. Alford's Edition.

A Godly and Fruitful Exposition on the Thirty-second Psalme, the Third of the Penitentials; in A Sacred Septenarie; or, a Godly and Fruitful Exposition on the Seven Psalmes of Repentance. By Mr. ARCHIBALD SYMSON, late Pastor of the Church at Dalkeeth in Scotland. 1638.

Meditations and Disquisitions upon the 32 Psalme, in Meditations and Disquisitions upon the Seven Psalmes of David, commonly called the Penitential Psalmes. By SIR RICHARD BAKER, Knight. 1639. Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm. By CHARLES H. BINGHAM, B.A., Curate of Hale Magna. 1836. Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm, preached in Portman Chapel, Baker Street, during Lent, 1859. By the Rev. J. W. REEVE, M.A., Minister of the Chapel. 1859.