15 My strength is like a potsherd dry'd: Unto my jaws; and to the dust Of death thou brought me hast. They pierc'd my hands and feet. 17 I all my bones may tell; they do As the pascal lamb was roasted on the hearth, and as the victim on the altar was often consumed by a fire sent immediately from heaven; which is transferred to our Lord in a passage that is allowed to refer ultimately to his sufferings; From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them, (Lam. i. 15.); so his strength is said to be dried up like a potsherd, and his tongue to adhere to his jaws, when his heart was dissolved and melted away like wax or the fat of the pascal lamb before the fire, and all the fluids were dried up, through the intenseness of that fire which raged in his bones, and brought on a most tormenting thirst. Instead of ascribing his sufferings to the superior wickedness of that generation of Jews, among whom he appeared, as if these were no way necessary to secure the grand ends of his mission into the world, the Psalmist makes himself address the Father, Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Did we duly meditate on our Lord's sufferings, in their nature, cause and effects, could we roll sin under our tongue as a sweet morsel, or thirst after any forbidden pleasure? Verse 16. For dogs have compassed me, &c. These are next clause said to be the wicked, who inclosed him; and farther, that they were such as pierced his hands and his feet, alluding to the mode of crucifixion. Above they are represented as fed bulls, and roaring lions, and here as furious hounds, incited by appetite, and the arts of the huntsmen. In the title of the psalm, our Lord is allowed to be pointed out by the Hebrew term ajeleth, the hind of the morning. From the very dawn of his human life he was pursued by his implacable enemies; for the seed of the serpent is restless in its malice against the seed of the woman. It is on account of resemblance to Christ that the faithful are so much hated and persecuted in the world. This is part of their conformity to their Head, Verse 17. I may tell all my bones: &c. By violently stretching his body on the cross, his bones were so disjointed, dislocated and separated, that his material frame, of which the bones constitute the strength, was so einaciated and exhausted with fasting, loss of blood, &c. that his bones so stuck out, as to be easily distinguished and counted. As an additional circumstance of shame and pain, it is added, They look and stare upon me, with a kind of infernal complacency. Behold, my soul, thy 6 Now know I GOD his king doth save: Will hear him, with the saving strength But we remember will the name Of our LORD God alone. 8 We rise, and upright stand when they to be displayed in his name, and in dependance on the promised aid of his Spirit. The banner is displayed in the king's name, and here in his name, all whose petitions they pray Jehovah would fulfil; and will he not do so without a single exception? Verse 6. Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; &c. The Jewish church built her assurance of the salvation of Messiah, personal and mystical, upon the predictions of old given concerning him; and ours may firmly rest on those already accomplished as a pledge of the full completion of what remains to be fulfilled. The resurrection and subsequent exaltation of Christ, is to be viewed as a first fruit and earnest of the whole. When the church militant and triumphant are all along thus exercised; and the Redeemer giving efficacy to the whole by his own prevalent intercession, may we not confidently conclude, that Jehovah will fulfil all the petitions that are thus inforced, from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand? Christ is the arm and right hand of Jehovah, and with him dwells everlasting strength for this very purpose. Verse 7. Some trust in chariots, &c. The verb remember might be better supplied from the next clause. The original verb signifies to make mention of, that is, in the way of boasting of their number and strength, and confiding in them in the time of danger. The wisdom and strength of nature are as chariots in which Christians are as prone to trust as Jews and Heathens; but such false confidence proves fatal to those who indulge it. But let us ever remember that in the name, by the merits, through the power, and for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, we come off more than conquerors in the Christian warfare; and that this is the more excellent way which secures strength in battle, and complete triumph at the close of the warfare: Verse 8. They are brought down and fallen, &c. While such as trust to refuges of lies are defeated and perish, the faithful shall rise from every conflict, and from death and the grave, and stand upright at the bar of future judgment, and in the courts of heaven, there singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. 9 Deliver, Lord; and let the King PSALM XXI. THIS psalm appears to have the same writer and occasion as the former, only this celebrates the success prayed for in the last. The church here, by the pen of David, celebrates Messiah's victory, and the glory resulting from it. She foretels the stability of his kingdom, and the consequent destruction of his enemies, and so concludes with praying for his exaltation and final triumph. The celebration of this divine work, in the unceasing songs of the blessed, will be the delightful and transporting employment of heaven. 1. THE king in thy great strength, O LORD, Shall v In thy salvation rejoice How veh'mently shall he! 2 Thou hast bestowed upon him All that his heart would have; ; Verse 9. Save, LORD, or, as some render this verse; LORD save the king, he will hear us, or let him hear when we call upon him, or cry unto him. Thus the psalin concludes, as it began, with a hosanna to the son of Da vid, that he might hear the prayers of his people, and present them to the Father, when they call upon him, and so send them prosperity.-Here is our encouragement in all our prayers, and let us not fail to avail ourselves of it, as our case from time to time may require. Notes on Psalm XXI-Verse 1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD, &c. Great as David's joy was, when God favoured him with victory over his enemies at home and abroad, compared to that of Messiah, it scarce deserves the name. In the salvation promised him by the Fa ther, and achieved by his own right hand, how greatly shall he rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory!-As saints are called kings and priests, they derive their chief joy from a similar source. Let him that glorieth, whatever be the occasion, glory in the Lord and in the belief that he will exercise loving kindness and tender mercies, not only in and towards the elect, but also to the earth, or the rest of mankind. Verse 2. Thou hast given him his heart's desire, &c. This was prayed for in the preceding psalm, and is here gratefully acknowleged as granted. Did the Lord commend Solomon, because he did not desire the life of his enemies; and shall he himself fall unspeakably short of him in this espect? We may learn his heart's desire, and the request of his lips, froït. And thou from him didst not withhold 3 For thou with blessings him prevent'st the prayer which he offered up for his murderers on the cross; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. We see his acknowleged relation to such, and declared purpose to bless them, Psal. xxii. 22. I will declare thy name unto my brethren. May we not then conclude, that such requests for the conversion and salvation of sinners, will be granted to the full, and in no case withheld? Verse 3. For thou preventest him, &c. with the blessings, of goodness, or as some render it, with abundance of good, or happiness, and all the pre-requisites of it; were bestowed upon Christ, not so much for himself, as for his people. With this God is represented as preventing him, just as he prevented David with the promise of the kingdom, Psalm ii. 8. 2 Sam. xvi. 12. A crown of gold is the most enviable object on earth, and the very summit of human ambition. As supreme King and Priest, Christ's crown will infinitely exceed that of Aaron and Solomon. His saints are regarded as jewels in this crown; and who would not be ambitious of this honour? Other crowns are perishing things; but his and theirs shall be unfading. As the Father crowned Christ, so will he all his faithful followers. Verse 4. He asked life of thee, &c. Of all blessings, life is the most precious, and that which was bestowed upon Christ concentres in it whatever can be called life. He asked this not merely for himself, but to bestow it upon all his obedient people, as the gracious reward of fidelity. Do these act like Christ's disciples, who would live here always, and have no desire to depart, and to be with him, which is far better? Verse 5. His glory is great in or by thy salvation, &c. The glory, honour and majesty bestowed upon our Lord, by means of that salvation which he hath procured, and will finally confer on all his subjects, exceed 6 Because that thou for evermore Most blessed hast him made; And thou hast with thy countenance 7 Because the king upon the Lord And through the grace of the most High 8 Thine hand shall all those men find out Ev'n thy right hand shall find out those 9 Like fiery ov'n thou shalt them make, God shall them swallow in his wrath, what men and angels can conceive. For a view of his glory and fame let the reader consult Rev. iv. vii. xix. xxi. and xxii. Verse 6. For thou hast made him most blessed. Heb. Thou hast made him a man of blessings, or thou hast set or appointed him to bless, viz. mankind, for ever, Gen. xii: 2. In him it is therefore more blessed to give than to receive. His saints shall enter into the joy of their LORD. Verse 7. For the king trusteth in the LORD &c. As David trusted in Messiah, so he trusted in the Father, and as the former was not removed, like Saul, from his kingdom, through the mercy of the Most High towards him; so neither shall the latter, or any of his faithful seed. Verse 8. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies &c. This has been literally verified in the unbelieving Jews; and will it not also be realized upon all his incorrigible enemies in every age? Poole renders itThine hand shall be sufficient for all thine enemies, to conquer them, no doubt, as he adds, but then in the most favourable sense, as that rendering plainly imports. May his hand be upon us to bless and save us, but on our spiritual fees to waste and destroy them! Those that continue to hate him, cannot long escape unpunished. Malachi employs Verse 9. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven &c. the same figure, but compares those who shall be cast into this oven to stubble, Mal. iv 1. An oven is closely shut up on every side, and so bespeaks the sad state of the Jews pent up in Jerusalem during the Roman siege, and of the wicked in hell. The same author renders it,-Thou shalt put them as it were into a fiery oven. That the other phrases in this verse mean a great destruction, appears from 2 Sam. xx. 19, 20. Psal. lvi. 1, 2. Prev. i. 12. |