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(a) A spirited exhortation to trust in God, and not in man; noticing God's power, beneficence, and care. It probably looks forward to the Messiah. See note on verse 5. Dean Prideaux says, "This and the two following Psalms "seem to have been sung at the dedication "of the second temple;" and he gives us his reason, that in the Sept., though not in the Hebrew, they are styled the Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for that occasion. 1. Prid. Conn. 191.

(b) v. 2. So Ps. cxviii. 8, 9. and the folly of fearing man and disregarding God, is finely expressed, Isaish li. 12, 13. "Who art thou, that thou shouldest be "afraid of a man that shail die, and the "son of man, that shall be made as grass; "and forgettest the Lord thy maker, that "hath stretched forth the heavens, and "laid the foundations of the earth?" So Isaiah ii. 22. "Cease ye from man, "whose breath is in his nostrils," (that is, whose life depends upon so many accidents); "for wherein is he to be

"accounted of?"

(c) v. 3. "Goeth forth," i. e. " ceaseth," when he dies.

(d) "Thoughts," i. e. "earthly plans. "and devices: whatever he had been con"triving:" not that he will not hereafter have thoughts and other operations of the mind, but that whatever in this world he had been setting his mind upon, would be lost to him for ever. Is he then one

Psalm cxlvi. (a)

PRAISE the Lord, O my soul; while I live, will I will I praise the Lord: yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto my God.

2. O (b) put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man : for there is no help in them.

3. For when the breath of man goeth forth (c), he shall turn again to his earth and then all his thoughts (d) perish.

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4. Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help and whose hope is in the Lord his God;

5. Who (e) made heaven and

on whom permanent confidence, confidence for futurity, is to be placed?

(e) v. 5. "Who, &c." These characteristics agree accurately with what were foretold of the Messiah, or are ascribed to Christ. If the person here spoken of made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is, it is said expressly of Christ, (John i. 3.) "all things were made by him,

and without him was not any thing made "that was made;" and Col. i. 15, 16. "by "him were all things created that are in "heaven, and that are in earth all

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things were created by him and for "him;" and Heb. i. 10, 11. ascribes to him the passage in Ps. cii. 25. "Thou "Lord in the beginning hast laid the "foundation of the earth, and the heavens 66 are the work of thy hands." If part of the character here be "to help them to "right that suffer wrong," what elsewhere are foretold as characteristics of the Messiah? According to Ps. lxxii. 24. "He was to keep the simple folk by their "right, defend the children of the poor, "and punish the wrong doer;" and, according to Isaiah, "with righteousness "was he to judge the and to reprove "with equity for the meek of the earth, "Isaiah xi. 4.;" nor was he "to fail or be discouraged, till he had set (or established) "judgment in the earth, Isaiah xlii. 4.;" see also Ps. lxxii. 12, 13, 14. If the person here referred to was to loose men out of prison, and to give sight to the blind, what was to be part of the office of the Messiah 2

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"to open the blind eyes, to bring out the "prisoners from the prison, and them that "sit in darkness out of the prison house, "Isaiah xlii, 7. ;"" to bind up the broken "hearted, to proclaim liberty to the cap"tives, and the opening of the prison to "them that are bound, Isaiah lxi. 1." Lastly, if this person was to be king for evermore, and throughout all generations, what is predicted in this respect as to Christ's kingdom? "His seat endureth "for ever; the sceptre of his kingdom "is a right sceptre, Ps. xlv. 5." "He "shall be feared as long as the sun and "moon endureth; from one generation to

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Lessons for the Thirtieth Day of the Month throughout the Year,

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(i) An invocation to the praise of God, for his peculiar favour to the Jews in bringing them back from the Babylonish captivity, and re-establishing them in Jerusalem; calling to mind the general wisdom, extent, and kindness of his providence, and his distinguishing attention to the people of Israel, by giving them particular statutes and ordinances in preference to all other nations.

(k) v. 2. "The Lord doth, &c." i. e. "it is the Lord that doth it; it is his "work."

(2) "Gather, &c." The same expression as Is. lvi. 8." The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel ;" and see Isaiah xliii. 5, 6.

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(m) v. 4." Telleth, &c." And he who had such knowledge would have no difficulty in knowing where every Jew was, and bringing every one back.

(n) "Who covereth, &c." The Psalm here passes for a time to the consideration of God's general providence. See Psalm lxv. 9, 10, 11. — Psalm civ. 6 to 15.

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8. Who covereth (n) the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth and maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men.

9. Who giveth fodder unto the cattle (0) and feedeth the young ravens (p) that call upon him.

10. He hath no pleasure in the strength (q) of a horse : neither delighteth he in any man's (q) legs.

11. But the Lord's delight is in them that fear him : and put their trust in his mercy.

12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion.

13. For he hath made fast (r) the bars of thy gates and hath blessed thy children within thee.

14. He maketh peace in thy borders and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.

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15. (s) He sendeth forth his

here intended, which are not provided for by man, and would therefore starve, if not provided for by God. Hamm. in loco.

(p) "Young ravens." It is with pe

culiar propriety they are mentioned, for the old ones are supposed to desert them as soon as they are hatched. Hamm. in loco. In the spirited and magnificent description of God's providence and power, Job xxxviii. the young ravens are described as crying unto God for sustenance, verse 41. "Who provides for the 66 raven his food? When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack "of meat." The passage in Job might suggest this in the Psalm.

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(q) v. 10. "Strength of a horse," and "legs," i. e. " bodily powers," "strength, "and swiftness;" in contradistinction to what is mentioned in verse 11. " the fearing "him, and trusting in his mercy," the tribute of the mind; the homage of the understanding. (r) v. 13.

Made fast, &c." to protect thee from foreign enemies.

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(s) v. 15. The meaning perhaps is, "he commands, and the thing is instantly

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commandment upon earth and his word runneth very swiftly. (t) 16. He giveth snow like wool (u): and scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

17. He casteth forth his ice (x) like morsels (y) who is able to abide his frost?

18. He sendeth out his word, and melteth them he bloweth with his wind and the waters flow.

19. He sheweth his word (*) unto Jacob: his statutes and ordinances unto Israel.

20. He hath not dealt so with any nation neither have the heathen knowledge of his laws.

Psalm cxlviii. (a)

O PRAISE the Lord of heaven : praise him in the height.

2. Praise him, all ye angels of his: praise him, all his host.

"done: his word alone will terminate your 66 misery, and fill you with joy." The next three verses illustrates this position; " for "though he sends the keenest frost," (a symbol of the afflictions you have had,) "he puts an end to it in an instant; when "he commands, the waters flow."

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(t)"Runneth very swiftly," i. e. (perhaps) "is instantly fulfilled." See Psalm cxlviii. 5.

(u) v. 16. "Like wool," perhaps from the largeness of the flakes.

(x) v. 17. "Ice," or "hail."

(૩) "Morsels," to intimate the size. The object is to give ideas of intense cold, and then to shew how speedily God's command disperses it.

(z) v. 19. "His word." So that Jacob (the Israelites) had his choicest blessings; they were distinguished above all other nations. Moses asks (Deut. iv. 7, 8.) "What nation is there so great, who hath "God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our "God is in all things that we call upon "him for? And what nation is there so 66 great, that hath statutes and judgments "so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?

(a) A spirited invocation to heaven

3. Praise him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars and light.

4. Praise him, all ye heavens: and ye waters that are above the heavens.

5. Let them praise the Name of the Lord for he spake the word (b), and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.

6. He hath made them fast for ever and ever he hath given them a law (c) which shall not be broken.

7. Praise the Lord upon earth: ye dragons and all deeps.

8. Fire and hail, snow and vapours wind and storm fulfilling his word; (d)

9. Mountains and all hills: fruitful trees and all cedars;

10. Beasts and all cattle: worms and feathered fowls;

11. Kings of the earth and all

and earth, and all things therein, animate and inanimate, to join in praising God. Milton has imitated it in his Morning Hymn, Paradise Lost, B. v. l. 153 to 208. It is a strong and expressive figure to call upon his works to join in praising God, because they furnish ground for praise. See Psalm xix. 1.- Ps. lxv. 14. and the note there; Isaiah xliv. 23. and Isaiah xlix. 13.

(b) v. 5." He spake the word, &c." Not unlike the passage in Gen. i. 3. "God said, Let there be light, and there "was light." That passage is often noticed as a passage of unrivalled sublimity, because it implies that the light was produced the instant the command issued: a proof of the perfect power of God! A similar passage occurs, Ps. xxxiii. 9. "He 'spake, and it was done; he commanded, " and it stood fast."

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(c) v. 6. "Law, &c." So Ps. civ. 9. in speaking of the waters, it is said, “thou "hast set them their bounds which they "cannot pass." See the note there.

(d) v. 8. "Fulfilling his word," i. e. "in"struments in his hands to execute his purposes." In Ps. xvii. 13. the ungodly is called "a sword" of God. See note on Psalm xvii. 14.

people princes and all judges of the world;

12. Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the Name of the Lord: for his Name only is excellent, and his praise above heaven and earth.

13 He shall exalt the horn of his people; all his saints shall praise him even the children of Israel, even the people that serveth him.

Psalm cxlix. (e)

O SING unto the Lord a new song: let the congregation of saints praise him.

2. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him and let the children of Sion be joyful in their King.

3. Let them praise his Name in the dance (g) let them sing praises unto him with tabret and harp.

4. For the Lord hath pleasure in his people and helpeth the meek-hearted.

(e) A spirited triumphal hymn, probably upon some success against the heathen. It is not improbable it was written in Jehoshaphat's time, when the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir went up against Jehoshaphat, and God stirred them up to destroy each other, which they did; and Jehoshaphat and his people were three days in gathering the spoil; after which they returned "to Jerusalem with "psalteries and harps and trumpets unto "the house of the Lord." See 2 Chron. xx. & Ps. cxxxvi.

(g) v. 3. The dance." In the first triumphal thanksgiving which occurs in history, (that of Moses for the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea,) the women joined with timbrels, and with dances, Exod. xv. 20. When David slew Goliath, the women came out singing and dancing to meet Saul. 1 Sam. xviii. 6. and they sang to one another in dances, "Saul hath "slain his thousands, and David his ten "thousands." 1 Sam. xxi. 11.- xxix. 5. And when he brought up the ark from the

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house of Obededom, he danced before the Lord with all his might, 2 Sam. vi. 14. 16. Dancing therefore was part of the solemnity. See Psalm cl. 4.

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(h) v. 9. "That, &c." or to execute upon them the vengeance written (or decreed), B. T." God directed the destruction of the Canaanites, (Deuter. vii. 2. 16.) and of the Amalekites, (1 Sam. xv. 3.) and when God requires, man stands in a very different situation than when he acts of himself. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," saith the Lord; and when man, (who has so much need of forgiveness for himself,) in the pride of human power, and the insolence of human strength, takes upon himself to avenge, does he not encroach upon the peculiar prerogative of God?

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(i) "Such honour," i. e. " of being the "instruments to execute the vengeance "God decrees."

(k) A spirited invocation to praise God.

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