8 Sion heard of it, and rejoiced and the daughters of Judah were glad, because of thy judgements, O Lord.

9 For thou, Lord, art higher than all that are in the earth : thou art exalted far above all gods.

10 O ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate the thing which is evil the Lord preserveth the

souls (y) of his saints; he shall deliver them from the hand of the ungodly.

11 There is sprung up a light for the righteous for the righteous

:

and joyful gladness for such as are truehearted.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous and give thanks fra remembrance (z) of his holis

5 Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands: sing, rejoice, and give thanks.

6 Praise the Lord upon the harp sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.

7 With trumpets also, and shawms: O shew yourselves joyful before the Lord the King.

8 Let the sea make a noise, and all that thereinis: the round world, and they that dwell therein.

V. 1.

9 Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord: for he is come to judge the earth. 10 With righteousness shall he judge the world: and the people with equity.

v.7.

Psalm xcix. (b)

THE Lord is King, be the people never so impatient he sitteth between the cherubims (c), be the earth never so unquiet.

2 The Lord is great in Sion: and high above all people.

3 They shall give thanks unto

(b) Upon the propriety of making God the object of worship, on account of his power, his justice, and his attention to the prayers of his servants.

(c) "Between the cherubims" In Solomon's temple, the ark (which was the type of God) was placed between the cherubims, 2 Chron. v. 7, 8. Saying of him, therefore, that he "sitteth be"tween the cherubims," was a figurative mode of expressing that he was the true, all-powerful God.

(d) Cloudy pillar." This may refer to the time when the Israelites left Egypt, and God went before them in the pillar of a cloud, and spake to them out of the cloud (see Exod. xiii. 21.—Exod. xiv. 1, &c.) or it may apply to the time when Moses went into the cloud, and God delivered him the ceremonial law.

See

thy Name : which is great, wonderful, and holy.

4 The king's power loveth judgement; thou hast prepared equity: thou hast executed judgement and righteousness in Jacob.

5 O magnify the Lord our God and fall down before his footstool, for he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such as call upon his Name: these called upon the Lord, and he heard them.

7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar (d) for they kept his testimonies, and the law that he gave them.

8 Thou heardest them, O Lord our God: thou forgavest (e) them, O God, and punishedst their own inventions.

9 O magnify the Lord our God, and worship him upon his holy hill: for the Lord our God is holy.

consume them as in a moment," Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces, and made an atonement for the people, and caused the plague which was then destroying the people to be stayed. See Numb. xvi. 44 to 50.

(f) See ante, p. 8. where this Psalm also occurs.

lands serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.

2 Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

3 O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise be thankful

unto him, and speak good of his Name.

4 For the Lord is gracious; his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth from generation to generation.

(g) Resolutions (supposed to be David's) for private and public conduct humbly submitted to God, to procure his countenance and favour.

(b)" Know," i.e. countenance. See note on Ps. i. 7.

(i) For "that I may," the reading should perhaps be "and."

(k) An earnest prayer to God for the re-establishment. of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was probably written either about the end of the Babylonish captivity, or during the opposition the people of the land made to the rebuilding Jerusalem, of which Ezra and Nehemiah give an account. It describes the condition to which the writer was reduced, or in this instance refers to the melancholy state of all the Jews; it alludes to God's

5 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know (b) a wicked person.

6 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy. 7 Whoso hath also a proud look and high stomach: I will not suffer him.

8 Mine eyes look upon such as are faithful in the land: that they may dwell with me.

9 Whoso leadeth a godly life: he shall be my servant.

10 There shall no deceitful person dwell in my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

11 I shall soon destroy all the ungodly that are in the land: that I may (i) root out all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

MORNING PRAYER.

Psalm cii. (k) HEAR my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come unto thee.

2 Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble : incline thine ears unto me when I call; O hear me, and that right soon.

promise for bringing them back to Jeru salem, and notices the impression it would make upon the minds of the hea then and of posterity, in turning them to the worship of God, when they should see this promise performed. The Jews were subjected to the king of Babylon about 607 years before the birth of Christ. Some of them were carried thither about 599, and the rest when the temple, the king's house, and every great man's house was burnt with fire (see 2 Kings xxv. and Jer. lii.) about 588, and they remained captive in Babylon 70 years. Their captivity and its duration had both been foretold; and Isaiah had prophesied, Isaiah xliv. 28. that Cyrus should perform the pleasure of the Lord," even saying to Jerusalem, thou

3 For my days away like smoke are burnt up, as brand.

v. 8.

are consumed and my bones it were a fire

| บ. 10.

that is in the desert.

I have watched, and am even 7 as it were a sparrow: that sitteth alone upon the house-top.

8 Mine enemies revile me (1) all the day long and they that are mad upon me, are sworn together against me.

9 For I have eaten ashes, as it

"shalt be built, and to the temple, thy "foundation shall be laid." This was above 100 years before the event, and long before Cyrus was born. Cyrus (who was king of Persia) afterwards conquered Babylon, and on being apprized of this prophecy, dismissed the Jews, and ordered them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. The account of their return, and of the rebuilding the temple, is set forth in Ezra and Nehemiah. This Psalm was anciently used among the Jews in times of humiliation; it is one of the seven penitential Psalms, and is used on Ash Wednesday.

(1) "Revile me," &c. This may refer to the opposition made to the rebuilding of the temple: Artaxerxes, at the instance of the people of the land, ordered the work to be stopped: but Darius, on finding Cyrus's decree for building it, directed it to proceed, and made another decree for advancing its progress. See Ezra iv. v. vi. It was 91 years after their return from Babylon, before the Jews could rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, Nehem. vi. 15. It appears by Nehem. i. 3. that in the zoth of Artaxerxes (about 446 year years before the birth of Christ) the people were "in great affliction and "reproach."

(m)"Taken me up," &c. This may mean, thou hast given me hopes, by

and mingled my

were bread
drink with weeping;

10 And that, because of thine indignation and wrath: for thou hast taken me up (m), and cast me down.

11 My days (n) are gone like a shadow and I am withered like grass.

12 But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever: and thy remembrance throughout all generations.

13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion: for it is time that thou have mercy upon her; yea, the time (o) is come.

14 And why? thy servants think upon her stones and it pitieth them to see her in the dust.

15 The heathen (p) shall fear thy Name, O Lord and all the kings of the earth thy Majesty ;

12.

bringing me back to Jerusalem, and dispirited me by the opposition against me; or it may refer to the great instances of protection God had from early times shewn the nation, till he cast them down by suffering them to be carried into captivity. (η) σε My days are gone," &c. So v. 11. Isaiah xl. 6. 8. "All flesh is and grass, "all the goodliness thereof is as the "flower of the field: the grass wither"eth, the flower fadeth: but the word "of our God shall stand for ever." It is not improbable that the passage in Isaiah suggested that in the Psalm, particularly as the attention of the Jews was at this time strongly drawn to Isaiah's prophecies.

(o)" The time," &c. God had stated v.13distinctly by Jeremiah, that the Babylonish captivity should continue 70 years, and that at the end of that time the people should return. In Jer. xxv. 8. 11.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, this "whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment: and these nations "shall serve the king of Babylon seventy

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years." And Jer. xxix. 10. " Thus "saith the Lord, that after seventy "years be accomplished at Babylon, I "will visit you, and perform my good "word towards you, in causing you to "return to this place." This is . 15.

(p) "The heathen," &c.

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16 When the Lord shall build up Sion: and when his glory shall appear;

17 When he turneth him unto the prayer of the poor destitute : and despiseth not their desire.

18 This shall be written for those that come after and the people, which shall be born, shall praise the Lord.

19 For he hath looked down from his sanctuary: out of the heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

20 That he might hear the mournings of such as are in captivity and deliver the children appointed unto death;

21 That they may declare (q) the Name of the Lord in Sion: and his worship at Jerusalem;

22 When the people are gathered together and the kingdoms also to serve the Lord.

and

23 He brought down my strength in my journey shortened my days.

24 But I said, "O my God, "take me not away in the midst "of mine age as for thy years, "they endure throughout all "generations."

25 Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

Gen

Cer.

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()" An eagle." The eagle is con- Zes sidered by some as renewing it's strength, and as it were becoming young again when it changes it's feathers. Isaiah probably refers to the same supposition, when he says, Isaiah xl. 31. They that "wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up wings as eagles, they shall run and not "be weary," &c.

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with