ceited Gentiles, who rose up, and took counsel together, against him. What his church afterwards suffered at the hands of the same enemies, is likewise well known. How much more she is to undergo in her latter days, we know not as yet; but this we do know, that the spirit of the world stands, now and ever, in opposition to the Spirit of God; its design is always the same, although its methods of working be divers. Nor can we be ignorant of those domestic adversaries, that assembly of haughty and turbulent passions, which' are continually making insurrections, and destroying the peace of the soul. So that either from without, or from within, every one, who is a Christian in deed, shall be sure to have his portion of tribulation.

15. But thou, O LORD, art a God full of compassion, and gracious; long suffering, and plenteous in goodness and truth.'

Having taken a view of those that are against us, it is now time to look up to those that are with us. And can we have better friends, than all these gracious and favorable attributes of Heaven? Can more comfortable and joyful tidings be brought us, than that God loveth us with a father's love; that he is ready to pardon, slow to anger; and that we have his truth pledged for the performance of his mercy? What a fountain of consolation is here opened for the afflicted Christian! 'Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.' Prov. xxxi. 7.

16. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.'

On the consideration of the above-mentioned attributes, a petition is in this verse put up to God, that he would ' turn' his face towards us; that he would of his 'mercy' pardon us, by his grace ، strengthen' us, and by his power 'save' us from all our adversaries. Every Christian is the servant of God,' and the son of his handmaid,' the church; which may say, in the same spirit of humility and obedience with the blessed Virgin, Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

17. Show me a token for good, that they which hate Div. No. XXIII.

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me may see it, and be ashamed; because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.'

Many outward signs and tokens' of the divine favor. were in old time vouchsafed to patriarchs, prophets, and kings of Israel. The law itself was a collection of external and sacramental figures of grace and mercy. All these centered and had their accomplishment in that grand and everlasting sign and token of God's love to man, the incarnation of Christ, which all faithful people from the beginning wished and prayed for. On this sign the Christian looks with joy, as the great proof that God has holped him and comforted him;' while his faith in it doth not fail, he hath the witness in himself, and his actions declare as much to all around him; 'that they which hate him may be ashamed' and converted, before that day come, when shame shall be fruitless, and conversion impossible.

PSALM LXXXVII.

ARGUMENT.

[The prophet, 1-3. celebrates the stability and felicity of Sion; 4, 5. foretells the accession of the Gentiles to her, and, 6. their enrolment among her citizens; 7. extols her as the fountain of grace and salvation. The Psalm was probably penned, on a survey of the city of David, just after the buildings of it were finished.]

1. His foundation is in the holy mountains:' or It is his, i. e. God's foundation in the mountains of holiness!'' 2. The LORD loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.'

The Psalmist, after having meditated on the strength, the beauty, and the glory of Jerusalem, being smitten 'with the love of the holy city, and imagining the thoughts. of his hearers, or readers, to have been employed on the same subject, breaks forth at once in this abrupt manner, "It is his foundation on the holy mountains.' By 'the holy mountains' are meant those hills of Judea, which

Some commentators suppose this verse to be a part of the title, which will then run thus: For the sons of Korah, a Psalm; a song, when he laid the foundation on the holy mountains.'

Jehovah had chosen, and separated to himself from all others, whereon to construct the highly favored city and temple. As the dwellings of Jacob, in the promised land, were beloved by him more than the dwellings of other nations, so he loved the gates of Sion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob.' Jerusalem was exalted and fortified by its situation; but much more so by the protection of the Almighty. What Jerusalem was, the Christian church is; built' by God on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:' Ephes. ii. 20. It is HIS foundation in the holy mountains ;' she is beloved of God above the kingdoms and empires of the earth, which rise and fall only to fulfil the divine counsels concerning her. When those counsels shall be fulfilled, in the salvation of all believers, the world, which subsists only for their sake, will be at an end.

3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.' As the Prophet began, in a rapture, to speak of the holy city, so now, in fresh transport, he changes the person, and suddenly addresses himself to it. The old Jerusalem was the city of God, and glorious things were therefore said of it' by the Spirit. Pleasant for situation, and magnificent in its buildings, it was the delight of nations, the joy of the whole earth; there was the royal residence of the kings of Judah; there was the temple, and the ark, and the glory, and the King of heaven dwelling in the midst of her; her streets were honored with the footsteps of the Redeemer of men; there he preached, and wrought his miracles, lived, died, and rose again; thither he sent down the Spirit, and there he first laid the foundations of his church. To know what 'glorious things' are said of the NEW Jerusalem, the reader must peruse Isa. lx. and Rev. xxi. xxii.

4. 'I will make mention of Rahab,' or Egypt, and Babylon, to them that know me: Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia,' or Arabia, 'this man was born there." 5. And of Sion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her.'

The accession of the nations to the church is generally

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supposed to be here predicted. God declares by his Prophet, I will make mention of,' or 'cause to be remembered, Egypt and Babylon,' the old enemies of Israel' to' or among them that know me,' that is, in the number of my worshippers; Behold' also Philistia, and Tyre, with Arabia;' these are become mine; this,' or each of these, 'is born there,' i. e. in the city of God; they are become children of God, and citizens of Sion; so that ' of Sion,' or the church, 'it shall be said, This and that man,' Heb. a man and a man ;" i. e. great numbers of men in succession, are born in her;' alluding to the multitudes of converts under the Gospel, the sons of that Jerusalem, 'which is the mother of us all;' Gal. iv. 26. ' and the Highest himself shall establish her;' as he saith, Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' Matt. xvi. 18.

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6. The LORD shall count when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.'

In the book of life, that register of heaven, kept by God himself, our names are entered, not as born of flesh and blood by the will of man, but as born of water and the Spirit by the will of God; of each person it is written, 'that he was born there,' in the church and city of God. That is the only birth which we ought to value ourselves on, because that alone gives us our title to the inheritance of the saints in light. In Jesus Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,' noble nor ignoble, 'bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.' Col. iii. 11.2

Dr. Durell renders W' ', 'The man, even the man,' that is, 'The man of men;' or, The greatest of all men.' The reduplication, he thinks, according to the original phraseology, must mean the superlative, or highest degree. He adds-According to this interpretation, every one will see who this eminent personage was to be, from whose birth Zion (used by a synecdoche for Judea) was to acquire so much glory. The latter hemistic-' And the Highest himself shall establish her'-seems to me to have reference, not to God the Father, but to his Son; it appearing to be exegetical of the preceding one, and to describe his Divine, as the other does his human nature. CRITICAL REMARKS, p. 167.

2 Dr. Durell thinks this verse relates to the pedigree of our Lord, recorded among the Jews, and given us by the evangelists-'The Lord will have this recorded, in registering the the people, that HE,' the W'NI 'N mentioned above, was born there.'

7. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there; all my springs are in thee.'

The literal version of the words, as Dr. Chandler observes, seems to be-Cantantes erunt, sicut choream ducentes: omnes fontes mei in te.' "They shall sing like those that lead up the dance,' i. e. most joyfully; singing and dancing frequently accompanying one another. And the burden of the song thus joyfully sung in the praise of Sion, was to be this, All my springs,'. or fountains, are in thee.' And if such be indeed the incomparable excellence of the church, and such the benefits of her communion, as they have been set forth in the foregoing verses, what anthem better deserves to be performed by all her choirs? In thee, O Sion, is the fountain of salvation, and from thee are derived all those springs of grace, which flow, by the divine appointment, while the world lasts, for the purification and refreshment of mankind on earth.

PSALM LXXXVIII.

ARGUMENT.

[This Psalm, as Mr. Mudge observes, may well be said to be composed, according to its title, n, to create dejection, to raise a pensive gloom or melancholy in the mind; the whole subject of it being quite throughout heavy, and full of the most dismal complaints. The nature and degree of the sufferings related in it; the strength of the expressions used to describe them; the consent of ancient expositors; the appointment of the Psalm by the church to be read on Good Friday; all these circumstances concur in directing an application of the whole to our blessed Lord. His unexampled sorrows, both in body and soul; his desertion in the day of trouble; his bitter passion, and approaching death; with his frequent and fervent prayers for the accomplishment of the promises, for the salvation of the church through him, and for the manifestation of God's glory: these are the particulars treated of in this instructive and most affecting composition."

1 Cum Psalmis xxii. et lxix. ad omnia convenit Psalmus lxxxviii. quod argumento est, eum eodem modo a nobis esse explicandum. Continet