Unto thee the helpless resigneth himself, Of the orphan thou art the Helper. 15 Break thou the arm of the impious and the evil. ORACULAR VOICE. Thou shalt seek the impious and find him not.[G] THANKSGIVING. 16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever, The heathen are perished out of his land. [H] 17 The desire of the helpless thou hast heard, O Jehovah, Thou will establish their heart, and make thine ear hearken: 18 To judge the orphan and the oppressed, That the man of the earth never more play the PSALM XI. TITLE-TO THE GIVER OF VICTORY. A BELIEVER UNDER PERSECUTION PROFESSES HIS TRUST IN GOD. 1 WITH Jehovah I have taken shelter; how say ye to my soul, "Flee, sparrows, to your hill?” * [A] 2 Behold indeed the impious level † the bow, They have fixt their arrow upon the string, To shoot privily at the upright in heart. 3 Truly the foundations they are demolishing, ‡ What doeth the Just One? § *«Your hill," that hill from which you say your help cometh: A sneer. Repair to that boasted hill, which may indeed give you the help which it gives the sparrow-a shelter against the inclemencies of a stormy sky, no defence against our power. + See VII, 2. The Psalmist describes his danger. Thus the wicked taunt me; for indeed their bow is bent, and I seem the devoted helpless victim. Another proverbial expression, denoting danger of utter ruin, See Note [A] In this question, the Psalmist means to express either the doubt 4 Jehovah!* in the temple is his sanctuary! Jehovah! in Heaven is his throne! His eyes behold [the afflicted one], t 5 Jehovah trieth the Just One, But the impious one, and him that loveth violence, his soul abhorreth. 6 Upon the impious he shall rain glowing embers, Fire and brimstone, and a tempestuous blast, is the portion of their cup. 7 Truly a Just One is Jehovah: he loveth righteous deeds, His countenance beholds the upright-man. of a weak unripened faith, or the taunt of an adversary, occasioned by the apparent superiority, at particular times, of the irreligious faction. Truly they are demolishing the foundations." Appearances, it must be confessed, threaten the extirpation of religion and its professors. You will say then, what is He about on whose protection we rely? * "Jehovah, &c." The Psalmist's answer. + LXX and Bp. Lowth. PSALM XII. TITLE. TO THE GIVER OF VICTORY, UPON THE SUPERABUN DANCES; AN ODE of (or for) david. OF FREETHINKERS; THEIR CUNNING, AUDACITY, AND FINAL EXCISION. PART I.- -COMPLAINT. 1 SAVE, O Jehovah, for the godly-sort [A] is-cometo-an end, The race-of-the-faithful is extinct among the sons of men. 2. They talk vanity,* each one with his neighbour; t Smooth lips! They talk with double heart. i. e. Impious discourse. Not smooth with flattery, but with "glosing lies," with insnaring eloquence and specious argument, in support of the wretched cause which they espouse, See V, 9. and XXXVI, 1.—" They talk with double heart;" themselves secretly mistrusting their own principles, at least not completely satisfied, whatever security and confidence they may affect. PART II.-PROMISE. 3 Jehovah shall cut off all smooth lips, 4 [Those] who say, with our tongue will-we-bevaliant, Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us? 5 Because of the cruel-treatment of the helpless, of the poor, because of the out-cry of the I will now arise, saith Jehovah, I will put [every one] in safety [from] him-thatpuffeth-at him. [C] ‡ "Those who say," i. e. Jehovah will cut off those who say, i.e. those who set a resolution to talk without restraint, upon the most abstruse subjects, and openly profess to do so. "With our tongue will we prevail," rather-with our tongue will we be " valiant.” Infidels profess to set all authority of public opinion and antient tradition at defiance, as the prejudice of education. They follow no |