Mr Hutchinson conceives, that this whole Psalm is uttered in the person of the Messiah, and is his thanksgiving for his exemption from corruption, and early deliverance from the grave. And in this view of the Psalm, he finds a very peculiar force in the 9th verse-" What profit in my blood, if I be pressed down to corruption, and held under its power? My blood will be shed in vain-the redemption of man will not be accomplished, Shall the dust, the dissolved body, praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth? Far from it: the promise, that I should not see corruption, will be broken.” This certainly deserves great attention. But it seems to me, that the 6th verse is utterly inapplicable to the Messiah, who, in the days of his flesh, had no prosperity, and certainly never deceived himself with the false hope, that he never should be moved. In one way, indeed, the 6th verse may be made to suit the character of Messiah, namely, if it may be rendered, not "And in my prosperity I said," &c.; but thus, “And I said, in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.” That is, "when once the season of my bliss shall come, I shall enjoy it for ever without interruption." This seems indeed the rendering most consistent with the order of the Hebrew words. He goes on, "Jehovah, in thy favour, thou hast established strength for my comeliness." This is still a continuance of what he said." Jehovah thou hast established," i. e. thou hast irreversibly decreed that so it shall be the preterite, in the usual style of prophecy, being used to express the certainty of what is to come. [But notwithstanding this consoling hope] "thou didst hide thy face, and I was in the deepest anxiety and dejection." All this is eminently true of the Messiah. And if the 6th verse may be thus rendered, as I think it may; there is not an expression in the whole Psalm that suits not the character of Messiah more completely and exactly than any other. And Mr Hutchinson's admirable exposition of the 9th verse will take place. Upon the whole, I incline to this application and interpretation of the Psalm. The Chaldee paraphrase seems to take the 6th verse in the sense proposed; though this appears not in the Latin translation of that paraphrase in the Polyglott. במתבי ברוחצנה דלא אזוע לעלמא ON NINI "And I said, when I am seated in security, I shall not be moved to all eternity." PSALM XXXI. [A] Ver. 2. Castle of defence.". I take this to be a house with battlements upon the roof. Such battlements, in some sort, resemble a network inclosing the platform of the roof; and from that resemblance, I imagine, get .מצודות the name of [B] Ver. 6. Thou hatest;"-N instead of 'NI, LXX. Vulg. Syr. and one MS. of Kennicott's. "N, beginning the next hemistich, says Bishop Lowth, in Merrick, implies an opposition or change of person. [C] Ver. 7. "I will exult,” i. e, at some future season. "This shall be the subject of my joy and exultation, that thou hast regarded my trouble; that thou hast accepted my person in adversities, and not delivered me up bound into the hand of the enemy; that thou hast set my feet in an ample space." w Kennicott says, is used here for quando. I think that UN is used in the sense of that, because, or in as much as; but that the preterperfects subjoined to the futures have the force of the subjunctive future of the Latin language. [D] Ver. 9. wasted,-pines,—is emaciated." In the original, the same verb wy serves for the three subjects, eye, soul, and person (or belly). But for want of a verb of the like latitude of signification in our language, I have been under the necessity of expressing the sense of wuy as connected with these different nominatives, by the three different verbs, is wasted,—pines,—is emaciated. [E] Ver. 10. —are mouldering away." Again the same .עששו verb [F] Ver. 11. nuisance." I venture to read for Or, may not ,is to rankle like an angry sore מאר מאד -or, per ? ארר from the root מארה be a corruption of מאד ? מאר from the root מאר haps of [G] Ver. 13. "Truly I have heard the angry muttering of the mighty, of them that are the general dread." מגור 20. I take this to be a phrase describing the mighty, whose malignant threats against him he overheard, as persons universally dreaded for their power and their cruelty. It seems to have been a phrase nearly equivalent to our vernacular phrases of raw-head and bloody bones, scare-crow, bugaboo. It was a name given by the prophet Jeremiah, in abhorrence and contempt, to his persecutor Pashur, as an object of general dread and aversion. See Jeremiah xx, 3. [H] Ver. 17. —let the impious be brought to shame." Here ends the prayer. What follows, to the end of the 18th verse, is the answer of the oracular voice. The sequel of the Psalm is thanksgiving for that gracious answer. [I] Ver. 21. --he hath set apart his saints for himself in a city of defence." Houbigant would make an emendation here. The subject of the Psalm being, as he conceived, David's escape in the wilderness of Maon; the kindness which the Psalmist commemorates was not shewn him in a strong city. But his escape from the city of Keilah into the wilderness, was no less providential than his deliverance from Saul's pursuit in the wilderness. Marvellous kindness was shewn him in a strong city, when he had warning to escape from a place, where Saul thought to find him shut in with gates and bars.-See 1 Sam. xxiii. In the application of the Psalm, therefore, to David, no emendation of this passage seems necessary. But the version of the Syriac deserves attention, which presents a remarkable variety of the text. -must have been the reading of that interpre הפלה חסידי לו ter." He hath set apart his saints for himself in a city of defence."-See Psalm iv, 3. xvii, 7. PSALM XXXII. לדוד משכיל. [A] Ver. 5. I acknowledged-have I not hid-I said I will confess."-E. T. In the Hebrew, "I acknowledged" is future, as is "I will confess." "I have not hid" is perfect. I will acknowledge my trespasses unto thee, My perverseness I will not conceal; I said I will make confession of my wilful crimes unto Je- And thou, &c. The sentiment is, "I have felt the misery of the attempt to smother the sense of my sin within myself. I will do so no |