2 Hearken to the sound of my cry, my King, And my God, for unto thee I pray. 3 O Jehovah, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice, In the morning I set every-thing-in-order before thee, and watch for thee. [B] 4 Truly not a God that delighteth in a-wickedperson art Thou, An-evil-person shall not be-thy-guest. [C] 5 The foolish shall not present themselves in thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of vanity: * 6 Thou wilt destroy all speakers of untruth: † The man of blood and guile abomination. Jehovah holds-in * Vanity, i. e. the rites of the idolatrous religion. + Propagators of the idolatrous religion, and opposers of the true. "The man of blood and guile," the persecutor of the truth. 7 But I, in the abundance of thy mercy, come into thy house; In fear of thee, I worship [D] at thy holy temple. 8 O Jehovah, lead me in thy righteousness Because of them-that-watch-me, make thy way straight before my face.* 9 For no constancy [E] is in their mouth Within them is extreme-depravity: Their throat is an open sepulchre, They set-a-polish with their tongue. [F] 10 Convict † them, O God; Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them down in the abundance of their trans gressions,‡ For they-are-rebels against thee. *Or, according to the LXX,-my way-before thy face. + The word may signify either to convict, or to condemn. I prefer the former sense," make their guilt evident." "Transgressions" is a weak word to express the original, which signifies overt-acts of positive wilful disloyalty to the rightful sovereign. 11 But let every one rejoice that seeketh-shelter under thee; Let them be joyful evermore, and cover thou them over; Let them triumph in thee who love thy name. 12 Yes; Thou wilt bless the Just One,† O Jehovah, As a Shield of Good-will thou wilt guard around him. [G] PSALM VI. *Or, "be thou a covering over them." The psalmist, speaking with the highest assurance of the final deliverance and happy condition of the good, is driven, as it were, by the Spirit that inspired him, to a choice of words, fixing the Blessing to a single person; to him who is Blessed above all, and the cause of Blessing. PSALM VII. [TITLE—SHIGGAion of david, (or THE BELOVED,) WHICH HE SANG UNTO JEHOVAH CONCERNING THE WORDS, (OR THE BUSINESS,) of cush the BENJAMINITE.]. SHIGGAION, is a wandering Ode, in different parts taking up different subjects, in different stiles of composition. The first part of this Ode is Complaint; the 2d, Supplication and Prediction mixed;—the 3d, Commination ;-the 4th, Crimination, Commination, and Thanksgiving mixed. I have sometimes thought Shiggaion might be an unpremeditated Song, an Improviso. AN INNOCENT PERSON (PROBABLY NO OTHER THAN CHRIST HIMSELF,) UNDER INJURIOUS REPORTS, APPEALS TO THE TRIBUNAL OF GOD. It is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain any particular occasion of this psalm, in the life of David, or of any other character in the Jewish history. It should seem, indeed, from what David says to Saul, after sparing his life in the cave at En-gedi, that Saul's courtiers had filled him with suspicions of David, as forming designs against his life, (1 Sam. XXIV, 9.) But this psalm seems to refer to something more precise, and more injurious to a character, than the vague reports raised by a party against the leader of the opposite interest. As for Cush, the Benjaminite, mentioned in the title of the psalm, he is a personage unknown to the Jewish history. But whatever might be the occasion of the psalm, the real subject seems to be, the Messiah's appeal to God against the false accusations of his enemies; and the predictions which it contains, of the final conversion of the whole world, and of the future judgement, are clear and explicit. PART I. 1 Jehovah, my God, with thee have-I-taken-shel ter, Save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion Rescue; for there is no deliverer. [A] |