11 At our footsteps they have now encompassed us;

They have set their eyes to bow [us] down to the earth. 12 He is like a lion that is greedy for prey,

13

And as a young lion lurking in secret places.
Arise, O Jehovah!

Confront him; make him crouch down.

Deliver my soul from the wicked, thy sword,

4 From men, thy hand, Jehovah ;

From men of the world, whose portion is in life,
And with thy hoard thou wilt fill their belly.
They shall be surfeited with sons,

And leave their excess to their children.

15 As for me, in righteousness shall I behold thy face, Shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

PSALM XVIII.

To the chief Musician. By the servant of Jehovah, by David, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song, in the day when Jehovah had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; and he said:

1 I WILL love thee, Jehovah, my strength.

2 Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, My God, my rock, I will trust in him;

3

My shield, my horn of salvation, my high tower.

Praised will I call Jehovah,

And from my enemies shall I be saved.

of grossness in regard to spiritual perception. For the former, compare Job 15: 27; and for the latter, Is. 6: 10.

V. 11. They have set their eyes.] Namely, on this object; they are wholly intent on it. Compare the similar expression in Luke 9 : 53.

V. 15. With thy likeness.] With God, as manifested to those whom

he permits to behold him. Compare Matt, 5: 8.

V. 2 Horn, emblem of strength and of defense; of salvation, as the instrument and means of it.

4 The bands of death encompassed me,
And floods of the ungodly made me afraid.
5 The bands of the underworld surrounded me,
The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon Jehovah,
And unto my God I cried.

From his temple he heard my voice,

And my cry came before him, into his ears.
Then the earth shook and quaked;

And the foundations of the mountains trembled,
And were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up smoke in his nostril,
And fire out of his mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled from it.

9 And he bowed the heavens and came down,
And thick darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly,
And soared along on wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering,

His pavilion round about him ;

Dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed

away;

Hail, and coals of fire!

13 And Jehovah thundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered his voice;

Hail, and coals of fire!

14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them, And shot forth lightnings and discomfited them.

15 And the channels of water were seen,

And the foundations of the world were made bare,
At thy rebuke, O Jehovah,

At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

V. 12. The scene now changes. A blaze of light, from before him, disperses the darkness of enveloping clouds, in showers of hail and burning coals.

VV. 12, 13. Hail and coals of fire.] Compare Ex. 9: 23, 24.

16 He sent from on high, he took me,

He drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from them that hated me, for they were too strong

for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity;

And Jehovah became a stay for me,

19 And brought me forth to a large place,

20

And delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Jehovah requited me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,

Aud have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his judgments were before me,

And his statutes I put not away from me;

23 And I was upright with him,

And kept myself from my iniquity;

24 And Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteous

25

ness,

According to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes. With the gracious thou wilt show thyself gracious; With an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; 26 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure;

And with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward. 27 For thou wilt save an afflicted people,

And lofty eyes thou wilt bring low.

28 For thou wilt light my lamp ;

Jehovah my God will enlighten my darkness.

29 For by thee I shall run through a troop,

30

And by my God I shall leap over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect;

The word of Jehovah is tried ;

A shield is he to all that trust in him.

31 For who is God besides Jehovah, And who is a rock save our God;

32 The Mighty, that girds me with strength, And has made my way perfect;

33 Making my feet like hinds',

And on my high places he makes me stand; 34 Teaching my hands to war,

35

And a bow of brass is bent by my arms.

And thou gavest me the shield of thy salvation ; And thy right hand will hold me up,

And thy condescension will make me great. 36 Thou wilt enlarge my steps under me, And my ankles waver not.

37 I shall pursue my enemies, and overtake them;

And shall not turn again till they are consumed.

38 I shall smite them, and they will not be able to rise; They will fall beneath my feet.

39 For thou hast girded me with strength for the battle; Thou wilt make them crouch under me that rise up against me. 40 And thou hast given me the neck of my enemies;

And those that hate me, I will destroy them.

41 They will cry, and there is no deliverer;

To Jehovah, and he answers them not.

42 And I shall beat them small as dust before the wind As mire of the streets I will pour them out.

43

Thou wilt deliver me from the strifes of the people ; Thou wilt make me the head of the heathen;

A people I have not known shall serve me. 44 At the hearing of the ear they will obey me; Strangers will profess submission to me.

45 Strangers will fade away,

46

And will tremble from their strongholds.

Jehovah lives, and blessed be my rock,

And let the God of my salvation be exalted;

47 The Mighty, who avenges me,

And has subdued peoples under me,

48 Delivering me from my enemies.

Yea, thou wilt lift me above those that rise up against me;

From the man of violence thou wilt rescue me.

V. 36. Waver not.] My feet stand firm, having ample room.

49

Therefore will I praise thee, Jehovah, among the

heathen,

And to thy name will I sing.

50 Great deliverances he gives to his king,
And shows kindness to his anointed,
To David, and to his seed, forevermore.

PSALM XIX.

To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David.

THE heavens declare the glory of God, And the expanse proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day utters speech,

And night to night shows knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, Where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them has he set a tabernacle for the sun;

5 And he is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; He rejoices as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heavens,

V. 50. To his anointed-to David, and to his seed.] These words. are the key to the sentiments of this psalm, and of all of like import. The Psalmist speaks as the representative of that divinely constituted sovereignty, of which he was the head, and which was opposed in his person. V. 3. In every land, is meant. be the "speech or language" of the tongue, and are understood by all.

Their voice is heard, whatever may people. They preach to all, of every The verse may be rendered thus :

There is no speech, there are no words ;

Their voice is not heard.

This is true in itself, but has no special significance in the connection. The thought expressed in the text is both true and to the point. They declare the "glory of God and his handiwork" to all, in a voice that is heard by all. The italics of the common English version are not required by the Hebrew construction.