Page images
PDF
EPUB

12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

14. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

15. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

16. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

17. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.

PSALM VIII. 3.

David's Anthem of praise, whilst he kept watch by night in those plains of Bethlehem where, so many years after, the Saviour was announced by the angelic hosts to the shepherds. It was a frequent custom with shepherds to sing responsively; partly to beguile the time, and partly to keep within hearing, that they might be ready to assist each other in case of the attacks of wild beasts or of robbers. See I Sam. xvii. 34-36. John x. 1-13. Nor did they omit to join their anthem of praise with the hours of the temple or tabernacle watch.

The sun not being alluded to, but only the moon and stars being

mentioned, seems to point out this psalm as the midnight watch hymn.

To the chief Musician upon Gittith. A Psalm of David.

To the giver of victory concerning the presses. A Psalm of David.

1. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8. The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the

seas.

9. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

PSALM IX. 132.

Anthem of praise by David, on being delivered from imminent danger of being slain by the giant Ishbi-benob; but rescued by Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, who slew Ishbi-benob; and likewise on his victory over the Philistine host, who had again declared war against him; in which war the brother of Goliath, and another giant of the city of Gath, were slain. 2 Sam. xv. 22.

To the chief Musician upon Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

To the giver of victory over death. For the son. A Psalm of

David.

1. I WILL praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

2. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

3. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

4. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

5. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast

destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

6. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

7. But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

8. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

9. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

10. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

11. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. 12. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

13. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

14. That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

15. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that

they made in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

16. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

18. For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

19. Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

20. Put them in fear, O Lord that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

PSALM X. 27.

Prayer of David, on learning that the perfidious inhabitants of Ziph had discovered his retreat to Saul, who was marching against him with all his force, which obliged David to flee to a mountain of Maon for security. 1 Sam. xxiii. 19–25. 1-15 Psalmist. 16-18 Chorus joining the Psalmist.

1. WHY standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

2. The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

« PreviousContinue »