Charles H. Spurgeon

This Psalm has in its stern contents something no doubt strange to our ears. But never let us omit to distinguish from each other the times and diverse economies, and to place ourselves as far as possible, in sympathy with the experience of a heart which burned for nothing more than for the glorifying of God in this world. Everything that tended to obscure the theocratic relation of God to his people, called up in the soul of David the most vehement passion. The scornful oppression with which Saul and his venal satellites visited him, the man of God, could not but have, upon the eyes of all, the appearance as if Jehovah were no longer Lord in his own land, who inexorably adhered to his laws and rights. Treason, falsehood, and every kind of evil then prevailed unchecked. What wonder, that as formerly Moses in the wilderness was provoked against the stiff necked people, so also David, whom the awful holiness of God had already made to tremble, should feel his spirit stirred against the ungodly who surrounded him, and should say, with Job, "My bowels boiled within me." Frederick William Krummacher, D.D., in "David, the King of Israel, "1867.

Verse 1. O my God. There are two pleas which the psalmist makes use of; one was, that God was his God, Ps 59:1; the other was the power and strength of his enemies. It is a blessed thing to have the covenant to fly to in all times of straits and troubles; there is always an anchor hold of hope there. My God, is such a plea as infinitely over balances all other things. He has engaged himself to do his people good; and it is time for him to work when the enemy exalts himself. The church's enemies are never so near destruction as when they think they have nothing to do, but take and divide the spoil. We may plead God's promise and the enemies' power too; both are a ground of hope to a believer in Jesus. John Hill (1711-1746), in "Sermons on Several Occasions."

Verse 1. That rise up against me. He insists upon the strength and violence of his enemies, with the view of exciting his mind to greater fervour in the duty of prayer. These he describes as rising up against him, in which expression he alludes, not simple to the audacity or fierceness of their assaults, but to the eminent superiority of power which they possessed; and yet he asks that he may be lifted up on high, as it were, above the reach of this over swelling inundation. John Calvin.

Verse 3. (first clause). On the expression, they lie in wait for my soul, compare 1Sa 19:11, "And Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life soul tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain; "and Ps 7:2,5. E. W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 3. The mighty are gathered against me, is rendered by Chandler, The mighty are turned aside to lay snares against me.

Verse 3. The mighty are gathered against me. As if he would say, "But I am weak, be thou, however, my strength, and vindicate my innocence." Arnd.

Verses 3-4. He pleads his own innocency, not as to God, but as to his persecutors. Note,

1. The innocency of the godly will not secure them from the malignity of the wicked. Those that are harmless like doves, yet for Christ's sake are hated of all men, as if they were noxious like serpents, and obnoxious accordingly.

2. Though our innocency will not secure us from troubles, yet it will greatly support and comfort us under our troubles. The testimony of our conscience for us, that we have behaved ourselves well toward those that have behaved themselves ill towards us, will be very much our rejoicing in the day of evil. If we are conscious to ourselves of our innocency, we may with humble confidence appeal to God, and beg of him to plead our injured cause which he will do in due time. Matthew Henry.

Verse 4. They run, as armed warriors rushing to the assault (Ps 18:29). The Hebrew for "prepare themselves, "(Heb.) means also "they establish themselves; "they make firm their footing, like forces assaulting a city. Job 30:14. A. R. Fausset.

Verse 4. They run and prepare. The zeal and diligence of the wicked in the cause of unrighteousness might well reprove the languor and tardiness of saints in the work of faith and labour of love. In the church of God nothing is the source of more mischief than the want of true zeal and liveliness. It is only when "many run to and fro" that "knowledge shall be increased." William S. Plumer.

Verse 4. Without fault. As it respected Saul, he was a faithful subject and an obedient son-in-law. Benjamin Boothroyd.

Verse 4. Awake to help me, literally, Awake to meet me. In time of temptation the Lord seems to be absent from us, and not to observe our distress—to be, as it were, as Jesus, in the storm, is described as having been "asleep in the hinder part of the ship." Mr 4:38. But it is only an appearance; the Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps 121:4); he is always ready to come to our help when we call upon him. O. Prescott Hiller.

Verse 4. And behold. The expression is one which savours at once of faith and of the infirmity of the flesh. In speaking of God, as if his eyes had been hitherto shut to the wrongs which he had suffered, and needed now for the first time to be opened for the discovery of them, he expresses himself according to the weakness of our human apprehension. On the other hand, in calling upon God to behold his cause, he shows his faith by virtually acknowledging that nothing was hid from his providential cognisance. John Calvin.

Verse 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel. In time of straits we should set our eyes most upon those styles of God which most serve to strengthen our faith, especially such as hold forth his power and goodwill to employ his power for us. David Dickson.

Verse 5. Lord God of hosts. YAHVEH, Elohim, Tsebaoth; as in Ps 80:4,19 84:8. Compare 2Sa 5:10 1Ki 19:10,14 Ps 89:8. From "The Psalms translated from the Hebrew, with Notes chiefly exegetical." By William Kay, D.D., 1871.

Verse 5. Lord God of hosts. Some have thought this equivalent to God of battles; the true force of the epithet, however, is, "Sovereign of the stars, material hosts of heaven, and of the angels their inhabitants." A. A. Hodge, in "Outlines of Theology, "1866.

Verse 5.

1. God of hosts, and therefore able;

2. God of Israel, and therefore willing. Andrew A. Bonar.

Verse 6. At evening. The evening expresses the time of calamity and want, and alludes to the wild beasts which are wont in the evening to go forth in quest of prey. Hermann Venema.

Verse 6. They make a noise like a dog. The noise I heard then I shall never forget. To say that if all the sheep dogs in going to Smithfield on a market day, had been kept on the constant bark and pitted against the yelping curs upon all the carts in London, they could have given any idea of the canine uproar that now first astonished me, would be to make the feeblest of images. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below me, at Tophane; over about Stamboul; far away at Scutari; the whole sixty thousand dogs that are said to overrun Constantinople, appeared engaged in the most active extermination of each other, without a moment's cessation. The yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling, were all merged into one uniform and continuous even sound, as the noise of frogs becomes, when heard at a distance. For hours there was no lull. I went to sleep and woke again, and still, with my windows open, I heard the same tumult going on; nor was it until daybreak that anything like tranquillity was restored. Albert Smith, in "A Month at Constantinople," 1850.

Verse 6. In bringing their secret plans to bear, they are represented as hungry dogs, prowling about the city in the darkness for prey; ranging, each one with his own object, but in one common cause. To take in the full force of this metaphor it must be remembered that in Eastern cities formerly, as at the present day, it was the custom to cast out all the refuse of food—bones, offal, etc.—into the streets, which was consumed chiefly by dogs, great numbers of which were kept, as it would seem, for that particular purpose. With this idea in mind, the metaphor has great propriety in its application to Christ's enemies.

"Every evening they return
They howl like dogs,
And surround the city."
—William Hill Tucker.

Verses 6-7. This is a continued metaphor, which must be well observed, of a famished and rabid dog, unable to satisfy either its hunger or thirst; and describes men, howling formerly like dogs, pursuing, seizing all good things for themselves, and devouring; but now destitute of all things, unable to quench their cupidity, despised, miserable, and desperate wanderers. Such did Saul and his messengers sent against David in Najoth Rama show themselves to be, and give the prelude to their coming misery. Hermann Venema.

Verses 6-7.

1. They are diligent about it, They return at evening.

2. Mad, and set to do it, They make a noise like a dog, and threaten boldly.

3. Unwearied and obdurate in their purpose: They go round about the city.

4. Impudent, and brag what they will do to me: Behold, they belch out with their mouth.

5. And their words are bloody: Swords are in their lips. Adam Clarke.

Verse 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth, etc. Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or, bubble out, as a fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their wickedness in great abundance (see Jer 6:7); the phrase denotes the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that come out of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts; so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him in great plenty, and without proof. John Gill.

Verse 8. God sees and smiles, he looks and laughs at these giants; he sits in heaven far above their reach; neither doth he much trouble himself about the matter; no more should we, but trust in him, and know that there is a counsel in heaven, that will dash the mould of all contrary counsels upon the earth, as the stone cut out of the mountain did the four great monarchies. Da 2:34. And therefore though the wicked, in the pride of his heart, doth persecute the poor; though they belch out with their mouth, and seek to double murder the innocent, by detraction and by deadly practice, yet God both hears and jeers at their madness, and will bring all their purposes to nought with little ado; nay, the very cruelty of his enemies will move God to make haste. The saints fare the better for the insolence and outrages of their enemies, whose ruin is thereby accelerated; and somewhat God will do the sooner for his people, lest the enemy exalt himself. Ps 140:8. Abraham Wright.

Verse 8. (last clause). In the close of the verse, mention is made of all nations, to intimate, that though they might equal the whole world in numbers, they would prove a mere mockery with all their influence and resources. Or the words may be read—EVEN AS thou hast all the nations in derision. One thing is obvious, that David ridicules the vain boasting of his enemies, who thought no undertaking too great to be accomplished by their numbers. John Calvin.

Verses 8-9.

But thou, Lord, laugh at them;
You deride all the heathen.
His strength! Toward thee will I keep watch,
For God is my high fort. William Kay.

Verse 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee. Those seem to come nearest the meaning of the psalmist, who construe the words as one continuous sentence, I will put in trust his strength with thee, meaning that however intemperately Saul might boast of his strength, he would rest satisfied in the assurance that there was a secret divine providence restraining his actions. We must learn to view all men as subordinated in this manner, and to conceive of their strength and their enterprises as depending upon the sovereign will of God. In my opinion, the following version is the best—His strength is with thee, I will wait. The words are parallel with those in the end of the Psalm, where there can be no doubt that the nominative case is employed, My strength is with thee, I will sing. John Calvin.

Verse 9. (first clause). His strength is great, humanly viewed; but to the eye of faith what is it! LXX, to kratoz moi (—uzzi); and so most ancient versions. (The contrast is given in Ps 59:16-17.) William Kay.

Verse 9. Will I wait upon thee, literally, I will keep watch to thee, alluding to the title, "When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him." David sets watching before God, against their watching to kill him. A. R. Fausset.

Verse 9. How weak soever the believer finds himself, and how powerful soever he perceives his enemy to be, it is all one to him, he hath no more to do but to put faith on work, and to wait till God works. Because of his (that is, the enemy's) strength, I will wait upon thee, saith he to the Lord, for God is my defence. David Dickson.

Verse 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. Oh, how the saints sing of the love of Christ! Oh, how they sing that this love was not moved by worthiness, and it disdains all hire and price, but loves us because he loves us! De 7:8. O sing of his wonderful love, and of the prevention of this love of Christ: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. How,

1. It prevents thy love to him. 1Jo 4:19. We love God, because he first loved us.

2. It prevents our sins, as in Paul's case. Ac 4:3: And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven.

3. It prevents our calamities. Ps 79:8; Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us. And,

4. It prevents our endeavours. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. John Spalding, in "Synaxis Sacra," 1703.

Verse 10. (first clause). The psalmist was sure of mercy upon these grounds, he knew he was safe, because God was his God, and the God of his mercy: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. Some read it, hath prevented me; others, doth prevent me; and others, as in my text, shall prevent me. Each of these senses is exceedingly sweet and full. Take it in the first sense, hath prevented me; and it implies thus much, that the psalmist never was in any difficulty, temptation, or fear, but God was beforehand with him; having always the mercy ready which he stood in need of; and had given it in due season, and that when he least expected it, and it may be was least prepared for it. Take it in the second sense, doth prevent, it argues the psalmist's ground of confidence when all present appearances were gone; as if he had said, "God is of one mind, his thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not of evil; he may vary his providence, but his heart is the same as ever; why should I fear, why should I not hope and rejoice? for my God is a tried God, he is working for me even now. He prevents my fears, and he will prevent my falling." Take the words as they lie in my text, and it comes to the same thing. "God sees all my enemies' designs, and he is ready for them; my prayer is heard, and sure I am deliverance will come, though I know not the time of it." My design, under the Spirit's influence, is to look into my own heart and yours, and show you what wonders of providence and grace God, as the God of our mercy, has caused to pass before us. In discoursing on these words, I shall enquire,

1. In what sense, or in what respects, God is the God of our mercy.

2. How, as the God of our mercy, he doth prevent us.

3. Apply.

I am to enquire in what respects God is said to be the God of his people's mercy, and it seems to include in it these three things.

1. That all the mercy which is in God's nature, is for his saints. It is a great word that (1Pe 5:10), the God of all grace. God has in him all sorts of grace for his saints. He hath pardoning, quickening, strengthening, comforting, and preserving grace. His mercy is rich mercy, abundant mercy, inexhaustible mercy, sure mercy. A man's riches are his glory; God glories in his mercy; it is his delight, he rests in it; and so may we, because there is an infinite inconceivable fulness of it in him. "With thee is the fountain of life." God distributes and parcels out this mercy, that we may conceive of it the better; hence he is called by the apostle, The Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. 2Co 1:3. God is not called the author of our mercies, but the Father of them; to show how freely they come from him; they are his bowels; he is pleased with them, as the father is with his own child; dwell on the name, it is a sweet one, the Father of mercies. In my text, David grasps all this mercy, lays hold of it as his own mercy: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. That is one sense.

2. It supposes, farther, that there is a portion of mercy laid by, in the purpose of God, for every saint; a portion of mercy which he may call his own. This some understand to be Christ's meaning to Paul (2Co 12:9): My grace is sufficient for thee; i.e., that grace which I have allotted for thee thou wilt find sufficient. I knew what thou wouldst need in my eternal counsels; I have made provision beforehand; I have taken care thou shouldest have enough.

3. The words suppose, farther, that God has taken it upon him as his charge, to keep this portion of his mercy for his people. Whatever it be, soul, it is in trust for thee with him. Every saint may apply to God, as the God of every mercy which he needs. Condensed from John Hill's Sermon.

Verse 10. God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. The words, my desire, are not in the original, and would be better omitted. The sense is—God will enable me to look down calmly upon my enemies. So Christ looked upon his murderers. So Stephen was enabled to do when they "gnashed upon him with their teeth." "All that sat in the council looking steadfastly upon him saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Ac 6:15. Christopher Wordsworth.

Verse 11. Slay them not, that they may be a whetstone to others' faith—as the Spartans (mentioned in Plutarch's Apothegms) refused to allow the destruction of a neighbouring city which had often called forth their armies, saying, "Destroy not the whetstone of our young men." Andrew A. Bonar.

Verse 11. Slay them not:

"Live loathed and long
You smiling, smooth, detested parasites."
—W. Shakespeare.

Verse 11. The enemies must serve for monuments of the divine righteousness, not less in the abiding wretchedness of their race than by their own sudden destruction. Parallel to this verse, and to Ps 59:6,14, is the curse which David utters upon Joab, in 2Sa 3:29: "Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread; "then the threatening of a man of God to Eli, in 1Sa 3:36, where, after announcing the violent death of the evildoers themselves, corresponding to 1Sa 3:13 here, it is said: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him (the new high priest) for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests offices, that I may eat a piece of bread." Christian expositors have all along drawn attention to the fact, that the substance of our verse, as that also of verses, 6, 14, has gone into fulfilment on the Jews. "They have been scattered into all lands, and must go and stand before the eyes of all Christians, as a living witness that they have crucified the true Messiah and Saviour of the world. So that if you see a Jew, think on this word." (Arndt.) E. W. Hengstenberg.

Verse 11. Slay them not; namely, suddenly. Scatter them. It should seem that he hath a relation to Cain's punishment, whom God would not have killed, but would have him to be a wanderer all the days of his life for a spectacle, and an example of his judgments. Ge 4:12. Others translate it, shake them namely, their degree of honour and glory. John Diodati, 1576-1649.

Verse 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, etc. Albeit the persecutors do not accomplish their purpose against the righteous; yet their pride, their brags, their lies, their slanders, their curses against the godly, are a sufficient ditty for damnation and wrath to come upon them. David Dickson.

Verse 12. The words of their lips. The phrase, word of the lips, is often used for empty loquacity and boasting; the opposite of a word that is solid and founded on fact, as in 2Ki 18:20. "Thou speakest, but it is only a word of the lips." Pr 14:23. "In all labour there is profit: but the word of the lips tendeth only to penury." Hermann Venema.

Verse 13. Consume them, emphatically, consume them in wrath, that they may not be; which at first sight seems contrary to his first desire, Slay them not; but it is not so, for he speaks not of their life, as if he would have them so consumed, that they should not remain alive; but he desires only a consumption of their power, royalty, command, etc. And so these words are a farther explication of his second desire, Bring them down. He would have them so brought down and consumed in their strength, dignity, command, wealth, riches, that made them proud, that they never be able any more to oppose God, hurt his people, trample upon religion and his church; he would have them live. William Nicholson.

Verse 13. Consume them. I hear of sad doings in Poland, of villages burnt down, of peaceable men deported to Siberia by hundreds, of woman flogged; and when I look away to that Warsaw market place where a woman, nearly naked, is being publicly beaten, and when I see cruel Mouravieff smile as the blood jets forth from the scourged shoulders, I will not deny that I feel very much tempted to say, "Happy man, whose bullet in fair flight should empty that saddle!" Am I bloodthirsty in this? Am I vindictive? Do you condemn me for this feeling? R. A. Bertram.

Verse 13. That they may not be. By the word wmgyaw, that they may not be, may be understood either a vile and wretched state in general, or even total destruction. The former must indeed here be admitted, as is plain from the context, yet not to the exclusion of the latter sense; since a miserable condition, such as in a disease, issues in destruction at length. Not to be is evidently by no means rarely taken for to be nobody, to be wretched, afflicted, despised. Compare Jer 31:15. Hermann Venema.

Verse 13. Selah. Though God be in all his words Yea and Amen, yet in setting this seal of Selah to this doctrine, he hath testified his will that he would have all these things the better understood and the deeper imprinted; that if the wicked go on to persecute the godly, Selah, assuredly God will have them in derision; Selah, assuredly God shall shiver their bones, shake their best actions, and discover their impurity; Selah, assuredly God's hand shall be heavy upon them, and they shall not discern it to be his hand till they are consumed. Selah, assuredly, verily, amen, this is a faithful, an infallible truth; as the Lord liveth it shall be so. Abraham Wright.

Verse 14. Dog. Is it the influence of Christianity extending its law of kindness to the lower animals, or something in the nature of northern dogs and northern men which makes dogs among us Anglo Saxons, and all the associations connected with them, so entirely different from what they are in the East? Imagine the effigy of an Oriental saint reposing with its feet on a dog, like that of William the Silent, the heroic Prince of Orange, on the faithful spaniel which rescued his life in the night attack of the Spanish troops, and like so many a sculptured knight of medieval times! The very presence of such an image would, in Oriental eyes, be the greatest desecration an enemy could inflict on a sacred edifice. And in the Bible how exceedingly contemptuous, and how inapplicable to English dogs, are the terms employed in describing canine habits. "They grin like a dog, and go about the city, and grudge if they be not satisfied; " "Without are dogs." What possible resemblance is there between such a description and the grave dignity of a Newfoundland; the sagacious, acute expression of a terrier; the wistful, almost human eyes of our house spaniels? But here at Tyre, as in most Eastern towns, the familiar words came to us with all their true and forcible meaning. The wolfish, hungry, masterless dogs which "go about the cities (of Alexandria, for instance), gathering in packs like jackals, prowling about for offal, and grudging if they be not satisfied; "or the famished outcasts, like our dogs at Tyre, prowling "outside" the city. To these we may apply the highly unfavourable definitions of Scripture, which every Englishman and Englishwoman must indignantly disclaim on behalf of the loyal, faithful, patient creatures who watch beside our homes like sentinels, and guard our flocks like shepherds, and welcome us with ecstatic joy when we come home again, and sometimes will even die rather than desert a master's grave. From "Wanderings over Bible Lands and Seas," 1862.

Verse 14. Those that repent of their sins when they are in trouble, mourn like doves; those whose hearts are hardened when they are in trouble, make a noise like dogs. Matthew Henry.

Verse 16. Let them wander up and down, etc. A beggarly and indigent, and so an unsatisfied and wearisome condition, shall be their lot; the greatest worldly plague that can fall on any—large appetites and no possessions or acquires to satisfy them. Henry Hammond.

Verse 16. And grudge if they be not satisfied. A contented man, if he has not what he would have, yet doth not grudge, doth not quarrel with providence, nor fret within himself; but those whose God is their belly, if that be not filled and its appetites gratified, fall out both with God and themselves. It is not poverty, but discontent that makes a man unhappy. Matthew Henry.

Verse 16. The hunger of a dog is deservedly their plague, of whom a resemblance of that unclean animal's disposition hath been the sin. Reader, be it thy care to avoid such sins, and cultivate a spirit of lively devotion; that, instead of receiving thy portion where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, thou mayest sing to the God of thy mercy for ever. Benjamin Boothroyd.

Verse 16. We must not pass by the contrast with the wretched condition of the wicked, which is indicated by the pronoun hmh, they, in Ps 59:15, an ygaw, but I, which are in exact antithesis; also the "evening, "mentioned above, and the "morning, "now occurring for the times of trouble and happiness, and the dog like noise of the wicked, and the singing with joyful sound of David, to pass by other particulars, likewise give to the diverse states additional difference. Hermann Venema.

Verse 16. Cantabo and exaltabo, I will sing, and I will sing aloud. Here is singing only of God's power; but there is singing aloud of his mercy; as if his mercy were more exaltable than his power, and that reached the very heavens; this unto the clouds. Ps 26:5. From Humphrey Sydenham's Sermon, entitled, "The Well toned Cymball," 1637.

Verse 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing. Formerly he had said that the strength of his enemy was with God, and now he asserts the same thing of his own. The expression, however, which admits of two meanings, he elegantly applies to himself in a different sense. God has the strength of the wicked in his hands, to curb and to restrain it, and to show that any power of which they boast is vain and fallacious. His own people, on the other hand, he supports and secures against the possibility of falling, by supplies of strength from himself. John Calvin.

Verse 17. Unto thee, O my strength. In opposition to the enemy's strength, Ps 59:9. Thy power, or strength—the Hebrew word is the same (Ps 59:16)—is my strength. There is an elegant play on similar sounds in the Hebrew for I will wait upon thee, hrmva (Ps 59:9), and "I will sing, "hrmza A. R. Faussett.

Verse 17. (first clause). As on account of Saul's strength my watching was directed to thee; so now, no account of thy strength vouchsafed to me, my singing of praises also shall be directed to thee alone. Martin Geier.

Verse 17. Strength—Mercy. He joins these two attributes, "strength" and "mercy", very well; for take away strength from him, and he cannot; remove mercy, and he will not, protect; both must go together in any one that will defend; power, that he can, mercy, that he will; otherwise it is but in vain to hope for help from him David found God to be both, and for both he extols him. William Nicholson.

Verse 1. (first clause). Deliver me from temptation, uphold me in temptation, cleanse me from the result of temptation. The world, the flesh, the devil, and chiefly sin, these are our enemies. We cannot escape them of ourselves, but the Lord by providence and grace can rescue us.

Verse 2. (first clause). From being tempted by their promises, cowed by their threats, corrupted by their teaching, influenced by their example, injured by their slander, hindered in usefulness by their opposition.

Verse 3. (first clause). The subtleties of Satan. Watches for places, times, states, and ways in which to assail us. Errors in doctrine, practice, spirit, set forth to entrap us. "Ye are not ignorant of his devices." Or, the diabolical ambush, discovered by watchfulness, and defeated by faith.

Verse 4. The activity of the evil a rebuke for the good.

1. Their activity, run.
2. Unanimity—they run.
3. Their care—prepare themselves.
4. Their readiness—without my fault.

Verse 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel. This title furnishes an admirable topic.

Verse 9. The greatness of difficulty a reason for prayer and faith.

Verse 10. (first clause). The divine forwardness to bless.

Verse 11. The continuance of our enemies a salutary ordinance of God for the prevention of an evil to which we are very liable.

Verse 13 (last clause). God as the God of the church, his government as such, known in all human history.

Verse 16. The heavenly chorister.

1. His song is sweet in contrast with the revilings of others—but I.
2. It treats of subjects which terrify others—thy power.
3. It grows louder on tender themes—thy mercy.
4. It has its choice seasons—in the morning.
5. It is tuned by experience—for thou hast.
6. It is all to God's glory—thy power, thy mercy, thou hast.

Verse 17.

1. A doctrine—God is his people's strength.

2. An appropriation—"my strength."

3. A resolution. The song of gratitude for the past, faith for the present, hope for the future, of bliss for eternity.