mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Ps.iv" n="iv" next="Ps.v" prev="Ps.iii" progress="22.63%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Ps.iv-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.iv-p0.2">PSALM III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.iv-p1">As the foregoing psalm, in the type of David in
preferment, showed us the royal dignity of the Redeemer, so this,
by the example of David in distress, shows us the peace and holy
security of the redeemed, how safe they really are, and think
themselves to be, under the divine protection. David, being now
driven out from his palace, from the royal city, from the holy
city, by his rebellious son Absalom, I. Complains to God of his
enemies, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.1-Ps.3.2" parsed="|Ps|3|1|3|2" passage="Ps 3:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II.
Confides in God, and encourages himself in him as his God,
notwithstanding, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.3" parsed="|Ps|3|3|0|0" passage="Ps 3:3">ver. 3</scripRef>. III.
Recollects the satisfaction he had in the gracious answers God gave
to his prayers, and his experience of his goodness to him,
<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.4-Ps.3.5" parsed="|Ps|3|4|3|5" passage="Ps 3:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. IV. Triumphs
over his fears (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.6" parsed="|Ps|3|6|0|0" passage="Ps 3:6">ver. 6</scripRef>) and
over his enemies, whom he prays against,, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.7" parsed="|Ps|3|7|0|0" passage="Ps 3:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. V. Gives God the glory and takes to
himself the comfort of the divine blessing and salvation which are
sure to all the people of God, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.8" parsed="|Ps|3|8|0|0" passage="Ps 3:8">ver.
8</scripRef>. Those speak best of the truths of God who speak
experimentally; so David here speaks of the power and goodness of
God, and of the safety and tranquility of the godly.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3" parsed="|Ps|3|0|0|0" passage="Ps 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.iv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.1-Ps.3.3" parsed="|Ps|3|1|3|3" passage="Ps 3:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.3.1-Ps.3.3">
<h4 id="Ps.iv-p1.9">Distress and Confidence.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.iv-p1.10">
<p id="Ps.iv-p2">A psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.iv-p3">1 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p3.1">Lord</span>, how are
they increased that trouble me! many <i>are</i> they that rise up
against me.   2 Many <i>there be</i> which say of my soul,
<i>There is</i> no help for him in God. Selah.   3 But thou,
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p3.2">O Lord</span>, <i>art</i> a shield for me;
my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p4">The title of this psalm and many others is
as a key hung ready at the door, to open it, and let us into the
entertainments of it; when we know upon what occasion a psalm was
penned we know the better how to expound it. This was composed, or
at least the substance of it was meditated and digested in David's
thought, and offered up to God, when he fled from Absalom his son,
who formed a conspiracy against him, to take away, not his crown
only, but his life; we have the story, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.1-2Sam.16.14" parsed="|2Sam|15|1|16|14" passage="2Sa 15:1-16:14">2 Sam. xv.</scripRef>, &amp;c. 1. David was now in
great grief; when, in his flight, he went up the Mount of Olives,
he wept greatly, with his head covered, and marching bare-foot; yet
<i>then</i> he composed this comfortable psalm. He wept and prayed,
wept and sung, wept and believed; this was sowing in tears. Is any
afflicted? Let him pray; nay, let him sing psalms, let him sing
this psalm. Is any afflicted with undutiful disobedient children?
David was; and yet that did not hinder his joy in God, nor put him
out of tune for holy songs. 2. He was now in great danger; the plot
against him was laid deep, the party that sought his ruin was very
formidable, and his own son at the head of them, so that his
affairs seemed to be at the last extremity; yet <i>then</i> he kept
hold of his interest in God and improved that. Perils and frights
should drive us to God, not drive us from him. 3. He had now a
great deal of provocation given him by those from whom he had
reason to expect better things, from his son, whom he had been
indulgent of, from his subjects, whom he had been so great a
blessing to; this he could not but resent, and it was enough to
break in upon any man's temper; yet he was so far from any indecent
expressions of passion and indignation that he had calmness enough
for those acts of devotion which require the greatest fixedness and
freedom of thought. The sedateness of his mind was evinced by the
Spirit's coming upon him; for the Spirit chooses to move upon the
still waters. Let no unkindness, no, not of a child or a friend,
ever be laid so much to heart as to disfit us for communion with
God. 4. He was now suffering for his sin in the matter of Uriah;
this was the evil which, for that sin, God threatened to <i>raise
up against him out of his own house</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.11" parsed="|2Sam|12|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:11">2 Sam. xii. 11</scripRef>), which, no doubt, he
observed, and took occasion thence to renew his repentance for it.
Yet he did not <i>therefore</i> cast away his confidence in the
divine power and goodness, nor despair of succour. Even our sorrow
for sin must not hinder either our joy in God or our hope in God.
5. He seemed cowardly in fleeing from Absalom, and quitting his
royal city, before he had had one struggle for it; and yet, by this
psalm, it appears he was full of true courage arising from his
faith in God. True Christian fortitude consists more in a gracious
security and serenity of mind, in patiently bearing and patiently
waiting, than in daring enterprises with sword in hand.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p5">In these <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.1-Ps.3.3" parsed="|Ps|3|1|3|3" passage="Ps 3:1-3">three
verses</scripRef> he applies to God. Whither else should we go but
to him when any thing grieves us or frightens us? David was now at
a distance from his own closet, and from the courts of God's house,
where he used to pray; and yet he could find a way open heaven-ward.
Wherever we are we may have access to God, and may draw nigh to him
whithersoever we are driven. David, in his flight, attends his
God,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p6">I. With a representation of his distress,
<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.1-Ps.3.2" parsed="|Ps|3|1|3|2" passage="Ps 3:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. He looks
round, and as it were takes a view of his enemies' camp, or
receives information of their designs against him, which he brings
to God, not to his own council-board. Two things he complains of,
concerning his enemies:—1. That they were very many: <i>Lord, how
are they increased!</i> beyond what they were at first, and beyond
whatever he thought they would have been. Absalom's faction, like a
snow-ball, strangely gathered in its motion. He speaks of it as one
amazed, and well he might, that a people he had so many ways
obliged should almost generally revolt from him, rebel against him,
and choose for their head such a foolish and giddy young man as
Absalom was. How slippery and deceitful are the many! And how
little fidelity and constancy are to be found among men! David had
had the hearts of his subjects as much as ever any king had, and
yet now, of a sudden, he had lost them. As people must not trust
too much to princes (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.146.3" parsed="|Ps|146|3|0|0" passage="Ps 146:3">Ps. cxlvi.
3</scripRef>), so princes must not build too much upon their
interest in the people. Christ, the Son of David, had many enemies.
When a great multitude came to seize him, when the crowd cried,
<i>Crucify him, Crucify him,</i> how were those then increased that
troubled him! Even good people must not think it strange if the
stream be against them and the powers that threaten them grow more
and more formidable. 2. That they were very malicious. They rose up
against him; they aimed to trouble him; but that was not all: they
said of his soul, <i>There is no help for him in God.</i> That is,
(1.) They put a spiteful and invidious construction upon his
troubles, as Job's friends did upon him, concluding that, because
his servants and subjects forsook him thus and did not help him,
God had deserted him and abandoned his cause, and he was therefore
to be looked <i>on,</i> or rather to be looked <i>off,</i> as a
hypocrite and a wicked man. (2.) They blasphemously reflected upon
God as unable to relieve him: "His danger is so great that God
himself cannot help him." It is strange that so great unbelief
should be found in any, especially in many, in Israel, as to think
any party of men too strong for Omnipotence to deal with. (3.) They
endeavoured to shake his confidence in God and drive him to despair
of relief from him: "They have said it <i>to</i> my soul;" so it
may be read; compare <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.11.1 Bible:Ps.42.10" parsed="|Ps|11|1|0|0;|Ps|42|10|0|0" passage="Ps 11:1,42:10">Ps. xi. 1;
xlii. 10</scripRef>. This grieved him worst of all, that they had
so bad an opinion of him as to think it possible to take him off
from that foundation. The mere temptation was a buffeting to him,
<i>a thorn in his flesh,</i> nay, a <i>sword in his bones.</i>
Note, A child of God startles at the very thought of despairing of
help in God; you cannot vex him with any thing so much as if you
offer to persuade him that <i>there is no help for him in God.</i>
David comes to God, and tells him what his enemies said of him, as
Hezekiah spread Rabshakeh's blasphemous letter before the Lord.
"They say, <i>There is no help for me in thee;</i> but, Lord, if it
be so, I am undone. They say to my soul, <i>There is no
salvation</i>" (for so the word is) "<i>for him in God;</i> but,
Lord, do thou say unto my soul, <i>I am thy salvation</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.35.3" parsed="|Ps|35|3|0|0" passage="Ps 35:3">Ps. xxxv. 3</scripRef>) and that shall
satisfy me, and in due time silence them." To this complaint he
adds <i>Selah,</i> which occurs about seventy times in the book of
Psalms. Some refer it to the music with which, in David's time, the
psalms were sung; others to the sense, and that it is a note
commanding a solemn pause. <i>Selah—Mark that,</i> or, "<i>Stop
there,</i> and consider a little." As here, they say, <i>There is
no help for him in God, Selah.</i> "Take time for such a thought as
this. <i>Get thee behind me, Satan. The Lord rebuke thee!</i> Away
with such a vile suggestion!"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p7">II. With a profession of his dependence
upon God, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.3" parsed="|Ps|3|3|0|0" passage="Ps 3:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. An
active believer, the more he is beaten off from God, either by the
rebukes of Providence or the reproaches of enemies, the faster hold
he will take of him and the closer will he cleave to him; so David
here, when his enemies said, <i>There is no help for him in
God,</i> cries out with so much the more assurance, "<i>But thou, O
Lord! art a shield for me;</i> let them say what they will, I am
sure thou wilt never desert me, and I am resolved I will never
distrust thee." See what God is to his people, what he will be,
what they have found him, what David found in him. 1. Safety:
"<i>Thou art a shield for me,</i> a shield <i>about</i> me" (so
some), "to secure me on all sides, since my enemies surrounded me."
Not only <i>my shield</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.15.1" parsed="|Gen|15|1|0|0" passage="Ge 15:1">Gen. xv.
1</scripRef>), which denotes an interest in the divine protection,
but a shield <i>for</i> me, which denotes the present benefit and
advantage of that protection. 2. Honour: <i>Thou art my glory.</i>
Those whom God owns for his are not safe and easy, but really look
great, and have true honour put upon them, far above that which the
great ones of the earth are proud of. David was now in disgrace;
the crown had fallen from his head; but he will not think the worse
of himself while he has God for his glory, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.60.19" parsed="|Isa|60|19|0|0" passage="Isa 60:19">Isa. lx. 19</scripRef>. "<i>Thou art my glory;</i> thy
glory I reckon mine" (so some); "this is what I aim at, and am
ambitious of, whatever my lot is, and whatever becomes of my
honour—that I may be to my God for a name and a praise." 3. Joy
and deliverance: "<i>Thou art the lifter up of my head;</i> thou
wilt lift up my head <i>out of</i> my troubles, and restore me to
my dignity again, in due time; or, at least, thou wilt lift up my
head <i>under</i> my troubles, so that I shall not droop nor be
discouraged, nor shall my spirits fail." If, in the worst of times,
God's people can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that all
shall work for good to them, they will own it is God that is the
lifter up of their head, that gives them both cause to rejoice and
hearts to rejoice.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p8">In singing this, and praying it over, we
should possess ourselves with an apprehension of the danger we are
in from the multitude and malice of our spiritual enemies, who seek
the ruin of our souls by driving us from our God, and we should
concern ourselves in the distresses and dangers of the church of
God, which is every where spoken against, every where fought against;
but, in reference to both, we should encourage ourselves in our
God, who owns and protects and will in due time crown his own
interest both in the world and in the hearts of his people.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.4-Ps.3.8" parsed="|Ps|3|4|3|8" passage="Ps 3:4-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.3.4-Ps.3.8">
<h4 id="Ps.iv-p8.2">Confidence in God.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.iv-p9">4 I cried unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p9.1">Lord</span> with my voice, and he heard me out of his
holy hill. Selah.   5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p9.2">Lord</span> sustained me.   6 I
will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set
<i>themselves</i> against me round about.   7 Arise, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p9.3">O Lord</span>; save me, O my God: for thou hast
smitten all mine enemies <i>upon</i> the cheek bone; thou hast
broken the teeth of the ungodly.   8 Salvation
<i>belongeth</i> unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iv-p9.4">Lord</span>: thy
blessing <i>is</i> upon thy people. Selah.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p10">David, having stirred up himself by the
irritations of his enemies to take hold on God as his God, and so
gained comfort in looking upward when, if he looked round about
him, nothing appeared but what was discouraging, here looks back
with pleasing reflections upon the benefit he had derived from
trusting in God and looks forward with pleasing expectations of a
very bright and happy issue to which the dark dispensation he was
now under would shortly be brought.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p11">I. See with what comfort he looks back upon
the communion he had had with God, and the communications of his
favour to him, either in some former trouble he had been in, and
through God's goodness got through, or in this hitherto. David had
been exercised with many difficulties, often oppressed and brought
very low; but still he had found God all-sufficient. He now
remembered with pleasure,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p12">1. That his troubles had always brought him
to his knees, and that, in all his difficulties and dangers, he had
been enabled to acknowledge God and to lift up his heart to him,
and his voice too (this will be comfortable reflection when we are
in trouble): <i>I cried unto God with my voice.</i> Care and grief
do us good and no hurt when they set us a praying, and engage us,
not only to speak to God, but to cry to him, as those that are in
earnest. And though God understands the language of the heart, when
the <i>voice is not heard</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.1.13" parsed="|1Sam|1|13|0|0" passage="1Sa 1:13">1 Sam.
i. 13</scripRef>), and values not the hypocritical prayers of those
who <i>cause their voice to be heard on high</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.4" parsed="|Isa|58|4|0|0" passage="Isa 58:4">Isa. lviii. 4</scripRef>), <i>vox et præterea
nihil</i>—<i>mere sound,</i> yet, when the earnestness of the
voice comes from the fervency of the heart, it shall be taken
notice of, in the account, that we cried unto God with our
<i>voice.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p13">2. That he had always found God ready to
answer his prayers: <i>He heard me out of his holy hill,</i> from
heaven, the high and holy place, from the ark on Mount Sion, whence
he used to give answers to those that sought to him. David had
ordered Zadok to <i>carry back the ark into the city</i> when he
was flying from Absalom (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.25" parsed="|2Sam|15|25|0|0" passage="2Sa 15:25">2 Sam. xv.
25</scripRef>), knowing that God was not tied, no, not to the ark
of his presence, and that, notwithstanding the distance of place,
he could by faith receive answers of peace from the holy hill. No
such things can fix a gulf between the communications of God's
grace towards us and the operations of his grace in us, between his
favour and our faith. The ark of the covenant was in Mount Zion,
and all the answers to our prayers come from the promises of that
covenant. Christ was <i>set King upon the holy hill of Zion</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|6|0|0" passage="Ps 2:6">Ps. ii. 6</scripRef>), and it is
through him, whom the Father hears always, that our prayers are
heard.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p14">3. That he had always been very safe and
very easy under the divine protection (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.5" parsed="|Ps|3|5|0|0" passage="Ps 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>I laid myself down and
slept,</i> composed and quiet; <i>and awaked</i> refreshed, <i>for
the Lord sustained me.</i>" (1.) This is applicable to the common
mercies of every night, which we ought to give thanks for alone,
and with our families, every morning. Many have not where to lay
their head (but wander in deserts), or, if they have, dare not lie
down for fear of the enemy; but we have laid ourselves down in
peace. Many lie down and cannot sleep, but are full of tossings to
and fro till the dawning of the day, through pain of body, or
anguish of mind, or the continual alarms of fear in the night; but
we lie down and sleep in safety, though incapable of doing any
thing then for our own preservation. Many lie down and sleep, and
never awake again, they sleep the sleep of death, as the first-born
of the Egyptians; but we lie down and sleep, and awake again to the
light and comfort of another day; and whence is it, but because the
Lord has sustained us with sleep as with food? We have been safe
under his protection and easy in the arms of his good providence.
(2.) It seems here to be meant of the wonderful quietness and
calmness of David's spirit, in the midst of his dangers. Having by
prayer committed himself and his cause to God, and being sure of
his protection, his heart was fixed, and he was easy. The
undutifulness of his son, the disloyalty of his subjects, the
treachery of many of his friends, the hazard of his person, the
fatigues of his march, and the uncertainty of the event, never
deprived him of an hour's sleep, nor gave any disturbance to his
repose; for the Lord, by his grace and the consolations of his
Spirit, powerfully sustained him and made him easy. It is a great
mercy when we are in trouble to have our minds stayed upon God, so
as never either to eat or sleep with trembling and astonishment.
(3.) Some of the ancients apply it to the resurrection of Christ.
In his sufferings he offered up strong cries, and was heard; and
therefore, though he laid down and slept the sleep of death, yet he
awaked the third day, for the Lord sustained him, that he should
not see corruption.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p15">4. That God had often broken the power and
restrained the malice of his enemies, had <i>smitten them upon the
cheek-bone</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.7" parsed="|Ps|3|7|0|0" passage="Ps 3:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
had silenced them and spoiled their speaking, blemished them and
put them to shame, smitten them on the cheek reproachfully, had
disabled them to do the mischief they intended; for he had broken
their teeth. Saul and the Philistines, who were sometimes ready to
swallow him up, could not effect what they designed. The teeth that
are gnashed or sharpened against God's people shall be broken.
When, at any time, the power of the church's enemies seems
threatening, it is good to remember how often God has broken it;
and we are sure that his arm is not shortened. He can stop their
mouths and tie their hands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p16">II. See with what confidence he looks
forward to the dangers he had yet in prospect. Having put himself
under God's protection and often found the benefit of it, 1. His
<i>fears were all stilled and silenced,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.6" parsed="|Ps|3|6|0|0" passage="Ps 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. With what a holy bravery does he
bid defiance to the impotent menaces and attempts of his enemies!
"<i>I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people,</i> that
either in a foreign invasion or an intestine rebellion <i>set
themselves,</i> or encamp, <i>against me round about.</i>" No man
seemed less safe (his enemies are numerous, <i>ten thousands;</i>
they are spiteful and resolute, "They have set themselves against
me; nay, they have prevailed far, and seem to have gained their
point; for they are against me round about on every side, thousands
against one"), and yet no man was more secure: "I will not be
afraid, for all this; they cannot hurt me, and therefore they shall
not frighten me; whatever prudent methods I take for my own
preservation, I will not disquiet myself, distrust my God, nor
doubt of a good issue at last." When David, in his flight from
Absalom, bade Zadok carry back the ark, he spoke doubtfully of the
issue of his present troubles, and concluded, like a humble
penitent, <i>Here I am; let him do to me what seemeth to him
good,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.15.26" parsed="|2Sam|15|26|0|0" passage="2Sa 15:26">2 Sam. xv. 26</scripRef>.
But now, like a strong believer, he speaks confidently, and has no
fear concerning the event. Note, A cheerful resignation to God is
the way to obtain a cheerful satisfaction and confidence in God. 2.
His prayers were quickened and encouraged, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.7" parsed="|Ps|3|7|0|0" passage="Ps 3:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. He believed God was his Saviour,
and yet prays; nay, he <i>therefore</i> prays, <i>Arise, O Lord!
save me, O my God!</i> Promises of salvation do not supersede, but
engage, our petitions for it. He will for this be enquired of. 3.
His faith became triumphant. He began the psalm with complaints of
the strength and malice of his enemies, but concludes it with
exultation in the power and grace of his God, and now sees more
with him than against him, <scripRef id="Ps.iv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.3.8" parsed="|Ps|3|8|0|0" passage="Ps 3:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. Two great truths he here builds his confidence upon
and fetches comfort from. (1.) That <i>salvation belongeth unto the
Lord;</i> he has power to save, be the danger ever so great; it is
his prerogative to save, when all other helps and succours fail; it
is his pleasure, it is his property, it is his promise to those
that are his, whose salvation is not of themselves, but of the
Lord. Therefore all that have the Lord for their God, according to
the tenour of the new covenant, are sure of salvation; for he that
is their God is the God of salvation. (2.) That his blessing is
upon his people; he not only has power to save them, but he has
assured them of his kind and gracious intentions towards them. He
has, in his word, pronounced a blessing upon his people; and we are
bound to believe that that blessing does accordingly rest upon
them, though there be not the visible effects of it. Hence we may
conclude that God's people, though they may lie under the
reproaches and censures of men, are surely blessed of him, who
blesses indeed, and therefore can command a blessing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iv-p17">In singing this, and praying it over, we
must own the satisfaction we have had in depending upon God and
committing ourselves to him, and encourage ourselves, and one
another to continue still hoping and quietly waiting for the
salvation of the Lord.</p>
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