mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Ps.ii" n="ii" next="Ps.iii" prev="Ps.i" progress="21.82%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Ps.ii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.ii-p0.2">PSALM I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.ii-p1">This is a psalm of instruction concerning good and
evil, setting before us life and death, the blessing and the curse,
that we may take the right way which leads to happiness and avoid
that which will certainly end in our misery and ruin. The different
character and condition of godly people and wicked people, those
that serve God and those that serve him not, is here plainly stated
in a few words; so that every man, if he will be faithful to
himself, may here see his own face and then read his own doom. That
division of the children of men into saints and sinners, righteous
and unrighteous, the children of God and the children of the wicked
one, as it is ancient, ever since the struggle began between sin
and grace, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, so it
is lasting, and will survive all other divisions and subdivisions
of men into high and low, rich and poor, bond and free; for by this
men's everlasting state will be determined, and the distinction
will last as long as heaven and hell. This psalm shows us, I. The
holiness and happiness of a godly man, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.1-Ps.1.3" parsed="|Ps|1|1|1|3" passage="Ps 1:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The sinfulness and misery of a
wicked man, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4-Ps.1.5" parsed="|Ps|1|4|1|5" passage="Ps 1:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. III.
The ground and reason of both, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 1:6">ver.
6</scripRef>. Whoever collected the psalms of David (probably it
was Ezra) with good reason put this psalm first, as a preface to
the rest, because it is absolutely necessary to the acceptance of
our devotions that we be righteous before God (for it is only the
prayer of the upright that is his delight), and therefore that we
be right in our notions of blessedness and in our choice of the way
that leads to it. Those are not fit to put up good prayers who do
not walk in good ways.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1" parsed="|Ps|1|0|0|0" passage="Ps 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.1-Ps.1.3" parsed="|Ps|1|1|1|3" passage="Ps 1:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.1.1-Ps.1.3">
<h4 id="Ps.ii-p1.6">The Happy Man.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.ii-p2">1 Blessed <i>is</i> the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful.   2 But his delight
<i>is</i> in the law of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ii-p2.1">Lord</span>;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.   3 And he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p3">The psalmist begins with the character and
condition of a godly man, that those may first take the comfort of
that to whom it belongs. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p4">I. A description of the godly man's spirit
and way, by which we are to try ourselves. The Lord knows those
that are his by name, but we must know them by their character; for
that is agreeable to a state of probation, that we may study to
answer to the character, which is indeed both the command of the
law which we are bound in duty to obey and the condition of the
promise which we are bound in interest to fulfil. The character of
a good man is here given by the rules he chooses to walk by and to
take his measures from. What we take at our setting out, and at
every turn, for the guide of our conversation, whether the course
of this world or the word of God, is of material consequence. An
error in the choice of our standard and leader is original and
fatal; but, if we be right here, we are in a fair way to do
well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p5">1. A godly man, that he may avoid the evil,
utterly renounces the companionship of evil-doers, and will not be
led by them (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.1" parsed="|Ps|1|1|0|0" passage="Ps 1:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>):
<i>He walks not in the council of the ungodly, &amp;c.</i> This
part of his character is put first, because those that will keep
the commandments of their God must say to evil-doers, <i>Depart
from us</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.115" parsed="|Ps|119|115|0|0" passage="Ps 119:115">Ps. cxix.
115</scripRef>), and departing from evil is that in which wisdom
begins. (1.) He sees evil-doers round about him; the world is full
of them; they walk on every side. They are here described by three
characters, <i>ungodly, sinners,</i> and <i>scornful.</i> See by
what steps men arrive at the height of impiety. <i>Nemo repente fit
turpissimus—None reach the height of vice at once.</i> They are
<i>ungodly</i> first, casting off the fear of God and living in the
neglect of their duty to him: but they rest not there. When the
services of religion are laid aside, they come to be
<i>sinners,</i> that is, they break out into open rebellion against
God and engage in the service of sin and Satan. Omissions make way
for commissions, and by these the heart is so hardened that at
length they come to be <i>scorners,</i> that is, they openly defy
all that is sacred, scoff at religion, and make a jest of sin. Thus
is the way of iniquity down-hill; the bad grow worse, sinners
themselves become tempters to others and advocates for Baal. The
word which we translate <i>ungodly</i> signifies such as are
unsettled, aim at no certain end and walk by no certain rule, but
are at the command of every lust and at the beck of every
temptation. The word for <i>sinners</i> signifies such as are
determined for the practice of sin and set it up as their trade.
The <i>scornful</i> are those that set <i>their mouths against the
heavens.</i> These the good man sees with a sad heart; they are a
constant vexation to his righteous soul. But, (2.) He shuns them
wherever he sees them. He does not do as they do; and, that he may
not, he does not converse familiarly with them. [1.] He does <i>not
walk in the counsel of the ungodly.</i> He is not present at their
councils, nor does he advise with them; though they are ever so
witty, and subtle, and learned, if they are ungodly, they shall not
be the men of his counsel. He does not consent to them, nor <i>say
as they say,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.23.51" parsed="|Luke|23|51|0|0" passage="Lu 23:51">Luke xxiii.
51</scripRef>. He does not take his measures from their principles,
nor act according to the advice which they give and take. The
ungodly are forward to give their advice against religion, and it
is managed so artfully that we have reason to think ourselves happy
if we escape being tainted and ensnared by it. [2.] He <i>stands
not in the way of sinners;</i> he avoids doing as they do; their
way shall not be his way; he will not come into it, much less will
he continue in it, as the sinner does, who <i>sets himself in a way
that is not good,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.36.4" parsed="|Ps|36|4|0|0" passage="Ps 36:4">Ps. xxxvi.
4</scripRef>. He avoids (as much as may be) being where they are.
That he may not imitate them, he will not associate with them, nor
choose them for his companions. He does not stand in their way, to
be picked up by them (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.8" parsed="|Prov|7|8|0|0" passage="Pr 7:8">Prov. vii.
8</scripRef>), but keeps as far from them as from a place or person
infected with the plague, for fear of the contagion, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.4.14-Prov.4.15" parsed="|Prov|4|14|4|15" passage="Pr 4:14,15">Prov. iv. 14, 15</scripRef>. He that would be
kept from harm must keep out of harm's way. [3.] He <i>sits not in
the seat of the scornful;</i> he does not repose himself with those
that sit down secure in their wickedness and please themselves with
the searedness of their own consciences. He does not associate with
those that sit in close cabal to find out ways and means for the
support and advancement of the devil's kingdom, or that sit in open
judgment, magisterially to condemn the generation of the righteous.
The seat of the drunkards is the <i>seat of the scornful,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.69.12" parsed="|Ps|69|12|0|0" passage="Ps 69:12">Ps. lxix. 12</scripRef>. Happy is the
man that never sits in it, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.7.5" parsed="|Hos|7|5|0|0" passage="Ho 7:5">Hos. vii.
5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p6">2. A godly man, that he may do that which
is good and cleave to it, submits to the guidance of the word of
God and makes that familiar to him, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.2" parsed="|Ps|1|2|0|0" passage="Ps 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. This is that which keeps him out
of the way of the ungodly and fortifies him against their
temptations. <i>By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the
path of the deceiver,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.4" parsed="|Ps|17|4|0|0" passage="Ps 17:4">Ps. xvii.
4</scripRef>. We need not court the fellowship of sinners, either
for pleasure or for improvement, while we have fellowship with the
word of God and with God himself in and by his word. <i>When thou
awakest it shall talk with thee,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.22" parsed="|Prov|6|22|0|0" passage="Pr 6:22">Prov. vi. 22</scripRef>. We may judge of our spiritual
state by asking, "What is the law of God to us? What account do we
make of it? What place has it in us?" See here, (1.) The entire
affection which a good man has for the law of God: <i>His delight
is in it.</i> He delights in it, though it be a law, a yoke,
because it is the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, which
he freely consents to, and so delights in, <i>after the inner
man,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.7.16 Bible:Rom.7.22" parsed="|Rom|7|16|0|0;|Rom|7|22|0|0" passage="Ro 7:16,22">Rom. vii. 16,
22</scripRef>. All who are well pleased that there is a God must be
well pleased that there is a Bible, a revelation of God, of his
will, and of the only way to happiness in him. (2.) The intimate
acquaintance which a good man keeps up with the word of God: <i>In
that law doth he meditate day and night;</i> and by this it appears
that his delight is in it, for what we love we love to think of,
<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.97" parsed="|Ps|119|97|0|0" passage="Ps 119:97">Ps. cxix. 97</scripRef>. To meditate
in God's word is to discourse with ourselves concerning the great
things contained in it, with a close application of mind, a
fixedness of thought, till we be suitably affected with those
things and experience the savour and power of them in our hearts.
This we must do <i>day and night;</i> we must have a constant
habitual regard to the word of God as the rule of our actions and
the spring of our comforts, and we must have it in our thoughts,
accordingly, upon every occasion that occurs, whether night or day.
No time is amiss for meditating on the word of God, nor is any time
unseasonable for those visits. We must not only set ourselves to
meditate on God's word morning and evening, at the entrance of the
day and of the night, but these thoughts should be interwoven with
the business and converse of every day and with the repose and
slumbers of every night. <i>When I awake I am still with
thee.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p7">II. An assurance given of the godly man's
happiness, with which we should encourage ourselves to answer the
character of such. 1. In general, he is <i>blessed,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.5.1" parsed="|Ps|5|1|0|0" passage="Ps 5:1">Ps. v. 1</scripRef>. God blesses him, and that
blessing will make him happy. Blessednesses are to him, blessings
of all kinds, of the upper and nether springs, enough to make him
completely happy; none of the ingredients of happiness shall be
wanting to him. When the psalmist undertakes to describe a blessed
man, he describes a good man; for, after all, those only are happy,
truly happy, that are holy, truly holy; and we are more concerned
to know the way to blessedness than to know wherein that
blessedness will consist. Nay, goodness and holiness are not only
the way to happiness (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.22.14" parsed="|Rev|22|14|0|0" passage="Re 22:14">Rev. xxii.
14</scripRef>) but happiness itself; supposing there were not
another life after this, yet that man is a happy man that keeps in
the way of his duty. 2. His blessedness is here illustrated by a
similitude (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.3" parsed="|Ps|1|3|0|0" passage="Ps 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
<i>He shall be like a tree,</i> fruitful and flourishing. This is
the effect, (1.) Of his pious practice; he meditates in the law of
God, turns that <i>in succum et sanguinem—into juice and
blood,</i> and that makes him like a tree. The more we converse
with the word of God the better furnished we are for every good
word and work. Or, (2.) Of the promised blessing; he is blessed of
the Lord, and therefore <i>he shall be like a tree.</i> The divine
blessing produces real effects. It is the happiness of a godly man,
[1.] That he is planted by the grace of God. These trees were by
nature wild olives, and will continue so till they are grafted
anew, and so planted by a power from above. Never any good tree
grew of itself; it is <i>the planting of the Lord,</i> and
therefore he must in it be glorified. <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.3" parsed="|Isa|61|3|0|0" passage="Isa 61:3">Isa. lxi. 3</scripRef>, <i>The trees of the Lord are
full of sap.</i> [2.] That he is placed by the means of grace, here
called <i>the rivers of water,</i> those rivers which <i>make glad
the city of our God</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.46.4" parsed="|Ps|46|4|0|0" passage="Ps 46:4">Ps. xlvi.
4</scripRef>); from these a good man receives supplies of strength
and vigour, but in secret undiscerned ways. [3.] That his practices
shall be fruit, abounding to a good account, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.17" parsed="|Phil|4|17|0|0" passage="Php 4:17">Phil. iv. 17</scripRef>. To those whom God first blessed
he said, <i>Be fruitful</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.1.22" parsed="|Gen|1|22|0|0" passage="Ge 1:22">Gen. i.
22</scripRef>), and still the comfort and honour of fruitfulness
are a recompense for the labour of it. It is expected from those
who enjoy the mercies of grace that, both in the temper of their
minds and in the tenour of their lives, they comply with the
intentions of that grace, and then they bring forth fruit. And, be
it observed to the praise of the great dresser of the vineyard,
they bring forth their fruit (that which is required of them) <i>in
due season,</i> when it is most beautiful and most useful,
improving every opportunity of doing good and doing it in its
proper time. [4.] That his profession shall be preserved from
blemish and decay: <i>His leaf also shall not wither.</i> As to
those who bring forth only the leaves of profession, without any
good fruit, even their leaf will wither and they shall be as much
ashamed of their profession as ever they were proud of it; but, if
the word of God rule in the heart, that will keep the profession
green, both to our comfort and to our credit; the laurels thus won
shall never wither. [5.] That prosperity shall attend him wherever
he goes, soul-prosperity. <i>Whatever he does,</i> in conformity to
the law, it <i>shall prosper</i> and succeed to his mind, or above
his hope.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p8">In singing <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.1-Ps.1.3" parsed="|Ps|1|1|1|3" passage="Ps 1:1-3">these verses</scripRef>, being duly affected with the
malignant and dangerous nature of sin, the transcendent
excellencies of the divine law, and the power and efficacy of God's
grace, from which our fruit is found, we must teach and admonish
ourselves, and one another, to watch against sin and all approaches
towards it, to converse much with the word of God, and abound in
the fruit of righteousness; and, in praying over them, we must seek
to God for his grace both to fortify us against every evil word and
work and to furnish us for every good word and work.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4-Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|4|1|6" passage="Ps 1:4-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.1.4-Ps.1.6">
<h4 id="Ps.ii-p8.3">Description and Doom of the
Ungodly.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.ii-p9">4 The ungodly <i>are</i> not so: but <i>are</i>
like the chaff which the wind driveth away.   5 Therefore the
ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous.   6 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.ii-p9.1">Lord</span> knoweth the way of the righteous: but the
way of the ungodly shall perish.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p10">Here is, I. The description of the ungodly
given, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4" parsed="|Ps|1|4|0|0" passage="Ps 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. 1. In
general, they are the reverse of the righteous, both in character
and condition: <i>They are not so.</i> The LXX. emphatically
repeats this: <i>Not so the ungodly; they are not so;</i> they are
led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the
seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God, nor
ever think of it; they bring forth no fruit but grapes of Sodom;
they cumber the ground. 2. In particular, whereas the righteous are
like valuable, useful, fruitful trees, <i>they are like the chaff
which the wind drives away,</i> the very lightest of the chaff, the
dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as
not capable of being put to any use. Would you value them? Would
you weigh them? They are like chaff, of no worth at all in God's
account, how highly soever they may value themselves. Would you
know the temper of their minds? They are light and vain; they have
no substance in them, no solidity; they are easily driven to and
fro by every wind and temptation, and have no stedfastness. Would
you know their end? The wrath of God will drive them away in their
wickedness, as the wind does the chaff, which is never gathered nor
looked after more. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat;
but he is coming <i>whose fan is in his hand</i> and who will
<i>thoroughly purge his floor.</i> Those that by their own sin and
folly make themselves as chaff will be found so before the
whirlwind and fire of divine wrath (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.35.5" parsed="|Ps|35|5|0|0" passage="Ps 35:5">Ps.
xxxv. 5</scripRef>), so unable to stand before it or to escape it,
<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.13" parsed="|Isa|17|13|0|0" passage="Isa 17:13">Isa. xvii. 13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p11">II. The doom of the ungodly read, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.5" parsed="|Ps|1|5|0|0" passage="Ps 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 1. They will be cast, upon
their trial, as traitors convicted: <i>They shall not stand in the
judgment,</i> that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down
the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses
will be overruled as frivolous. There is a judgment to come, in
which every man's present character and work, though ever so
artfully concealed and disguised, shall be truly and perfectly
discovered, and appear in their own colours, and accordingly every
man's future state will be, by an irreversible sentence, determined
for eternity. The ungodly must appear in that judgment, to receive
according to the things done in the body. They may hope to come
off, nay, to come off with honour, but their hope will deceive
them: <i>They shall not stand in the judgment,</i> so plain will
the evidence be against them and so just and impartial will the
judgment be upon it. 2. They will be for ever shut out from the
society of the blessed. They shall not stand <i>in the congregation
of the righteous,</i> that is, in the <i>judgment</i> (so some),
that court wherein the saints, as assessors with Christ, shall
judge the world, those holy myriads with which he shall come to
execute <i>judgment upon all,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.14 Bible:1Cor.6.2" parsed="|Jude|1|14|0|0;|1Cor|6|2|0|0" passage="Jude 1:14,1Co 6:2">Jude 14; 1 Cor. vi. 2</scripRef>. Or in
<i>heaven. There</i> will be seen, shortly, a <i>general assembly
of the church of the first-born, a congregation of the
righteous,</i> of all the saints, and none but saints, and saints
made perfect, such a congregation of them as never was in this
world, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.2.1" parsed="|2Thess|2|1|0|0" passage="2Th 2:1">2 Thess. ii. 1</scripRef>. The
wicked shall not have a place in that congregation. Into the new
Jerusalem none unclean nor unsanctified shall enter; they shall see
the righteous enter into the kingdom, and themselves, to their
everlasting vexation, thrust out, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.13.27" parsed="|Luke|13|27|0|0" passage="Lu 13:27">Luke
xiii. 27</scripRef>. The wicked and profane, in this world,
ridiculed the righteous and their congregation, despised them, and
cared not for their company; justly therefore will they be for ever
separated from them. Hypocrites in this world, under the disguise
of a plausible profession, may thrust themselves into the
congregation of the righteous and remain undisturbed and
undiscovered there; but Christ cannot be imposed upon, though his
ministers may; the day is coming when he will separate <i>between
the sheep and the goats, the tares and the wheat;</i> see <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.41 Bible:Matt.13.49" parsed="|Matt|13|41|0|0;|Matt|13|49|0|0" passage="Mt 13:41,49">Matt. xiii. 41, 49</scripRef>. That <i>great
day</i> (so the Chaldee here calls it) will be a day of discovery,
a day of distinction, and a day of final division. Then you shall
return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, which here
it is sometimes hard to do, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Mal.3.18" parsed="|Mal|3|18|0|0" passage="Mal 3:18">Mal. iii.
18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p12">III. The reason rendered of this different
state of the godly and wicked, <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 1:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. 1. God must have all the glory of the prosperity and
happiness of the righteous. They are blessed because <i>the Lord
knows their way;</i> he chose them into it, inclined them to choose
it, leads and guides them in it, and orders all their steps. 2.
Sinners must bear all the blame of their own destruction.
<i>Therefore</i> the ungodly perish, because the very way in which
they have chosen and resolved to walk leads directly to
destruction; it naturally tends towards ruin and therefore must
necessarily end in it. Or we may take it thus, The Lord approves
and is well pleased with the way of the righteous, and therefore,
under the influence of his gracious smiles, it shall prosper and
end well; but he is angry at the way of the wicked, all they do is
offensive to him, and therefore it shall perish, and they in it. It
is certain that every man's judgment proceeds from the Lord, and it
is well or ill with us, and is likely to be so to all eternity,
accordingly as we are or are not accepted of God. Let this support
the drooping spirits of the righteous, that the Lord knows their
way, knows their hearts (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.12.3" parsed="|Jer|12|3|0|0" passage="Jer 12:3">Jer. xii.
3</scripRef>), knows their secret devotions (<scripRef id="Ps.ii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.6" parsed="|Matt|6|6|0|0" passage="Mt 6:6">Matt. vi. 6</scripRef>), knows their character, how much
soever it is blackened and blemished by the reproaches of men, and
will shortly make them and their way manifest before the world, to
their immortal joy and honour. Let this cast a damp upon the
security and jollity of sinners, that their way, though pleasant
now, will perish at last.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.ii-p13">In singing <scripRef id="Ps.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4-Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|4|1|6" passage="Ps 1:4-6">these verses</scripRef>, and praying over them, let us
possess ourselves with a holy dread of the wicked man's portion,
and deprecate it with a firm and lively expectation of the judgment
to come, and stir up ourselves to prepare for it, and with a holy
care to approve ourselves to God in every thing, entreating his
favour with our whole hearts.</p>
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