mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 59.xml

<div2 id="Ps.lx" n="lx" next="Ps.lxi" prev="Ps.lix" progress="41.72%" title="Chapter LIX">
<h2 id="Ps.lx-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.lx-p0.2">PSALM LIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.lx-p1">This psalm is of the same nature and scope with
six or seven foregoing psalms; they are all filled with David's
complaints of the malice of his enemies and of their cursed and
cruel designs against him, his prayers and prophecies against them,
and his comfort and confidence in God as his God. The first is the
language of nature, and may be allowed; the second of a prophetical
spirit, looking forward to Christ and the enemies of his kingdom,
and therefore not to be drawn into a precedent; the third of grace
and a most holy faith, which ought to be imitated by every one of
us. In this psalm, I. He prays to God to defend and deliver him
from his enemies, representing them as very bad men, barbarous,
malicious, and atheistical, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.1-Ps.59.7" parsed="|Ps|59|1|59|7" passage="Ps 59:1-7">ver.
1-7</scripRef>. II. He foresees and foretels the destruction of his
enemies, which he would give to God the glory of, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.8-Ps.59.17" parsed="|Ps|59|8|59|17" passage="Ps 59:8-17">ver. 8-17</scripRef>. As far as it appears
that any of the particular enemies of God's people fall under these
characters, we may, in singing this psalm, read their doom and
foresee their ruin.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.lx-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59" parsed="|Ps|59|0|0|0" passage="Ps 59" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.lx-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.1-Ps.59.7" parsed="|Ps|59|1|59|7" passage="Ps 59:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.59.1-Ps.59.7">
<h4 id="Ps.lx-p1.5">Prayer for Deliverance.</h4>
<div class="Center" id="Ps.lx-p1.6">
<p id="Ps.lx-p2">To the chief musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David,<br/>
when Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him.</p>
</div>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lx-p3">1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend
me from them that rise up against me.   2 Deliver me from the
workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.   3 For, lo,
they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me;
not <i>for</i> my transgression, nor <i>for</i> my sin, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lx-p3.1">O Lord</span>.   4 They run and prepare
themselves without <i>my</i> fault: awake to help me, and behold.
  5 Thou therefore, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lx-p3.2">O Lord</span> God
of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not
merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.   6 They return
at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the
city.   7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords
<i>are</i> in their lips: for who, <i>say they,</i> doth hear?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p4">The title of this psalm acquaints us
particularly with the occasion on which it was penned; it was when
Saul sent a party of his guards to beset David's house in the
night, that they might seize him and kill him; we have the story
<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.19.11" parsed="|1Sam|19|11|0|0" passage="1Sa 19:11">1 Sam. xix. 11</scripRef>. It was
when his hostilities against David were newly begun, and he had but
just before narrowly escaped Saul's javelin. These first eruptions
of Saul's malice could not but put David into disorder and be both
grievous and terrifying, and yet he kept up his communion with God,
and such a composure of mind as that he was never out of frame for
prayer and praises; happy are those whose intercourse with heaven
is not intercepted nor broken in upon by their cares, or griefs, or
fears, or any of the hurries (whether outward or inward) of an
afflicted state. In these verses,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p5">I. David prays to be delivered out of the
hands of his enemies, and that their cruel designs against him
might be defeated (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.1-Ps.59.2" parsed="|Ps|59|1|59|2" passage="Ps 59:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>): "<i>Deliver me from my enemies, O my God!</i> thou
art <i>God,</i> and canst deliver me, <i>my</i> God, under whose
protection I have put myself; and thou hast promised me to be a God
all-sufficient, and therefore, in honour and faithfulness, thou
wilt deliver me. Set me on high out of the reach of the power and
malice of those that rise up against me, and above the fear of it.
Let me be safe, and see myself so, safe and easy, safe and
satisfied. O deliver me! and save me." He cries out as one ready to
perish, and that had his eye to God only for salvation and
deliverance. He prays (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.4" parsed="|Ps|59|4|0|0" passage="Ps 59:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), "<i>Awake to help me,</i> take cognizance of my
case, behold that with an eye of pity, and exert thy power for my
relief." Thus the disciples, in the storm, awoke Christ, saying,
<i>Master, save us, we perish.</i> And thus earnestly should we
pray daily to be defended and delivered form our spiritual enemies,
the temptations of Satan, and the corruptions of our own hearts,
which war against our spiritual life.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p6">II. He pleads for deliverance. Our God
gives us leave not only to pray, but to plead with him, to order
our cause before him and to fill our mouth with arguments, not to
move him, but to move ourselves. David does so here.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p7">1. He pleads the bad character of his
enemies. They are <i>workers of iniquity,</i> and therefore not
only his enemies, but God's enemies; they are <i>bloody men,</i>
and therefore not only his enemies, but enemies to all mankind.
"Lord, let not the workers of iniquity prevail against one that is
a worker of righteousness, nor bloody men against a merciful
man."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p8">2. He pleads their malice against him, and
the imminent danger he was in from them, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.3" parsed="|Ps|59|3|0|0" passage="Ps 59:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. "Their spite is great; they aim
at my soul, my life, my better part. They are subtle and very
politic: <i>They lie in wait,</i> taking an opportunity to do me a
mischief. They are all mighty, men of honour and estates, and
interest in court and country. They are in a confederacy; they are
united by league, and actually <i>gathered</i> together <i>against
me,</i> combined both in consultation and action. They are very
ingenious in their contrivances, and very industrious in the
prosecution of them (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.4" parsed="|Ps|59|4|0|0" passage="Ps 59:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>): <i>They run and prepare themselves,</i> with the
utmost speed and fury, to do me a mischief." He takes particular
notice of the brutish conduct of the messengers that Saul sent to
take him (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.6" parsed="|Ps|59|6|0|0" passage="Ps 59:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>):
"<i>They return at evening</i> from the posts assigned them in the
day, to apply themselves to their works of darkness (their
night-work, which may well be their day-shame), and then <i>they
make a noise like a hound</i> in pursuit of the hare." Thus did
David's enemies, when they came to take him, raise an out cry
against him as a rebel, and traitor, a man not fit to live; with
this clamour they went <i>round about the city,</i> to bring a bad
reputation upon David, if possible to set the mob against him, at
least to prevent their being incensed against them, which otherwise
they had reason to fear they would be, so much was David their
darling. Thus the persecutors of our Lord Jesus, who are compared
to dogs (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.22.16" parsed="|Ps|22|16|0|0" passage="Ps 22:16">Ps. xxii. 16</scripRef>), ran
him down with noise; for else they could not have taken him, at
least <i>not on the feast-day, for there would have been an uproar
among the people. They belch out with their mouth</i> the malice
that boils in their hearts, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.7" parsed="|Ps|59|7|0|0" passage="Ps 59:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>. <i>Swords are in their lips;</i> that is, reproaches
that wound my heart with grief (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.42.10" parsed="|Ps|42|10|0|0" passage="Ps 42:10">Ps.
xlii. 10</scripRef>), and slanders that stab and wound my
reputation. They were continually suggesting that which drew and
whetted Saul's sword against him, and the fault is laid upon the
false accusers. The sword perhaps would not have been in Saul's
hand if it had not been first in their lips.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p9">3. He pleads his own innocency, not as to
God (he was never backward to own himself guilty before him), but
as to his persecutors; what they charged him with was utterly
false, nor had he ever said or done any thing to deserve such
treatment from them (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.3" parsed="|Ps|59|3|0|0" passage="Ps 59:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): "<i>Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O
Lord!</i> thou knowest, who knowest all things." And again
(<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.4" parsed="|Ps|59|4|0|0" passage="Ps 59:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), <i>without my
fault.</i> 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 towards those
that behave themselves ill towards us will be very much our
rejoicing in the day of evil. (3.) 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p10">4. He pleads that his enemies were profane
and atheistical, and bolstered themselves up in their enmity to
David, with the contempt of God: <i>For who,</i> say they, <i>doth
hear?</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.7" parsed="|Ps|59|7|0|0" passage="Ps 59:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Not
God himself, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.10.11 Bible:Ps.94.7" parsed="|Ps|10|11|0|0;|Ps|94|7|0|0" passage="Ps 10:11,94:7">Ps. x. 11; xciv.
7</scripRef>. Note, It is not strange if those regard not what they
say who have made themselves believe that God regards not what they
say.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p11">III. He refers himself and his cause to the
just judgment of God, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.5" parsed="|Ps|59|5|0|0" passage="Ps 59:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. "The Lord, the Judge, be Judge between me and my
persecutors." In this appeal to God he has an eye to him as <i>the
Lord of hosts,</i> that has power to execute judgment, having all
creatures, even hosts of angels, at his command; he views him also
as <i>the God of Israel,</i> to whom he was, in a peculiar manner,
King and Judge, not doubting that he would appear on the behalf of
those that were upright, that were Israelites indeed. When Saul's
hosts persecuted him, he had recourse to God as <i>the Lord of all
hosts;</i> when those maligned him who in spirit were strangers to
the commonwealth of Israel he had recourse to God as <i>the God of
Israel.</i> He desires (that is, he is very sure) that God will
<i>awake to visit all the nations,</i> will make an early and exact
enquiry into the controversies and quarrels that are among the
children of men; there will be a day of visitation (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.3" parsed="|Isa|10|3|0|0" passage="Isa 10:3">Isa. x. 3</scripRef>), and to that day David
refers himself, with this solemn appeal, <i>Be not merciful to any
wicked transgressors. Selah—Mark that.</i> 1. If David had been
conscious to himself that he was a wicked transgressor, he would
not have expected to find mercy; but, as to his enemies, he would
say he was no transgressor at all (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.3-Ps.59.4" parsed="|Ps|59|3|59|4" passage="Ps 59:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>): "<i>Not for my
transgression,</i> and therefore thou wilt appear for me." As to
God, he could say he was no <i>wicked</i> transgressor; for, though
he had transgressed, he was a penitent transgressor, and did not
obstinately persist in what he had done amiss. 2. He knew his
enemies were wicked transgressors, wilful, malicious, and hardened
in their transgressions both against God and man, and therefore he
sues for justice against them, judgment without mercy. Let not
those expect to find mercy who never showed mercy, for such are
wicked transgressors.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.lx-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.8-Ps.59.17" parsed="|Ps|59|8|59|17" passage="Ps 59:8-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.59.8-Ps.59.17">
<h4 id="Ps.lx-p11.5">Confidence in God.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.lx-p12">8 But thou, <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.lx-p12.1">O
Lord</span>, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen
in derision.   9 <i>Because of</i> his strength will I wait
upon thee: for God <i>is</i> my defence.   10 The God of my
mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see <i>my desire</i> upon
mine enemies.   11 Slay them not, lest my people forget:
scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
  12 <i>For</i> the sin of their mouth <i>and</i> the words of
their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing
and lying <i>which</i> they speak.   13 Consume <i>them</i> in
wrath, consume <i>them,</i> that they <i>may</i> not <i>be:</i> and
let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth.
Selah.   14 And at evening let them return; <i>and</i> let
them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.  
15 Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not
satisfied.   16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing
aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence
and refuge in the day of my trouble.   17 Unto thee, O my
strength, will I sing: for God <i>is</i> my defence, <i>and</i> the
God of my mercy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p13">David here encourages himself, in reference
to the threatening power of his enemies, with a pious resolution to
wait upon God and a believing expectation that he should yet praise
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p14">I. He resolves to wait upon God (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.9" parsed="|Ps|59|9|0|0" passage="Ps 59:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<i>Because of his
strength</i>" (either the strength of his enemies, the fear of
which drove him to God, or because of God's strength, the hope of
which drew him to God) "<i>Will I wait upon thee,</i> with a
believing dependence upon thee and confidence in thee." It is our
wisdom and duty, in times of danger and difficulty, to wait upon
God; for he is our defence, our high place, in whom we shall be
safe. He hopes, 1. That God will be to him a God of mercy
(<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.10" parsed="|Ps|59|10|0|0" passage="Ps 59:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): "<i>The God
of my mercy shall prevent me</i> with the blessings of his goodness
and the gifts of his mercy, prevent my fears, prevent my prayers,
and be better to me than my own expectations." It is very
comfortable to us, in prayer, to eye God, not only as the God of
mercy, but as the God of our mercy, the author of all good in us
and the giver of all good to us. Whatever mercy there is in God, it
is laid up for us, and is ready to be laid out upon us. Justly does
the psalmist call God's mercy <i>his mercy,</i> for all the
blessings of the new covenant are called <i>the sure mercies of
David</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.3" parsed="|Isa|55|3|0|0" passage="Isa 55:3">Isa. lv. 3</scripRef>); and
they are <i>sure to all the seed.</i> 2. That he will be to his
persecutors a God of vengeance. His expectation of this he
expresses partly by way of prediction and partly by way of
petition, which come all to one; for his prayer that it might be so
amounts to a prophecy that it shall be so. Here are several things
which he foretels concerning his enemies, or observers, that sought
occasions against him and opportunity to do him a mischief, in all
which he should see his desire, not a passionate or revengeful
desire, but a believing desire upon them, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.10" parsed="|Ps|59|10|0|0" passage="Ps 59:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. (1.) He foresees that God would
expose them to scorn, as they had indeed made themselves
ridiculous, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.8" parsed="|Ps|59|8|0|0" passage="Ps 59:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>.
"They think <i>God does not hear them,</i> does not heed them;
<i>but thou, O Lord! shalt laugh at them</i> for their folly, to
think that he who planted the ear shall not hear, and <i>thou shalt
have</i> not them only, but all such other heathenish people that
live without God in the world, <i>in derision.</i>" Note, Atheists
and persecutors are worthy to be laughed at and had in derision.
See <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.4 Bible:Prov.1.26 Bible:Isa.37.22" parsed="|Ps|2|4|0|0;|Prov|1|26|0|0;|Isa|37|22|0|0" passage="Ps 2:4,Pr 1:26,Isa 37:22">Ps. ii. 4; Prov.
i. 26; Isa. xxxvii. 22</scripRef>. (2.) That God would make them
standing monuments of his justice (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.11" parsed="|Ps|59|11|0|0" passage="Ps 59:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Slay them not;</i> let them
not be killed outright, <i>lest my people forget.</i> If the
execution be soon done, the impressions of it will not be keep, and
therefore will not be durable, but will quickly wear off. Swift
destructions startle men for the present, but they are soon
forgotten, for which reason he prays that this might be gradual:
"<i>Scatter them by thy power,</i> and let them carry about with
them, in their wanderings, such tokens of God's displeasure as may
spread the notice of their punishment to all parts of the country."
Thus Cain himself, though a murderer, was not slain, lest the
vengeance should be forgotten, but was sentenced to be <i>a
fugitive and a vagabond.</i> Note, When we think God's judgments
come slowly upon sinners we must conclude that God has wise and
holy ends in the gradual proceedings of his wrath. "So scatter them
as that they may never again unite to do mischief, <i>bring them
down, O Lord, our shield!</i>" If God has undertaken the protection
of his people as their shield, he will doubtless humble and abase
all those that fight against them. (3.) That they might be dealt
with according to their deserts (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.12" parsed="|Ps|59|12|0|0" passage="Ps 59:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>For the sin of their mouth,
even for the words of their lips</i> (for every word they speak has
sin in it), <i>let them</i> for this <i>be taken in their
pride,</i> even for their cursing others and themselves (a sin Saul
was subject to, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.14.28" parsed="|1Sam|14|28|0|0" passage="1Sa 14:28">1 Sam. xiv. 28,
44</scripRef>), and lying. Note, There is a great deal of malignity
in tongue-sins, more than is commonly thought of. Note, further,
Cursing, and lying, and speaking proudly, are some of the worst of
the sins of the tongue; and that man is truly miserable whom God
deals with according to the deserts of these, <i>making his own
tongue to fall on him.</i> (4.) That God would glorify himself, as
Israel's God and King, in their destruction (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.13" parsed="|Ps|59|13|0|0" passage="Ps 59:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): "<i>Consume them in wrath,
consume them;</i> that is, follow them with one judgment after
another, till they be utterly ruined; let them be sensibly, but
gradually wasted, that they themselves, while they are in the
consuming, may know, and that the standers-by may likewise draw
this inference form it, <i>That God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends
of the earth.</i>" Saul and his party think to rule and carry all
before them, but they shall be made to know that there is a higher
than they, that there is one who does and will overrule them. The
design of God's judgments is to convince men that the Lord reigns,
that he fulfils his own counsels, gives law to all the creatures,
and disposes all things to his own glory, so that the greatest of
men are under his check, and he makes what use he pleases of them.
He <i>rules in Jacob;</i> for there he keeps his court; there it is
known, and his name is great. But he <i>rules to the end of the
earth;</i> for all nations are within the territories of his
kingdom. He <i>rules to the ends of the earth,</i> even over those
that know him not, but he <i>rules for Jacob</i> (so it may be
read); he has an eye to the good of his church in the government of
the world; the administrations of that government, even to the ends
of the earth, are <i>for Jacob his servant's sake and for Israel's
his elect,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.4" parsed="|Isa|45|4|0|0" passage="Isa 45:4">Isa. xlv. 4</scripRef>.
(5.) That he would make their sin their punishment, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.14" parsed="|Ps|59|14|0|0" passage="Ps 59:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>, compare <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.6" parsed="|Ps|59|6|0|0" passage="Ps 59:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Their sin was their
hunting for David to make a prey of him; their punishment should be
that they should be reduced to such extreme poverty that they
should hunt about for meat to satisfy their hunger, and should miss
of it as they missed of David. Thus they should be, not cut off at
once, but scattered (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.11" parsed="|Ps|59|11|0|0" passage="Ps 59:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), and gradually consumed (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.15" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.13" parsed="|Ps|59|13|0|0" passage="Ps 59:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); those that die by famine die
by inches, and feel themselves die, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.16" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.9" parsed="|Lam|4|9|0|0" passage="La 4:9">Lam.
iv. 9</scripRef>. He foretels that they should be forced to beg
their bread from door to door. [1.] That they should do it with the
greatest regret and reluctancy imaginable. <i>To beg they are
ashamed</i> (which makes it the greater punishment to them), and
therefore they do it at evening, when it begins to be dark, that
they may not be seen, at the time when other beasts of prey creep
forth, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.17" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.20" parsed="|Ps|104|20|0|0" passage="Ps 104:20">Ps. civ. 20</scripRef>. [2.]
That yet they should be very clamorous and loud in their
complaints, which would proceed from a great indignation at their
condition, which they cannot in the least degree reconcile
themselves to: <i>They shall make a noise like a dog.</i> When they
were in quest of David they made a noise like an angry dog snarling
and barking; now, when they are in quest of meat, they shall make a
noise like a hungry dog howling and wailing. Those that repent of
their sins <i>mourn,</i> when in trouble, <i>like doves;</i> those
whose hearts are hardened make a noise, when in trouble, like dogs,
<i>like a wild bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord.</i> See
<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.18" osisRef="Bible:Hos.7.14" parsed="|Hos|7|14|0|0" passage="Ho 7:14">Hos. vii. 14</scripRef>, <i>They have
not cried unto me with their heart when they howled on their beds
for corn and wine.</i> [3.] That they should meet with little
relief, but the hearts of people should be very much hardened
towards them, so that they should <i>go round about the city,</i>
and <i>wander up and down for meat</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.19" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.15" parsed="|Ps|59|15|0|0" passage="Ps 59:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), and should get nothing but by
dint of importunity (according to our marginal reading, <i>If they
be not satisfied, they will tarry all night</i>), so that what
people do give them is not with good-will, but only to get rid of
them, lest by their continual coming they weary them. [4.] That
they should be insatiable, which is the greatest misery of all in a
poor condition. <i>They are greedy dogs which can never have
enough</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p14.20" osisRef="Bible:Isa.56.11" parsed="|Isa|56|11|0|0" passage="Isa 56:11">Isa. lvi. 11</scripRef>),
and <i>they grudge if they be not satisfied.</i> A contented man,
if he has not what he would have, yet does not grudge, does 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p15">II. He expects to praise God, that God's
providence would find him matter for praise and that God's grace
would work in him a heart for praise, <scripRef id="Ps.lx-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.16-Ps.59.17" parsed="|Ps|59|16|59|17" passage="Ps 59:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p16">1. What he would praise God for. (1.) He
would praise his power and his mercy; both should be the
subject-matter of his song. Power, without mercy, is to be dreaded;
mercy, without power, is not what a man can expect much benefit
from; but God's power by which he is able to help us, and his mercy
by which he is inclined to help us, will justly be the everlasting
praise of all the saints. (2.) He would praise him because he had,
many a time, and all along, found him his defence and his refuge in
the day of trouble. God brings his people into trouble, that they
may experience his power and mercy in protecting and sheltering
them, and may have occasion to praise him. (3.) He would praise him
because he had still a dependence upon him and a confidence in him,
as his strength to support him and carry him on in his duty, his
defence to keep him safe from evil, and the God of his mercy to
make him happy and easy. He that is all this to us is certainly
worthy of our best affections, praises, and services.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.lx-p17">2. How he would praise God. (1.) He would
<i>sing.</i> As that is a natural expression of joy, so it is an
instituted ordinance for the exerting and exciting of holy joy and
thankfulness. (2.) He would <i>sing aloud,</i> as one much affected
with the glory of God, that was not ashamed to own it, and that
desired to affect others with it. He will sing of God's power, but
he will sing aloud of his mercy; the consideration of that raises
his affections more than any thing else. (3.) He would sing aloud
<i>in the morning,</i> when his spirits were most fresh and lively.
God's compassions are new every morning, and therefore it is fit to
begin the day with his praises. (4.) He would <i>sing unto God</i>
(<scripRef id="Ps.lx-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.59.17" parsed="|Ps|59|17|0|0" passage="Ps 59:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), to his
honour and glory, and with him in his eye. As we must direct our
prayers to God, so to him we must direct our praises, and must look
up, making melody to the Lord.</p>
</div></div2>