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gard them as proofs of the weakness of a good man under persecution.

PSALM LXIX.

1 SAVE me, O God,

For the waters are come in unto my soul.

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing;

I am come into deep waters, where the floods over

flow me.

3 I am weary with crying; my throat is dried;

Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head;

They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty ;

I must restore that which I took not away.

5 O God, thou knowest my offences,

And my sins are not hid from thee.

6 Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, through me be put to shame!

Let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O God of Israel!

Ver. 4. "I must restore," &c. This seems to be a proverbial expression, denoting the infliction of a penalty on the innocent. N.

Ver. 5. "Thou knowest my offences," &c., i. e. that I am not an offender. This verse is not a confession of sin, but a protesta→ tion of innocence. The writer maintains that he is a sufferer, not for his sins, but for his piety. See ver. 7. N.

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Ver. 6. Through me," i. e. when I, thy pious worshipper, am seen to be a prey to my enemies. N.

7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Shame hath covered my face.

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother's children.

9 For zeal for thine house hath consumed me,

And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

10 When I weep and fast, that is made my reproach. 11 When I make sackcloth my garment,

I become a byword to them.

12 They that sit in the gate speak against me, And I am become the song of the drunkards.

13

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time;

O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, and afford me thy sure help.

14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Let not the water-flood overflow me,

Neither let the deep swallow me up,

And let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

16 Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is great; Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies;

17 And hide not thy face from thy servant;

I am in trouble; hear me speedily.

18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of mine enemies.

19 Thou knowest my reproach and my shame and my dishonor;

Mine adversaries are all before thee.

20 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness;

I look for some to take pity, but there is none;
And for comforters, but find none.

21 They give me gall for my meat,

And in my thirst they give me vinegar to drink. 22 Let their table become a snare to them,

And that which should have been for their welfare,

let it become a trap.

23 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not;
And make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them,

And let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 25 Let their habitation be desolate,

And let none dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, And they talk to add to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity,

And let them not come into thy favor.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.

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Ver. 21.

They give me gall," &c. Gall and vinegar are here put together, to denote the most unpalatable forms of food and drink. A.

Ver. 27. "Add iniquity unto their iniquity," &c. Professor Alexander thinks the words will admit of a rendering, conveying no more than a wish that sin may be followed by the natural consequences of sin, i. e. punishment.

Let thy help, O God, lift me up!

30 Then will I praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This also shall please the Lord

Better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and

hoofs.

32 The humble shall see this, and be glad ;

The hearts of them that seek God shall be revived.

33 For the Lord heareth the poor,

And despiseth not his people in their bonds.

34 Let the heaven and earth praise him,

The seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah,

That men may dwell there, and have it in possession. 36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it;

And they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Ver. 32 and 33. These verses seem to allude to the poor and enslaved Hebrews, for whose cause Jeremiah had brought on himself his present persecution.

Ver. 35. This verse does not show a later date for the psalm, but rather the contrary; for Zion is not spoken of as destroyed, and the ninth verse speaks of the temple as still standing.

P. S. I have ventured to assign this psalm to Jeremiah, on the ground of the general applicability of its language to the circumstances of his case, and the coincidences of expression with his Prophecy and Lamentations.

Compare verse 2 with Jerem. xxxviii. 22.

Compare verse 3 with Lamen. iv. 17.

Compare verse 12 with Jerem. xx. 2 and 7.

Compare verses 19 and 20 with Jerem. xx. 8 and 10.

Compare verse 25 with Jerem. xviii. 19 and foll.

Compare verse 33 with Jerem. xx. 13.

PSALM XCIV.

THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR.

THIS psalm also seems to be the production of Jeremiah, and to allude to the topics of the sixty-ninth psalm, p. 132; namely, Jeremiah's own wrongs, and those of the poorer class of his countrymen, held in illegal servitude by powerful oppressors.

PSALM XCIV.

1 O LORD GOD, to whom vengeance belongeth! O God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself! 2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth!

Render a recompense to the proud.

3 Lord, how long shall the wicked,

How long shall the wicked triumph?

How long shall they speak so disdainfully?

And all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 5 They smite down thy people, O Lord,

And afflict thine heritage.

6 They slay the widow and the stranger, And murder the fatherless.

7 Yet they say, "The Lord doth not see; Neither doth the God of Jacob regard it." 8 Take heed, ye most stupid of men ;

Ye fools, when will ye be wise?

9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see?

10 He that chastiseth nations, shall not he punish?

He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know ?

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