Psa. 17:4. "Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. " By the destroyer here is doubtless meant the devil, the same with him that is called Abaddon and Apollyon in the Revelations. God's people under the Old Testament were sensible that there was an evil and malignant spirit, or invisible agent, that sought the ruin of man, as even the heathen nations had a notion of evil daemons. This evil spirit the Hebrews were wont to call by several names; one was Satan, or the adversary. So it is said Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number the people. So in several other places in the Old Testament. Another name was the destroyer; so devils are called destroyers in Job 33:22. "Yea, his soul draweth nigh unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers."

Psa. 19:4-6

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