_A.M. 2945. B.C. 1059._ This Psalm is, by many of the Jewish doctors, esteemed the most excellent in the whole book. The matter of it is noble and sublime, and so is the style. It begins with a devout contemplation of the omniscience of God; not, indeed, expressly considered in its utmost extent, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me_ That is, known me exactly, as men know those things which they diligently search out. _Thou knowest my down-sitting_, &c. All my postures and motions; my actions, and my cessation from action. _Thou understandest my thoughts _ All my secret counsels, des... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is not a word in my tongue_, &c. Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. There is not a vain word, not a good word, _but thou knowest it altogether_ What it means, what thought gives birth to it, and with what intention it is uttered. Or, as others render the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Such knowledge is too wonderful for me_, &c. It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe. I cannot conceive, or even form any idea in what manner thou dost so perfectly know all things, especially things which have yet no being, and seem to depend on many casualties and uncert... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?_ From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? _Whither shall I flee from thy presence?_ I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reac... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast possessed_ Or, _thou dost possess, my reins_ The most inward and hidden part of my body, supposed also to be the seat of men's lusts and passions: thou dwellest in them, thou art the owner and governor of them, and therefore must needs know them. My most secret thoughts and intentions, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am fearfully and wonderfully made_ Thy infinite wisdom and power, manifested in the singular and curious structure of man's body, fill me with wonder and astonishment, and with the dread of thy Majesty. _Marvellous are thy works_ Both in the lesser world, man, and in the greater; _and that my sou... [ Continue Reading ]
_My substance was not hid from thee_ Hebrews עצמי, _my bone._ So the LXX. το οστουν μου. _Bone_ may be here taken collectively for _bones_, or, rather for the whole fabric of the bones: or may be put synecdochically for the whole body, as being the most substantial part of it, as in Psalms 35:10. _W... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thine eyes did see my substance_ Hebrews גלמי, _my rude mass_, as Dr. Waterland renders the word: _massa rudis et intricata adhuc_, says Buxtorf, _neque in veram formam evoluta, a mass, yet rude and entangled, and not unfolded into proper form._ When the matter, out of which I was made, was an unsh... [ Continue Reading ]
_How precious also_, &c. “From the wonders of God's forming hand, the psalmist proceeds to those of his all-directing providence, which afford additional proofs of the divine omniscience and omnipresence.” _Are thy thoughts unto me_ Thy counsels, or contrivances, in my behalf, which are admirable an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely, thou wilt slay the wicked, O God_ And as thou hast precious and gracious thoughts toward me, (which thou also hast toward all that love and fear thee,) so thou wilt not now desert me and leave me in the hands of those wicked men who, unmindful of thy presence and thy all- seeing eye, regard... [ Continue Reading ]
_For they speak against thee wickedly_ It is not so much _me_ that they persecute, in opposing, misrepresenting, and speaking against me, as virtue and piety, in persecuting which they oppose and speak against thee; contemning thy omniscience and omnipresence, and thy superintending providence. _And... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do not I hate them that hate thee?_ I appeal to thee, the omnipresent and omniscient God, whether I do not perfectly hate them, (that is, hate their ways,) so far as they are enemies to thee and goodness. _Am I not grieved_ With the folly and sin _of those that rise up against thee?_ That act in op... [ Continue Reading ]
_Search me, O God_ Do thou, who art the searcher of hearts, judge whether I do not speak this from my very heart, and deal with me accordingly. _See if there be any wicked way in me_ Hebrew, דרךְ עצב, _way of trouble or grief;_ any course of life, or temper of mind, which is a source of _grief_ or _... [ Continue Reading ]