_A.M. 2946. B.C. 1058._ David is thought, by several commentators, to have composed this Psalm just before his flight to Achish, king of Gath, when he had a second time spared Saul's life, 1 Samuel 26. and 1 Samuel 27:1, but could trust him no longer. He prays for acceptance and assistance, Psalms... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let my prayer be set forth before thee_ Hebrews תכון לפניךְ, _be directed to thy face, person, or presence._ Let it not be lost, but let it come unto thee and find audience; _as incense_ Let it be owned and accepted by thee, no less than if it had been offered with incense at thine altar, from whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_Set a watch before my mouth_ That I may not, through mine own infirmity, and the great provocation of mine enemies, break forth into any unadvised speeches, or any expressions of impatience, distrust, envy, or malice; _keep the door_, &c. My lips, which are the door of my mouth, whence words come f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let the righteous smite me_ Namely, by reproofs. If at any time, through the frailty of nature, I should be inclined to yield to temptation, let me find, among my attendants or friends, some righteous and faithful person, who, with kind severity, will check and reprove me. _It shall be a kindness_... [ Continue Reading ]
_When their judges are overthrown_, &c. “Of this verse, as it stands in our translation,” says Dr. Horne, “I know not what can be made. When literally rendered from the Hebrew, it runs thus; _Their judges have been dismissed in the sides of the rock,”_ נשׁמשׂו בירי סלע, _“and have heard my words tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Our bones are scattered_, &c. So barbarously cruel were our enemies that they not only killed many of our friends, but left their carcasses unburied, by which means their flesh, and sinews, &c., were consumed, or torn in pieces by wild beasts, and their bones dispersed upon the face of the earth, o... [ Continue Reading ]
_But mine eyes are unto thee_ But in this sore distress I fix my thoughts on thee, _O God, the Lord_, the only living and true God, and governor of all things; _in thee is my trust_, &c. In thee I repose an assured confidence that thou wilt not leave me without support and protection, much less wilt... [ Continue Reading ]
_Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me_ Keep me from being taken in it: give me to discover and evade it. If Saul and his evil counsellors be intended in this clause, probably the heathen, to whom David was now driven for refuge, were meant in the next. They were _workers of iniquity_ i... [ Continue Reading ]