THE PSALMS.
Day 29.
2 And enter not into judgement with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified( 1).
1. Adopted in the daily service.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; Ex. 34. 7; Ro. 3.20. he hath smitten my life down to the ground: he hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead( 2).
4 Therefore is my spirit vexed within me: and my heart within me is desolate.
5 Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon all thy works: yea, I exercise myself in the works of thy hands( 3).
6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land( 4).
7 Hear me, O Lord, and that soon, for my spirit waxeth faint: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
80 let me hear thy loving- kindness betimes in the morning( 5), for in thee is my trust: shew thou me the way that I should walk in, for I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: for I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee, for thou art my God let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness( 6).
11 Quicken me, O Lord, for thy Name's sake and for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble( 7).
:
12 And of thy goodness slay mine enemies and destroy all them that vex my soul; for I am thy servant.
2. That is, I am driven to obscure places in the wilderness,( 2 Sam. 17.16.) with as little hope of restoration as if I
were dead.
3." I muse on the works" of mercy, which Thou hast
done for others.
4. Mercy to the penitent, is as rain, in its season, to the parched grass!
5. That is, speedily.
6. Or, through plain ground,( Ps. 27. 13.) from the mazes of
error, into the direct course of holiness.
7. Rather, thou shalt quicken,& c.; an act
of Faith; a conviction that what has been asked, He will grant!
from Absalom. It is an avowal of the impossibility of acceptance and salvation, but through grace; the recollection of former mercies suggest consolation under renewed distress.
451