They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I _was_ the song of
the drunkards.
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: in the truth of
thy salvation,
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.
Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me
up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Hear me, O LORD; for thy loving-kindness _is_ good: turn unto me
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble; hear me
speedily.
Draw nigh unto my soul, _and_ redeem it: deliver me, because of mine
enemies.
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine
adversaries _are_ all before thee.
Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I
looked _for some_ to take pity, but _there was_ none; and for
comforters, but I found none.
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me
vinegar to drink.
Let their table become a snare before them: and _that which should
have been_ for _their_ welfare, _let it become_ a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins
continually to shake.
Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take
hold of them.
Let their habitation be desolate; _and_ let none dwell in their tents.
For they persecute _him_ whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the
grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and let them not come into thy
righteousness.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written
with the righteous.
But I _am_ poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on
high.
I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with
thanksgiving.
_This_ also shall please the LORD better than an ox _or_ bullock that
hath horns and hoofs.
The humble shall see _this, and_ be glad: and your heart shall live
that seek God.
For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that
moveth therein:
For God will save Sion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they
may dwell there, and have it in possession.
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; and they that love his
name shall dwell therein.
This Psalm is a prayer full of those most deep and spiritual feelings
that were experienced in the person of Christ our Lord. In the
beginning of the Psalm, in the first three verses, with what a
fervency and weight of words does the Psalmist describe those great
terrors of death and hell which Christ undertook and endured, for our
sins. “Save me now, O Lord,” saith he, “for the waters overflow me, I
sink into the depth of the mire: I have now no where to stand, nothing
whereon to set my foot, I sink into the abyss of the sea, and the
floods overflow me.” By all which figures and expressions he shadows
forth, with all his powers, that unspeakable agony of Christ, which he
endured for our sins, when groaning under the infinite weight of the
wrath of God.
In the 7th verse Christ confesses himself as bearing our sins, and
complains of the Jews, who crucify him. “They gave me,” saith he,
“gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink:” so
expressively and circumstantially does the prophet foretel the
sufferings of Christ! And then he speaks, with the same clearness,
concerning the Jews who should be blinded, and their kingdom and
priesthood which should be destroyed, as also it was fulfilled; so
that now we see the accomplishment of these things, and experience has
set them plainly before our eyes.
In the end of the Psalm the prophet shows that the law should be
abolished, and that a new worship should be instituted without the law
and circumcision: “I will praise the name of the Lord,” saith he,
“with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall
please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and
hoofs.” By these words he shews that the law should be abrogated with
the whole of that splendidly ceremonious worship, the boasted pride of
circumcision, the sabbaths, and the sacrifices; and that the worship
of the New Testament should be established in its stead; namely, the
sacrifice of praise and the preaching of the gospel; for it is by
faith in Christ, and obedience to the gospel that we attain unto the
true knowledge of God, and it is by truly keeping the first
commandment that God is truly worshipped; which, as it is written,
(Mark xii. 33.) is “more than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices.”