11 I put on sackcloth also and they jested upon me. 12 They that sit in the gate speak against me and the drunkards make songs upon me. 13 But, Lord, I make my prayer 2 Kings xix. 36. unto thee in an acceptable time. Ezra ix. 5. Dan. ix. 21. Jer. xxxviii. 6. 22. Lament. iii. 55. Numb. xvi. 33. Lament. iii. 56. Lament, iii. 57. 14 Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy even in the truth of thy salvation. 15 Take me out of the mire, that I sink not O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 16 Let not the water-flood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 17 Hear me, O Lord, for thy lovingkindness is comfortable turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies. 18 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble : O haste thee, and hear me. 19 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it O deliver me, because of mine enemies. Eripe me de luto, ut non infigar: inheream.......ez libera me ab his qui oderunt me, et de profundis aquarum. be with Me in Paradise;" but for Himself was the cry of woe, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" ever ready to hear the cry of others, He Himself, for our sins, was "weary of crying," His "sight failing through waiting so long upon His God." Thus, throughout this Psalm, the intensity of Christ's sufferings is set forth in language equalled only in its awful sadness by the twenty-second Psalm. He is guiltless and alone, and weak with weeping and fasting; His enemies are mighty, and more in number than the hairs of His head. The sins of those who sinned against God are fallen upon Him Who knew no sin. He exchanged the joys of Heaven for the sorrows of earth, fasted from the Presence of His Father, and put on the sackcloth of human nature; His loving work was turned to His reproof, so that when He spoke of God as His Father, they charged Him with blasphemy, and, instead of beholding His immaculate Human Nature, called Him the "son of the carpenter:" the judges that "sat in the gate" condemned Him unjustly, and the foolish soldiers and passers by reviled Him. But, in the midst of all this sorrowing prophecy of Christ's Passion, there is a continual appeal from the injustice of man to the justice and love of God; and also a constant declaration of the great Truth that Christ suffered for the sins of mankind. .... .... Thus, "They that hate Me without a cause". . . . "I paid them the thing that I never took" ."They that would destroy Me guiltless".... "God, Thou knowest My simpleness, and My faults are not hid from Thee". "For Thy sake have I suffered reproof" "The zeal of Thine house hath even eaten Me".... "But, Lord, I make My prayer unto Thee" "Hear Me, O Lord, for Thy loving-kindness is comfort"Thou hast known My reproof, My shame, and My dishonour".... "Thy rebuke hath broken My heart." .... able" Thus did the spotless Lamb of God plead from the midst of the fire of the sacrifice, pleading not for Himself, but for others. Thus did He pray that the sin by which He was borne down might be removed from Him, that it might be removed from those for whom He bore it. Thus did He cry "Save Me," "Take Me out of the deep waters," that, being Himself saved, He might be" mighty to save "all men. Thus did He hold forth His broken heart as an atonement for the hard hearts of sinners. Like all Psalms of our Lord's Passion, this also ends in a song of Resurrection joy; and in the expressions used we may trace clearly the manner in which Christ's Death, Descent into Hell, Resurrection, and Ascension, are all events in which the redeemed are made partakers through their union with Him. So the Lord hears the intercessions of the POOR, and the prisoners of hope are released from their dark dungeon of death, to live in the light of Paradise; the City of God is built up out of Christ's own Body, and all they which are written in the Lamb's book of life shall inherit it: "and every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them," shall be heard "saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb," even the Lamb as it had been slain, “for ever." [Rev. v. 13.] § The Imprecations. Gentle-minded and loving Christians have often felt a difficulty in the use of those Psalms which, like the sixty-ninth, contain such strong expressions of feeling towards evil-doers as are apparently inconsistent with the precepts of charity enjoined in the New Testament. Psalms of this character have been sometimes called the "cursing" or "imprecatory" Psalms, and the spirit of them has been supposed to be so thoroughly Judaical as to make them unsuitable for use by the Christian Church. But such ideas respecting them are founded on an insufficient appreciation of the true sense in which all the Psalms are to be regarded and they are, perhaps, accompanied by a too limited application of them to the experience and circumstances of the individual person who uses them. It should be remembered as a first principle in the use of the imprecatory Psalms, that the imprecations are uttered against the enemies of God, not against those of David or any other merely human person. It may be doubted whether the sweet singer of Israel could ever have uttered them in any but a prophetic sense, for he was of too meek, forgiving, and tender a character to entertain so strong a spirit of vengeance as the personal application of his words would imply. When Saul was a most bitter enemy to him, David twice refrained from taking his life, though the king was completely in his power: when Shimei cursed him with the most shameful imprecations, he forgave him as a man, although as a righteous ruler he could not altogether overlook the crime committed against the sovereign's person: when his rebellious son Absalom died, the most pathetic tenderness was exhibited by the bereaved father, so that his "O Absalom, my son, my son," shadows forth the "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," of the Son of David in after ages. It was, therefore, as an inspired prophet, and not as a private writer, that David wrote the maledictions of the Psalms; and he wrote them, not respecting any men because they were enemies of his own, but because they were enemies of his God. In the same spirit they are to be used by the Christian Church. And this particular Psalm contains some striking references to the facts of the Crucifixion, which furnish a key to the use of the maledictions or imprecations wherever they are found. For these references to facts, which belong exclusively to the sufferings of our Lord, show that the enemies of Christ are those against whom the terrible words are recorded: as, also, that they are spoken in the Person of Christ, the righteous and most merciful Judge of all men. Thus we are led to the Gospel narrative, The XIII. Day. Evening Prayer. Lament. iii. 66. Rev. xx. 15. xxi. 27. Matt. v. 11. Jonah ii. 9. Heb. ix. 23. John v. 25 vi. 57. xiv. 19. Isa. xl. 31. Zech. ix. 12. Isa. xli. 7. 1 Pet. iii. 19. Isa. xliv. 26. Isa. liii. 10. Rev. xxi. 27. 29 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living and not be written among the righteous. 30 As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness thy help, O God, shall lift me up. 31 I will praise the Name of God with a song and magnify it with thanksgiving. 32 This also shall please the Lord better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. 33 The humble shall consider this, and be glad seek ye after God, and your soul shall live. 34 For the Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his prisoners. 35 Let heaven and earth praise him the sea, and all that moveth therein. 36 For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah that men may dwell there, and have it in possession. 37 The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it and they that love his Name shall dwell therein. and to the historical words of Christ, to examine whether any thing analogous is to be found in the record of His meek, loving, and gentle life. And there it is to be observed, that He Who uttered the eight Benedictions in the Sermon on the Mount, also uttered the eight woes in the very same discourse: that He Who was merciful to repentant publicans and sinners, denounced unrepentant hypocrites in terms of extreme sternness as a "generation of vipers," and meted out to them words of most bitter scorn and condemnation: that He Who wept over Jerusalem, predicted at the same time, and in the terms of one passing a judicial sentence, that fearful siege and destruction, the details of which are unmatched for horror in the history of the world: that He Who prayed for His murderers, "Father, forgive them," was the same Who revealed His own future words, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." Remembering the disposition towards sinners which was entertained by the Saviour Who came to give up His life for them, we thus arrive at the conclusion that the more perfect the love of God and of souls is, the more decided and definite is the righteous indignation which is felt against those who dishonour the One, and ruin the other. And a further indication of this is found in the fact that it was the "Apostle of love" who wrote most severely of all the Apostles against unbelievers: and who was chosen by God to wind up the words of Holy Writ with the fearful maledictions, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still". . . . “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." [Rev. xxii. 11. 18, 19.] The imprecations of the Psalms are, then, utterances of that "wrath of the Lamb," to fly from which, sinners, the enemies of Christ, will at the last call upon the rocks and hills to fall upon them, hide them, and annihilate them. [Rev. vi. 15-17.] They are spoken respecting those who finally refuse to become His friends, and who reject for ever the redeeming love which would have won them to His fold. When they are sung or said in the course of Divine Service or in private devotion, there must be no thought of applying them to any particular persons, or of taking them as words which have any reference to our own real or supposed wrongs. They are the words of Christ and His Church, not our words spoken as individual persons: they are uttered against the finally impenitent; and who these are the Great Judge of all alone can decide. They must be used, therefore, in the spirit in which the martyrs cry, "Lord, how long," in which the Church Militant prays day by day, "Thy Kingdom come," and in which at the last, notwithstanding the horrors attending the Last Judgment, the Bride will respond to "Him that testifieth, I come quickly," "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." PSALM LXX. This Psalm is almost identical with the last six verses of the 2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul * let them be turned backward and put to confusion that wish me evil. 3 Let them for their reward be soon brought to shame that cry over me, There, there. 4 But let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee and let all such as delight in thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised. 5 As for me, I am poor and in misery haste thee unto me, O God. 6 Thou art my helper, and my redeemer O Lord, make no long tarrying. 3 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 4 For thou, O Lord God, art the thing that I long for thou art my hope, even from my youth. 5 Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb; my praise shall be always of thee. 6 I am become as it were a monster unto many but my sure trust is in thee. PSALMUS LXX. retardaveris Maundy Thursd.. internum: in justitia tua libera 1st Noct. INte non confundar N te Domine speravi, non confundar Thursd. Mattins. me et eripe me. me. Inclina ad me aurem tuam : et salva libera Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in locum munitum: ut salvum me facias. Quoniam firmamentum meum: et refugium meum es tu. Deus meus, eripe me de manu peccatoris: et de manu contra legem agentis et iniqui. Quoniam tu es patientia mea, Domine: Domine, spes mea a juventute mea. In te confirmatus sum ex utero de ventre matris meæ tu es protector meus: In te cantatio mea semper: tanquam prodigium factus sum multis, et tu adjutor fortis. inique fortieth; but, as the second book of the Psalms is chiefly spoken in the person of Christ's Mystical Body, while the first is chiefly spoken in the Person of Christ Himself, so it has been thought that this Psalm is the voice of the Church crying out, "Lord, how long," at a period of great tribulation. It is observable that the language of the second and third verses is such as will bear an interpretation of blessing rather than cursing. Saul sought after the souls of those whom he dragged to prison, and of God's holy martyr Stephen, and while he was "breathing out slaughters" such shame and confusion fell upon him, and so was he "turned backward," that he was converted to become a life servant and martyr of that Lord Who said to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" [Acts vii. 58; ix. 4.] Many persecutors are known to have been converted to Christ in those ages, and doubtless there were among them some of those very men who had cried, "There, there," against the Lord Himself. In praying, therefore, "Make haste to help me, O Lord," the Church prays in the same tone which the merciful Jesus taught when He bade us pray daily, "Thy Kingdom come;" that all, even the enemies and persecutors of Christ, may be brought, like St. Paul, to be joyful and glad in Him. PSALM LXXI. Although the subject of this Psalm is the same as that of the preceding, its subdued tone and the absence of any expressions of extreme anguish give it quite a different character. While the one may be supposed to represent the bitter pain of the Cross, The XIV. Day. Morning Prayer. Rev. i. 14. 2 Cor. xii. 10. Rev. xx. 10. Rev. i. 14. Rom. viii. 35. 7 O let my mouth be filled with thy praise that I may sing of thy glory and honour all the day long. 8 Cast me not away in the time of age forsake me not when my strength faileth me. 9 For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take their counsel together, saying God hath forsaken him; persecute him, and take him, for there is none to deliver him. 10 Go not far from me, O God God, haste thee to help me. my 11 Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul let them be covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil. 12 As for me, I will patiently abide alway and will praise thee more and more. 13 My mouth shall daily speak of thy righteousness and salvation for I know no end thereof. 14 I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God and will make mention of thy righteousness only. 15 Thou, O God, hast taught me from my youth up until now therefore will I tell of thy wondrous works. 16 Forsake me not, O God, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to all them that are yet for to come. 17 Thy righteousness, O God, is very high and great things are they that thou hast done; O God, who is like unto thee? Repleatur os meum laude ut cantem ut possim cantare gloriam tuam: tota die magnitudinem magnificentiam tuam. Ne projicias me in tempore senectutis: cum defecerit virtus mea, ne derelinquas me. Quia dixerunt inimici mei mihi: et mala mihi qui custodiebant animam meam consilium fecerunt in unum. Dicentes, Deus dereliquit eum: persequimini et comprehendite eum ; quia non est qui eripiat. Deus, ne elongeris a me: Deus meus, in auxilium meum respice. Confundantur et deficiant detrahentes animæ meæ : operiantur confusione et pudore qui quærunt mala mihi. the other may be taken as illustrating the period immediately preceding the Resurrection, when the remembrance of the Passion has not yet given place to the triumphant joy of a completed Victory. It is the same Voice which said, "Thou shalt not leave My soul in Hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to sec corruption." Thus the Psalm represents to us the "patient abiding alway" of the holy Jesus, waiting for the arrival of the appointed time for Him to be brought from the deep of the earth again, going forth in the strength of the Divine Nature, and never doubting the righteousness of the Divine Will'. From the fourth to the eighth verses inclusive, and also in the fifteenth and sixteenth, there are such references to the duration of our Lord's life on earth as seem to indicate that, although it continued for only thirty-three years, yet every period of man's 1 It is observable that although the first part of this Psalm is identical with the first part of the thirty-first, the special compline words of our Lord, "Into Thy hands I commend My spirit," are not found here. life was represented by, or condensed into it. "Cast Me not away in the time of age," may well lead us to believe that the closing part of our suffering Redeemer's time of humiliation was, to Him, as the concluding part of an old man's life, rather than that of a man in the vigour of youth; and that in so many years as are reckoned to one generation He exhausted the experiences of the longest lifetime. There may be, also, in the expression, "Forsake Me not when My strength faileth Me," and in the pleading of the two following verses, a prayer that the Godhead may yet continue with the Manhood, even when the strength of the Incarnation [see note on Psalm xciii. 1] seemed to be failing in the last epoch of Christ's humiliation, the Descent into Hell. If so, then these verses show that Christ's enemies were not quieted by His death, but that the great Adversary and his hosts "lay wait for " His "soul," under the impression that it was forsaken by the Divine Nature when they beheld it separated from His Body. It cannot be doubted, that, to the Omniscient Eye which foresaw the events of Christ's Passion in the time of |