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PSALM XXXI.

WHEN DAVID ESCAPED FROM KEILAH.

David showing his confidence in God craveth help, 1–6; he rejoiceth in his mercy, 7,8; he prayeth in his calamity, 9-18; he praiseth God for his goodness, 19–24.

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¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 In thee, O LORD! do I put my trust;

Let me never be ashamed:

Deliver me in thy righteousness.

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2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: Be thou 'my strong rock, for a house of defence to

save me.

3 For thou art my rock and my fortress;

Therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. 4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; For thou art my strength.

5 Into thy hand I commit my spirit:

Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth! 6 I have hated them that regard lying vanities: But I trust in the LORD.

7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: For thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities;

8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the Thou hast set my foot in a large room.

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enemy;

Have mercy upon me, O LORD! for I am in trouble: Mine 'eye is consumed with grief,

Yea, my soul and my belly.

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10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with

sighing:

My strength faileth because of mine iniquity,

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And my bones are consumed.

11 I was a reproach among all mine enemies, But especially among my neighbours,

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And a fear to mine acquaintance:

They that did see me without fled from me. 12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like 'a broken vessel.

13 For I have heard the slander of many:

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Fear was on every side:

While they took counsel together against me,
They devised to take away my life.

14 But I trusted in thee, O LORD!

I said, "Thou art my God."

15 My times are in thy hand:

Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies,
And from them that persecute me.

16 Make "thy face to shine upon thy servant:
Save me for thy mercies' sake.

17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD! For I have called upon thee:

Let the wicked be ashamed,

And let them be 'silent in the grave. 18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; Which speak 'grievous things proudly

And contemptuously against the righteous. 19 O how great is thy goodness,

Which thou hast laid up for them that fear

thee;

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Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee Before the sons of men!

20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence From the pride of man:

Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion

From the strife of tongues.

21 Blessed be the LORD!

For he hath showed me his marvellous kindness in a 'strong city.

22 For I said in my haste,

"I am cut off from before thine eyes;"

Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications When I cried unto thee.

23 O clove the LORD, all ye his saints! For the LORD preserveth the faithful,

And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

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24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart,

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that hope in the LORD!

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When David had escaped from Keilah he recrossed the central ridge of Judah, and again sought refuge in the caves and woods of the wild and inaccessible mountains which flank the western shores of the Dead Sea. His first halt was in the wilderness of Ziph, a section of the desert of Judah, lying east of that village, and adjacent to it, about twenty-three miles south of Bethlehem. While encamped here in a wood, Jonathan, learning his place of concealment, came to him, "and strengthened his hand in God." The two brothers here renew

their former covenant, and with many comforting words did Jonathan revive the spirit of David. The mutual affection and fidelity of these two brothers has scarcely a parallel upon the page of history. On the part of Jonathan there was a magnanimity far above the selfish imperfections of our nature. Jonathan was the intended successor of his father, the heir apparent to the crown. According to the Hebrew Theocracy, God alone possessed the right to appoint and to depose the king, and the king ruled as the deputy or viceroy of Jehovah. Jonathan knew that by the hands of Samuel, the undisputed prophet of God, David had been anointed the successor of Saul. By this act the hopes of Jonathan, with respect to the crown, were totally cut off, and he knew that upon the death of his father the dynasty would be transferred from the house of Saul to that of David. But in all this his piety acquiesced; and in seeking the prosperity of the house of David he acted up to the sublime genius of the Hebrew constitution and laws. Thus he proved himself worthy of a throne by showing himself superior to it. Their interview in the wood of Ziph was their last one. About four years later Jonathan fell in battle on Mount Gilboa.

On Jonathan's departure from Ziph, the treacherous Ziphites sent an embassy to Saul, at Gibeah, informing him of David's haunt, and urging him to hasten thither, and they would "deliver him into the king's hand." The heart of Saul was overjoyed at these tidings, as they not only awakened new hopes of arresting David, but discovered among the people some sympathy in his cause. In his reply to the infamous embassy of the Ziphites, he betrayed all the imbecility and the vindictiveness of his nature. He directs them to return and watch the movements of David closely, while he himself would follow with a detachment of soldiers. The Ziphites return accordingly in haste, and Saul soon follows with a sufficient force to apprehend him; but David, meantime, receives information of these movements, and retires four or five miles further south, to the wilderness of Maon.

Finding himself again betrayed, and the rock of the desert no longer a safe asylum, he again turns his thoughts plaintively and confidingly to God. 1 Samuel xxiii, 13-24.

PSALM LIV.

ON THE TREACHERY OF THE ZIPHIMS TO DAVID.

David, complaining of the Ziphims, prayeth for salvation, 1–3; upon his confidence in God's help he promiseth sacrifice, 4–7.

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, [i. e., after the music of stringed instruments, a Psalm of instruction,] A Psalm of David, 1 when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, "Doth not David hide himself with us?"

1 Save me, O God! by thy name,

And judge me by thy strength. 2 Hear my prayer, O God!

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3 For strangers are risen up against me, And oppressors seek after my soul:

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They have not set God before them. Selah!
Behold, God is my helper:

The LORD is with them that uphold my soul. 5 He shall reward evil unto 'mine enemies:

Cut them off in thy truth.

6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee:

I will praise thy name, O LORD! for it is good. 7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: And mine eye hath seen his desire

upon

mine enemies.

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