that is it that shall be the portion of their cup, the heritage appointed them by the Almighty, and allotted to them, Job xx. 29. This is the cup of trembling, which shall be put into their hands, which they must drink the dregs of, lxxv. 8. Every man has the portion of his cup assigned him. They who choose the Lord for the Portion of their cup, shall have what they choose, and be for ever happy in their choice, (xvi. 5.) but they who reject his grace, shall be made to drink the cup of his fury, Jer. xxv. 15. Isa. li. 17. Hab. ii. 16.
6. That, though honest good people may be run down, and trampled upon, yet God does and will own them, and favour them, and smile upon them, and that is the reason why God will severely reckon with persecutors and oppressors, because those whom they oppress and persecute are dear to him; so that, whosoever toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye, v. 7. (1.) He loves them, and the work of his own grace in them. He is himself a righteous God, and therefore loves righteousness wherever he finds it, and pleads the cause of the righteous that are injured and oppressed; he delights to execute judgment for them, ciii. 6. We must herein be followers of God, must love righteousness as he does, that we may keep ourselves always in his love. (2.) He looks graciously upon them; His countenance doth behold the upright; he is not only at peace with them, but well-pleased in them, and he comforts them, and puts gladness into their hearts, by letting them know that he is so. He, like a tender Father, looks upon them with pleasure, and they, like dutiful children, are pleased and abundantly satisfied with his smiles. They walk in the light of the Lord.
In singing this psalm, we must encourage and engage ourselves to trust in God at all times, must depend upon him to protect our innocence, and make us happy, must dread his frowns as worse than death, and desire his favour as better than life.
PSALM XII.
It is supposed that David penned this psalm, in Saul's reign, when there was a general decay of honesty and piety both in court and country, which he here complains of to God, and very feelingly, for he himself suffered by the treachery of his false friends, and the insolence of his sworn enemies. I. He begs help of God, because there were none among men whom he durst trust, v. 1, 2. II. He foretells the destruction of his proud and threatening enemies, v. 3, 4. III. He assures himself and others, that, how ill soever things went now, (v. 8.) God would preserve and secure to himself his own people, (v. 5, 7.) and would certainly make good his promises to them, v. 6. Whether this psalm was penned in Saul's reign or no, it is certainly calculated for a bad reign; and perhaps David, in spirit, foresaw that some of his successors would bring things to as bad a pass as is here described, and treasured up this psalm for the use of the church then. O tempora, O mores!—Oh the times and the manners!
To the chief musician upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
1. HELP, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. 2. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips, and with a double heart, do they speak. 3. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things; 4. Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 5. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. 6. The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7. Thou shall keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. 8. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
This psalm furnishes us with good thoughts for bad times, in which, though the prudent will keep silent, (Amos v. 13.) because a man may be made an offender for a word, yet a man may comfort himself, in such a day, with such suitable meditations and prayers as are here got ready to our hand.
I. Let us see here, what it is that makes the times bad, and when they may be said to be so. Ask the children of this world, what it is, in their account, that makes the times bad; they will tell you, Scarcity of money, decay of trade, and the desolations of war, make the times bad; but the scripture lays the badness of the times upon causes of another nature; (2 Tim. iii. 1.) Perilous times shall come, for iniquity shall abound; and that is the thing David here complains of.
1. When there is a general decay of piety and honesty among men, the times are then truly bad; (v. 1.) When the godly man ceases, and the faithful fail. Observe how these two characters are here put together, the godly and the faithful. As there is no true policy, so there is no true piety, without honesty. Godly men are faithful men, fast men, so they have sometimes been called; their word is as confirming as their oath, as binding as their bond; they make conscience of being true both to God and man. They are here said to cease and fail, either by death, or by desertion, or by both. Those that were godly and faithful were taken away, and those that were left were sadly degenerated, and were not what they had been; so that there were few or no good people, that were Israelites indeed, to be met with. Perhaps he means, that there were no godly faithful men among Saul's courtiers; if he means there were few or none in Israel, we hope he was under the same mistake that Elijah was, who thought he only was left alone, when God had 7000 who kept their integrity; (Rom. xi. 3.) or he means that there were few in comparison; there was a general decay of religion and virtue: the times are bad, very bad, when it is so; not a man to be found, that executes judgment, Jer. v. 1.
2. When dissimulation and flattery have corrupted and debauched all conversation, then the times are very bad; (v. 2.) when men are generally so profligate, that they make no conscience of a lie, are so spiteful as to design against their neighbours the worst of mischiefs, and yet so base as to cover the design with the most specious and plausible pretences, and professions of friendship. Thus they speak vanity, (falsehood and a lie,) every one to his neighbour; with flattering lips and a double heart they will kiss and kill, (as Joab did Abner and Amasa in David's own time,) smile in your face, and cut your throat. This is the Devil's image complete, a complication of malice and falsehood. The times are bad indeed, when there is no such thing as sincerity to be met with; when an honest man knows not whom to believe, nor whom to trust, nor dares put confidence in a friend, in a guide, Mic. vii. 5, 6. Jer. ix. 4, 5. Woe to those who help to make the times thus perilous.
3. When the enemies of God, and religion, and religious people, are impudent and daring, and threaten to run down all that is just and sacred,
