the original, hurts the sense. "Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king, and my God," seems to be a distinct sentence from the foregoing, and comes in as an ardent exclamation, expressing the longing of David's soul after God's altars, as is rather to be added to the foregoing verse, where the psalmist had said, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart, and my flesh crieth out for the living God;" and then his thoughts of the birds having a nest, and so living distinguished from him, a poor exile, that was cast out of house and home, and had not where to lay his head, and was banished from God's house, which is the worst part of his banishment: this comes in, as it were, in a parenthesis, and then follows the exclamation, "Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God!" Such an interpretation is exceedingly agreeable with the context, and the frame the psalmist was in.

[203] Psalm xc. 10. Bedford's Scripture Chronology, p. 395. When God had positively declared that the Israelites should wander forty years in the wilderness, and that all of them except Joshua and Caleb should die there; and when he did thus cut short the age of man, to what it is at this time, then Moses penned a melancholy psalm, in which he tells us how they were consumed by God's anger for their impieties, and how man's age is come to seventy or eighty years, after which there is only labour and sorrow, instead of those hundreds that they lived before.

Here we may observe, that as sin at first brought death into the world, so sin did afterwards shorten the age of man, before the flood: the patriarchs lived almost to a thousand years. But the sin which brought the flood, took away one half of man's age, so that they who were born afterwards never attained to the age of five hundred. At the confusion of Babylon it was shortened again in the same manner, so that none born after that time lived up to two hundred and fifty, as it is easy to observe by computing their ages. After the death of the patriarchs, when the true worship of God was very much declined in their families, and the rest of mankind were overrun with superstition and idolatry, the life of man was shortened again, so that we read of none born since, who exceeded an hundred and five and twenty; neither did ages of men stand at that measure, but at the frequent murmurings and provokings of God in the wilderness, a third part more, or thereabouts, were cut off from the age of man, and the common limit of man's life was brought to seventy or eighty years, or thereabouts, or more particularly to eighty-three, or eighty-four years, which very few exceeded, and which Moses speaks of in the beforementioned psalm, composed upon that occasion. And though the sins of mankind have been very great and universal since that

the

time, yet the age of man's life has not been shorten y more, because a shorter space would hardly have been stunt for the finding out, and improvement of arts and sciences, as well as for other reasons.

[169] Psalm xci. 11. "He will give his angels charge concerning thee, and they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." As a father gives the elder children charge concerning the younger, to lead them and bear them up, and keep them from falling.

[65] Prov. iv. 23. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." It is probable here is an allusion to the blood's issuing from the heart. The heart is the fountain of the blood, which is called the life. Gen. ix. 4, and other places. Solomon was so great a philosopher, that doubtless he understood that the heart was the fountain of the blood.

[462] Prov. xxx. 27. "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands." The following is taken from the Evening Post of January 4th, 1748. Extract of a letter from Transylvania, Aug. 23, concerning the locusts that had lately appeared there.

These dreadful creatures with which we are afflicted, move in two columns; the first places they invaded were the territories of Bellegisch, and Banoize, where they passed the night; the next morning they directed their flight towards Peekska, Maradick, &c. And the day following towards Irriga, where they have eat the leaves, the grass, the cabbages, the melons and cucumbers, to the very roots. Yesterday they were in motion towards Schuliom, bending their flight manifestly towards Zealmo and the parts thereabouts. They continue in the air, or if one may use the expression, they march generally two hours and an half at a time, They form a close compact column about fifteen yards deep, in breadth about four musket shot, and in length near four leagues. They move with such force, or rather precipitation, that the air trembles to such a degree as to shake the leaves upon the trees. They darken the sky in such a manner, that when they passed over us, I could not see my people at twenty feet distance.

"P. S. At this instant we have notice that two swarms more are approaching, which after having settled in the neighbourhood of Warasch, have returned back by Nerraden and Iasack, making a prodigious buzz, or humming noise as they passed." The same account is also in the Boston Gazette of January 26th, 1748.

[90] Eccles. i. 6. "The wind goeth towards the south, and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually, and

the wind returneth again according to his circuit." Whenever the wind blows from one quarter for a long time there must needs be a circulation in the atmosphere. When the wind blows from the north, there must at the same time be another wind from the south, or in some other place, otherwise long and strong winds would leave some regions empty of air, and it would mightily heap up in others. This I take to be what is meant in this place.

[91] Eccles. ii. 16. "There is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool." Man's reason naturally expects a future reward, and that all the good, that good and wise men have of their labour, should not be confined to this short life.

[316] Eccles. vi. 3. "So that the days of his years be many and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial. I say that an untimely birth is better than he." Have no burial, i. e. is one that God takes no care of in his death, does him no honour, takes no care of either soul or body, as having any value for, or care of, either, or any respect for their memory. For it is the wicked that the wise man is here speaking of, the same that is spoken of chap. viii. 12, 13, which is a place very parallel with this. And it will be further evident by comparing this and the following verse with chap. v. 13-17. Burial is the respect which friends show to the memory and remains of those that are dead. God will show no regard to any thing that remains of wicked men after death. God treats their souls when they die, and will treat their bodies at the resurrection, with contempt, as men treat the dead bodies of those creatures they have no honour or regard for, and are abominable to them, as are the carcasses of unclean beasts. Jer. xxii. 19. "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." And Isai. xiv. 19, 20. "But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit and as a carcass; trodden under feet, thou shalt be joined unto them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land." God takes care of the righteous when they die, he finds a repository of rest for their souls, and their dust is precious to him. As God buried Moses in the mount, they are gathered to their fathers and received into Abraham's bosom, but God treats the souls of the wicked when they die as men treat the dead, putrid carcass of an ass or a dog: they are cast forth out of the city of God's Jerusalem, and shall be for ever shut out thence.

[147] Solomon's Song. The name by which Solomon calls this song, confirms me in it that it is more than an ordinary love

song, and that it was designed for a divine song, and of divine authority; for we read, 1 Kings iv. 32, that Solomon's songs were a thousand and five; this he calls the Song of songs, that is, the most excellent of all his songs, which it seems very probable to me to be upon that account, because it was a song of the most excellent subject, treating of the love, union, and communion between Christ and his church; of which, marriage and conjugal love was but a shadow. These are the most excellent lovers, and their love the most excellent love.

Mr. Henry, in the introduction to his Exp. of this book, says, "It appears that this book was taken in a spiritual sense by the Jewish church, for whose use it was first composed, as appears by the Chaldee paraphrase, and the most ancient Jewish expositors.' In the same place he says, "In our belief both of the divine extraction and spiritual exposition of this book, we are confirmed by the ancient, constant, and convincing testimony, both of the church of the Jews, to whom were committed the oracles of God, and who never made any doubt of the authority of this book, and of the Christian church, which happily succeeded them in that trust and honour."

[231] The Book of Solomon's Song. The divinity of this song is confirmed from the allusions there seem to be in the NewTestament to things herein contained; and particularly Christ, in John iv. 10. 14, speaking of a well of living water, seems to allude to the 15th verse of the iv. chapter of this song, “a fountain of gardens, a well of living water." So in Eph. v. 18, there seems to be an eye to chap. v. 1, of this song. See Notes on that passage in Ephesians.

[336] It is one argument that the Book of Canticles is no common love song, that the bridegroom or lover there spoken of so often calls his beloved, "My sister, my spouse." This well agrees with Christ's relation to believers, who is become our brother and near kinsman by taking upon him our nature, and is our brother, and the son of our mother by his incarnation, as thereby he became a son of the church, and used the ordinances appointed in it, and so has sucked the breasts of our mother, and we are became his brothers also by the adoption of his Father. But this appellation would not well suit a common spouse among the Jews, who were so strictly forbidden to marry any that were near of kin to them, and particularly to marry a sister. Levit. xviii. 9. "The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or the daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover." It is neither likely that the Jews would marry such in Solomon's time,

nor that it would be the custom to compare their spouses to such, especially that they would insist so much on such an appellation as though it was an amiable thing, and a thing to be thought of and mentioned with delight and pleasure, to have a spouse that was a sister, when God's law taught them to dread and abhor the thought of it.

[436] The Book of Canticles. The following places in the Psalms are a confirmation that by her, whom the bridegroom in this book calls, "My love," " My dove," "My sister," "My spouse," and the like, is meant the church. viz. Ps. xxii. 20. xxxv. 17. lx. 4, 5. cviii. 6. cxxvii. 2. lxxiv. 19.

[460] The Book of Solomon's Song, no common love song, but a divine song, respecting the union between the Messiah and the church. It is an argument of it that such figures of speech are made use of from time time in this song, as are elsewhere used concerning the Messiah and the church. Chap. i. 3. Grace is elsewhere compared to ointment. That, chap. i. 3, 4, Draw me, is parallel with Jer. xxxi. 3. There the Lord, speaking to the church of Israel, under the name of the virgin of Israel, says, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Ver. 4. "The King hath brought me into his chambers;" and elsewhere the saints are represented as dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Hos. xi. 4. "I draw them with the bands of love." Representing the bridegroom as a shepherd, and the spouse's children as kids and lambs, chap. i. 7, 8, is agreeable to frequent representations of the Messiah, and the church in the Old Testament. The ornaments of the spouse are here represented as jewels and chains of silver and gold, chap. i. 10, 11, and iv. 1-9. Compare these with Ezek. xvi. 11, 12, 13. The excellencies both of bridegroom and bride are compared to spices, chap. i. 12, 13, 14. iv. 6. 10. 13, 14. 16. v. 5. 13. viii. 2. And ointment perfumed with spices, chap. i. 3. iv. 10. The same spices were made use of to represent spiritual excellencies in the incense, and anointing oil in the tabernacle and temple, and also in the oil for the light. Exod. xxI. 28. Chap. i. 16. "Our bed is green." This is agreeable to figures of speech often used concerning the church. The comfort the spouse enjoyed in her bridegroom is compared to a shadow and the fruit of a tree. Chap. ii. 2, is agreeable to Isai. xxxv. 1, 2, and Iv. 13, and Hos. xiv. 5. Chap. ii. 3. 5, is agreeable to Prov. iii. 18. "She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that retaineth her ;" and viii. 19. "My fruit is better than gold." So the Messiah, in the prophecies, is often compared to a tree and branch. The comforts the