a pure and alone faith in his mercy. If it be not so, we cannot sing unto God only; nor shall we give thanks unto his grace alone, but unto our idol also which has wrought together with God. But God forbid such a thing at this!

"For he hath returned."-We are not here to dream of merits, of dignity, or condignity, or congruity; as we generally understand this verb "returned" to signify. For as all this is given through mercy only, and freely bestowed upon the undeserving, the singing praise and thanks are due to the giver. But when the reward is given to merits, without mercy, nay, from a demand of justice, there, the praise and singing are due to the worker, and not to the giver. But the impious teachers who hold forth the latter pest of doctrine, extinguish all exultation of heart, and all sweetness of God in men, and take away all his praise. As it is said, Micah ii. 9, "The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses: (that is, from their conscience rejoicing in the salvation of the sweet mercy of God,) and from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever." It is a truth, confirmed by the experience of all men, that those rejoice in, sing of, and bless a benefactor, who know that they have been freely and immeritedly helped by him. How much more should this be the case with God and our thanks to him! How much more should we understand his benefactions to us and give him thanks! Especially, when the man knows that for all those things which he lost under his temptations, or seemed to lose,-for all such losses he afterwards received double from the hand of God.

Wherefore this returning or rewarding implies rather a loss of merits than an acquirement of them, if you look at the meaning of the scripture: or rather, it is an exchange of things: while God kills by making alive; brings men to a knowledge of their being sinners when he justifies them; and, in a word, takes away all things that he may return or give in reward all things. And they who have not this knowledge of the cross, are compelled to be agitated with those thoughts and dreams

about getting a stock of merits, which may be recompensed with rewards of dignity, condignity, and congruity, even by God himself. For even that exultation of the Apostle, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me at that day," I should rather consider as having reference to his adversaries than to his own merits: in this way, As God is a righteous judge he will reward me with, or return unto me, a crown for the dung and filth with which the world confounds me at this day. And therefore, for the glory of the ungodly in which he exults at this day, he will in that day give him in return, shame and contempt. So that he signifies, that the one shall be taken away and the other given to the saint; and that by the free mercy of God. As Joshua the high priest, Zachariah iii. is stripped of his filthy garments, for which Satan accused him, and clothed with a change of raiment; as it is there recorded.

And that expression, which we render ' to me,' (mihi) and which is in the Hebrew ALAI, 'upon me,' (super me) is the same expression as that which we have above, "How far shall mine enemy triumph over me?" And Psalm vii. 8, "According to my innocence upon me." Where we should more properly have rendered the passage, According to my innocence to me;' than by that rendering which we taught and took from Hieronymus for the same expression signifies only motion to a place; as we have it also, Psalm xxxviii. 16, "When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.' And so also it is, Psalm vii. 8, " Judge me according to my innocence upon me;" or " judge toward me," or, "to me:" so that "to me," or "upon me," is to be joined with the word "judge," and not to "innocence,"

PSALM XIV.

TO VICTORY: OF DAVID.

Ver. 1.-The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, and have become abominable in their doings: there is none that doeth good, no not one.

This is all one verse in the Hebrew, and the clause "no not one," is superadded in this place, because we have it once only, and that is at the end of the third verse. The Hebrew runs thus, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have done corrupt and abominable doings: there is none that doeth good.' Here fool is put by the figure synecdoche, for the whole people, because it follows in the plural number "they."

This Psalm is taken out of Gen. vi. where it is said in similar words-that the earth was corrupt by the sons of men; and that the Lord looked down upon the children of men, and iniquity, or badness, (which in the Hebrew is HAMAS; that is, injury, violence, and, oppression,) had prevailed. Here David says, that the people were "devoured:" and hence the series of history, contained Gen. vi. will beautifully illustrate this Psalm because it either describes the prevailing of the generation of the ungodly by a like corruption, or foretels that it shall thus prevail: for such a generation always exists, though it may rage and prevail more at one time than at another.

David, therefore, is not speaking at all about the persecution of the godly nor about false teachers: but the ́intent and scope of the Psalm are to describe and set forth the manners and the life of sinners, or of the corrupt generation.-That all men are sinners and evil who are destitute of, and act without, grace: for such live only in pride, lust, rapine, fraud, murder and the like; though such strive always to colour over these things, or neglect to observe them. And it is to this same point that Paul quotes the Psalm, Rom. iii,

Here the first evil, which is the fountain-spring of all the other evils, is, ignorance of God: for he that sins against the first commandment must transgress every one of the others. And as all the commandments hang and depend upon the first, and are from it regulated and formed, so there is no one that is violated in more ways nor by more men than the first commandment. And we may easily see how very few good men there are among the sons of men, and that there is none that doeth good. For although all may not commit adultery and murder in the act, nor satisfy lust in the act, yet all sin the same sin of unbelief against the first commandment: and, when opportunity is given, they satisfy lust, kill, and commit every evil. And therefore, every son of Adam is this Nabal: that is, this "fool" and idolater, being ignorant of God; as it is here said.

But we are not here to understand that such know nothing whatever of God: for Paul teaches, Rom. i. that the name of God is manifestly known by all:' for if there had not been an inextinguishable knowledge of the divinity implanted in the minds of all men, idolatry would never have been found. For why did they worship idols, but because they all had a persuasion that there was some God? Why did they ascribe divinity to men and to devils, and thus turn the truth of God into a lie, if they did not believe and know that there was a divinity or God? Or why did they presume to worship those men and devils, if they did not ascribe to them some existing divinity? They knew therefore that there was a God or divinity. But they erred in this:-They turned the truth of God into a lie; and, on the other hand, a lie into the truth of God. That is, that which was truly God they ascribed unto man, or to the crea ture; and, on the contrary, that which was not God, or a lie, they ascribed unto God. This they did then, and this they still do, who, not understanding the work and Word of God, blaspheme them and ascribe them to devils. And their own devices, whether it be their words or their works, and even suggested by the devils, they ascribe unto God: and this is the most frequent of allevils.

For those who are described Gen. vi. are not represented as being so ignorant of God that they knew nothing of him, for Noah a preacher of righteousness preached God unto them. But, said God, "My spirit shall not remain in these men for ever, because they are flesh" or, as the Hebrew has it, 'My spirit shall not always judge or strive in these men:' that is, he has not his operation in them, because they reject the crucifixion of the flesh, and therefore they will not endure the judgment of my spirit. By which words, whether spoken through Noah, or (which I the rather believe) through others also, God designed the same thing as that which is spoken in this Psalm:-namely, he publicly and openly declares that such are flesh, and without, and destitute of, the Spirit: that is, abominable and corrupt, not one of them doing good, no, not one.

David therefore, here speaking in the Spirit, and easily searching into their thoughts, and their reins, and heart, says, that this Nabal denies God, not in word, nor in gesture, nor in external pomp, (wherein he boasts that he knows God even better than those who truly love him,) but in his heart: that is, in his inward thoughts and feelings which darkness is immediately followed by a darkness of mind, which prevents him either from thinking, speaking, or acting rightly concerning God as it is said Psalm xi. and Paul to Titus, chap. i. "They say that they know God, but in works deny him." They therefore alone have God, who believe in God by a faith unfeigned. All others are fools, and say in their heart "There is no God."

The other evil, (that is, the great river or flood, rather, of evils,) which proceeds and flows out of this fountain of unbelief, is all their doings; (that is, whatever they think, are wise about, savour, say, do, establish, or act in any way;) all these are corrupt and abominable. As if he had said with Paul, Tit. i. 15, "Unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled." And thus he briefly in one word declares and sets forth the life of the unbelieving: as it is written also, Rom. xiv. "What