remarkable singularity of life and manners. It is on account of these, more especially, that David so repeats the words "all," " together," and "not one;" that he might set forth these men's sins and bring them in guilty; or, as the Apostle saith, "That every mouth might be stopped, and that all the world might become guilty before God;" even their mouths who have so laid themselves out, (but with such ill success,) and have done so much, that they might not come under the class of those who 'turn aside,' are 'unprofitable,' and 'do no good,' and that they might have none of these shocking titles applied to them. We have here three things, "They are all turned aside," "They are all together become unprofitable," " There is none that doeth good." Their turning aside refers to their ungodliness or unbelief, which is the head and fountain-spring of all evils: even as on the contrary godliness or faith is the fountain-spring of all good things, whereby we approach unto God. For " he that cometh to God must believe," as the Apostle saith, Hebrews xi. And what David here says of the * going aside,' or the drawing back, or the departing, (for the word in the Hebrew here is the same as that of Psalm vi. ' Depart from me,' &c.) he above said of the fools, who say in their heart, "There is no God." For to turn aside from God, and to say in the heart, "There is no God," are one and the same thing; that is, it is, not to believe. Hence Paul saith, Heb. iii. 12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God."

This defection from the faith, which the Apostle saw would take place in the church, he seems to call an apostacy: saying, 2 Thess. ii. 3, "Except there come a falling away first;" (that is, an apostacy from the faith, I say: for I do not here understand a falling away of the Roman empire. Here the Apostle means, that the church shall leave her ruler, and the author of her faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall be destroyed by the works of men. But, however, the Apostle explains himself, 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2, 3, where he saith, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." These are cutting words, and powerful declarations of the tyranny of the laws of the Roman church, which the Apostle here paints forth in their true colours.

He says, that they have "all" gone out of the way: so that he comprehends and involves in this charge all those also who seem the most to draw near unto God: as the Apostle, 2 Tim. iii. includes among this number those who have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof, together with the proud, blasphemers, and all the rest of those who, he says, shall come forth in the last and perilous times. Nay, as I said before, it is more especially on account of these hypocrites that all these things are said in this Psalm: because those who sin openly are far less dangerous than these hypocrites with their fair outside appearance, who fully imagine themselves, and also diligently persuade others, that none of these things pertain or refer to them, but are spoken of the evil and the ungodly only.

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They are all together become unprofitable." This is the same thing as he said above, they are become corrupt and abominable in their doings. And this applies to the works and lives of apostates, or of those who have gone out of the way. For what can the ungodly and unbelieving man do but what is unprofitable, abomiminable, corrupt, and stinking in the sight of God, even though it may, in the eyes of men, appear to be useful and good. Hence Isaiah lix. 6, "Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands." And here again he adds the word " together," that he may include both kinds of impious men: that is, those who evince the iniquity of their hearts by open sins, and those who clothe their ungodliness under a fair outside

show, coming to you in sheep's clothing, but being inwardly ravening wolves.

"There is none that doeth good, no, not one." Whereby he attacks and exposes their omission:-that they not only do evil, and are unbelieving, but never do any that is good and never are godly. So that thus, by his declaration of their evil and his denial of their good, he absolutely and wholly declares them to be all sinners and the 'sons of men.' For when he here adds, 'No, not one,' he makes an universal negative, even as in the former case he had made an universal affirmative. And again, on account of hypocrites, that they might not think that they did good when compared with all those others who openly do evil, David says that there is "none that doeth good, no, not one:" that is, there is no one of them that has faith and good works, but they all do evil openly, or else do good only in outward

appearance.

As therefore the Holy Spirit brings these affirmative and negative declarations together with such a power of words, and pronounces universally that all are evil and none good, it is wonderful with what subtlety that natural theology of Aristotle has crept in, holding a medium between an affirmative and a negative, and so making its way as to dare to contradict the Spirit, and say, That all the works of man are not evil, but that there are some good, though all these are not meritorious, or, neither meritorious nor demeritorious. But, the scripture must be " a sign that shall be spoken against," and the water of contention, near which while the children of Israel strive, the judges and chosen men shall be swallowed up.

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Paul thrice sets forth these things, Titus i. 16, saying, "Being abominable and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate." "Abominable" here signifies unprofitable, rotten and corrupt; disobedient" (or, 'unbelieving') signifies turning out of the way, or drawing back, ungodly, and unfaithful; and "unto every good work reprobate," signifies not doing one good work. "They profess that they know God, (saith the Apostle,) but in works deny him:" and herein he involves all hypocrites, as David also does in this place.

And here observe, that the same three things are repeated in this third verse which were spoken in the first verse: but with this difference, -in the first verse the Psalmist as it were expresses his own words and sentiments, but in the third verse he confirms the whole by the divine declarations, which not only accord with his own, but even speaks more widely and universally: because he represents the Lord as seeing the same things from heaven which he saw upon earth. And hence the Apostle, Rom. iii. only adduces that which the Lord saw and declared from heaven, which made more fully to the purpose and design of Paul, who had previously declared that all men and all their works universally were included under sin: and this he did that all might be humbled and might acknowledge the necessity of grace.

Ver. 4.-Will they not know? all the workers of iniquity who devour my people as the food of bread? They call not upon the Lord.

" Will they not know" is here put absolutely, for, • Will they not at length be brought to knowledge,' that they may know and feel how much evil they do, while, in their security, and in the neglect of the fear of God, they even think they do well, being blinded with the appearance of things, which appearance is all they know. Whereas they think that they are the last persons of whom it should be said that they know not what they do. We know (say they) what we are doing.' Nay, they are always ready to become the judges and teachers of all others.

On these "workers of iniquity" or POELE AVEN, we have spoken sufficiently already; having shewn, that they are those who work those things from which peace of heart cannot be obtained, (which peace, as we have said, comes from the work of faith and from godliness alone,) but pain and misery only, and, as the Preacher is accustomed to say, vanity, labour, affliction, sorrow, and

vexation of spirit. For we have said that AVEN properly signifies the pain, (which is a fruit contrary to peace,) which attends all those who work out of faith, whether they do that which is good or that which is evil in the sight of men.

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Therefore, it is a word of long-suffering and of weariness, or rather, of commiseration, when he says, "Will they not know?" As if he had said, How long will these miserable creatures put away from them the knowledge of their misery, and that they are nothing else but workers or AVEN? Will they not at length feel that they are only wearied and worn in their ways, and made more and more men of sorrow? And will they not at length seek the way of peace which passeth all understanding?

This question, however, would be best translated by a simple negation, that it may be the expression of one wishing, "Will they not have knowledge?" For the Latin expression nonne, or nunquid, (the former of which is in our translation,) shews another affection or feeling in the prophet, the former being an affirmative question, the latter a negative, as grammarians say. But still if any one will contend for it, that by the affirmative question nonne is shewn that the ungodly shall at least at some time be brought to a knowledge, that is, in death and at the last judgment; and that, by the negative nunquid, is signified that they never shall come to a knowledge, I will not contend against them: for perhaps the Hebrew HALO may be rendered by all these interrogatives.

"Who devour my people like the food of bread."Here he attacks all devourers of the people, that is, all tyrants. They (says Augustine) devour the people who get their profit and gain out of them; not applying their ministry to the glory of God, nor to the salvation of those over whom they are set. David cuts, therefore, at the insatiable avarice and rapacity of the great ones, who exhaust the people by deceits and violence and every art; as we see it now practised in the examples, or rather, enormities of the Roman senate and bishops: