\*Ver. 16. \\Make thy face to shine upon thy servant\\,
&c.] In which he prays for the gracious presence of
God, the manifestations of himself unto him, the discoveries
of his love, the enjoyment of him in Christ,
communion with him, the comforts of his spirit, and
joys of his salvation; see \\#Nu 6:25,26\\;
\*\\save me for
thy mercies' sake\\; not for any merit and righteousness
of his own, but for the sake of the grace and goodness
of the Lord; which is putting salvation, whether temporal
or spiritual, upon its right foot and foundation;
which is never wrought out by, or is for works of
righteousness done by men, but according to the grace
and mercy of God.

\*Ver. 17. \\Let me not be ashamed, O Lord\\, &c.] The
same petition as in \\#Ps 31:1\\;
\*\\for I have called upon thee\\;
who is nigh unto all that call upon him in truth, and
is rich unto them, and has promised to help and save
them; which should he not do, not only he would be
made ashamed, but the promise of God would seem to
fail: for the psalmist does not plead any duty of his,
nor make a merit of his prayers; but has respect to
the promise and faithfulness of God;
\*\\let the wicked be
ashamed\\; as they will be, sooner or later, of their
wickedness, and of their false trust and confidence; of
their being incensed against Christ, and their rage
against his people, and persecution of them;
\*\\[and] let
them be silent in the grave\\; as all are that are there;
and the sense is, let them be brought to the grave,
where they will be silent, or cease {f}; that is, from their
evil words and works, and particularly from troubling
the saints, \\#Job 3:17\\.

\*Ver. 18. \\Let the lying lips be put to silence\\, &c.]
Being convicted of the lies told by them, and so silenced
and confounded; or being cut off and destroyed,
as all such will be in the Lord's own time, \\#Ps 12:3\\.
It is very likely the psalmist may have respect either
to Doeg the Edomite, who loved lying rather than
righteousness; or to others that were about Saul, who
lying said to him that David sought his hurt, even to
take away his kingdom and his life, \\#Ps 52:3 1Sa 24:9\\;
\*\\which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against
the\\ \\righteous\\; meaning himself;
not that he thought himself righteous in the sight of
God by any righteousness of his own, but by the
righteousness of Christ imputed to him; see \\#Ps 143:2 Ro 4:6\\.
Though he may have regard
here to the righteousness of his cause before men, and
assert himself righteous, as he might with respect to
the %grievous things%, the hard and lying speeches, which
were spoken against him, in a proud, haughty, and contemptuous
manner. And it is no unusual thing for such
false charges to be brought against righteous men;
nay, such hard speeches were spoken by ungodly men
against Jesus Christ the righteous himself, \\#Jude 1:15\\.
The Targum interprets it of %reproaches%.

\*Ver. 19. \\[O] how great [is] thy goodness\\, &c.] Not
the natural and essential goodness of God; for though
that is large and abundant, yea, infinite, as every perfection
of his is, yet it cannot with propriety be said to
be laid up and wrought out; but rather the effects
of his goodness, and not those which appear in Providence,
for they, though very large and plenteous, are
common to all, and are not restrained to them that
fear the Lord, and trust in him; but such as are displayed
in a way of special grace and favour to his own
people, and which the psalmist saw his interest in and
was affected with; and which supported his faith
under his present troubles, and appeared to be so great,
both for quality and quantity, that he could not well
say how great the blessings of his goodness were;
\*\\which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee\\; both
grace and glory; the blessings of grace were laid up
in God's heart, in his thoughts and purposes, from
everlasting; and in Christ, in whom the fulness of all
grace dwells; he was prevented with the blessings of
goodness, and his people were blessed in him with
all spiritual blessings, and had all grace given them
in him before the world was; and these were likewise
laid up in the covenant of grace, ordered in all
things, and sure; eternal glory is the hope and crown
of righteousness laid up in heaven, where it is reserved
for the saints, who are heirs of it: and the laying up of
all this goodness shows it to be a treasure, riches of
grace, and riches of glory; and that it is an hidden
treasure, and riches of secret places, which are out of
the view of carnal men, and not perfectly seen and enjoyed
by the people of God themselves as yet; and also
that it is safe and secure for them, and can never be
lost; and it expresses the paternal care of God, his
great love and affection for them, to lay up so early so
much goodness for them: and this is said to be %for
them that fear [him]%; not naturally, but by his grace; for
the fear of God is not in man naturally, but is put there
by the grace of God; and such who have it are those
who are brought to a true sight and sense of sin, so as
to loathe it and forsake it; for the fear of the Lord is to
hate evil, and by it men depart from it, and because of
it cannot sin as others do; such have an humble sense
of themselves, their own insufficiency and weakness,
and trust in the grace of God and righteousness of
Christ; they have a filial reverence of God, and worship
him in spirit and in truth: but now this fear of the
Lord is not the cause of goodness being laid up for
them, for that only is the will of God; and besides the
fear of God is a part of the goodness which is laid up in
promise in the covenant of grace, \\#Jer 32:39,40\\;
and it is the goodness of God displayed in the blessings
of it, such as pardon of sin, &c. which influences, promotes,
and increases the fear of God, \\#Ho 3:5 Ps 130:4\\;
but, goodness being manifested to and bestowed
upon them that fear the Lord, it appears eventually
to be laid up for them;
\*\\[which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the
sons\\ \\of men\\! by
which may be meant the work of redemption, in
which the goodness of God greatly appears; in calling
and appointing Christ unto it, in sending him to effect
it, in strengthening him as man and Mediator to do it;
and in the work itself, in which many things are
wrought, the law is fulfilled, justice satisfied, a
righteousness brought in, peace made, pardon procured,
and everlasting salvation obtained. And whereas this
is said to be %wrought for them that trust in% the Lord, it
is not to be understood as if trusting in the Lord was
the cause of this work being wrought out, which is the
love of God and grace of Christ; but inasmuch as those
that trust in the Lord have openly an interest in redemption,
and they that believe in Christ shall be
saved; therefore it clearly appears in the issue of
things to be wrought out for them. The phrase %before
the sons of men%, may be connected either with the goodness
wrought, and so signifies that the work of redemption
was done in a most public manner, openly
before men, even the enemies of God's people; nor
was it in the power of men and devils to hinder it; or
else with trusting in the Lord, and so is expressive of
a public profession of faith and confidence in the Lord
before men, which ought to be done: moreover this
goodness wrought may include the good work of grace
upon the soul; and the Lord's fulfilling the good
pleasure of his goodness in the hearts of his people,
and the work of faith with power on them; and also
the many deliverances of them out of afflictions and
temptations, and the many salvations from their enemies
he works for them in the earth, before the sons of men.

{f} %Verbum est% \^Mmd\^ %quod significat cessare ab aliquo opere, vel
sermone%, Psal. iv. 5. Gejerus.