John Wesley (NT Notes)

“But I fall infinitely short of it. Cleanse - Both by justification, through the blood of thy son; and by sanctification thro' thy Holy Spirit. Though the first may seem to be principally intended, because he speaks of his past sins.”

“Presumptuous - From known and evident sins, such as are committed against knowledge, against the checks of conscience, and the motions of God's spirit. Dominion - If I be at any time tempted to such sins, Lord let them not prevail over me, and if I do fall int…”

“Let - Having prayed that God would keep him from sinful actions, he now prays that God would govern, and sanctify his words and thoughts: and this was necessary to preserve him from presumptuous sins, which have their first rise in the thoughts.”

“Now - We are already sure of victory by the consideration of God's power and faithfulness and love to David, and to his people. They speak as one person, because they were unanimous in this prayer.”

“But this was more eminently fulfilled in Christ, who asked of his father, life, or to be saved from death, Heb. v, 7, though with submission to his will: but his father, though he saw it necessary to take away his temporal life, yet instantly gave him another,…”

“Glory - His fame or renown. Salvation - By reason of those great and glorious deliverances which thou hast wrought both for him, and by him.”

“Thee - Against God, not directly, but by consequence, because it was against David, whom God had anointed, and against the Lord's people, whose injuries God takes as done to himself.”

“My God - Who art my friend and father, though now thou frownest upon me. The repetition denotes, the depth of his distress, which made him cry so earnestly. Forsaken - Withdrawn the light of thy countenance, the supports and comforts of thy spirit, and filled …”

“But thou art - Just and true in all thy ways, this he adds to strengthen his faith, and to enforce his prayers, and prevail with God for the honour of his holy name, to hear and help him. Inhabitest - Whom thy people are perpetually praising.”

“A worm - Neglected and despised. People - Not only of the great men, but also of the common people. Which doth not so truly agree to David as to Christ.”

“Bulls - Wicked and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Ezek xxxix, 18 Amos iv, 1. Of Bashan - As the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious.”

“Water - My spirits are spent and gone like water which once spilt can never be recovered; my very flesh is melted within me, and I am become as weak as water.”

“Dried - I have in a manner no more moisture left in me, than is in a dry potsherd. Cleaveth - Through excessive thirst and drought. Death - Thy providence, delivering me into the power of mine enemies, and by thy terrors in my soul.”

“Dogs - So he calls his enemies for their insatiable greediness, and implacable fierceness against him. Pierced - These words cannot with any probability be applied to David, but were properly and literally verified in Christ.”

“They part - This also cannot be applied to David, but was literally fulfilled in Christ, Matt. xxvii, 35 John xix, 24.”

“Darling - Hebrew. my only one; his soul, which he so calls, because it was left alone and destitute of friends and helpers.”

“Congregations - The same whom he calls the congregation, and the seed of Jacob and Israel: which also does not so fitly agree to David, who never gives this title to any, but such as were near a-kin to him, as it does to Christ, who extends this name to all hi…”

“Satisfied - This is doubtless to be understood, of those spiritual blessings, that grace and peace, and comfort, which all believing souls have in the sense of God's love, the pardon of their sins, and the influences of God's spirit.”

“So this is an evident prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, and a clear proof, that this psalm immediately speaks of Christ; to whom alone, this and divers other passages of it, belong. Remember - They shall remember their former wickedness with grief and s…”

“For - This is added as a reason, why the Gentiles should be converted, because God is not only God and the Lord of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and of all nations.”

“Shall eat - Shall feed upon the bread of life, Christ and all his benefits. Worship - This is added to shew what kind of eating he spoke of. Go down - That is, all mankind, for none can escape death.”

“A seed - Christ shall not want a seed or posterity, for though the Jewish nation will generally reject him, the Gentiles shall come in their stead. A generation - That believing seed shall be reputed both by God and men, The generation, or people of the Lord, …”

“They - The seed last mentioned. Come - From Judea and Jerusalem (from whence the gospel was first to go forth) to the Gentile world, to the several parts whereof the apostles went upon this errand. His - God's righteousness: his wonderful grace and mercy unto …”

“He bringeth it back; from its errors and wandering. For - Not for any worth in me, but for the glory of his justice, and faithfulness, and goodness.”

“Seas - The whole collection of waters, as well as the sea and the rivers running into it, as that great abyss of waters which is contained in the bowels of the earth.”