5. There are also Psalms of thanksgiving; wherein thanks are rendered to God for all his mercies and benefits, and for his deliverance in various times of need. To this class belong all those Psalms which celebrate the praises of God and laud him for his works. These are the principal Psalms in the whole Book; and these peculiarly come under the denomination of Psalms: for the whole Book was expressly written to praise God and to worship him according to the First Commandment. Hence, in the Hebrew, the Book is called SEPHER IL CHILLIM: that is, the Book of Praises and Thanksgivings. The reader, however, is to bear in mind also, that the Psalms are not to be understood in a superstitious manner. He is not to suppose that every Psalm must be divided into these five particulars in certain verses; for some Psalms contain two of these particulars, some three, and some all five of them: for, very often, the same Psalm contains prophecy, doctrine, consolation, supplication and thanksgiving. But I have just made these remarks, that the reader may know that the Psalms contain these five particulars; for knowing that, is of great help, not only to the understanding of them, but to the perceiving of their order, to the bearing of them in memory, and to the perfect knowledge of them. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM I. _The happiness of the godly.—The unhappiness of the ungodly._ Blessed _is_ the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight _is_ in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly _are_ not so: but _are_ like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. This first is a Psalm of consolation; by which the hearts of the godly are encouraged and stirred up to magnify above all things the word of God, in which the whole of true life and salvation stands; and to hear, read, weigh, and meditate on it with a willingness of mind. For this Psalm shows, that those only are truly blessed, prosperous in all things, and enjoy a firm, sure, and eternal consolation both in prosperity and adversity, who are enabled to learn and know, from his word, the will and the works of God.