Devotional Psalters - Part 2

Back in January 2009, I wrote about versions of the (1650 Scottish Metrical) Psalter that were once published with the annotations of Biblical commentators included for the edification of psalm-singers. Since I blogged about that, three new editions of such devotional Psalters have been published.

• John Brown of Haddington, The Psalms of David in Metre: With Annotations, Explaining the Sense, and Animating the Devotion (Nabu Press, March 2010);
• Matthew Henry, The Psalms of David in Metre...Allowed by the Authority of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland...With an Analysis by Matthew Henry (Gale ECCO, June 2010)
• David Dickson, The Psalms of David: In Metre with the Annotations of David Dickson (Nabu Press, January 2010)

The Most Beautiful Thing Under Heaven

David Dickson, A Brief Explication of the Psalms, Vol. 1, p. 292:

The true visible church, where God's ordinances are set up as he hath appointed, where his word is purely preached, is the most beautiful thing under heaven, and there is God's glory set forth and manifested more clearly than in all the Lord's handiwork beside in heaven or earth; therefore is the place of the Lord's temple here so highly commended, and Zion called the perfection of beauty, because of the glory of God sundry ways revealed there: out of Zion God hath shined, saith he, in regard to the clear manifestation of his will, specially in the matter now in hand about the way of judgment.

(HT: Holdfast)

George Hutcheson on the Westminster Confession

In the vein of wishful thinking about books lost to history, it is known that George Hutcheson, who was both a member of the 1647 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which gave its stamp of approval to the Westminster Confession, and a member of David Dickson's team of Biblical commentators, himself authored a commentary on the Westminster Confession.

Robert Wodrow, Analecta, or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences, Vol. 1, p. 30:

The Principal told me that Mr George Hutcheson has written a large commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is yet in his freind's [sic] hands.

Ibid, Vol. 3, p. 13:

I heard Mr. Ralf Rodger say, that he had read that piece of Mr. George Hutcheson's on the Westminster Confession, and he was but come to the Trinity, and he said he had writt seven quair,' and that it was so correct that it needed very little to put in the press, and if he had lived to have perfected it, [it] would have been one of the greatest common-places [which] ever had seen the light.

It was William Parker who wrote the first commentary on the Westminster Confession, a negative commentary, The late Assembly of Divines confession of faith examined: as it was presented by them unto the Parliament: wherein many of their excesses and defects, of their confusions and disorders, of their errors and controdictions are presented, both to themselves and others (1651). David Dickson's Truth's Victory Over Error (originally a collection of his lectures delivered to divinity students in Latin in the early 1650's, entitled Prealectiones in Confessionem Fidei; translated into English, and pirated, by George Sinclair in 1684) was the first sympathetic commentary on the WCF to be published. But what if Hutechson's commentary had been published? As a student of his other writings, it is my wishful thinking that the manuscript survives and will one day see the light. What a treasure to the church this would be.

Spokesmen for Christ

Robert Wodrow, Analecta, or Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences, Vol. 3, pp. 3-4:

I hear there was a certain merchant came from London to Saint Andrews in Fife, where he heard first the greatly and worthy Mr. [Robert] Blair preach. Next he heard the great [Samuel] Rutherford preach. Next Lord's day he came to Irwin and heard Mr. [David] Dickson preach. When he came back to London, his friends asked him what news he had from Scotland? He answered, he had very great and good news to tell them. They wondered much what they could be, for he was before that time a man altogether a stranger to true religion. He told them he heard one Mr. Blair preach, at Saint Andrews; and, describing his features, and the stature of his body, he said, 'That man shewed me the majesty of God,' which was Mr. Robert Blair's peculiar talent: Then added he, 'I afterward heard a little fair man preach,' (Mr. Rutherford,) 'and that man shewed me the loveliness of Christ: Then I came and heard, at Irwin, a well-favoured, proper old man, with a long beard,' (which was famous Mr. Dickson,) 'and that man shewed me all my heart!' -- for he was the most famed of any man in his time to speak of cases of conscience. And they say that Englishman became an excellent Christian. The whole General Assembly of the Church of Scotland could not have given a better character of these three men than that man gave.

Twenty-Two Pearls on One String

Is Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the longest book of the Bible, comprised of twenty-two parts and 176 verses, as Matthew Henry said, "like Solomon's proverbs, ... a chest of gold rings, not a chain of gold links," or is it, as Charles Bridges said, "pearls upon one string"?

It is not always easy to trace the connexion between the several verses; at least not beyond the several divisions of the Psalm. Probably nothing more was intended, than the record of the exercises of his own heart at different periods, and under different circumstances. If, however, they are not links on the same chain, in continuous and unbroken dependence; they may at least be considered as pearls upon one string, of equal, though independent, value.

In praise of Psalm 119:

Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, pp. 201-202:

I know of no part of the holy scriptures, where the nature and evidences of true and sincere godliness are so much of set purpose and so fully and largely insisted on and delineated, as the 119th Psalm; the psalmist declares his design in the first verses of the Psalm, and he keeps his eye on this design all along, and pursues it to the end. But in this Psalm the excellency of holiness is represented as the immediate object of a spiritual taste, relish, appetite, and delight of God's law, that grand expression and emanation of the holiness of God's nature, and prescription of holiness to the creature, is all along represented as the food and entertainment, and as the great object of the love, the appetite, the complacence and rejoicing of the gracious nature, which prizes God's commandments above gold, yea, the finest gold, and to which they are sweeter than the honey and honey comb; and that upon account of their holiness, as I observed before.

David Dickson, A Commentary on the Psalms, p. 342:

...in this psalm, as in a bundle, [David] hath collected the sum of his holy meditations, and of the profitable uses which he made of the revealed will of God in Scripture, in all the conditions wherein he was, to teach all the faithful after him, to have the word of God in special regard, and to have respect to it, as the only rule whereby they might find direction, consolation, and salvation, however matters went. To this end, for memory's sake, he hath filled the Hebrew alphabet with twenty-two meditations, every one of them beginning with a several letter of the alphabet, and every section having eight verses, beginning with the same letter, and every verse almost of every section under some expression, making mention of the Scripture.

William Binnie, The Psalms: Their History, Teachings and Use, p. 145:

Its two-and-twenty clusters yield the wine of the kingdom as copiously as any to be found in the Bible.

Bishop William Cowper, A holy alphabet for Sion's scholars: ... delivered by way of commentary upon the whole 119 Psalme (1613):

[Psalm 119 is a] holy alphabet, so plain that children may understand it -- so rich and instructive that the wisest and most experienced may learn something from it.

Edmund Calamy the Elder, The Godly Man's Ark, pp. 1-2:

This psalm, out of which my text is taken, exceeds all the other psalms, not only in length, but in excellency, so far, in the judgment of Ambrose, as the light of the sun excels the light of the moon. As the Book of Psalms is styled by Luther an epitome of the Bible, or, a little Bible; so may this psalm fitly be called an epitome of the Book of Psalms. It was written, as is thought, by David in the days of his banishment under Saul; but so penned, that the words thereof suit the condition of all saints. It is a public storehouse of heavenly doctrines, distributing fit and convenient instructions to all the people of God; and therefore should be in no less account with those who are spiritually alive, than is the use of the sun, air, and fire with those who are naturally alive. It is divided into two-and-twenty sections, according to the Hebrew alphabet, and therefore fitly called a holy alphabet for Zion's scholars, the ABC of godliness. Sextus Senensis calls it an alphabetical poem. The Jews are said to teach it their little children the first thing they learn, and therein they take a very right course, both in regard of the heavenly matter, and plain style fitted for all capacities. The chief scope of it is to set out the glorious excellences and perfections of the law of God.

Matthew Henry, The Life of Philip Henry, p. 133:

Once, pressing the study of the scriptures, he advised to take a verse of Psalm cxix. every morning to meditate upon, and so go over the psalm twice in the year; and that, saith he, will bring you to be in love with all the rest of the scripture; and he often said; -- all grace grows, as love to the word of God grows.

John Ker, The Psalms in History and Biography, p. 145:

[This Psalm] drew the special admiration of [Blaise] Pascal, who, as his sister Madame Perier says, often spoke with such feeling about it, 'that he seemed transported,' 'qu'il paraissait hors de lui même.' He used to say that, 'with the deep study of life, it contained the sum of all the Christian virtues.' He singled out ver. 59, as giving the turning-point of man's character and destiny: 'I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.'

Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, Vol. 3, p. 243:

In our German version it has the appropriate inscription, "The Christian's golden A B C of the praise, love, power, and use of the word of God;" for here we have set forth in inexhaustible fulness what the word of God is to a man, and how a man is to behave himself in relation to it.

Johannes Paulus Palanterius, Illustris Psalmorum Davidicorum (1600):

This psalm is called the Alphabet of Divine Love, the Paradise of all the Doctrines, the Storehouse of the Holy Spirit, the School of Truth, also the deep mystery of the Scriptures, where the whole moral discipline of all the virtues shines brightly. And as all moral instruction is delightsome, therefore this psalm, because excelling in this kind of instruction, should be called delightsome, inasmuch as it surpasses the rest. The other psalms, truly, as lesser stars shine somewhat ; but this burns with the meridian heat of its full brightness, and is wholly, resplendent with moral loveliness.

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6, pp. v-vi:

This marvellous poem seemed to me a great sea of holy teaching, moving, in its many verses, wave upon wave; altogether without an island of special and remarkable statement to break it up....Other psalms have been mere lakes, but this is the main ocean....This great Psalm is a book in itself: instead of being one among many psalms, it is worthy to be set forth by itself as a poem of surpassing excellence.

Martin Luther, Preface to the 1539 Wittenberg edition of Dr. Martin Luther's Works:

Moreover, I want to point out to you a correct way of studying theology, for I have had practice in this. If you keep to it, you will become so learned that you yourself could (if it were necessary) write books just as good as those of the fathers and councils, even as I (in God) dare to presume and boast, without arrogance and lying, that in the matter of writing books I do not stand much behind some of the fathers. Of my life I can by no means make the same boast. This is the way taught by holy King David (and doubtlessly used also by all the patriarchs and prophets) in the one hundred [nineteenth] Psalm. There you will find three rules, amply presented throughout the whole Psalm. They are Oratio, Meditatio, Tentatio.

David Dickson and the Robbers

Thomas M'Crie the Younger, The Story of the Scottish Church, pp. 251-252:

[David Dickson] was a man of strong nerve and undaunted resolution in the discharge of his duty, of which the following anecdote may serve as an illustration: On one occasion, when riding between Edinburgh and Glasgow, he was attacked by robbers. Instead of giving way to his fears, Dickson boldly admonished them of their clanger in regard to their souls, and concluded by earnestly exhorting them to try some other profession more safe and creditable than that in which they were engaged. Some years after this, when quietly seated in the College of Edinburgh, he was surprised by receiving the present of a pipe of wine accompanied with a message that the gentleman who sent it requested the pleasure of drinking a glass of the wine with him next evening in his study. The request was granted; and, in the course of conversation, the gentleman, after finding that the minister retained no recollection of having seen him before, informed him that he was one of the robbers who had attacked him—that he had been seriously impressed by his admonition—and that, having adopted his advice, he had prospered in foreign trade, and now came to thank his benefactor.

Taking Heed to the Flock

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20.28)

One particular generally-neglected spiritual service in our day is that of family visitation. If not neglected, it is often caricatured, but the Biblical duty of undershepherds, pastors and ruling elders, to provide spiritual oversight, encouragement and admonition to the flock under their care.

Derrick J. Vander Meulen, "Shepherding the Flock Through Family Visitation," in Called to Serve: Essays For Elders and Deacons, p. 214:

Put simply, family visitation is the practice of elders and ministers officially and regularly visiting the members of the congregation in their homes.

John S. Watkins, A Hand-Book For Ruling Elders, p. 30:

It is the duty of the elder to visit the members of his church. It is impossible for him to take proper oversight over them, look after their spiritual interests, and give them due attention, without coming in personal contact with them in their homes.

David Dickson (1821-1885) writes in The Elder and His Work, p. 45:

If the great ends of our office are, by God's blessing, to be attained, it is plain, in the first place, that the elder must know the people in his district. He must be acquainted with them all, old and young, their history, their occupations, their habits, their ways of thinking. They and their children should be his personal friends, so that they naturally turn to him as to one on whom they can depend as a kind and sympathizing friend and a faithful counselor. He must know them as they are at home, at their own fireside. As Dr. [Thomas] Chalmers said, "The way into a man's heart is in at the door of his house." And he must keep up this knowledge by visiting them from time to time.

The practice, rooted in the "house to house" ministry of Paul (Acts 20.20), is articulated officially in the 1618-1619 Church Order of the Synod of Dordt:

Article 23

The office of the Elders, in addition to what was said in Article 16 to be their duty in common with the Ministers of the Word, is to take heed that the Ministers, together with their other Fellow-helpers and the Deacons, faithfully discharge their office; - and, insofar as circumstances of time and place permit, to do house visitation both before and after the Lord's Supper for the edification of the congregation, in order particularly to comfort and instruct the members of the congregation, and also to exhort others in respect to the Christian Religion.

Peter De Jong (1915-2005) wrote a book designed to encourage both undershepherds as well as parishioners in this edifying spiritual exercise: Taking Heed to the Flock: A Study of the Principles and Practice of Family Visitation. I have found it to be very helpful personally and I commend it highly to those interested in better understanding what it means to shepherd the flock of Christ.

Good Reads

From recent internet research scans, I thought I would post links to a couple of e-books worth reading.

Available to read online at Google Books is John C. Johnston's Treasury of the Scottish Covenant (1887), a wonderful compendium of history, poetry and other aspects of relating to the Covenants and the Covenanters.

And among the e-books available at Quinta Press is David Dickson's commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (1647, 2009).

Happy reading!

The Battle for Hearts and Minds

It is always helpful to clarify truth by distinguishing it from error, that is, to better define what truth is, it is useful to determine what it is not. "Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1 John 4.6b). This has been done in credal statements, catechisms and other works by the Church since its earliest days. The genre of literature which specifically focuses on this apologetic task is known as heresiography. Early examples of this include Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies; Hippolytus of Rome, Refutation of All Heresies; and Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics.

Puritan heresiography too reflects an interest in upholding the truth and combating error. The 1640s, in particular, was a time of competing claims to truth, and while the Westminster Assembly succeeded in vindicating truth more eloquently than anyone, the battle for hearts and minds continued and many took up the challenge to refute error. Notable examples from the Puritan era include Thomas Edwards, whose Gangraena was published in three parts, the first and second of which was titled, The first and second part of Gangraena: or A catalogue and discovery of many of the errors, heresies, blasphemies and pernicious practices of the sectaries of this time, vented and acted in England these four last years (1646); Robert Baillie, A dissuasive from the errours of the time vvherein the tenets of the principall sects, especially of the independents, are drawn together in one map, for the most part in the words of their own authours, and their maine principles are examined by the touch-stone of the Holy Scriptures (1646); Ephraim Pagit (his father was a Puritan and he was a royalist sympathetic with Presbyterianism), Heresiography; or a description of the Hereticks and Sectaries of these latter times (1645); and Johannes Hoornbeek, Summa Controversiarum Religionis; Cum Infidelibus, Hæreticis, Schismaticis: Id Est, Gentilibus, Judæis, Muhammedanis; Papistis, Anabaptistis, Enthusiastis et Libertinis, Socinianis; Remonstrantibus, Lutheranis, Brouvnistis, Græcis (1653) [see here].

Catechisms also provided a launching pad for catalogues and refutations of particular errors such as David Dickson's Truth's Victory Over Error (this is the first sympathetic commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith prepared from lectures given c. 1650 and first published in 1684; the first published commentary on the WCF was published in 1651 by an opponent of the Assembly, William Parker, although often misattributed to Henry Parker) which includes An alphabetical List of the proper and patronymic Names of the Authors of the old and late Heretics, confuted in the foregoing Treatise (a most useful reference, although among modern editions it is to be noted that the 2002 Presbyterian Armoury Publications edition includes page references, while the 2007 Banner of Truth edition does not); and a Compendium of the Principal Errors of Those that are Outside the Reformed Church was added to Abraham Hellenbroek's A Specimen of Divine Truths (one of the features constituting the expanded "big Hellenbroek" edition of his Catechism, although the Compendium was not authored by him).

In 1647, the London ministers of Sion College issued A Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ, and to Our Solemn League and Covenant, as Also Against the Errours, Heresies and Blasphemies of these times, and the Toleration of them. Wherein is inserted A Catalogue of divers of the said Errours &c. This Testimony was a powerful witness against the spiritual tumult of the 1640s, yet the 1650s required that this witness be expanded and clarified for the common man. Puritan Presbyterian William Lyford took up the challenge with a work that would be later be titled The Instructed Christian, or The Plain Man's Senses Exercised to Discern Both Good and Evil being a discovery of the errors, heresies, and blasphemies of these times (1655), and the toleration of them, as they are collected and testified against by the ministers of London, in their testimony to the truth of Jesus Christ. This book was reprinted by Soli Deo Publications, and I commend it to the reader as both a worthy exposition of the 1647 London Testimony, and a helpful guide to many of the errors of our own day as well.

Therapeutica Sacra

In Blaise Pascal's Provincial Letters he took the Jesuits to task for their casuistic morality and thereby lent a pejorative sense to casuistry, but while Jesuits abused questions of conscience for their own purposes, Puritans however were rightly called "physicians of the soul" and their casuistry is aptly known as "practical divinity." Some great works of Puritan casuistry have been handed down to us: for example, William Perkins, The Whole Treatise of the Cases of Conscience; William Ames, Conscience with the Power and Cases Thereof; and Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory.

Another is Therapeutica Sacra: Shewing briefly the method of healing the diseases of the Conscience, concerning Regeneration by Scottish Covenanter David Dickson. First published in Latin in 1656, Dickson translated it himself and it was published again in English posthumously by his son Alexander Dickson in 1664. So far as I know, the work has not been reprinted in two or three centuries, but it is a massive and eminently useful work by a gifted Scottish divine. Several chapters have been available online for some time, but recently the work has become available online in full at Google Books (2nd English ed., 1697) and in a much cleaner, scanned edition at the Free Church of Scotland College website. Dickson's focus is on God's dealings with his Elect, and this work likewise influenced in particular Edward Taylor's famous poem God's Determinations Touching His Elect. In the words of David Lachman, Dickson's "Therapeutic Sacra was one of the most important Scottish theological works of the 17th century."

Scottish Puritan Commentary Series

N.B. The use of the term 'Puritan' as applied to Scottish Presbyterians in the Covenanter era is discussed ably by Margo Todd, "The problem of Scotland's Puritans," in John Coffey and Paul C.H. Lim, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism (2008).

Robert Rollock (1555-1598) was a Scottish Presbyterian among whose works are found to include certain commentaries on books of the Bible, such as Commentaries on the Epistles to the Ephesians (1590) and Thessalonians (1598) and Hebrews (1605), the book of Daniel (1591), the Gospel of St. John (1599) and some of the Psalms (1598), an analysis of the Epistle to the Romans (1594), and Galatians (1602). Later, his pupil, Robert Boyd (1578-1627) wrote a massive commentary on Ephesians. David Dickson (1583-1662), Scottish Presbyterian and co-author (with James Durham) of The Sum of Saving Knowledge, then conceived a project whose aim was to provide a series of commentaries on books of the Bible which could be profitably read by the average layman.

Andrew Woolsey, Biographical Introduction to the Select Works of Robert Rollock (2008 ed.), p. 21, quoting editor W.M. Gunn and Iain Murray:

"It is Rollock's greatest glory that he introduced into Scotland the expository system, which had already so much benefited religion on the Continent." Both in speaking to the students and in his pulpit ministry, Rollock systematically expounded books of the Bible. Studies like these formed the substance of the commentaries that were later published. I think it is also safe to say that, through the influence of Robert Boyd, they provided ongoing inspiration for the series of commentaries produced later in the seventeenth century by David Dickson, George Hutcheson, James Ferguson, and Alexander Nisbet -- which, as Iain Murry says, "for many years served to make the study of the Bible a common household employment."

Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope, pp. 26-27:

One more future leader who as a regent, or professor, in the university was associated with Boyd was David Dickson. It is to Dickson that the English-speaking world owes the conception of a whole series of commentaries which for many years served to make the study of the Bible a common household employment. Boyd produced a Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians of stupendous size; as James Walker writes, this ‘led to the calamitous result of a great divine being buried under his own erudition’. The series of popular volumes which Dickson envisaged avoided this pitfall as the subsequent reprinting of a number of them has proved. To the series Dickson contributed expositions of Hebrews, 1635, Matthew, 1647, and Psalms, 1653—1654. George Hutcheson followed with rich folios on The Minor Prophets, 1653—1655, John, 1657, and Job, 1669. James Fergusson, ‘after the pattern held forth by those reverend brethren, Mr. David Dickson and Mr. George Hutcheson’, added his Brief Exposition of the Epistles of Paul (Galatians to Thessalonians), and Alexander Nisbet supplied A Brief Exposition of the First and Second Epistles General of Peter. The manuscript of Samuel Rutherford’s work on Isaiah was lost and never printed. James Durham’s volumes on The Song of Solomon, Revelation, and Job, were not designed as part of the same series, being published posthumously, as was the fine work of John Brown of Wamphray on Romans. ‘Nor are Dickson and his fellow-interpreters to be despised,’ writes James Walker. ‘They want the scholarship of the present day, though they were scholars. But though they want our scholarship, they were, more than our equals in theology.’ C. H. Spurgeon reached a similar verdict in his Commenting and Commentaries.

Here is a list of all the works produced in (what now may be referred to as) the Scottish Puritan Commentary Series:

Job -- James Durham, George Hutcheson
Psalms -- David Dickson
Psalm 130 -- George Hutcheson (sermons)
Proverbs -- Robert Blair (MSS, never published)
Ecclesiastes -- Alexander Nisbet
Song of Solomon -- James Durham
Isaiah -- Samuel Rutherford (lost, never published)
Hosea -- George Hutcheson
Joel -- George Hutcheson
Amos -- George Hutcheson
Obadiah -- George Hutcheson
Jonah -- George Hutechson
Michah -- George Hutcheson
Nahum -- George Hutcheson
Habakkuk -- George Hutcheson
Zephaniah -- George Hutcheson
Haggai -- George Hutcheson
Zechariah -- George Hutcheson
Malachi -- George Hutcheson
Matthew -- David Dickson
John -- George Hutcheson
Romans -- David Dickson, John Brown of Wamphray
1 Corinthians -- David Dickson
2 Corinthians -- David Dickson
Galatians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
Ephesians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
Philippians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
Colossians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
1 Thessalonians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
2 Thessalonians -- David Dickson, James Ferguson
1 Timothy -- David Dickson
2 Timothy -- David Dickson
Titus -- David Dickson
Philemon -- David Dickson
Hebrews -- David Dickson
James -- David Dickson
1 Peter -- David Dickson, Alexander Nisbet
2 Peter -- David Dickson, Alexander Nisbet
1 John -- David Dickson
2 John -- David Dickson
3 John -- David Dickson
Jude -- David Dickson
Revelation -- James Durham

Devotional Psalters

In times past, some editions of the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter were specially prepared to include notes or annotations from notable commentators on the Psalms to help Christians follow the precept articulated in 1 Cor. 14.15 and also found in the Westminster Directory for Public Worship that one must "sing with understanding" when singing the Psalms of David.

I am aware of five such versions (there might be more) that have been published over the centuries. One includes the notes on the Psalms by David Dickson, a 17th century Scottish Presbyterian divine. Another includes the comments of Matthew Henry, an English Presbyterian divine who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries. John Brown of Haddington, an 18th century Scottish Presbyterian, published his notes on the Psalms in metre which are still available today. There is a 19th century edition of the Scottish Metrical Psalter with the notes of Matthew Henry and John Brown combined. And another 19th century edition includes the notes of William King Tweedie, Scottish Presbyterian, which was published by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland soon after his death.

If one has Matthew Henry's famous commentary on the Bible, it is a useful exercise to pay particular heed to his directions (found in his annotations on each psalm) on how to rightly sing that psalm. His comments provide not only sound exegesis, but helpful application for the psalm-singer.

Each of these resources is helpful for the pastor or head of household in leading those under his charge in the singing of psalms, as well as for use in private devotions. I commend them all highly.