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diff --git a/42488.txt b/42488.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4684e56..0000000 --- a/42488.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14862 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 2, by -Alexander Maclaren - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 2 - Volume II. Psalms XXXIX.-LXXXIX. - -Author: Alexander Maclaren - -Editor: W. Robertson Nicoll - -Release Date: April 9, 2013 [EBook #42488] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE *** - - - - -Produced by Douglas L. Alley, III, Colin Bell and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - - THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE - - - - EDITED BY THE REV. - SIR W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D. - _Editor of "The Expositor," etc._ - - - - THE PSALMS - - BY - - ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D. - - - - _VOLUME II._ - PSALMS XXXIX.-LXXXIX. - - - - HODDER AND STOUGHTON - LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO - - - - - The Expositor's Bible. - _crown 8vo, Cloth, Price 7s. 6d. Each Vol._ - - - First Series. - - Colossians. - By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D., D.Lit. - St. Mark. - By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry. - Genesis. - By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D. - 1 Samuel. - By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. - 2 Samuel. - By the same Author. - Hebrews. - By Principal T. C. EDWARDS, D.D. - - - SECOND SERIES. - - Galatians. - By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D. - The Pastoral Epistles. - By the Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D. - Isaiah I.-XXXIX. - By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. I. - The Book of Revelation. - By Prof. W. MILLIGAN, D.D. - 1 Corinthians. - By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D. - The Epistles of St. John. - By the Most Rev. the Archbishop of Armagh. - - - THIRD SERIES. - - Judges and Ruth. - By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D. - Jeremiah. - By the Rev. C. J. BALL, M.A. - Isaiah XL.-LXVI. - By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. II. - St. Matthew. - By the Rev. J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D. - Exodus. - By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry. - St. Luke. - By the Rev. H. BURTON, M.A. - - - FOURTH SERIES. - - Ecclesiastes. - By the Rev. SAMUEL COX, D.D. - St. James and St. Jude. - By the Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D. - Proverbs. - By the Rev. R. F. HORTON, D.D. - Leviticus. - By the Rev. S. H. KELLOGG, D.D. - The Gospel of St. John. - By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. I. - The Acts of the Apostles. - By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. I. - - - FIFTH SERIES. - - The Psalms. - By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I. - 1 and 2 Thessalonians. - By Prof. JAMES DENNEY, D.D. - The Book of Job. - By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D. - Ephesians. - By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D. - The Gospel of St. John. - By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II. - The Acts of the Apostles. - By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II. - - - SIXTH SERIES. - - 1 Kings. - By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S. - Philippians. - By Principal RAINY, D.D. - Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. - By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A. - Joshua. - By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. - The Psalms. - By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II. - The Epistles of St. Peter. - By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D. - - - SEVENTH SERIES. - - 2 Kings. - By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S. - Romans. - By the Right Rev. H. C. G. MOULE, D.D. - The Books of Chronicles. - By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, D.D., D.Lit. - 2 Corinthians. - By Prof. JAMES DENNEY, D.D. - Numbers. - By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D. - The Psalms. - By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. III. - - - EIGHTH SERIES. - - Daniel. - By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S. - The Book of Jeremiah. - By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, D.D., D.Lit. - Deuteronomy. - By Prof. ANDREW HARPER, B.D. - The Song of Solomon and Lamentations. - By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A. - Ezekiel. - By Prof. JOHN SKINNER, M.A. - The Books of the Twelve Prophets. - By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Two Vols. - - - - - THE PSALMS - - - - BY - ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D.D. - - - - - _VOLUME II._ - PSALMS XXXIX.-LXXXIX. - - - - - - HODDER AND STOUGHTON - LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO - - - - - _Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._ - - - - - CONTENTS - - PAGE - - PSALM XXXIX. 1 - - " XL. 14 - - " XLI. 30 - - " XLII., XLIII. 41 - - " XLIV. 54 - - " XLV. 63 - - " XLVI. 79 - - " XLVII. 86 - - " XLVIII. 92 - - " XLIX. 100 - - " L. 115 - - " LI. 125 - - " LII. 142 - - " LIII. 148 - - " LIV. 151 - - " LV. 158 - - " LVI. 171 - - " LVII. 180 - - " LVIII. 189 - - " LIX. 198 - - " LX. 209 - - " LXI. 216 - - " LXII. 223 - - " LXIII. 232 - - " LXIV. 241 - - " LXV. 246 - - " LXVI. 255 - - " LXVII. 264 - - " LXVIII. 269 - - " LXIX. 293 - - " LXX. 306 - - " LXXI. 308 - - " LXXII. 315 - - " LXXIII. 333 - - " LXXIV. 348 - - " LXXV. 359 - - " LXXVI. 366 - - " LXXVII. 371 - - " LXXVIII. 382 - - " LXXIX. 396 - - " LXXX. 404 - - " LXXXI. 414 - - " LXXXII. 425 - - " LXXXIII. 431 - - " LXXXIV. 440 - - " LXXXV. 451 - - " LXXXVI. 461 - - " LXXXVII. 470 - - " LXXXVIII. 477 - - " LXXXIX. 487 - - - - - PSALM XXXIX. - - 1 I said, I will guard my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; - I will put a muzzle on my mouth - So long as the wicked is before me. - 2 I made myself dumb in still submission, - I kept silence joylessly, - And my sorrow was stirred. - 3 My heart was hot within me; - While I mused the fire blazed up; - I spake with my tongue. - - 4 Make me, Jehovah, to know my end, - And the measure of my days, what it is; - Let me know how fleeting I am. - 5 Behold, as handbreadths hast Thou made my days, - And my lifetime is as nothing before Thee; - Surely nothing but a breath is every man, stand he ever so firm. - Selah. - 6 Surely every man goes about like a shadow; - Surely for a breath do they make [such a stir]; - He heaps up [goods] and knows not who will gather them. - - 7 And now what wait I for, Lord? - My hope--to Thee it goes. - 8 From all my transgressions deliver me; - Make me not a reproach of the fool. - 9 I make myself dumb, I open not my mouth, - For Thou hast done [it]. - - 10 Remove Thy stroke from me; - I am wasted by the assault of Thy hand. - 11 When with rebukes for iniquity Thou correctest a man, - Like a moth Thou frayest away his gracefulness; - Surely every man is [but] a breath. Selah. - - 12 Hear my prayer, Jehovah, and give ear to my cry; - At my weeping be not silent: - For I am a guest with Thee, - And a sojourner like all my fathers. - 13 Look away from me, that I may brighten up, - Before I go hence and be no more. - - -Protracted suffering, recognised as chastisement for sin, had wasted -the psalmist's strength. It had been borne for a while in silence, -but the rush of emotion had burst the floodgates. The psalm does not -repeat the words which forced themselves from the hot heart, but -preserves for us the calmer flow which followed. It falls into four -parts, the first three of which contain three verses each, and the -fourth is expanded into four, divided into two couples. - -In the first part (vv. 1-3) the frustrated resolve of silence is -recorded. Its motive was fear of sinning in speech "while the wicked -is before me." That phrase is often explained as meaning that the -sight of the prosperity of the godless in contrast with his own -sorrows tempted the singer to break out into arraigning God's -providence, and that he schooled himself to look at their insolent -ease unmurmuringly. But the psalm has no other references to other -men's flourishing condition; and it is more in accordance with its -tone to suppose that his own pains, and not their pleasures, prompted -to the withheld words. The presence of "the wicked" imposed on his -devout heart silence as a duty. We do not complain of a friend's -conduct in the hearing of his enemies. God's servants have to watch -their speech about Him when godless ears are listening, lest hasty -words should give occasion for malicious glee or blasphemy. So, for -God's honour, the psalmist put restraint on himself. The word rendered -"bridle" in ver. 2 by the A.V. and R.V. is better taken as muzzle, -for a muzzle closes the lips, and a bridle does not. The resolution -thus energetically expressed was vigorously carried out: "I made -myself dumb in still submission; I kept silence." And what came of -it? "My sorrow was stirred." Grief suppressed is increased, as all -the world knows. The closing words of ver. 2 _b_ (lit. _apart from -good_) are obscure, and very variously understood, some regarding -them as an elliptical form of "from good and bad," and expressing -completeness of silence; others taking "the good" to mean "the law, or -the praise of God, or good-fortune, or such words as would serve to -protect the singer from slanders." "But the preposition here employed, -when it follows a verb meaning silence, does not introduce that -concerning which silence is kept, but a negative result of silence" -(Hupfeld). The meaning, then, is best given by some such paraphrase -as "joylessly" or "and I had no comfort" (R.V.). The hidden sorrow -gnawed beneath the cloak like a fire in a hollow tree; it burned -fiercely unseen, and ate its way at last into sight. Locked lips -make hearts hotter. Repression of utterance only feeds the fire, and -sooner or later the "muzzle" is torn off, and pent-up feeling breaks -into speech, often the wilder for the violence done to nature by the -attempt to deny it its way. The psalmist's motive was right, and in a -measure his silence was so; but his resolve did not at first go deep -enough. It is the heart, not the mouth, that has to be silenced. To -build a dam across a torrent without diminishing the sources that -supply its waters only increases weight and pressure, and ensures a -muddy flood when it bursts. - -Does the psalm proceed to recount what its author said when he broke -silence? It may appear so at first sight. On the other hand, the calm -prayer which follows, beginning with ver. 4, is not of the character -of the wild and whirling words which were suppressed for fear of -sinning, nor does the fierce fire of which the psalm has been speaking -flame in it. It seems, therefore, more probable that those first -utterances, in which the overcharged heart relieved itself, and which -were tinged with complaint and impatience, are not preserved, and did -not deserve to be, and that the pathetic, meditative petitions of -the rest of the psalm succeeded them, as after the first rush of the -restrained torrent comes a stiller flow. Such a prayer might well have -been offered "while the wicked is before me," and might have been laid -to heart by them. Its thoughts are as a cool hand laid on the singer's -hot heart. They damp the fire burning in him. There is no surer remedy -for inordinate sensibility to outward sorrows than fixed convictions -of life's brevity and illusoriness; and these are the two thoughts -which the prayer casts into sweet, sad music. - -It deals with commonplaces of thought, which poets and moralists -have been singing and preaching since the world began, in different -tones and with discordant applications, sometimes with fierce revolt -against the inevitable, sometimes with paralysing consciousness of -it, sometimes using these truths as arguments for base pleasures and -aims, sometimes toying with them as occasions for cheap sentiment and -artificial pathos, sometimes urging them as motives for strenuous -toil. But of all the voices which have ever sung or prophesied of -life's short span and shadowy activities, none is nobler, saner, -healthier, and calmer than this psalmist's. The stately words in -which he proclaimed the transiency of all earthly things are not -transient. They are "nothing but a breath," but they have outlasted -much that seemed solid, and their music will sound as long as man -is on his march through time. Our "days" have a "measure"; they -are a limited period, and the Measurer is God. But this fleeting -creature man has an obstinate fancy of his permanence, which is not -all bad indeed--since without it there would be little continuity of -purpose or concentration of effort--but may easily run to extremes -and hide the fact that there is an end. Therefore the prayer for -Divine illumination is needed, that we may not be ignorant of that -which we know well enough, if we would bethink ourselves. The solemn -convictions of ver. 5 are won by the petitions of ver. 4. He who asks -God to make him know his end has already gone far towards knowing -it. If he seeks to estimate the "measure" of his days, he will soon -come to the clear conviction that it is only the narrow space that -may be covered by one or two breadths of a hand. So do noisy years -shrink when heaven's chronology is applied to them. A lifetime looks -long, but set against God's eternal years, it shrivels to an all but -imperceptible point, having position, but not magnitude. - -The thought of brevity naturally draws after it that of illusoriness. -Just because life is so frail does it assume the appearance of being -futile. Both ideas are blended in the metaphors of "a breath" and "a -shadow." There is a solemn earnestness in the threefold "surely," -confirming each clause of the seer's insight into earth's hollowness. -How emphatically he puts it in the almost pleonastic language, -"Surely nothing but a breath is every man, stand he ever so firm." -The truth proclaimed is undeniably certain. It covers the whole -ground of earthly life, and it includes the most prosperous and -firmly established. "A breath" is the very emblem of transiency and -of unsubstantiality. Every solid body can be melted and made gaseous -vapour, if heat enough is applied. They who habitually bring human -life "before Thee" dissolve into vapour the solid-seeming illusions -which cheat others, and save their own lives from being but a breath -by clearly recognising that they are. - -The Selah at the end of ver. 4 does not here seem to mark a logical -pause in thought nor to coincide with the strophe division, but -emphasises by some long-drawn, sad notes the teaching of the words. -The thought runs on unbroken, and ver. 6 is closely linked to ver. -5 by the repeated "surely" and "breath" as well as in subject. The -figure changes from breath to "shadow," literally "image," meaning not -a sculptured likeness, but an _eidolon_, or unsubstantial apparition. - - "The glories of our birth and state - Are shadows, not substantial things"; - -and all the movements of men coming and going in the world are but -like a dance of shadows. As they are a breath, so are their aims. -All their hubbub and activity is but like the bustle of ants on -their hill--immense energy and toil, and nothing coming of it all. -If any doubt remained as to the correctness of this judgment of the -aimlessness of man's toil, one fact would confirm the psalmist's -sentence, viz., that the most successful man labours to amass, and has -to leave his piles for another whom he does not know, to gather into -his storehouses and to scatter by his prodigality. There may be an -allusion in the words to harvesting work. The sheaves are piled up, -but in whose barn are they to be housed? Surely, if the grower and -reaper is not the ultimate owner, his toil has been for a breath. - -All this is no fantastic pessimism. Still less is it an account of -what life must be. If any man's is nothing but toiling for a breath, -and if he himself is nothing but a breath, it is his own fault. They -who are joined to God have "in their embers something that doth -live"; and if they labour for Him, they do _not_ labour for vanity, -nor do they leave their possessions when they die. The psalmist has -no reference to a future life, but the immediately following strophe -shows that, though he knew that his days were few, he knew, too, -that, if his hope were set on God he was freed from the curse of -illusoriness and grasped no shadow, but the Living Substance, who -would make his life blessedly real and pour into it substantial good. - -The effect of such convictions of life's brevity and emptiness should -be to throw the heart back on God. In the third part of the psalm -(vv. 7-9) a higher strain sounds. The singer turns from his dreary -thoughts, which might so easily become bitter ones, to lay hold on -God. What should earth's vanity teach but God's sufficiency? It does -not need the light of a future life to be flashed upon this mean, -swiftly vanishing present in order to see it "apparelled in celestial -light." Without that transforming conception, it is still possible to -make it great and real by bringing it into conscious connection with -God; and if hope and effort are set on Him amid all the smallnesses -and perishablenesses of the outer world, hope will not chase a shadow, -nor effort toil for very vanity. The psalmist sought to calm his hot -heart by the contemplation of his end, but that is a poor remedy for -perturbation and grief unless it leads to actual contact with the one -enduring Substance. It did so with him, and therefore "grief grew -calm," just because "hope was" not "dead." To preach the vanity of all -earthly things to heavy hearts is but pouring vinegar on nitre, unless -it is accompanied with the great antidote to all sad and depreciating -views of life: the thought that in it men may reach their hands beyond -the time-film that enmeshes them and grasp the unchanging God. This -psalm has no reference to life beyond the grave; but it finds in -present communion by waiting and hope, emancipation from the curse -of fleeting triviality which haunts every life separated from Him, -like that which the Christian hope of immortality gives. God is the -significant figure which gives value to the row of ciphers of which -every life is without Him made up. Blessed are they who are driven by -earth's vanity and drawn by God's fulness of love and power to fling -themselves into His arms and nestle there! The strong recoil of the -devout soul from a world which it has profoundly felt to be shadowy, -and its great venture of faith, which is not a venture after all, -were never more nobly or simply expressed than in that quiet "And -now"--things being so--"what wait I for? My hope"--in contrast with -the false directions which other men's takes--"to Thee it turns." - -The burden is still on the psalmist's shoulders. His sufferings are not -ended, though his trust has taken the poison out of them. Therefore -his renewed grasp of God leads at once to prayer for deliverance from -his "transgressions," in which cry may be included both sins and their -chastisement. "The fool" is the name of a class, not of an individual, -and, as always in Scripture, denotes moral and religious obliquity, not -intellectual feebleness. The expression is substantially equivalent -to "the wicked" of ver. 1, and a similar motive to that which there -induced the psalmist to be silent is here urged as a plea with God for -the sufferer's deliverance. Taunts launched at a good man suffering will -glance off him and appear to reach his God. - -Ver. 9 pleads as a reason for God's deliverance the psalmist's silence -under what he recognised as God's chastisement. The question arises -whether this is the same silence as is referred to in vv. 1, 2, and -many authorities take that view. But that silence was broken by a rush -of words from a hot heart, and, if the account of the connection in the -psalm given above is correct, by a subsequent more placid meditation and -prayer. It would be irrelevant to recur to it here, especially as a plea -with God. But there are two kinds of silence under His chastisements: -one which may have for its motive regard to His honour, but is none -the less tinged with rebellious thoughts, and brings no good to the -sufferer, and another which is silence of heart and will, not of lips -only, and soothes sorrow which the other only aggravated, and puts out -the fire which the other fanned. Submission to God's hand discerned -behind all visible causes is the blessed silence. "To lie still, let Him -strike home, and bless the rod," is best. And when that is attained, the -uses of chastisement are accomplished; and we may venture to ask God to -burn the rod. The desire to be freed from its blow is not inconsistent -with such submission. This prayer does not break the silence, though -it may seem to do so, for this is the privilege of hearts that love -God: that they can breathe desires to Him without His holding them -unsubmissive to His supreme will. - -The last part (vv. 10-13) is somewhat abnormally long, and falls into -two parts separated by "Selah," which musical note does not here -coincide with the greater divisions. The two pairs of verses are -both petitions for removal of sickness, either real or figurative. -Their pleading persistence presents substantially the same prayer -and supports it by the same considerations of man's transiency. -The Pattern of perfect resignation thrice "prayed, saying the -same words"; and His suffering followers may do the same, and yet -neither sin by impatience, nor weary the Judge by their continual -coming. The psalmist sees in his pains God's "stroke," and pleads -the effects already produced on him as a reason for cessation. He is -already "wasted by the assault of God's hand." One more buffet, and -he feels that he must die. It is bold for a sufferer to say to God, -"Hold! enough!" but all depends on the tone in which it is said. It -may be presumption, or it may be a child's free speech, not in the -least trenching on a Father's authority. The sufferer underrates his -capacity of endurance, and often thinks, "I can bear no straw more"; -but yet he has to bear it. Yet the psalmist's cry rests upon a deep -truth: that God cannot mean to crush; therefore he goes on to a deeper -insight into the meaning of that "stroke." It is not the attack of an -enemy, but the "correction" of a friend. - -If men regarded sorrows and sicknesses as rebukes for iniquity, they -would better understand why sinful life, separated from God, is so -fleeting. The characteristic ground tone of the Old Testament echoes -here, according to which "the wages of sin is death." The commonplace -of man's frailty receives a still more tragic colouring when thus -regarded as a consequence of his sin. The psalmist has learned it in -relation to his own sufferings, and, because he sees it so clearly, -he pleads that these may cease. He looks on his own wasted form; and -God's hand seems to him to have taken away all that made it or life -desirable and fair, as a moth would gnaw a garment. What a daring -figure to compare the mightiest with the feeblest, the Eternal with -the very type of evanescence! - -The second subdivision of this part (vv. 12, 13) reiterates the -former with some difference of tone. There is a beautiful climax of -earnestness in the psalmist's appeal to God. His prayer swells into -crying, and that again melts into tears, which go straight to the -great Father's heart. Weeping eyes are never turned to heaven in vain; -the gates of mercy open wide when the hot drops touch them. But his -fervour of desire is not this suppliant's chief argument with God. His -meditation has won for him deeper insight into that transiency which -at first he had only laid like ice on his heart, to cool its feverish -heat. He sees now more clearly, by reason of his effort to turn away -his hope from earth and fix it on God, that his brief life has an -aspect in which its brevity is not only calming, but exalting, and -gives him a claim on God, whose guest he is while here, and with whom -he has guest-rights, whether his stay is longer or shorter. "The land -is mine, for ye are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev. xxv. 23). -That which was true in a special way of Israel's tenure of the soil is -true for the individual, and true for ever. All men are God's guests; -and if we betake ourselves behind the curtains of His tent, we have -rights of shelter and sustenance. All the bitterness of the thought -of the brevity of life is sucked out of it by such a confidence. If -a man dwells with God, his Host will care for the needs, and not be -indifferent to the tears, of His guest. The long generations which -have come and gone like shadows are not a melancholy procession out -of nothing through vanity into nothing again, nor "disquieted in -vain," if they are conceived as each in turn lodging for a little -while in that same ancestral home which the present generation -inhabits. It has seen many sons succeeding their fathers as its -tenants, but its stately strength grows not old, and its gates are -open to-day as they have been in all generations. - -The closing prayer in ver. 13 has a strange sound. "Look away from -me" is surely a singular petition, and the effect of God's averting -His face is not less singular. The psalmist thinks that it will be -his regaining cheerfulness and brightness, for he uses a word which -means to clear up or to brighten, as the sky becomes blue again after -storm. The light of God's face makes men's faces bright. "They cried -unto God, and were lightened," not because He looked away from them, -but because He regarded them. But the intended paradox gives the more -emphatic expression to the thought that the psalmist's pains came from -God's angry look, and it is that which he asks may be turned from -him. That mere negative withdrawal, however, would have no cheering -power, and is not conceivable as unaccompanied by the turning to the -suppliant of God's loving regard. The devout psalmist had no notion of -a neutral God, nor could he ever be contented with simple cessation of -the tokens of Divine displeasure. The ever-outflowing Divine activity -must reach every man. It may come in one or other of the two forms of -favour or of displeasure, but come it will; and each man can determine -which side of that pillar of fire and cloud is turned to him. On one -side is the red glare of anger, on the other the white lustre of love. -If the one is turned from, the other is turned to us. - -Not less remarkable is the prospect of going away into non-being which -the last words of the psalm present as a piteous reason for a little -gleam of brightness being vouchsafed in this span-long life. There is -no vision here of life beyond the grave; but, though there is not, -the singer "throws himself into the arms of God." He does not seek -to solve the problem of life by bringing the future in to redress -the balance of good and evil. To him the solution lies in present -communion with a present God, in whose house he is a guest now, and -whose face will make his life bright, however short it may be. - - - - - PSALM XL. - - 1 Waiting, I waited for Jehovah, - And He bent to me and heard my [loud] cry. - 2 And lifted me from the pit of destruction, - From the mire of the bog, - And set my feet on a rock-- - Established my steps, - 3 And put in my mouth a new song, - Praise unto our God. - Many shall see and fear, - And trust in Jehovah. - - 4 Blessed is the man who has made Jehovah his trust, - And has not turned [away] to the proud and deserters to a lie. - 5 In multitudes hast Thou wrought, Jehovah, my God; - Thy wonders and Thy purposes towards us-- - There is none to be set beside Thee-- - Should I declare them and speak them, - They surpass numbering. - - 6 Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou didst not delight in-- - Ears hast Thou pierced for me-- - Burnt-offering and sin-offering Thou didst not demand. - 7 Then I said, Behold, I am come-- - In the roll of the book it is prescribed to me-- - 8 To do Thy pleasure, my God, I delight, - And Thy law is within my inmost parts. - - 9 I proclaimed glad tidings of Thy righteousness in the great - congregation; - Behold, my lips I did not restrain, - Jehovah, Thou knowest. - 10 Thy righteousness did I not hide within my heart; - Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation did I speak; - I concealed not Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth from the great - congregation. - 11 Thou, Jehovah, wilt not restrain Thy compassions from me; - Thy loving-kindness and Thy troth will continually preserve me. - - 12 For evils beyond numbering have compassed me; - My iniquities have overtaken me, and I am not able to see: - They surpass the hairs of my head, - And my heart has forsaken me. - 13 Be pleased, Jehovah, to deliver me; - Jehovah, hasten to my help. - 14 Shamed and put to the blush together be the seekers after my soul - to carry it away! - Turned back and dishonoured be they who delight in my calamity! - 15 Paralysed by reason of their shame - Be they who say to me, Oho! Oho! - 16 Joyful and glad in Thee be all who seek Thee! - Jehovah be magnified, may they ever say who love Thy salvation! - 17 But as for me, I am afflicted and needy; - The Lord purposes [good] for me: - My Help and my Deliverer art Thou; - My God, delay not. - - -The closing verses of this psalm reappear with slight changes as an -independent whole in Psalm lxx. The question arises whether that is a -fragment or this a conglomerate. Modern opinion inclines to the latter -alternative, and points in support to the obvious change of tone in the -second part. But that change does not coincide with the supposed line -of junction, since Psalm lxx. begins with our ver. 13, and the change -begins with ver. 12. Cheyne and others are therefore obliged to suppose -that ver. 12 is the work of a third poet or compiler, who effected a -junction thereby. The cumbrousness of the hypothesis of fusion is plain, -and its necessity is not apparent, for it is resorted to in order to -explain how a psalm which keeps so lofty a level of confidence at first -should drop to such keen consciousness of innumerable evils and such -faint-heartedness. But surely such resurrection of apparently dead -fears is not uncommon in devout, sensitive souls. They live beneath -April skies, not unbroken blue. However many the wonderful works which -God has done and however full of thankfulness the singer's heart, his -deliverance is not complete. The contrast in the two parts of the -psalm is true to facts and to the varying aspects of feeling and of -faith. Though the latter half gives greater prominence to encompassing -evils, they appear but for a moment; and the prayer for deliverance -which they force from the psalmist is as triumphant in faith as were -the thanksgivings of the former part. In both the ground tone is that -of victorious grasp of God's help, which in the one is regarded in -its mighty past acts, and in the other is implored and trusted in for -present and future needs. The change of tone is not such as to demand -the hypothesis of fusion. The unity is further supported by verbal links -between the parts: _e.g._, the innumerable evils of ver. 12 pathetically -correspond to the innumerable mercies of ver. 5, and the same word for -"surpass" occurs in both verses; "be pleased" in ver. 13 echoes "Thy -pleasure" (will, A.V.) in ver. 8; "cares" or _thinks_ (A.V.) in ver. 17 -is the verb from which the noun rendered _purposes_ (thoughts, A.V.) in -ver. 5 is derived. - -The attribution of the psalm to David rests solely on the -superscription. The contents have no discernible points of connection -with known circumstances in his or any other life. Jeremiah has been -thought of as the author, on the strength of giving a prosaic literal -meaning to the obviously poetical phrase "the pit of destruction" -(ver. 2). If it is to be taken literally, what is to be made of the -"rock" in the next clause? Baethgen and others see the return from -Babylon in the glowing metaphors of ver. 2, and, in accordance with -their conceptions of the evolution of spiritual religion, take the -subordination of sacrifice to obedience as a clear token of late date. -We may, however, recall 1 Sam. xv. 22, and venture to doubt whether -the alleged process of spiritualising has been so clearly established, -and its stages dated, as to afford a criterion of the age of a psalm. - -In the first part, the current of thought starts from thankfulness -for individual deliverances (vv. 1-3); widens into contemplation of -the blessedness of trust and the riches of Divine mercies (vv. 4, -5); moved by these and taught what is acceptable to God, it rises -to self-consecration as a living sacrifice (vv. 6-8); and, finally, -pleads for experience of God's grace in all its forms on the ground of -past faithful stewardship in celebrating these (vv. 9-11). The second -part is one long-drawn cry for help, which admits of no such analysis, -though its notes are various. - -The first outpouring of the song is one long sentence, of which the -clauses follow one another like sunlit ripples, and tell the whole -process of the psalmist's deliverance. It began with patient waiting; -it ended with a new song. The voice first raised in a cry, shrill -and yet submissive enough to be heard above, is at last tuned into -new forms of uttering the old praise. The two clauses of ver. 1 ("I" -and "He") set over against each other, as separated by the distance -between heaven and earth, the psalmist and his God. He does not begin -with his troubles, but with his faith. "Waiting, he waited" for -Jehovah; and wherever there is that attitude of tense and continuous -but submissive expectance, God's attitude will be that of bending to -meet it. The meek, upturned eye has power to draw His towards itself. -That is an axiom of the devout life confirmed by all experience, even -if the tokens of deliverance delay their coming. Such expectance, -however patient, is not inconsistent with loud crying, but rather -finds voice in it. Silent patience and impatient prayer, in too great -a hurry to let God take His own time, are equally imperfect. But the -cry, "Haste to my help" (ver. 13), and the final petition, "My God, -delay not," are consistent with true waiting. - -The suppliant and God have come closer together in ver. 2, which -should not be regarded as beginning a new sentence. As in Psalm -xviii., prayer brings God down to help. His hand reaches to the man -prisoned in a pit or struggling in a swamp; he is dragged out, set on -a rock, and feels firm ground beneath his feet. Obviously the whole -representation is purely figurative, and it is hopelessly flat and -prosaic to refer it to Jeremiah's experience. The "many waters" of -Psalm xviii. are a parallel metaphor. The dangers that threatened the -psalmist are described as "a pit of destruction," as if they were a -dungeon into which whosoever was thrown would come out no more, or in -which, like a wild beast, he has been trapped. They are also likened -to a bog or quagmire, in which struggles only sink a man deeper. -But the edge of the bog touches rock, and there is firm footing and -unhindered walking there, if only some great lifting power can drag -the sinking man out. God's hand can, and does, because the lips, -almost choked with mire, could yet cry. The psalmist's extremity -of danger was probably much more desperate than is usual in such -conditions as ours, so that his cries seem too piercing for us to make -our own; but the terrors and conflicts of humanity are nearly constant -quantities, though the occasions calling them forth are widely -different. If we look deeper into life than its surface, we shall -learn that it is not violent "spiritualising" to make these utterances -the expression of redeeming grace, since in truth there is but one or -other of these two possibilities open for us. Either we flounder in a -bottomless bog, or we have our feet on the Rock. - -God's deliverance gives occasion for fresh praise. The psalmist has to -add his voice to the great chorus, and this sense of being but one of a -multitude, who have been blessed alike and therefore should bless alike, -occasions the significant interchange in ver. 3 of "my" and "our," which -needs no theory of the speaker being the nation to explain it. It is -ever a joy to the heart swelling with the sense of God's mercies to -be aware of the many who share the mercies and gratitude. The cry for -deliverance is a solo; the song of praise is choral. The psalmist did -not need to be bidden to praise; a new song welled from his lips as by -inspiration. Silence was more impossible to his glad heart than even to -his sorrow. To shriek for help from the bottom of the pit and to be dumb -when lifted to the surface is a churl's part. - -Though the song was new in this singer's mouth, as befitted a -recipient of deliverances fresh from heaven, the theme was old; -but each new voice individualises the commonplaces of religious -experience, and repeats them as fresh. And the result of one man's -convinced and jubilant voice, giving novelty to old truths because he -has verified them in new experiences, will be that "many shall see," -as though they behold the deliverance of which they hear, "and shall -fear" Jehovah and trust themselves to Him. It was not the psalmist's -deliverance, but his song, that was to be the agent in this extension -of the fear of Jehovah. All great poets have felt that their words -would win audience and live. Thus, even apart from consciousness of -inspiration, this lofty anticipation of the effect of his words is -intelligible, without supposing that their meaning is that the signal -deliverance of the nation from captivity would spread among heathens -and draw them to Israel's faith. - -The transition from purely personal experience to more general thoughts -is completed in vv. 4, 5. Just as the psalmist began with telling of -his own patient expectance and thence passed on to speak of God's -help, so in these two verses he sets forth the same sequence in terms -studiously cast into the most comprehensive form. Happy indeed are -they who can translate their own experience into these two truths for -all men: that trust is blessedness and that God's mercies are one long -sequence, made up of numberless constituent parts. To have these for -one's inmost convictions and to ring them out so clearly and melodiously -that many shall be drawn to listen, and then to verify them by their own -"seeing," is one reward of patient waiting for Jehovah. That trust must -be maintained by resolute resistance to temptations to its opposite. -Hence the negative aspect of trust is made prominent in ver. 4 _b_, in -which the verb should be rendered "turns not" instead of "respecteth -not," as in the A.V. and R.V. The same motion, looked at from opposite -sides, may be described in turning to and turning from. Forsaking other -confidences is part of the process of making God one's trust. But it is -significant that the antithesis is not completely carried out, for those -to whom the trustful heart does not turn are not here, as might have -been expected, rival objects of trust, but those who put their own trust -in false refuges. "The proud" are the class of arrogantly self-reliant -people who feel no need of anything but their own strength to lean on. -"Deserters to a lie" are those who fall away from Jehovah to put their -trust in any creature, since all refuges but Himself will fail. Idols -may be included in this thought of _a lie_, but it is unduly limited if -confined to them. Much rather it takes in all false grounds of security. -The antithesis fails in accuracy, for the sake of putting emphasis on -the prevalence of such mistaken trust, which makes it so much the harder -to keep aloof from the multitudes and stand alone in reliance on Jehovah. - -Ver. 5 corresponds with ver. 4, in that it sets forth in similar -generality the great deeds with which God is wont to answer man's -trust. But the personality of the poet breaks very beautifully through -the impersonal utterances at two points: once when he names Jehovah as -"my God," thus claiming his separate share in the general mercies and -his special bond of connection with the Lover of all; and once when he -speaks of his own praises, thus recognising the obligation of individual -gratitude for general blessings. Each particle of finely comminuted -moisture in the rainbow has to flash back the broad sunbeam at its -own angle. God's "wonders and designs" are "realised Divine thoughts -and Divine thoughts which are gradually being realised" (Delitzsch). -These are wrought and being wrought in multitudes innumerable; and, as -the psalmist sees the bright, unbroken beams pouring forth from their -inexhaustible source, he breaks into an exclamation of adoring wonder -at the incomparable greatness of the ever-giving God. "There is none -to set beside Thee" is far loftier and more accordant with the tone -of the verse than the comparatively flat and incongruous remark that -God's mercies cannot be told to Him (A.V. and R.V.). A precisely similar -exclamation occurs in Psalm lxxi. 19, in which God's incomparable -greatness is deduced from the great things which He has done. Happy -the singer who has an inexhaustible theme! He is not silenced by the -consciousness of the inadequacy of his songs, but rather inspired to the -never-ending, ever-beginning, joyful task of uttering some new fragment -of that transcendent perfection. Innumerable wonders wrought should be -met by ever-new songs. If they cannot be counted, the more reason for -open-eyed observance of them as they come, and for a stream of praise as -unbroken as is their bright continuance. - -If God's mercies thus baffle enumeration and beggar praise, the -question naturally rises, "What shall I render to the Lord for all -His benefits?" Therefore the next turn of thought shows the psalmist -as reaching the lofty spiritual conception that heartfelt delight in -God's will is the true response to God's wonders of love. He soars -far above external rites as well as servile obedience to unloved -authority, and proclaims the eternal and ultimate truth that what -God delights in is man's delight in His will. The great words which -rang the knell of Saul's kingship may well have sounded in his -successor's spirit. Whether they are the source of the language of -our psalm or not, they are remarkably similar. "To obey is better -than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. xv. -23), teaches precisely the same lesson as vv. 6-8 of this psalm. -The strong negation in ver. 6 does not deny the Divine institution -of the sacrificial law, but affirms that something much deeper than -external sacrifices is the real object of God's desire. The negation -is made emphatic by enumerating the chief kinds of sacrifice. Whether -they are bloody or bloodless, whether meant to express consecration -or to effect reconciliation, they are none of them the true -sacrifices of God. In ver. 6 the psalmist is entirely occupied with -God's declarations of His requirements; and he presents these in a -remarkable fashion, intercalating the clause, "Ears hast Thou pierced -for me," between the two parallel clauses in regard to sacrifice. Why -should the connection be thus broken? The fact that God has endowed -the psalmist with capacity to apprehend the Divine speech reveals -God's desire concerning him. Just because he has ears to hear, it -is clear that God wishes him to hear, and therefore that outward -acts of worship cannot be the acknowledgment of mercies in which God -delights. The central clause of the verse is embedded in the others, -because it deals with a Divine act which, pondered, will be seen to -establish their teaching. The whole puts in simple, concrete form a -wide principle, namely, that the possession of capacity for receiving -communications of God's will imposes the duty of loving reception and -obedience, and points to inward joyful acceptance of that will as the -purest kind of worship. - -Vv. 7 and 8 are occupied with the response to God's requirements thus -manifested by His gift of capacity to hear His voice. "Then said I." -As soon as he had learned the meaning of his ears he found the right -use of his tongue. The thankful heart was moved to swift acceptance of -the known will of God. The clearest recognition of His requirements -may coexist with resistance to them, and needs the impulse of loving -contemplation of God's unnumbered wonders to vivify it into glad -service. "Behold, I am come," is the language of a servant entering -his master's presence in obedience to his call. In ver. 7 the second -clause interrupts just as in ver. 6. There the interruption spoke of -the organ of receiving Divine messages as to duty; here it speaks -of the messages themselves: "In the roll of the book is my duty -prescribed for me." The promise implied in giving ears is fulfilled -by giving a permanent written law. This man, having ears to hear, has -heard, and has not only heard, but welcomed into the inmost recesses -of his heart and will, the declared will of God. The word rendered -"delight" in ver. 8 is the same as is rendered "desire" in ver. 6 -(A.V.); and that rendered by the A.V. and R.V. in ver. 8 "will" is -properly "good pleasure." Thus God's delight and man's coincide. -Thankful love assimilates the creature's will with the Divine, and -so changes tastes and impulses that desire and duty are fused into -one. The prescriptions of the book become the delight of the heart. -An inward voice directs. "Love, and do what Thou wilt"; for a will -determined by love cannot but choose to please its Beloved. Liberty -consists in freely willing and victoriously doing what we ought, and -such liberty belongs to hearts whose supreme delight is to please -the God whose numberless wonders have won their love and made their -thanksgivings poor. The law written in the heart was the ideal even -when a law was written on tables of stone. It was the prophetic -promise for the Messianic age. It is fulfilled in the Christian life -in the measure of its genuineness. Unless the heart delights in the -law, acts of obedience count for very little. - -The quotation of vv. 7, 8, in Heb. x. 5-7, is mainly from the LXX., -which has the remarkable rendering of ver. 6 _b_, "A body hast Thou -prepared for me." Probably this is meant as paraphrase rather than -as translation; and it does represent substantially the idea of the -original, since the body is the instrument for fulfilling, just as the -ear is the organ for apprehending, the uttered will of God. The value -of the psalm for the writer of Hebrews does not depend on that clause, -but on the whole representation which it gives of the ideal of the -perfectly righteous servant's true worship, as involving the setting -aside of sacrifice and the decisive pre-eminence of willing obedience. -That ideal is fulfilled in Jesus, and really pointed onwards to Him. -This use of the quotation does not imply the directly Messianic -character of the psalm. - -"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and thus -the passage is easy from inward delight in God's will to public -declaration of His character. Every true lover of God is a witness of -His sweetness to the world. Since the psalmist had His law hidden in -the depths of his being, he could not "hide" His righteousness within -his heart, but must magnify it with his tongue. That is a feeble and -doubtful love which knows no necessity of utterance. To "love and be -silent" is sometimes imperative, but always burdensome; and a heart -happy in its love cannot choose but ripple out in music of speech. -The psalmist describes himself as a messenger of glad tidings, a true -evangelist. The multiplicity of names for the various aspects of God's -character and acts which he heaps together in these verses serves to -indicate their manifoldness, which he delighted to contemplate, and -his long, loving familiarity with them. He sets his treasure in all -lights, and views it from all points, as a man will turn a jewel in -his hand and get a fresh flash from every facet. "Righteousness," the -good news that the Ruler of all is inflexibly just, with a justice -which scrupulously meets all creatures' needs and becomes penal and -awful only to the rejecters of its tender aspect; "faithfulness," -the inviolable adherence to every promise; "salvation," the actual -fulness of deliverance and well-being flowing from these attributes; -"loving-kindness" and "troth," often linked together as expressing at -once the warmth and the unchangeableness of the Divine heart--these -have been the psalmist's themes. Therefore they are his hope; and -he is sure that, as he has been their singer, they will be his -preservers. Ver. 11 is not prayer, but bold confidence. It echoes the -preceding verse, since "I did not restrain" (ver. 9) corresponds with -"Thou wilt not restrain," and "Thy loving-kindness and Thy troth" with -the mention of the same attributes in ver. 10. The psalmist is not so -much asserting his claims as giving voice to his faith. He does not -so much think that his utterance is deserving of remuneration as that -God's character makes impossible the supposition that he, who had so -loved and sung His great name in its manifold glories, should find -that name unavailing in his hour of need. - -There is an undertone of such felt need even in the confidence of -ver. 11; and it becomes dominant from ver. 12 to the end, but not so -as to overpower the clear note of trust. The difference between the -two parts of the psalm is great, but is not to be exaggerated as if -it were contrariety. In the former part thanksgiving for deliverance -from dangers recently past predominates; in the latter, petition for -deliverance from dangers still threatening: but in both the psalmist -is exercising the same confidence; and if in the beginning he hymns -the praises of God who brought him out of the pit of destruction, -in the end he keeps firm hold of Him as His "Help and Deliverer." -Similarly, while in the first portion he celebrates the "purposes -which are to usward," in the latter he is certain that, needy as he -is, Jehovah has "purposes" of kindness to him. The change of tone is -not so complete as to negative the original unity, and surely it is -not difficult to imagine a situation in which both halves of the psalm -should be appropriate. Are there any deliverances in this perilous -and incomplete life so entire and permanent that they leave no room -for future perils? Must not prevision of coming dangers accompany -thankfulness for past escapes? Our Pharaohs are seldom drowned in -the Red Sea, and we do not often see their corpses stretched on the -sand. The change of tone, of which so much use is made as against -the original unity of the psalm, begins with ver. 12; but that -verse has a very strong and beautiful link of connection with the -previous part, in the description of besetting evils as innumerable. -Both words of ver. 5 are repeated, that for "surpass" or "are more -than" in ver. 12 _c_, that for "number" in _a_. The heart that has -felt how innumerable are God's thoughts and deeds of love is not -utterly reduced to despair, even while it beholds a sea of troubles -rolling its white-crested billows shoreward as far as the horizon. -The sky stretches beyond them, and the true numberlessness of God's -mercies outdoes the great yet really limited range of apparently -numberless sins or sorrows, the consequences of sin. "Mine iniquities -have overtaken me" like pursuing foes, and every calamity that held -him in its grip was a child of a sin of his. Such consciousness of -transgression is not inconsistent with "delight in the law of God -after the inward man," as Paul found out (Rom. vii. 22, 23), but it -sets aside the attempt to make this a directly Messianic psalm. "I am -not able to see." Such is the only possible rendering, for there is -no justification for translating the simple word by "look up." Either -the crowd of surrounding calamities prevent the psalmist from seeing -anything but themselves, or, more probably, the failure of vital power -accompanying his sorrow dims his vision (Psalm xxxviii. 10). - -From ver. 13 onwards Psalm lxx. repeats this psalm, with unimportant -verbal differences. The first of these is the omission of "Be pleased" -in ver. 13, which binds this second part to the first, and points -back to "Thy pleasure" (ver. 8). The prayer for the confusion of -enemies closely resembles that in Psalm xxxv., ver. 14 being almost -identical with vv. 4 and 26 there, and ver. 15 recalling ver. 21 of -that psalm. The prayer that enemies may fail in their designs is -consistent with the most Christlike spirit, and nothing more is asked -by the psalmist, but the tinge of satisfaction with which he dwells -on their discomfiture, however natural, belongs to the less lofty -moral standard of his stage of revelation. He uses extraordinarily -forcible words to paint their bewilderment and mortification--may they -blush, turn pale, be driven back, be as if paralysed with shame at -their baffled malice! The prayer for the gladness of God's servants -and seekers is like Psalm xxxv. 27. It asks that fruition as complete -as the disappointment of the foes may be the lot of those whose -desires set towards God, and it is prophecy as well as prayer. Seekers -after God ever find Him, and are more joyful in possession than they -hoped to be while seeking. He alone never eludes search, nor ever -disappoints attainment. They who long for His salvation will receive -it; and their reception will fill their hearts so full of blessedness -that their lips will not be able to refrain from ever-new outbursts of -the old praise, "The Lord be magnified." - -Very plaintively and touchingly does the low sigh of personal need -follow this triumphant intercession for the company of the saints. -Its triple elements blend in one believing aspiration, which is not -impatience, though it pleads for swift help. "I am afflicted and -needy"; there the psalmist turns his eye on his own sore necessity. -"Jehovah has purposes for me"; there he turns to God, and links his -final petitions with his earlier trust by the repetition of the word -by which he described (ver. 5) the many gracious designs of God. -"My God, delay not"; there he embraces both in one act of faithful -longing. His need calls for, and God's loving counsels ensure, swift -response. He who delights when an afflicted and poor man calls Him -"my God" will not be slack to vindicate His servant's confidence, and -magnify His own name. That appeal goes straight to the heart of God. - - - - - PSALM XLI. - - 1 Happy the man who considers the helpless; - In the day of calamity will Jehovah deliver him - 2 Jehovah will preserve him and keep him alive, - --He shall be counted happy in the land,-- - And do not Thou give him up to the wrath of his enemies. - 3 Jehovah will sustain him on the bed of languishing; - All his lying down in his sickness Thou hast turned into health. - - 4 As for me, I said, Jehovah, be merciful to me, - Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. - 5 My enemies speak evil against me: - "When will he die, and his name perish?" - 6 And if one [of them] comes to see [me], he speaks falsehood - (insincere sympathy); - His heart collects malice for itself; - He goes forth, he speaks it. - - 7 Together against me do all my haters whisper; - Against me they plan my hurt: - 8 "A fatal thing is fixed upon him, - And he who has [now] lain down will rise no more." - 9 Even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, - Has lifted his heel against me. - - 10 But Thou, Jehovah, be merciful to me and raise me up, - That I may requite them. - 11 By this I know that Thou delightest in me, - Since my enemy triumphs not over me. - 12 And as for me, in my integrity Thou upholdest me, - And settest me before Thy face for ever. - - 13 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, - From everlasting and to everlasting - Amen and Amen. - - -The central mass of this psalm describes the singer as suffering from -two evils: sickness and treacherous friends. This situation naturally -leads up to the prayer and confidence of the closing strophe (vv. -10-12). But its connection with the introductory verses (1-3) is less -plain. A statement of the blessings ensured to the compassionate -seems a singular introduction to the psalmist's pathetic exhibition -of his sorrows. Cheyne thinks that the opening verses were added by -the framer of the collection to adapt the poem to the use of the -Church of his own time, and that "the original opening must have been -different" ("Orig. of Psalt.," 246, _n._). It is to be observed, -however, that the two points of the psalmist's affliction are the -two from which escape is assured to the compassionate, who shall not -be "delivered to the desire of his enemies," and shall be supported -and healed in sickness. Probably, therefore, the general promises of -vv. 1-3 are silently applied by the psalmist to himself; and he is -comforting his own sorrow with the assurance which in his humility he -casts into impersonal form. He has been merciful, and believes, though -things look dark, that he will obtain mercy. There is probably also -an intentional contrast with the cruel exacerbation of his sufferings -by uncompassionate companions, which has rubbed salt into his wounds. -He has a double consciousness in these opening verses, inasmuch as he -partly thinks of himself as the compassionate man and partly as the -"weak" one who is compassionated. - -The combination of sickness and treachery is remarkable, especially -if the former is taken literally, as the strongly marked details seem -to require. The sick man is visited by an insincere sympathiser, who -is all eyes to note symptoms of increasing weakness, and all tongue, -as soon as he gets out of the sick-room, to give the result, which is -to his malice the better the worse it is. Such a picture looks as if -drawn from life, and the sketch of the traitor friend seems to be a -portrait of a real person. The supporters of the post-exilic date and -national interpretation of the psalm have not succeeded in pointing out -who the false friends of Israel were, who seemed to condole with, and -really rejoiced over, its weakness, or who were the treacherous allies -who failed it. The theory of the Davidic origin has in its favour the -correspondence of Ahithophel's treason with the treachery of the trusted -friend in the psalm; and, while it must be admitted that there is no -mention of sickness in the narrative in 2 Samuel, the supposition that -trouble of conscience had brought illness gains some countenance from -Psalm xxxii., if it is Davidic, and would naturally explain David's -singular passiveness whilst Absalom was hatching his plot. - -The psalm may be divided into four strophes, of which, however, the two -middle ones cohere very closely. Vv. 1-3 give the mercy requited to -the merciful; vv. 4-6, after a brief prayer and confession begin the -picture of the psalmist's sufferings, which is carried on through the -next strophe (vv. 7-9), with the difference that in the former the scene -is mainly the sick man's chamber, and in the latter the meeting-place -of the secret conspirators. Vv. 10-12 build on this picture of distress -a prayer for deliverance, and rise to serene confidence in its certain -answer. The closing doxology is not part of the psalm, but is appended -as the conclusion of the first book of the Psalter. - -The principle that God's dealings with us correspond to our dealings -with men, as clouds are moulded after the curves of the mountains -which they touch, is no less characteristic of the New Testament -than of the Old. The merciful obtain mercy; God forgives those who -forgive their brethren. The absoluteness of statement in this psalm -is, of course, open to misunderstanding; but the singer had not such -a superficial view of his relations to God as to suppose that kindly -sympathy was the sole condition of Divine compassion. That virtue, -the absence of which added pangs to his pains, might well seem to a -sufferer writhing under the bitterness of its opposite the Divinest -of all excellencies, and worthiest of recompense. That its requital -should be mainly considered as consisting in temporal deliverance -and physical health is partly due to the characteristics of the Old -Testament promises of blessedness, and partly to the psalmist's -momentary needs. We have noted that these are reflected in the -blessings promised in vv. 1-3. The "happy" of ver. 1 is caught up in -the abruptly introduced "He shall be counted happy" of ver. 2, which -may carry tacit reference to the malicious slanders that aggravated -the psalmist's sufferings, and anticipates deliverance so perfect -that all who see him shall think him fortunate. The next clause rises -into direct address of Jehovah, and is shown by the form of the -negative in the Hebrew to be petition, not assertion, thus strongly -confirming the view that "me" lurks below "him" in this context. A -similar transition from the third to the second person occurs in ver. -3, as if the psalmist drew closer to his God. There is also a change -of tense in the verbs there: "Jehovah _will_ sustain"; "Thou _hast_ -turned," the latter tense converting the general truth expressed in -the former clause into a fact of experience. The precise meaning of -this verse is questioned, some regarding both clauses as descriptive -of tender nursing, which sustains the drooping head and smoothes the -crumpled bedding, while others, noting that the word rendered "bed" -(A.V. and R.V.) in the second clause means properly "lying down," take -that clause as descriptive of turning sickness into convalescence. The -latter meaning gives a more appropriate ending to the strophe, as it -leaves the sick man healed, not tossing on a disordered bed, as the -other explanation does. Jehovah does not half cure. - -The second and third strophes (vv. 4-9) are closely connected. In -them the psalmist recounts his sorrows and pains, but first breathes -a prayer for mercy, and bases it no longer on his mercifulness, but -on his sin. Only a shallow experience will find contradiction here to -either the former words, or to the later profession of "integrity" -(ver. 12). The petition for soul-healing does not prove that sickness -in the following verses is figurative, but results from the belief that -sorrow is the effect of sin, a view which belongs to the psalmist's -stage of revelation, and is not to be held by Christians in the same -absolute fashion. If the Davidic origin of the psalm is recognised, -the connection of the king's great sin with all his after-sorrows is -patent. However he had been merciful and compassionate in general, his -own verdict on the man in Nathan's parable was that he "showed no pity," -and that sin bore bitter fruit in all his life. It was the parent of -all the sensual outrages in his own house; it underlay Ahithophel's -treachery; it had much to do in making his reign abhorred; it brought -the fuel which Absalom fired, and if our supposition is right as to the -origin of the sickness spoken of in this psalm, that sin and the remorse -that followed it gnawed at the roots of bodily health. So the psalmist, -if he is indeed the royal sinner, had need to pray for soul-healing -first, even though he was conscious of much compassion and hoped for -its recompense. While he speaks thus to Jehovah, his enemies speak -in a different tone. The "evil" which they utter is not calumny, but -malediction. Their hatred is impatient for his death. The time seems -long till they can hear of it. One of them comes on a hypocritical -visit of solicitude ("see" is used for visiting the sick in 2 Kings -viii. 29), and speaks lying condolence, while he greedily collects -encouraging symptoms that the disease is hopeless. Then he hurries -back to tell how much worse he had found the patient; and that ignoble -crew delight in the good news, and send it flying. This very special -detail goes strongly in favour of the view that we have in this whole -description a transcript of literal, personal experience. There were -plenty of concealed enemies round David in the early stages of Absalom's -conspiracy, who would look eagerly for signs of his approaching death, -which might save the need of open revolt and plunge the kingdom into -welcome confusion. The second strophe ends with the exit of the false -friend. - -The third (vv. 7-9) carries him to the meeting-place of the plotters, -who eagerly receive and retail the good news that the sick man is -worse. They feed their ignoble hate by picturing further ill as laying -hold of him. Their wish is parent to their thought, which is confirmed -by the report of their emissary. "A thing of Belial is poured out on -him," or "is fastened upon him," say they. That unusual expression -may refer either to moral or physical evil. In the former sense it -would here mean the sufferer's sin, in the latter a fatal disease. -The connection makes the physical reference the more likely. This -incurable disease is conceived of as "poured out," or perhaps as -"molten on him," so that it cannot be separated from him. Therefore -he will never rise from his sick-bed. But even this murderous glee -is not the psalmist's sharpest pang. "The man of my peace," trusted, -honoured, admitted to the privileges, and therefore bound by the -obligations, of hospitality so sacred in the old world, has kicked -the prostrate sufferer, as the ass in the fable did the sick lion. -The treachery of Ahithophel at once occurs to mind. No doubt many -treacherous friends have wounded many trustful hearts, but the -correspondence of David's history with this detail is not to be got -rid of by the observation that treachery is common. Still less is it -sufficient to quote Obad. 7, where substantially the same language -is employed in reference to the enemies of Edom, as supporting the -national reference of the present passage. No one denies that false -allies may be described by such a figure, or that nations may be -personified; but is there any event in the post-exilic history which -shows Israel deceived and spurned by trusted allies? The Davidic -authorship and the personal reference of the psalm are separable. But -if the latter is adopted, it will be hard to find any circumstances -answering so fully to the details of the psalm as the Absalomic -rebellion and Ahithophel's treason. Our Lord's quotation of part of -ver. 9, with the significant omission of "in whom I trusted," does not -imply the Messianic character of the psalm, but is an instance of an -event and a saying which were not meant as prophetic, finding fuller -realisation in the life of the perfect type of suffering godliness -than in the original sufferer. - -The last strophe (vv. 10-12) recurs to prayer, and soars to confidence -born of communion. A hand stretched out in need and trust soon comes -back filled with blessings. Therefore here the moment of true petition -is the moment of realised answer. The prayer traverses the malicious -hopes of enemies. They had said, "He will rise no more"; it prays, -"Raise me up." It touches a note which sounds discordant in the desire -"that I may requite them"; and it is far more truly reverential and -appreciative of the progress of revelation to recognise the relative -inferiority of the psalmist's wish to render _quid pro quo_ than to put -violence on his words, in order to harmonise them with Christian ethics, -or to slur over the distinction between the Law, of which the keynote -was retribution, and the Gospel, of which it is forgiveness. - -But the last words of the psalm are sunny with the assurance of present -favour and with boundless hope. The man is still lying on his sick-bed, -ringed by whispering foes. There is no change without, but this change -has passed: that he has tightened his hold of God, and therefore can -feel that his enemies' whispers will never rise or swell into a shout -of victory over him. He can speak of the future deliverance as if -present; and he can look ahead over an indefinite stretch of sunlit -country, scarcely knowing whether the furthest point is earth or no. His -integrity is not sinless, nor does he plead it as a reason for Jehovah's -upholding, but hopes for it as the consequence of His sustaining hand. -He knows that he will have close approach to Jehovah; and though, no -doubt, "for ever" on his lips meant less than it does on ours, his -assurance of continuous communion with God reached, if not to actual, -clear consciousness of immortality, at all events to assurance of a -future so indefinitely extended, and so brightened by the sunlight -of God's face, that it wanted but little additional extension or -brightening to be the full assurance of life immortal. - - - - - BOOK II. - - _PSALMS XLII.-LXXII._ - - - - - PSALMS XLII., XLIII. - - PSALM XLII. - - 1 Like a hind which pants after the water-brooks, - So pants, my soul after Thee, O God. - 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; - When shall I come and appear before God? - 3 My tears have been bread to me day and night, - While they say to me all the day, Where is thy God? - 4 This would I remember, and pour out my soul in me, - How I went with the throng, led them in procession to the house of - God, - With shrill cries of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping - festival. - 5 Why art thou bowed down, my soul, and moanest within me? - Hope in God, for I shall yet give Him thanks, - [As] the help of my countenance and my God. - - 6 Within me is my soul bowed down; - Therefore let me remember Thee from the land of Jordan and of the - Hermons, from Mount Mizar. - 7 Flood calls to flood at the voice of Thy cataracts; - All Thy breakers and rollers are gone over me. - 8 [Yet] by day will Jehovah command His loving-kindness, - And in the night shall a song to Him be with me, - [Even] a prayer to the God of my life. - 9 Let me say to God my Rock, Why hast Thou forgotten me? - Why must I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? - 10 As if they crushed my bones, my adversaries reproach me, - Whilst all the day they say to me, Where is thy God? - 11 Why art thou bowed down, my soul, and why moanest thou within me? - Hope thou in God, for I shall yet give Him thanks - [As] the help of my countenance and my God. - - - PSALM XLIII. - - 1 Do me right, O God, and plead my plea against a loveless nation; - From the man of fraud and mischief rescue me. - 2 For Thou art God my stronghold; why hast Thou cast me off? - Why must I wearily go mourning because of the oppression of the - enemy? - 3 Send out Thy light and Thy troth; let them lead me; - Let them bring me to Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles, - 4 That I may come in to the altar of God, - To God, the gladness of my joy, - And give Thee thanks with the harp, O God, my God. - 5 Why art thou bowed down, my soul, and why moanest thou within me? - Hope in God, for I shall yet give Him thanks, - [As] the help of my countenance and my God. - - -The second book of the Psalter is characterised by the use of the -Divine name "Elohim" instead of "Jehovah." It begins with a cluster -of seven psalms (reckoning Psalms xlii. and xliii. as one) of which -the superscription is most probably regarded as ascribing their -authorship to "the sons of Korach." These were Levites, and (according -to 1 Chron. ix. 19 _seq._) the office of keepers of the door of the -sanctuary had been hereditary in their family from the time of Moses. -Some of them were among the faithful adherents of David at Ziklag -(1 Chron. xii. 6), and in the new model of worship inaugurated by -him the Korachites were doorkeepers and musicians. They retained the -former office in the second Temple (Neh. xi. 19). The ascription of -authorship to a group is remarkable, and has led to the suggestion -that the superscription does not specify the authors, but the persons -for whose use the psalms in question were composed. The Hebrew would -bear either meaning; but if the latter is adopted, all these psalms -are anonymous. The same construction is found in Book I. in Psalms -xxv.-xxviii., xxxv., xxxvii., where it is obviously the designation -of authorship, and it is naturally taken to have the same force -in these Korachite psalms. It has been ingeniously conjectured by -Delitzsch that the Korachite Psalms originally formed a separate -collection entitled "Songs of the Sons of Korach," and that this -title afterwards passed over into the superscriptions when they were -incorporated in the Psalter. It may have been so, but the supposition -is unnecessary. It was not exactly literary fame which psalmists -hungered for. The actual author, as one of a band of kinsmen who -worked and sang together, would, not unnaturally, be content to sink -his individuality and let his song go forth as that of the band. -Clearly the superscriptions rested upon some tradition or knowledge, -else defective information would not have been acknowledged as it is -in this one; but some name would have been coined to fill the gap. - -The two psalms (xlii., xliii.) are plainly one. The absence of a title -for the second, the identity of tone throughout, the recurrence of -several phrases, and especially of the refrain, put this beyond doubt. -The separation, however, is old, since it is found in the LXX. It is -useless to speculate on its origin. - -There is much in the psalms which favours the hypothesis that the -author was a Korachite companion of David's in his flight before -Absalom; but the locality, described as that of the singer, does not -entirely correspond to that of the king's retreat, and the description -of the enemies is not easily capable of application in all points to -his foes. The house of God is still standing; the poet has been there -recently, and hopes soon to return and render praise. Therefore the -psalm must be pre-exilic; and while there is no certainty attainable -as to date, it may at least be said that the circumstances of the -singer present more points of contact with those of the supposed -Korachite follower of David's fortunes on the uplands across Jordan -than with those of any other of the imaginary persons to whom modern -criticism has assigned the poem. Whoever wrote it has given immortal -form to the longings of the soul after God. He has fixed for ever and -made melodious a sigh. - -The psalm falls into three parts, each closing with the same -refrain. Longings and tears, remembrances of festal hours passed in -the sanctuary melt the singer's soul, while taunting enemies hiss -continual sarcasms at him as forsaken by his God. But his truer self -silences these lamentations, and cheers the feebler "soul" with clear -notes of trust and hope, blown in the refrain, like some trumpet-clang -rallying dispirited fugitives to the fight. The stimulus serves for -a moment; but once more courage fails, and once more, at yet greater -length and with yet sadder tones, plaints and longings are wailed -forth. Once more, too, the higher self repeats its half-rebuke, -half-encouragement. So ends the first of the psalms; but obviously it -is no real ending, for the victory over fear is not won, and longing -has not become blessed. So once more the wave of emotion rolls over -the psalmist, but with a new aspect which makes all the difference. -He prays now; he had only remembered and complained and said that he -would pray before. Therefore now he triumphs, and though he still is -keenly conscious of his enemies, they appear but for a moment, and, -though he still feels that he is far from the sanctuary, his heart -goes out in hopeful visions of the gladness of his return thither, -and he already tastes the rapture of the joy that will then flood -his heart. Therefore the refrain comes for a third time; and this -time the longing, trembling soul continues at the height to which the -better self has lifted it, and silently acknowledges that it need -not have been cast down. Thus the whole song is a picture of a soul -climbing, not without backward slips, from the depths to the heights, -or, in another aspect, of the transformation of longing into certainty -of fruition, which is itself fruition after a kind. - -Perhaps the singer had seen, during his exile on the eastern side of -Jordan, some gentle creature, with open mouth and heaving flanks, -eagerly seeking in dry wadies for a drop of water to cool her -outstretched tongue; and the sight had struck on his heart as an -image of himself longing for the presence of God in the sanctuary. A -similar bit of local colour is generally recognised in ver. 7. Nature -reflects the poet's moods, and overmastering emotion sees its own -analogues everywhere. That lovely metaphor has touched the common -heart as few have done, and the solitary singer's plaint has fitted -all devout lips. Injustice is done it, if it is regarded merely as -the longing of a Levite for approach to the sanctuary. No doubt the -psalmist connected communion with God and presence in the Temple more -closely together than they should do who have heard the great charter, -"neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem"; but, however the two -things were coupled in his mind, they were sufficiently separate to -allow of approach by longing and prayer while distant in body, and the -true object of yearning was not access to the Temple, but communion -with the God of the Temple. - -The "soul" is feminine in Hebrew, and is here compared to the female -deer, for "pants" is the feminine form of the verb, though its noun is -masculine. It is better therefore to translate "hind" than "hart." -The "soul" is the seat of emotions and desires. It "pants" and -"thirsts," is "cast down" and disquieted; it is "poured out"; it can -be bidden to "hope." Thus tremulous, timid, mobile, it is beautifully -compared to a hind. The true object of its longings is always God, -however little it knows for what it is thirsting. But they are happy -in their very yearnings who are conscious of the true direction of -these, and can say that it is God for whom they are athirst. All -unrest of longing, all fever of thirst, all outgoings of desire, are -feelers put out blindly, and are only stilled when they clasp Him. The -correspondence between man's needs and their true object is involved -in that name "the living God"; for a heart can rest only in one -all-sufficient Person, and must have a heart to throb against. Neither -abstractions nor dead things can still its cravings. That which does -must be living. But no finite being can still them; and after all -sweetnesses of human loves and helps of human strengths, the soul's -thirst remains unslaked, and the Person who is enough must be the -living God. The difference between the devout and the worldly man is -just that the one can only say, "My soul pants and thirsts," and the -other can add "after Thee, O God." - -This man's longing was intensified by his unwilling exile from the -sanctuary, a special privation to a door-keeper of the Temple. His -situation and mood closely resemble those in another Korachite psalm -(lxxxiv.), in which, as here, the soul "faints for the courts of the -Lord," and as here the panting hind, so there the glancing swallows -flitting about the eaves are woven into the song. Unnamed foes taunt the -psalmist with the question, "Where is thy God?" There is no necessity -to conclude that these were heathens, though the taunt is usually put -into heathen lips (Psalms lxxix. 10; lii. 2) but it would be quite as -natural from co-religionists, flouting his fervour and personal grasp of -God and taking his sorrows as tokens of God's abandonment of him. That -is the world's way with the calamities of a devout man, whose humble -cry, "My God," it resents as presumption or hypocrisy. - -But even these bitter sarcasms are less bitter than the remembrance -of "happier things," which is his "sorrow's crown of sorrow." Yet, -with the strange but universal love of summoning up remembrance of -departed joys, the psalmist finds a certain pleasure in the pain of -recalling how he, a Levite, led the festal march to the Temple, and in -listening in fancy again to the shrill cries of joy which broke from -the tumultuous crowd. The form of the verbs "remember" and "pour out" -in ver. 4 indicates set purpose. - -The higher self arrests this flow of self-pity and lamentation. The -feminine soul has to give account of her moods to calmer judgment, and -to be lifted and steadied by the strong spirit. The preceding verses -have given ample reason why she has been dejected, but now she is -summoned to repeat them to a judicial ear. The insufficiency of the -circumstances described to warrant the vehement emotions expressed is -implied in the summons. Feeling has to vindicate its rationality or -to suppress itself, and its grounds have often only to be stated to -the better self, to be found altogether disproportioned to the storm -they have raised. It is a very elementary but necessary lesson for the -conduct of life that emotion of all sorts, sad or glad, religious or -other, needs rigid scrutiny and firm control, sometimes stimulating -and sometimes chilling. The true counterpoise to its excess lies in -directing it to God and in making Him the object of hope and patient -waiting. Emotion varies, but God is the same. The facts on which faith -feeds abide while faith fluctuates. The secret of calm is to dwell in -that inner chamber of the secret place of the Most High, which whoso -inhabits "heareth not the loud winds when they call," and is neither -dejected nor uplifted, neither disturbed by excessive joys nor torn by -anxieties. - -Ver. 5 has the refrain in a form slightly different from that of the -other two instances of its occurrence (ver. 11 and xliii. 5). But -probably the text is faulty. The shifting of the initial word of ver. -6 to the end of ver. 5, and the substitution of _My_ for _His_, bring -the three refrains into line, and avoid the harsh expression "help of -His countenance." Since no reason for the variation is discernible, -and the proposed slight change of text improves construction and -restores uniformity, it is probably to be adopted. If it is, the -second part of the psalm is also conformed to the other two in regard -to its not beginning with the Divine name. - -The break in the clouds is but momentary, and the grey wrack fills the -sky once more. The second part of the psalm takes up the question of -the refrain, and first reiterates with bitter emphasis that the soul -is bowed down, and then pours out once more the stream of reasons -for dejection. But the curb has not been applied quite in vain, for -throughout the succeeding verses there is a striking alternation -of despondency and hope. Streaks of brightness flash through the -gloom. Sorrow is shot with trust. This conflict of opposite emotions -is the characteristic of the second part of the psalm, while that -of the first part is an all but unrelieved predominance of gloom, -and that of the third an all but undisputed victory of sunshine. -Naturally this transition strophe is marked by the mingling of both. -In the former part, memory was the handmaid of sorrow, and came -involuntarily, and increased the singer's pain; but in this part he -makes an effort of will to remember, and in remembrance finds an -antidote to sorrow. To recall past joys adds stings to present grief, -but to remember God brings an anodyne for the smart. The psalmist -is far from the sanctuary, but distance does not hinder thought. -This man's faith was not so dependent on externals that it could not -come close to God while distant from His temple. It had been so far -strengthened by the encouragement of the refrain that the reflux -of sadness at once rouses it to action. "My soul is cast down; ... -_therefore_ let me remember Thee." With wise resolve he finds in -dejection a reason for nestling closer to God. In reference to the -description of the psalmist's locality, Cheyne beautifully says, "The -preposition 'from' is chosen (rather than 'in') with a subtle purpose. -It suggests that the psalmist's faith will bridge over the interval -between himself and the sanctuary: 'I can send my thoughts to Thee -from the distant frontier'" (_in loc._). The region intended seems -to be "the north-eastern corner of Palestine, near the lower slopes -of Hermon" (Cheyne, _u.s._). The plural "Hermons" is probably used -in reference to the group of crests. "Mizar" is probably the name of -a hill otherwise unknown, and specifies the singer's locality more -minutely, though not helpfully to us. Many ingenious attempts have -been made to explain the name either as symbolical or as a common -noun, and not a proper name, but these need not be dealt with here. -The locality thus designated is too far north for the scene of David's -retreat before Absalom, unless we give an unusual southward extension -to the names; and this makes a difficulty in the way of accepting the -hypothesis of the author's having been in his retinue. - -The twofold emotions of ver. 6 recur in vv. 7, 8, where we have -first renewed despondency and then reaction into hope. The imagery -of floods lifting up their voices, and cataracts sounding as they -fall, and breaking waves rolling over the half-drowned psalmist has -been supposed to be suggested by the scenery in which he was; but the -rushing noise of Jordan in its rocky bed seems scarcely enough to -deserve being described as "flood calling to flood," and "breakers -and rollers" is an exaggeration if applied to any commotion possible -on such a stream. The imagery is so usual that it needs no assumption -of having been occasioned by the poet's locality. The psalmist paints -his calamities as storming on him in dismal continuity, each "flood" -seeming to summon its successor. They rush upon him, multitudinous -and close following; they pour down on him as with the thunder of -descending cataracts; they overwhelm him like the breakers and -rollers of an angry ocean. The bold metaphors are more striking when -contrasted with the opposite ones of the first part. The dry and -thirsty land there and the rush of waters here mean the same thing, so -flexible is nature in a poet's hands. - -Then follows a gleam of hope, like a rainbow spanning the waterfall. -With the alternation of mood already noticed as characteristic, -the singer looks forward, even from the midst of overwhelming seas -of trouble, to a future day when God will give His angel, Mercy or -Loving-kindness, charge concerning him and draw him out of many -waters. That day of extrication will surely be followed by a night -of music and of thankful prayer (for supplication is not the only -element in prayer) to Him who by His deliverance has shown Himself -to be the "God of" the rescued man's "life." The epithet answers to -that of the former part, "the living God," from which it differs -by but one additional letter. He who has life in Himself is the -Giver and Rescuer of our lives, and to Him they are to be rendered -in thankful sacrifice. Once more the contending currents meet in -vv. 9 and 10, in the former of which confidence and hope utter -themselves in the resolve to appeal to God and in the name given to -Him as "my Rock"; while another surge of despondency breaks, in the -question in which the soul interrogates God, as the better self had -interrogated her, and contrasts almost reproachfully God's apparent -forgetfulness, manifested by His delay in deliverance, with her -remembrance of Him. It is not a question asked for enlightenment's -sake, but is an exclamation of impatience, if not of rebuke. Ver. -10 repeats the enemies' taunt, which is there represented as like -crushing blows which broke the bones. And then once more above this -conflict of emotion soars the clear note of the refrain, summoning to -self-command, calmness, and unfaltering hope. - -But the victory is not quite won, and therefore Psalm xliii. follows. -It is sufficiently distinct in tone to explain its separation from -the preceding, inasmuch as it is prayer throughout, and the note -of joy is dominant, even while an undertone of sadness links it -with the previous parts. The unity is vouched by the considerations -already noticed, and by the incompleteness of Psalm xlii. without -such triumphant close and of Psalm xliii. without such despondent -beginning. The prayer of vv. 1, 2, blends the two elements, which -were at war in the second part; and for the moment the darker is -the more prominent. The situation is described as in the preceding -parts. The enemy is called a "loveless nation." The word rendered -"loveless" is compounded of the negative prefix and the word which is -usually found with the meaning of "one whom God favours," or visits -with loving-kindness. It has been much disputed whether its proper -signification is active (one who shows loving-kindness) or passive -(one who receives it). But, considering that loving-kindness is in the -Psalter mainly a Divine attribute, and that, when a human excellence, -it is regarded as derived from and being the echo of experienced -Divine mercy, it is best to take the passive meaning as the principal, -though sometimes, as unmistakably here, the active is more suitable. -These loveless people are not further defined, and may either have -been Israelites or aliens. Perhaps there was one "man" of special -mischief prominent among them, but it is not safe to treat that -expression as anything but a collective. Ver. 2 looks back to xlii. -9, the former clause in each verse being practically equivalent, and -the second in xliii. being a quotation of the second in ver. 9, with a -variation in the form of the verb to suggest more vividly the picture -of weary, slow, dragging gait, fit for a man clad in mourning garb. - -But the gloomier mood has shot its last bolt. Grief which finds no -fresh words is beginning to dry up. The stage of mechanical repetition -of complaints is not far from that of cessation of them. So the higher -mood conquers at last, and breaks into a burst of joyous petition, -which passes swiftly into realisation of the future joys whose coming -shines thus far off. Hope and trust hold the field. The certainty of -return to the Temple overbears the pain of absence from it, and the -vivid realisation of the gladness of worshipping again at the altar -takes the place of the vivid remembrance of former festal approach -thither. It is the prerogative of faith to make pictures drawn by -memory pale beside those painted by hope. Light and Troth--_i.e._, -Loving-kindness and Faithfulness in fulfilling promises--are like -two angels, despatched from the presence-chamber of God, to guide -with gentleness the exile's steps. That is to say, because God is -mercy and faithfulness, the return of the psalmist to the home of -his heart is sure. God being what He is, no longing soul can ever -remain unsatisfied. The actual return to the Temple is desired because -thereby new praise will be occasioned. Not mere bodily presence there, -but that joyful outpouring of triumph and gladness, is the object of -the psalmist's longing. He began with yearning after the living God. -In his sorrow he could still think of Him at intervals as the help of -his countenance and call Him "my God." He ends with naming Him "the -gladness of my joy." Whoever begins as he did will finish where he -climbed. The refrain is repeated for a third time, and is followed by -no relapse into sadness. The effort of faith should be persistent, -even if old bitternesses begin again and "break the low beginnings of -content"; for, even if the wild waters burst through the dam once and -again, they do not utterly wash it away and there remains a foundation -on which it may be built up anew. Each swing of the gymnast lifts him -higher, until he is on a level with a firm platform on which he can -spring and stand secure. Faith may have a long struggle with fear, -but it will have the last word, and that word will be "the help of my -countenance and my God." - - - - - PSALM XLIV. - - 1 O God, with our ears we have heard, - Our fathers have told to us, - The work Thou didst work in their days, - In the days of yore. - 2 Thou [with] Thy hand didst dispossess nations, and didst plant - _them_, - Didst afflict peoples and spread _them_ forth. - 3 For not by their own sword did they possess the land, - And their own arm did not save them, - But Thy right hand and Thine arm, and the light of Thy face, - Because Thou hadst delight in them. - 4 Thou Thyself art my King, O God; - Command salvations for Jacob. - 5 Through Thee can we butt down our oppressors; - In Thy name can we trample those that rise against us. - 6 For not in my own bow do I trust, - And my own sword does not save me. - 7 But Thou hast saved us from our oppressors, - And our haters Thou hast put to shame. - 8 In God have we made our boast all the day, - And Thy name will we thank for ever. Selah. - - 9 Yet Thou hast cast [us] off and shamed us, - And goest not forth with our hosts. - 10 Thou makest us turn back from the oppressor, - And our haters plunder to their hearts' content. - 11 Thou makest us like sheep for food, - And among the nations hast Thou scattered us. - 12 Thou sellest Thy people at no profit, - And hast not increased [Thy wealth] by their price. - 13 Thou makest us a reproach for our neighbours, - A mockery and derision to those around us. - 14 Thou makest us a proverb among the nations, - A nodding of the head among the peoples. - 15 All the day is my dishonour before me, - And the shame of my face has covered me, - 16 Because of the voice of the rebuker and blasphemer, - Because of the face of the enemy and the revengeful. - - 17 All this is come upon us, and [yet] have we not forgotten Thee, - Nor been false to Thy covenant. - 18 Our heart has not turned back, - Nor our footsteps swerved from Thy way. - 19 That Thou shouldest have crushed us in the place of jackals, - And covered us with thick darkness. - 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God - And spread out our hands to a strange God, - 21 Would not God search out this? for He knows the secrets of the - heart. - 22 Nay, for Thy sake are we killed all the day; - We are reckoned as sheep for slaughter. - - 23 Awake; why sleepest Thou, Lord? - Arise; cast not off for ever. - 24 Why hidest Thou Thy face, - Forgettest our affliction and oppression? - 25 For bowed to the dust is our soul; - Our body cleaves to the earth. - 26 Arise [for] a help for us, - And redeem us for Thy loving-kindness' sake. - - -Calvin says that the authorship of this psalm is uncertain, but -that it is abundantly clear that it was composed by any one rather -than David, and that its plaintive contents suit best the time when -the savage tyranny of Antiochus raged. No period corresponds to the -situation which makes the background of the psalm so completely as -the Maccabean, for only then could it be truly said that national -calamities fell because of the nation's rigid monotheism. Other epochs -have been thought of, so as to avoid the necessity of recognising -Maccabean psalms, but none of them can be said to meet the conditions -described in the psalm. The choice lies between accepting the -Maccabean date and giving up the attempt to fix one at all. - -Objections to that late date based upon the history of the completion -of the canon take for granted more accurate and complete knowledge -of a very obscure subject than is possessed, and do not seem strong -enough to negative the indications arising from the very unique fact, -asserted in the psalm, that the nation was persecuted for its faith -and engaged in a religious war. The psalm falls into four parts: a -wistful look backwards to days already "old," when God fought for -them (vv. 1-8); a sad contrast in present oppression (vv. 9-16); -a profession of unfaltering national adherence to the covenant -notwithstanding all these ills (vv. 17-22); and a fervent cry to a God -who seems asleep to awake and rescue His martyred people (vv. 23-26). - -The first part (vv. 1-8) recalls the fact that shone so brightly in -all the past, the continual exercise of Divine power giving victory to -their weakness, and builds thereon a prayer that the same law of His -providence might be fulfilled now. The bitter side of the retrospect -forces itself into consciousness in the next part, but here Memory is -the handmaid of Faith. The whole process of the Exodus and conquest of -Canaan is gathered up as one great "work" of God's hand. The former -inhabitants of the land were uprooted like old trees, to give room for -planting the "vine out of Egypt." Two stages in the settlement are -distinguished in ver. 2: first came the "planting" and next the growth; -for the phrase "didst spread them forth" carries on the metaphor of -the tree, and expresses the extension of its roots and branches. The -ascription of victory to God is made more emphatic by the negatives in -ver. 3, which take away all credit of it from the people's own weapons -or strength. The consciousness of our own impotence must accompany -adequate recognition of God's agency in our deliverances. The conceit -of our own power blinds our vision of His working hand. But what moved -His power? No merit of man's, but the infinite free grace of God's -heart. "The light of Thy face" is the symbol of God's loving regard, -and the deepest truth as to His acts of favour is that they are the -outcome of His own merciful nature. He is His own motive. "Thou hadst -delight in them" is the ultimate word, leading us into sacred abysses of -self-existent and self-originated Deity. The spirit, then, of Israel's -history is contained in these three thoughts: the positive assertion -of God's power as the reason for their victories; the confirmatory -negative, putting aside their own prowess; and the tracing of all God's -work for them solely to His unmerited grace. - -On this grand generalisation of the meaning of past centuries a -prayer is built for their repetition in the prosaic present. The -psalmist did not think that God was nearer in some majestic past -than now. His unchangeableness had for consequence, as he thought, -continuous manifestation of Himself in the same character and relation -to His people. To-day is as full of God as any yesterday. Therefore -ver. 4 begins with an emphatic recognition of the constancy of the -Divine nature in that strong expression "Thou Thyself," and with an -individualising transition for a moment to the singular in "my King," -in order to give most forcible utterance to the thought that He was -the same to each man of that generation as He had been to the fathers. -On that unchanging relation rests the prayer, "Command salvations for -(lit. _of_) Jacob," as if a multitude of several acts of deliverance -stood before God, as servants waiting to be sent on His errands. Just -as God (Elohim) takes the place of Jehovah in this second book of -the Psalter, so in it Jacob frequently stands for Israel. The prayer -is no sooner spoken than the confidence in its fulfilment lifts the -suppliant's heart buoyantly above present defeat, which will in the -next turn of thought insist on being felt. Such is the magic of every -act of true appeal to God. However dark the horizon, there is light if -a man looks straight up. Thus this psalmist breaks into anticipatory -paeans of victory. The vivid image of ver. 5 is taken from the -manner of fighting common to wild horned animals, buffaloes and the -like, who first prostrate their foe by their fierce charge and then -trample him. The individualising "my" reappears in ver. 6, where the -negation that had been true of the ancestors is made his own by the -descendant. Each man must, as his own act, appropriate the universal -relation of God to men and make God his God, and must also disown for -himself reliance on himself. So he will enter into participation in -God's victories. Remembrance of the victorious past and confidence -in a like victorious future blend in the closing burst of praise -and vow for its continuance, which vow takes for granted the future -continued manifestation of deliverances as occasions for uninterrupted -thanksgivings. Well might some long-drawn, triumphant notes from the -instruments prolong the impression of the jubilant words. - -The song drops in the second part (vv. 9-16) from these clear heights -with lyric suddenness. The grim facts of defeat and consequent -exposure to mocking laughter from enemies force themselves into -sight, and seem utterly to contradict the preceding verses. But the -first part speaks with the voice of faith, and the second with that -of sense, and these two may sound in very close sequence or even -simultaneously. In ver. 9 the two verbs are united by the absence of -"us" with the first; and the difference of tense in the Hebrew brings -out the dependence of the second on the first, as effect and cause. -God's rejection is the reason for the nation's disgrace by defeat. -In the subsequent verses the thoughts of rejection and disgrace are -expanded, the former in ver. 9 _b_ to ver. 12, and the latter in vv. -13-16. The poet paints with few strokes the whole disastrous rout. We -see the fated band going out to battle, with no Pillar of Cloud or Ark -of the Covenant at their head. They have but their own weapons and -sinews to depend on--not, as of old, a Divine Captain. No description -of a fight under such conditions is needed, for it can have only one -issue; and so the next clause shows panic-struck flight. Whoever goes -into battle without God comes out of it without victory. Next follows -plundering, as was the savage wont of these times, and there is no -force to oppose the spoilers. The routed fugitives are defenceless and -unresisting as sheep, and their fate is to be devoured, or possibly -the expression "sheep for food" may be substantially equivalent to -"sheep for the slaughter" (ver. 22), and may refer to the usual -butchery of a defeated army. Some of them are slain and others carried -off as slaves. The precise rendering of ver. 12 _b_ is doubtful. -Calvin, and, among the moderns, Hitzig, Ewald, Delitzsch, Cheyne, -take it to mean "Thou didst not set their prices high." Others, such -as Hupfeld, Baethgen, etc., adhere to the rendering, "Thou didst not -increase [Thy wealth] by their price." The general sense is clear, and -as bold as clear. It is almost sarcasm, directed against the Divine -dealings: little has He gained by letting His flock be devoured and -scattered. Hupfeld attaches to the bitter saying a deep meaning: -namely, that the "sale" did not take place "for the sake of profit -or other external worldly ends, as is the case with men, but from -higher disciplinary grounds of the Divine government--namely, simply -as punishment for their sins, for their improvement." Rather it may -indicate the dishonour accruing to the God, according to the ideas -of the old world, when His votaries were defeated; or it may be the -bitter reflection, "We can be of little worth in our Shepherd's eyes -when He parts with us so easily." If there is any hint of tarnish -adhering to the name of God by His people's defeat, the passage to the -second main idea of this part is the easier. - -Defeat brings dishonour. The nearer nations, such as Edomites, -Ammonites, and other ancestral foes, are ready with their gibes. The -more distant peoples make a proverb out of the tragedy, and nod their -heads in triumph and scorn. The cowering creature, in the middle of -this ring of mockers, is covered with shame as he hears the babel of -heartless jests at his expense, and steals a glance at the fierce -faces round him. - -It is difficult to find historical facts corresponding with this -picture. Even if the feature of selling into captivity is treated -as metaphor, the rest of the picture needs some pressure to be made -to fit the conditions of the Maccabean struggle, to which alone the -subsequent avowals of faithfulness to God as the cause of calamity -answer. For there were no such periods of disgraceful defeat and utter -devastation when once that heroic revolt had begun. The third part of -the psalm is in full accord with the religious consciousness of that -Indian summer of national glories; but it must be acknowledged that -the state of things described in this second part does not fit quite -smoothly into the hypothesis of a Maccabean date. - -The third part (vv. 17-22) brings closely together professions of -righteousness, which sound strangely in Christian ears, and complaints -of suffering, and closes with the assertion that these two are cause and -effect. The sufferers are a nation of martyrs, and know themselves to be -so. This tone is remarkable when the nation is the speaker; for though -we find individuals asserting innocence and complaining of undeserved -afflictions in many psalms, a declaration of national conformity with -the Law is in sharp contradiction both to history and to the uniform -tone of prophets. This psalmist asserts not only national freedom from -idolatry, but adherence in heart and act to the Covenant. No period -before the exile was clear of the taint of idol worship and yet darkened -by calamity. We have no record of any events before the persecutions -that roused the Maccabean struggle which answer to the martyr cry of -ver. 22: "For Thy sake we are killed all the day." It may, indeed, be -questioned what is the relation in time of the two facts spoken of in -vv. 17-19. Which comes first, the calamity or the steadfastness? Does -the psalmist mean, "We are afflicted, and yet we are in affliction -true to God," or "We were true to God, and yet are afflicted"? -Probably the latter, as in the remainder of this part. "The place of -jackals" is apparently the field of defeat referred to in the second -part, where obscene creatures would gather to feast on the plundered -corpses. The Christian consciousness cannot appropriate the psalmist's -asseverations of innocence, and the difference between them and it -should not be slurred over. But, on the other hand, his words should -not be exaggerated into charges of injustice against God, nor claims -of absolute sinlessness. He does feel that present national distresses -have not the same origin as past ones had had. There has been no such -falling away as to account for them. But he does not arraign God's -government. He knows why the miseries have come, and that he and his -fellows are martyrs. He does not fling that fact down as an accusation -of Providence, but as the foundation of a prayer and as a plea for God's -help. The words may sound daring; still they are not blasphemy, but -supplication. - -The fourth part is importunate prayer. Its frank anthropomorphisms of a -sleeping God, forgetting His people, surely need little defence. Sleep -withdraws from knowledge of and action on the external world, and hence -is attributed to God, when He allows evils to run unchecked. He is said -to "awake," or, with another figure, to "arise," as if starting from His -throned calm, when by some great act of judgment He smites flourishing -evil into nothingness. Injustice is surely done to these cries of -the _Ecclesia pressa_ when they are supposed to be in opposition to -the other psalmist's word: "He that keepeth Israel slumbers not, nor -sleeps." Some commentators call these closing petitions commonplace; and -so they are. Extreme need and agony of supplication have other things to -think of than originality, and so long as sorrows are so commonplace and -like each other, the cries of the sorrowful will be very much alike. God -is pleased with well-worn prayers, which have fitted many lips, and is -not so fastidious as some critics. - - - - - PSALM XLV. - - 1 My heart seethes [with] goodly speech: - I speak my work (poem) to a king: - My tongue is the pen of a swift scribe. - - 2 Thou art fair beyond the sons of men; - Grace is poured on thy lips: - Therefore God has blessed thee for ever. - 3 Gird thy sword on thy thigh, O hero, - Thy splendour and thy majesty. - 4 [And [in] thy majesty] press forward, ride on, - For the help of truth, and meekness-righteousness: - And thy right hand shall teach thee awe-striking deeds. - 5 Thine arrows are keen-- - The peoples fall under thee-- - Into the heart of the enemies of the king. - 6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and aye: - 7 A sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. - Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity: - Therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee - With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. - 8 Myrrh and aloes [and] cassia [are] all thy robes; - Out of palaces of ivory, stringed instruments make thee glad. - 9 Kings' daughters are among thy favourites: - The consort stands at thy right hand in Ophir gold. - - 10 Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear; - And forget thy people, and thy father's house; - 11 So shall the king desire thy beauty: - For he is thy lord; and bow thou down to him. - 12 And the daughter of Tyre [shall come] with a gift; - The richest among the peoples shall seek thy favour. - 13 All glorious is the king's daughter in the inner palace: - Of cloth of gold is her garment. - 14 In embroidered robes is she led to the king: - Maidens behind her, her friends, are brought to thee. - 15 They are brought with gladness and exultation: - They enter into the palace of the king. - - 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children: - Thou wilt make them princes in all the earth. - 17 I will commemorate thy name through generation after generation: - Therefore shall the peoples praise thee for ever and aye. - - -This is an epithalamion or ode on a king's marriage. The usual -bewildering variety of conjectures as to his identity meets us in -commentaries. The older opinion points to Solomon's marriage to an -Egyptian princess, to which it is objected that he was not a warrior -king, as the monarch of the psalm is. Hitzig regards "daughter of -Tyre," in ver. 12, as a vocative, and therefore looks for a king who -married a Tyrian woman. He is obliged to go to the northern kingdom -to find one, and pitches on Ahab, because Jezebel was the daughter -of "a king of the Zidonians," and Ahab had an "ivory house" (1 Kings -xxii. 39). It is hard to believe that that wedded pair of evil memory -are the originals of the lovely portraits in the psalm, or that a -psalmist would recognise the kingdom of Israel as divinely established -and to be eternally upheld. Besides, the construction of ver. 12, on -which this theory pivots, is doubtful, and the daughter of Tyre there -mentioned is more probably one of the bringers of gifts to the bride. -The attributes of the king and the promises for his descendants cannot -be extended, without incongruity, beyond the Davidic line. Hence -Delitzsch has selected Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, principally -because his wife, Athaliah, was of Tyrian descent, being Jezebel's -daughter, and partly because his father had been a trader, which -accounts for the allusions to gold of Ophir and ivory. These are -slender grounds of identification, to say nothing of the miserable -contrast which Jehoram's reign--a dreary record of apostasy and -defeat, culminating in a tragic death and a dishonoured grave (2 -Chron. xxi.)--would present to the psalm. Some commentators have -thought of the marriage of a Persian king, mainly because the peculiar -word for _consort_ in ver. 9 is employed for Persian queens (Neh. -ii. 6), and also because the Tyrians were tributary to Persia, and -because the sons of the king are to be "called princes in all lands," -which reminds us of Persian satraps. Ewald finally fixed on Jeroboam -II. of Israel. Cheyne ("Orig. of Psalt.") finds the king of the psalm -in Ptolemy Philadelphus, the inspirer, as was believed, of the LXX. -translation, whom Josephus and Philo extol. Its author puts this -identification only as "tentative." Notwithstanding his anticipatory -protest against making Philadelphus' moral character an objection, he -feels that it is an objection; for he urges that its darker shades had -not yet disclosed themselves, and confesses that "a haze of illusion -encompassed our poet," who "overrated this Ptolemy, from taking too -external a view of the Messianic promise, and being flattered by a -Hellenic king's partiality for his people" (_u.s._, 172). Philadelphus -afterwards married his sister. His hands were red with blood. Was a -Jewish psalmist likely to take "up the singing robes of a court poet" -(_u.s._) in honour of a Ptolemy, or to transfer the promises to the -Davidic line to, and to speak of God as the God of, a foreign king? Or -how, if he did, came his song to find and keep a place in the Psalter? -All these conjectures show the hopelessness of identifying the person -intended addressed in the psalm. It is said that a knowledge of the -historical allusions in the Psalter is indispensable to enjoying it. -They would often be helpful if they could be settled, but that is no -reason for elevating conjecture to the place of knowledge. - -One reason for the failure of attempts at identification is that the -language is a world too wide for the best and greatest of Jewish -kings. Much in the psalm applies to a historical occasion, the -marriage of some monarch; but there is much that as obviously goes -beyond it. Either, then, the psalm is hyperbole, outstripping even -poetical licence, or there appear in it characteristics of the ideal -monarch whom the psalmist knew to be promised to Israel. Every king of -Judah by descent and office was a living prophecy. The singer sees the -Messiah shining, as it were, through the shadowy form of the earthly -king, whose limitations and defects, no less than his excellences and -glories, pointed onwards to a greater than Solomon, in whom the "sure -mercies" promised to David should be facts at last. - -The psalm has two main divisions, prefaced by a prelude (ver. 1), and -followed by prediction of happy issue of the marriage and enduring and -wide dominion. The two main parts are respectively addressed to the -royal bridegroom (vv. 2-9) and to the bride (vv. 10-15). - -The singer lays claim to at least _poetic_ inspiration. His heart -is seething or boiling over with goodly words, or perhaps with the -joyful matter which occasions his song--namely, the royal nuptials. He -dedicates his "work" (like the original meaning of "poem"--a thing made) -to "a king," the absence of the definite article suggesting that the -office is more prominent than the person. He sings to a king; therefore -his strains must be lofty. So full is his heart that the swift words -pour out as the stylus of a rapid writer races over the parchment. The -previous musing has been long, the fire has burned slowly; but at last -all is molten, and rushes out, fluent because fervent. - -The picture of the king begins with two features on which the -old-world ideal of a monarch laid stress--personal beauty and gracious -speech. This monarch is fairer than the sons of men. The note of -superhuman excellence is struck at the outset; and though the surface -reference is only to physical beauty, that is conceived of as the -indication of a fair nature which moulds the fair form. - - "For of the soul the body form doth take; - For soul is form, and doth the body make." - -The highest truth of this opening word is realised only in Him of whom -it was also said, in apparent contradiction, but real harmony with it, -"His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than -the sons of men." The craving for "whatsoever things are lovely," like -all other desires, has for its object Jesus Christ. Another kingly -excellence is sweet courtesy of speech. Possibly, indeed, the "grace -poured on the lips" may mean the gracious smile which moulds their -curves, but more likely it refers to the kindly speech that so well -become a mouth that can command. The sweetest examples of such words -are poor beside "the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth." -The psalmist's ideal is that of a gentle king. Where else than in the -King whose sceptre was a reed, not an iron rod, has it been fulfilled? - - "Nor know we anything more fair - Than is the smile upon Thy face." - -From such characteristics the psalmist draws an inference--"therefore -God hath blessed thee for ever"; for that "therefore" does not -introduce the result of the preceding excellences, but the cause of -them. The psalmist knows that God has blessed the king because he sees -these beauties. They are the visible signs and tokens of the Divine -benediction. In its reference to Christ, the thought expressed is that -His superhuman beauty is to all men the proof of a unique operation of -God. Abiding divinity is witnessed by perfect humanity. - -The scene changes with startling suddenness to the fury of battle. -In a burst of lyric enthusiasm, forgetting for a moment nuptials and -wedding marches, the singer calls on the king to array himself for war -and to rush on the foe. Very striking is this combination of gentleness -and warrior strength--a union which has been often realised in heroic -figures, which is needful for the highest type of either, and which is -fulfilled in the Lamb of God, who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The -king is to gird on his sword, and to array himself, as in glittering -armour, in his splendour and majesty, and, thus arrayed, to mount his -chariot, or, less probably, to bestride his war-horse, and hurl himself -on the yielding ranks of the enemy. "Press forward, drive (or _ride_) -on," crushing obstacles and forcing a path. But Israel's king could be -no vulgar conqueror, impelled by lust of dominion or "glory." His sword -is to be girt on for the help or "on behalf of truth, meekness, and -righteousness." These abstracts may be used for concretes--namely, the -possessors of the qualities named. But the limitation is not necessary. -The monarch's warfare is for the spread of these. The Hebrew binds -the two latter closely together by an anomalous construction, which -may be represented by connecting the two words with a hyphen. They -are regarded as a double star. Then follows a verse of hurry: "Thy -right hand shall teach thee awe-striking deeds." He has no allies. -The canvas has no room for soldiers. The picture is like the Assyrian -sculptures, in which the king stands erect and alone in his chariot, a -giant in comparison with the tiny figures beneath him. Like Rameses in -Pentaur's great battle-song, "he pierced the line of the foe; ... he -was all alone, no other with him." Then follow three abrupt clauses, -reflecting in their fragmentary character the stress of battle: "Thine -arrows are sharp--The peoples fall under thee--In the heart of the -enemies of the king." The bright arrow is on the string; it whizzes; -the plain is strewed with prostrate forms, the king's shaft in the -heart of each. It is no mere fanciful spiritualising which sees in this -picture an adumbration of the merciful warfare of Christ all through -the ages. We get to the kernel of the history of Israel when we regard -it as the preparation for Christ. We understand the _raison d'etre_ of -its monarchy when we see in these poor shadows the types of the King -of men, who was to be all that they should have been and were not. The -world-wide conflict for truth and meekness and righteousness is His -conflict, and the help which is done on earth He doeth it all Himself. -The psalm waits for its completion still, and will wait until the day -when the marriage supper of the Lamb is preceded by the last battle and -crowning victory of Him who "in righteousness doth judge and make war." - -All the older versions take "God," in ver. 6 _a_, as a vocative, -while most moderns seek another construction or text. "The sum of the -matter is that the only natural rendering of the received text is that -of the Versions, 'Thy throne, O God'" (Cheyne, _in loc._). Three -renderings have been proposed, all of which are harsh. "Thy throne -is the throne of God," etc., is Ewald's suggestion, revived from a -Jewish expositor, and adopted widely by many recent commentators, -and in the margin of the R.V. It is clumsy, and leaves it doubtful -whether the stress of the assertion lies on the Divine appointment -or on the eternal duration of the throne. "Thy God's throne is," -etc., is very questionable grammatically, and extremely harsh. The -only other suggested rendering, "Thy throne is God," etc., may fairly -be pronounced impossible. If the vocative construction is retained, -are we shut up to Cheyne's further opinion, that "the only natural -interpretation [is] that of the Targum, 'Thy throne, O Jehovah'"? -If so, we shall be obliged to admit textual corruption; for a -reference to the eternal duration of Jehovah's dominion is quite -out of place here, where the parallelism of the next clause demands -some characteristic of the king's throne corresponding to that of -his sceptre, there stated. But in Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 8, and Psalm -lxxxii. 6, the name God (Elohim) is applied to rulers and judges, on -the ground, as our Lord puts it, in John x. 35, that "unto them the -word of God came"--_i.e._, that they were theocratic officers. The -designation, therefore, of the king as Elohim is not contrary to the -Hebrew line of thought. It does not predicate divinity, but Divine -preparation for and appointment to office. The recurrence of Elohim -(God) in its full Divine signification in the next verse is felt by -many to be an insuperable objection to recognising the lower sense -here. But the emphatic "thy God," which is appended to the name in -ver. 7, seems expressly intended to distinguish between the uses of -the word in the two verses. August, then, as the title is, it proves -nothing as to the divinity of the person addressed. We recognise -the prophetic character of the psalm, and strongly believe that it -points onwards to Christ the King. But we cannot take the ascription -of the title "O God" as having reference to His Divine nature. Such -a thought lay far beyond the prophetic horizon. The Old Testament -usage, which is appealed to in order to justify the translation of -the word "God" as a vocative, must govern its meaning. The careful -distinction drawn by the expressions of ver. 7, between the lower and -higher senses of the name, forbid the attempt to find here a premature -and anomalous statement of deep truth, for which the ages were not -ripe. While we, who know the full truth, may permissibly apply the -psalmist's words as its expression, we must not forget that in so -doing we are going beyond their real meaning. The controversies waged -over the construction of this verse have sometimes been embittered -by the supposition that it was a buttress for the truth of Christ's -Divine nature. But that is a mistake. The psalm goes no further than -to declare that the king is divinely endowed and appointed. It does -outline a character fairer than the sons of men, which requires -indwelling Deity for its realisation in humanity. But it does not -speak the decisive word, which alone could solve the mystery of its -requirement, by proclaiming the fact of incarnation. - -The perpetuity of the king's throne is guaranteed, not only by his -theocratic appointment by God, but by the righteousness of his rule. -His sceptre is not a rod of iron, but "a sceptre of uprightness." -He is righteous in character as well as in official acts. He "loves -righteousness," and therefore cannot but "hate iniquity." His broad -shield shelters all who love and seek after righteousness, and he -wars against evil wherever it shows itself. Therefore his throne -stands firm, and is the world's hope. A singer who had grasped the -truth that power divorced from justice could not endure was far in -advance of his time. The nations have not yet learned his lesson. The -vast robber-kingdoms which seemed to give the lie to his faith have -confirmed it by their evanescence. - -The king's love of righteousness leads to his being "anointed with -the oil of gladness above his fellows." This anointing is not that of -a coronation, but that of a feast. His "fellows" may either be other -kings or his attendant companions at his marriage. The psalmist looks -as deep into individual life as he has just done into politics, and -ascribes to righteousness lofty powers in that region too. The heart -which loves it will be joyful, whatever befalls. Conformity to the -highest ideal known to a man, or, at all events, hearty love thereof, -leading to efforts after it, is the surest foundation for lasting and -deep joy. Since Christ is the fulfilment of the psalmist's picture, -and perfectly realised the perfection of manhood, the psalmist's words -here are most fully applicable to Him. - -True, He was "a man of sorrows," but beneath His sorrow had abiding -and central joy, which He bequeathed to us, with the assurance that -to possess it would make our joy full. His pure manhood was ever in -touch with God, and lived in conscious righteousness, and therefore -there was ever light within, though there was darkness around. He, the -saddest, was likewise the gladdest of men, and "anointed with the oil -of joy above His fellows." - -In ver. 8 the Psalm reaches its main theme--the marriage of the king. -The previous verses have painted his grace of person, his heroic deeds -in battle, and his righteous rule. Now he stands ready to pass into the -palace to meet his bride. His festival robes are so redolent of perfumes -that they seem to be composed of nothing but woven fragrance. There are -difficulties in the rendering of ver. 8 _a_, but that adopted above -is generally accepted as the most probable. The clause then describes -the burst of jubilant music which welcomed and rejoiced the king as he -approached the "palaces of ivory," where his bride waited his coming. - -Ver. 9 carries the king into his harem. The inferior wives are -of royal blood, but nearest him and superior to these is the -queen-consort glittering with golden ornaments. This feature of -the psalmist's description can only have reference to the actual -historical occasion of the psalm, and warns against overlooking that -in seeking a prophetic reference to the Christ in every particular. - -The second half of the psalm is an address to the bride and a -description of her beauty and state. The singer assumes a fatherly -tone, speaking to her as "daughter." She is a foreigner by birth, -and is called upon to give up all her former associations, with -whole-hearted consecration to her new duties. It is difficult to -imagine Jezebel or Athaliah as the recipient of these counsels, nor -does it seem to the present writer to add anything to the enjoyment -of the psalm that the person to whom they were addressed should be -identified. The exhortation to give up all for love's sake goes to -the heart of the sacred relation of husband and wife, and witnesses -to the lofty ideal of that relation which prevailed in Israel, even -though polygamy was not forbidden. The sweet necessity of wedded love -subordinates all other love, as a deeper well, when sunk, draws the -surface waters and shallower springs into itself. - - "The rich, golden shaft - Hath killed the flock of all affections else - That live in her." - -The king sung of in the psalm was a type of Christ. Every true -marriage is in the same fashion a type of the union of the soul with -Jesus, the lover of all, the bridegroom of humanity. So it is not -arbitrary spiritualising, but recognition of the nobleness of the -lower love and of its essential similarity with the highest, when the -counsel to this bride is regarded as shadowing the duties of the soul -wedded to Christ. If a heart is really influenced by love to Him, -that love will make self-surrender blessed. A child gladly drops toys -when it stretches out its little hand for better gifts. If we are -joined to Jesus, we shall not be unwilling to "count all things but -loss for the excellency of the knowledge" of Him. Have the terms of -wedded life changed since this psalm was written? Have the terms of -Christian living altered since it was said, "Whosoever he be of you -that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple"? The -law still remains, "Daughter, forget thine own people and Thy father's -house." The exhortation is followed by a promise: "So shall the king -desire thy beauty." The application of these words to the relations -of Christ and His people carries with it a striking thought that He -is affected by the completeness of our self-surrender and dependence. -He pours love on the unworthy, but that is a different thing from -the love with which He responds to such abandonment of self and other -loves. Holy, noble living will bring a smile into His face and draw -Him nearer to us. - -But whilst there is all this sweet commerce of love and giving, the -bride is reminded that the king is her lord, and is to be reverenced -as well as loved. There is here, no doubt, the influence of an archaic -mode of regarding marriage and the wife's position. But it still is -true that no woman finds all that her heart needs in her husband, -unless she can bring her reverence where she has brought her love; -and that love will not long remain if reverence departs. Nor is the -warning less needed in the higher region of the wedlock of the soul -with the Saviour. Some types of emotional religion have more to say -about love than about obedience. They are full of half-wholesome -apostrophes to a "dear Lord," and are apt to forget the last word in -the emphasis which they put on the first. The beggar-maid married to a -king was full of reverence as well as love; and the souls whom Jesus -stoops to love and wash and wed are never to forget to blend adoration -with approach and obedience with love. - -A picture of the reflected honour and influence of the bride follows -in ver. 12. When she stands by the king's side, those around recognise -her dignity, and seek to secure her favour. Hupfeld, Hitzig, and -others take "daughter of Tyre" to be a vocative, addressed to the -bride, who is, according to their view, a Tyrian princess. But -there is a strong grammatical objection to that construction in the -copula ("and") prefixed to "daughter," which is never so prefixed -to a vocative unless preceded by another vocative. Delitzsch, -Baethgen, Perowne, and Cheyne agree in recognising the force of -that consideration, and the three former regard the phrase not as a -vocative, but as a nominative. It is a personification of the Tyrians -according to a familiar idiom. The clause is elliptical, and has to -be supplemented by supposing that the same verb, which appears in the -next clause in the plural, is to be supplied in thought, just as that -clause requires the supplement of "with a gift" from this one. There -appears to be some flaw in the text, as the clauses are unsymmetrical, -and possibly the punctuators have marked a hiatus by the sign (Pasek) -after the word "daughter of Tyre." To "seek thy favour" is literally -to "smooth thy face"--a graphic representation. In the highest region, -which we regard the psalm as adumbrating, the words have fulfilment. -The bride standing by her bridegroom, and showing her love and -devotion by self-abandonment and reverence, will be glorious in the -eyes of those around. They who manifestly live in loving communion -with their Lord will be recognised for what they are, and, though -sometimes hated therefor, will also be honoured. When the Church has -cast all but Christ out of its heart, it will conquer the world. "The -sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee." - -In vv. 13-15 the bride's apparel and nuptial procession are described. -She is "all glorious within,"--by which is not meant, as ordinarily -supposed, that she possesses an inner beauty of soul, but that the -poet conceives of her as standing in the inner chamber, where she -has been arrayed in her splendour. Krochmal, followed by Graetz -and Cheyne, changes the text so as to read _corals_, or, as Cheyne -renders, _pearls_ (Heb. _p'ninim_), for _within_ (_p'ninah_), and -thus preserves unity of subject in the verse by removing the local -designation. But the existing reading is intelligible. In ver. 14 -the marriage procession is described. The words rendered "embroidered -robes" are by some taken to mean "tapestry of divers colours" -(Perowne), or richly woven carpets spread for the bride to walk on, -and by others (Hitzig, Riehm) gay-coloured cushions, to which she is -led in order to sit beside the bridegroom. But the word means apparel -elsewhere, and either of the other meanings introduces an irrelevant -detail of another kind into the picture. The analogy of other -Scripture metaphors leads at once to interpreting the bride's attire -as symbolic of the purity of character belonging to the Church. The -Apocalypse dresses "the Lamb's wife" in "fine linen, clean and white." -The psalm arrays her in garments gleaming with gold, which symbolise -splendour and glory, and in embroidered robes, which suggest the -patient use of the slow needle, and the variegated harmony of colour -attained at last. There is no marriage between Christ and the soul, -unless it is robed in the beauty of righteousness and manifold graces -of character. In other places we read that the bride "made _herself_ -ready," and also that "to her was _granted_ that she should be arrayed -in fine linen, clean and white," in which sayings are set forth the -double sources of such a garment of the soul. It is a gift from above. -It is "put on" by continual effort, based on faith. The picture of the -home-coming of the bride follows. She is attended by her maidens, and -with them she passes into the palace amid joys and exultation. The -psalm stops at the threshold. It is not for the singer to draw back -the curtains and let in the day. "The door was shut." The presence of -virgin companions waiting on the bride no more interferes with the -application of the psalm to Christ and His Church than the similar -representation brings confusion into our Lord's parable of the Ten -Virgins. Parables and symbols are elastic, and often duplicate their -representations of the same thing; and such is the case here. - -The closing verses are addressed, not to the bride, but to the king, -and can only in a very modified way and partially be supposed to pass -beyond the Jewish monarch and refer to the true King. Hopes that he -might be blessed with fortunate issue of the marriage were quite -in place in an epithalamion, and the delicacy of the light touch -with which this closing note is struck is noteworthy, especially in -contrast with the tone of many famous secular songs of similar import. -But much straining is needed to extract a spiritual sense from the -words. Perowne truly says that it is "wiser to acknowledge at once -the mixed character" of the psalm, and he quotes a sagacious saying -of Calvin's to the effect that it is not necessary that every detail -should be carefully fitted to Christ. The psalm had a historical -basis; and it has also a prophetic meaning, because the king of Israel -was himself a type, and Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the ideal -never realised by its successive occupants. Both views of its nature -must be kept in view in its interpretation; and it need cause no -surprise if, at some points, the rind of prose fact is, so to speak, -thicker than at others, or if certain features absolutely refuse to -lend themselves to the spiritual interpretation. - - - - - PSALM XLVI. - - 1 God is a refuge and stronghold for us, - A help in troubles most readily to be found. - 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth do change, - And the mountains reel into the heart of the sea. - 3 Let its waters roar and foam; - Let mountains shake at its pride. Selah. - [Jehovah of hosts is with us; - A high tower for us is Jacob's God.] - - 4 [There is] a river--its branches make glad the city of God - The sanctuary of the tabernacles of the Most High. - 5 God is in her midst; she shall not be moved: - God shall help her at the morning dawn. - 6 Nations roared, kingdoms were moved: - He gave forth His voice, the earth melts. - 7 Jehovah of hosts is with us; - A high tower for us is Jacob's God. Selah. - - 8 Come, behold the deeds of Jehovah, - Who has made desolations in the earth. - 9 Quelling wars to the end of the earth: - The bow He breaks, and hews the spear in splinters; - The chariots He burns in the fire. - 10 "Desist, and know that I am God: - I will be exalted in the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - 11 Jehovah of hosts is with us; - A high tower for us is Jacob's God. Selah. - - -There are two events, one or other of which probably supplies the -historical basis of this and the two following psalms. One is -Jehoshaphat's deliverance from the combined forces of the bordering -nations (2 Chron. xx.). Delitzsch adopts this as the occasion of -the psalm. But the other more usually accepted reference to the -destruction of Sennacherib's army is more probable. Psalms xlvi. and -xlviii. have remarkable parallelisms with Isaiah. The noble contrast -of the quiet river which makes glad the city of God with a tossing, -earth-shaking sea resembles the prophet's threatening that the -effect of refusing the "waters of Shiloah which go softly" would be -inundation by the strong and mighty river, the Assyrian power. And the -emblem is expanded in the striking language of Isa. xxxiii. 21: "The -glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; -wherein shall go no galley with oars." Encircled by the flashing -links of that broad moat, Jerusalem sits secure. Again, the central -thought of the refrain in the psalm, "The Lord of hosts is with us," -is closely allied to the symbolic name which Isaiah gave as a pledge -of deliverance, "Immanuel, God with us." - -The structure is simple. The three strophes into which the psalm -falls set forth substantially the same thought, that God's presence -is safety and peace, whatever storms may roar. This general theme -is exhibited in the first strophe (vv. 1-3) in reference to natural -convulsions; in the second (vv. 4-7) in reference to the rage of -hostile kingdoms; and in the third (vv. 8-11) men are summoned to -behold a recent example of God's delivering might, which establishes -the truth of the preceding utterances and has occasioned the psalm. -The grand refrain which closes the second and third strophes should -probably be restored at the end of ver. 3. - -In the first strophe the psalmist paints chaos come again, by the -familiar figures of a changed earth, tottering mountains sinking in -the raging sea from which they rose at creation, and a wild ocean -with thunderous dash appalling the ear and yeasty foam terrifying -the eye, sweeping in triumphant insolence over all the fair earth. -It is prosaic to insist on an allegorical meaning for the picture. -It is rather a vivid sketch of utter confusion, dashed in with three -or four bold strokes, an impossible case supposed in order to bring -out the unshaken calm of those who have God for ark in such a deluge. -He is not only a sure refuge and stronghold, but one easy of access -when troubles come. There is little good in a fortress, however -impregnable, if it is so difficult to reach that a fugitive might be -slain a hundred times before he was safe in it. But this high tower, -which no foe can scale, can be climbed at a thought, and a wish lifts -us within its mighty walls. The psalmist speaks a deep truth, verified -in the spiritual life of all ages, when he celebrates the refuge of -the devout soul as "most readily to be found." - -As the text stands, this strophe is a verse too short, and ver. -3 drags if connected with "will not we fear." The restoration of -the refrain removes the anomaly in the length of the strophe, and -enables us to detach ver. 3 from the preceding. Its sense is then -completed, if we regard it as the protasis of a sentence of which -the refrain is the apodosis, or if, with Cheyne and others, we take -ver. 3, "Let its waters roar," etc.--what of that? "Jehovah of hosts -is with us." If the strophe is thus completed, it conforms to the -other two, in each of which may be traced a division into two pairs -of verses. These two verse-pairs of the first strophe would then be -inverted parallelism,--the former putting security in God first, and -surrounding trouble second, the latter dealing with the same two -subjects, but in reversed sequence. - -The second strophe brings a new picture to view with impressive -suddenness, which is even more vividly dramatic if the refrain is not -supplied. Right against the vision of confusion comes one of peace. -The abrupt introduction of "a river" as an isolated noun, which -dislocates grammatical structure, is almost an exclamation. "There -is a river" enfeebles the swing of the original. We might almost -translate, "Lo! a river!" Jerusalem was unique among historical cities -in that it had no great river. It had one tiny thread of water, of -which perhaps the psalmist is thinking. But whether there is here the -same contrast between Siloam's gentle flow and the surging waters of -hostile powers as Isaiah sets forth in the passage already referred -to (Isa. viii. 6), the meaning of this gladdening stream is the -ever-flowing communication of God Himself in His grace. The stream is -the fountain in flow. In the former strophe we hear the roar of the -troubled waters, and see the firm hills toppling into their depths. -Now we behold the gentle flow of the river, gliding through the city, -with music in its ripples and sunshine in its flash and refreshment -in its waters, parting into many arms and yet one in diversity, and -bringing life and gladness wherever it comes. Not with noise nor -tumult, but in silent communication, God's grace and peace refresh the -soul. Power is loud, but Omnipotence is silent. The roar of all the -billows is weak when compared with the quiet sliding onwards of that -still stream. It has its divisions. As in old days each man's bit of -garden was irrigated by a branch led from the stream, so in endless -diversity, corresponding to the infinite greatness of the source and -the innumerable variety of men's needs, God's grace comes. "All these -worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man -severally." The streams gladden the city of God with the gladness of -satisfied thirsts, with the gladness which comes from the contact of -the human spirit with Divine completeness. So supplied, the city may -laugh at besiegers. It has unfailing supplies within itself, and the -enemy may cut off all surface streams, but its "water shall be sure." - -Substantially the same thought is next stated in plain words: "God is -in the midst of her." And therefore two things follow. One is unshaken -stability, and another is help at the right time--"at the turn of the -morning." "The Lord is in the midst of her"--that is a perennial fact. -"The Lord shall help her"--that is the "grace for seasonable help." -He, not we, determines when the night shall thin away its blackness -into morning twilight. But we may be sure that the presence which is -the pledge of stability and calm even in storm and darkness will flash -into energy of help at the moment when He wills. The same expression -is used to mark the time of His looking from the pillar of cloud and -troubling the Egyptians, and there may be an allusion to that standing -instance of His help here. "It is not for you to know the times and the -seasons"; but this we may know--that the Lord of all times will always -help at the right time; He will not come so quickly as to anticipate our -consciousness of need, nor delay so long as to let us be irrevocably -engulfed in the bog. "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. -When He heard _therefore_ that he was sick, He abode two days still in -the same place where He was." Yet He came in time. - -With what vigour the short, crashing clauses of ver. 6 describe the -wrath and turbulence of the nations, and the instantaneous dissolving -of their strength into weakness at a word from those awful lips! -The verse may be taken as hypothetical or as historical. In either -case we see the sequence of events as by a succession of lightning -flashes. The hurry of the style, marked by the omission of connecting -particles, reflects the swiftness of incident, like _Veni, vidi, -vici_. The utterance of God's will conquers all. At the sound of that -voice stillness and a pause of dread fall on the "roar" (same word as -in ver. 3) of the nations, like the hush in the woods when thunder -rolls. He speaks, and all meaner sounds cease. "The lion hath roared, -who shall not fear?" No material vehicle is needed. To every believer -in God there is an incomprehensible action of the Divine Will on -material things; and no explanations bridge the gulf recognised in the -psalmist's broken utterances, which declare sequence and not mode of -operation: "He uttered His voice, the earth melted." - -Again the triumph of the refrain peals forth, with its musical -accompaniment prolonging the impression. In it the psalmist gives -voice, for himself and his fellows, to their making their own of the -general truths which the psalm has been declaring. The two names of -God set forth a twofold ground for confidence. "Jehovah of hosts" is -all the more emphatic here since the Second Book of the Psalter is -usually Elohistic. It proclaims God's eternal, self-existent Being, -and His covenant relation, as well as His absolute authority over the -ranked forces of the universe, personal or impersonal, spiritual or -material. The Lord of all these legions is with us. When we say "The -God of Jacob," we reach back into the past and lay hold of the Helper -of the men of old as ours. What He has been, He is; what He did, He -is doing still. The river is full to-day, though the van of the army -did long ago drink and were satisfied. The bright waters are still as -pellucid and abundant as then, and the last of the rear-guard will -find them the same. - -The third strophe summons to contemplate with fixed attention the -"desolations" made by some great manifestation of God's delivering -power. It is presupposed that these are still visible. Broken bows, -splintered spears, half-charred chariots, strew the ground, and Israel -can go forth without fear and feast their eyes on these tokens of -what God has done for them. The language is naturally applied to the -relics of Sennacherib's annihilated force. In any case it points to a -recent act of God's, the glad surprise of which palpitates all through -the psalm. The field of history is littered with broken, abandoned -weapons, once flourished in hands long since turned to dust; and the -city and throne of God against which they were lifted remain unharmed. -The voice which melted the earth speaks at the close of the psalm; -not now with destructive energy, but in warning, through which tones -of tenderness can be caught. God desires that foes would cease their -vain strife before it proves fatal. "Desist" is here an elliptical -expression, of which the full form is "Let your hands drop"; or, as -we say, "Ground your weapons," and learn how vain is a contest with -Him who is God, and whose fixed purpose is that all nations shall -know and exalt Him. The prospect hinted at in the last words, of a -world submissive to its King, softens the terrors of His destructive -manifestations, reveals their inmost purpose, and opens to foes the -possibility of passing, not as conquerors, but as subjects, and -therefore fellow-citizens, through the gate into the city. - - - - - PSALM XLVII. - - 1 All ye peoples, clap [your] hands; - Shout to God with joyful cry. - 2 For Jehovah is most High [and] dread, - A great King over all the earth. - 3 He subdues peoples under us, - And nations under our feet, - 4 He chooses for us our inheritance, - The pride of Jacob whom He loved. Selah. - - 5 God is gone up with a shout, - Jehovah with trumpet clang. - 6 Sing with the harp to God, sing with the harp: - Sing with the harp to our King, sing with the harp. - 7 For King of all the earth is God: - Sing with the harp a skilful song. - 8 God has become King over the nations: - He has taken His seat on His holy throne. - - 9 The princes of the peoples gather themselves together - [As] a people of the God of Abraham: - For to God belong the shields of the earth; - Greatly has He exalted Himself. - - -The closing thought of Psalm xlvi. is nobly expanded in this jubilant -summons to all nations to praise Jehovah as their King. Both psalms have -a similar, and probably the same, historical basis: a Divine act so -recent that the tumult of triumph has not yet subsided, and the waves of -joy still run high. Only in Psalm xlvi. the effect of that God-wrought -deliverance is principally regarded as the security and peace of Israel, -and in this psalm as the drawing of the nations to obey Israel's King, -and so to join the chorus of Israel's praise. While the psalm has many -resemblances to the Songs of the King (Psalm xciii. _seqq._), it is -clearly in its right place here, as forming with the preceding and -succeeding psalms a trilogy, occasioned by one great manifestation of -God's care for the nation. No event is more appropriate than the usually -accepted destruction of Sennacherib's army. The psalm has little of -complexity in structure or thought. It is a gush of pure rapture. It -rises to prophetic foresight, and, by reason of a comparatively small -historical occasion, has a vision of the world-wide expansion of the -kingdom of God. It falls into two strophes of four verses each, with one -longer verse appended to the latter. - -In the first strophe the nations are invited to welcome God as their -King, not only because of His Divine exaltation and world-wide -dominion, but also because of His deeds for "Jacob." The same -Divine act which in Psalm xlvi. is represented as quelling wars -and melting the earth, and in Psalm xlviii. as bringing dismay, -pain, and flight, is here contemplated as attracting the nations -to worship. The psalmist knows that destructive providences have -their gracious aspect, and that God's true victory over men is not -won when opposition is crushed and hearts made to quake, but when -recognition of His sway and joy in it swell the heart. The quick -clatter of clapping hands in sign of homage to the King (2 Kings xi. -12) blends with the shrill cries with which Easterns express joy, in -"a tumult of acclaim." Hupfeld thinks that to suppose the heathen -called upon to do homage because of the victory for Israel won over -them is entirely mistaken. But unless that victory is the reason for -the summons, the psalm offers none; and it is surely not difficult -to suppose that the exhibition of God's power leads to reflection -which issues in recognition of His sovereignty. Vv. 3, 4, seem to -state the grounds for the summons in ver. 1. The tenses in these -verses present a difficulty in the way of taking them for a historical -retrospect of the conquest and partition of Canaan, which but for -that objection would be the natural interpretation. It is possible -to take them as "a truth of experience inferred from what had just -been witnessed, the historical fact being expressed not in historical -form, but generalised and idealised" (Delitzsch, _in loc._). The -just accomplished deliverance repeated in essence the wonders of the -first entrance on possession of the land, and revealed the continuous -working of the same Divine hand, ever renewing the choice of Jacob's -inheritance, and ever scattering its enemies. "The pride of Jacob" -is a phrase in apposition with "our inheritance." The Holy Land was -the object of "pride" to "Jacob," not in an evil sense but in that he -boasted of it as a precious treasure intrusted to him by God. The root -fact of all God's ancient and continued blessings is that He "loved." -His own heart, not Jacob's deserts, prompted His mercies. - -The second strophe is distinguished from the first by the increased -fervour of its calls to praise, by its still more exultant rush, and -by its omission of reference to Jacob. It is wholly concerned with the -peoples whom it invites to take up the song. As in the former strophe -the singer showed to the peoples God working in the world, here he bids -them look up and see Him ascending on high. "Now that He ascended, -what is it but that He also descended first?" The mighty deliverance -of which the triumph throbs through this trilogy of paeans of victory -was God's coming down. Now He has gone back to His throne and seated -Himself thereon, not as having ceased to work in the world--for He is -still King over it all--but as having completed a delivering work. -He does not withdraw when He goes up. He does not cease to work here -below when He sits throned in His palace-temple above. The "shout" and -"voice of a trumpet," which accompany that ascent, are borrowed from the -ordinary attendants on a triumphal procession. He soars as in a chariot -of praises,--from whose lips the psalm does not say, but probably it -intends Israel to be understood as the singer. To that choir the nations -are called to join their voices and harps, since God is their King too, -and not Jacob's only. The word rendered in the A.V. and R.V. (text) -"with understanding" is a noun, the name of a description of psalm, -which occurs in several psalm titles, and is best understood as "a -skilful song." Ver. 8 gathers up the reasons for the peoples' homage to -God. He has "become King" over them by His recent act, having manifested -and established His dominion; and He has now "sat down on His throne," -as having accomplished His purpose, and as thence administering the -world's affairs. - -A final verse, of double the length of the others, stands somewhat -apart from the preceding strophe both in rhythm and in thought. It -crowns the whole. The invitations to the nations are conceived of as -having been welcomed and obeyed. And there rises before the poet's -eye a fair picture of a great convocation, such as might wait before -a world-ruling monarch's throne on the day of his coronation. The -princes of the nations, like tributary kings, come flocking to do -homage, "as if they surely knew their sovereign Lord was by." - -The obliteration of distinction between Israel and the nations, by the -incorporation of the latter, so that "the peoples" become part of the -"people of the God of Abraham," floats before the singer's prophetic -eye, as the end of God's great manifestation of Himself. The two parts -of that double choir, which the preceding strophes summon to song, -coalesce at last, and in grand unison send up one full-throated, -universal melodious shout of praise. "The shields of the earth" are -best understood as a figurative expression for the princes just spoken -of, who now at last recognise to whom they belong. Thus God has -exalted Himself by His deeds; and the result of these deeds is that He -is greatly exalted by the praise of a world, in which Israel and the -"peoples" dwell as one beneath His sceptre and celebrate His name. - -The psalmist looked far ahead. His immediate experience was as "a -little window through which he saw great matters." The prophecy of -the universal spread of God's kingdom and the inclusion in it of the -Gentiles is Messianic; and whether the singer knew that he spoke -of a fair hope which should not be a fact for weary centuries, or -anticipated wider and permanent results from that triumph which -inspired his song, he spake of the Christ, and his strains are true -prophecies of His dominion. There is no intentional reference in the -psalm to the Ascension; but the thoughts underlying its picture of -God's going up with a shout are the same which that Ascension sets -forth as facts,--the merciful coming down into humanity of the Divine -Helper; the completeness of His victory as attested by His return -thither where He was before; His session in heaven, not as idle nor -wearied, but as having done what He meant to do; His continuous -working as King in the world; and the widening recognition of His -authority by loving hearts. The psalmist summons us all to swell with -our voices that great chorus of praise which, like a sea, rolls and -breaks in music round His royal seat. - - - - - PSALM XLVIII. - - 1 Great is Jehovah, and much to be praised, - In the city of our God, His holy mountain. - 2 Lovely in loftiness, a joy of all the earth, - Is Mount Zion, the recesses of the north, the city of the great - King. - - 3 God in her palaces - Has made Himself known as a high tower. - 4 For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, - They marched onwards together. - 5 They saw, then they were amazed; - They were terror-struck, they fled. - 6 Trembling seized them there; - Pain, as [of] a woman in travail. - 7 With an east wind - Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish. - 8 According as we have heard, so have we seen - In the city of Jehovah of hosts, in the city of our God: - God will establish her for ever. Selah. - - 9 We have thought, O God, of Thy loving-kindness - In the midst of Thy Temple. - 10 According to Thy name, O God, - So is Thy praise to the ends of the earth: - Thy right hand is full of righteousness. - 11 Let Mount Zion rejoice, - Let the daughters of Judah exult, - Because of Thy judgments. - 12 Compass Zion, and walk round her: - Reckon her towers. - 13 Give heed to her bulwark, - Pass through her palaces; - That ye may tell it to the generation after. - 14 That such is God, our God: - For ever and aye He will guide us. - Al-Muth. - - -The situation seems the same as in Psalm xlvi., with which this psalm -has many points of contact. In both we have the same triumph, the same -proud affection for the holy city and sanctuary, the same confidence -in God's dwelling there, the same vivid picturing of the mustering of -enemies and their rapid dispersion, the same swift movement of style -in describing that overthrow, the same thought of the diffusion of -God's praise in the world as its consequence, the same closing summons -to look upon the tokens of deliverance, with the difference that, in -the former psalm, these are the shattered weapons of the defeated foe, -and in this the unharmed battlements and palaces of the delivered -city. The emphatic word of the refrain in Psalm xlvi. also reappears -here in ver. 3. The psalm falls into three parts, of which the first -(vv. 1, 2) is introductory, celebrating the glory of Zion as the city -of God; the second (vv. 3-8) recounts in glowing words the deliverance -of Zion; and the third tells of the consequent praise and trust of the -inhabitants of Zion (vv. 9-14). - -The general sense of the first part is plain, but ver. 2 is difficult. -"Mount Zion" is obviously subject, and "lovely in loftiness" and "joy -of all the earth" predicates; but the grammatical connection of the -two last clauses is obscure. Further, the meaning of "the sides of -the north" has not been satisfactorily ascertained. The supposition -that there is an allusion in the phrase to the mythological mountain -of the gods, with which Zion is compared, is surely most unnatural. -Would a Hebrew psalmist be likely to introduce such a parallel, even -in order to assert the superiority of Zion? Nor is the grammatical -objection to the supposition less serious. It requires a good deal -of stretching and inserting to twist the two words "the sides of -the north" into a comparison. It is more probable that the clause -is topographical, describing some part of the city, but what part -is far from clear. The accents make all the verse after "earth" the -subject of the two preceding predicates, and place a minor division -at "north," implying that "the sides of the north" is more closely -connected with "Mount Zion" than with the "city of the great King," or -than that last clause is. - -Following these indications, Stier renders "Mount Zion [and] the -northern side (_i.e._, the lower city, on the north of Zion), which -together make the city," etc. Others see here "the Holy City regarded -from three points of view"--viz., "the Mount Zion" (the city of -David), "the sides of the north" (Mount Moriah and the Temple), "the -city of the great King" (Jerusalem proper). So Perowne and others. -Delitzsch takes Zion to be the Temple hill, and "the sides of the -north" to be in apposition. "The Temple hill or Zion, in the narrower -sense, actually formed the north-eastern corner of ancient Jerusalem," -says he, and thus regards the subject of the whole sentence as really -twofold, not threefold, as appears at first--Zion on the north, which -is the palace-temple, and Jerusalem at its feet, which is "the city of -the great King." But it must be admitted that no interpretation runs -quite smoothly, though the summary ejection of the troublesome words -"the sides of the north" from the text is too violent a remedy. - -But the main thought of this first part is independent of such minute -difficulties. It is that the one thing which made Zion-Jerusalem -glorious was God's presence in it. It was beautiful in its elevation; -it was safely isolated from invaders by precipitous ravines, inclosing -the angle of the plateau on which it stood. But it was because God -dwelt there and manifested Himself there that it was "a joy for all -the earth." The name by which even the earthly Zion is called is -"Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord is there." We are not forcing New Testament -ideas into Old Testament words when we see in the psalm an eternal -truth. An idea is one thing; the fact which more or less perfectly -embodies it is another. The idea of God's dwelling with men had its less -perfect embodiment in the presence of the Shechinah in the Temple, its -more perfect in the dwelling of God in the Church, and will have its -complete when the city "having the glory of God" shall appear, and He -will dwell with men and be their God. God in her, not anything of her -own, makes Zion lovely and gladdening. "Thy beauty was perfect through -My comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord." - -The second part pictures Zion's deliverance with picturesque vigour -(vv. 3-8). Ver. 3 sums up the whole as the act of God, by which He has -made Himself known as that which the refrain of Psalm xlvi. declared -Him to be--a refuge, or, literally, a high tower. Then follows the -muster of the hosts. "The kings were assembled." That phrase need -not be called exaggeration, nor throw doubt on the reference to -Sennacherib's army, if we remember the policy of Eastern conquerors in -raising their armies from their conquests, and the boast which Isaiah -puts into the mouth of the Assyrian: "Are not my princes altogether -kings?" They advance against the city. "They saw,"--no need to say -what. Immediately they "were amazed." The sight of the city broke on -them from some hill-crest on their march. Basilisk-like, its beauty -was paralysing, and shot a nameless awe into their hearts. "They were -terror-struck; they fled." As in Psalm xlvi. 6, the clauses, piled up -without cement of connecting particles, convey an impression of hurry, -culminating in the rush of panic-struck fugitives. As has been often -noticed, they recall Caesar's _Veni, vidi, vici_; but these kings came, -saw, _were_ conquered. No cause for the rout is named. No weapons were -drawn in the city. An unseen hand "smites once, and smites no more"; -for once is enough. The process of deliverance is not told; for a -hymn of victory is not a chronicle. One image explains it all, and -signalises the Divine breath as the sole agent. "Thou breakest the -ships of Tarshish with an east wind" is not history, but metaphor. The -unwieldy, huge vessel, however strong for fight, is unfit for storms, -and, caught in a gale, rolls heavily in the trough of the sea, and is -driven on a lee shore and ground to pieces on its rocks. "God blew -upon them, and they were scattered," as the medal struck on the defeat -of the Armada had it. In the companion psalm God's uttered voice did -all. Here the breath of the tempest, which is the breath of His lips, -is the sole agent. - -The past, of which the nation had heard from its fathers, lives again -in their own history; and that verification of traditional belief by -experience is to a devout soul the chief blessing of its deliverances. -There is rapture in the thought that "As we have heard, so have we -seen." The present ever seems commonplace. The sky is farthest from -earth right overhead, but touches the ground on the horizon behind -and before. Miracles were in the past; God will be manifestly in the -far-off future, but the present is apt to seem empty of Him. But if -we rightly mark His dealings with us, we shall learn that nothing in -His past has so passed that it is not present. As the companion psalm -says, "The God of Jacob is _our_ refuge," this exclaims, "As we have -heard, so have we seen." - -But not only does the deliverance link the present with the past, but -it flings a steady light into the future. "God shall establish her for -ever." The city is truly "the eternal city," because God dwells in it. -The psalmist was thinking of the duration of the actual Jerusalem, the -imperfect embodiment of a great idea. But whatever may be its fate, -the heart of his confidence is no false vision; for God's city will -outlast the world. Like the "maiden fortresses," of which there is -one in almost every land, fondly believed never to have been taken by -enemies, that city is inexpugnable, and the confident answer to every -threatening assailant is, "The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath -despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem -hath shaken her head at thee." "God will establish her for ever." The -pledges of that stability are the deliverances of the past and present. - -The third part (vv. 9-14) deals with the praise and trust of the -inhabitants of Zion. Deliverance leads to thankful meditation on the -loving-kindness which it so signally displayed, and the ransomed -people first gather in the Temple, which was the scene of God's -manifestation of His grace, and therefore is the fitting place for -them to ponder it. The world-wide consequences of the great act of -loving-kindness almost shut out of sight for the moment its bearing -on the worshippers. It is a lofty height to which the song climbs, -when it regards national deliverance chiefly as an occasion for wider -diffusion of God's praise. His "name" is the manifestation of His -character in act. The psalmist is sure that wherever that character is -declared praise will follow, because he is sure that that character -is perfectly and purely good, and that God cannot act but in such -a way as to magnify Himself. That great sea will cast up nothing -but pearls. The words carry also a lesson for recipients of Divine -loving-kindness, teaching them that they misapprehend the purpose of -their blessings, if they confine these to their own well-being and -lose sight of the higher object--that men may learn to know and love -Him. But the deliverance not only produces grateful meditation and -widespread praise; it sets the mother city and her daughter villages -astir, like Miriam and her maidens, with timbrel and dance, and -ringing songs which celebrate "Thy judgments," terrible as they were. -That dead host was an awful sight, and hymns of praise seem heartless -for its dirge. But it is not savage glee nor fierce hatred which -underlies the psalmist's summons, and still less is it selfish joy. -"Thy judgments" are to be hymned when they smite some giant evil; and -when systems and their upholders that array themselves against God are -drowned in some Red Sea, it is fitting that on its banks should echo, -"Sing ye to Jehovah, for He hath triumphed gloriously." - -The close of this part may be slightly separated from vv. 9-11. The -citizens who have been cooped up by the siege are bidden to come -forth, and, free from fear, to compass the city without, and pass -between its palaces within, and so see how untouched they are. The -towers and bulwark or rampart remain unharmed, with not a stone -smitten from its place. Within, the palaces stand without a trace -of damage to their beauty. Whatever perishes in any assaults, that -which is of God will abide; and, after all musterings of the enemy, -the uncaptured walls will rise in undiminished strength, and the -fair palaces which they guard glitter in untarnished splendour. And -this complete exemption from harm is to be told to the generation -following, that they may learn what a God this God is, and how safely -and well He will guide all generations. - -The last word in the Hebrew text, which the A.V. and R.V. render -"even unto death," can scarcely have that meaning. Many attempts have -been made to find a signification appropriate to the close of such -a triumphal hymn as this, but the simplest and most probable course -is to regard the words as a musical note, which is either attached -abnormally to the close of the psalm, or has strayed hither from -the superscription of Psalm xlix. It is found in the superscription -of Psalm ix. ("Al-Muth") as a musical direction, and has in all -likelihood the same meaning here. If it is removed, the psalm ends -abruptly, but a slight transposition of words and change of the main -division of the verse remove that difficulty by bringing "for ever -and aye" from the first half. The change improves both halves, laying -the stress of the first exclusively on the thought that this God is -such a God (or, by another rendering, "is here," _i.e._, in the city), -without bringing in reference to the eternity of His protection, and -completing the second half worthily, with the thought of His eternal -guidance of the people among whom He dwells. - - - - - PSALM XLIX. - - 1 Hear this, all ye peoples; - Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: - 2 Both low-born and high-born, - Rich and poor together. - 3 My mouth shall speak wisdom; - And the meditation of my heart shall utter understanding - 4 I will bend my ear to a parable: - I will open my riddle on the harp. - - 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, - When the malice of my pursuers surrounds me, - 6 [Even of] those who rely on their riches, - And boast of their wealth? - 7 No man can at all redeem a brother; - He cannot give to God a ransom for him - 8 (Yea, too costly is the redemption price of their soul, - And he must leave it alone for ever): - 9 That he may continue living on for ever, - And may not see the pit. - 10 Nay, he must see that the wise die - The fool and the brutish perish alike, - And leave to others their riches. - 11 Their inward thought [is that] their houses [shall last] for ever, - Their dwellings to generation after generation; - They call their lands by their own names. - 12 But man [being] in honour abides not: - He becomes like the beasts [that] are brought to silence. - - 13 This is the lot of them to whom presumptuous confidence belongs: - And after them men approve their sayings. Selah. - 14 Like sheep they are folded in Sheol; - Death shepherds them: - And the upright shall rule over them in the morning; - And their form shall be wasted away by Sheol, - So that it is without a dwelling. - 15 Surely God shall redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: - For He shall take me. Selah. - 16 Fear not thou when a man becomes rich, - When the glory of his house increases: - 17 For when he dies he will not take away any [of it]; - His glory shall not go down after him. - 18 Though in his lifetime he bless his soul - (And [men] praise thee when thou doest well for thyself) - 19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; - For evermore they see not light. - 20 Man [who is] in honour, and has not understanding, - Becomes like the beasts that are brought to silence. - - -This psalm touches the high-water mark of Old Testament faith in -a future life; and in that respect, as well as in its application -of that faith to alleviate the mystery of present inequalities and -non-correspondence of desert with condition, is closely related to the -noble Psalm lxxiii., with which it has also several verbal identities. -Both have the same problem before them--to construct a theodicy, -or "to vindicate the ways of God to man"--and both solve it in the -same fashion. Both appear to refer to the story of Enoch in their -remarkable expression for ultimate reception into the Divine presence. -But whether the psalms are contemporaneous cannot be determined -from these data. Cheyne regards the treatment of the theme in Psalm -lxxiii. as "more skilful," and therefore presumably later than -Psalm xlix., which he would place "somewhat before the close of the -Persian period." This date rests on the assumption that the amount of -certitude as to a future life expressed in the psalm was not realised -in Israel till after the exile. - -After a solemn summons to all the world to hear the psalmist's -utterance of what he has learned by Divine teaching (vv. 1-4), the -psalm is divided into two parts, each closed with a refrain. The -former of these (vv. 5-12) contrasts the arrogant security of the -prosperous godless with the end that awaits them; while the second -(vv. 13-20) contrasts the dreary lot of these victims of vain -self-confidence with the blessed reception after death into God's -own presence which the psalmist grasped as a certainty for himself, -and thereon bases an exhortation to possess souls in patience while -the godless prosper, and to be sure that their lofty structures will -topple into hideous ruin. - -The psalmist's consciousness that he speaks by Divine inspiration, -and that his message imports all men, is grandly expressed in his -introductory summons. The very name which he gives to the world suggests -the latter thought; for it means--the world considered as fleeting. -Since we dwell in so transitory an abode, it becomes us to listen to -the deep truths of the psalm. These have a message for high and low, -for rich and poor. They are like a keen lancet to let out too great -fulness of blood from the former, and to teach moderation, lowliness, -and care for the Unseen. They are a calming draught for the latter, -soothing when perplexed or harmed by "the proud man's contumely." -But the psalmist calls for universal attention, not only because his -lessons fit all classes, but because they are in themselves "wisdom," -and because he himself had first bent his ear to receive them before he -strung his lyre to utter them. The brother-psalmist, in Psalm lxxiii., -presents himself as struggling with doubt and painfully groping his way -to his conclusion. This psalmist presents himself as a divinely inspired -teacher, who has received into purged and attentive ears; in many a -whisper from God, and as the result of many an hour of silent waiting, -the word which he would now proclaim on the housetops. The discipline -of the teacher of religious truth is the same at all times. There must -be the bent ear before there is the message which men will recognise as -important and true. - -There is no parable in the ordinary sense in the psalm. The word seems -to have acquired the wider meaning of a weighty didactic utterance, as -in Psalm lxxviii. 2. The expression "Open my riddle" is ambiguous, and -is by some understood to mean the proposal and by others the solution -of the puzzle; but the phrase is more naturally understood of solving -than of setting a riddle, and if so, the disproportion between the -characters and fortunes of good and bad is the mystery or riddle, and -the psalm is its solution. - -The main theme of the first part is the certainty of death, which makes -infinitely ludicrous the rich man's arrogance. It is one version of - - "There is no armour against Fate; - Death lays his icy hand on kings." - -Therefore how vain the boasting in wealth, when all its heaps cannot -buy a day of life! This familiar thought is not all the psalmist's -contribution to the solution of the mystery of life's unequal -partition of worldly good; but it prepares the way for it, and it -lays a foundation for his refusal to be afraid, however pressed by -insolent enemies. Very significantly he sets the conclusion, to which -observation of the transiency of human prosperity has led him, at the -beginning of his "parable." In the parallel psalm (lxxiii.) the singer -shows himself struggling from the depths of perplexity up to the sunny -heights of faith. But here the poet begins with the clear utterance -of trustful courage, and then vindicates it by the thought of the -impotence of wealth to avert death. - -The hostility to himself of the self-confident rich boasters appears -only for a moment at first. It is described by a gnarled, energetic -phrase which has been diversely understood. But it seems clear that -the "iniquity" (A.V. and R.V.) spoken of in ver. 5 _b_ is not the -psalmist's sin, for a reference here to his guilt or to retribution -would be quite irrelevant; and if it were the consequences of his -own evil that dogged him at his heels, he had every reason to fear, -and confidence would be insolent defiance. But the word rendered in -the A.V. _heels_, which is retained in the R.V. with a change in -construction, may be a participial noun, derived from a verb meaning -to trip up or supplant; and this gives a natural coherence to the -whole verse, and connects it with the following one. "Pursuers" is a -weak equivalent for the literal "those who would supplant me," but -conveys the meaning, though in a somewhat enfeebled condition. Ver. 6 -is a continuance of the description of the supplanters. They are "men -of this world," the same type of man as excites stern disapproval in -many psalms: as, for instance, in xvii. 14--a psalm which is closely -related to this, both in its portrait of the godless and its lofty -hope for the future. It is to be noted that they are not described -as vicious or God-denying or defying. They are simply absorbed in -the material, and believe that land and money are the real, solid -goods. They are the same men as Jesus meant when He said that it -was hard for those who trusted in riches to enter into the kingdom -of heaven. It has been thought that the existence of such a class -points to a late date for the psalm; but the reliance on riches -does not require large riches to rely on, and may flourish in full -perniciousness in very primitive social conditions. A small elevation -suffices to lift a man high enough above his fellows to make a weak -head giddy. Those to whom material possessions are the only good have -a natural enmity towards those who find their wealth in truth and -goodness. The poet, the thinker, and, most of all, the religious man, -are targets for more or less active "malice," or, at all events, are -recognised as belonging to another class, and regarded as singular and -"unpractical," if nothing worse. But the psalmist looks far enough -ahead to see the end of all the boasting, and points to the great -instance of the impotence of material good--its powerlessness to -prolong life. It would be more natural to find in ver. 7 the statement -that the rich man cannot prolong his own days than that he cannot do -so for a "brother." A very slight change in the text would make the -initial word of the verse ("brother") the particle of asseveration, -which occurs in ver. 15 (the direct antithesis of this verse), and is -characteristic of the parallel Psalm lxxiii. With that reading (Ewald, -Cheyne, Baethgen, etc.) other slight difficulties are smoothed; but -the present text is attested by the LXX. and other early versions, -and is capable of defence. It may be necessary to observe that there -is no reference here to any other "redemption" than that of the body -from physical death. There is a distinct intention to contrast the -man's limited power with God's, for ver. 15 points back to this verse, -and declares that God can do what man cannot. Ver. 8 must be taken as -a parenthesis, and the construction carried on from ver. 7 to ver. -9, which specifies the purpose of the ransom, if it were possible. -No man can secure for another continuous life or an escape from the -necessity of seeing the pit--_i.e._, going down to the depths of -death. It would cost more than all the rich man's store; wherefore -he--the would-be ransomer--must abandon the attempt for ever. - -The "see" in ver. 10 is taken by many to have the same object as -the "see" in ver. 9. "Yea, he shall see it." (So Hupfeld, Hitzig, -Perowne, and others.) "The wise die" will then begin a new sentence. -But the repetition is feeble, and breaks up the structure of ver. 10 -undesirably. The fact stares the rich man in the face that no difference -of position or of character affects the necessity of death. Down into -that insatiable maw of Sheol ("the ever-asking"?) beauty, wisdom, -wealth, folly, and animalism go alike, and it still gapes wide for fresh -food. But a strange hallucination in the teeth of all experience is -cherished in the "inward thought" of "the men of this world"--namely, -that their houses shall continue for ever. Like the godless man in Psalm -x., this rich man has reached a height of false security, which cannot -be put into words without exposing its absurdity, but which yet haunts -his inmost thoughts. The fond imagination of perpetuity is not driven -out by the plain facts of life and death. He acts on the presumption -of permanence; and he whose working hypothesis is that he is to abide -always as his permanent home in his sumptuous palace, is rightly set -down as believing in the incredible belief that the common lot will not -be his. A man's real belief is that which moulds his life, though he has -never formulated it in words. This "inward thought" either underlies -the rich godless man's career, or that career is inexplicable. There -is an emphatic contrast drawn between what he "sees" and what he, all -the while, hugs in his secret heart. That contrast is lost if the -emendation found in the LXX. and adopted by many modern commentators -is accepted, according to which, by the transposition of a letter, we -get "their grave" instead of "their inward [thought]." A reference to -the grave comes too early; and if the sense of ver. 11 _a_ is that -"their grave (or, the graves) are their houses for ever," there is no -parallelism between ver. 11 _a_ and _c_. The delusion of continuance is, -on the other hand, naturally connected with the proud attempt to make -their names immortal by impressing them on their estates. The language -of ver. 11 _c_ is somewhat ambiguous; but, on the whole, the rendering -"they call their lands by their own names" accords best with the context. - -Then comes with a crash the stern refrain which pulverises all this -insanity of arrogance. The highest distinction among men gives no -exemption from the grim law which holds all corporeal life in its -gripe. The psalmist does not look, and probably did not see, beyond -the external fact of death. He knows nothing of a future for the men -whose portion is in this life. As we shall see in the second part of -the psalm, the confidence in immortality is for him a deduction from -the fact of communion with God here, and, apparently, his bent ear -had received no whisper as to any distinction between the godless man -and the beast in the regard to their deaths. They are alike "brought -to silence." The awful dumbness of the dead strikes on his heart and -imagination as most pathetic. "That skull had a tongue in it, and -could sing once," and now the pale lips are locked in eternal silence, -and some ears hunger in vain "for the sound of a voice that is still." - -Hupfeld would transfer ver. 13, which begins the second part, so that -it should stand before the refrain, which would then have the Selah, -that now comes in peculiarly at the end of ver. 13. But there is nothing -unnatural in the first verse of the second part summing up the contents -of the first part; and such a summary is needed in order to bring out -the contrast between the godless folly and end of the rich men on the -one hand, and the hope of the psalmist on the other. The construction -of ver. 13 is disputed. The "way" may either mean conduct or fate, and -the word rendered in the A.V. and R.V. "folly" has also the meaning of -stupid security or self-confidence. It seems best to regard the sentence -as not pronouncing again that the conduct described in vv. 6-11 is -foolish, but that the end foretold in ver. 12 surely falls on such as -have that dogged insensibility to the facts of life which issues in such -presumptuous assurance. Many commentators would carry on the sentence -into ver. 13 _b_, and extend the "lot" to those who in after-generations -approve their sayings. But the paradoxical fact that notwithstanding -each generation's experience the delusion is obstinately maintained from -father to son yields a fuller meaning. In either case the notes of the -musical interlude fix attention on the thought, in order to make the -force of the following contrast greater. That contrast first deals with -the fate of godless men after death. The comparison with the "beasts" -in the refrain may have suggested the sombre grandeur of the metaphor -in ver. 14 _a_ and _b_: Sheol is as a great fold into which flocks are -driven. There Death rules as the shepherd of that dim realm. What a -contrast to the fold and the flock of the other Shepherd, who guides -His unterrified sheep through the "valley of the shadow of death"! The -waters of stillness beside which this sad shepherd makes his flock lie -down are doleful and sluggish. There is no cheerful activity for these, -nor any fair pastures, but they are penned in compelled inaction in that -dreadful fold. - -So far the picture is comparatively clear, but with the next clause -difficulties begin. Does the "morning" mean only the end of the night -of trouble, the beginning in this life of the "upright's" deliverance, -or have we here an eschatological utterance? The whole of the rest of -the verse has to do with the unseen world, and to confine this clause -to the temporal triumph of the righteous over their dead oppressors -drags in an idea belonging to another sphere altogether. We venture to -regard the interpretation of these enigmatical words, which sees in -them a dim adumbration of a great morning which will yet stream its -light into the land of darkness, and in which not this or that upright -man but the class as a whole shall triumph, as the only one which -keeps the parts of the verse in unity. It is part of the "riddle" of -the psalmist, probably not perfectly explicable to himself. We cannot -say that there is here the clear teaching of a resurrection, but there -is the germ of it, whether distinctly apprehended by the singer or -not. The first glimpses of truth in all regions are vague, and the -gazer does not know that the star he sees is a sun. Not otherwise -did the great truths of the future life rise on inspired men of old. -This psalmist divined, or, more truly, heard in his bent ear, that -Good and its lovers should triumph beyond the grave, and that somehow -a morning would break for them. But he knew nothing of any such -for the godless dead. And the remainder of the verse expresses in -enigmatical brevity and obscurity the gloomy fate of those for whom -there was no such awakening as he hoped for himself. Very different -renderings have been given of the gnarled words. If we adhere to the -accents, the literal translation is, "Their form is [destined] for -the wasting of Sheol, from a dwelling-place for it," or "without its -dwelling-place"--an obscure saying, which is, however, intelligible -when rendered as above. It describes the wasting away of the whole -man, not merely his corporeal form, in Sheol, of which the corruption -of the body in the grave may stand as a terrible symbol, so that only -a thin shred of personality remains, which wanders homeless, unclothed -with any house either "of this tabernacle" or any other, and so found -drearily naked. Homeless desolation of bare being, from which all that -is fair or good has been gnawed away, is awfully expressed in the -words. Other renderings, neglecting the accents and amending the text, -bring out other meanings: such as "Their form is for corruption; Hades -[will be] its dwelling-place" (Jennings and Lowe); "Their form shall -waste away. Sheol shall be their castle for ever" (so Cheyne in "Book -of Psalms"; in "Orig. of Psalt." _frame_ is substituted for _form_, -and _palace_ for _castle_. Baethgen gives up the attempt to render the -text or to restore it, and takes to asterisks). - -To this condition of dismal inactivity, as of sheep penned in a fold, of -loss of beauty, of wasting and homelessness, the psalmist opposes the -fate which he has risen to anticipate for himself. Ver. 15 is plainly -antithetical, not only to ver. 14, but to ver. 7. The "redemption" which -was impossible with men is possible with God. The emphatic particle of -asseveration and restriction at the beginning is, as we have remarked, -characteristic of the parallel Psalm lxiii. It here strengthens the -expression of confidence, and points to God as alone able to deliver -His servant from the "hand of Sheol." That deliverance is clearly not -escape from the universal lot, which the psalmist has just proclaimed so -impressively as affecting wise and foolish alike. But while he expects -that he, too, will have to submit to the strong hand that plucks all men -from their dwelling-places, he has won the assurance that sameness of -outward lot covers absolute difference in the conditions of those who -are subjected to it. The faith that he will be delivered from the power -of Sheol does not necessarily imply the specific kind of deliverance -involved in resurrection, and it may be a question whether that idea was -definitely before the singer's mind. But, without dogmatising on that -doubtful point, plainly his expectation was of a life beyond death, the -antithesis of the cheerless one just painted in such gloomy colours. -The very brevity of the second clause of the verse makes it the more -emphatic. - -The same pregnant phrase occurs again with the same emphasis in Psalm -lxxiii. 24, "Thou shalt take me," and in both passages the psalmist is -obviously quoting from the narrative of Enoch's translation. "God took -him" (Gen. v. 24). He has fed his faith on that signal instance of the -end of a life of communion with God, and it has confirmed the hopes -which such a life cannot but kindle, so that he is ready to submit to -the common lot, bearing in his heart the assurance that, in experiencing -it, he will not be driven by that grim shepherd into his gloomy fold, -but lifted by God into His own presence. As in Psalms xvi. and xvii., -we have here the certainty of immortality filling a devout soul as -the result of present experience of communion with God. These great -utterances as to the two contrasted conditions after death are, in one -aspect, the psalmist's "riddle," in so far as they are stated in "dark -and cloudy words," but, in another view, are the solution of the painful -enigma of the prosperity of the godless and the afflictions of the -righteous. Fittingly the Selah follows this solemn, great hope. - -As the first part began with the psalmist's encouraging of himself to -put away fear, so the whole ends with the practical application of the -truths declared, in the exhortation to others not to be terrified nor -bewildered out of their faith by the insolent inflated prosperity of -the godless. The lofty height of wholesome mysticism reached in the -anticipation of personal immortality is not maintained in this closing -part. The ground of the exhortation is simply the truth proclaimed -in the first part, with additional emphasis on the thought of the -necessary parting from all wealth and pomp. "Shrouds have no pockets." -All the external is left behind, and much of the inward too--such as -habits, desires, ways of thinking, and acquirements which have been -directed to and bounded by the seen and temporal. What is not left -behind is character and desert. The man of this world is wrenched from -his possessions by death; but he who has made God his portion here -carries his portion with him, and does not enter on that other state - - "in utter nakedness, - But trailing clouds of glory does he come - _To_ God who is his home." - -Our Lord's parable of the foolish rich man has echoes of this psalm. -"Whose shall those things be?" reminds us of "He will not take -away any of it"; and "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up ... take -thine ease" is the best explanation of what the psalmist meant by -"blessing his soul." The godless rich man of the psalm is a selfish -and godless one. His condemnation lies not in his wealth, but in his -absorption in it and reliance upon it, and in his cherishing the -dream of perpetual enjoyment of it, or at least shunning the thought -of its loss. Therefore, "when he dies, he goes to the generation of -his fathers," who are conceived of as gathered in solemn assembly in -that dark realm. "Generation" here implies, as it often does, moral -similarity. It includes all the man's predecessors of like temper with -himself. A sad company sitting there in the dark! _Going to them_ -is not identical with death nor with burial, but implies at least -some rudimentary notion of companionship according to character, in -that land of darkness. The _darkness_ is the privation of all which -deserves the name of light, whether it be joy or purity. Ver. 18 -_b_ is by some taken to be the psalmist's address to the rich man, -and by others to be spoken to the disciple who had been bidden not -to fear. In either case it brings in the thought of the popular -applause which flatters success, and plays chorus to the prosperous -man's own self-congratulations. Like ver. 13 _b_, it gibbets the -servile admiration of such men, as indicating what the praisers would -fain themselves be, and as a disclosure of that base readiness to -worship the rising sun, which has for its other side contempt for the -unfortunate who should receive pity and help. - -The refrain is slightly but significantly varied. Instead of "abides -not," it reads "and has not understanding." The alteration in the Hebrew -is very slight, the two verbs differing only by one letter, and the -similarity in sound is no doubt the reason for the selection of the -word. But the change brings out the limitations under which the first -form of the refrain is true, and guards the whole teaching of the psalm -from being taken to be launched at rich men as such. The illuminative -addition in this second form shows that it is the abuse of riches, when -they steal away that recognition of God and of man's mortality which -underlies the psalmist's conception of _understanding_, that is doomed -to destruction like the beasts that are put to silence. The two forms -of the refrain are, then, precisely parallel to our Lord's two sayings, -when He first declared that it was hard for a rich man to enter the -kingdom of heaven, and then, in answer to His disciples' surprise, put -His dictum in the more definite form, "How hard is it for them that -trust in riches to enter into the kingdom!" - - - - - PSALM L. - - 1 El, Elohim, Jehovah has spoken, and called the earth - From the place of sunrise to its going down. - 2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, - God has shone. - 3 Our God will come, and cannot be silent: - Fire devours before Him, - And round Him it is tempestuous exceedingly. - 4 He calls to the heavens above, - And to the earth, that He may judge His people: - 5 "Assemble to Me My favoured ones, - Who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." - 6 And the heavens declare His righteousness; - For God--the judge is He. Selah. - - 7 Hearken, My people, and I will speak; - O Israel, and I will witness against thee: - Elohim, thy God am I. - 8 Not on [account of] thy sacrifices will I reprove thee; - Yea, thy burnt offerings are before me continually. - 9 I will not take a bullock out of thy house, - Nor out of thy folds he-goats. - 10 For Mine is every beast of the forest, - The cattle on the mountains in thousands. - 11 I know every bird of the mountains, - And whatever moves on the field is before Me. - 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: - For Mine is the world and its fulness. - 13 Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or the blood of he-goats shall I - drink? - 14 Sacrifice to God thanksgiving; - And pay thy vows to the Most High: - 15 And call on Me in the day of trouble. - I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. - 16 But to the wicked [man] God saith, - What hast thou to do to tell My statutes, - And that thou takest My covenant into thy mouth? - 17 And [all the while] thou hatest correction, - And flingest My words behind thee. - 18 If thou seest a robber, thou art pleased with him; - And with adulterers is thy portion. - 19 Thy mouth thou dost let loose for evil, - And thy tongue weaves deceit. - 20 Thou sittest [and] speakest against thy brother; - At thine own mother's son thou aimest a thrust. - 21 These things hast thou done, and I was silent; - Thou thoughtest that I was altogether like thyself: - I will reprove thee, and order [the proofs] before thine eyes. - - 22 Consider now this, ye that forget God, - Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be no deliverer: - 23 He who offers thanksgiving as sacrifice glorifies Me; - And he who orders his way [aright]--I will show him the salvation - of God. - - -This is the first of the Asaph psalms, and is separated from the other -eleven (Psalms lxxiii.-lxxxiii.) for reasons that do not appear. -Probably they are no more recondite than the verbal resemblance -between the summons to all the earth at the beginning of Psalm xlix. -and the similar proclamation in the first verses of Psalm l. The -arrangement of the Psalter is often obviously determined by such -slight links. The group has certain features in common, of which some -appear here: _e.g._, the fondness for descriptions of theophanies; -the prominence given to God's judicial action; the preference for -the Divine names of El, Adonai (the Lord), Elyon (Most High). Other -peculiarities of the class--_e.g._, the love for the designation -"Joseph" for the nation, and delight in the image of the Divine -Shepherd--are not found in this psalm. It contains no historical -allusions which aid in dating it. The leading idea of it--viz., the -depreciation of outward sacrifice--is unhesitatingly declared by many -to have been impossible in the days of the Levite Asaph, who was one -of David's musical staff. But is it so certain that such thoughts -were foreign to the period in which Samuel declared that obedience -was better than sacrifice? Certainly the tone of the psalm is that of -later prophets, and there is much probability in the view that Asaph -is the name of the family or guild of singers from whom these psalms -came rather than that of an individual. - -The structure is clear and simple. There is, first, a magnificent -description of God's coming to judgment and summoning heaven and earth -to witness while He judges His people (vv. 1-6). The second part (vv. -7-15) proclaims the worthlessness of sacrifice; and the third (vv. -16-21) brands hypocrites who pollute God's statutes by taking them -into their lips while their lives are foul. A closing strophe of two -verses (22, 23) gathers up the double lesson of the whole. - -The first part falls again into two, of three verses each, of which -the former describes the coming of the judge, and the latter the -opening of the judgment. The psalm begins with a majestic heaping -together of the Divine names, as if a herald were proclaiming the -style and titles of a mighty king at the opening of a solemn assize. -No English equivalents are available, and it is best to retain the -Hebrew, only noting that each name is separated from the others by the -accents in the original, and that to render either "the mighty God" -(A.V.) or "the God of gods" is not only against that punctuation, but -destroys the completeness symbolised by the threefold designation. -Hupfeld finds the heaping together of names "frosty." Some ears will -rather hear in it a solemn reiteration like the boom of triple -thunders. Each name has its own force of meaning. El speaks of God -as mighty; Elohim, as the object of religious fear; Jehovah, as the -self-existent and covenant God. - -The earth from east to west is summoned, not to be judged, but to -witness God judging His people. The peculiarity of this theophany is -that God is not represented as coming from afar or from above, but as -letting His light blaze out from Zion, where He sits enthroned. As His -presence made the city "the joy of the whole earth" (Psalm xlviii. -2), so it makes Zion the sum of all beauty. The idea underlying the -representation of His shining out of Zion is that His presence among -His people makes certain His judgment of their worship. It is the -poetic clothing of the prophetic announcement, "You only have I known -of all the inhabitants of the earth; therefore will I punish you for -your iniquities." The seer beholds the dread pomp of the advent of the -Judge, and describes it with accessories familiar in such pictures: -devouring fire is His forerunner, as clearing a path for Him among -tangles of evil, and wild tempests whirl round His stable throne. -"He cannot be silent." The form of the negation in the original is -emotional or emphatic, conveying the idea of the impossibility of His -silence in the face of such corruptions. - -The opening of the court or preparation for the judgment follows. -That Divine voice speaks, summoning heaven and earth to attend as -spectators of the solemn process. The universal significance of God's -relation to and dealings with Israel, and the vindication of His -righteousness by His inflexible justice dealt out to their faults, -are grandly taught in this making heaven and earth assessors of that -tribunal. The court having been thus constituted, the Judge on His -seat, the spectators standing around, the accused are next brought in. -There is no need to be prosaically definite as to the attendants who -are bidden to escort them. His officers are everywhere, and to ask who -they are in the present case is to apply to poetry the measuring lines -meant for bald prose. It is more important to note the names by which -the persons to be judged are designated. They are "My favoured ones, -who have made a covenant with Me by (lit. _over_) sacrifice." These -terms carry an indictment, recalling the lavish mercies so unworthily -requited, and the solemn obligations so unthankfully broken. The -application of the name "favoured ones" to the whole nation is -noteworthy. In other psalms it is usually applied to the more devout -section, who are by it sharply distinguished from the mass; here -it includes the whole. It does not follow that the diversity of -usage indicates difference of date. All that is certainly shown is -difference of point of view. Here the ideal of the nation is set -forth, in order to bring out more emphatically the miserable contrast -of the reality. Sacrifice is set aside as worthless in the subsequent -verses. But could the psalmist have given clearer indication that -his depreciation is not to be exaggerated into entire rejection of -external rites, than by thus putting in front of it the worth of -sacrifice when offered aright, as the means of founding and sustaining -covenant relations with God? If his own words had been given heed to, -his commentators would have been saved the blunder of supposing that -he is antagonistic to the sacrificial worship which he thus regards. - -But before the assize opens, the heavens, which had been summoned to -behold, declare beforehand His righteousness, as manifested by the -fact that He is about to judge His people. The Selah indicates that a -long-drawn swell of music fills the expectant pause before the Judge -speaks from His tribunal. - -The second part (vv. 7-15) deals with one of the two permanent -tendencies which work for the corruption of religion--namely, -the reliance on external worship, and neglect of the emotions of -thankfulness and trust. God appeals first to the relation into which -He has entered with the people, as giving Him the right to judge. -There may be a reference to the Mosaic formula, "I am Jehovah, thy -God," which is here converted, in accordance with the usage of this -book of the Psalter, into "God (Elohim), thy God." The formula which -was the seal of laws when enacted is also the warrant for the action -of the Judge. He has no fault to find with the external acts of -worship. They are abundant and "continually before Him." Surely this -declaration at the outset sets aside the notion that the psalmist -was launching a polemic against sacrifices _per se_. It distinctly -takes the ground that the habitual offering of these was pleasing -to the Judge. Their presentation continually is not reproved, but -approved. What then is condemned? Surely it can be nothing but -sacrifice without the thanksgiving and prayer required in vv. 14, 15. -The irony of vv. 9-13 is directed against the folly of believing that -in sacrifice itself God delighted; but the shafts are pointless as -against offerings which are embodied gratitude and trust. The gross -stupidity of supposing that man's gift makes the offering to be God's -more truly than before is laid bare in the fine, sympathetic glance -at the free, wild life of forest, mountain, and plain, which is all -God's possession, and present to His upholding thought, and by the -side of which man's folds are very small affairs. "The cattle" in -ver. 10 are not, as usually, domesticated animals, but the larger wild -animals. They graze or roam "on the mountains of a thousand"--a harsh -expression, best taken, perhaps, as meaning mountains where thousands -[of the cattle] are. But the omission of one letter gives the more -natural reading "mountains of God" (_cf._ Psalm xxxvi. 6). It is -adopted by Olshausen and Cheyne, and smooths the construction, but has -against it its obliteration of the fine thought of the multitudes of -creatures peopling the untravelled hills. The word rendered "whatever -moves" is obscure; but that meaning is accepted by most. Cheyne in his -Commentary gives as alternative "that which comes forth abundantly," -and in "Orig. of Psalt.," 473, "offspring." All these are "with -Me"--_i.e._, present to His mind--a parallel to "I know" in the first -clause of the same verse. - -Vv. 12, 13, turn the stream of irony on another absurdity involved -in the superstition attacked--the grossly material thought of God -involved in it. What good do bulls' flesh and goats' blood do to Him? -But if these are expressions of thankful love, they are delightsome -to Him. Therefore the section ends with the declaration that the true -sacrifice is thanksgiving and the discharge of vows. Men honour God by -asking and taking, not by giving. They glorify Him when, by calling -on Him in trouble, they are delivered; and then, by thankfulness and -service, as well as by the evidence which their experience gives that -prayer is not in vain, they again glorify Him. All sacrifices are -God's before they are offered, and do not become any more His by being -offered. He neither needs nor can partake of material sustenance. But -men's hearts are not His without their glad surrender, in the same -way as after it; and thankful love, trust, and obedience are as the -food of God, sacrifices acceptable, well-pleasing to Him. - -The third part of the psalm is still sterner in tone. It strikes at -the other great corruption of worship by hypocrites. As has been often -remarked, it condemns breaches of the second table of the law, just as -the former part may be regarded as dealing with transgressions of the -first. The eighth, seventh, and ninth commandments are referred to in -vv. 18, 19, as examples of the hypocrites' sins. The irreconcilable -contradiction of their professions and conduct is vividly brought out -in the juxtaposition of "declare My statutes" and "castest My words -behind thee." They do two opposite things with the same words--at the -same time proclaiming them with all lip-reverence, and scornfully -flinging them behind their backs in their conduct. The word rendered -in the A.V. "slanderest" is better taken as in margin of the R.V., -"givest a thrust," meaning to use violence so as to harm or overthrow. - -Hypocrisy finds encouragement in impunity. God's silence is an -emphatic way of expressing His patient tolerance of evil unpunished. -Such "long-suffering" is meant to lead to repentance, and indicates -God's unwillingness to smite. But, as experience shows, it is often -abused, and "because sentence against an evil work is not executed -speedily, the heart of the sons of men is throughly set in them to -do evil." The gross mind has gross conceptions of God. One nemesis -of hypocrisy is the dimming of the idea of the righteous Judge. -All sin darkens the image of God. When men turn away from God's -self-revelation, as they do by transgression and most fatally by -hypocrisy, they cannot but make a God after their own image. Browning -has taught us in his marvellous "Caliban on Setebos" how a coarse -nature projects its own image into the heavens and calls it God. God -made man in His own likeness. Men who have lost that likeness make -God in theirs, and so sink deeper in evil till He speaks. Then comes -an apocalypse to the dreamer, when there is flashed before him what -God is and what he himself is. How terror-stricken the gaze of these -eyes before which God arrays the deeds of a life, seen for the first -time in their true character! It will be the hypocrite's turn to keep -silence then, and his thought of a complaisant God like himself will -perish before the stern reality. - -The whole teaching of the psalm is gathered up in the two closing -verses. "Ye that forget God" includes both the superstitious -formalists and the hypocrites. Reflection upon such truths as those -of the psalm will save them from else inevitable destruction. "This" -points on to ver. 23, which is a compendium of both parts of the -psalm. The true worship, which consists in thankfulness and praise, is -opposed in ver. 23 _a_ to mere externalisms of sacrifice, as being the -right way of glorifying God. The second clause presents a difficulty. -But it would seem that we must expect to find in it a summing up -of the warning of the third part of the psalm similar to that of -the second part in the preceding clause. That consideration goes -against the rendering in the R.V. margin (adopted from Delitzsch): -"and prepares a way [by which] I may show," etc. The ellipsis of -the relative is also somewhat harsh. The literal rendering of the -ambiguous words is, "one setting a way." Graetz, who is often wild in -his emendations, proposes a very slight one here--the change of one -letter, which would yield a good meaning: "he that is perfect in his -way." Cheyne adopts this, and it eases a difficulty. But the received -text is capable of the rendering given in the A.V., and, even without -the natural supplement "aright," is sufficiently intelligible. To -order one's way or "conversation" is, of course, equivalent to giving -heed to it according to God's word, and is the opposite of the conduct -stigmatised in vv. 16-21. The promise to him who thus acts is that -he shall see God's salvation, both in the narrower sense of daily -interpositions for deliverance, and in the wider of a full and final -rescue from all evil and endowment with all good. The psalm has as -keen an edge for modern as for ancient sins. Superstitious reliance -on externals of worship survives, though sacrifices have ceased; and -hypocrites, with their mouths full of the Gospel, still cast God's -words behind them, as did those ancient hollow-hearted proclaimers and -breakers of the Law. - - - - - PSALM LI. - - 1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness: - According to the greatness of Thy compassions blot out my - transgressions. - 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, - And from my sin make me clean. - 3 For I, I know my transgressions: - And my sin is before me continually. - 4 Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, - And done what is evil in Thine eyes: - That Thou mightest appear righteous when Thou speakest, - And clear when Thou judgest. - - 5 Behold, in iniquity was I born; - And in sin did my mother conceive me. - 6 Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: - Therefore in the hidden part make me to know wisdom. - - 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: - Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. - 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; - That the bones Thou hast crushed may exult. - 9 Hide Thy face from my sins, and all my iniquities blot out. - - 10 A clean heart create for me, O God; - And a steadfast spirit renew within me. - 11 Cast me not out from Thy presence; - And Thy holy spirit take not from me. - 12 Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation: - And with a willing spirit uphold me. - - 13 [Then] will I teach transgressors Thy ways; - And sinners shall return to Thee. - 14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; - And my tongue shall joyfully sing Thy righteousness. - 15 Lord, open my lips; - And my mouth shall declare Thy praise. - 16 For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: - In burnt offering Thou hast no pleasure. - 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: - A heart broken and crushed, O God, Thou wilt not despise. - - 18 Do good in Thy good pleasure to Zion: - O build the walls of Jerusalem. - 19 Then shalt Thou delight in sacrifices of righteousness, burnt - offering and whole burnt offering: - Then shall they offer bullocks on Thine altar. - - -The main grounds on which the Davidic authorship of this psalm is -denied are four. First, it is alleged that its conceptions of sin -and penitence are in advance of his stage of religious development; -or, as Cheyne puts it, "David could not have had these ideas" ("Aids -to Dev. Study of Crit.," 166). The impossibility depends on a theory -which is not yet so established as to be confidently used to settle -questions of date. Again, the psalmist's wail, "Against Thee only -have I sinned," is said to be conclusive proof that the wrong done -to Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah cannot be referred to. But is -not _God_ the correlative of _sin_, and may not the same act be -qualified in one aspect as a crime and in another as a sin, bearing -in the latter character exclusive relation to God? The prayer in ver. -18 is the ground of a third objection to the Davidic authorship. -Certainly it is hopeless to attempt to explain. "Build the walls of -Jerusalem" as David's prayer. But the opinion held by both advocates -and opponents of David's authorship, that vv. 18, 19, are a later -liturgical addition, removes this difficulty. Another ground on which -the psalm is brought down to a late date is the resemblances in it to -Isa. xl.-lxvi., which are taken to be echoes of the prophetic words. -The resemblances are undoubted; the assumption that the psalmist is -the copyist is not. - -The personified nation is supposed by most modern authorities to be -the speaker; and the date is sometimes taken to be the Restoration -period, before the rebuilding of the walls by Nehemiah (Cheyne, "Orig. -of Psalt.," 162); by others, the time of the Babylonish exile; and, -as usual, by some, the Maccabean epoch. It puts a considerable strain -upon the theory of personification to believe that these confessions -of personal sin, and longing cries for a clean heart, which so many -generations have felt to fit their most secret experiences, were not -the wailings of a soul which had learned the burden of individuality, -by consciousness of sin, and by realisation of the awful solitude of -its relation to God. There are also expressions in the psalm which -seem to clog the supposition that the speaker is the nation with great -difficulties--_e.g._, the reference to birth in ver. 5, the prayer for -inward truth in ver. 6, and for a clean heart in ver. 10. Baethgen -acknowledges that the two latter only receive their full meaning when -applied to an individual. He quotes Olshausen, a defender of the -national reference, who really admits the force of the objection to -it, raised on the ground of these expressions, while he seeks to parry -it by saying that "it is not unnatural that the poet, speaking in the -singular, should, although he writes for the congregation, bring in -occasional expressions here and there which do not fit the community so -well as they do each individual in it." The acknowledgment is valuable; -the attempt to turn its edge may be left to the reader's judgment. - -In vv. 1-9 the psalmist's cry is chiefly for pardon; in vv. 10-12 he -prays chiefly for purity; in vv. 13-17 he vows grateful service. Vv. -18, 19, are probably a later addition. - -The psalm begins with at once grasping the character of God as the -sole ground of hope. That character has been revealed in an infinite -number of acts of love. The very number of the psalmist's sins -drove him to contemplate the yet greater number of God's mercies. -For where but in an infinite placableness and loving-kindness could -he find pardon? If the Davidic authorship is adopted, this psalm -followed Nathan's assurance of forgiveness, and its petitions are -the psalmist's efforts to lay hold of that assurance. The revelation -of God's love precedes and causes true penitence. Our prayer for -forgiveness is the appropriation of God's promise of forgiveness. The -assurance of pardon does not lead to a light estimate of sin, but -drives it home to the conscience. - -The petitions of vv. 1, 2, teach us how the psalmist thought of sin. -They are all substantially the same, and their repetition discloses -the depth of longing in the suppliant. The language fluctuates between -plural and singular nouns, designating the evil as "transgressions" and -as "iniquity" and "sin." The psalmist regards it, first, as a multitude -of separate acts, then as all gathered together into a grim unity. The -single deeds of wrong-doing pass before him. But these have a common -root; and we must not only recognise acts, but that alienation of heart -from which they come--not only sin as it comes out in the life, but as -it is coiled round our hearts. Sins are the manifestations of sin. - -We note, too, how the psalmist realises his personal responsibility. -He reiterates "my"--"_my_ transgressions, _my_ iniquity, _my_ sin." He -does not throw blame on circumstances, or talk about temperament or -maxims of society or bodily organisation. All these had some share in -impelling him to sin; but after all allowance made for them, the deed -is the doer's, and he must bear its burden. - -The same eloquent synonyms for evil deeds which are found in Psalm -xxxii. occur again here. "Transgression" is literally _rebellion_; -"iniquity," _that which is twisted_ or _bent_; "sin," _missing a -mark_. Sin is rebellion, the uprising of the will against rightful -authority--not merely the breach of abstract propriety or law, but -opposition to a living Person, who has right to obedience. The -definition of virtue is obedience to God, and the sin in sin is the -assertion of independence of God and opposition to His will. - -Not less profound is that other name, which regards sin as "iniquity" -or distortion. Then there is a straight line to which men's lives -should run parallel. Our life's paths should be like these conquering -Roman roads, turning aside for nothing, but going straight to their -aim over mountain and ravine, stream or desert. But this man's passion -had made for him a crooked path, where he found no end, "in wandering -mazes lost." Sin is, further, missing an aim, the aim being either the -Divine purpose for man, the true Ideal of manhood, or the satisfaction -proposed by the sinner to himself as the result of his sin. In both -senses every sin misses the mark. - -These petitions show also how the psalmist thought of forgiveness. As -the words for sin give a threefold view of it, so those for pardon set -it forth in three aspects. "Blot out";--that petition conceives of -forgiveness as being the erasure of a writing, perhaps of an indictment. -Our past is a blurred manuscript, full of false and bad things. The -melancholy theory of some thinkers is summed up in the despairing -words, "What I have written, I have written." But the psalmist knew -better than that; and we should know better than he did. Our souls may -become palimpsests; and, as devotional meditations might be written by -a saint on a parchment that had borne foul legends of false gods, the -bad writing on them may be obliterated, and God's law be written there. -"Wash me thoroughly" needs no explanation. But the word employed is -significant, in that it probably means washing by kneading or beating, -not by simple rinsing. The psalmist is ready to submit to any painful -discipline, if only he may be cleansed. "Wash me, beat me, tread me -down, hammer me with mallets, dash me against stones, do anything with -me, if only these foul stains are melted from the texture of my soul." -The psalmist had not heard of the alchemy by which men can "wash their -robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb"; but he held fast -by God's "loving-kindness," and knew the blackness of his own sin, and -groaned under it; and therefore his cry was not in vain. An anticipation -of the Christian teaching as to forgiveness lies in his last expression -for pardon, "make me clean," which is the technical word for the -priestly act of declaring ceremonial purity, and for the other priestly -act of making as well as declaring clean from the stains of leprosy. -The suppliant thinks of his guilt not only as a blotted record or as a -polluted robe, but as a fatal disease, the "first-born of death," and as -capable of being taken away only by the hand of the Priest laid on the -feculent mass. We know who put out his hand and touched the leper, and -said, "I will: be thou clean." - -The petitions for cleansing are, in ver. 3, urged on the ground of the -psalmist's consciousness of sin. Penitent confession is a condition of -forgiveness. There is no need to take this verse as giving the reason -why the psalmist offered his prayer, rather than as presenting a plea -why it should be answered. Some commentators have adopted the former -explanation, from a fear lest the other should give countenance to the -notion that repentance is a meritorious cause of forgiveness; but that -is unnecessary scrupulousness. "Sin is always sin, and deserving of -punishment, whether it is confessed or not. Still, confession of sin is -of importance on this account--that God will be gracious to none but to -those who confess their sin" (Luther, quoted by Perowne). - -Ver. 4 sounds the depths in both its clauses. In the first the -psalmist shuts out all other aspects of his guilt, and is absorbed -in its solemnity as viewed in relation to God. It is asked, How -could David have thought of his sin, which had in so many ways been -"against" others, as having been "against Thee, Thee only"? As has -been noted above, this confession has been taken to demonstrate -conclusively the impossibility of the Davidic authorship. But surely -it argues a strange ignorance of the language of a penitent soul, -to suppose that such words as the psalmist's could be spoken only -in regard to sins which had no bearing at all on other men. David's -deed had been a crime against Bathsheba, against Uriah, against his -family and his realm; but these were not its blackest characteristics. -Every crime against man is sin against God. "Inasmuch as ye have -done it unto one of the least of these ... ye have done it unto Me" -is the spirit of the Decalogue as well as the language of Jesus. And -it is only when considered as having relation to God that crimes -are darkened into sins. The psalmist is stating a strictly true and -profound thought when he declares that he has sinned "against Thee -only." Further, that thought has, for the time being, filled his whole -horizon. Other aspects of his shameful deed will torture him enough -in coming days, even when he has fully entered into the blessedness -of forgiveness; but they are not present to his mind now, when the -one awful thought of his perverted relation to God swallows up all -others. A man who has never felt that all-engrossing sense of his sin -as against God only has much to learn. - -The second clause of ver. 4 opens the question whether "in order that" -is always used in the Old Testament in its full meaning as expressing -intention, or sometimes in the looser signification of "so that," -expressing result. Several passages usually referred to on this point -(_e.g._, Psalm xxx. 12; Exod. xi. 9; Isa. xliv. 9; Hos. viii. 4) -strongly favour the less stringent view, which is also in accordance -with the genius of the Hebrew race, who were not metaphysicians. The -other view, that the expression here means "in order that," insists -on grammatical precision in the cries of a penitent heart, and clogs -the words with difficulty. If their meaning is that the psalmist's -sin was intended to show forth God's righteousness in judging, the -intention must have been God's, not the sinner's; and such a thought -not only ascribes man's sin directly to God, but is quite irrelevant -to the psalmist's purpose in the words. For he is not palliating his -transgression or throwing it on Divine predestination (as Cheyne takes -him to be doing), but is submitting himself, in profoundest abasement of -undivided guilt, to the just judgment of God. His prayer for forgiveness -is accompanied with willingness to submit to chastisement, as all true -desire for pardon is. He makes no excuses for his sin, but submits -himself unconditionally to the just judgment of God. "Thou remainest -the Holy One; I am the sinner; and therefore Thou mayest, with perfect -justice, punish me and spurn me from Thy presence" (Stier). - -Vv. 5, 6, are marked as closely related by the "Behold" at the beginning -of each. The psalmist passes from penitent contemplation and confession -of his acts of sin to acknowledge his sinful nature, derived from -sinful parents. "Original sin" is theological terminology for the same -facts which science gathers together under the name of "heredity." The -psalmist is not responsible for later dogmatic developments of the -idea, but he feels that he has to confess not only his acts but his -nature. "A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit." The taint is -transmitted. No fact is more plain than this, as all the more serious -observers of human life and of their own characters have recognised. -Only a superficial view of humanity or an inadequate conception of -morality can jauntily say that "all children are born good." Theologians -have exaggerated and elaborated, as is their wont, and so have made the -thought repugnant; but the derived sinful bias of human nature is a -fact, not a dogma, and those who know it and their own share of it best -will be disposed to agree with Browning, in finding one great reason for -believing in Biblical religion, that-- - - "'Tis the faith that launched point-blank her dart - At the head of a lie--taught Original Sin, - The Corruption of Man's Heart." - -The psalmist is not, strictly speaking, either extenuating or -aggravating his sin by thus recognising his evil nature. He does -not think that sin is the less his, because the tendency has been -inherited. But he is spreading all his condition before God. In fact, -he is not so much thinking of his criminality as of his desperate -need. From a burden so heavy and so intertwined with himself none but -God can deliver him. He cannot cleanse himself; for self is infected. -He cannot find cleansing among men, for they too have inherited the -poison. And so he is driven to God, or else must sink into despair. -He who once sees into the black depths of his own heart will give -up thereafter all ideas of "every man his own redeemer." That the -psalmist's purpose was not to minimise his own guilt is clear, not -only from the tone of the psalm, but from the antithesis presented by -the Divine desire after inward truth in the next verse, which is out -of place if this verse contains a palliation for sin. - -We can scarcely miss the bearing of this verse on the question of -whether the psalm is the confession of an individual penitent or that -of the nation. It strongly favours the former view, though it does not -make the latter absolutely impossible. - -The discovery of inherent and inherited sinfulness brings with it -another discovery--that of the penetrating depth of the requirements -of God's law. He cannot be satisfied with outside conformity in deed. -The more intensely conscience realises sin, the more solemnly rises -before it the Divine ideal of man in its inwardness as well as in its -sweep. Truth within--inward correspondence with His will, and absolute -sincerity of soul are His desire. But I am "born in iniquity": a -terrible antithesis, and hopeless but for one hope, which dawns over -the suppliant like morning on a troubled sea. If we cannot ask God to -make us what He wishes us to be, these two discoveries of our nature -and of His will are open doorways to despair; but he who apprehends -them wisely will find in their conjoint operation a force impelling -him to prayer, and therefore to confidence. Only God can enable such a -Being as man to become such as He will delight in; and since He seeks -for truth within, He thereby pledges Himself to give the truth and -wisdom for which He seeks. - -Meditation on the sin which was ever before the psalmist, passes into -renewed prayers for pardon, which partly reiterate those already -offered in vv. 1, 2. The petition in ver. 7 for purging with hyssop -alludes to sprinkling of lepers and unclean persons, and indicates -both a consciousness of great impurity and a clear perception of the -symbolic meaning of ritual cleansings. "Wash me" repeats a former -petition; but now the psalmist can venture to dwell more on the -thought of future purity than he could do then. The approaching answer -begins to make its brightness visible through the gloom, and it seems -possible to the suppliant that even his stained nature shall glisten -like sunlit snow. Nor does that expectation exhaust his confidence. -He hopes for "joy and gladness." His bones have been crushed--_i.e._, -his whole self has been, as it were, ground to powder by the weight -of God's hand; but restoration is possible. A penitent heart is not -too bold when it asks for joy. There is no real well-founded gladness -without the consciousness of Divine forgiveness. The psalmist closes -his petitions for pardon (ver. 9) with asking God to "hide His face -from his sins," so that they be, as it were, no more existent for -Him, and, by a repetition of the initial petition in ver. 1, for the -blotting out of "all mine iniquities." - -The second principal division begins with ver. 10, and is a prayer for -purity, followed by vows of glad service. The prayer is contained in -three verses (10-12), of which the first implores complete renewal of -nature, the second beseeches that there may be no break between the -suppliant and God, and the third asks for the joy and willingness to -serve which would flow from the granting of the desires preceding. -In each verse the second clause has "spirit" for its leading word, -and the middle one of the three asks for "_Thy_ holy spirit." The -petitions themselves, and the order in which they occur, are deeply -significant, and deserve much more elucidation than can be given here. -The same profound consciousness of inward corruption which spoke in -the former part of the psalm shapes the prayer for renewal. Nothing -less than a new creation will make this man's heart "clean." His -past has taught him that. The word employed is always used of God's -creative act; and the psalmist feels that nothing less than the power -which brooded over the face of primeval chaos, and evolved thence an -ordered world, can deal with the confused ruin within himself. What -he felt that he must have is what prophets promised (Jer. xxiv. 7; -Ezek. xxxvi. 26) and Christ has brought--a new creation, in which, -while personality remains unaffected, and the components of character -continue as before, a real new life is bestowed, which stamps new -directions on affections, gives new aims, impulses, convictions, casts -out inveterate evils, and gradually changes "all but the basis of the -soul." A desire for pardon which does not unfold into such longing for -deliverance from the misery of the old self is not the offspring of -genuine penitence, but only of base fear. - -"A steadfast spirit" is needful in order to keep a cleansed heart -clean; and, on the other hand, when, by cleanness of heart, a man -is freed from the perturbations of rebellious desires and the -weakening influences of sin, his spirit will be steadfast. The two -characteristics sustain each other. Consciousness of corruption -dictated the former desire; penitent recognition of weakness and -fluctuation inspires the latter. It may be observed, too, that the -triad of petitions having reference to "spirit" has for its central -one a prayer for God's Spirit, and that the other two may be regarded -as dependent on that. Where God's Spirit dwells, the human spirit in -which it abides will be firm with uncreated strength. His energy, -being infused into a tremulous, changeful humanity, will make it -stable. If we are to stand fast, we must be stayed on God. - -The group of petitions in ver. 11 is negative. It deprecates a -possible tragic separation from God, and that under two aspects. -"Part me not from Thee; part not Thyself from me." The former prayer, -"Cast me not out from Thy presence," is by some explained according -to the analogy of other instances of the occurrence of the phrase, -where it means expulsion from the land of Israel; and is claimed, -thus interpreted, as a clear indication that the psalmist speaks in -the name of the nation. But however certainly the expression is thus -used elsewhere, it cannot, without introducing an alien thought, be so -interpreted in its present connection, imbedded in petitions of the -most spiritual and individual character: much rather, the psalmist -is recoiling from what he knows only too well to be the consequence -of an unclean heart--separation from God, whether in the sense of -exclusion from the sanctuary, or in the profounder sense, which is -not too deep for such a psalm, of conscious loss of the light of -God's face. He dreads being, Cain-like, shut out from that presence -which is life; and he knows that, unless his previous prayer for a -clean heart is answered, that dreary solitude of great darkness must -be his lot. The sister petition, "Take not Thy holy spirit from me," -contemplates the union between God and him from the other side. He -regards himself as possessing that Divine spirit; for he knows that, -notwithstanding his sin, God has not left him, else he would not have -these movements of godly sorrow and yearnings for purity. There is no -reason to commit the anachronism of supposing that the psalmist had -any knowledge of New Testament teaching of a personal Divine Spirit. -But if we may suppose that he is David, this prayer has special force. -That anointing which designated and fitted him for kingly office -symbolised the gift of a Divine influence accompanying a Divine call. -If we further remember how it had fared with his predecessor, from -whom, because of impenitence, "the Spirit of the Lord departed, and -an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him," we understand how Saul's -successor, trembling as he remembers his fate, prays with peculiar -emphasis, "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." - -The last member of the triad, in ver. 12, looks back to former -petitions, and asks for restoration of the "joy of Thy salvation," -which had lain like dew on this man before he fell. In this connection -the supplication for joy follows on the other two, because the joy -which it desires is the result of their being granted. For what is -"Thy salvation" but the gift of a clean heart and a steadfast spirit, -the blessed consciousness of unbroken closeness of communion with God, -in which the suppliant suns himself in the beams of God's face, and -receives an uninterrupted communication of His Spirit's gifts? These -are the sources of pure joy, lasting as God Himself, and victorious -over all occasions for surface sorrow. The issue of all these gifts -will be "a willing spirit," delighting to obey, eager to serve. If -God's Spirit dwells in us, obedience will be delight. To serve God -because we must is not service. To serve Him because we had rather -do His will than anything else is the service which delights Him -and blesses us. The word rendered "willing" comes by a very natural -process, to mean nobles. God's servants are princes and lords of -everything besides, themselves included. Such obedience is freedom. -If desires flow with equable motion parallel to God's will, there is -no sense of restraint in keeping within limits beyond which we do not -desire to go. "I will walk at liberty; for I keep Thy precepts." - -The last part of the psalm runs over with joyful vows--first, -of magnifying God's name (vv. 13-15), and then of offering true -sacrifices. A man who has passed through such experiences as the -psalmist's, and has received the blessings for which he prayed, cannot -be silent. The instinct of hearts touched by God's mercies is to speak -of them to others. And no man who can say "I will tell what He has -done for my soul" is without the most persuasive argument to bring -to bear on others. A piece of autobiography will touch men who are -unaffected by elaborate reasonings and deaf to polished eloquence. -The impulse and the capacity to "teach transgressors Thy ways" are -given in the experience of sin and forgiveness; and if any one has -not the former, it is questionable whether he has, in any real sense -or large measure, received the latter. The prayer for deliverance -from blood-guiltiness in ver. 14 breaks for a moment the flow of -vows; but only for a moment. It indicates how amid them the psalmist -preserved his sense of guilt, and how little he was disposed to -think lightly of the sins of whose forgiveness he had prayed himself -into the assurance. Its emergence here, like a black rock pushing -its grimness up through a sparkling, sunny sea, is no sign of doubt -whether his prayers had been answered; but it marks the abiding sense -of sinfulness, which must ever accompany abiding gratitude for pardon -and abiding holiness of heart. It seems hard to believe, as the -advocates of a national reference in the psalm are obliged to do, that -"blood-guiltiness" has no special reference to the psalmist's crime, -but is employed simply as typical of sin in general. The mention of -it finds a very obvious explanation on the hypothesis of Davidic -authorship, and a rather constrained one on any other. - -Ver. 16 introduces the reason for the preceding vow of grateful praise, -as is shown by the initial "For." The psalmist will bring the sacrifices -of a grateful heart making his lips musical, because he has learned that -these, and not ritual offerings, are acceptable. The same depreciation -of external sacrifices is strongly expressed in Psalm xl. 6, and here, -as there, is not to be taken as an absolute condemnation of these, but -as setting them decisively below spiritual service. To suppose that -prophets or psalmists waged a polemic against ritual observances _per -se_ misapprehends their position entirely. They do war against "the -sacrifice of the wicked," against external acts which had no inward -reality corresponding to them, against reliance on the outward and -its undue exaltation. The authors of the later addition to this psalm -had a true conception of its drift when they appended to it, not as a -correction of a heretical tendency, but as a liturgical addition in full -harmony with its spirit, the vow to "offer whole burnt offerings on" -the restored "altar," when God should again build up Zion. - -The psalmist's last words are immortal. "A heart broken and crushed, O -God, Thou wilt not despise." But they derive still deeper beauty and -pathos when it is observed that they are spoken after confession has -been answered to his consciousness by pardon, and longing for purity -by at least some bestowal of it. The "joy of Thy salvation," for which -he had prayed, has begun to flow into his heart. The "bones" which had -been "crushed" are beginning to reknit, and thrills of gladness to -steal through his frame; but still he feels that with all these happy -experiences contrite consciousness of his sin must mingle. It does not -rob his joy of one rapture, but it keeps it from becoming careless. He -goes safely who goes humbly. The more sure a man is that God has put -away the iniquity of his sin, the more should he remember it; for the -remembrance will vivify gratitude and bind close to Him without whom -there can be no steadfastness of spirit nor purity of life. The clean -heart must continue contrite, if it is not to cease to be clean. - -The liturgical addition implies that Jerusalem is in ruins. It cannot -be supposed without violence to come from David. It is not needed in -order to form a completion to the psalm, which ends more impressively, -and has an inner unity and coherence, if the deep words of ver. 17 are -taken as its close. - - - - - PSALM LII. - - 1 Why boastest thou in wickedness, O tyrant? - God's loving-kindness lasts always. - 2 Destructions does thy tongue devise; - Like a sharpened razor, thou framer of deceit! - 3 Thou lovest evil rather than good; - A lie rather than speaking righteousness. Selah. - - 4 Thou lovest all words that swallow men up, - Thou deceitful tongue! - 5 So God shall break thee down for ever, - Shall lay hold of thee and drag thee out of the tent, - And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. - - 6 And the righteous shall see and fear, - And at him shall they laugh. - 7 "See! the man that made not God his stronghold, - And trusted in the abundance of his wealth, - And felt strong in his evil desire." - - 8 But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God: - I trust in the loving-kindness of God for ever and aye. - 9 I will give Thee thanks for ever, for Thou hast done [this]: - And I will wait on Thy name before Thy favoured ones, for it is - good. - - -The progress of feeling in this psalm is clear, but there is no very -distinct division into strophes, and one of the two Selahs does not -mark a transition, though it does make a pause. First, the poet, with -a few indignant and contemptuous touches, dashes on his canvas an -outline portrait of an arrogant oppressor, whose weapon was slander -and his words like pits of ruin. Then, with vehement, exulting -metaphors, he pictures his destruction. On it follow reverent awe -of God, whose justice is thereby displayed, and deepened sense in -righteous hearts of the folly of trust in anything but Him. Finally, -the singer contrasts with thankfulness his own happy continuance in -fellowship with God with the oppressor's fate, and renews his resolve -of praise and patient waiting. - -The themes are familiar, and their treatment has nothing distinctive. -The portrait of the oppressor does not strike one as a likeness either -of the Edomite herdsman Doeg, with whose betrayal of David's asylum -at Nob the superscription connects the psalm, or of Saul, to whom -Hengstenberg, feeling the difficulty of seeing Doeg in it, refers it. -Malicious lies and arrogant trust in riches were not the crimes that -cried for vengeance in the bloody massacre at Nob. Cheyne would bring -this group of "Davidic" psalms (lii.-lix.) down to the Persian period -("Orig. of Psalt.," 121-23). Olshausen, after Theodore of Mopsuestia -(see Cheyne _loc. cit._) to the Maccabean. But the grounds alleged are -scarcely strong enough to carry more than the weight of a "may be"; -and it is better to recognise that, if the superscription is thrown -over, the psalm itself does not yield sufficiently characteristic -marks to enable us to fix its date. It may be worth considering -whether the very absence of any obvious correspondences with David's -circumstances does not show that the superscription rested on a -tradition earlier than itself, and not on an editor's discernment. - -The abrupt question at the beginning reveals the psalmist's long-pent -indignation. He has been silently brooding over the swollen arrogance -and malicious lies of the tyrant, till he can restrain himself no -longer, and out pours a fiery flood. Evil gloried in is worse than -evil done. The word rendered in the A.V. and R.V. "mighty man" is here -used in a bad sense, to indicate that he has not only a giant's power, -but uses it tyrannously, like a giant. How dramatically the abrupt -question is followed by the equally abrupt thought of the ever-during -loving-kindness of God! That makes the tyrant's boast supremely absurd, -and the psalmist's confidence reasonable, even in face of hostile power. - -The prominence given to sins of speech is peculiar. We should have -expected high-handed violence rather than these. But the psalmist is -tracking the deeds to their source; and it is not so much the tyrant's -words as his love of a certain kind of words which is adduced as proof -of his wickedness. These words have two characteristics in addition to -boastfulness. They are false and destructive. They are, according to -the forcible literal meaning in ver. 4, "words of swallowing." They -are, according to the literal meaning of "destructions," in ver. 2, -"yawning gulfs." Such words lead to acts which make a tyrant. They -flow from perverted preference of evil to good. Thus the deeds of -oppression are followed up to their den and birthplace. Part of the -description of the "words" corresponds to the fatal effect of Doeg's -report; but nothing in it answers to the other part--falsehood. The -psalmist's hot indignation speaks in the triple, direct address to -the tyrant, which comes in each case like a lightning flash at the -end of a clause (vv. 1, 2, 4). In the second of these the epithet -"framing deceit" does not refer to the "sharpened razor," but to the -tyrant. If referred to the former, it weakens rather than strengthens -the metaphor, by bringing in the idea that the sharp blade misses its -proper aim, and wounds cheeks instead of shearing off hair. The Selah -of ver. 3 interrupts the description, in order to fix attention, by a -pause filled up by music, on the hideous picture thus drawn. - -That description is resumed and summarised in ver. 4, which, by the -Selahs, is closely bound to ver. 5, in order to enforce the necessary -connection of sin and punishment, which is strongly underlined by -the "also" or "so" at the beginning of the latter verse. The stern -prophecy of destruction is based upon no outward signs of failure in -the oppressor's might, but wholly on confidence in God's continual -loving-kindness, which must needs assume attributes of justice when its -objects are oppressed. A tone of triumph vibrates through the imagery of -ver. 5, which is not in the same key as Christ has set for us. - -It is easy for those who have never lived under grinding, godless -tyranny to reprobate the exultation of the oppressed at the sweeping -away of their oppressors; but if the critics had seen their brethren -set up as torches to light Nero's gardens, perhaps they would have -known some thrill of righteous joy when they heard that he was dead. -Three strong metaphors describe the fall of this tyrant. He is broken -down, as a building levelled with the ground. He is laid hold of, as -a coal in the fire, with tongs (for so the word means), and dragged, -as in that iron grip, out of the midst of his dwelling. He is uprooted -like a tree with all its pride of leafage. Another blast of trumpets -or clang of harps or clash of cymbals bids the listeners gaze on the -spectacle of insolent strength laid prone, and withering as it lies. - -The third movement of thought (vv. 6, 7) deals with the effects of -this retribution. It is a conspicuous demonstration of God's justice -and of the folly of reliance on anything but Himself. The fear which -it produces in the "righteous" is reverential awe, not dread lest the -same should happen to them. Whether or not history and experience -teach evil men that "verily there is a God that judgeth," their -lessons are not wasted on devout and righteous souls. But this is the -tragedy of life, that its teachings are prized most by those who have -already learned them, and that those who need them most consider them -least. Other tyrants are glad when a rival is swept off the field, but -are not arrested in their own course. It is left to "the righteous" to -draw the lesson which all men should have learned. Although they are -pictured as laughing at the ruin, that is not the main effect of it. -Rather it deepens conviction, and is a "modern instance" witnessing to -the continual truth of "an old saw." There is one safe stronghold, and -only one. He who conceits himself to be strong in his own evil, and, -instead of relying on God, trusts in material resources, will sooner -or later be levelled with the ground, dragged, resisting vainly the -tremendous grasp, from his tent, and laid prostrate, as melancholy a -spectacle as a great tree blown down by tempest, with its roots turned -up to the sky and its arms with drooping leaves trailing on the ground. - -A swift turn of feeling carries the singer to rejoice in the contrast -of his own lot. No uprooting does he fear. It may be questioned -whether the words "in the house of God" refer to the psalmist or -to the olive tree. Apparently there were trees in the Temple area -(Psalm xcii. 13); but the parallel in the next clause, "in the -loving-kindness of God," points to the reference of the words to the -speaker. Dwelling in enjoyment of God's fellowship, as symbolised -by and realised through presence in the sanctuary, whether it were -at Nob or in Jerusalem, he dreads no such forcible removal as had -befallen the tyrant. Communion with God is the source of flourishing -and fruitfulness, and the guarantee of its own continuance. Nothing in -the changes of outward life need touch it. The mists which lay on the -psalmist's horizon are cleared away for us, who know that "for ever -and aye" designates a proper eternity of dwelling in the higher house -and drinking the full dew of God's loving-kindness. Such consciousness -of present blessedness in communion lifts a soul to prophetic -realisation of deliverance, even while no change has occurred in -circumstances. The tyrant is still boasting; but the psalmist's -tightened hold of God enables him to see "things that are not as -though they were," and to anticipate actual deliverance by praise for -it. It is the prerogative of faith to alter tenses, and to say, Thou -hast done, when the world's grammar would say, Thou wilt do. "I will -_wait on_ Thy name" is singular, since what is done "in the presence -of Thy favoured ones" would naturally be something seen or heard by -them. The reading "I will declare" has been suggested. But surely the -attitude of patient, silent expectance implied in "wait" may very -well be conceived as maintained in the presence of, and perceptible -by, those who had like dispositions, and who would sympathise and be -helped thereby. Individual blessings are rightly used when they lead -to participation in common thankfulness and quiet trust. - - - - - PSALM LIII.[1] - - 1 The fool says in his heart, There is no God. - They corrupt _and_ make abominable their _iniquity_; - There is no one doing good. - 2 _God_ looketh down from heaven upon the sons of men, - To see if there is any having discernment seeking after God. - 3 _Each of them_ is _turned aside_; together they are become putrid; - There is no one doing good; - There is not even one. - 4 Do the workers of iniquity not know - Who devour my people [as] they devour bread? - On _God_ they do not call. - 5 There they feared a [great] fear, _where no fear was_: - For God _has scattered the bones of him that encamps against thee_; - _Thou hast_ put _them_ to shame; for God _has rejected them_. - 6 Oh that the salvations of Israel were come out of Zion! - When _God_ brings back the captivity of His people, - May Jacob exult, may Israel be glad! - - -In this psalm we have an Elohistic recast of Psalm xiv., differing from -its original in substituting Elohim for Jehovah (four times) and in the -language of ver. 5. There are also other slight deviations not affecting -the sense. For the exposition the reader is referred to that of Psalm -xiv. It is only necessary here to take note of the divergences. - -The first of these occurs in ver. 1. The forcible rough construction -"they corrupt, they make abominable," is smoothed down by the -insertion of "and." The editor apparently thought that the loosely -piled words needed a piece of mortar to hold them together, but his -emendation weakens as well as smooths. On the other hand, he has -aimed at increased energy of expression by substituting "iniquity" -for "doings" in the same clause, which results in tautology and is no -improvement. In ver. 3 the word for "turned aside" is varied, without -substantial difference of meaning. The alteration is very slight, -affecting only one letter, and may be due to error in transcription or -to mere desire to emend. In ver. 4 "all," which in Psalm xiv. precedes -"workers of iniquity," is omitted, probably as unnecessary. - -The most important changes are in ver. 5, which stands for vv. 5 and -6 of Psalm xiv. The first is the insertion of "where no fear was." -These words may be taken as describing causeless panic, or, less -probably, as having a subjective reference, and being equal to "while -in the midst of careless security." They evidently point to some fact, -possibly the destruction of Sennacherib's army. Their insertion shows -that the object of the alterations was to adapt an ancient psalm as a -hymn of triumph for recent deliverance, thus altering its application -from evil-doers within Israel to enemies without. The same purpose -is obvious in the transformations effected in the remainder of this -verse. Considerable as these are, the recast most ingeniously conforms -to the sound of the original. If we could present the two versions in -tabular form, the resemblance would appear more strikingly than we can -here bring it out. The first variation--_i.e._, "scatters" instead of -"in the generation"--is effected by reading "pizzar" for "b'dhor," a -clear case of intentional assonance. Similarly the last word of the -verse, "has rejected them," is very near in consonants and sound -to "his refuge" in Psalm xiv. 6. The like effort at retaining the -general sound of the earlier psalm runs through the whole verse. -Very significantly the complaint of the former singer is turned into -triumph by the later, who addresses the delivered Israel with "Thou -hast put them to shame," while the other psalm could but address the -"fools" with "Ye would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted." In -like manner the tremulous hope of the original, "God is his refuge," -swells into commemoration of an accomplished fact in "God has rejected -them." The natural supposition is that some great deliverance of -Israel had just taken place, and inspired this singular attempt to -fit old words to new needs. Whatever the historical occasion may have -been, the two singers unite in one final aspiration, a sigh of longing -for the coming of Israel's full salvation, which is intensified in -the recast by being put in the plural ("salvations") instead of -the singular, as in Psalm xiv., to express the completeness and -manifoldness of the deliverance thus yearned for of old, and not yet -come in its perfection. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] Italics show variations from text of Psalm xiv. - - - - - PSALM LIV. - - 1 O God, by Thy name save me, - And by Thy might right me. - 2 O God, hear my prayer; - Give ear to the words of my mouth. - 3 For strangers are risen up against me, - And violent men seek my soul: - They set not God before them. Selah. - - 4 Behold, God is a helper for me: - The Lord is He that sustains my soul. - 5 He will requite evil to the liers in wait for me: - In Thy troth destroy them. - 6 Of [my own] free impulse will I sacrifice to Thee: - I will thank Thy name, for it is good. - 7 For from all distress it has delivered me; - And my eye has seen [its desire] on my enemies. - - -The tone and language of this psalm have nothing special. The -situation of the psalmist is the familiar one of being encompassed by -enemies. His mood is the familiar one of discouragement at the sight -of surrounding perils, which passes through petition into confidence -and triumph. There is nothing in the psalm inconsistent with the -accuracy of the superscription, which ascribes it to David, when the -men of Ziph would have betrayed him to Saul. Internal evidence does -not suffice to fix its date, if the traditional one is discarded. But -there seems no necessity for regarding the singer as the personified -nation, though there is less objection to that theory in this instance -than in some psalms with a more marked individuality and more fervent -expression of personal emotion, to which it is proposed to apply it. - -The structure is simple, like the thought and expression. The psalm -falls into two parts, divided by Selah,--of which the former is -prayer, spreading before God the suppliant's straits; and the latter -is confident assurance, blended with petition and vows of thanksgiving. - -The order in which the psalmist's thoughts run in the first part (vv. -1-3) is noteworthy. He begins with appeal to God, and summons before his -vision the characteristics in the Divine nature on which he builds his -hope. Then he pleads for the acceptance of his prayer, and only when -thus heartened does he recount his perils. That is a deeper faith which -begins with what God is, and thence proceeds to look calmly at foes, -than that which is driven to God in the second place, as a consequence -of an alarmed gaze on dangers. In the latter case fear strikes out a -spark of faith in the darkness; in the former, faith controls fear. - -The name of God is His manifested nature or character, the sum of all -of Him which has been made known by His word or work. In that rich -manifoldness of living powers and splendours this man finds reserves -of force, which will avail to save him from any peril. That name is -much more than a collection of syllables. The expression is beginning -to assume the meaning which it has in post-Biblical Hebrew, where -it is used as a reverential euphemism for the ineffable Jehovah. -Especially to God's power does the singer look with hopeful petitions, -as in ver. 1 _b_. But the whole name is the agent of his salvation. -Nothing less than the whole fulness of the manifested God is enough -for the necessities of one poor man; and that prayer is not too -bold, nor that estimate of need presumptuous, which asks for nothing -less. Since it is God's "might" which is appealed to, to judge the -psalmist's cause, the judgment contemplated is clearly not the Divine -estimate of the moral desert of his doings, or retribution to him for -these, but the vindication of his threatened innocence and deliverance -of him from enemies. The reason for the prayer is likewise alleged as -a plea with God to hear. The psalmist prays because he is ringed about -by foes. God will hear because He is so surrounded. It is blessed to -know that the same circumstances in our lot which drive us to God -incline God to us. - -"Strangers," in ver. 3, would most naturally mean foreigners, but -not necessarily so. The meaning would naturally pass into that of -enemies--men who, even though of the psalmist's own blood, behave -to him in a hostile manner. The word, then, does not negative the -tradition in the superscription; though the men of Ziph belonged to -the tribe of Judah, they might still be called "strangers." The verse -recurs in Psalm lxxxvi. 14, with a variation of reading--namely, -"proud" instead of "strangers." The same variation is found here in -some MSS. and in the Targum. But probably it has crept in here in -order to bring our psalm into correspondence with the other, and it -is better to retain the existing reading, which is that of the LXX. -and other ancient authorities. The psalmist has no doubt that to hunt -after his life is a sign of godlessness. The proof that violent men -have not "set God before them" is the fact that they "seek his soul." -That is a remarkable assumption, resting upon a very sure confidence -that he is in such relation to God that enmity to him is sin. The -theory of a national reference would make such identification of the -singer's cause with God's most intelligible. But the theory that he is -an individual, holding a definite relation to the Divine purposes and -being for some end a Divine instrument, would make it quite as much -so. And if David, who knew that he was destined to be king, was the -singer, his confidence would be natural. The history represents that -his Divine appointment was sufficiently known to make hostility to -him a manifest indication of rebellion against God. The unhesitating -fusion of his own cause with God's could scarcely have been ventured -by a psalmist, however vigorous his faith, if all that he had to go -on and desired to express was a devout soul's confidence that God -would protect him. That may be perfectly and yet it may not follow -that opposition to a man is godlessness. We cannot regard ourselves as -standing in such a relation; but we may be sure that the name, with -all its glories, is mighty to save us too. - -Prayer is, as so often in the Psalter, followed by immediately -deepened assurance of victory. The suppliant rises from his knees, -and points the enemies round him to his one Helper. In ver. 4 _b_ a -literal rendering would mislead. "The Lord is among the upholders of -my soul" seems to bring God down to a level on which others stand. -The psalmist does not mean this, but that God gathers up in Himself, -and that supremely, the qualities belonging to the conception of an -upholder. It is, in form, an inclusion of God in a certain class. It -is, in meaning, the assertion that He is the only true representative -of the class. Commentators quote Jephthah's plaintive words to his -daughter as another instance of the idiom: "Alas, my daughter, ... -thou art one of them that trouble me"--_i.e._, my greatest troubler. -That one thought, vivified into new power by the act of prayer, is the -psalmist's all-sufficient buckler, which he plants between himself and -his enemies, bidding them "behold." Strong in the confidence that has -sprung in his heart anew, he can look forward in the certainty that -his adversaries (lit. _those who lie in wait for me_) will find their -evil recoiling on themselves. The reading of the Hebrew text is, _Evil -shall return to_; that of the Hebrew margin, adopted by the A.V. and -R.V., is, _He shall requite evil to_. The meanings are substantially -the same, only that the one makes the automatic action of retribution -more prominent, while the other emphasises God's justice in inflicting -it. The latter reading gives increased force to the swift transition -to prayer in ver. 5 _b_. - -That petition is, like others in similar psalms, proper to the spiritual -level of the Old Testament, and not to that of the New; and it is far -more reverent, as well as accurate, to recognise fully the distinction -than to try to slur it over. At the same time, it is not to be forgotten -that the same lofty consciousness of the identity of his cause with -God's, which we have already had to notice, operating here in these -wishes for the enemies' destruction, gives another aspect to them than -that of mere outbursts of private vengeance. That higher aspect is -made prominent by the addition "in Thy troth." God's faithfulness to -His purposes and promises was concerned in the destruction, because -these were pledged to the psalmist's protection. His well-being was so -intertwined with God's promises that the Divine faithfulness demanded -the sweeping away of his foes. That is evidently not the language which -fits our lips. It implies a special relation to God's plans, and it -modifies the character of this apparently vindictive prayer. - -The closing verses of this simple, little psalm touch very familiar -notes. The faith which has prayed has grown so sure of answer that -it already begins to think of the thank-offerings. This is not -like the superstitious vow, "I will give so-and-so if Jupiter"--or -the Virgin--"will hear me." This praying man knows that he is -heard, and is not so much vowing as joyfully anticipating his glad -sacrifice. The same incipient personification of the name as in ver. -1 is very prominent in the closing strains. Thank-offerings--not -merely statutory and obligatory, but brought by free, uncommanded -impulse--are to be offered to "Thy name," because that name is -good. Ver. 7 probably should be taken as going even further in the -same direction of personification, for "Thy name" is probably to be -taken as the subject of "hath delivered." The tenses of the verbs -in ver. 7 are perfects. They contemplate the deliverance as already -accomplished. Faith sees the future as present. This psalmist, -surrounded by strangers seeking his life, can quietly stretch out a -hand of faith, and bring near to himself the to-morrow when he will -look back on scattered enemies and present, glad sacrifices! That -power of drawing a brighter future into a dark present belongs not to -those who build anticipations on wishes, but to those who found their -forecasts on God's known purpose and character. _The name_ is a firm -foundation for hope. There is no other. - -The closing words express confidence in the enemies' defeat and -destruction, with a tinge of feeling that is not permissible to -Christians. But the supplement, "my desire," is perhaps rather too -strongly expressive of wish for their ruin. Possibly there needs no -supplement at all, and the expression simply paints the calm security -of the man protected by God, who can "look upon" impotent hostility -without the tremor of an eyelid, because he knows who is his Helper. - - - - - PSALM LV. - - 1 Give ear, O God, to my prayer; - And hide not Thyself from my entreaty. - 2 Attend unto me, and answer me: - I am distracted as I muse, and must groan; - 3 For the voice of [my] enemy, - On account of the oppression of the wicked; - For they fling down iniquity upon me, - And in wrath they are hostile to me. - 4 My heart writhes within me: - And terrors of death have fallen upon me. - 5 Fear and trembling come upon me, - Horror wraps me round. - 6 Then I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! - I would fly away, and [there] abide. - 7 Lo, then would I migrate far away, - I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah. - 8 I would hasten my escape - From stormy wind and tempest. - - 9 Swallow [them up], Lord; confuse their tongue: - For I see violence and strife in the city. - 10 Day and night they go their rounds upon her walls: - And iniquity and mischief are in her midst. - 11 Destructions are in her midst: - And from her open market-place depart not oppression and deceit. - 12 For it is not an enemy that reviles me--that I could bear: - It is not my hater that magnifies himself against me--from him I - could shelter myself: - 13 But it is thou, a man my equal, - My companion, and my familiar friend. - 14 We who together used to make familiar intercourse sweet, - And walked to the house of God with the crowd. - 15 Desolations [fall] on them! - May they go down alive to Sheol! - For wickednesses are in their dwelling, in their midst. - - 16 As for me, I will cry to God; - And Jehovah will save me. - 17 Evening, and morning, and noon will I muse and groan: - And He will hear my voice. - 18 He has redeemed my soul in peace, so that they come not near me - For in great numbers were they round me. - 19 God will hear, and answer them-- - Even He that sitteth throned from of old-- Selah. - Them who have no changes - And who fear not God. - 20 He has laid his hands on those who were at peace with him: - He has broken his covenant. - 21 Smooth are the buttery words of his mouth, - But his heart is war: - Softer are his words than oil, - Yet are they drawn swords. - 22 Cast upon Jehovah thy burden, - And He, He will hold thee up: - He will never let the righteous be moved. - 23 But Thou, O God, shall bring them down to the depth of the pit: - Men of blood and deceit shall not attain half their days; - But as for me, I will trust in Thee. - - -The situation of the psalmist has a general correspondence with that -of David in the period of Absalom's rebellion, and the identification -of the traitorous friend with Ahithophel is naturally suggested. But -there are considerable difficulties in the way of taking that view. The -psalmist is evidently in the city, from which he longs to escape; but -Ahithophel's treachery was not known to David till after his flight. -Would a king have described his counsellor, however trusted, as "a man -my equal"? The doubt respecting the identity of the traitor, however, -does not seriously militate against the ordinary view of the date and -occasion of the psalm, if we suppose that it belongs to the period -immediately before the outburst of the conspiracy, when David was still -in Jerusalem, but seeing the treason growing daily bolder, and already -beginning to contemplate flight. The singularly passive attitude which -he maintained during the years of Absalom's plotting was due to his -consciousness of guilt and his submission to punishment. Hitzig ascribes -the psalm to Jeremiah, principally on the ground of the resemblance of -the prophet's wish for a lodge in the wilderness (Jer. ix. 2) to the -psalmist's yearning in vv. 6-8. Cheyne brings it down to the Persian -period; Olshausen, to the Maccabean. The Davidic authorship has at least -as much to say for itself as any of these conjectures. - -The psalm may be regarded as divided into three parts, in each of which -a different phase of agitated feeling predominates, but not exclusively. -Strong excitement does not marshal emotions or their expression -according to artistic proprieties of sequence, and this psalm is all -ablaze with it. That vehemence of emotion sufficiently accounts for both -the occasional obscurities and the manifest want of strict accuracy in -the flow of thought, without the assumption of dislocation of parts or -piecing it with a fragment of another psalm. When the heart is writhing -within, and tumultuous feelings are knocking at the door of the lips, -the words will be troubled and heaped together, and dominant thoughts -will repeat themselves in defiance of logical continuity. But, still, -complaint and longing sound through the waning, yearning notes of vv. -1-8; hot indignation and terrible imprecations in the stormy central -portion (vv. 9-15); and a calmer note of confidence and hope, through -which, however, the former indignation surges up again, is audible in -the closing verses (vv. 16-23). - -The psalmist pictures his emotions in the first part, with but one -reference to their cause, and but one verse of petition. He begins, -indeed, with asking that his prayer may be heard; and it is well when -a troubled heart can raise itself above the sea of troubles to stretch -a hand towards God. Such an effort of faith already prophesies firm -footing on the safe shore. But very pathetic and true to the experience -of many a sorrowing heart is the psalmist's immediately subsequent -dilating on his griefs. There is a dumb sorrow, and there is one which -unpacks its heart in many words and knows not when to stop. The psalmist -is _distracted_ in his bitter brooding on his troubles. The word means -to move restlessly, and may either apply to body or mind, perhaps to -both; for Eastern demonstrativeness is not paralysed, but stimulated to -bodily tokens, by sorrow. He can do nothing but groan or moan. His heart -"writhes" in him. Like an avalanche, deadly terrors have fallen on him -and crushed him. Fear and trembling have pierced into his inner being, -and "horror" (a rare word, which the LXX. here renders _darkness_) wraps -him round or covers him, as a cloak does. It is not so much the pressure -of present evil, as the shuddering anticipation of a heavier storm about -to burst, which is indicated by these pathetic expressions. The cause of -them is stated in a single verse (3). "The voice of the enemy" rather -than his hand is mentioned first, since threats and reproaches precede -assaults; and it is budding, not full-blown, enmity which is in view. -In ver. 3 _b_ "oppression" is an imperfect parallelism with "voice," -and the conjectural emendation (which only requires the prefixing of -a letter) of "cries," adopted by Cheyne, after Olshausen and others, -is tempting. They "fling down iniquity" on him as rocks are hurled or -rolled from a height on invaders--a phrase which recalls David's words -to his servants, urging flight before Absalom, "lest he bring down evil -upon us." - -Then, from out of all this plaintive description of the psalmist's -agitation and its causes, starts up that immortal strain which answers -to the deepest longings of the soul, and has touched responsive chords -in all whose lives are not hopelessly outward and superficial--the -yearning for repose. It may be ignoble, or lofty and pure; it may mean -only cowardice or indolence; but it is deepest in those who stand most -unflinchingly at their posts, and crush it down at the command of -duty. Unless a soul knows that yearning for a home in stillness, "afar -from the sphere of our sorrow," it will remain a stranger to many high -and noble things. The psalmist was moved to utter this longing by his -painful consciousness of encompassing evils; but the longing is more -than a desire for exemption from these. It is the cry of the homeless -soul, which, like the dove from the ark, finds no resting-place in a -world full of carrion, and would fain return whence it came. "O God, -Thou hast made us for Thyself, and we are unquiet till we find rest -in Thee." No obligation of duty keeps migratory birds in a land where -winter is near. But men are better than birds, because they have other -things to think of than repose, and must face, not flee, storms and -hurricanes. It is better to have wings "like birds of tempest-loving -kind," and to beat up against the wind, than to outfly it in retreat. -So the psalmist's wish was but a wish; and he, like the rest of us, -had to stand to his post, or be tied to his stake, and let enemies -and storms do their worst. The LXX. has a striking reading of ver. 8, -which Cheyne has partially adopted. It reads for ver. 8 _a_ "waiting -for Him who saves me"; but beautiful as this is, as giving the picture -of the restful fugitive in patient expectation, it brings an entirely -new idea into the picture, and blends metaphor and fact confusedly. -The Selah at the close of ver. 7 deepens the sense of still repose by -a prolonged instrumental interlude. - -The second part turns from subjective feelings to objective facts. A -cry for help and a yearning for a safe solitude were natural results -of the former; but when the psalmist's eye turns to his enemies, a -flash of anger lights it, and, instead of the meek longings of the -earlier verses, prayers for their destruction are vehemently poured -out. The state of things in the city corresponds to what must have -been the condition of Jerusalem during the incubation of Absalom's -conspiracy, but is sufficiently general to fit any time of strained -party feeling. The caldron simmers, ready to boil over. The familiar -evils, of which so many psalms complain, are in full vigour. The -psalmist enumerates them with a wealth of words which indicates -their abundance. Violence, strife, iniquity, mischief, oppression, -and deceit--a goodly company to patrol the streets and fill the open -places of the city! Ver. 10 _a_ is sometimes taken as carrying on the -personification of Violence and Strife in ver. 9, by painting these as -going their rounds on the walls, like sentries; but it is better to -suppose that the actual foes are meant, and that they are keeping up a -strict watch to prevent the psalmist's escape. - -Several commentators consider that the burst of indignation against -the psalmist's traitorous friend in vv. 12-14 interrupts the sequence, -and propose rearrangements by which vv. 20, 21, will be united -with vv. 12-14, and placed either before ver. 6 or after ver. 15. -But the very abruptness with which the thought of the traitor is -interjected here, and in the subsequent reference to him, indicates -how the singer's heart was oppressed by the treason; and the return -to the subject in ver. 20 is equally significant of his absorbed -and pained brooding on the bitter fact. That is a slight pain which -is removed by one cry. Rooted griefs, overwhelming sorrows, demand -many repetitions. Trouble finds ease in tautology. It is absurd to -look for cool, logical sequence in such a heart's cry as this psalm. -Smooth continuity would be most unnatural. The psalmist feels that -the defection of his false friend is the worst blow of all. He could -have braced himself to bear an enemy's reviling; he could have found -weapons to repel, or a shelter in which to escape from, open foes; but -the baseness which forgets all former sweet companionship in secret, -and all association in public and in worship, is more than he can bear -up against. The voice of wounded love is too plain in the words for -the hypothesis that the singer is the personified nation. Traitors are -too common to allow of a very confident affirmation that the psalm -must point to Ahithophel, and the description of the perfidious friend -as the _equal_ of the psalmist does not quite fit that case. - -As he thinks of all the sweetness of past intimacy, turned to gall -by such dastardly treachery, his anger rises. The description of -the city and of the one enemy in whom all its wickedness is, as it -were, concentrated, is framed in a terrible circlet of prayers for -the destruction of the foes. Ver. 9 _a_ begins and ver. 15 ends this -part with petitions which do not breathe the spirit of "Father, -forgive them." There may be a reference to the confusion of tongues -at Babel in the prayer of ver. 9. As then the impious work was -stopped by mutual unintelligibility, so the psalmist desires that -his enemies' machinations may be paralysed in like manner. In ver. -15 the translation "desolations" follows the Hebrew text, while -the alternative and in some respects preferable reading "May death -come suddenly" follows the Hebrew marginal correction. There are -difficulties in both, and the correction does not so much smooth the -language as to be obviously an improvement. The general sense is -clear, whichever reading is preferred. The psalmist is calling down -destruction on his enemies; and while the fact that he is in some -manner an organ of the Divine purpose invests hostility to him with -the darker character of rebellion against God, and therefore modifies -the personal element in the prayer, it still remains a plain instance -of the lower level on which the Old Testament saints and singers -stood, when compared with the "least in the kingdom of heaven." - -The third part of the psalm returns to gentler tones of devotion and -trust. The great name of Jehovah appears here significantly. To that -ever-living One, the Covenant God, will the psalmist cry, in assurance -of answer. "Evening, and morning, and noon" designate the whole day by -its three principal divisions, and mean, in effect, continually. Happy -are they who are impelled to unintermitting prayer by the sight of -unslumbering enmity! Enemies may go their rounds "day and night," but -they will do little harm, if the poor, hunted man, whom they watch so -closely, lifts his cries to Heaven "evening, and morning, and noon." -The psalmist goes back to his first words. He had begun by saying that -he was distracted as he mused, and could do nothing but groan, and in -ver. 17 he repeats that he will still do so. Has he, then, won nothing -by his prayer but the prolongation of his first dreary tone of feeling? -He has won this--that his musing is not accompanied by distraction, and -that his groaning is not involuntary expression of pain, but articulate -prayer, and therefore accompanied by the confidence of being heard. -Communion with God and prayerful trust in his help do not at once end -sadness and sobbing, but do change their character and lighten the -blackness of grief. This psalmist, like so many of his fellows, realises -deliverance before he experiences it, and can sing "He has redeemed my -soul" even while the calamity lasts. "They come not near me," says he. -A soul hidden in God has an invisible defence which repels assaults. As -with a man in a diving-bell, the sea may press on the crystal walls, but -cannot crush them in or enter, and there is safe, dry lodging inside, -while sea billows and monsters are without, close to the diver and yet -far from him. - -Ver. 19 is full of difficulty, and most probably has suffered some -textual corruption. To "hear and answer" is uniformly an expression -for gracious hearing and beneficent answering. Here it can only mean -the opposite, or must be used ironically. God will hear the enemies' -threats, and will requite them. Various expedients have been suggested -for removing the difficulty. It has been proposed to read "me" for -"them," which would bring everything into order--only that, then, the -last clauses of the verse, which begin with a relative ("who have no -changes," etc.), would want an antecedent. It has been proposed to -read "will humble them" for "will answer them," which is the LXX. -translation. That requires a change in the vowels of the verb, and -"answer" is more probable than "humble" after "hear." Cheyne follows -Olshausen in supposing that "the cry of the afflicted" has dropped out -after "hear." The construction of ver. 19 _b_ is anomalous, as the -clause is introduced by a superfluous "and," which may be a copyist's -error. The Selah attached is no less anomalous. It is especially -difficult to explain, in view of the relative which begins the third -clause, and which would otherwise be naturally brought into close -connection with the "them," the objects of the verbs in _a_. These -considerations lead Hupfeld to regard ver. 19 as properly ending -with Selah, and the remaining clauses as out of place, and properly -belonging to ver. 15 or 18; while Cheyne regards the alternative -supposition that they are a fragment of another psalm as possible. -There is probably some considerable corruption of the text, not now -to be remedied; but the existing reading is at least capable of -explanation and defence. The principal difficulty in the latter part -of ver. 19 is the meaning of the word rendered "changes." The persons -spoken of are those whom God will hear and answer in His judicial -character, in which He has been throned from of old. Their not having -"changes" is closely connected with their not fearing God. The word is -elsewhere used for changes of raiment, or for the relief of military -guards. Calvin and others take the changes intended to be vicissitudes -of fortune, and hence draw the true thought that unbroken prosperity -tends to forgetfulness of God. Others take the changes to be those of -mind or conduct from evil to good, while others fall back upon the -metaphor of relieving guard, which they connect with the picture in -ver. 10 of the patrols on the walls, so getting the meaning "they have -no cessation in their wicked watchfulness." It must be acknowledged -that none of these meanings is quite satisfactory; but probably -the first, which expresses the familiar thought of the godlessness -attendant on uninterrupted prosperity, is best. - -Then follows another reference to the traitorous friend, which, by -its very abruptness, declares how deep is the wound he has inflicted. -The psalmist does not stand alone. He classes with himself those who -remained faithful to him. The traitor has not yet thrown off his mask, -though the psalmist has penetrated his still retained disguise. He -comes with smooth words; but, in the vigorous language of ver. 21, -"his heart is war." The fawning softness of words known to be false -cuts into the heart, which had trusted and knows itself betrayed, more -sharply than keen steel. - -Ver. 22 has been singularly taken as the smooth words which cut so deep; -but surely that is a very strained interpretation. Much rather does -the psalmist exhort himself and all who have the same bitterness to -taste, to commit themselves to Jehovah. What is it which he exhorts us -to cast on Him? The word employed is used here only, and its meaning is -therefore questionable. The LXX. and others translate "care." Others, -relying on Talmudic usage, prefer "burden," which is appropriate to the -following promise of being held erect. Others (Hupfeld, etc.) would -read "that which He has given thee." The general sense is clear, and -the faith expressed in both exhortation and appended promise has been -won by the singer through his prayer. He is counselling and encouraging -himself. The spirit has to spur the "soul" to heroisms of faith and -patience. He is declaring a universal truth. However crushing our loads -of duty or of sorrow, we receive strength to carry them with straight -backs, if we cast them on Jehovah. The promise is not that He will -take away the pressure, but that He will hold us up under it; and, -similarly, the last clause declares that the righteous will not be -allowed to stumble. Faith is mentioned before righteousness. The two -must go together; for trust which is not accompanied and manifested by -righteousness is no true trust, and righteousness which is not grounded -in trust is no stable or real righteousness. - -The last verse sums up the diverse fates of the "men of blood and -deceit" and of the psalmist. The terrible prayers of the middle portion -of the psalm have wrought the assurance of their fulfilment, just as the -cries of faith have brought the certainty of theirs. So the two closing -verses of the psalm turn both parts of the earlier petitions into -prophecies; and over against the trustful, righteous psalmist, standing -erect and unmoved, there is set the picture of the "man of blood and -deceit," chased down the black slopes to the depths of destruction by -the same God whose hand holds up the man that trusts in Him. It is a -dreadful contrast, and the spirit of the whole psalm is gathered into -it. The last clause of all makes "I" emphatic. It expresses the final -resolution which springs in the singer's heart in view of that dread -picture of destruction and those assurances of support. He recoils -from the edge of the pit, and eagerly opens his bosom for the promised -blessing. Well for us if the upshot of all our meditations on the -painful riddle of this unintelligible world, and of all our burdens and -of all our experiences and of our observation of other men's careers, is -the absolute determination, "As for me, I will trust in Jehovah!" - - - - - PSALM LVI. - - 1 Be gracious to me, O God; for man would swallow me up: - All day the fighting oppresses me. - 2 My liers-in-wait would swallow me up all the day: - For many proudly fight against me. - 3 [In] the day [when] I fear, - I will trust in Thee. - 4 In God do I praise His word: - In God do I trust, I will not fear; - What can flesh do to me? - - 5 All day they wrest my words; - All their thoughts are against me for evil. - 6 They gather together, they set spies, - They mark my steps, - Even as they have waited for my soul. - 7 Shall there be escape for them because of iniquity? - In anger cast down the peoples, O God. - 8 My wanderings hast Thou reckoned: - Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle; - Are they not in Thy reckoning? - 9 Then shall my enemies turn back in the day [when] I call: - This I know, that God is for me (_or_ mine). - 10 In God will I praise the word: - In Jehovah will I praise the word. - 11 In God have I trusted, I will not fear; - What can man do to me? - - 12 Upon me, O God, are Thy vows: - I will requite praises to Thee. - 13 For Thou hast delivered my soul from death: - Hast Thou not delivered my feet from stumbling? - That I may walk before God in the light of the living. - - -The superscription dates this psalm from the time of David's being -in Gath. Probably his first stay there is meant, during which he had -recourse to feigned insanity in order to secure his safety. What a -contrast between the seeming idiot scrabbling on the walls and the -saintly singer of this lovely song of purest trust! But striking as the -contrast is, it is not too violent to be possible. Such heroic faith -might lie very near such employment of pardonable dissimulation, even if -the two moods of feeling can scarcely have been contemporaneous. Swift -transitions characterise the poetic temperament; and, alas! fluctuations -of courage and faith characterise the devout soul. Nothing in the psalm -specially suggests the date assigned in the superscription; but, as we -have already had occasion to remark, that may be an argument for, not -against, the correctness of the superscription. - -The psalm is simple in structure. Like others ascribed to David during -the Sauline period, it has a refrain, which divides it into two parts; -but these are of substantially the same purport, with the difference -that the second part enlarges the description of the enemies' -assaults, and rises to confident anticipation of their defeat. In that -confidence the singer adds a closing expression of thankfulness for -the deliverance already realised in faith. - -The first part begins with that significant contrast which is the -basis of all peaceful fronting of a hostile world or any evil. On one -side stands man, whose very name here suggests feebleness, and on the -other is God. "Man" in ver. 1 is plainly a collective. The psalmist -masses the foes, whom he afterwards individualises and knows only -too well to be a multitude, under that generic appellation, which -brings out their inherent frailty. Be they ever so many, still they -all belong to the same class, and an infinite number of nothings -only sums up into nothing. The Divine Unit is more than all these. -The enemy is said to "pant after" the psalmist, as a wild beast -open-mouthed and ready to devour; or, according to others, the word -means to _crush_. The thing meant by the strong metaphor is given in -ver. 1 _b_. 2; namely, the continual hostile activity of the foe. The -word rendered "proudly" is literally "on high," and Baethgen suggests -that the literal meaning should be retained. He supposes that the -antagonists "held an influential position in a princely court." Even -more literally the word may describe the enemies as occupying a post -of vantage, from which they shower down missiles. - -One brief verse, the brevity of which gives it emphasis, tells of -the singer's fears, and of how he silences them by the dead lift of -effort by which he constrains himself to trust. It is a strangely -shallow view which finds a contradiction in this utterance, which all -hearts, that have ever won calmness in agitation and security amid -encompassing dangers by the same means, know to correspond to their -own experience. If there is no fear, there is little trust. The two -do co-exist. The eye that takes in only visible facts on the earthly -level supplies the heart with abundant reasons for fear. But it rests -with ourselves whether we shall yield to those, or whether, by lifting -our eyes higher and fixing the vision on the Unseen and on Him who is -invisible, we shall call such an ally to our side as shall make fear -and doubt impossible. We have little power of directly controlling -fear or any other feeling, but we can determine the objects on which -we shall fix attention. If we choose to look at "man," we shall be -unreasonable if we do not fear; if we choose to look at God, we shall -be more unreasonable if we do not trust. The one antagonist of fear -is faith. Trust is a voluntary action for which we are responsible. - -The frequent use of the phrase "In the day when" is noticeable. It -occurs in each verse of the first part, excepting the refrain. The -antagonists are continually at work, and the psalmist, on his part, -strives to meet their machinations and to subdue his own fears with -as continuous a faith. The phrase recurs in the second part in a -similar connection. Thus, then, the situation as set forth in the -first part has three elements,--the busy malice of the foes; the -effort of the psalmist, his only weapon against them, to hold fast his -confidence; and the power and majesty of God, who will be gracious -when besought. The refrain gathers up these three in a significantly -different order. The preceding verses arranged them thus--God, man, -the trusting singer. The refrain puts them thus--God, the trusting -singer, man. When the close union between a soul and God is clearly -seen and inwardly felt, the importance of the enemies dwindles. -When faith is in the act of springing up, God, the refuge, and man, -the source of apprehension, stand over against each other, and the -suppliant, looking on both, draws near to God. But when faith has -fruited, the believing soul is coupled so closely to the Divine -Object of its faith, that He and it are contemplated as joined in -blessed reciprocity of protection and trust, and enemies are in an -outer region, where they cannot disturb its intercourse with its God. -The order of thought in the refrain is also striking. First, the -singer praises God's word. By God's gracious help he knows that he -will receive the fulfilment of God's promises (not necessarily any -special "word," such as the promise of a throne to David). And then, -on the experience of God's faithfulness thus won, is reared a further -structure of trust, which completely subdues fear. This is the reward -of the effort after faith which the psalmist made. He who begins with -determining not to fear will get such tokens of God's troth that fear -will melt away like a cloud, and he will find his sky cleared, as the -nightly heavens are swept free of cloud-rack by the meek moonlight. - -The second part covers the same ground. Trust, like love, never finds -it grievous to write the same things. There is delight, and there is -strengthening for the temper of faith, in repeating the contemplation -of the earthly facts which make it necessary, and the super-sensuous -facts which make it blessed. A certain expansion of the various parts -of the theme, as compared with the first portion of the psalm, is -obvious. Again the phrase "all the day" occurs in reference to the -unwearying hostility which dogs the singer. "They wrest my words" may -be, as Cheyne prefers, "They torture me with words." That rendering -would supply a standing feature of the class of psalms to which this -belongs. The furtive assembling, the stealthy setting of spies who -watch his steps (lit. _heels_, as ready to spring on him from behind), -are no new things, but are in accordance with what has long been the -enemies' practice. - -Ver. 7 brings in a new element not found in the first part--namely, -the prayer for the destruction of these unwearied watchers. Its first -clause is obscure. If the present text is adhered to, the rendering of -the clause as a question is best. A suggested textual correction has -been largely adopted by recent commentators, which by a very slight -alteration gives the meaning "For their iniquity requite them." The -alteration, however, is not necessary, and the existing text may be -retained, though the phrase is singular. The introduction of a prayer -for a world-wide judgment in the midst of so intensely individual a -psalm is remarkable, and favours the theory that the afflicted man -of the psalm is really the nation; but it may be explained on the -ground that, as in Psalm vii. 8, the judgment on behalf of one man is -contemplated as only one smaller manifestation of the same judicial -activity which brings about the universal judgment. This single -reference to the theme which fills so considerable a part of the other -psalms of this class is in harmony with the whole tone of this gem -of quiet faith, which is too much occupied with the blessedness of -its own trust to have many thoughts of the end of others. It passes, -therefore, quickly, to dwell on yet another phase of that blessedness. - -The tender words of ver. 8 need little elucidation. They have brought -comfort to many, and have helped to dry many tears. How the psalmist -presses close to God, and how sure he is of His gentle care and love! -"Thou reckonest my wandering." The thought is remarkable, both in its -realisation of God's individualising relation to the soul that trusts -Him, and as in some degree favouring the Davidic authorship. The -hunted fugitive feels that every step of his weary interlacing tracks, -as he stole from point to point as danger dictated, was known to God. -The second clause of the verse is thought by prosaic commentators -to interrupt the sequence, because it interjects a petition between -two statements; but surely nothing is more natural than such an -"interruption." What a lovely figure is that of God's treasuring up -His servants' tears in His "bottle," the skin in which liquids were -kept! What does He keep them for? To show how precious they are in His -sight, and perhaps to suggest that they are preserved for a future -use. The tears that His children shed and give to Him to keep cannot -be tears of rebellious or unmeasured weeping, and will be given back -one day to those who shed them, converted into refreshment, by the -same Power which of old turned water into wine. - - "Think not thou canst weep a tear, - And thy Maker is not near." - -Not only in order to minister retribution to those who inflicted them, -but also in order to give recompense of gladness to weepers, are these -tears preserved by God; and the same idea is repeated by the other -metaphor of ver. 8 _c_. God's book, or reckoning, contains the count -of all the tears as well as wanderings of His servant. The certainty -that it is so is expressed by the interrogative form of the clause. - -The "then" of ver. 9 may be either temporal or logical. It may mean -"things being so," or "in consequence of this," or it may mean "at -the time when," and may refer to the further specification of period -in the next clause. That same day which has already been designated -as that of the enemies' panting after the psalmist's life, and -wresting of his words, and, on the other hand, as that of his fear, -is now the time of his prayer, and consequently of their defeat and -flight. The confidence which struggled with fear in the closing -words of the first part, is now consolidated into certain knowledge -that God is on the singer's side, and in a very deep sense belongs -to him. This is the foundation of his hope of deliverance; and in -this clear knowledge he chants once more his refrain. As is often the -case, slight differences, mainly due to artistic love of variety in -uniformity, occur in the repeated refrain. "Word" stands instead of -"His word"; "man," instead of "flesh"; and a line is intercalated, -in which Jehovah is substituted for God. The addition may be a later -interpolation, but is probably part of the original text, and due to -the same intelligible motives which prompted the occasional use of the -great Covenant Name in the Elohistic psalms of this second book. - -The psalmist's exuberant confidence overflows the limits of his -song, in a closing couple of verses which are outside its scheme. -So sure is he of deliverance, that, as often in similar psalms, his -thoughts are busied in preparing his sacrifice of thanks before -the actual advent of the mercy for which it is to be offered. Such -swift-footed Gratitude is the daughter of very vivid Faith. The ground -of the thankoffering is deliverance of "the soul," for which foes -have "waited." "Thou hast delivered" is a perfect tense expressing -confidence in the certainty of the as yet unrealised exercise of God's -power. The question of ver. 13 _b_, like that of ver. 8 _c_ (and -perhaps that of ver. 7 _a_), is an emphatic affirmation, and the verb -to be supplied is not "Wilt thou?" as the A.V. has it, but, as is -plain from the context, and from the quotation of this verse in Psalm -cxvi. 8, "Hast thou?" The Divine deliverance is complete,--not only -doing the greater, but also the less; and not barely saving life, but -sustaining the steps. God does not rescue by halves, either in the -natural or spiritual realm; but in the former He first rescues and -next preserves, and in the latter He delivers from the true death of -the spirit, and then inspires to glad obedience. The psalm crowns -its celebration of God's miracles of deliverance by declaring the aim -of them all to be that their recipient may walk before God--_i.e._, -in continual consciousness of His cognisance of his deeds, and "in -the light of the living" or "of life." The expression seems here to -mean simply the present life, as contrasted with the darkness and -inactivity of Sheol; but we can scarcely help remembering the deeper -meaning given to it by Him who said that to follow Him was to have -the light of life. Whether any dim foreboding of a better light -than streams from even an Eastern sun, and of a truer life than the -vain shadow which men call by that august name, floated before the -singer or not, we can thankfully interpret his words, so as to make -them the utterance of the Christian consciousness that the ultimate -design of all God's deliverances of souls from death and of feet -from falling is that, not only in ways of holiness here, but in the -more perfect consciousness of His greater nearness hereafter, and in -correspondingly increased perfectness of active service, we should -walk before God in the light of the living. - - - - - PSALM LVII. - - 1 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me; - For in Thee has my soul taken refuge: - And in the shadow of Thy wings will I take refuge, - Until the [tempest of] destructions is gone by. - 2 I will cry to God Most High; - To God who accomplishes for me. - 3 He will send from heaven, and save me; - [For] He that would swallow me up blasphemes. Selah. - God shall send His Loving-kindness and His Troth. - 4 My soul is among lions; - I must lie down among those who breathe out fire-- - Sons of men, whose teeth are spear and arrows, - Their tongue a sharp sword. - 5 Exalt Thyself above the heavens, O God, - Above all the earth Thy glory. - - 6 A net have they prepared for my steps: - They have bowed down my soul: - They have digged before me a pit; - They have fallen into the midst of it. Selah. - 7 Steadfast is my heart, O God, steadfast is my heart: - I will sing and harp. - 8 Awake, my glory; awake, harp and lute: - I will wake the dawn. - 9 I will give Thee thanks among the peoples, O Lord: - I will harp to Thee among the nations. - 10 For great unto the heavens is Thy Loving-kindness, - And unto the clouds Thy Troth. - 11 Exalt Thyself above the heavens, O God, - Above all the earth Thy glory. - - -This psalm resembles the preceding in the singer's circumstances of -peril and in his bold faith. It has also points of contact in the cry, -"Be gracious," and in the remarkable expression for enemies, "Those -that would swallow me up." It has also several features in common with -the other psalms ascribed by the superscriptions to the time of the -Sauline persecution. Like Psalm vii. are the metaphor of _lions_ for -enemies, that of _digging a pit_ for their plots, the use of _glory_ -as a synonym for soul. The difficult word rendered "destructions" in -ver. 1 connects this psalm with Psalm lv. 11, dated as belonging to -the time of Saul's hostility, and with Psalms v. 9 and xxxviii. 12, -both traditionally Davidic. There is nothing in the psalm against the -attribution of it to David in the cave, whether of Adullam or Engedi, -and the allusions to lying down among lions may possibly have been -suggested by the wild beasts prowling round the psalmist's shelter. -The use in ver. 1 of the picturesque word for taking refuge derives -special appropriateness from the circumstances of the fugitive, over -whose else defenceless head the sides of his cave arched themselves -like great wings, beneath which he lay safe, though the growls of -beasts of prey echoed round. But there is no need to seek for further -certainty as to the occasion of the psalm. Baethgen thinks that it can -only have been composed after "the annihilation of the independence -of the Israelite state," because the vow in ver. 9 to make God's name -known among the nations can only be the utterance of the oppressed -congregation, which is sure of deliverance, because it is conscious -of its Divine call to sing God's praise to heathens. But that vow is -equally explicable on the assumption that the individual singer was -conscious of such a call. - -There is no very sharp division of parts in the psalm. A grand refrain -separates it into two portions, in the former of which prayer for -deliverance and contemplation of dangers prevail, while in the latter -the foe is beheld as already baffled, and exuberant praise is poured -forth and vowed. - -As in Psalm liv. and often, the first part begins with an act of faith -reaching out to God, and strengthening itself by the contemplation of -His character and acts. That energy of confidence wins assurance of -help, and only after that calming certitude has filled the soul does -the psalmist turn his eye directly on his enemies. His faith does not -make him oblivious of his danger, but it minimises his dread. An eye -that has seen God sees little terror in the most terrible things. - -The psalmist knows that a soul which trusts has a right to God's -gracious dealings, and he is not afraid to urge his confidence as a -plea with God. The boldness of the plea is not less indicative of -the depth and purity of his religious experience than are the tender -metaphors in which it is expressed. What truer or richer description -of trust could be given than that which likens it to the act of a -fugitive betaking himself to the shelter of some mountain fastness, -impregnable and inaccessible? What lovelier thought of the safe, -warm hiding-place which God affords was ever spoken than that of -"the shadow of Thy wings"? Very significant is the recurrence of the -same verb in two different tenses in two successive clauses (1 _b_, -_c_). The psalmist heartens himself for present and future trust by -remembrance of past days, when he exercised it and was not put to -shame. That faith is blessed, and cannot but be strong, which is -nurtured by the remembrance of past acts of rewarded faith, as the -leaves of bygone summers make rich mould for a new generation of -flowers. When kites are in the sky, young birds seek protection from -the mother's wing as well as warmth from her breast. So the singer -betakes himself to his shelter till "destructions are gone by." -Possibly these are likened to a wild storm which sweeps across the -land, but is not felt in the stillness of the cave fortress. Hidden in -God, a man "heareth not the loud winds when they call," and may solace -himself in the midst of their roar by the thought that they will soon -blow over. He will not cease to take refuge in God when the stress is -past, nor throw off his cloak when the rain ceases; but he will nestle -close while it lasts, and have as his reward the clear certainty of -its transiency. The faith which clings to God after the tempest is no -less close than that which screened itself in Him while it raged. - -Hidden in his shelter, the psalmist, in ver. 2, tells himself the -grounds on which he may be sure that his cry to God will not be in -vain. His name is "Most High," and His elevation is the pledge of His -irresistible might. He is the "God" (the Strong) who accomplishes all -for the psalmist which he needs, and His past manifestations in that -character make His future interventions certain. Therefore the singer is -sure of what will happen. Two bright angels--Loving-kindness and Troth -or Faithfulness their names--will be despatched from heaven for the -rescue of the man who has trusted. That is certain, because of what God -is and has done. It is no less certain, because of what the psalmist is -and has done; for a soul that gazes on God as its sole Helper, and has -pressed, in its feebleness, close beneath these mighty pinions, cannot -but bring down angel helpers, the executants of God's love. - -The confidence expressed in ver. 2 is interrupted by an abrupt glance -at the enemy. "He that would swallow me up blasphemes" is the most -probable rendering of a difficult phrase, the meaning and connection -of which are both dubious. If it is so rendered, the connection is -probably that which we have expressed in the translation by inserting -"For." The wish to destroy the psalmist is itself blasphemy, or is -accompanied with blasphemy; and therefore God will surely send down -what will bring it to nought. The same identification of his own cause -with God's, which marks many of the psalms ascribed to the persecuted -David, underlies this sudden reference to the enemy, and warrants the -conclusion drawn, that help will come. The Selah at the end of the -clause is unusual in the middle of a verse; but it may be intended to -underscore, as it were, the impiety of the enemy, and so corresponds -with the other Selah in ver. 6, which is also in an unusual place, and -points attention to the enemy's ruin, as this does to his wickedness. - -The description of the psalmist's circumstances in ver. 4 presents -considerable difficulty. The division of clauses, the force of the -form of the verb rendered _I must lie down_, and the meaning and -construction of the word rendered "those who breathe out fire," are -all questionable. If the accents are adhered to, the first clause -of the verse is "My soul is among lions." That is by some--_e.g._, -Delitzsch--regarded as literal description of the psalmist's -environment, but it is more natural to suppose that he is applying a -familiar metaphor to his enemies. In v. 4 _b_ the verb rendered above -"I must lie down" is in a form which has usually a cohortative or -optative force, and is by some supposed to have that meaning here, -and to express trust which is willing to lie down even in a lion's -den. It seems, however, here to denote objective necessity rather -than subjective willingness. Hupfeld would read _lies down_ (third -person), thus making "My soul" the subject of the verb, and getting -rid of the difficult optative form. Cheyne suggests a further slight -alteration in the word, so as to read, "My soul hath dwelt"--a phrase -found in Psalm cxx. 6; and this emendation is tempting. The word -rendered "those who breathe out fire" is by some taken to mean "those -who devour," and is variously construed, as referring to the _lions_ -in _a_, taken literally, or as describing the _sons of men_ in _c_. -The general drift of the verse is clear. The psalmist is surrounded -by enemies, whom he compares, as the Davidic psalms habitually do, to -wild beasts. They are ready to rend. Open-mouthed they seem to breathe -out flames, and their slanders cut like swords. - -The psalmist's contemplation of his forlorn lair among men worse -than beasts of prey drives him back to realise again his refuge in -God. He, as it were, wrenches his mind round to look at God rather -than at the enemies. Clear perception of peril and weakness does its -best work, when it drives to as clear recognition of God's help, and -wings faithful prayer. The psalmist, in his noble refrain, has passed -beyond the purely personal aspect of the desired deliverance, and -wishes not only that he may be shielded from his foes, but that God -would, in that deliverance, manifest Himself in His elevation above -and power over all created things. To conceive of his experience as -thus contributing to God's world-wide glory seems presumptuous; but -even apart from the consideration that the psalmist was conscious of -a world-wide mission, the lowliest suppliant has a right to feel that -his deliverance will enhance the lustre of that Glory; and the lowlier -he feels himself, the more wonderful is its manifestations in his -well-being. But if there is a strange note in the apparent audacity -of this identification, there is a deep one of self-suppression in the -fading from the psalmist's prayer of all mention of himself, and the -exclusive contemplation of the effects on the manifestation of God's -character, which may follow his deliverance. It is a rare and lofty -attainment to regard one's own well-being mainly in its connection -with God's "glory," and to desire the latter more consciously and -deeply than the former. - -It has been proposed by Hupfeld to transpose vv. 5, 6, on the ground -that a recurrence to the description of dangers is out of place after -the refrain, and incongruous with the tone of the second part of the -psalm. But do the psalmists observe such accuracy in the flow of their -emotions? and is it not natural for a highly emotional lyric like this -to allow some surge of feeling to run over its barriers? The reference -to the enemies in ver. 6 is of a triumphant sort, which naturally -prepares for the burst of praise following, and worthily follows even -the lyrical elevation of the refrain. The perfects seem at first sight -to refer to past deliverances, which the psalmist recalls in order to -assure himself of future ones. But this retrospective reference is not -necessary, and the whole description in ver. 6 is rather to be taken -as that of approaching retribution on the foes, which is so certain -to come that the singer celebrates it as already as good as done. The -familiar figures of the net and pit, by both of which wild animals -are caught, and the as familiar picture of the hunter trapped in his -own pitfall, need no elucidation. There is a grim irony of events, -which often seems to delight in showing "the engineer hoised with his -own petard"; and whether that spectacle is forthcoming or not, the -automatic effects of wrongdoing always follow, and no man digs pits -for others but somehow and somewhen he finds himself at the bottom of -them, and his net wrapped round his own limbs. The Selah at the end -of ver. 6 calls spectators to gather, as it were, round the sight of -the ensnared plotter, lying helpless down there. A slight correction -of the text does away with a difficulty in ver. 6 _b_. The verb there -is transitive, and in the existing text is in the singular, but "He -has bowed down my soul" would be awkward, though not impossible, when -coming between two clauses in which the enemies are spoken of in the -plural. The emendation of the verb to the third person plural by the -addition of a letter brings the clauses into line, and retains the -usual force of the verb. - -The psalmist has done with the enemies; they are at the bottom of the -pit. In full confidence of triumph and deliverance, he breaks out into -a grand burst of praise. "My heart is fixed," or "steadfast." Twice -the psalmist repeats this, as he does other emphatic thoughts, in this -psalm (_cp._ vv. 2, 4, 8, 9). What power can steady that fluttering, -wayward, agitated thing, a human heart? The way to keep light articles -fixed on deck, amidst rolling seas and howling winds, is to lash them -to something fixed; and the way to steady a heart is to bind it to -God. Built into the Rock, the building partakes of the steadfastness -of its foundation. Knit to God, a heart is firm. The psalmist's was -steadfast because it had taken refuge in God; and so, even before his -rescue from his enemies came to pass, he was emancipated from the fear -of them, and could lift this song of praise. He had said that he must -lie down among lions. But wherever his bed may be, he is sure that -he will rise from it; and however dark the night, he is sure that a -morning will come. In a bold and beautiful figure he says that he -will "wake the dawn" with his song. - -The world-wide destination of his praise is clear to him. It is plain -that such anticipations as those of ver. 9 surpass the ordinary poetic -consciousness, and must be accounted for on some special ground. The -favourite explanation at present is that the singer is Israel, conscious -of its mission. The old explanation that the singer is a king, conscious -of his inspiration and divinely given office, equally meets the case. - -The psalmist had declared his trust that God would send out His angels -of Loving-kindness and Troth. He ends his song with the conviction, -which has become to him matter of experience, that these Divine -"attributes" tower to heaven, and in their height symbolise their own -infinitude. Nor is the other truth suggested by ver. 10 to be passed -over, that the manifestation of these attributes on earth leads to -their being more gloriously visible in heaven. These two angels, who -come forth from on high to do God's errands for His poor, trusting -servant, go back, their work done, and are hailed as victors by the -celestial inhabitants. By God's manifestation of these attributes to -a man, His glory is exalted above the heavens and all the earth. The -same thought is more definitely expressed in Paul's declaration that -"to the principalities and powers in heavenly places is known by the -Church the manifold wisdom of God." - - - - - PSALM LVIII. - - 1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O ye gods? - In uprightness do ye judge the sons of men? - 2 Yea, in heart ye work iniquity; - In the earth ye weigh out the violence of your hands. - 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: - Gone astray from birth are the speakers of lies. - 4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, - Like the deaf adder that stops its ear, - 5 That will not hearken to the voice of the charmers, - The skilled weaver of spells. - - 6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth: - The grinders of the young lions wrench out, Jehovah. - 7 Let them melt like waters [that] run themselves [dry]: - [When] he shoots his arrows, let them be as if pointless. - 8 [Let them be] as a slug that dissolves as it crawls: - As the premature birth of a woman, [that] has not seen the sun. - 9 Before your pots feel the thorns, - Whether it be green or burning, He shall whirl it away. - - 10 The righteous shall rejoice that he has beheld [the] vengeance: - His footsteps shall he bathe in the blood of the wicked. - 11 And men shall say, Surely there is fruit for the righteous: - Surely there is a God judging in the earth. - - -This psalmist's fiery indignation against unjust judges and evil-doers -generally is not kindled by personal wrongs. The psalm comes hot -from a heart lacerated by the sight of widespread corruption, and -constrained to seek for patience in the thought of the swift sweeping -away of evil men before their plans are effected. Stern triumph in the -punitive manifestations of God's rule, and keen sense of the need of -such, are its keynotes. Vehement emotion stirs the poet's imagination -to heap together strong and, in part, obscure metaphors. Here -emphatically "Indignatio facit versus." The psalm is Dantesque in its -wealth of sombre imagination, which produces the most solemn effects -with the homeliest metaphors, and in its awed and yet satisfied -contemplation of the fate of evil-doers. It parts itself into three -portions,--a dark picture of abounding evil (vv. 1-5); it's punishment -prayed for (vv. 6-9); and the consequent joy of the righteous and -widespread recognition of the rule of a just God (vv. 10, 11). - -The abrupt question of ver. 1 speaks of long pent-up indignation, -excited by protracted experience of injustice, and anticipates the -necessary negative answer which follows. The word rendered by the -A.V. and R.V. "in silence" or "dumb" can scarcely be twisted into -intelligibility, and the small alteration of reading required for -the rendering "gods" is recommended by the similar expressions in -the kindred Psalm lxxxii. Taken thus, the question is hurled at the -appointed depositaries of judicial power and supreme authority. There -is no need to suppose, with Hupfeld and others, whom Cheyne follows, -that these "gods" are supernatural beings intrusted with the government -of the world. The explanation of the name lies in the conception of -such power as bestowed by God, and in some sense a delegation of His -attribute; or, as our Lord explained the similar name in Psalm lxxxii., -as given because "to them the word of God came." It sets in sinister -light the flagrant contradiction between the spirit in which these men -exercised their office and the source from which they derived it, and -thus sharpens the reproach of the question. The answer is introduced -by a particle conveying a strong opposition to the previous supposition -couched in the question. "Heart" and "hands" are so obviously -antithetical, that the alteration of "in heart" to "ye all" is not -acceptable, though it removes the incongruity of plans being wrought in -the heart, the seat of devices, not of actions. "Work" may be here used -anomalously, as we say "work out," implying the careful preparation of -a plan, and there may even be a hint that the true acts are the undone -acts of the heart. The unaccomplished purpose is a deed, though never -clothed in outward fact. Evil determined is, in a profound sense, done -before it is done; and, in another equally solemn, not done when "'tis -done," as Macbeth has taught us. The "act," as men call it, follows: "In -the earth"--not only in the heart--"ye weigh out the violence of your -hands." The scales of justice are untrue. Instead of dispensing equity, -as they were bound to do, they clash into the balance the weight of -their own violence. - -It is to be noted that the psalm says no more about the sins of unjust -authorities, but passes on to describe the "wicked" generally. The -transition may suggest that under unjust rulers all wrongdoers find -impunity, and so multiply and worsen; or it may simply be that these -former are now merged in the class to which they belong. The type of -"wickedness" gibbeted is the familiar one of malicious calumniators -and persecutors. From birth onwards they have continuously been doers -of evil. The psalmist is not laying down theological propositions -about heredity, but describing the inveterate habit of sin which has -become a second nature, and makes amendment hopeless. The reference -to "lies" naturally suggests the image of the serpent's poison. An -envenomed tongue is worse than any snake's bite. And the mention of -the serpent stimulates the poet's imagination to yet another figure, -which puts most graphically that disregard of warnings, entreaties, -and every voice, human or Divine, that marks long-practised, customary -sinfulness. There can be no more striking symbol of determined -disregard to the calls of patient Love and the threats of outraged -Justice than that of the snake lying coiled, with its head in the -centre of its motionless folds, as if its ears were stopped by its -own bulk, while the enchanter plays his softest notes and speaks his -strongest spells in vain. There are such men, thinks this psalmist. -There are none whom the mightiest spell, that of God's love in Christ, -could not conquer and free from their poison; but there are such -as will close their ears to its plaintive sweetness. This is the -condemnation that light is come and men love darkness, and had rather -lie coiled in their holes than have their fangs extracted. - -The general drift of the second part (vv. 6-9) is to call down Divine -retribution on these obstinate, irreclaimable evil-doers. Figure is -heaped on figure in a fashion suggestive of intense emotion. The -transiency of insolent evil, the completeness of its destruction, -are the thoughts common to them all. There are difficulties in -translation, and, in ver. 9, probable textual corruption; but these -should not hide the tremendous power of gloomy imagination, which can -lay hold of vulgar and in part loathsome things, and, by sheer force -of its own solemn insight, can free them from all low or grotesque -associations, and turn them into awful symbols. The intense desire -for the sweeping away of evil-doers has met us in many previous -psalms, and it is needless to repeat former observations on it. But -it is nowhere expressed with such a wealth of metaphor as here. The -first of these, that of crushing the jaws and breaking the teeth of a -beast of prey, occurs also in Psalm iii. 7. It is less terrible than -the subsequent imprecations, since it only contemplates the wickeds' -deprivation of power to do harm. In ver. 7 _a_ their destruction is -sought, while, in the second clause of the same verse, the defeat -of their attempts is desired. Ver. 8 then expands the former wish, -and ver. 9 the latter. This plain symmetrical arrangement makes the -proposals to resort to transposition unnecessary. Mountain torrents -quickly run themselves dry; and the more furious their rush, the -swifter their exhaustion. They leave a chaos of whitened stones, that -lie bleaching in the fierce sun when the wild spate is past. So stormy -and so short will be the career of evil-doers. So could a good man of -old wish it to be; and so may we be sure of and desire the cessation -of oppression and man's inhumanity to man. Ver. 7 _b_ is obscure. All -these figures are struck out with such parsimony of words that they -are difficult. They remind one of some of the stern, unfinished work -of Michael Angelo, where a blow or two of his chisel, or a dash or two -of his brush, has indicated rather than expressed his purpose, and -left a riddle, fascinating in its incompleteness, for smaller men to -spell out. In ver. 7 _b_ it may be asked, Who is the archer? If God, -then the whole is a presentation as if of an occurrence taking place -before our eyes. God shoots His arrow, and at once it lodges in the -heart of the enemies, and they are as though cut off. But it is better -to take the wicked as the subject of both verbs, the change from -singular to plural being by no means unusual in successive clauses -with the same subject. If so, this clause recurs to the thought of -ver. 6, and prays for the neutralising of the wicked man's attempts. -He fits his arrows, aims, and draws the bow. May they fall harmless, -as if barbless! An emendation has been proposed by which the clause -is made parallel with Psalm xxxvii. 2, "As grass let them be quickly -cut off," thus securing a complete parallel with _a_, and avoiding the -difficulty in the word rendered by us "pointless." But the existing -text gives a vigorous metaphor, the peculiarity of which makes it -preferable to the feebler image of withering grass. - -The prayer for destruction is caught up again in ver. 8, in two daring -figures which tremble on the verge of lowering the key of the whole; -but by escaping that peril, produce the contrary effect, and heighten -it. A slug leaves a shining track of slime as it creeps, which exudes -from its soft body, and thus it seems to disintegrate itself by its -own motion. It is the same thought of the suicidal character of bad -men's efforts which was expressed by the stream foaming itself away -in the nullah. It is the eternal truth that opposition to God's -will destroys itself by its own activity. The unfulfilled life of a -premature birth, with eyes which never opened to the light for which -they were made, and possibilities which never unfolded, and which is -huddled away into a nameless grave, still more impressively symbolises -futility and transiency. - -In ver. 9 the figure has given much trouble to commentators. Its -broad meaning is, however, undoubted. It is, as ver. 6 and ver. 7 -_b_, symbolic of the Divine intervention which wrecks wicked men's -plans before they are wrought out. The picture before the psalmist -seems to be that of a company of travellers round their camp fire, -preparing their meal. They heap brushwood under the pot, and expect -to satisfy their hunger; but before the pot is warmed through, not -to say before the water boils or the meat is cooked, down comes a -whirlwind, which sweeps away fire, pot, and all. Every word of the -clause is doubtful, and, with the existing text, the best that can be -done is not wholly satisfactory. If emendation is resorted to, the -suggestion of Bickell, adopted by Cheyne, gives a good sense: "[And] -while your [flesh] is yet raw, the hot wrath [of Jehovah] shall sweep -it away." Baethgen makes a slighter alteration, and renders, "While -it is still raw, He sweeps it away in wrath." Retaining the existing -text (which is witnessed by the LXX. and other old versions), probably -the best rendering is, "Whether [it be] green or burning, He shall -whirl it away." This general understanding of the words is shared by -commentators who differ as to what is represented as swept away,--some -making it the thorn fire, the twigs of which may be either full of -sap or well alight; while others take the reference to be to the -meat in the pot, which may be either "living," _i.e._ raw, or well -on the way to being cooked. Neither application is quite free from -difficulty, especially in view of the fact that some pressure has to -be put on the word rendered "burning," which is not an adjective, -but a noun, and is usually employed to designate the fiery wrath of -God, as it is rendered in the amended text just mentioned. After all -attempts at clearing up the verse, one must be content to put a mark -of interrogation at any rendering. But the scope of the figure seems -discoverable through the obscurity. It is a homely and therefore -vigorous picture of half-accomplished plans suddenly reduced to utter -failure, and leaving their concocters hungry for the satisfaction -which seemed so near. The cookery may go on merrily and the thorns -crackle cheerily, but the simoom comes, topples over the tripod on -which the pot swung, and blows the fire away in a hundred directions. -Peter's gibbet was ready, and the morning of his execution was near; -but when day dawned, "there was no small stir what was become of him." -The wind had blown him away from the expectation of the people of the -Jews into safe quarters; and the fire was dispersed. - -The closing part (vv. 10, 11) breathes a stern spirit of joy over -the destruction of the wicked. That is a terrible picture of the -righteous bathing his feet in the blood of the wicked (Psalm lxviii. -23). It expresses not only the dreadful abundance of blood, but also -the satisfaction of the "righteous" at its being shed. There is an -ignoble and there is a noble and Christian satisfaction in even -the destructive providences of God. It is not only permissible but -imperative on those who would live in sympathy with His righteous -dealings and with Himself, that they should see in these the -manifestation of eternal justice, and should consider that they -roll away burdens from earth and bring hope and rest to the victims -of oppression. It is no unworthy shout of personal vengeance, nor -of unfeeling triumph, that is lifted up from a relieved world when -Babylon falls. If it is right in God to destroy, it cannot be wrong -in His servants to rejoice that He does. Only they have to take heed -that their emotion is untarnished by selfish gratulation, and is not -untinged with solemn pity for those who were indeed doers of evil, but -were themselves the greatest sufferers from their evil. It is hard, -but not impossible, to take all that is expressed in the psalm, and -to soften it by some effluence from the spirit of Him who wept over -Jerusalem, and yet pronounced its doom. - -The last issue of God's judgments contemplated by the psalm warrants -the joy of the righteous; for in these there is a demonstration to the -world that there is "fruit" to the righteous, and that notwithstanding -all bewilderments from the sight of prosperous wickedness and -oppressed righteousness "there is a God who judges in the earth." -The word "judging" is here in the plural, corresponding with "God" -(Elohim), which is also plural in form. Possibly the construction is -to be explained on the ground that the words describe the thoughts -of surrounding, polytheistic nations, who behold the exhibition -of God's righteousness. But more probably the plural is here used -for the sake of the contrast with the "gods" of ver. 1. Over these -unworthy representatives of Divine justice sits the true judge, in -the manifoldness of His attributes, exercising His righteous though -slow-footed judgments. - - - - - PSALM LIX. - - 1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God: - Out of the reach of those who arise against me set me on high. - 2 Deliver me from workers of iniquity, - And from men of blood save me. - 3 For, see, they have lain in wait for my soul, - The violent gather together against me: - Not for transgression or sin of mine, Jehovah. - 4 Without [my] fault they run and set themselves in array: - Awake to meet me, and behold. - 5 And Thou, Jehovah, God of hosts, God of Israel, - Rouse Thyself to visit all the nations: - Be not gracious to wicked apostates. Selah. - - 6 They return at evening, they snarl like dogs, and prowl round the - city. - 7 See, they foam at the mouth; - Swords are in their lips: - For "Who hears?" - 8 But Thou, Jehovah, shalt laugh at them; - Thou mockest at all the nations. - 9 My Strength, for Thee will I watch: - For God is my high tower. - - 10 My God shall come to meet me with His loving-kindness: - God will let me look on my adversaries. - 11 Slay them not, lest my people forget: - Make them wanderers by Thy power (army?), and cast them down, - O Lord our shield. - 12 [Each] word of their lips is a sin of their mouth, - And they snare themselves in their pride, - And for the cursing and lying [which] they speak. - 13 End [them] in wrath, end [them], that they be no more: - And let them know that God is ruler in Jacob, - Unto the ends of the earth. Selah. - - 14 And they shall return at evening, they shall growl like dogs, - And prowl round the city. - 15 They--they shall wander about for food, - If they are not gorged, then [so must] they pass the night. - 16 And I will sing Thy strength, - And sound aloud Thy loving-kindness in the morning, - For Thou hast been a high tower for me, - And a refuge in the day of my straits. - 17 My strength, to Thee will I harp, - For God is my high tower, the God of my loving-kindness. - - -The superscription makes this the earliest of David's psalms, dating -from the Sauline persecution. It has many points of connection -with the others of that group, but its closest affinities are with -Psalm lv., which is commonly considered to belong to the period of -incubation of Absalom's rebellion (_cf._ Psalm lv. 10 with lix. 6, -14, and lv. 21 with lix. 7). The allusion to enemies patrolling the -city, which is common to both psalms, seems to refer to a fact, and -may in this psalm be founded on the watchfulness of Saul's emissaries; -but its occurrence in both weakens its force as here confirmatory of -the superscription. It does not necessarily follow from the mention -of the "nations" that the psalmist's enemies are foreigners. Their -presence in the city and the stress laid on words as their weapons are -against that supposition. On the whole, the contents of the psalm do -not negative the tradition in the title, but do not strongly attest -it. If we have accepted the Davidic authorship of the other psalms -of this group, we shall extend it to this one; for they clearly are -a group, whether Davidic or not. The psalm falls into two principal -divisions (vv. 1-9 and 10-17), each closing with a refrain, and each -subdivided into two minor sections, the former of which in each case -ends with Selah, and the latter begins with another refrain. The two -parts travel over much the same ground of petition, description of the -enemies, confidence in deliverance and in the defeat of the foes. But -in the first half the psalmist prays for himself, and in the second -he prays against his persecutors, while assured confidence in his own -deliverance takes the place of alarmed gaze on their might and cruelty. - -The former half of the first part begins and ends with petitions. -Imbedded in these is a plaintive recounting of the machinations of -the adversaries, which are, as it were, spread before God's eyes, -accompanied with protestations of innocence. The prayers, which -enclose, as in a circlet, this description of unprovoked hatred, are -varied, so that the former petitions are directed to the singer's -deliverance, while the latter invoke judgment on his antagonists. -The strong assertion of innocence is, of course, to be limited to -the psalmist's conduct to his enemies. They attack him without -provocation. Obviously this feature corresponds to the facts of -Saul's hatred of David, and as obviously it does not correspond to -the facts of Israel's sufferings from foreign enemies, which are -supposed by the present favourite interpretation to be the occasion -of the psalm. No devout singer could so misunderstand the reason -of the nation's disasters as to allege that they had fallen upon -innocent heads. Rather, when a psalmist bewailed national calamities, -he traced them to national sins. "Anger went up against Israel, -because they believed not in God." The psalmist calls God to look -upon the doings of his enemies. Privy plots and open assaults are -both directed against him. The enemy lie in wait for his life; but -also, with fell eagerness, like that of soldiers making haste to rank -themselves in battle-array, they "run and set themselves." This is -probably simply metaphor, for the rest of the psalm does not seem to -contemplate actual warfare. The imminence of peril forces an urgent -prayer from the threatened man. So urgent is it that it breaks in -on the parallelism of ver. 4, substituting its piercing cry "Awake, -behold!" for the proper second clause carrying on the description in -the first. The singer makes haste to grasp God's hand, because he -feels the pressure of the wind blowing in his face. It is wise to -break off the contemplation of enemies and dangers by crying to God. -Prayer is a good interruption of a catalogue of perils. The petitions -in ver. 5 are remarkable, both in their accumulation of the Divine -names and in their apparent transcending of the suppliant's need. The -former characteristic is no mere artificial or tautological heaping -together of titles, but indicates repeated acts of faith and efforts -of contemplation. Each name suggests something in God which encourages -hope, and when appealed to by a trusting soul, moves Him to act. The -very introductory word of invocation, "And Thou," is weighty. It sets -the might of God in grand contrast to the hurrying hatred of the -adversary; and its significance is enhanced if its recurrence in ver. -8 and its relation to "And I" in ver. 16 are taken into account. - -The combination of the Divine names is remarkable here, from the -insertion of God (Elohim) between the two parts of the standing -name, Jehovah of hosts. The anomaly is made still more anomalous -by the peculiar form of the word Elohim, which does not undergo -the modification to be expected in such a construction. The same -peculiarities occur in other Elohistic psalms (lxxx. 4, 19, and -lxxxiv. 8). The peculiar grammatical form would be explained if the -three words were regarded as three co-ordinate names, Jehovah, Elohim, -Zebaoth, and this explanation is favoured by good critics. But it -is going too far to say, with Baethgen, that "Zebaoth _can only_ be -understood as an independent Divine name" (Komm., _in loc._). Other -explanations are at least possible, such as that of Delitzsch, that -"Elohim, like Jehovah, has become a proper name," and so does not -suffer modification. The supplicatory force of the names, however, -is clear, whatever may be the account of the formal anomalies. They -appeal to God and they hearten the appellant's confidence by setting -forth the loftiness of God, who rules over the embattled forces of the -universe, which "run and set themselves in array" at His bidding and -for His servant's help, and before which the ranks of the foes seem -thin and few. They set forth also God's relation to Israel, of which -the single suppliant is a member. - -The petition, grounded upon these names, is supposed by modern -commentators to prove that the psalmist's enemies were heathens, which -would, of course, destroy the Davidic authorship, and make the singer a -personification of the nation. But against this is to be observed the -description of the enemies in the last clause of ver. 5 as "apostates," -which must refer to Israelites. The free access to the "city," spoken -of in ver. 6, is also unfavourable to that supposition, as is the -prominence given to the _words_ of the enemy. Foreign foes would have -had other swords than those carried between their lips. The prayer -that Jehovah would arise to visit "all nations" is much more naturally -explained, as on the same principle as the judgment of "the peoples" -in Psalm vii. All special cases are subsumed under the one general -judgment. The psalmist looks for his own deliverance as one instance -of that world-wide manifestation of Divine justice which will "render -to every man according to his deeds." Not only personal considerations -move him to his prayer; but, pressing as these are, and shrill as is -the cry for personal deliverance, the psalmist is not so absorbed in -self as that he cannot widen his thoughts and desires to a world-wide -manifestation of Divine righteousness, of which his own escape will be -a tiny part. Such recognition of the universal in the particular is the -prerogative in lower walks of the poet and the man of genius; it is the -strength and solace of the man who lives by faith and links all things -with God. The instruments here strike in, so as to fix attention on the -spectacle of God aroused to smite and of the end of apostates. - -The comparison of the psalmist's enemies to dogs occurs in another -psalm ascribed to David (xxii. 16, 20). They are like the masterless, -gaunt, savage curs which infest the streets of Eastern cities, hungrily -hunting for offal and ready to growl or snarl at every passer-by. -Though the dog is not a nocturnal animal, evening would naturally be -a time when these would specially prowl round the city in search of -food, if disappointed during the day. The picture suggests the enemies' -eagerness, lawlessness, foulness, and persistency. If the psalm is -rightly dated in the superscription, it finds most accurate realisation -in the crafty, cruel watchfulness of Saul's spies. The word rendered by -the A.V. and R.V. "make a noise" is "said usually of the growling of the -bear and the cooing of the dove" (Delitzsch). It indicates a lower sound -than barking, and so expresses rage suppressed lest its object should -take alarm. The word rendered (A.V. and R.V.) "belch" means to gush -out, and is found in a good sense in Psalm xix. 1. Here it may perhaps -be taken as meaning "foam," with some advantage to the truth of the -picture. "Swords are in their lips"--_i.e._, their talk is of slaying -the psalmist, or their slanders cut like swords; and the crown of their -evil is their scoff at the apparently deaf and passive God. - -With startling suddenness, as if one quick touch drew aside a curtain, -the vision of God as He really regards the enemies is flashed on -them in ver. 8. The strong antithesis expressed by the "And Thou," -as in ver. 5, comes with overwhelming force. Below is the crowd of -greedy foes, obscene, cruel, and blasphemous; above, throned in dread -repose, which is not, as they dream, carelessness or ignorance, is -Jehovah, mocking their fancied security. The tremendous metaphor of -the laughter of God is too boldly anthropomorphic to be misunderstood. -It sounds like the germ of the solemn picture in Psalm ii., and is -probably the source of the similar expression in Psalm xxxvii. 13. -The introduction of the wider thought of God's "mocking"--_i.e._, -discerning, and manifesting in act, the impotence of the ungodly -efforts of "all nations"--is to be accounted for on the same principle -of the close connection discerned by the devout singer between the -particular and the general, which explains the similar extension of -view in ver. 5. - -Ver. 9 is the refrain closing the first part. The reading of the Hebrew -text, "His strength," must be given up, as unintelligible, and the -slight alteration required for reading "my" instead of "his" adopted, as -in the second instance of the refrain in ver. 17. The further alteration -of text, however, by which "I will harp" would be read in ver. 9 instead -of "I will watch" is unnecessary, and the variation of the two refrains -is not only in accordance with usage, but brings out a delicate phase -of progress in confidence. He who begins with waiting for God ends with -singing praise to God. The silence of patient expectance is changed for -the melody of received deliverance. - -The first part of the second division, like the corresponding portion -of the fist division, is mainly prayer, but with the significant -difference that the petitions now are directed, not to the psalmist's -deliverance, but to his enemies' punishment. For himself, he is sure -that his God will come to meet him with His loving-kindness, and -that, thus met and helped, he will look on, secure, at their ruin. -The Hebrew margin proposes to read "The God of my loving-kindness -will meet me"--an incomplete sentence, which does not tell with what -God will meet him. But the text needs only the change of one vowel -point in order to yield the perfectly appropriate reading, "my God -shall meet me with His loving-kindness," which is distinctly to be -preferred. It is singular that the substitution of "my" for "his," -which is needlessly suggested by the Hebrew margin for ver. 10, is -required but not suggested for ver. 9. One is tempted to wonder -whether there has been a scribe's blunder attaching the correction -to the wrong verse. The central portion of this part of the psalm -is composed of terrible wishes for the enemies' destruction. There -is nothing more awful in the imprecations of the Psalter than that -petition that the boon of a swift end to their miseries may not be -granted them. The dew of pity for suffering is dried up by the fire -of stern desire for the exhibition of a signal instance of Divine -judicial righteousness. That desire lifts the prayer above the level -of personal vengeance, but does not lighten its awfulness. There may -be an allusion to the fate of Cain, who was kept alive and made a -"fugitive and a vagabond." Whether that is so or not, the wish that -the foes may be kept alive to be buffeted by God's _strength_--or, -as the word may mean, to be scattered in panic-struck rout by God's -_army_--is one which marks the difference between the old and the -new covenants. The ground of these fearful punishments is vehemently -set forth in ver. 12. Every word which the adversaries speak is sin. -Their own self-sufficient pride, which is revolt against dependence -on God, is like a trap to catch them. They speak curses and lies, for -which retribution is due. This recounting of their crimes, not so much -against the psalmist, though involving him, as against God, fires -his indignation anew, and he flames out with petitions which seem to -forget the former ones for lingering destruction: "End them in wrath, -end them." The contradiction may be apparent only, and this passionate -cry may presuppose the fulfilment of the former. The psalmist will -then desire two dreadful things--first, protracted suffering, and then -a crushing blow to end it. His ultimate desire in both is the same. -He would have the evil-doers spared long enough to be monuments of -God's punitive justice; he would have them ended, that the crash of -their fall may reverberate afar and proclaim that God rules in Jacob. -"Unto the ends of the earth" may be connected either with "rules" or -with "know." In the former construction the thought will be, that -from His throne in Israel God exercises dominion universally; in the -latter, that the echo of the judgment on these evil-doers will reach -distant lands. The latter meaning is favoured by the accents, and -is, on the whole, to be preferred. But what a strange sense of his -own significance for the manifestation of God's power to the world -this singer must have had, if he could suppose that the events of his -life were thus of universal importance! One does not wonder that the -advocates of the personification theory find strong confirmation of it -in such utterances; and, indeed, the only other explanation of them -is that the psalmist held, and knew himself to hold, a conspicuous -place in the evolution of the Divine purpose, so that in his life, -as in a small mirror, there were reflected great matters. If such -anticipations were more than wild dreams, the cherisher of them must -either have been speaking in the person of the nation, or he must have -known himself to be God's instrument for extending His name through -the world. No single person so adequately meets the requirements of -such words as David. - -The second part of this division (ver. 14) begins with the same words -as the corresponding part of the first division (ver. 6), so that -there is a kind of refrain here. The futures in vv. 14, 15, may be -either simple futures or optatives. In the latter case the petitions -of the preceding verses would be continued here, and the pregnant -truth would result that continuance in sin is the punishment of sin. -But probably the imprecations are better confined to the former part, -as the Selah draws a broad line of demarcation, and there would be an -incongruity in following the petition "End them" with others which -contemplated the continuance of the enemies. If the verses are taken -as simply predictive, the point of the reintroduction of the figure of -the pack of dogs hunting for their prey lies in ver. 15. There they -are described as balked in their attempts, and having to pass the -night unsatisfied. Their prey has escaped. Their eager chase, their -nocturnal quest, their growling and prowling, have been vain. They lie -down empty and in the dark--a vivid picture, which has wider meanings -than its immediate occasion. "Ye lust and desire to have, and cannot -obtain." An eternal nemesis hangs over godless lives, condemning them -to hunger, after all efforts, and wrapping their pangs of unsatisfied -desire in tragic darkness. - -A clear strain of trust springs up, like a lark's morning song. The -singer contrasts himself with his baffled foes. The "they" at the -beginning of ver. 15 is emphatic in the Hebrew, and is matched with -the emphatic "And I" which begins ver. 16. His "morning" is similarly -set over against their "night." So petition, complaint, imprecation, -all merge into a song of joy and trust, and the whole ends with the -refrain significantly varied and enlarged. In its first form the -psalmist said, "For Thee will I watch"; in its second he rises to -"To Thee will I harp." Glad praise is ever the close of the vigils -of a faithful, patient heart. The deliverance won by waiting and -trust should be celebrated by praise. In the first form the refrain -ran "God is my high tower," and the second part of the psalm began -with "My God shall meet me with His loving-kindness." In its second -form the refrain draws into itself these words which had followed -it, and so modifies them that the loving-kindness which in them was -contemplated as belonging to and brought by God is now joyfully -clasped by the singer as his very own, by Divine gift and through his -own acceptance. Blessed they who are led by occasion of foes and fears -to take God's rich gifts, and can thankfully and humbly feel that His -loving-kindness and all its results are theirs, because He Himself is -theirs and they are His! - - - - - PSALM LX. - - 1 O God, Thou hast cast us off, hast broken us, - Hast been angry with us--restore us again. - 2 Thou hast shaken the land, hast rent it-- - Heal its breaches, for it trembles. - 3 Thou hast made Thy people see hard things, - Thou hast given them to drink reeling as wine. - 4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, - [Only] that they may flee before the bow. Selah. - - 5 That Thy beloved ones may be delivered, - Save with Thy right hand, and answer us. - 6 God has spoken in His holiness,--I will exult: - I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth. - 7 Mine is Gilead, and mine Manasseh, - And Ephraim is the strength of my head, - Judah, my baton of command. - 8 Moab is my wash basin, - Upon Edom will I throw my shoe, - Because of me, Philistia, shout aloud. - - 9 Who will bring me into the fenced city? - Who has guided me into Edom? - 10 Hast not Thou, O God, cast us off? - And goest not out, O God, with our hosts. - 11 Give us help from the oppressor - For vain is help of man. - 12 In God we shall do prowess: - And He, He will tread down our oppressors. - - -This psalm has evidently a definite historical background. Israel has -been worsted in fight, but still continues its campaign against Edom. -Meditating on God's promises, the psalmist anticipates victory, which -will cover defeat and perfect partial successes, and seeks to breathe -his own spirit of confidence into the ranks of his countrymen. But -the circumstances answering to those required by the psalm are hard -to find. The date assigned by the superscription cannot be called -satisfactory; for David's war there referred to (2 Sam. viii.) had -no such stunning defeats as are here lamented. The Divine Oracle, of -which the substance is given in the central part of the psalm, affords -but dubious indications of date. At first sight it seems to imply the -union of all the tribes in one kingdom, and therefore to favour the -Davidic authorship. But it may be a question whether the united Israel -of the Oracle is fact or prophecy. To one school of commentators, -the mention of Ephraim in conjunction with Judah is token that the -psalm is prior to the great revolt; to another, it is proof positive -that the date is after the destruction of the northern kingdom. The -Maccabean date is favoured by Olshausen, Hitzig, and Cheyne among -moderns; but, apart from other objections, the reappearance of vv. -5-12 in Psalm cviii. implies that this piece of Hebrew psalmody was -already venerable when a later compiler wove part of it into that -psalm. On the whole, the Davidic authorship is possible, though -clogged with the difficulty already mentioned. But the safest -conclusion seems to be Baethgen's modest one, which contrasts strongly -with the confident assertions of some other critics--namely, that -assured certainty in dating the psalm "is no longer possible." - -It falls into three parts of four verses each, of which the first (vv. -1-4) is complaint of defeat and prayer for help; the second (vv. 5-8), -a Divine Oracle assuring victory; and the third (vv. 9-12), the flash -of fresh hope kindled by that God's-word. - -The first part blends complaint and prayer in the first pair of -verses, in each of which there is, first, a description of the -desperate state of Israel, and then a cry for help. The nation is -broken, as a wall is broken down, or as an army whose ordered ranks -are shattered and scattered. Some crushing defeat is meant, which -in ver. 2 is further described as an earthquake. The land trembles, -and then gapes in hideous clefts, and houses become gaunt ruins. The -state is disorganised as in consequence of defeat. It is an unpoetical -mixture of fact and figure to see in the "rending" of the land -allusion to the separation of the kingdoms, especially as that was not -the result of defeat. - -There is almost a tone of wonder in the designation of Israel as -"Thy people," so sadly does the fate meted out to them contrast with -their name. Stranger still and more anomalous is it, that, as ver. -3 _b_ laments, God's own hand has commended such a chalice to their -lips as should fill them with infatuation. The construction "wine of -reeling" is grammatically impossible, and the best explanation of the -phrase regards the nouns as in apposition--"wine which is reeling," or -"reeling as wine." The meaning is that God not only sent the disaster -which had shaken the nation like an earthquake, but had sent, too, the -presumptuous self-confidence which had led to it. - -Ver. 4 has received two opposite interpretations, being taken by -some as a prolongation of the tone of lament over disaster, and by -others as commemoration of God's help. The latter meaning violently -interrupts the continuity of thought. "The only natural view is -that which sees" in ver. 4 "a continuation of the description of -calamity" in ver. 3 (Cheyne, _in loc._). Taking this view, we render -the second clause as above. The word translated "that they may flee" -may indeed mean to lift themselves up, in the sense of gathering -round a standard, but the remainder of the clause cannot be taken as -meaning "because of the truth," since the preposition here used never -means "because of." It is best taken here as _from before_. The word -variously rendered _bow_ and _truth_ is difficult. It occurs again in -Prov. xxii. 21, and is there parallel with "truth" or faithfulness in -fulfilling Divine promises. But that meaning would be inappropriate -here, and would require the preceding preposition to be taken in the -impossible sense already noted. It seems better, therefore, to follow -the LXX. and other old versions, in regarding the word as a slightly -varied mode of spelling the ordinary word for a bow (the final dental -letter being exchanged for a cognate dental). The resulting meaning is -deeply coloured by sad irony. "Thou hast indeed given a banner--but -it was a signal for flight rather than for gathering round." Such -seems the best view of this difficult verse; but it is not free -from objection. "Those who fear Thee" is not a fitting designation -for persons who were thus scattered in flight by God, even if it is -taken as simply a synonym for the nation. We have to make choice -between two incongruities. If we adopt the favourite view, that the -verse continues the description of calamity, the name given to the -sufferers is strange. If we take the other, that it describes God's -gracious rallying of the fugitives, we are confronted with a violent -interruption of the tone of feeling in this first part of the psalm. -Perowne accepts the rendering _from before the bow_, but takes the -verb in the sense of mustering round, so making the banner to be a -rallying-point, and the giving of it a Divine mercy. - -The second part (vv. 5-8) begins with a verse which Delitzsch and -others regard as really connected, notwithstanding the Selah at the -end ver. 4, with the preceding. But it is quite intelligible as -independent, and is in its place as the introduction to the Divine -Oracle which follows, and makes the kernel of the psalm. There is -beautiful strength of confidence in the psalmist's regarding the -beaten, scattered people as still God's "darlings." He appeals to Him -to answer, in order that a result so accordant with God's heart as the -deliverance of His beloved ones may be secured. And the prayer has no -sooner passed his lips than he hears the thunderous response, "God has -spoken in His holiness." That infinite elevation of His nature above -creatures is the pledge of the fulfilment of His word. - -The following verses contain the substance of the Oracle; but it is too -daring to suppose that they reproduce its words; for "I will exult" -can scarcely be reverently put into the mouth of God. The substance of -the whole is a twofold promise--of a united Israel, and a submissive -heathendom. Shechem on the west and Succoth on the east of Jordan, -Gilead and Manasseh on the east, and Ephraim and Judah on the west, are -the possession of the speaker, whether he is king or representative of -the nation. No trace of a separation of the kingdoms is here. Ephraim, -the strongest tribe of the northern kingdom, is the "strength of my -head," the helmet, or perhaps with allusion to the horns of an animal as -symbols of offensive weapons. Judah is the ruling tribe, the commander's -baton, or possibly "lawgiver," as in Gen. xlix. Israel thus compact -together may count on conquests over hereditary foes. - -Their defeat is foretold in contemptuous images. The basin for washing -the feet was "a vessel unto dishonour"; and, in Israel's great house, -no higher function for his ancestral enemy, when conquered, would be -found. The meaning of casting the shoe upon or over Edom is doubtful. -It may be a symbol for taking possession of property, though that -lacks confirmation; or Edom may be regarded as the household slave -to whom the master's shoes are thrown when taken off; or, better, in -accordance with the preceding reference to Moab, Edom may be regarded -as part of the master's house or furniture. The one was the basin for -his feet; the other, the corner where he kept his sandals. - -If the text of ver. 8 _c_ is correct, Philistia is addressed with -bitter sarcasm, and bidden to repeat her ancient shouts of triumph -over Israel now, if she can. But the edition of these verses in Psalm -cviii. gives a more natural reading, which may be adopted here: "Over -Philistia will I shout aloud." - -The third part (vv. 9-12) is taken by some commentators to breathe -the same spirit as the first part. Cheyne, for instance, speaks of -it as a "relapse into despondency," whilst others more truly hear -in it the tones of rekindled trust. In ver. 9 there is a remarkable -change of tense from "Who will bring?" in the first clause, to "Who -has guided?" in the second. This is best explained by the supposition -that some victory over Edom had preceded the psalm, which is regarded -by the singer as a guarantee of success in his assault of "the fenced -city," probably Petra. There is no need to supplement ver. 10, so as -to read, "Wilt not Thou, O God, which," etc. The psalmist recurs to -his earlier lament, not as if he thought that it still held true, but -just because it does not. It explained the reason of past disasters; -and, being now reversed by the Divine Oracle, becomes the basis of -the prayer which follows. It is as if he had said, "We were defeated -because Thou didst cast us off. Now help as Thou hast promised, and we -shall do deeds of valour." It is impossible to suppose that the result -of the Divine answer which makes the very heart of the psalm, should -be a hopeless repetition of the initial despondency. Rather glad faith -acknowledges past weakness and traces past failures to self-caused -abandonment by a loving God, who let His people be worsted that they -might learn who was their strength, and ever goes forth with those who -go forth to war with the consciousness that all help but His is vain, -and with the hope that in Him even their weakness shall do deeds of -prowess. "Hast not Thou cast us off?" may be the utterance of despair; -but it may also be that of assured confidence, and the basis of a -prayer that will be answered by God's present help. - - - - - PSALM LXI. - - 1 Hear, O God, my shrill cry, - Attend to my prayer. - - 2 From the end of the earth I cry to Thee, when my heart is wrapped - [in gloom]: - Lead me on to a rock that is too high for me to [reach] - 3 For Thou hast been a place of refuge for me, - A tower of strength from the face of the foe. - 4 Let me dwell a guest in Thy tent for ever, - Let me find refuge in the covert of Thy wings. Selah. - 5 For Thou, O God, hast hearkened to my vows, - Thou hast given [me] the heritage of them that fear Thy name. - - 6 Days mayest Thou add to the days of the king, - May his years be as many generations. - 7 May he sit before God for ever: - Give charge to loving-kindness and troth, that they guard him. - - 8 So will I harp to Thy name for aye, - That I may fulfil my vows day by day. - - -The situation of the singer in this psalm is the same as in Psalm -lxiii. In both he is an exile longing for the sanctuary, and in both -"the king" is referred to in a way which leaves his identity with -the psalmist questionable. There are also similarities in situation, -sentiment, and expression with Psalms xlii. and xliii.--_e.g._, -the singers exile, his yearning to appear in the sanctuary, the -command given by God to His Loving-kindness (xlii. 8 and lxi. 8), -the personification of Light and Troth as his guides (xliii. 3), -compared with the similar representation here of Loving-kindness -and Troth as guards set by God over the psalmist. The traditional -attribution of the psalm to David has at least the merit of providing -an appropriate setting for its longings and hopes, in his flight from -Absalom. No one of the other dates proposed by various critics seems -to satisfy anybody but its proposer. Hupfeld calls Hitzig's suggestion -"wunderbar zu lesen." Graetz inclines to the reign of Hezekiah and -thinks that "the connection gains" if the prayer for the preservation -of the king's life refers to that monarch's sickness. The Babylonish -captivity, with Zedekiah for "the king," is preferred by others. Still -later dates are in favour now. Cheyne lays it down that "pre-Jeremian -such highly spiritual hymns (_i.e._, Psalms lxi. and lxiii.) obviously -cannot be," and thinks that "it would not be unplausible to make -them contemporaneous with Psalm xlii., the king being Antiochus the -Great," but prefers to assign them to the Maccabean period, and to -take "Jonathan, or (better) Simon" as the king. Are "highly spiritual -hymns" probable products of that time? - -If the Selah is accepted as marking the end of the first part of the -psalm, its structure is symmetrical, so far as it is then divided into -two parts of four verses each; but that division cuts off the prayer -in ver. 4 from its ground in ver. 5. Selah frequently occurs in the -middle of a period, and is used to mark emphasis, but not necessarily -division. It is therefore better to keep vv. 4 and 5 together, thus -preserving their analogy with vv. 2 and 3. The scheme of this little -psalm will then be an introductory verse, followed by two parallel -pairs of verses, each consisting of petition and its grounding in past -mercies (vv. 2, 3, and 4, 5), and these again succeeded by another -pair containing petitions for the king, while a final single verse, -corresponding to the introductory one, joyfully foresees life-long -praise evoked by the certain answers to the singer's prayer. - -The fervour of the psalmist's supplication is strikingly expressed -by his use in the first clause, of the word which is ordinarily -employed for the shrill notes of rejoicing. It describes the quality -of the sound as penetrating and emotional, not the nature of the -emotion expressed by it. Joy is usually louder-tongued than sorrow; -but this suppliant's need has risen so high that his cry is resonant. -To himself he seems to be at "the end of the earth"; for he measures -distance not as a map-maker, but as a worshipper. Love and longing are -potent magnifiers of space. His heart "faints," or is "overwhelmed." -The word means literally "covered," and perhaps the metaphor may be -preserved by some such phrase as _wrapped in gloom_. He is, then, -an exile, and therefore sunk in sadness. But while he had external -separation from the sanctuary chiefly in view, his cry wakes an -echo in all devout hearts. They who know most about the inner life -of communion with God best know how long and dreary the smallest -separation between Him and them seems, and how thick is the covering -spread over the heart thereby. - -The one desire of such a suppliant is for restoration of interrupted -access to God. The psalmist embodies that yearning in its more outward -form, but not without penetrating to the inner reality in both the -parallel petitions which follow. In the first of these, (ver. 2 _b_) -the thought is fuller than the condensed expression of it. "Lead -me on" or in, says he, meaning, Lead me _to_ and set me _on_. His -imagination sees towering above him a great cliff, on which, if he -could be planted, he might defy pursuit or assault. But he is distant -from it, and the inaccessibility which, were he in its clefts, would -be his safety, is now his despair. Therefore he turns to God and asks -Him to bear him up in His hands, that he may set his foot on that -rock. The figure has been, strangely enough, interpreted to mean a -rock of difficulty, but against the usage in the Psalter. But we do -not reach the whole significance of the figure if we give it the mere -general meaning of a place of safety. While it would be too much to -say that "rock" is here an epithet of God (the absence of the definite -article and other considerations are against that), it may be affirmed -that the psalmist, like all devout men, knew that his only place of -safety was in God. "_A_ rock" will not afford adequate shelter; our -perils and storms need "_the_ Rock." And, therefore, this singer bases -his prayer on his past experience of the safe hiding that he had found -in God. Place of refuge and strong tower are distinctly parallel with -"rock." The whole, then, is like the prayer in Psalm xxxi. 2, 3: "Be -Thou to me a strong rock. For Thou art my rock." - -The second pair of verses, containing petition and its ground in past -experience (vv. 4, 5), brings out still more clearly the psalmist's -longing for the sanctuary. The futures in ver. 4 may be taken either -as simple expressions of certainty, or, more probably, as precative, -as is suggested by the parallelism with the preceding pair. The "tent" -of God is the sanctuary, possibly so called because at the date of the -psalm "the ark of God dwelt in curtains." The "hiding-place of Thy -wings" may then be an allusion to the Shechinah and outspread pinions -of the Cherubim. But the inner reality is more to the psalmist than -the external symbols, however his faith was trained to connect the -two more indissolubly than is legitimate for us. His longing was no -superstitious wish to be near that sanctuary, as if external presence -brought blessing, but a reasonable longing, grounded on the fact for -his stage of revelation, that such presence was the condition of -fullest realisation of spiritual communion, and of the safety and -blessedness thence received. His prayer is the deepest desire of every -soul that has rightly apprehended the facts of life, its own needs and -the riches of God. The guests in God's dwelling have guest-rights of -provision and protection. Beneath His wings are safety, warmth, and -conscious nearness to His heart. The suppliant may feel far off, at -the end of the world; but one strong desire has power to traverse all -the distance in a moment. "Where the treasure is, there will the heart -be also"; and where the heart is, there the man is. - -The ground of this second petition is laid in God's past listening to -vows, and His having given the psalmist "the heritage of those that -fear Thy name." That is most naturally explained as meaning primarily -the land of Israel, and as including therein all other blessings -needful for life there. While it is capable of being otherwise -understood, it is singularly appropriate to the person of David during -the period of Absalom's rebellion, when victory was beginning to -declare itself for the king. If we suppose that he had already won a -battle (2 Sam. xviii. 6), we can understand how he takes that success -as an omen and urges it as a plea. The pair of verses will then be one -instance of the familiar argument which trustful hearts instinctively -use, when they present past and incomplete mercies as reasons for -continued gifts, and for the addition of all which is needed to -"perfect that which concerneth" them. It rests on the confidence that -God is not one who "begins and is not able to finish." - -Very naturally, then, follows the closing prayer in vv. 6, 7. The -purely individual character of the rest of the psalm, which is resumed -in the last verse, where the singer, speaking in the first person, -represents his continual praise as the result of the answer to his -petitions for the king, makes these petitions hopelessly irrelevant, -unless the psalmist is the king and these prayers are for himself. -The transition to the third person does not necessarily negative this -interpretation, which seems to be required by the context. The prayer -sounds hyperbolical, but has a parallel in Psalm xxi. 4, and need not be -vindicated by taking the dynasty rather than the individual to be meant, -or by diverting it to a Messianic reference. It is a prayer for length -of days, in order that the deliverance already begun may be perfected, -and that the psalmist may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (_cf._ -Psalms xxiii. 6; xxvii. 4). He asks that he may sit enthroned before God -for ever--that is, that his dominion may by God's favour be established -and his throne upheld in peace. The psalm is in so far Messianic that -the everlasting kingdom of the Christ alone fulfils its prayer. - -The final petition has, as has been noticed above, parallels in -Psalms xlii., xliii., to which may be added the personifications of -Goodness and Loving-kindness in Psalm xxiii. 6. These bright harnessed -angels stand sentries over the devout suppliant, set on their guard -by the great Commander; and no harm can come to him over whom God's -Loving-kindness and Faithfulness keep daily and nightly watch. - -Thus guarded, the psalmist's prolonged life will be one long anthem -of praise, and the days added to his days will be occupied with the -fulfilment of his vows made in trouble and redeemed in his prosperity. -What congruity is there between this closing verse, which is knit -closely to the preceding by that "So," and the previous pair of -verses, unless the king is himself the petitioner? "Let _him_ sit -before God for ever"--how comes that to lead up to "So will _I_ harp -to Thy name for ever"? Surely the natural answer is, Because "he" and -"I" are the same person. - - - - - PSALM LXII. - - 1 Only upon God [waits] my soul [in] silence: - From Him is my salvation. - 2 Only He is my rock and my salvation, - My high tower, I shall not be greatly moved. - 3 How long will ye rush upon a man? - [How long] will ye all of you break him down, - Like a bulging wall, a tottering fence? - 4 Only from his elevation do they consult to thrust him down, they - delight in lies: - Each blesses with his mouth, and in their inner [part] they curse. - Selah. - - 5 Only to God be silent, my soul, - For from Him is my expectation. - 6 Only He is my rock and my salvation, - My high tower; I shall not be moved. - 7 On God is my salvation and my glory, - The rock of my strength, my refuge, is in God. - 8 Trust in him in every time, O people! - Pour out before Him your heart, - God is a refuge for us. Selah. - - 9 Only vanity are the sons of the lowly, a lie are the sons of the - lofty, - In the scales they go up, they are [lighter] than vanity - altogether. - 10 Trust not in oppressions and in robbery become not vain, - When wealth grows, set not your heart thereon. - 11 Once has God spoken, twice have I heard this, - That strength [belongs] to God. - 12 And to Thee, O God, [belongs] loving-kindness, - For Thou, Thou renderest to a man according to his work. - - -There are several points of affinity between this psalm and -the thirty-ninth,--such as the frequent use of the particle of -asseveration or restriction ("surely" or "only"); the rare -and beautiful word for "silence," as expressing restful, still -resignation; and the characterisation of men as "vanity." These -resemblances are not proofs of identity of authorship, though -establishing a presumption in its favour. Delitzsch accepts the psalm -as Davidic, and refers it to the time of Absalom's revolt. The singer -is evidently in a position of dignity ("elevation," ver. 4), and one -whose exhortations come with force to the "people" (ver. 8), whether -that word is understood as designating the nation or his immediate -followers. Cheyne, who relegates the psalm to the Persian period, -feels that the recognition of the singer as "a personage who is the -Church's bulwark" is the natural impression on reading the psalm -("Orig. of Psalt.," 227, and 242, _n._). If so, David's position is -precisely that which is required. Whoever sang this immortal psalm, -rose to the heights of conquering faith, and gave voice to the deepest -and most permanent emotions of devout souls. - -The psalm is in three strophes of four verses each, the divisions -being marked by Selah. The two former have a long refrain at the -beginning, instead of, as usually, at the end. In the first the -psalmist sets his quiet trust in contrast with the furious assaults of -his foes; while, in the second, he stirs himself to renewed exercise -of it, and exhorts others to share with him in the security of God as -a place of refuge. In the third strophe the nothingness of man is set -in strong contrast to the power and loving-kindness of God, and the -dehortation from trust in material wealth urged as the negative side -of the previous exhortation to trust in God. - -The noble saying of ver. 1 _a_ is hard to translate without weakening. -The initial word may have the meanings of "Only" or "Surely." The -former seems more appropriate in this psalm, where it occurs six -times, in one only of which (ver. 4) does the latter seem the more -natural rendering, though even there the other is possible. It is, -however, to be noticed that its restrictive power is not always -directed to the adjacent word; and here it may either present God as -the exclusive object of the psalmist's waiting trust, or his whole -soul as being nothing else but silent resignation. The reference to -God is favoured by ver. 2, but the other is possible. The psalmist's -whole being is, as it were, but one stillness of submission. The -noises of contending desires, the whispers of earthly hopes, the -mutterings of short-sighted fears, the self-asserting accents of an -insisting will, are hushed, and all his nature waits mutely for God's -voice. No wonder that a psalm which begins thus should end with "God -hath spoken once, twice have I heard this"; for such waiting is never -in vain. The soul that cleaves to God is still; and, being still, is -capable of hearing the Divine whispers which deepen the silence which -they bless. "There is no joy but calm"; and the secret of calm is to -turn the current of the being to God. Then it is like a sea at rest. - -The psalmist's silence finds voice, which does not break it, in saying -over to himself what God is to him. His accumulation of epithets -reminds us of Psalm xviii. 1, 2. Not only does his salvation come -from God, but God Himself is the salvation which He sends forth like -an angel. The recognition of God as his defence is the ground of -"silence"; for if He is "my rock and my salvation," what can be wiser -than to keep close to Him, and let Him do as He will? The assurance of -personal safety is inseparable from such a thought of God. Nothing -which does not shake the rock can shake the frail tent pitched on it. -As long as the tower stands, its inhabitant can look down from his -inaccessible fastness with equanimity, though assailed by crowds. -Thus the psalmist turns swiftly, in the latter pair of verses making -up the first strophe, to address remonstrances to his enemies, as -engaged in a useless effort, and then drops direct address and speaks -_of_ their hostility and treachery. The precise meaning of parts of -ver. 3 has been misapprehended, by reason of the peculiarities of some -of the words and the condensed character of the imagery in _b_, _c_. -The rendering above is substantially that generally accepted now. It -sets in striking contrast the single figure of the psalmist and the -multitude of his assailants. "All of you" rush upon a man like a pack -of hounds on one defenceless creature, and try to break him down, -as men put their shoulders to a wall in order to overthrow it. The -partial success of the assault is hinted in the epithets applied to -wall and fence, which are painted as beginning to give under pressure. -Language of confidence sounds strangely in such circumstances. But -the toppling wall, with all these strong men pushing at it, will "not -be greatly moved." The assailants might answer the psalmist's "How -long?" with defiant confidence that a short time only was needed to -complete the begun ruin; but he, firm in his faith, though tottering -in his fortunes, knows better, and, in effect, tells them by his -question that, however long they may press against his feebleness, -they will never overthrow him. The bulging wall outlasts its would-be -destroyers. But appeal to them is vain; for they have one settled -purpose absorbing them--namely, to cast him down from his height. He -is, then, probably in some position of distinction, threatened by -false friends, who are plotting his deposition, while their words are -fair. All these circumstances agree well with the Davidic authorship. - -The second strophe reiterates the refrain, with slight but significant -variations, and substitutes for the address to and contemplation -of the plotters a meditation on the psalmist's own security, and -an invitation to others to share it. In ver. 5 the refrain is -changed from a declaration of the psalmist's silent waiting to -self-exhortation thereto. Cheyne would assimilate the two verses -by making both verbs imperatives; but that change destroys the -beautiful play of feeling, so true to experience, which passes from -consciousness of one's attitude towards God to effort at preserving -it. No emotions, however blessed, deep, and real, will last, unless -perpetually renewed. Like carbon points in electric lights, they burn -away as they burn, and the light dies, unless there is some impulse -which presses a fresh surface forward to receive the fiery kiss that -changes its blackness into radiance. The "expectation" in ver. 5 _b_ -is substantially equivalent to the "salvation" in ver. 1 _b_. It means -not the emotion (which could not be said to be "from Him"), but the -thing expected, just as "hope" is used for the _res sperata_. The -change in expression from "salvation" to "expectation" makes prominent -the psalmist's attitude. In his silence his wistful eyes look up, -watching for the first far-off brightening which tells him that help -is on its road from the throne. Salvation will not come unexpected, -and expectation will not look for succours in vain. - -There may be deep meaning in the slight omission of "greatly" in the -second refrain. Confidence has grown. The first hope was that the -waiting heart should not be much shaken, that the tottering fence -should not be quite thrown down; the second is that it shall not be -shaken at all. An access of faith has poured into the singer's soul -with his song; and now he has no thought of the crowd of assailants, -who have faded from his sight because he is gazing on God. Hence the -second pair of verses in this strophe (vv. 7, 8) substitutes for the -description of their fierce rush the triumphant reiteration of what -God is to the psalmist, and an invitation to others to come with him -into that strong refuge. The transition to addressing the "people" is -natural, if the psalm is David's. The phrase would then apply to his -immediate followers, who were one with him in peril, and whom he would -fain have one with him in trust. But the LXX. has another reading, -which involves only the insertion of a letter, that may easily have -dropped out, in the word rendered "time," and which makes the verse -run more smoothly. It reads "all the congregation of the people," in -which it is followed by Baethgen, Cheyne, and others. Whoever the -psalmist was, he felt the impulse which follows all deep experience -of the security that comes from hiding in God--namely, the longing -to beckon in others out of the storm into peace. Every man who has -learned that God is a refuge for him is thereby assured that He is the -same for all men, and thereby moved to beseech them to make the like -blessed discovery. The way into that hiding-place is trust. "Pour out -before Him your heart," says the psalmist. "In everything by prayer -and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known -unto God," says Paul. They both mean the same thing. We take refuge -in our refuge when we set our faith on God, and tell Him all that -threatens or troubles us. When we do, we are no longer in the open, -defenceless before the rush of enemies, but housed in God, or, as Paul -puts it, guarded in Christ Jesus, as in a fortress. No wonder that the -psalm pauses for a moment on that thought, and lets the notes of harp -and horn impress it on the listeners! - -The third strophe sets the emptiness of men in strong contrast to the -sufficiency of God. "Vanity" is literally "a breath," and would better -be so rendered in ver. 9, but for the recurrence of the verb from the -same root in ver. 10, which requires the rendering "be not vain." It is -desirable to preserve identity of translation, so as to retain the play -of words. But by doing so ver. 9 is somewhat weakened. The eyes that -have been looking on God are cleared to see the shadowy nothingness of -men of all degrees. The differences of high and low dwindle when seen -from that "high tower," as lower lands appear flat when viewed from a -mountain top. They are but "breath," so fleeting, unsubstantial are -they. They are a "lie," in so far as hopes directed to them are deceived -and trust misplaced. The singer is not cynically proclaiming man's -worthlessness, but asserting his insufficiency as the object of man's -trust. His point of view is different from that of Psalm xxxix., though -his words are the same. The "Only" which begins ver. 9 carries us back -to the similar beginning of the preceding strophes, and brings out the -true force of the following words, by suggesting the contrast between -men and the God on whom the psalmist's soul waits in silence. That -contrast may be further continued in ver. 9 _b_. The lowly and the lofty -are in one scale. What is in the other, the solid weight of which sends -them aloft as lighter? Is it pressing the metaphor too far to suppose -that the psalmist is weighing the whole mass of men against God only? -Heap them altogether and balance them against Him, and the gathered mass -does not weigh as much as an imponderable breath. Who could trust in -that emptiness when he has God to trust in? Who would grasp shadows when -he may cling to that eternal Substance? - -The natural conclusion from ver. 9 follows in the exhortation of ver. -10, which completes the positive presentation of the true object of -trust (ver. 8) by the warning against false refuges. The introduction of -"oppression" and "robbery" is singular, for it can scarcely be supposed -that the assailants of the psalmist are here addressed, and still less -that his followers needed to be warned against these crimes. Cheyne, -therefore, follows Graetz and others in reading "perverseness" for -"oppression," and "crookedness" for "robbery"; but the alteration throws -the clause out of harmony with the next clause. It may be that in ver. -10 _a_ the psalmist has in view unjust gain and in _b_ justly acquired -wealth, and that thus his two dehortations cover the whole ground of -material riches, as if he had said, "Whether rightly or wrongly won, -they are wrongly used if they are trusted in." The folly and misery -of such trust are vigorously set forth by that word "become vain." -The curse of misplaced confidence is that it brings down a man to the -level of what he trusts in, as the blessing of wisely placed trust is -that it lifts him to that level. Trust in vanity is vain, and makes the -truster "vanity." Wind is not a nourishing diet. It may inflate, or, as -Paul says about knowledge, may "puff up," but not "build up." Men are -assimilated to the objects of their trust; and if these are empty, "so -is every one that trusteth in them." - -So far the psalmist has spoken. But his silent waiting has been -rewarded with a clear voice from heaven, confirming that of his faith. -It is most natural to regard the double revelation received by the -psalmist as repeated in the following proclamation of the two great -aspects of the Divine nature--Power and Loving-kindness. The psalmist -has learned that these two are not opposed nor separate, but blend -harmoniously in God's nature, and are confluent in all His works. -Power is softened and directed by Loving-kindness. Loving-kindness -has as its instrument Omnipotence. The synthesis of these two is in -the God whom men are invited to trust; and such trust can never be -disappointed; for His Power and His Loving-kindness will co-operate -to "render to a man according to his work." The last word of the -psalm adds the conception of Righteousness to those of Power and -Loving-kindness. But the psalmist seems to have in view mainly one -direction in which that rendering "to a man according to his work" is -active--namely, in answering the trust which turns away from human -power which is weakness, and from human love which may change and must -die, to anchor itself on the might and tenderness of God. Such "work -of faith" will not be in vain; for these twin attributes of Power and -Love are pledged to requite it with security and peace. - - - - - PSALM LXIII. - - 1 O God, my God art Thou, I seek Thee earnestly, - My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh pines for Thee, - In a dry and weary land, without water. - 2 So in the sanctuary have I gazed on Thee, - To see Thy power and Thy glory. - 3 For Thy loving-kindness is better than life, - [Therefore] my lips shall praise Thee. - 4 So will I bless Thee while I live, - In Thy name will I lift my hands. - - 5 As [with] fat and marrow shall my soul be satisfied, - And with lips that joyfully shout shall my mouth praise Thee, - 6 When I remember Thee on my bed, - Through the watches [of the night] do I meditate on Thee. - 7 For Thou hast been a help for me, - And in the shadow of Thy wings will I shout for joy. - - 8 My soul cleaves [to and presses] after Thee, - Me does Thy right hand uphold. - 9 But these--for its destruction they seek my soul; - They shall go into the undermost parts of the earth. - 10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword, - The portion of jackals shall they be. - 11 But the king shall rejoice in God, - Every one that swears by Him shall glory, - For the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped. - - -If the psalmist is allowed to speak, he gives many details of his -circumstances in his song. He is in a waterless and weary land, -excluded from the sanctuary, followed by enemies seeking his life. -He expects a fight, in which they are to fall by the sword, and -apparently their defeat is to lead to his restoration to his kingdom. - -These characteristics converge on David. Cheyne has endeavoured to -show that they fit the faithful Jews in the Maccabean period, and -that the "king" in ver. 2 is "Jonathan or [better] Simon" ("Orig. of -Psalt.," 99, and "Aids to Dev. Study of Crit.," 308 _seqq._). But -unless we are prepared to accept the dictum that "Pre-Jeremian such -highly spiritual hymns obviously cannot be" (_u.s._), the balance of -probability will be heavily in favour of the Davidic origin. - -The recurrence of the expression "My soul" in vv. 1, 5, 8, suggests the -divisions into which the psalm falls. Following that clue, we recognise -three parts, in each of which a separate phase of the experience of the -soul in its communion with God is presented as realised in sequence by -the psalmist. The soul longs and thirsts for God (vv. 1-4). The longing -soul is satisfied in God (vv. 5-7). The satisfied soul cleaves to and -presses after God (vv. 8-11). These stages melt into each other in the -psalm as in experience, but are still discernible. - -In the first strophe the psalmist gives expression in immortal words -to his longing after God. Like many a sad singer before and after -him, he finds in the dreary scene around an image of yet drearier -experiences within. He sees his own mood reflected in the grey -monotony of the sterile desert, stretching waterless on every side, -and seamed with cracks, like mouths gaping for the rain that does not -come. He is weary and thirsty; but a more agonising craving is in his -spirit, and wastes his flesh. As in the kindred Psalms xlii., xliii., -his separation from the sanctuary has dimmed his sight of God. He -longs for the return of that vision in its former clearness. But even -while he thirsts, he in some measure possesses, since his resolve to -"seek earnestly" is based on the assurance that God is his God. In the -region of the devout life the paradox is true that we long precisely -because we have. Every soul is athirst for God; but unless a man can -say, "Thou art my God," he knows not how to interpret nor where to -slake his thirst, and seeks, not after the living Fountain of waters, -but after muddy pools and broken cisterns. - -Ver. 2 is difficult principally because the reference of the initial -"So" is doubtful. By some it is connected with the first clause of -ver. 1: "So"--_i.e._, as my God--"have I seen Thee." Others suppose a -comparison to be made between the longing just expressed and former -ones, and the sense to be, "With the same eager desire as now I feel -in the desert have I gazed in the sanctuary." This seems the better -view. Hupfeld proposes to transpose the two clauses, as the A.V. has -done in its rendering, and thus gets a smoother run of thought. The -immediate object of the psalmist's desire is thus declared to be "to -behold Thy power and glory," and the "So" is substantially equivalent -to "According as." If we retain the textual order of the clauses, and -understand the first as paralleling the psalmist's desert longing with -that which he felt in the sanctuary, the second clause will state -the aim of the ardent gaze--namely, to "behold Thy power and Thy -glory." These attributes were peculiarly manifested amid the imposing -sanctities where the light of the Shechinah, which was especially -designated as "the Glory," shone above the ark. - -The first clause of ver. 3 is closely connected with the preceding, -and gives the reason for some part of the emotion there expressed, -as the introductory "For" shows. But it is a question to which part -of the foregoing verses it refers. It is probably best taken as -assigning the reason for their main subject--namely, the psalmist's -thirst after God. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be -also." Our desires are shaped by our judgments of what is good. The -conviction of God's transcendent excellence and absolute sufficiency -for all our cravings must precede the direction of these to Him. -Unless all enjoyments and possessions, which become ours through our -corporeal life, and that life itself, are steadfastly discerned to -be but a feather's weight in comparison with the pure gold of God's -loving-kindness, we shall not long for it more than for them. - -The deep desires of this psalmist were occasioned by his seclusion -from outward forms of worship, which were to him so intimately related -to the inward reality, that he felt farther away from God in the -wilderness than when he caught glimpses of His face, through the power -and glory which he saw visibly manifested in the sanctuary. But in his -isolation he learns to equate his desert yearnings with his sanctuary -contemplations, and thus glides from longing to fruition. His -devotion, nourished by forms, is seen in the psalm in the very act of -passing on to independence of form; and so springs break out for him -in the desert. His passion of yearning after God rebukes and shames -our faint desires. This man's soul was all on the stretch to grasp and -hold God. His very physical frame was affected by his intense longing. -If he did not long too much, most men, even those who thirst after -God most, long terribly too little. Strong desire has a joy in its -very aching; feeble desire only makes men restless and uncomfortable. -Nothing can be more preposterous than tepid aspirations after the -greatest and only good. To hold as creed that God's loving-kindness -is better than life, and to wish a little to possess it, is surely -irrational, if anything is so. - -The remaining clauses of ver. 3 and ver. 4 form a transition to the -full consciousness of satisfaction which animates the psalmist in the -second part. The resolve to praise, and the assurance that he will -have occasion to praise, succeed his longing with startling swiftness. -The "So" of ver. 4 seems to be equivalent to "Accordingly"--_i.e._, -since Thy loving-kindness is such supreme good, and is mine because I -have desired it. Continual praise and as continual invocation are the -fitting employments of those who receive it, and by these alone can -their possession of the loving-kindness bestowed be made permanent. -If empty palms are not ever lifted towards God, His gifts will not -descend. When these are received, they will fall like morning sunbeams -on stony and dumb lips, which before were only parted to let out -sighs, and will draw forth music of praise. There are longings which -never are satisfied; but God lets no soul that thirsts for Him perish -for lack of the water of life. Wisdom bids us fix our desires on that -Sovereign Good, to long for which is ennobling and blessed, and to -possess which is rest and the beginning of heaven. - -Thus the psalmist passes imperceptibly to the second strophe, in which -the longing soul becomes the satisfied soul. The emblem of a feast -is naturally suggested by the previous metaphor of thirst. The same -conviction, which urged the psalmist forward in his search after God, -now assures him of absolute satisfaction in finding Him. Since God's -loving-kindness is better than life, the soul that possesses Him can -have no unappeased cravings, nor any yet hungry affections or wishes. -In the region of communion with God, fruition is contemporaneous with -and proportioned to desire. When the rain comes in the desert, what was -baked earth is soon rich pasture, and the dry torrent beds, where the -white stones glittered ghastly in the sunshine, are musical with rushing -streams and fringed with budding oleanders. On that telegraph a message -is flashed upwards and an answer speeds downwards, in a moment of time. -Many of God's gifts are delayed by Love; but the soul that truly desires -Him has never long to wait for a gift that equals its desire. - -When God is possessed, the soul is satisfied. So entire is the -correspondence between wants and gift, that every concavity in us -finds, as it were, a convexity to match it in Him. The influx of the -great ocean of God fills every curve of the shore to the brim, and the -flashing glory of that sunlit sea covers the sands, and brings life -where stagnation reigned and rotted. So the satisfied soul lives to -praise, as the psalm goes on to vow. Lips that drink such draughts of -Loving-kindness will not be slow to tell its sweetness. If we have -nothing to say about God's goodness, the probable cause is our want of -experience of it. - -That feast leaves no bitter taste. The remembrance of it is all but -as sweet as its enjoyment was. Thus, in ver. 6, the psalmist recounts -how, in the silent hours of night, when many joys are seen to be -hollow, and conscience wakes to condemn coarse delights, he recalled -his blessednesses in God, and, like a ruminant animal, tasted their -sweetness a second time. The verse is best regarded as an independent -sentence. So blessed was the thought of God, that, if once it rose -in his wakeful mind as he lay on his bed, he "meditated" on it -all the night. Hasty glances show little of anything great. Nature -does not unveil her beauty to a cursory look; much less does God -disclose His. If we would feel the majesty of the heavens, we must -gaze long and steadfastly into their violet depths. The mention of -the "night-watches" is appropriate, if this psalm is David's. He and -his band of fugitives had to keep vigilant guard as they lay down -shelterless in the desert; but even when thus ringed by possible -perils, and listening for the shout of nocturnal assailants, the -psalmist could recreate and calm his soul by meditation on God. Nor -did his experience of God's sufficiency bring only remembrances; it -kindled hopes. "For Thou hast been a help for me; and in the shadow -of Thy wings will I shout for joy." Past deliverances minister to -present trust and assure of future joy. The prerogative of the soul, -blessed in the sense of possessing God, is to discern in all that has -been the manifestations of His help, and to anticipate in all that is -to come the continuance of the same. Thus the second strophe gathers -up the experiences of the satisfied soul as being fruition, praise, -sweet lingering memories that fill the night of darkness and fear, and -settled trust in the coming of a future which will be of a piece with -such a present and past. - -The third strophe (vv. 8-11) presents a stage in the devout soul's -experience which naturally follows the two preceding. Ver. 8 has a -beautifully pregnant expression for the attitude of the satisfied -soul. Literally rendered, the words run, "cleaves after Thee," -thus uniting the ideas of close contact and eager pursuit. Such -union, however impossible in the region of lower aims, is the very -characteristic of communion with God, in which fruition subsists along -with longing, since God is infinite, and the closest approach to and -fullest possession of Him are capable of increase. Satisfaction tends -to become satiety when that which produces it is a creature whose -limits are soon reached; but the cup which God gives to a thirsty soul -has no cloying in its sweetness. On the other hand, to seek after Him -has no pain nor unrest along with it, since the desire for fuller -possession comes from the felt joy of present attainment. Thus, in -constant interchange satisfaction and desire beget each other, and -each carries with it some trace of the other's blessedness. - -Another beautiful reciprocity is suggested by the very order of the -words in the two clauses of ver. 8. The first ends with "Thee"; the -second begins with "Me." The mutual relation of God and the soul is -here set forth. He who "cleaves after God" is upheld in his pursuit -by God's hand. And not in his pursuit only, but in all his life; for -the condition of receiving sustaining help is desire for it, directed -to God and verified by conduct. Whoever thus follows hard after God -will feel his outstretched, seeking hand inclosed in a strong and -loving palm, which will steady him against assaults and protect him in -dangers. "No man is able to pluck them out of the Father's hand," if -only they do not let it go. It may slip from slack fingers. - -We descend from the heights of mystic communion in the remainder of -the psalm. But in the singer's mind his enemies were God's enemies, -and, as ver. 11 shows, were regarded as apostates from God in being -traitors to "the king." They did not "swear by Him"--_i.e._, they did -not acknowledge God as God. Therefore, such being their character, the -psalmist's confidence that God's right hand upheld him necessarily -passes into assurance of their defeat. This is not vindictiveness, but -confidence in the sufficiency of God's protection, and is perfectly -accordant with the lofty strains of the former part of the psalm. -The picture of the fate of the beaten foe is partly drawn from that -of Korah and his company. These rebels against God's king shall go, -where those rebels against His priest long ago descended. "They -shall be poured out upon the hands of the sword," or, more literally -still, "They shall pour him out," is a vigorous metaphor, incapable -of transference into English, describing how each single enemy is -given over helplessly, as water is poured out, to the sword, which is -energetically and to our taste violently, conceived of as a person -with hands. The meaning is plain--a battle is impending, and the -psalmist is sure that his enemies will be slain, and their corpses -torn by beasts of prey. - -How can the "king's" rejoicing in God be the consequence of their -slaughter, unless they are rebels? And what connection would the -defeat of a rebellion have with the rest of the psalm, unless the -singer were himself the king? "This one line devoted to the king is -strange," says Cheyne. The strangeness is unaccounted for, but on -the supposition that David is the king and singer. If so, it is most -natural that his song should end with a note of triumph, and should -anticipate the joy of his own heart and the "glorying" of his faithful -followers, who had been true to God in being loyal to His anointed. - - - - - PSALM LXIV. - - 1 Hear, O God, my voice in my complaint, - From the fear of the enemy guard my life. - 2 Hide me from the secret assembly of evil-doers, - From the noisy crowd of workers of iniquity: - - 3 Who whet, like a sword, their tongue, - [Who] aim [as] their arrow a bitter word, - 4 To shoot in hiding-places [at] the upright: - Suddenly they shoot [at] him, and fear not. - - 5 They strengthen themselves [in] an evil plan, - They talk of laying snares, - They say, Who looks at them? - 6 They scheme villainies, - We have perfected [say they] a scheme [well] schemed: - And the inward part of each, and [his] heart, is deep. - - 7 But God shoots [at] them [with] an arrow, - Suddenly come their wounds. - 8 And they are made to stumble, - Their own tongue [comes] upon them, - All who look on them shake the head. - - 9 And all men fear, - And declare the act of God, - And understand His work. - 10 The righteous shall rejoice in Jehovah, and take refuge in Him, - And all the upright in heart shall glory. - - -Familiar notes are struck in this psalm, which has no very distinctive -features. Complaint of secret slanderers, the comparison of their -words to arrows and swords, their concealed snares, their blasphemous -defiance of detection, the sudden flashing out of God's retribution, -the lesson thereby read to and learned by men, the vindication of God's -justice, and praise from all true hearts, are frequent themes. They are -woven here into a whole which much resembles many other psalms. But the -singer's heart is none the less in his words because many others before -him have had to make like complaints and to stay themselves on like -confidence. "We have all of us one human heart," and well-worn words -come fresh to each lip when the grip of sorrow is felt. - -The division into pairs of verses is clear here. The burdened psalmist -begins with a cry for help, passes on to dilate on the plots of his -foes, turns swiftly from these to confidence in God, which brings -future deliverance into present peril and sings of it as already -accomplished, and ends with the assurance that his enemies' punishment -will witness for God and gladden the upright. - -In the first pair of verses complaint is sublimed into prayer, and so -becomes strengthening instead of weakening. He who can cry "Hear, O -God, guard, hide" has already been able to hide in a safe refuge. "The -terror caused by the enemy" is already dissipated when the trembling -heart grasps at God; and escape from facts which warrant terror will -come in good time. This man knows himself to be in danger of his -life. There are secret gatherings of his enemies, and he can almost -hear their loud voices as they plan his ruin. What can he do, in such -circumstances, but fling himself on God? No thought of resistance has -he. He can _but_ pray, but he _can_ pray; and no man is helpless who -can look up. However high and closely engirdling may be the walls that -men or sorrows build around us, there is always an opening in the -dungeon roof, through which heaven is visible and prayers can mount. - -The next two pairs of verse (3-6) describe the machinations of the -enemies in language for the most part familiar, but presenting some -difficulties. The metaphors of a slanderous tongue as a sword and -mischief-meaning words as arrows have occurred in several other -psalms (_e.g._, lv. 21; lvii. 4; lix. 7). The reference may either -be to calumnies or to murderous threats and plans. The latter is the -more probable. Secret plots are laid, which are suddenly unmasked. -From out of some covert of seeming friendship an unlooked-for arrow -whizzes. The archers "shoot, and fear not." They are sure of remaining -concealed, and fear neither man's detection of them nor God's. - -The same ideas are enlarged on in the third verse-pair (5, 6) under a -new metaphor. Instead of arrows flying in secret, we have now snares -laid to catch unsuspecting prey. "They strengthen themselves [in] -an evil plan" (lit. _word_) pictures mutual encouragement and fixed -determination. They discuss the best way of entrapping the psalmist, -and, as in the preceding verse, flatter themselves that their subtle -schemes are too well buried to be observed, whether by their victim or -by God. Ver. 6 tells without a figure the fact meant in both figures. -"They scheme villainies," and plume themselves upon the cleverness of -their unsuspected plots. The second clause of the verse is obscure. But -the suppositions that in it the plotters speak as in the last clause -of the preceding verse, and that "they say" or the like expression is -omitted for the sake of dramatic effect, remove much of the difficulty. -"We have schemed a well-schemed plan" is their complacent estimate. - -God's retribution scatters their dreams of impunity, as the next pair of -verses (7, 8) tells. The verbs are in the past tense, though the events -described are still in the future; for the psalmist's faith reckons them -to be as good as done. They were shooting at him. God will shoot at -them. The archer becomes a target. "With what measure ye mete, it shall -be measured to you again." Punishment is moulded after the guise of sin. -The allusion to ver. 4 is made more obvious by adopting a different -division of ver. 7 from that directed by the accents, and beginning the -second half with "Suddenly," as in ver. 4. Ver. 8 _b_ is with difficulty -made intelligible with the existing reading. Probably the best that can -be done with it is to render it as above, though it must be acknowledged -that "their tongue comes upon them" needs a good deal of explanation -to be made to mean that the consequences of their sins of speech fall -on them. The drift of the clause must be that retribution falls on the -offending tongue; but there is probably some textual corruption now -unremovable. Cheyne wisely falls back on asterisks. Whatever is the -precise nature of the instance of _lex talionis_ in the clause, it is -hailed with gestures of scornful approval by all beholders. Many men -approve the Divine punishments, who have no deep horror of the sins that -are punished. There is something of a noble, if rough, sense of justice -in most men, and something of an ignoble satisfaction in seeing the -downfall of the powerful, and both sentiments set heads nodding approval -of God's judgments. - -The psalm closes with the familiar thought that these judgments will -move to wholesome awe and be told from lip to lip, while they become -to the righteous occasion of joy, incitements to find refuge in God, -and material for triumph. These are large consequences to flow from -one man's deliverance. The anticipation would be easily explained if we -took the speaker to be the personified nation. But it would be equally -intelligible if he were in any way a conspicuous or representative -person. The humblest may feel that his experience of Divine deliverance -witnesses, to as many as know it, of a delivering God. That is a high -type of godliness which, like this psalmist, counts the future as so -certain that it can be spoken of as present even in peril. It augurs a -still higher to welcome deliverance, not only for the ease it brings to -the suppliant, but for the glory it brings to God. - - - - - PSALM LXV. - - 1 To Thee silence is praise, O God, in Zion, - And to Thee shall the vow be paid. - 2 O Thou hearer of prayer, - To Thee all flesh comes. - 3 Deeds of iniquity have been too strong for me: - Our transgressions--Thou, Thou coverest them. - 4 Blessed is he whom Thou choosest and bringest near, - That he may dwell in Thy courts: - We would be filled with the goodness of Thy house, - Thy holy temple. - - 5 By dread deeds in righteousness Thou dost answer us, O God of our - salvation, - The confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the remotest - sea: - 6 Setting fast the mountains by His strength, - Being girded with might, - 7 Stilling the roar of the seas, the roar of their billows, - And the tumult of the peoples. - 8 So that the inhabitants of the ends [of the earth] become afraid - at Thy signs: - The regions whence morning and evening come forth - Thou makest to shout for joy. - - 9 Thou hast visited the land and watered it, - Thou enrichest it abundantly [by] a river of God, full of water, - Thou preparest their corn when thus Thou preparest it: - 10 Watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, - With showers Thou softenest it, - Its outgrowth Thou dost bless. - 11 Thou hast crowned the year of Thy goodness, - And Thy chariot-tracks drop fatness. - 12 The pastures of the wilderness drop, - And the heights gird themselves with leaping gladness. - 13 The meadows are clothed with flocks, - And the valleys are covered with corn, - They shout for joy, they also sing. - - -This and the two following psalms form a little group, with one great -thought dominant in each--namely, that God's manifestations of grace -and providence to Israel are witnesses to the world. They all reach -out to "the ends of the earth" in yearning and confidence that God's -name will be adored there, and they all regard His dealings with His -people as His appeals to mankind, which will not always be vain. -Psalm lxv. begins with that privilege of approach to God with which -Psalm lxvi. ends. In both, iniquity in heart is regarded as hindering -access to God; and, in both, the psalmist's experience of answered -prayer is treated as testimony for the world of the blessedness of -worshipping Israel's God. This psalm falls into three parts, which set -forth a threefold revelation of God in His acts. The first (vv. 1-4) -deals with the most intimate privileges of the men who dwell in His -house. The second (vv. 5-8) points to His rule in nature, the tokens -of God's power in the mighty things of creation--mountains, ocean, -day and night, the radiant east, the solemn sunset-west. The third -(vv. 9-13) gives a lovely picture of the annual miracle which brings -harvest joys. The underlying thought binding these three parts into -unity seems to be the witness to God's name which each set of His -acts bears--a witness which "they that dwell in the uttermost parts" -hear sounded in their ears. If this is the true view of the psalm, we -may hear a reminiscence of it in Paul's remonstrance with the rude -Lycaonian peasants: "He left not Himself without witness, in that He -did good, and gave you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling -your hearts with food and gladness." - -The first strophe is wholly concerned with the glory of God as -answering prayer. It begins with enigmatical words, which, if the -existing text is adhered to, carry a deep truth. There are two kinds -of prayer--wordless submission of will and spoken vows. The former is -truly praise. The same thought is found in Psalm lxii. It goes down -to the root of the matter. The true notion of prayer is not that of -swaying God's will to gratify ours, but that of bringing ours into -unremonstrating acceptance of His. When the accents of eager desire or -of impatient murmuring and vain sobs and weeping are hushed, the still -soul enters into closeness of communion, else unattainable. Beautiful -and profoundly true as this is, it is not indubitably the psalmist's -meaning; and there is much to be said for the rendering which is adopted -from the LXX. by many commentators, and which only requires a slight -change in the vocalisation--namely, "Praise is meet for Thee." But -that idea is expressed in Psalm xxxiii. 1 by a different word, and the -meaning of the one used here is not _to be suitable for_, but _to be -like_. So that we have to choose between altering the text and then -imposing a somewhat unusual meaning on the word gained, and adhering -to the present reading and gaining a meaning which is admitted to be -"fine" but alleged to be "unbiblical." On the whole, that meaning seems -preferable. The convictions that God accepts silent devotion and answers -vows, so that the thank-offering promised in trouble will be called -for by deliverance, "fill the psalmist with a longing that all mankind -may have recourse to the same Divine Friend" (Cheyne, _in loc._). His -experience of accepted prayers has taught him that it is God's nature -and property to be "the hearer of prayer" (the word is a participle, -expressive of a permanent characteristic), and therefore he is sure that -"all flesh," in its weariness and need of an ear into which to pour -necessities and sorrows, will come to Him. His eye travels far beyond -Israel, and contemplates mankind as coming to worship. But one black -barrier rises between men and God, the separating power of which the -singer has painfully felt. Sin chokes the stream that would flow from -seeking hearts into the ocean of God. The very act of gathering himself -up to pray and praise quickens the sense of sinfulness in the psalmist. -Therefore his look turns swiftly inwards, for the only time in the -psalm. The consciousness of transgression wakes the sense of personality -and isolation as nothing else will, and for one bitter moment the -singer is, as it were, prisoned in the awful solitude of individual -responsibility. His words reflect his vivid sight of his sins in their -manifoldness, for he says that "matters of iniquities" have overcome -him. The exuberant expression is not tautological, but emotional. And -then he passes into sunshine again, and finds that, though he had to be -alone in guilt, he is one of a company in the experience of forgiveness. -Emphatically he reduplicates "Thou" in his burst of confidence in God's -covering of sins; for none but God can cope with the evil things that -are too strong for man. I can neither keep them out, nor drive them -out when they have come in, nor cleanse the stains that their hoofs -have made; but Thou, Thou canst and dost cover them. Is not that an -additional reason for "all flesh" coming to God, and almost a guarantee -that they will? - -The strophe ends with an exclamation celebrating the blessedness of -dwelling with God. That refers, no doubt, to Israel's prerogative -of access to the Temple; but the inward and outward are blended, as -in many places in the Psalter where dwelling in the house of the -Lord is yearned for or rejoiced in. The universalism of the psalm -does not forget the special place held by the nation whom God "has -chosen and brought near." But the reality beneath the symbol is too -familiar and sweet to this singer for him to suppose that mere outward -access exhausts the possibilities of blessed communion. It is no -violent forcing more into his words than they contain, if we read in -them deeply spiritual truths. It is noteworthy that they follow the -reference to forgiveness, and, when taken in conjunction therewith, -may be called an itinerary of the road to God. First comes forgiveness -by expiation, for such is the meaning of "covering," Then the cleansed -soul has "access with confidence"; then approaching, it happily dwells -a guest in the house, and is supplied with that which satisfies all -desires. The guest's security in the house of his host, his right to -protection, help, and food, are, as usual, implied in the imagery. The -prerogative of his nation, which the psalmist had in mind, is itself -imagery, and the reality which it shadowed is that close abiding -in God which is possible by faith, love, communion of spirit, and -obedience of life, and which, wherever realised, keeps a soul in a -great calm, whatever tempests rave, and satisfies its truest needs -and deepest longings, whatever famine may afflict the outward life. -Forgiven men may dwell with God. They who do are blessed. - -The second strophe (vv. 5-8) celebrates another aspect of God's -manifestation by deeds, which has, in like manner, a message for the -ends of the earth. Israel is again the immediate recipient of God's -acts, but they reverberate through the world. Therefore in ver. 5 the -two clauses are not merely adjacent, but connected. It is because God is -ever revealing Himself to the nation (for the tense of the verb "answer" -expresses continuous action) that He is revealed as the trust of the -whole earth. God's grace fructifies through Israel to all. How clearly -the psalmist had grasped the truth that God has limited the knowledge of -Himself to one spot of earth in order to its universal diffusion! - -The light is focussed and set in a tower that it may shine out over sea -and storm. The fire is gathered into a brasier that it may warm all -the house. Some commentators take that strong expression "the trust of -all the ends of the earth" as asserting that even the confidences of -idolaters in their gods are at bottom trust in Jehovah and find their -way to Him. But such a view of idolatry is foreign to the Old Testament, -and is not needed to explain the psalmist's words. God is the only -worthy object of trust, and remains so whether men do in fact trust Him -or not. And one day, thinks the psalmist, God's patient manifestation -of His grace to Israel will tell, and all men will come to know Him for -what He is. "The remotest sea" is not translation, but paraphrase. The -psalmist speaks in vague terms, as one who knew not what lay beyond the -horizon of that little-traversed western ocean. Literally his words -are "the sea of the remote [peoples]"; but a possible emendation has -been suggested, reading instead of _sea_ "regions" or "nations." The -change is slight, and smooths an awkward expression, but destroys the -antithesis of earth and sea, and makes the second clause a somewhat weak -repetition of the first. - -From the self-revelation of God in history the psalm passes to His -mighty deeds in nature (vv. 6, 7 _a_), and from these it returns to -His providential guidance of human affairs (ver. 7 _b_). The two -specimens of Divine power celebrated in vv. 6, 7, are suggested by the -closing words of ver. 5. "The ends of the earth" were, according to -ancient cosmography, girdled by mountains; and God has set these fast. -The dash of "the remotest seas" is hushed by Him. Two mighty things -are selected to witness to the Mightier who made and manages them. The -firm bulk of the mountains is firm because He is strong. The tossing -waves are still because He bids them be silent. How transcendently -great then is He, and how blind those who, seeing hill and ocean, do -not see God! The mention of the sea, the standing emblem of unrest -and rebellious power, suggests the "tumult of the peoples," on which -similar repressive power is exercised. The great deeds of God, putting -down tyranny and opposition to Israel, which is rebellion against -Himself, strike terror, which is wholesome and is purified into -reverence, into the distant lands; and so, from the place where the -sun rises to the "sad-coloured end of evening" where it sinks in the -west, _i.e._, through all the earth, there rings out a shout of joy. -Such glowing anticipations of universal results from the deeds of God, -especially for Israel, are the products of diseased national vanity, -unless they are God-taught apprehension of the Divine purpose of -Israel's history, which shall one day be fulfilled, when the knowledge -of the yet more wondrous deeds which culminated in the Cross is spread -to the ends of the earth and the remotest seas. - -God reveals Himself not only in the sanctities of His house, nor -in His dread "signs" in nature and history, but in the yearly -recurring harvest, which was waving, as yet unreaped, while the poet -sang. The local colouring which regards rain as the chief factor in -fertility and the special gift of God is noticeable. In such a land -as Palestine, irrigation seems the one thing needful to turn desert -into fruitful field. To "water" the soil is there emphatically to -"enrich" it. The psalmist uses for "river" the technical word for an -irrigation cutting, as if he would represent God in the guise of the -cultivator, who digs his ditches that the sparkling blessing may reach -all his field. But what a difference between men-made watercourses and -God's! The former are sometimes flooded, but often dry; His are full -of water. The prose of the figure is, of course, abundant rain. It -prepares the earth for the seed, and "so" in effect prepares the corn. -The one is the immediate, the other the ultimate issue and purpose. -Spring showers prepare autumn fruits. It is so in all regions of man's -endeavour and of God's work; and it is practical wisdom to train -ourselves to see the assurance of the end in His means, and to be -confident that whatever His doings have a manifest tendency to effect -shall one day be ripened and harvested. How lovingly and patiently -the psalm represents the Divine Husbandman as attending to all the -steps of the process needed for the great ingathering! He guides the -showers, He fills the little valleys of the furrows, and smooths down -the tiny hills of the intervening ridges. He takes charge of the -germinating seed, and His sunshine smiles a benediction on the tender -green blade, as it pricks through the earth which has been made soft -enough for it to pierce from beneath. This unhesitating recognition of -the direct action of God in all "natural" processes is the true point -of view from which to regard them. God is the only force; and His -immediate action is present in all material changes. The Bible knows -nothing of self-moving powers in nature, and the deepest conception of -God's relations to things sensible knows as little. "There is no power -but of God" is the last word of religion and of true philosophy. - -The poet stands in the joyous time when all the beauty of summer flushes -the earth, and the harvest is yet a hope, not a possibly disappointing -reality. It is near enough to fill his song with exultation. It is -far enough off to let him look on the whitened fields, and not on the -bristly stubble. So he regards the "crown" as already set on a year of -goodness. He sees God's chariot passing in triumph and blessing over -the land, and leaving abundance wherever its wheel-tracks go. Out in -the uncultivated prairie, where sweet grass unsown by man grows, is the -flush of greenery, where, before the rain, was baked and gaping earth. -The hills, that wear a girdle of forest trees half-way up towards their -barren summits, wave their foliage, as if glad. The white fleeces of -flocks are dotted over the vivid verdure of every meadow, and one cannot -see the ground for the tall corn that stands waiting for the sickle, in -each fertile plain. The psalmist hears a hymn of glad praise rising from -all these happy and sunny things; and for its melody he hushes his own, -that he and we may listen to - - "The fair music that all creatures make - To their great Lord." - - - - - PSALM LXVI. - - 1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, - 2 Harp [unto] the glory of His name, - Render glory [to Him by] His praise. - 3 Say to God, How dread are Thy works! - For the greatness of Thy strength shall Thy enemies feign - [submission] to Thee. - 4 All the earth shall bow down to Thee, and harp to Thee, - They shall harp [to] Thy name. Selah. - - 5 Come, and behold the deeds of God; - He is dread in His doing towards the sons of men, - 6 He turned the sea to dry land, - They went through the river on foot, - There let us rejoice in Him. - 7 He rules by His might for ever; - His eyes watch the nations, - The rebellious--let them not exalt themselves. Selah. - - 8 Bless our God, ye peoples, - And let the voice of His praise be heard! - 9 Who has set our soul in life, - And has not let our foot slip. - 10 For Thou hast proved us, O God, - Thou hast refined us, as silver is refined. - 11 Thou hast brought us into the fortress-dungeon, - Thou hast laid a heavy burden on our loins. - 12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our head, - We have come into the fire and into the water, - But Thou broughtest us out into abundance. - - 13 I will go into Thy house with burnt offerings, - I will render to Thee my vows, - 14 Which my lips uttered, - And my mouth spoke, in my straits. - 15 Burnt offerings of fatlings will I offer to Thee, - With the savour of rams, - I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. - - 16 Come, hearken, and I will recount, all ye that fear God, - What He has done for my soul. - 17 To Him did I cry with my mouth, - And a song extolling [Him] was [already] under my tongue. - 18 If I had intended iniquity in my heart, - The Lord would not hear: - 19 But surely God has heard, - He has attended to the voice of my prayer. - 20 Blessed be God, - Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His loving-kindness from - me. - - -The most striking feature of this psalm is the transition from the -plural "we" and "our," in vv. 1-12, to the singular "I" and "my," -in vv. 13-20. Ewald supposes that two independent psalms have been -united, but ver. 12 is as abrupt for an ending as ver. 13 is for a -beginning; and the "Come, hear," of ver. 16 echoes the "Come, and -see," of ver. 5. It is possible that "the 'I' of the second part -is identical with the 'we' of the first; in other words, that the -personified community speaks here" (Baethgen); but the supposition -that the psalm was meant for public worship, and is composed of a -choral and a solo part, accounts for the change of number. Such -expressions as "my soul" and "my heart" favour the individual -reference. Of course, the deliverance magnified by the single voice is -the same as that celebrated by the loud acclaim of many tongues; but -there is a different note in the praise of the former--there is a tone -of inwardness in it, befitting individual appropriation of general -blessings. To this highest point, that of the action of the single -soul in taking the deliverances of the community for its very own, -and pouring out its own praise, the psalm steadily climbs. It begins -with the widest outlook over "all the earth," summoned to ring forth -joyous praise. It ends focussed to one burning point, in a heart fired -by the thought that God "has not turned away his loving-kindness from -_me_." So we learn how each single soul has to claim its several part -in world-wide blessings, as each flower-calyx absorbs the sunshine -that floods the pastures. - -The psalm has no superscription of date or author, and no clue in its -language to the particular deliverance that called it forth. The usual -variety of conjectures have been hazarded. The defeat of Sennacherib -occurs to some; the return from Babylon to others; the Maccabean -period to yet another school of critics. It belongs to a period when -Israel's world-significance and mission were recognised (which Cheyne -considers a post-exilic feature, "Orig. of Psalt.," 176), and when the -sacrificial worship was in full force; but beyond these there are no -clear data for period of composition. - -It is divided into five strophes, three of which are marked by Selah. -That musical indication is wanting at the close of the third strophe -(ver. 12), which is also the close of the first or choral part, and -its absence may be connected with the transition to a single voice. -A certain progress in thought is noticeable, as will appear as we -proceed. The first strophe calls upon all the earth to praise God -for His works. The special deeds which fire the psalmist are not -yet mentioned, though they are present to his mind. The summons of -the world to praise passes over into prophecy that it shall praise. -The manifestation of God's character by act will win homage. The -great thought that God has but to be truly known in order to be -reverenced is an axiom with this psalmist; and no less certain is -he that such knowledge and such praise will one day fill the world. -True, he discerns that submission will not always be genuine; for he -uses the same word to express it as occurs in Psalm xviii. 44, which -represents "feigned homage." Every great religious awakening has a -fringe of adherents, imperfectly affected by it, whose professions -outrun reality, though they themselves are but half conscious that -they feign. But though this sobering estimate of the shallowness -of a widely diffused recognition of God tones down the psalmist's -expectations, and has been abundantly confirmed by later experience, -his great hope remains as an early utterance of the conviction, which -has gathered assurance and definiteness by subsequent Revelation, and -is now familiar to all. The world is God's. His Self-revelation will -win hearts. There shall be true submission and joyous praise, girdling -the earth as it rolls. The psalmist dwells mainly on the majestic and -awe-inspiring aspect of God's acts. His greatness of power bears down -opposition. But the later strophes introduce other elements of the -Divine nature and syllables of the Name, though the inmost secret of -the "power of God" in the weakness of manhood and the all-conquering -might of Love is not yet ripe for utterance. - -The second strophe advances to a closer contemplation of the deeds -of God, which the nations are summoned to behold. He is not only -"dread" in His doings towards mankind at large, but Israel's history -is radiant with the manifestation of His name, and that past lives on, -so that ancient experiences give the measure and manner of to-day's -working. The retrospect embraces the two standing instances of God's -delivering help--the passage of the Red Sea and of Jordan--and these -are not dead deeds in a far-off century. For the singer calls on -his own generation to rejoice "there" in Him. Ver. 6 _c_ is by some -translated as "There did we rejoice," and more accurately by others, -"Let us rejoice." In the former case the essential solidarity of all -generations of the nation is most vividly set forth. But the same idea -is involved in the correct rendering, according to which the men of -the psalmist's period are entitled and invoked to associate themselves -in thought with that long-past generation, and to share in their joy, -since they do possess the same power which wrought then. God's work -is never antiquated. It is all a revelation of eternal activities. -What He has been, He is. What He did, He does. Therefore faith may -feed on all the records of old time, and expect the repetition of all -that they contain. Such an application of history to the present makes -the nerve of this strophe. For ver. 7, following on the retrospect, -declares the perpetuity of God's rule, and that His eyes still keep -an outlook, as a watchman on a tower might do, to mark the enemies' -designs, in order that He may intervene, as of old, for His people's -deliverance. He "looked forth upon the Egyptians through the pillar -of fire and of cloud" (Exod. xiv. 24). Thus He still marks the -actions and plans of Israel's foes. Therefore it were wise for the -"rebellious" not to rear their heads so high in opposition. - -The third strophe comes still closer to the particular deliverance -underlying the psalm. Why should all "peoples" be called upon to praise -God for it? The psalmist has learned that Israel's history is meant -to teach the world what God is, and how blessed it is to dwell under -His wing. No exclusiveness taints his enjoyment of special national -privileges. He has reached a height far above the conceptions of the -rest of the world in his day, and even in this day, except where the -Christian conception of "humanity" has been heartily accepted. Whence -came this width of view, this purifying from particularism, this -anticipation by so many centuries of a thought imperfectly realised even -now? Surely a man who in those days and with that environment could soar -so high must have been lifted by something mightier than his own spirit. -The details of the Divine dealings described in the strophe are of small -consequence in comparison with its fixed expectation of the world's -participation in Israel's blessings. The familiar figures for affliction -reappear--namely, proving and refining in a furnace. A less common -metaphor is that of being prisoned in a _dungeon_, as the word rendered -"net" in the A.V. and R.V. probably means. Another peculiar image is -that of ver. 12: "Thou hast caused men to ride over our head." The word -for "men" here connotes feebleness and frailty, characteristics which -make tyranny more intolerable; and the somewhat harsh metaphor is best -explained as setting forth insolent and crushing domination, whether the -picture intended is that of ruthless conquerors driving their chariots -over their prone victims, or that of their sitting as an incubus on -their shoulders and making them like beasts of burden. Fire and water -are standing figures for affliction. With great force these accumulated -symbols of oppression are confronted by one abrupt clause ending the -strophe, and describing in a breath the perfect deliverance which sweeps -them all away: "Thou broughtest us out into abundance." There is no -need for the textual alteration of the last word into "a wide place" -(Hupfeld), a place of liberty (Cheyne), or freedom (Baethgen). The -word in the received text is that employed in Psalm xxiii. 5. "My cup -is _overfulness_" and "abundance" yields a satisfactory meaning here, -though not closely corresponding to any of the preceding metaphors for -affliction. - -The fourth strophe (vv. 13-15) begins the solo part. It clothes in a -garb appropriate to a sacrificial system the thought expressed in more -spiritual dress in the next strophe, that God's deliverance should -evoke men's praise. The abundance and variety of sacrifices named, and -the fact that "rams" were not used for the offerings of individuals, -seem to suggest that the speaker is, in some sense, representing the -nation, and it has been supposed that he may be the high priest. But -this is merely conjecture, and the explanation may be that there is a -certain ideal and poetical tone over the representation, which does -not confine itself to scrupulous accuracy. - -The last strophe (vv. 16-20) passes beyond sacrificial symbols, and -gives the purest utterance to the emotions and resolves which ought -to well up in a devout soul on occasion of God's goodness. Not only -does the psalmist teach us how each individual must take the general -blessing for his very own--of which act the faith which takes the -world's Christ for my Christ is the supreme example--but he teaches us -that the obligation laid on all recipients of God's mercy is to tell -it forth, and that the impulse is as certain to follow real reception -as the command is imperative. Just as Israel received deliverances -that the whole earth might learn how strong and gracious was Israel's -God, we receive His blessings, and chiefly His highest gift of life in -Christ, not only that we may live, but that, living, we may "declare -the works of the Lord." He has little possession of God's grace who -has not felt the necessity of speech, and the impossibility of the -lips being locked when the heart is full. - -The psalmist tells his experience of God's answers to his prayer in a -very striking fashion. Ver. 17 says that he cried to God; and while -his uttered voice was supplication, the song extolling God for the -deliverance asked was, as it were, lying under his tongue, ready to -break forth,--so sure was he that his cry would be heard. That is a -strong faith which prepares banners and music for the triumph before -the battle is fought. It would be presumptuous folly, not faith, if it -rested on anything less certain than God's power and will. - -"I find David making a syllogism in mood and figure.... 'If I regard -iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but verily God -hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.' Now, I -expected that David would have concluded thus: 'Therefore I regard -not wickedness in my heart. But far otherwise he concludes: 'Blessed -be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.' -Thus David hath deceived but not wronged me. I looked that he should -have clapped the crown on his own, and he puts it on God's head. I -will learn this excellent logic." So says Fuller ("Good Thoughts in -Bad Times," p. 34, Pickering's ed., 1841). No doubt, however, the -psalmist means to suggest, though he does not state, that his prayer -was sincere. There is no self-complacent attribution of merit to his -supplication, in the profession that it was untainted by any secret, -sidelong looking towards evil; and Fuller is right in emphasising -the suppression of the statement. But even the appearance of such is -avoided by the jet of praise which closes the psalm. Its condensed -brevity has induced some critics to mend it by expansion, as they -regard it as incongruous to speak of turning away a man's prayer from -himself. Some would therefore insert "from Him" after "my prayer," -and others would expand still further by inserting an appropriate -negative before "His loving-kindness." But the slight incongruity -does not obscure the sense, and brings out strongly the flow of -thought. So fully does the psalmist feel the connection between God's -loving-kindness and his own prayer, that these are, as it were, -smelted into one in his mind, and the latter is so far predominant in -his thoughts that he is unconscious of the anomaly of his expression. -To expand only weakens the swing of the words and the power of the -thought. It is possible to tame lyric outbursts into accuracy at the -cost of energy. Psalmists are not bound to be correct in style. Rivers -wind; canals are straight. - - - - - PSALM LXVII. - - 1 God be gracious to us, and bless us, - And cause His face to shine among us; Selah. - 2 That Thy way may be known upon earth, - Thy salvation among all nations. - - 3 Let peoples give Thee thanks, O God, - Let peoples, all of them, give Thee thanks. - 4 Let tribes rejoice and shout aloud, - For Thou wilt judge peoples in equity, - And tribes on the earth wilt Thou lead. Selah. - 5 Let peoples give Thee thanks, O God, - Let peoples, all of them, give Thee thanks. - - 6 The earth has yielded her increase: - May God, [even] our God, bless us! - 7 May God bless us, - And may all the ends of the earth fear Him! - - -This little psalm condenses the dominant thought of the two preceding -into a series of aspirations after Israel's blessing, and the -consequent diffusion of the knowledge of God's way among all lands. -Like Psalm lxv., it sees in abundant harvests a type and witness of -God's kindness. But, whereas in Psalm lxv. the fields were covered -with corn, here the increase has been gathered in. The two psalms may -or may not be connected in date of composition as closely as these two -stages of one harvest-time. - -The structure of the psalm has been variously conceived. Clearly the -Selahs do not guide as to divisions in the flow of thought. But it may -be noted that the seven verses in the psalm have each two clauses, -with the exception of the middle one (ver. 4), which has three. Its -place and its abnormal length mark it as the core, round which, as -it were, the whole is built up. Further, it is as if encased in two -verses (vv. 3, 5), which, in their four clauses, are a fourfold -repetition of a single aspiration. These three verses are the heart -of the psalm--the desire that all the earth may praise God, whose -providence blesses it all. They are again enclosed in two strophes of -two verses each (vv. 1, 2, and 6, 7), which, like the closer wrapping -round the core, are substantially parallel, and, unlike it, regard -God's manifestation to Israel as His great witness to the world. -Thus, working outwards from the central verse, we have symmetry of -structure, and intelligible progress and distinctness of thought. - -Another point of difficulty is the rendering of the series of -verbs in the psalm. Commentators are unanimous in taking those of -ver. 1 as expressions of desire; but they bewilderingly diverge in -their treatment of the following ones. Details of the divergent -interpretations, or discussions of their reasons, cannot be entered -on here. It may be sufficient to say that the adherence throughout to -the optative rendering, admitted by all in ver. 1, gives a consistent -colouring to the whole. It is arbitrary to vary the renderings in so -short a psalm. But, as is often the case, the aspirations are so sure -of their correspondence with the Divine purpose that they tremble on -the verge of being prophecies, as, indeed, all wishes that go out -along the line of God's "way" are. Every deep, God-inspired longing -whispers to its utterer assurance that so it shall be; and therefore -such desires have ever in them an element of fruition, and know -nothing of the pain of earthly wishes. They who stretch out empty -hands to God never "gather dust and chaff." - -The priestly blessing (Numb. vi. 24-26) moulds ver. 1, but with the -substitution of _God_ for _Jehovah_, and of "among us" for "upon us." -The latter variation gives an impression of closer contact of men with -the lustre of that Divine Light, and of yet greater condescension in -God. The soul's longing is not satisfied by even the fullest beams -of a Light that is fixed on high; it dares to wish for the stooping -of the Sun to dwell among us. The singer speaks in the name of the -nation; and, by using the priestly formula, claims for the whole -people the sacerdotal dignity which belonged to it by its original -constitution. He gives that idea its widest extension. Israel is -the world's high priest, lifting up intercessions and holy hands of -benediction for mankind. What self-effacement, and what profound -insight into and sympathy with the mind of God breathe in that -collocation of desires, in which the gracious lustre of God's face -shining on us is longed for, chiefly that thence it may be reflected -into the dark places of earth, to gladden sad and seeking eyes! This -psalmist did not know in how true a sense the Light would come to -dwell among men of Israel's race, and thence to flood the world; but -his yearning is a foreshadowing of the spirit of Christianity, which -forbids self-regarding monopoly of its blessings. If a man is "light -in the Lord," he cannot but shine. "God hath shined into our hearts, -that we may give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." A -Church illuminated with a manifestly Divine light is the best witness -for God. Eyes which cannot look on the Sun may gaze at the clouds, -which tone down its colourless radiance into purple and gold. - -The central core of the psalm may either be taken as summons to the -nations or as expression of desire for them. The depth of the longing -or the stringency of the summons is wonderfully given by that fourfold -repetition of the same words in vv. 3 and 5, with the emphatic "all -of them" in the second clause of each. Not less significant is the -use of three names for the aggregations of men--nations (ver. 2), -peoples, and tribes. All are included, whatever bond knits them in -communities, whatever their societies call themselves, however many -they are. The very vagueness gives sublimity and universality. We -can fill the vast outline drawn by these sweeping strokes; and wider -knowledge should not be attended with narrowed desires, nor feebler -confidence that the Light shall lighten every land. It is noticeable -that in this central portion the deeds of God among the nations are -set forth as the ground of their praise and joy in Him. Israel had the -light of His face, and that would draw men to Him. But all peoples -have the strength of His arm to be their defender, and the guidance -of His hand by providences and in other ways unrecognised by them. -The "judgments" here contemplated are, of course, not retribution for -evil, but the aggregate of dealings by which God shows His sovereignty -in all the earth. The psalmist does not believe that God's goodness -has been confined to Israel, nor that the rest of the world has been -left orphaned. He agrees with Paul, "That which may be known of God is -manifest in them, for God manifested it to them." - -The final strophe (vv. 6, 7) is substantially a repetition of vv. 1, -2, with the addition that a past fact is laid as the foundation of -the desires or hopes of future blessings. "The earth has yielded her -increase." This may show that the psalm is a harvest hymn, but it -does not necessarily imply this. The thought may have been born at any -time. The singer takes the plain fact that, year by year, by mysterious -quickening which he recognises as of God, the fertile earth "causes the -things sown in it to bring forth and bud," as an evidence of Divine care -and kindliness, which warrants the desire and the confidence that all -blessings will be given. It seems a large inference from such a premise; -but it is legitimate for those who recognise God as working in nature, -and have eyes to read the parables amid which we live. The psalmist -reminds God of His own acts, and, further, of His own name, and builds -on these his petitions and his faith. Because He is "our God" He will -bless us; and since the earth has, by His gift, "yielded her increase," -He will give the better food which souls need. This the singer desires, -not only because he and his brethren need it, but because a happy people -are the best witnesses for a good King, and worshippers "satisfied -with favour and full of the blessing of the Lord" proclaim most -persuasively, "Taste, and see that God is good." This psalm is a truly -missionary psalm, in its clear anticipation of the universal spread of -the knowledge of God, in its firm grasp of the thought that the Church -has its blessings in order to the evangelisation of the world, and in -its intensity of longing that from all the ends of the earth a shout of -praise may go up to the God who has sent some rays of His light into -them all, and committed to His people the task of carrying a brighter -illumination to every land. - - - - - PSALM LXVIII. - - 1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, - And let them who hate Him flee before Him. - 2 As smoke is whirled, whirl [them] away: - As wax melts before fire, - May the wicked perish before God! - 3 But may the righteous rejoice [and] exult before God, - And be mirthful in joy. - 4 Sing to God, harp [to] His name: - Throw up a way for Him who rides through the deserts - [In] Jah is His name; and exult ye before Him; - 5 The orphans' father and the widows' advocate, - God in His holy dwelling-place, - 6 God, who makes the solitary to dwell in a home, - Who brings out the prisoners into prosperity: - Yet the rebellious inhabit a burnt-up land. - - 7 O God, at Thy going forth before Thy people, - At Thy marching through the wilderness; Selah. - 8 The earth quaked, the heavens also dropped before God - Yonder Sinai [quaked] before God, the God of Israel. - 9 With a gracious rain, O God, Thou didst besprinkle Thine - inheritance; - And [when it was] faint, Thou didst refresh it. - 10 Thine assembly dwelt herein: - Thou didst prepare in Thy goodness for the poor, O God. - - 11 The Lord gives the word: - The women telling the good tidings are a great army. - 12 Kings of armies flee, they flee: - And the home-keeping [woman] divides the spoil. - 13 Will ye lie among the sheep-pens? - [Ye shall be as] the wings of a dove that is covered with - silver, (?) - And her pinions with yellow gold - 14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, - It snowed in Salmon. - 15 A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan, - A many-peaked mountain is the mountain of Bashan. - 16 Why look ye with envy, O many-peaked mountains, - On the mountain which God has desired to dwell in? - Yea, God will abide in it for ever. - 17 The chariots of God are myriads and myriads, thousands on - thousands: - God is among them; - Sinai is in the sanctuary. - 18 Thou hast ascended on high, - Thou hast led captive a band of captives, - Thou hast taken gifts among men, - Yea, even the rebellious shall dwell with Jah, God. - - 19 Blessed be the Lord! - Day by day He bears our burdens, - Even the God [who is] our salvation. - 20 God is to us a God of deliverances, - And Jehovah the Lord has escape from death. - 21 Yea, God will crush the head of His enemies, - The hairy skull of him that goes on in his guiltiness. - 22 The Lord has said, From Bashan I will bring back, - I will bring back from the depths of the sea: - 23 That thou mayest bathe thy foot in blood, - That the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from the enemy. - - 24 They have seen Thy goings, O God, - The goings of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. - 25 Before go singers, after [come] those who strike the strings, - In the midst of maidens beating timbrels. - 26 "In the congregations bless ye God, - The Lord, [ye who spring] from the fountain of Israel." - 27 There was little Benjamin their ruler, (?) - The princes of Judah, their shouting multitude, - The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. - - 28 Command, O God, Thy strength, - Show Thyself strong, O God, Thou that hast wrought for us. - 29 From Thy temple above Jerusalem - Unto Thee shall kings bring presents. - 30 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, - The herd of bulls, with the calves of the peoples; - Tread down those that have pleasure in silver; (?) - Scatter the peoples that delight in wars. - 31 Great ones shall come from Egypt, - Cush shall quickly stretch out her hands to God. - - 32 Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; - Harp [unto] the Lord; Selah. - 33 To Him who rides on the heavens of heavens, [which are] of old; - Lo, He utters His voice, a voice of strength. - 34 Ascribe to God strength, - Whose majesty is over Israel, and His strength in the clouds. - 35 Dread [art Thou], O God, from Thy sanctuaries, - The God of Israel, - He gives strength and fulness of might to His people. - Blessed be God! - - -This superb hymn is unsurpassed, if not unequalled, in grandeur, -lyric fire, and sustained rush of triumphant praise. It celebrates a -victory; but it is the victory of the God who enters as a conqueror -into His sanctuary. To that entrance (vv. 15-18) all the preceding -part of the psalm leads up; and from it all the subsequent part flows -down. The Exodus is recalled as the progress of a king at the head -of his hosts, and old paeans re-echo. That dwelling of God in the -sanctuary is "for ever." Therefore in the second part of the psalm -(vv. 19-35) its consequences for the psalmist's generation and for -the future are developed--Israel's deliverance, the conquest of the -nations, and finally the universal recognition of God's sovereignty -and ringing songs sent up to Him. - -The Davidic authorship is set aside as impossible by most recent -commentators, and there is much in the psalm which goes against it; -but, on the other hand, the Syro-Ammonite war (2 Sam. xi.), in which -the ark was taken into the field, is not unnaturally supposed by -Delitzsch and others to explain the special reference to the entrance -of God into the sanctuary. The numerous quotations and allusions -are urged as evidence of late date, especially the undeniable -resemblance with Isaiah II. But the difficulty of settling which of -two similar passages is original and which copy is great; and if by -one critical canon such allusions are marks of lateness, by another, -rugged obscurities, such as those with which this psalm bristles, are -evidences of an early date. - -The mention of only four tribes in ver. 27 is claimed as showing that -the psalm was written when Judaea and Galilee were the only orthodox -districts, and central Palestine was in the hands of the Samaritans. -But could there be any talk of "princes of Zebulun and Naphtali" -then? The exultant tone of the psalm makes its ascription to such -a date as the age of the Ptolemies unlikely, when "Israel is too -feeble, too depressed, to dream of self-defence; and, if God does not -soon interpose, will be torn to pieces" (Cheyne, "Aids to the Devout -Study," etc., 335). - -To the present writer it does not appear that the understanding and -enjoyment of this grand psalm depend so much on success in dating it -as is supposed. It may be post-exilic. Whoever fused its reminiscences -of ancient triumph into such a glowing outburst of exultant faith, his -vision of the throned God and his conviction that ancient facts reveal -eternal truths remain for all generations as an encouragement of trust -and a prophecy of God's universal dominion. - -The main division at ver. 18 parts the psalm into two equal halves, -which are again easily subdivided into strophes. - -The first strophe (vv. 1-6) may be regarded as introductory to the -chief theme of the first half--namely, the triumphant march of the -conquering God to His sanctuary. It consists of invocation to Him -to arise, and of summons to His people to prepare His way and to -meet Him with ringing gladness. The ground of both invocation and -summons is laid in an expansion of the meaning of His name as Helper -of the helpless, Deliverer of the captive, righteous, and plentifully -rewarding the proud doer. The invocation echoes the Mosaic prayer -"when the ark set forward" (Numb. x. 35), with the alteration of the -tense of the verb from a simple imperative into a precative future, -and of "Jehovah" into God. This is the first of the quotations -characteristic of the psalm, which is penetrated throughout with the -idea that the deeds of the past are revelations of permanent relations -and activities. The ancient history glows with present life. Whatever -God has done He is doing still. No age of the Church needs to look -back wistfully to any former, and say, "Where be all His wondrous -works which our fathers have told us of?" The twofold conditions -of God's intervention are, as this strophe teaches, Israel's cry -to Him to arise, and expectant diligence in preparing His way. The -invocation, which is half of Israel's means of insuring His coming, -being a quotation, the summons to perform the other half is naturally -regarded by the defenders of the post-exilic authorship as borrowed -from Isaiah II. (_e.g._, xl. 3, lvii. 14, lxii. 10), while the -supporters of an earlier date regard the psalm as the primary passage -from which the prophet has drawn. - -God "arises" when He displays by some signal act His care for His -people. That strong anthropomorphism sets forth the plain truth that -there come crises in history, when causes, long silently working, -suddenly produce their world-shaking effects. God has seemed to sit -passive; but the heavens open, and all but blind eyes can see Him, -standing ready to smite that He may deliver. When He rises to His -feet; the enemy scatters in panic. His presence revealed is enough. -The emphatic repetition of "before" in these verses is striking, -especially when fully rendered,--from His face (ver. 1); from the -face of the fire (ver. 2); from the face of God (ver. 2); before His -face (vv. 3, 4). To His foes that face is dreadful, and they would -fain cower away from its light; His friends sun themselves in its -brightness. The same fire consumes and vivifies. All depends on the -character of the recipients. In the psalm "the righteous" are Israel, -the ideal nation; the "wicked" are its heathen foes; but the principle -underlying the fervid words demands a real assimilation of moral -character to the Divine, as a condition of being at ease in the Light. - -The "deserts" are, in consonance with the immediately following -reminiscences, those of the Exodus. Hupfeld and those who discover in -the psalm the hopes of the captives in Babylon, take them to be the -waste wilderness stretching between Babylon and Palestine. But it is -better to see in them simply a type drawn from the past, of guidance -through any needs or miseries. Vv. 5, 6, draw out at length the blessed -significance of the name Jah, in order to hearten to earnest desire and -expectance of Him. They are best taken as in apposition with "Him" in -ver. 4. Well may we exult before Him who is the orphans' father, the -widows' advocate. There may be significance in the contrast between -what He is "in His holy habitation" and when He arises to ride through -the deserts. Even in the times when he seems to be far above, dwelling -in the separation of His unapproachable holiness, He is still caring -and acting for the sad and helpless. But when He comes forth, it is -to make the solitary to dwell in a home, to bring out prisoners into -prosperity. Are these simply expressions for God's general care of -the afflicted, like the former clauses, or do they point back to the -Exodus? A very slight change in the text gives the reading, "Makes the -solitary to return home"; but even without that alteration, the last -clause of the verse is so obviously an allusion to the disobedient, -"whose carcasses fell in the wilderness," that the whole verse is best -regarded as pointing back to that time. The "home" to which the people -were led is the same as the "prosperity" into which the prisoners are -brought--namely, the rest and well-being of Canaan; while the fate -of the "rebellious" is, as it ever is, to live and die amidst the -drought-stricken barrenness which they have chosen. - -With the second strophe (vv. 7-10) begins the historical retrospect, -which is continued till, at the end of the fourth (ver. 18), God is -enthroned in the sanctuary, there to dwell for ever. In the second -strophe the wilderness life is described. The third (vv. 11-14) tells -of the victories which won the land. The fourth triumphantly contrasts -the glory of the mountain where God at last has come to dwell, with -the loftier peaks across the Jordan on which no such lustre gleams. - -Vv. 7, 8, are from Deborah's song, with slight omissions and -alterations, notably of "Jehovah" into "God." The phrase "before" -still rings in the psalmist's ears, and he changes Deborah's words, in -the first clause of ver. 7, so as to give the picture of God marching -in front of His people, instead of, as the older song represented -Him, coming from the east, to meet them marching from the west. -The majestic theophany at the giving of the Law is taken as the -culmination of His manifestations in the wilderness. Vv. 9, 10, are -capable of two applications. According to one, they anticipate the -chronological order, and refer to the fertility of the land, and the -abundance enjoyed by Israel when established there. According to the -other, they refer to the sustenance of the people in the wilderness. -The former view has in its favour the ordinary use of "inheritance" -for the land, the likelihood that "rain" should be represented as -falling on soil rather than on people, and the apparent reference in -"dwelt therein," to the settlement in Canaan. The objection to it is -that reference to peaceful dwelling in the land is out of place, since -the next strophe pictures the conquest. If, then, the verses belong -to the age of wandering, to what do they refer? Hupfeld tries to -explain the "rain" as meaning the manna, and, still more improbably, -takes the somewhat enigmatical "assembly" of ver. 10 to mean (as it -certainly does) "living creatures," and to allude (as it surely does -not) to the quails that fell round the camp. Most commentators now -agree in transferring "thine inheritance" to the first clause, and -in understanding it of the people, not of the land. The verse is -intelligible either as referring to gifts of refreshment of spirit and -courage bestowed on the people, in which case "rain" is symbolical; -or to actual rainfall during the forty years of desert life, by which -sowing and reaping were made possible. The division of the verse as -in our translation is now generally adopted. The allusion to the -provision of corn in the desert is continued in ver. 10, in which -the chief difficulty is the ambiguous word "assembly." It may mean -"living creatures," and is so taken here by the LXX. and others. It is -twice used in 2 Sam. xxii. 11 (?), 13, for an army. Delitzsch takes -it as a comparison of Israel to a flock, thus retaining the meaning -of _creatures_. If the verse is interpreted as alluding to Israel's -wilderness life, "therein" must be taken in a somewhat irregular -construction, since there is no feminine noun at hand to which the -feminine pronominal suffix in the word can be referred. In that barren -desert, God's flock dwelt for more than a generation, and during all -that time His goodness provided for them. The strophe thus gives two -aspects of God's manifestation in the wilderness--the majestic and -terrible, and the gentle and beneficent. In the psalmist's triumphant -retrospect no allusion is made to the dark obverse--Israel's long -ingratitude. The same history which supplies other psalmists and -prophets with material for penetrating accusations yields to this one -only occasion of praise. God's part is pure goodness; man's is shaded -with much rebellious murmuring. - -The next strophe (vv. 11-14) is abrupt and disconnected, as if echoing -the hurry of battle and the tumult of many voices on the field. The -general drift is unmistakable, but the meaning of part is the despair -of commentators. The whole scene of the conflict, flight, and division -of the spoil is flashed before us in brief clauses, panting with -excitement and blazing with the glow of victory. "The Lord giveth the -word." That "word" may be the news which the women immediately repeat. -But it is far more vivid and truer to the spirit of the psalm, which -sees God as the only actor in Israel's history, to regard it as the -self-fulfilling decree which scatters the enemy. This battle is the -Lord's. There is no description of conflict. But one mighty word is -hurled from heaven, like a thunder-clap (the phrase resembles that -employed so often, "the Lord gave His voice," which frequently means -thunder-peals), and the enemies' ranks are broken in panic. Israel -does not need to fight. God speaks, and the next sound we hear is -the clash of timbrels and the clear notes of the maidens chanting -victory. This picture of a battle, with the battle left out, tells -best Who fought, and how He fought it. "He spake, and it was done." -What scornful picture of the flight is given by the reduplication -"they flee, they flee"! It is like Deborah's fierce gloating over the -dead Sisera: "He bowed, he fell, he lay: at her feet he bowed, he -fell: where he bowed, there he fell." What confidence in the power -of weakness, when God is on its side, in the antithesis between the -mighty kings scattered in a general _sauve qui peut_, and the matrons -who had "tarried at home" and now divide the spoil! Sisera's mother -was pictured in Deborah's song as looking long through her lattice -for her son's return, and solacing herself with the thought that he -delayed to part the plunder and would come back laden with it. What -she vainly hoped for Israel's matrons enjoy. - -Vv. 13, 14, are among the hardest in the Psalter. The separate clauses -offer no great difficulties, but the connection is enigmatical indeed. -"Will (lit. _if_) ye lie among the sheepfolds?" comes from Deborah's -song (Judg. v. 16), and is there a reproach flung at Reuben for -preferring pastoral ease to warlike effort. Is it meant as reproach -here? It is very unlikely that a song of triumph like this should -have for its only mention of Israel's warriors a taunt. The lovely -picture of the dove with iridescent wings is as a picture perfect. -But what does it mean here? Herder, whom Hupfeld follows, supposes -that the whole verse is rebuke to recreants, who preferred lying -stretched at ease among their flocks, and bidding each other admire -the glancing plumage of the doves that flitted round them. But this -is surely violent, and smacks of modern aestheticism. Others suppose -that the first clause is a summons to be up and pursue the flying foe, -and the second and third a description of the splendour with which -the conquerors (or their households) should be clothed by the spoil. -This meaning would require the insertion of some such phrase as "ye -shall be" before the second clause. Delitzsch regards the whole as a -connected description of the blessings of peace following on victory, -and sees a reference to Israel as God's dove. "The new condition of -prosperity is compared with the play of colours of a dove basking in -the rays of the sun." All these interpretations assume that Israel is -addressed in the first clause. But is this assumption warranted? Is -it not more natural to refer the "ye" to the "kings" just mentioned, -especially as the psalmist recurs to them in the next verse? The -question will then retain the taunting force which it has in Deborah's -song, while it pictures a very different kind of couching among the -sheepfolds--namely, the hiding there from pursuit. The kings are first -seen in full flight. Then the triumphant psalmist flings after them -the taunt, "Will ye hide among the cattle?" If the initial particle -retains its literal force, the first clause is hypothetical, and -the suppression of the conclusion speaks more eloquently than its -expression would have done: "If ye couch----" The second and third -clauses are then parallel with the second of ver. 12, and carry on -the description of the home-keeping matron, "the dove," adorned with -rich spoils and glorious in her apparel. We thus have a complete -parallelism between the two verses, which both lay side by side the -contrasted pictures of the defeated kings and the women; and we -further establish continuity between the three verses (13-15), in so -far as the "kings" are dealt with in them all. - -Ver. 14 is even harder than the preceding. What does "in it" refer to? -Is the second clause metaphor, requiring to be eked out with "It is -like as when"? If figure, what does it mean? One is inclined to say -with Baethgen, at the end of his comment on the words, "After all this, -I can only confess that I do not understand the verse." Salmon was an -inconsiderable hill in Central Palestine, deriving its name (Shady), as -is probable, from forests on its sides. Many commentators look to that -characteristic for explanation of the riddle. Snow on the dark hill -would show very white. So after the defeat the bleached bones of the -slain, or, as others, their glittering armour, would cover the land. -Others take the point of comparison to be the change from trouble to -joy which follows the foe's defeat, and is likened to the change of the -dark hillside to a gleaming snow-field. Hupfeld still follows Herder -in connecting the verse with the reproach which he finds in the former -one, and seeing in the words "It snowed on Salmon" the ground of the -recreants' disinclination to leave the sheepfolds--namely, that it was -bad weather, and that, if snow lay on Salmon in the south, it would be -worse in the north, where the campaign was going on! He acknowledges -that this explanation requires "a good deal of acuteness to discover," -and says that the only alternative to accepting it, provisionally, at -all events, is to give up the hope of any solution. Cheyne follows -Bickell in supposing that part of the text has dropped out, and proposes -an additional clause at the beginning of the verse and an expansion of -the last clause, arriving at this result: "[For full is our land of -spoil], When Shaddai scatters kings therein, [As the snow,] when it -snows in Salmon." The adoption of these additions is not necessary to -reach this meaning of the whole, which appears the most consonant with -the preceding verses, as continuing the double reference which runs -through them--namely, to the fugitive kings and the dividers of the -spoil. On the one side we see the kings driven from their lurking-places -among the sheepfolds; on the other, the gleam of rich booty, compared -now to the shining white wrapping the dark hill, as formerly to the -colours that shimmer on sunlit pinions of peaceful doves. If this is not -the meaning, we can only fall back on the confession already quoted. - -The battle is over, and now the Conqueror enters His palace-temple. -The third strophe soars with its theme, describing His triumphal -entry thither and permanent abiding there. The long years between the -conquest of Canaan and the establishment of the ark on Zion dwindle -to a span; for God's enthronement there was in one view the purpose -of the conquest, which was incomplete till that was effected. There -is no need to suppose any reference in the mention of Bashan to -the victories over Og, its ancient king. The noble figure needs no -historic allusion to explain it. These towering heights beyond Jordan -had once in many places been seats of idol worship. They are emblems -of the world's power. No light rests upon them, lofty though they are, -like that which glorifies the insignificant top of Zion. They may well -look enviously across the Jordan to the hill which God has desired -for His abode. His triumphal procession is not composed of earthly -warriors, for none such had appeared in the battle. He had conquered, -not by employing human hands, but by His own "bright-harnessed -angels." They now surround Him in numbers innumerable, which language -strains its power in endeavouring to reckon. "Myriads doubled, -thousands of repetition," says the psalmist--indefinite expressions -for a countless host. But all their wide-flowing ranks are clustered -round the Conqueror, whose presence makes their multitude an unity, -even as it gives their immortal frames their life and strength, and -their faces all their lustrous beauty. "God is in the midst of them"; -therefore they conquer and exult. "Sinai is in the sanctuary." This -bold utterance has led to a suggested emendation, which has the -advantage of bringing out clearly a quotation from Deut. xxxiii. 2. -It combines the second and third clauses of ver. 17, and renders "The -Lord hath come from Sinai into the sanctuary." But the existing text -gives a noble thought--that now, by the entrance of God thither, -Sinai itself is in the sanctuary, and all the ancient sanctities and -splendours, which flamed round its splintered peaks, are housed to -shine lambent from that humble hill. Sinai was nothing but for God's -presence. Zion has that presence; and all that it ever meant it means -still. The profound sense of the permanent nature of past revelation, -which speaks all through the psalm, reaches its climax here. - -The "height" to which ver. 18 triumphantly proclaims that God has gone -up, can only be Zion. To take it as meaning the heavenly sanctuary, -as in Psalm vii. 7 it unquestionably does, is forbidden by the -preceding verses. Thither the conquering God has ascended, as to -His palace, leading a long procession of bound captives, and there -receiving tribute from the vanquished. Assyrian slabs and Egyptian -paintings illustrate these representations. The last clause has been -variously construed and understood. Is "Yea, even the rebellious" -to be connected with the preceding, and "among" to be supplied, so -that those once rebellious are conceived of as tributary, or does the -phrase begin an independent clause? The latter construction makes -the remainder of the verse run more intelligibly, and obviates the -need for supplying a preposition with "the rebellious." It still -remains a question whether the last words of the clause refer to God's -dwelling among the submissive rebels, or to their dwelling with God. -If, however, it is kept in view that the context speaks of God as -dwelling in His sanctuary, the latter is the more natural explanation, -especially as a forcible contrast is thereby presented to the fate of -the "rebellious" in ver. 6. They dwell in a burnt-up land; but, if -they fling away their enmity, may be guests of God in His sanctuary. -Thus the first half of the psalm closes with grand prophetic hopes -that, when God has established His abode on Zion, distant nations -shall bring their tribute, rebels return to allegiance, and men be -dwellers with God in His house. - -In such anticipations the psalm is Messianic, inasmuch as these are -only fulfilled in the dominion of Jesus. Paul's quotation of this -verse in Eph. iv. 8 does not require us to maintain its directly -prophetic character. Rather, the apostle, as Calvin says, "deflects" -it to Christ. That ascent of the ark to Zion was a type rather than -a prophecy. Conflict, conquest, triumphant ascent to a lofty home, -tribute, widespread submission, and access for rebels to the royal -presence--all these, which the psalmist saw as facts or hopes in their -earthly form, are repeated in loftier fashion in Christ, or are only -attainable through His universal reign. The apostle significantly -alters "received among" into "gave to," sufficiently showing that he -is not arguing from a verbal prophecy, but from a typical fact, and -bringing out the two great truths, that, in the highest manifestation -of the conquering God, the conquered receive gifts from the victor, -and that the gifts which the ascended Christ bestows are really the -trophies of His battle, in which He bound the strong man and spoiled -his house. The attempt to make out that the Hebrew word has the -extraordinary doubled-barrelled meaning of _receiving in order to -give_ is futile, and obscures the intentional freedom with which the -apostle deals with the text. The Ascension is, in the fullest sense, -the enthronement of God; and its results are the growing submission of -nations and the happy dwelling of even the rebellious in His house. - -The rapturous emphasis with which this psalm celebrates God's entrance -into His sanctuary is most appropriate to Davidic times. - -The psalm reaches its climax in God's enthronement on Zion. Its -subsequent strophes set forth the results thereof. The first of these, -the fifth of the psalm (vv. 19-23), suddenly drops from strains of -exultation to a plaintive note, and then again as suddenly breaks out -into stern rejoicing over the ruin of the foe. There is wonderful -depth of insight and tenderness in laying side by side the two -thoughts of God, that He sits on high as conqueror, and that He daily -bears our burdens, or perhaps bears us as a shepherd might his lambs. - -Truly a Divine use for Divine might! To such lowly offices of -continual individualising care will the Master of many legions stoop, -reaching out from amid their innumerable myriads to sustain a poor -weak man stumbling under a load too great for him. Israel had been -delivered by a high hand, but still was burdened. The psalmist has -been recalling the deeds of old, and he finds in them grounds for -calm assurance as to the present. To-day, he thinks, is as full of God -as any yesterday, and our "burdens" as certain to be borne by Him, -as were those of the generation that saw His Sinai tremble at His -presence. To us, as to them, He is "a God of deliverances," and for us -can provide ways of escape from death. The words breathe a somewhat -plaintive sense of need, such as shades our brightest moments, if we -bethink ourselves; but they do not oblige us to suppose that the psalm -is the product of a time of oppression and dejection. That theory is -contradicted by the bounding gladness of the former part, no less than -by the confident anticipations of the second half. But no song sung by -mortal lips is true to the singer's condition, if it lacks the minor -key into which this hymn of triumph is here modulated for a moment. - -It is but for a moment, and what follows is startlingly different. -Israel's escape from death is secured by the destruction of the -enemy, and in it the psalmist has joy. He pictures the hand that -sustained him and his fellows so tenderly, shattering the heads of -the rebellious. These are described as long-haired, an emblem of -strength and insolence which one is almost tempted to connect with -Absalom; and the same idea of determined and flaunting sin is conveyed -by the expression "goes on in his guiltinesses." There will be such -rebels, even though the house of God is open for them to dwell in, and -there can be but one end for such. If they do not submit, they will -be crushed. The psalmist is as sure of that as of God's gentleness; -and his two clauses do state the alternative that every man has to -face--either to let God bear his burden or to be smitten by Him. - -Vv. 22, 23, give a terrible picture of the end of the rebels. The -psalmist hears the voice of the Lord promising to bring some unnamed -fugitives from Bashan and the depths of the sea in order that they may -be slain, and that he (or Israel) may bathe his foot in their blood, -and his dogs may lick it, as they did Ahab's. Who are to be brought -back? Some have thought that the promise referred to Israel, but it is -more natural to apply it to the flying foe. There is no reference to -Bashan either as the kingdom of an ancient enemy or as envying Zion -(ver. 15). But the high land of Bashan in the east and the depths of -the sea to the west are taken (_cf._ Amos ix. 1-3) as representing the -farthest and most inaccessible hiding-places. Wherever the enemies -lurk, thence they will be dragged and slain. - -The existing text is probably to be amended by the change of one -letter in the verb, so as to read "shall wash" or bathe, as in -Psalm lviii. 10, and the last clause to be read, "That the tongue -of thy dogs may have its portion from the enemy." The blood runs -ankle-deep, and the dogs feast on the carcasses or lick it--a dreadful -picture of slaughter and fierce triumph. It is not to be softened or -spiritualised or explained away. - -There is, no doubt, a legitimate Christian joy in the fall of -opposition to Christ's kingdom, and the purest benevolence has -sometimes a right to be glad when hoary oppressions are swept away and -their victims set free; but such rejoicing is not after the Christian -law unless it is mingled with pity, of which the psalm has no trace. - -The next strophe (vv. 24-27) is by some regarded as resuming the -description of the procession, which is supposed to have been -interrupted by the preceding strophe. But the joyous march now to -be described is altogether separate from the majestic progress of -the conquering King in vv. 17, 18. This is the consequence of that. -God has gone into His sanctuary. His people have seen His solemn -entrance thither, and therefore they now go up to meet Him there -with song and music. Their festal procession is the second result of -His enthronement, of which the deliverance and triumph described in -the preceding strophe were the first. The people escaped from death -flock to thank their Deliverer. Such seems to be the connection of -the whole, and especially of vv. 24, 25. Instead of myriads of angels -surrounding the conquering God, here are singers and flute-players -and damsels beating their timbrels, like Miriam and her choir. Their -shrill call in ver. 26 summons all who "spring from the fountain of -Israel"--_i.e._, from the eponymous patriarch--to bless God. After -these musicians and singers, the psalmist sees tribe after tribe go up -to the sanctuary, and points to each as it passes. His enumeration is -not free from difficulties, both in regard to the epithets employed -and the specification of the tribes. The meaning of the word rendered -"ruler" is disputed. Its form is peculiar, and the meaning of the -verb from which it is generally taken to come is rather to _subdue_ -or _tread down_ than to _rule_. If the signification of _ruler_ is -accepted, a question rises as to the sense in which Benjamin is so -called. Allusion to Saul's belonging to that tribe is thought of by -some; but this seems improbable, whether the psalm is Davidic or -later. Others think that the allusion is to the fact that, according -to Joshua xviii. 16, the Temple was within Benjamite territory; but -that is a far-fetched explanation. Others confine the "rule" to the -procession, in which Benjamin marches at the head, and so may be -called its leader; but ruling and leading are not the same. Others -get a similar result by a very slight textual change, reading "in -front" instead of "their ruler." Another difficulty is in the word -rendered above "their shouting multitude," which can only be made to -mean a company of people by a somewhat violent twist. Hupfeld (with -whom Bickell and Cheyne agree) proposes an alteration which yields the -former sense and is easy. It may be tentatively adopted. - -A more important question is the reason for the selection of the four -tribes named. The mention of Benjamin and Judah is natural; but why -are Zebulun and Naphtali the only representatives of the other tribes? -The defenders of a late date answer, as has been already noticed, -Because in the late period when the psalm was written, Galilee and -Judaea "formed the two orthodox provinces." The objection to this -is that in the post-exilic period there were no distinct tribes of -Zebulun and Naphtali, and no princes to rule. - -The mention of these tribes as sharing in the procession to the -sanctuary on Zion would have been impossible during the period of the -northern kingdom. If, then, these two periods are excluded, what is left -but the Davidic? The fact seems to be that we have here another glance -at Deborah's song, in which the daring valour of these two tribes is set -in contrast with the sluggish cowardice of Reuben and the other northern -ones. Those who had done their part in the wars of the Lord now go up in -triumph to His house. That is the reward of God's faithful soldiers. - -The next strophe (vv. 28-31) is the prayer of the procession. It -falls into two parts of two verses each, of which the former verse is -petition, and the latter confident anticipation of the results of -answered prayer. The symmetry of the whole requires the substitution -in ver. 28 of "command" for "hath commanded." God's strength is -poetically regarded as distinct from Himself and almost personified, -as "loving-kindness" is in Psalm xlii. 8. The prayer is substantially -equivalent to the following petition in ver. 28 _b_. Note how "strength" -occurs four times in vv. 33-35. The prayer for its present manifestation -is, in accordance with the historical retrospect of the first part, -based upon God's past acts. It has been proposed to detach "From Thy -Temple" from ver. 29, and to attach it to ver. 28. This gets over a -difficulty, but unduly abbreviates ver. 29, and is not in harmony with -the representation in the former part, which magnifies what God has -wrought, not "from the Temple," but in His progress thither. No doubt -the retention of the words in ver. 29 introduces a singular expression -there. How can presents be brought to God "from Thy Temple"? The only -explanation is that "Temple" is used in a restricted sense for the "holy -place," as distinguished from the "holy of holies," in which the ark was -contained. The tribute-bearers stand in that outer sanctuary, and thence -present their tokens of fealty. The city is clustered round the Temple -mount, and therefore the psalm says, "Thy Temple above Jerusalem." One -is tempted to read "unto" instead of "from"; for this explanation can -scarcely be called quite satisfactory. But it seems the best that has -been suggested. The submission of kings of unnamed lands is contemplated -as the result of God's manifestation of strength for Israel. Ver. 30 -resumes the tone of petition, and maintains it throughout. "The beast of -the reeds," probably the crocodile, is a poetic designation for Egypt, -the reference to which is claimed by both the defenders of the Davidic -and of the post-exilic date as in their favour. The former say that, in -David's day, Egypt was the greatest world-power known to the Hebrews; -and the latter, that the mention of it points to the time when Israel -lay exposed to the attacks of Seleucidae on the one hand and of Ptolemies -on the other. Why, then, should only one of the two hostile neighbours -be mentioned here? "Bulls" are a standing emblem of leaders of nations, -and "calves" are accordingly their subjects. The two metaphors are -naturally connected, and the correction "leaders of the peoples" is -unnecessary, and a prosaic intermingling of figure and fact. - -Ver. 30 _c_ is extremely obscure. Baethgen roundly says, "The meaning -of the words can no longer be ascertained, and in all probability they -are corrupt." The first word is a participle, which is variously taken -as meaning "casting oneself to the ground" (_i.e._, in submission), -and "trampling to the ground." It is also variously referred to the -nations and their leaders spoken of in the previous verse, and to God. -In the former case it would describe their attitude of submission in -consequence of "rebuke"; in the latter, God's subjugation of them. -The slightest change would make the word an imperative, thus bringing -it into line with "rebuke"; but, even without this, the reference -to God is apparently to be preferred. The structure of the strophe -which, in the first verse of each pair, seems to put petitions and to -confine its descriptions of the resulting subjugation of the enemy to -the second verse in each case, favours the latter interpretation. The -next words are also disputed. One rendering is, "with bars of silver"; -another, "those that delight in silver." The former presupposes a -very unusual word for "bars." It is necessarily adopted by those who -refer the first word to the submission of the "herd of bulls." The -enemies come with tribute of silver. The other rendering, which avoids -the necessity of bringing in an otherwise unknown word, is necessarily -preferred by the supporters of the second explanation of the preceding -word. God is implored to crush "those who delight in silver," which -may stand for a description of men of this world, but must be -acknowledged to be rather a singular way of designating active enemies -of God and Israel. Cheyne's rendering, "That rolls itself in mire -for gain of money," brings in the mercenaries of the Seleucidae. But -"rolling oneself in mire" is a strange way of saying "hiring oneself -out to fight." Certainty seems unattainable, and we must be content -with the general trend of the verse as supplication for an exhibition -of God's strength against proud opponents. The last clause sums up the -whole in the petition, "Scatter the peoples that delight in wars." - -One verse then tells what the result of that will be. "Great ones" shall -come from the land of the beast of the reeds, and Ethiopia shall make -haste to stretch out tribute-bearing hands to God. The vision of a world -subjugated and loving its subjugation is rising before the poet. That is -the end of the ways of God with Israel. So deeply had this psalmist been -led into comprehension of the Divine purpose; so clearly was he given to -see the future, "and all the wonder that should be." - -Therefore he breaks forth, in the last strophe, into invocation to all -the kingdoms of the earth to sing to God. He had sung of His majesty as -of old Jehovah "rode through the deserts"; and that phrase described -His intervention in the field of history on behalf of Israel. Now the -singer calls for praise from all the earth to Him who rides in the -"most ancient heavens"; and that expression sets forth His transcendent -majesty and eternal, universal sway. The psalmist had hymned the victory -won when "God gave the word." Now he bids earth listen as "He gives His -voice, a voice of strength," which moves and controls all creatures and -events. Therefore all nations are summoned to give strength to God, who -gives all fulnesses of strength to His people. The psalm closes with -the utterance of the thought which has animated it throughout--that -God's deeds for and in Israel are the manifestation for the world of -His power, and that these will one day lead all men to bless the God of -Israel, who shines out in dread majesty from the sanctuary, which is -henceforth His abode for evermore. - - - - - PSALM LXIX. - - 1 Save me, O God; - For the waters have come in even to [my] soul. - 2 I am sunk in the mud of an abyss, without standing-ground - I am come into depths of waters, and a flood has overwhelmed me. - 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched, - My eyes fail whilst I wait for my God. - 4 More than the hairs of my head are they who hate me without - provocation. - Strong are my destroyers, my enemies wrongfully - What I did not rob, then I must restore. - 5 O God, Thou, Thou knowest my folly, - And my guiltinesses are not hidden from Thee. - 6 Let not those who wait for Thee be put to shame through me, Lord, - Jehovah of hosts: - Let not those be confounded through me who seek Thee, O God of - Israel. - - 7 For Thy sake have I borne reproach; - Confusion has covered my face. - 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, - And an alien to my mother's sons. - 9 For zeal for Thine house has consumed me, - And the reproaches of those that reproach Thee have fallen upon - me. - 10 And I wept, in fasting my soul [wept]; - And that became [matter of] reproaches to me. - 11 Also I made sackcloth my clothing; - And I became to them a proverb. - 12 They who sit at the gate talk of me, - And the songs of the quaffers of strong drink [are about me]. - - 13 But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee, Jehovah, in a time of - favour, - O God, in the greatness of Thy loving-kindness, - Answer me in the troth of Thy salvation. - 14 Deliver me from [the] mire, that I sink not, - Rescue me from those who hate me, and from depths of waters. - 15 Let not the flood of waters overwhelm me, - And let not the abyss swallow me, - And let not [the] pit close her mouth over me. - 16 Answer me, Jehovah; for Thy loving-kindness is good: - In the multitude of Thy compassions turn toward me. - 17 And hide not Thy face from Thy servant, - For I am in straits; answer me speedily. - 18 Draw near to my soul, redeem it, - Because of my enemies set me free. - - 19 Thou, Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion. - Before Thee are all my adversaries. - 20 Reproach has broken my heart; and I am sick unto death, - And I looked for pitying, and there was none, - And for comforters, and found none. - 21 But they gave me gall for my food, - And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. - - 22 Let their table become before them a snare, - And to them in their peacefulness, [let it become] a trap. - 23 Darkened be their eyes, that they see not, - And make their loins continually to quake. - 24 Pour out upon them Thine indignation, - And let the glow of Thy wrath overtake them. - 25 May their encampment be desolate! - In their tents may there be no dweller! - 26 For him whom Thou, Thou hast smitten, they persecute, - And they tell of the pain of Thy wounded ones. - 27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, - And let them not come into Thy righteousness. - 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, - And let them not be inscribed with the righteous. - - 29 But as for me, I am afflicted and pained, - Let Thy salvation, O God, set me on high. - 30 I will praise the name of God in a song, - And I will magnify it with thanksgiving. - 31 And it shall please Jehovah more than an ox, - A bullock horned and hoofed. - - 32 The afflicted see it; they shall rejoice, - Ye who seek God, [behold,] and let your heart live. - 33 For Jehovah listens to the needy, - And His captives He does not despise. - 34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, - The seas, and all that moves in them. - 35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah, - And they shall dwell there, and possess it. - 36 And the seed of His servants shall inherit it, - And those who love His name shall abide therein. - - -The Davidic authorship of this psalm is evidently untenable, if for -no other reason, yet because of the state of things presupposed in -ver. 35. The supposition that Jeremiah was the author has more in its -favour than in the case of many of the modern attributions of psalms -to him, even if, as seems most probable, the references to sinking in -deep mire and the like are metaphorical. Cheyne fixes on the period -preceding Nehemiah's first journey to Jerusalem as the earliest -possible date for this psalm and its kindred ones (xxii., xxxv., and -xl. 13-18). Baethgen follows Olshausen in assigning the psalm to the -Maccabean period. The one point which seems absolutely certain is that -David was not its author. - -It falls into two equal parts (vv. 1-18 and 19-36). In the former part -three turns of thought or feeling may be traced: vv. 1-6 being mainly -a cry for Divine help, with plaintive spreading out of the psalmist's -extremity of need; vv. 7-12 basing the prayer on the fact that his -sufferings flow from his religion; and vv. 13-18 being a stream of -petitions for deliverance, with continuous allusion to the description -of his trials in vv. 1-6. The second part (vv. 19-36) begins with -renewed description of the psalmist's affliction (vv. 19-21), and -thence passes to invocation of God's justice on his foes (vv. 22-28), -which takes the place of the direct petitions for deliverance in -the first part. The whole closes with trustful anticipation of -answers to prayer, which will call forth praise from ever-widening -circles,--first from the psalmist himself; then from the oppressed -righteous; and, finally, from heaven, earth, and sea. - -The numerous citations of this psalm in the New Testament have led -many commentators to maintain its directly Messianic character. But -its confessions of sin and imprecations of vengeance are equally -incompatible with that view. It is Messianic as typical rather than as -prophetic, exhibiting a history, whether of king, prophet, righteous -man, or personified nation, in which the same principles are at work -as are manifest in their supreme energy and highest form in the Prince -of righteous sufferers. But the correspondence of such a detail as -giving gall and vinegar, with the history of Jesus, carries us beyond -the region of types, and is a witness that God's Spirit shaped the -utterances of the psalmist for a purpose unknown to himself, and -worked in like manner on the rude soldiers, whose clumsy mockery and -clumsy kindness fulfilled ancient words. There is surely something -more here than coincidence or similarity between the experience of one -righteous sufferer and another. If Jesus cried "I thirst" in order to -bring about the "fulfilment" of one verse of our psalm, His doing so -is of a piece with some other acts of His which were distinct claims -to be the Messiah of prophecy; but His wish could not influence the -soldiers to fulfil the psalm. - -The first note is petition and spreading out of the piteous story of -the psalmist's need. The burdened heart finds some ease in describing -how heavy its burden is, and the devout heart receives some foretaste -of longed-for help in the act of telling God how sorely His help is -needed. He who knows all our trouble is glad to have us tell it to -Him, since it is thereby lightened, and our faith in Him is thereby -increased. Sins confessed are wholly cancelled, and troubles spoken to -God are more than half calmed. The psalmist begins with metaphors in vv. -1, 2, and translates these into grim prose in vv. 3, 4, and then, with -acknowledgment of sinfulness, cries for God's intervention in vv. 5, 6. -It is flat and prosaic to take the expressions in vv. 1, 2, literally, -as if they described an experience like Jeremiah's in the miry pit. -Nor can the literal application be carried through; for the image of -"waters coming in unto the soul" brings up an entirely different set of -circumstances from that of sinking in mud in a pit. The one describes -trouble as rushing in upon a man, like a deluge which has burst its -banks and overwhelms him; the other paints it as yielding and tenacious, -affording no firm spot to stand on, but sucking him up in its filthy, -stifling slime. No water was in Jeremiah's pit. The two figures are -incompatible in reality, and can only be blended in imagination. What -they mean is put without metaphor in vv. 3, 4. The psalmist is "weary -with calling" on God; his throat is dry with much prayer; his eyes ache -and are dim with upward gazing for help which lingers. Yet he does not -cease to call, and still prays with his parched throat, and keeps the -weary eyes steadfastly fixed, as the psalm shows. It is no small triumph -of patient faith to wait for tarrying help. Ver. 4 tells why he thus -cries. He is compassed by a crowd of enemies. Two things especially -characterise these--their numbers, and their gratuitous hatred. As to -the former, they are described as more numerous than the hairs of the -psalmist's head. The parallelism of clauses recommends the textual -alteration which substitutes for the unnecessary word "my destroyers" -the appropriate expression "more than my bones," which is found in -some old versions. Causeless hatred is the portion of the righteous in -all ages; and our Lord points to Himself as experiencing it in utmost -measure (John xv. 25), inasmuch as He, the perfectly righteous One, must -take into His own history all the bitterness which is infused into the -cup of those who fear God and love the right, by a generation who are -out of sympathy with them. - -The same experience, in forms varying according to the spirit of the -times, is realised still in all who have the mind of Christ in them. As -long as the world is a world, it will have some contempt mingling with -its constrained respect for goodness, some hostility, now expressed by -light shafts of mockery and ridicule, now by heavier and more hurtful -missiles, for Christ's true servants. The ancient "Woe" for those of -whom "all men speak well" is in force to-day. The "hatred" is "without -a cause," in so far as its cherishers have received no hurt, and its -objects desire only their enemies' good; but its cause lies deep in the -irreconcilable antagonism of life-principles and aims between those who -follow Christ and those who do not. - -The psalmist had to bear unjust charges, and to make restitution of -what he had never taken. Causeless hatred justified itself by false -accusations, and innocence had but to bear silently and to save life -at the expense of being robbed in the name of justice. - -He turns from enemies to God. But his profession of innocence assumes a -touching and unusual form. He does not, as might be expected, say, "Thou -knowest my guiltlessness," but, "Thou knowest my foolishness." A true -heart, while conscious of innocence in regard to men, and of having -done nothing to evoke their enmity, is, even in the act of searching -itself, arrested by the consciousness of its many sins in God's sight, -and will confess these the more penitently, because it stands upright -before men, and asserts its freedom from all crime against them. -In so far as men's hatred is God's instrument, it inflicts merited -chastisement. That does not excuse men; but it needs to be acknowledged -by the sufferer, if things are to be right between him and God. Then, -after such confession, he can pray, as this psalmist does, that God's -mercy may deliver him, so that others who, like him, wait on God may not -be disheartened or swept from their confidence, by the spectacle of his -vain hopes and unanswered cries. The psalmist has a strong consciousness -of his representative character, and, as in so many other psalms, thinks -that his experience is of wide significance as a witness for God. This -consciousness points to something special in his position, whether we -find the speciality in his office, or in the supposed personification of -the nation, or in poetic consciousness heightened by the sense of being -an organ of God's Spirit. In a much inferior degree, the lowliest devout -man may feel the same; for there are none whose experiences of God as -answering prayer may not be a light of hope to some souls sitting in the -dark. - -In vv. 7-12 the prayer for deliverance is urged on the ground that the -singer's sufferings are the result of his devotion. Psalm xliv. 13-22 -may be compared, and Jer. xv. 15 is an even closer parallel. Fasting -and sackcloth are mentioned again together in Psalm xxxv. 13; and Lam. -iii. 14 and Job xxx. 9 resemble ver. 12 _b_. Surrounded by a godless -generation, the psalmist's earnestness of faith and concern for God's -honour made him an object of dislike, a target for drunken ridicule. -These broke the strong ties of kindred, and acted as separating forces -more strongly than brotherhood did, as a uniting one. "Zeal for God's -house" presupposes the existence of the Temple, and also either its -neglect or its desecration. That sunken condition of the sanctuary -distressed the psalmist more than personal calamity, and it was the -departure of Israel from God that made him clothe himself in sackcloth -and fast and weep. But so far had deterioration gone that his mourning -and its cause supplied materials for tipsy mirth, and his name became -a by-word and a butt for malicious gossip. The whole picture is that -of the standing experience of the godly among the godless. The Perfect -Example of devotion and communion had to pass through these waters -where they ran deepest and chilliest, but all who have His Spirit have -their share of the same fate. - -The last division of this first part (vv. 13-18) begins by setting -in strong contrast the psalmist's prayer and the drunkard's song. -He is sure that his cry will be heard, and so he calls the present -time "a time of favour," and appeals, as often in the Psalter, to -the multitude of God's loving-kindnesses and the faithfulness of His -promise of salvation. Such a pleading with God on the ground of His -manifested character is heard in vv. 13, 16, thus inclosing, as it -were, the prayer for deliverance in a wrapping of reminders to God of -His own name. The petitions here echo the description of peril in the -former part--mire and watery depths--and add another kindred image in -that of the "pit shutting her mouth" over the suppliant. He is plunged -in a deep dungeon, well-shaped; and if a stone is rolled on to its -opening, his last gleam of daylight will be gone, and he will be -buried alive. Beautifully do the pleas from God's character and those -from the petitioner's sore need alternate, the latter predominating -in vv. 17, 18. His thoughts pass from his own desperate condition to -God's mercy, and from God's mercy to his own condition, and he has -the reward of faith, in that he finds in his straits reasons for his -assurance that this is a time of favour, as well as pleas to urge with -God. They make the black backing which turns his soul into a mirror, -reflecting God's promises in its trust. - -The second part of the psalm (ver. 19 to end) has, like the former, -three main divisions. The first of these, like vv. 1-6, is mainly a -renewed spreading before God of the psalmist's trouble (vv. 19-21). -Rooted sorrows are not plucked up by one effort. This recrudescence -of fear breaking in upon the newly won serenity of faith is true to -nature. On some parts of our coasts, where a narrow outlet hinders -the free run of the tide, a second high water follows the first -after an hour or so; and often a similar bar to the flowing away of -fears brings them back in full rush after they had begun to sink. -The psalmist had appealed to God's knowledge of His "foolishness" as -indorsing his protestations of innocence towards men. He now (ver. -19) appeals to His knowledge of his distresses, as indorsing his -pitiful plaints. His soul is too deeply moved now to use metaphors. -He speaks no more of mire and flood, but we hear the moan of a broken -heart, and that wail which sounds sad across the centuries and wakes -echoes in many solitary hearts. The psalmist's eyes had failed, while -he looked upwards for a God whose coming seemed slow; but they had -looked yet more wearily and vainly for human pity and comforters, -and found none. Instead of pity He had received only aggravation -of misery. Such seems to be the force of giving gall for food, and -vinegar to His thirst. The precise meaning of the word rendered "gall" -is uncertain, but the general idea of something bitter is sufficient. -That was all that His foes would give Him when hungry; and vinegar, -which would make Him more thirsty still, was all that they proffered -for His thirst. Such was their sympathy and comforting. According -to Matthew, the potion of "wine (or vinegar) mingled with gall" was -offered to and rejected by Jesus, before being fastened to the cross. -He does not expressly quote the psalm, but probably refers to it. -John, on the other hand, does tell us that Jesus, "that the scripture -might be accomplished, said, I thirst," and sees its fulfilment in the -kindly act of moistening the parched lips. The evangelist's expression -does not necessarily imply that a desire to fulfil the scripture -was our Lord's motive. Crucifixion was accompanied with torturing -thirst, which wrung that last complaint from Jesus. But the evangelist -discerns a Divine purpose behind the utterance of Jesus' human -weakness; and it is surely less difficult, for any one who believes -in supernatural revelation at all, to believe that the words of the -psalmist were shaped by a higher power, and the hands of the Roman -soldiers moved by another impulse than their own, than to believe that -this minute correspondence of psalm and gospel is merely accidental. - -But the immediately succeeding section warns us against pushing -the Messianic character of the psalm too far, for these fearful -imprecations cannot have any analogies in Christ's words (vv. 22-28). -The form of the wish in "Let their table become a snare" is explained -by remembering that the Eastern table was often a leather flap laid -on the ground, which the psalmist desires may start up as a snare, -and close upon the feasters as they sit round it secure. Disease, -continual terror, dimmed eyes, paralysed or quaking loins, ruin -falling on their homes, and desolation round their encampment, so -that they have no descendants, are the least of the evils invoked. -The psalmist's desires go further than all this corporeal and -material disaster. He prays that iniquity may be added to their -iniquity--_i.e._, that they may be held guilty of sin after sin; and -that they may have no portion in God's righteousness--_i.e._, in the -gifts which flow from His adherence to His covenant. - -The climax of all these maledictions is that awful wish that the -persecutors may be blotted out of the book of life or of the living. -True, the high New Testament conception of that book, according to -which it is the burgess-roll of the citizens of the New Jerusalem, -the possessors of eternal life, does not plainly belong to it in Old -Testament usage, in which it means apparently the register of those -living on earth. But to blot names therefrom is not only to kill, -but to exclude from the national community, and so from all the -privileges of the people of God. The psalmist desires for his foes the -accumulation of all the ills that flesh is heir to, the extirpation -of their families, and their absolute exclusion from the company -of the living and the righteous. It is impossible to bring such -utterances into harmony with the teachings of Jesus, and the attempt -to vindicate them ignores plain facts and does violence to plain -words. Better far to let them stand as a monument of the earlier stage -of God's progressive revelation, and discern clearly the advance which -Christian ethics has made on them. - -The psalm ends with glad anticipations of deliverance and vows of -thanksgiving. The psalmist is sure that God's salvation will lift him -high above his enemies, and as sure that then he will be as grateful -as he is now earnest in prayer, and surest of all that his thankful -voice will sound sweeter in God's ear than any sacrifice would smell -in His nostrils. There is no contempt of sacrifices expressed in -"horned and hoofed," but simply the idea of maturity which fits the -animal to be offered. - -The single voice of praise will be caught up, the singer thinks, by a -great chorus of those who would have been struck dumb with confusion -if his prayer had not been answered (ver. 6), and who, in like -manner, are gladdened by seeing his deliverance. The grace bestowed -on one brings thanksgivings from many, which redound to the glory -of God. The sudden transition in ver. 32 _b_ to direct address to -the seekers after God, as if they stood beside the solitary singer, -gives vividness to the anticipation. The insertion of "behold" is -warranted, and tells what revives the beholders' hearts. The seekers -after God feel the pulse of a quicker life throbbing, when they -see the wonders wrought through prayer. The singer's thoughts go -beyond his own deliverance to that of Israel. "His captives" is most -naturally understood as referring to the exiled nation. And this -wider manifestation of God's restoring power will evoke praise from -a wider circle, even from heaven, earth, and sea. The circumstances -contemplated in vv. 33-36 are evidently those of a captivity. -God's people are in bondage, the cities of Judah are in ruins, the -inhabitants scattered far from their homes. The only reason for taking -the closing verses as being a liturgical addition is unwillingness to -admit exilic or post-exilic psalms. But these verses cannot be fairly -interpreted without recognising that they presuppose that Israel is -in bondage, or at least on the verge of it. The circumstances of -Jeremiah's life and times coincide closely with those of the psalmist. - - - - - PSALM LXX.[2] - - 1 _O God_, [be pleased] to deliver me, - Jehovah, hasten to my help. - 2 Shamed and put to the blush be the seekers after my soul! - Turned back and dishonoured be they who delight in my calamity! - 3 _Let them turn back_ by reason of their shame who say, Oho! Oho! - 4 Joyful and glad in Thee be all who seek Thee! - _And "God_ be magnified" may they ever say who love Thy salvation! - 5 But as for me, I am afflicted and needy; - _O God, hasten_ to me: - My help and my deliverer art Thou; - _Jehovah_, delay not. - - -This psalm is all but identical with the last verses of Psalm xl. -13-17. Some unimportant alterations have been made, principally in the -Divine names; but the principle on which they have been made is not -obvious. It is scarcely correct to say, with Delitzsch, that the psalm -"has been transformed, so as to become Elohistic"; for though it twice -replaces the name of Jehovah with that of God (vv. 1, 4), it makes the -converse change in ver. 5, last clause, by reading Jehovah instead of -"God," as in Psalm xl. - -Other changes are of little moment. The principal are in vv. 3 and -5. In the former the vehement wish that the psalmist's mockers may -be _paralysed with shame_ is softened down into a desire that they -may be _turned back_. The two verbs are similar in sound, and the -substitution may have been accidental, a slip of memory or a defect in -hearing, or it may have been an artistic variation of the original. In -ver. 5 a prayer that God will hasten to the psalmist's help takes the -place of an expression of confidence that "Jehovah purposes [good]" -to him, and again there is similarity of sound in the two words. This -change is like the subtle alteration which a painter might make on his -picture by taking out one spot of high light. The gleam of confidence -is changed to a call of need, and the tone of the whole psalm is -thereby made more plaintive. - -Hupfeld holds that this psalm is the original, and Psalm xl. a -composite; but most commentators agree in regarding this as a fragment -of that psalm. The cut has not been very cleanly made; for the -necessary verb "be pleased" has been left behind, and the symmetry of -ver. 1 is destroyed for want of it. The awkward incompleteness of this -beginning witnesses that the psalm is a fragment. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[2] Italics show variations from Psalm xl. - - - - - PSALM LXXI. - - 1 In Thee, Jehovah, do I take refuge, - Let me not be put to shame for ever. - 2 In Thy righteousness deliver me and rescue me, - Bend Thine ear and save me. - 3 Be to me for a rock of habitation to go to continually: - Thou hast commanded to save me, - For my rock and my fortress art Thou. - - 4 My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked, - From the fist of the evil-doer and the violent man. - 5 For Thou [art] my hope, - O Lord Jehovah, [Thou art] my trust from my youth. - 6 On Thee have I been stayed from the womb, - From my mother's bowels Thou hast been my protector: - Of Thee is my praise continually. - - 7 As a wonder am I become to many, - But Thou art my refuge--a strong one. - 8 My mouth is filled with Thy praise, - All the day with Thine honour. - 9 Cast me not away in the time of old age, - When my strength fails, forsake me not. - - 10 For mine enemies speak concerning me, - And the watchers of my soul consult together, - 11 Saying, God has left him, - Chase and seize him; for there is no deliverer. - 12 O God, be not far from me, - My God, haste to my help. - - 13 Ashamed, confounded, be the adversaries of my soul, - Covered with reproach and confusion be those who seek my hurt. - - 14 But as for me, continually will I hope, - And add to all Thy praise. - 15 My mouth shall recount Thy righteousness, - All the day Thy salvation, - For I know not the numbers [thereof]. - 16 I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord Jehovah, - I will celebrate Thy righteousness, [even] Thine only. - 17 O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, - And up till now I declare Thy wonders. - 18 And even to old age and grey hairs, - O God, forsake me not, - Till I declare Thine arm to [the next] generation, - To all who shall come Thy power. - 19 And Thy righteousness, O God, [reaches] to the height. - O Thou who hast done great things, - Who is like Thee? - 20 Thou who hast made us see straits many and sore, - Thou wilt revive us again, - And from the abysses of the earth will bring us up again. - 21 Thou wilt increase my greatness, - And wilt turn to comfort me. - - 22 Also I will thank Thee with the lyre, [even] Thy troth, my God, - I will harp unto Thee with the harp, Thou Holy One of Israel. - 23 My lips shall sing aloud when I harp unto Thee, - And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. - 24 Also my tongue shall all the day muse on Thy righteousness, - For shamed, for put to the blush, are they that seek my hurt. - - -Echoes of former psalms make the staple of this one, and even those -parts of it which are not quotations have little individuality. The -themes are familiar, and the expression of them is scarcely less so. -There is no well-defined strophical structure, and little continuity -of thought or feeling. Vv. 13 and 24 _b_ serve as a kind of partial -refrain, and may be taken as dividing the psalm into two parts, but -there is little difference between the contents of the two. Delitzsch -gives in his adhesion to the hypothesis that Jeremiah was the author; -and there is considerable weight in the reasons assigned for that -ascription of authorship. The pensive, plaintive tone; the abundant -quotations, with slight alterations of the passages cited; the -autobiographical hints which fit in with Jeremiah's history, are the -chief of these. But they can scarcely be called conclusive. There is -more to be said for the supposition that the singer is the personified -nation in this case than in many others. The sudden transition to -"us" in ver. 20, which the Massoretic marginal correction corrects -into "me," favours, though it does not absolutely require, that view, -which is also supported by the frequent allusion to "youth" and "old -age." These, however, are capable of a worthy meaning, if referring to -an individual. Vv. 1-3 are slightly varied from Psalm xxxi. 1-3. The -character of the changes win be best appreciated by setting the two -passages side by side. - - PSALM XXXI. PSALM LXXI. - - 1 In Thee, Jehovah, do I take 1 In Thee, Jehovah, do I take - refuge; let me not be ashamed refuge: - for ever: Let me not be put to shame - In Thy righteousness rescue for ever. - me. - 2 In Thy righteousness deliver - 2 _a_ Bend Thine ear to me and rescue me: - me; deliver me speedily. Bend Thine ear and save me. - -The two verbs, which in the former psalm are in separate clauses -("deliver" and "rescue"), are here brought together. "Speedily" is -omitted, and "save" is substituted for "deliver," which has been drawn -into the preceding clause. Obviously no difference of meaning is -intended to be conveyed, and the changes look very like the inaccuracies -of memoriter quotations. The next variation is as follows:-- - - PSALM XXXI. PSALM LXXI. - - 2 _b_ Be to me for a 3 Be to me for a rock of - strong rock, for a house of habitation to go to continually: - defence to save me. Thou hast commanded to save - me; - 3 For my rock and my fortress For my rock and my fortress - art Thou. art Thou. - -The difference between "a strong rock" and "rock of habitation" is -but one letter. That between "for a house of defence" and "to go to -continually: Thou hast commanded" is extremely slight, as Baethgen -has well shown. Possibly both of these variations are due to textual -corruption, but more probably this psalmist intentionally altered the -words of an older psalm. Most of the old versions have the existing -text, but the LXX. seems to have read the Hebrew here as in Psalm -xxxi. The changes are not important, but they are significant. That -thought of God as a habitation to which the soul may continually -find access goes very deep into the secrets of the devout life. -The variation in ver. 3 is recommended by observing the frequent -recurrence of "continually" in this psalm, of which that word may -almost be said to be the motto. Nor is the thought of God's command -given to His multitude of unnamed servants, to save this poor man, one -which we can afford to lose. - -Vv. 5, 6, are a similar variation of Psalm xxii. 9, 10. "On Thee have -I been stayed from the womb," says this psalmist; "On Thee was I cast -from the womb," says the original passage. The variation beautifully -brings out, not only reliance on God, but the Divine response to that -reliance by life-long upholding. That strong arm answers leaning -weakness with firm support, and whosoever relies on it is upheld by -it. The word rendered above "protector" is doubtful. It is substituted -for that in Psalm xxii. 9 which means "One that takes out," and some -commentators would attach the same meaning to the word used here, -referring it to God's goodness before and at birth. But it is better -taken as equivalent to benefactor, provider, or some such designation, -and as referring to God's lifelong care. - -The psalmist has been "a wonder" to many spectators, either in the -sense that they have gazed astonished at God's goodness, or, as -accords better with the adversative character of the next clause ("But -Thou art my refuge"), that his sufferings have been unexampled. Both -ideas may well be combined, for the life of every man, if rightly -studied, is full of miracles both of mercy and judgment. If the psalm -is the voice of an individual, the natural conclusion from such words -is that his life was conspicuous; but it is obvious that the national -reference is appropriate here. - -On this thankful retrospect of life-long help and life-long trust the -psalm builds a prayer for future protection from eager enemies, who -think that the charmed life is vulnerable at last. - -Vv. 9-13 rise to a height of emotion above the level of the rest of the -psalm. On one hypothesis, we have in them the cry of an old man, whose -strength diminishes as his dangers increase. Something undisclosed in -his circumstances gave colour to the greedy hopes of his enemies. Often -prosperous careers are overclouded at the end, and the piteous spectacle -is seen of age overtaken by tempests which its feebleness cannot resist, -and which are all the worse to face because of the calms preceding them. -On the national hypothesis, the psalm is the prayer of Israel at a late -stage of its history, from which it looks back to the miracles of old, -and then to the ring of enemies rejoicing over its apparent weakness, -and then upwards to the Eternal Helper. - -Vv. 12, 13, are woven out of other psalms. 12 _a_, "Be not far from -me," is found in xxii. 11, 19; xxxv. 22; xxxviii. 21, etc. "Haste -to my help" is found in xxxviii. 22; xl. 13 (lxx. 1). For ver. 13 -compare xxxv. 4, 26; xl. 14 (lxx. 2). With this, as a sort of -refrain, the first part of the psalm ends. - -The second part goes over substantially the same ground, but with -lighter heart. The confidence of deliverance is more vivid, and it, -as well as the vow of praise following thereon, bulk larger. The -singer has thinned away his anxieties by speaking them to God, and has -by the same process solidified his faith. Aged eyes should see God, -the helper, more clearly when earth begins to look grey and dim. The -forward look of such finds little to stay it on this side of heaven. -As there seems less and less to hope for here, there should be more -and more there. Youth is the time for buoyant anticipation, according -to the world's notions, but age may have far brighter lights ahead -than youth had leisure to see. "I will hope always" becomes sublime -from aged lips, which are so often shaped to say, "I have nothing left -to hope for now." - -This psalmist's words may well be a pattern for old men, who need -fear no failure of buoyancy, nor any collapse of gladness, if they -will fix their thoughts where this singer did his. Other subjects -of thought and speech will pall and run dry; but he whose theme is -God's righteousness and the salvation that flows from it will never -lack materials for animating meditation and grateful praise. "I know -not the numbers thereof." It is something to have fast hold of an -inexhaustible subject. It will keep an old man young. - -The psalmist recognises his task, which is also his joy, to declare -God's wondrous works, and prays for God's help till he has discharged -it. The consciousness of a vocation to speak to later generations -inspires him, and assures him that he is immortal till his work is -done. His anticipations have been fulfilled beyond his knowledge. His -words will last as long as the world. But men with narrower spheres -may be animated by the same consciousness, and they who have rightly -understood the purpose of God's mercies to themselves will, like the -psalmist, recognise in their own participation in His salvation an -imperative command to make it known, and an assurance that nothing shall -by any means harm them till they have fulfilled their witnessing. A -many-wintered saint should be a convincing witness for God. - -Ver. 20, with its sudden transition to the plural, may simply -show that the singer passes out from individual contemplation -to the consciousness of the multitude of fellow-sufferers and -fellow-participants in God's mercy. Such transition is natural; for -the most private passages of a good man's communion with God are swift -to bring up the thought of others like-minded and similarly blessed. -"Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, -praising." Every solo swells into a chorus. Again the song returns to -"my" and "me," the confidence of the single soul being reinvigorated -by the thought of sharers in blessing. - -So all ends with the certainty of, and the vow of praise for, -deliverances already realised in faith, though not in fact. But the -imitative character of the psalm is maintained even in this last -triumphant vow; for ver. 24 _a_ is almost identical with xxxv. 28; -and _b_, as has been already pointed out, is copied from several -other psalms. But imitative words are none the less sincere; and new -thankfulness may be run into old moulds without detriment to its -acceptableness to God and preciousness to men. - - - - - PSALM LXXII. - - 1 O God, give Thy judgments to the king, - And Thy righteousness to the king's son. - 2 May he judge Thy people with righteousness, - And Thine afflicted with judgment! - 3 May the mountains bring forth peace to the people, - And the hills, through righteousness! - 4 May he judge the afflicted of the people, - Save the children of the needy, - And crush the oppressor! - - 5 May they fear Thee as long as the sun shines, - And as long as the moon shows her face, generation after - generation! - 6 May he come down like rain upon mown pasture, - Like showers--a heavy downpour on the earth! - 7 May the righteous flourish in his days, - And abundance of peace, till there be no more a moon! - - 8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, - And from the River to the ends of the earth! - 9 Before him shall the desert peoples bow; - And his enemies shall lick the dust. - 10 The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring tribute: - The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. - 11 And all kings shall fall down before him: - All nations shall serve him. - - 12 For he shall deliver the needy when he cries, - And the afflicted, and him who has no helper. - 13 He shall spare the weak and needy, - And the souls of the needy shall he save. - 14 From oppression and from violence he shall ransom their soul; - And precious shall their blood be in his eyes. - 15 So that he lives and gives to him of the gold of Sheba, - And prays for him continually, - Blesses him all the day. - - 16 May there be abundance of corn in the earth on the top of the - mountains! - May its fruit rustle like Lebanon! - And may [men] spring from the city like grass of the earth! - 17 May his name last for ever! - May his name send forth shoots as long as the sun shines, - And may men bless themselves in him, - May all nations pronounce him blessed! - - 18 Blessed be Jehovah, God, the God of Israel, - Who only doeth wondrous works, - 19 And blessed be His glorious name for ever, - And let the whole earth be filled with His glory! - Amen, and Amen. - - 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. - - -Rightly or wrongly, the superscription ascribes this psalm to Solomon. -Its contents have led several commentators to take the superscription -in a meaning for which there is no warrant, as designating the -subject, not the author. Clearly, the whole is a prayer for the king; -but why should not he be both suppliant and object of supplication? -Modern critics reject this as incompatible with the "phraseological -evidence," and adduce the difference between the historical Solomon -and the ideal of the psalm as negativing reference to him. Ver. 8 is -said by them to be quoted from Zech. ix. 10, though Cheyne doubts -whether there is borrowing. Ver. 17 _b_ is said to be dependent on -Gen. xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, which are assumed to be later than the seventh -century. Ver. 12 is taken to be a reminiscence of Job xxix. 12, and -ver. 16 _b_ of Job v. 25. But these are too uncertain criteria to -use as conclusive,--partly because coincidence does not necessarily -imply quotation; partly because, quotation being admitted, the -delicate question of priority remains, which can rarely be settled by -comparison of the passages in question; and partly because, quotation -and priority being admitted, the date of the original is still under -discussion. The impossibility of Solomon's praying thus for himself -does not seem to the present writer so completely established that -the hypothesis must be abandoned, especially if the alternative is -to be, as Hitzig, followed by Olshausen and Cheyne, proposes, that -the king in the psalm is Ptolemy Philadelphus, to whom Psalm xlv. is -fitted by the same authorities. Baethgen puts the objections which -most will feel to such a theory with studied moderation when he says -"that the promises given to the patriarchs in Gen. xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, -should be transferred by a pious Israelite to a foreign king appears -to me improbable." But another course is open--namely, to admit that -the psalm gives no materials for defining its date, beyond the fact -that a king of Davidic descent was reigning when it was composed. -The authorship may be left uncertain, as may the name of the king -for whom such far-reaching blessings were invoked; for he was but a -partial embodiment of the kingly idea, and the very disproportion -between the reality seen in any Jewish monarch and the lofty idealisms -of the psalm compels us to regard the earthly ruler as but a shadow, -and the true theme of the singer as being the Messianic King. We are -not justified, however, in attempting to transfer every point of the -psalmist's prayer to the Messiah. The historical occasion of the psalm -is to be kept in mind. A human monarch stands in the foreground; but -the aspirations expressed are so far beyond anything that he is or can -be, that they are either extravagant flattery, or reach out beyond -their immediate occasion to the King Messiah. - -The psalm is not properly a prediction, but a prayer. There is some -divergence of opinion as to the proper rendering of the principal -verbs,--some, as the A.V. and R.V. (text), taking them as uniformly -futures, which is manifestly wrong; some taking them as expressions of -wish throughout, which is also questionable; and others recognising pure -futures intermingled with petitions, which seems best. The boundaries -of the two are difficult to settle, just because the petitions are so -confident that they are all but predictions, and the two melt into -each other in the singer's mind. The flow of thought is simple. The -psalmist's prayers are broadly massed. In vv. 1-4 he prays for the -foundation of the king's reign in righteousness, which will bring peace; -in vv. 5-7 for its perpetuity, and in vv. 8-11 for its universality; -while in vv. 12-15 the ground of both these characteristics is laid -in the king's becoming the champion of the oppressed. A final prayer -for the increase of his people and the perpetuity and world-wide glory -of his name concludes the psalm, to which are appended in vv. 18-20 a -doxology, closing the Second Book of the Psalter. - -The first petitions of the psalm all ask for one thing for the -king--namely, that he should give righteous judgment. They reflect -the antique conception of a king as the fountain of justice, himself -making and administering law and giving decisions. Thrice in these four -verses does "righteousness" occur as the foundation attribute of an -ideal king. Caprice, self-interest, and tyrannous injustice were rank -in the world's monarchies round the psalmist. Bitter experience and -sad observation had taught him that the first condition of national -prosperity was a righteous ruler. These petitions are also animated -by the conception, which is as true in the modern as in the ancient -world, that righteousness has its seat in the bosom of God, and that -earthly judgments are righteous when they conform to and are the echo -of His. "Righteousness" is the quality of mind, of which the several -"judgments" are the expressions. This king sits on an ancestral throne. -His people are God's people. Since, then, he is God's viceroy, the -desire cannot be vain that in his heart there may be some reflection -of God's righteousness, and that his decisions may accord with God's. -One cannot but remember Solomon's prayer for "an understanding heart," -that he might judge this people; nor forget how darkly his later reign -showed against its bright beginning. A righteous king makes a peaceful -people, especially in a despotic monarchy. The sure results of such -a reign--which are, likewise, the psalmist's chief reason for his -petitions--are set forth in the vivid metaphor of ver. 3, in which -peace is regarded as the fruit which springs, by reason of the king's -righteousness, from mountains and hills. This psalmist has special -fondness for that figure of vegetable growth (vv. 7, 16, 17); and it -is especially suitable in this connection, as peace is frequently -represented in Scripture as the fruit of righteousness, both in single -souls and in a nation's history. The mountains come into view here -simply as being the most prominent features of the land, and not, as -in ver. 16, with any reference to their barrenness, which would make -abundant growth on them more wonderful, and indicative of yet greater -abundance on the plains. - -A special manifestation of judicial righteousness is the vindication -of the oppressed and the punishment of the oppressor (ver. 4). The -word rendered "judge" in ver. 4 differs from that in ver. 2, and is -the same from which the name of the "Judges" in Israel is derived. -Like them, this king is not only to pronounce decisions, as the word -in ver. 2 means, but is to execute justice by acts of deliverance, -which smite in order to rescue. Functions which policy and dignity -require to be kept apart in the case of earthly rulers are united -in the ideal monarch. He executes his own sentences. His acts are -decisions. The psalmist has no thought of inferior officers by the -king's side. One figure fills his mind and his canvas. Surely such -an ideal is either destined to remain for ever a fair dream, or its -fulfilment is to be recognised in the historical Person in whom God's -righteousness dwelt in higher fashion than psalmists knew, who was, -"first, King of righteousness, and then, after that, also King of -peace," and who, by His deed, has broken every yoke, and appeared as -the defender of all the needy. The poet prayed that Israel's king -might perfectly discharge his office by Divine help; the Christian -gives thanks that the King of men has been and done all which Israel's -monarchs failed to be and do. - -The perpetuity of the king's reign and of his subjects' peace is the -psalmists second aspiration (vv. 5-7). The "Thee" of ver. 5 presents a -difficulty, as it is doubtful to whom it refers. Throughout the psalm -the king is spoken _of_, and never _to_; and if it is further noticed -that, in the preceding verses, God has been directly addressed, and -"Thy" used thrice in regard to Him, it will appear more natural to -take the reference in ver. 5 to be to Him. The fear of God would be -diffused among the king's subjects, as a consequence of his rule in -righteousness. Hupfeld takes the word as referring to the king, and -suggests changing the text to "him" instead of "Thee"; while others, -among whom are Cheyne and Baethgen, follow the track of the LXX. in -adopting a reading which may be translated "May he live," or "Prolong -his days." But the thought yielded by the existing text, if referred -to God, is most natural and worthy. The king is, as it were, the -shadow on earth of God's righteousness, and consequently becomes an -organ for the manifestation thereof, in such manner as to draw men to -true devotion. The psalmist's desires are for something higher than -external prosperity, and his conceptions of the kingly office are very -sacred. Not only peace and material well-being, but also the fear of -Jehovah, are longed for by him to be diffused in Israel. And he prays -that these blessings may be perpetual. The connection between the -king's righteousness and the fear of God requires that that permanence -should belong to both. The cause is as lasting as its effect. Through -generation after generation he desires that each shall abide. He uses -peculiar expressions for continual duration: "with the sun"--_i.e._, -contemporaneous with that unfading splendour; "before the face of the -moon"--_i.e._, as long as she shines. But could the singer anticipate -such length of dominion for any human king? Psalm xxi. has similar -language in regard to the same person; and here, as there, it seems -sufficiently accounted for by the consideration that, while the -psalmist was speaking of an individual, he was thinking of the office -rather than of the person, and that the perpetual continuance of the -Davidic dynasty, not the undying life of any one representative of it, -was meant. The full light of the truth that there is a king whose -royalty, like his priesthood, passes to no other is not to be forced -upon the psalm. It stands as a witness that devout and inspired souls -longed for the establishment of a kingdom, against which revolutions -and enemies and mortality were powerless. They knew not that their -desires could not be fulfilled by the longest succession of dying -kings, but were to be more than accomplished by One, "of whom it is -witnessed that He liveth." - -The psalmist turns for a moment from his prayer for the perpetuity -of the king's rule, to linger upon the thought of its blessedness as -set forth in the lovely image of ver. 6. Rain upon mown grass is no -blessing, as every farmer knows; but what is meant is, not the grass -which has already been mown, but the naked meadow from which it has -been taken. It needs drenching showers, in order to sprout again -and produce an aftermath. The poet's eye is caught by the contrast -between the bare look of the field immediately after cutting and the -rich growth that springs, as by magic, from the yellow roots after -a plentiful shower. This king's gracious influences shall fall upon -even what seems dead, and charm forth hidden life that will flush the -plain with greenness. The psalmist dwells on the picture, reiterating -the comparison in ver. 6 _b_, and using there an uncommon word, which -seems best rendered as meaning a heavy rainfall. With such affluence -of quickening powers will the righteous king bless his people. The -"Mirror for Magistrates," which is held up in the lovely poem in 2 -Sam. xxiii. 4, has a remarkable parallel in its description of the -just ruler as resembling a "morning without clouds, when the tender -grass springeth out of the earth through clear shining after rain"; -but the psalmist heightens the metaphor by the introduction of the -mown meadow as stimulated to new growth. This image of the rain -lingers with him and shapes his prayer in ver. 7 _a_. A righteous -king will insure prosperity to the righteous, and the number of such -will increase. Both these ideas seem to be contained in the figure -of their flourishing, which is literally _bud_ or _shoot_. And, as -the people become more and more prevailingly righteous, they receive -more abundant and unbroken peace. The psalmist had seen deeply into -the conditions of national prosperity, as well as those of individual -tranquillity, when he based these on rectitude. - -With ver. 8 the singer takes a still loftier flight, and prays for -the universality of the king's dominion. In that verse the form of -the verb is that which expresses desire, but in ver. 9 and following -verses the verbs may be rendered as simple futures. Confident prayers -insensibly melt into assurances of their own fulfilment. As the -psalmist pours out his petitions, they glide into prophecies; for -they are desires fashioned upon promises, and bear, in their very -earnestness, the pledge of their realisation. As to the details of the -form which the expectation of universal dominion here takes, it need -only be noted that we have to do with a poet, not with a geographer. -We are not to treat the expressions as if they were instructions to -a boundary commission, and to be laid down upon a map. "The sea" is -probably the Mediterranean; but what the other sea which makes the -opposite boundary may be is hard to say. Commentators have thought -of the Persian Gulf, or of an imaginary ocean encircling the flat -earth, according to ancient ideas. But more probably the expression -is as indeterminate as the parallel one, "the ends of the earth." -In the first clause of the verse the psalmist starts from the -Mediterranean, the western boundary, and his anticipations travel -away into the unknown eastern regions; while, in the second clause, -he begins with the Euphrates, which was the eastern boundary of the -dominion promised to Israel, and, coming westward, he passes out in -thought to the dim regions beyond. The very impossibility of defining -the boundaries declares the boundlessness of the kingdom. The poet's -eyes have looked east and west, and in ver. 9 he turns to the south, -and sees the desert tribes, unconquered as they have hitherto been, -grovelling before the king, and his enemies in abject submission at -his feet. The word rendered "desert peoples" is that used in Psalm -lxxiv. 14 for wild beasts inhabiting the desert, but here it can only -mean _wilderness tribes_. There seems no need to alter the text, as -has been proposed, and to read "adversaries." In ver. 10 the psalmist -again looks westward, across the mysterious ocean of which he, like -all his nation, knew so little. The great city of Tarshish lay for -him at the farthest bounds of the world; and between him and it, or -perhaps still farther out in the waste unknown, were islands from -which rich and strange things sometimes reached Judaea. These shall -bring their wealth in token of fealty. Again he looks southward to -Sheba in Arabia, and Seba far south below Egypt, and foresees their -submission. His knowledge of distant lands is exhausted, and therefore -he ceases enumeration, and falls back on comprehensiveness. How little -he knew, and how much he believed! His conceptions of the sweep of -that "all" were childish; his faith that, however many these unknown -kings and nations were, God's anointed was their king was either -extravagant exaggeration, or it was nurtured in him by God, and meant -to be fulfilled when a world, wide beyond his dreams and needy -beyond his imagination, should own the sway of a King, endowed with -God's righteousness and communicative of God's peace, in a manner and -measure beyond his desires. - -The triumphant swell of these anticipations passes with wonderful -pathos into gentler music, as if the softer tones of flutes should -follow trumpet blasts. How tenderly and profoundly the psalm bases -the universality of the dominion on the pitying care and delivering -power of the King! The whole secret of sway over men lies in that -"For," which ushers in the gracious picture of the beneficent and -tender-hearted Monarch. The world is so full of sorrow, and men are so -miserable and needy, that he who can stanch their wounds, solace their -griefs, and shelter their lives will win their hearts and be crowned -their king. Thrones based on force are as if set on an iceberg which -melts away. There is no solid foundation for rule except helpfulness. -In the world and for a little while "they that exercise authority are -called benefactors"; but in the long-run the terms of the sentence -are inverted, and they that are rightly called benefactors exercise -authority. The more earthly rulers approximate to this ideal portrait, -the more "broad-based upon their people's will" and love will their -thrones stand. If Israel's kings had adhered to it, their throne would -have endured. But their failures point to Him in whom the principle -declared by the psalmist receives its most tender illustration. -The universal dominion of Jesus Christ is based upon the fact that -He "tasted death for every man." In the Divine purpose, He has won -the right to rule men because He has died for them. In historical -realisation, He wins men's submission because He has given Himself -for them. Therefore does He command with absolute authority; therefore -do we obey with entire submission. His sway not only reaches out over -all the earth, inasmuch as the power of His cross extends to all men, -but it lays hold of the inmost will and makes submission a delight. - -The king is represented in ver. 14 as taking on himself the office -of Goel, or Kinsman-Redeemer, and ransoming his subjects' lives from -"deceit and violence." That "their blood is precious in his eyes" is -another way of saying that they are too dear to him to be suffered to -perish. This king's treasure is the life of his subjects. Therefore -he will put forth his power to preserve them and deliver them. The -result of such tender care and delivering love is set forth in ver. -15, but in obscure language. The ambiguity arises from the absence -of expressed subjects for the four verbs in the verse. Who is he -who "lives"? Is the same person the giver of the gold of Sheba, and -to whom is it given? Who prays, and for whom? And who blesses, and -whom does he bless? The plain way of understanding the verse is to -suppose that the person spoken of in all the clauses is the same; and -then the question comes whether he is the king or the ransomed man. -Difficulties arise in carrying out either reference through all the -clauses; and hence attempts have been made to vary the subject of the -verbs. Delitzsch, for instance, supposes that it is the ransomed man -who "lives," the king who gives to the ransomed man gold, and the man -who prays for and blesses the king. But such an arbitrary shuttling -about of the reference of "he" and "him" is impossible. Other attempts -of a similar kind need not be noticed here. The only satisfactory -course is to take one person as spoken of by all the verbs. But then -the question comes, Who is he? There is much to be said in favour of -either hypothesis as answering that question. The phrase which is -rendered above "So that he lives" is so like the common invocation -"May the king live," that it strongly favours taking the whole verse -as a continuance of the petitions for the monarch. But if so, the verb -in the second clause (_he shall give_) must be taken impersonally, as -equivalent to "one will give" or "there shall be given," and those -in the remaining clauses must be similarly dealt with, or the text -altered so as to make them plurals, reading, "They shall pray for him -(the king), ... and shall bless him." On the whole, it is best to -suppose that the ransomed man is the subject throughout, and that the -verse describes his glad tribute, and continual thankfulness. Ransomed -from death, he brings offerings to his deliverer. It seems singular -that he should be conceived of both as "needy" and as owning "gold" -which he can offer; but in the literal application the incongruity is -not sufficient to prevent the adoption of this view of the clause; and -in the higher application of the words to Christ and His subjects, -which we conceive to be warranted, the incongruity becomes fine and -deep truth; for the poorest soul, delivered by Him, can bring tribute, -which He esteems as precious beyond all earthly treasure. Nor need -the remaining clauses militate against the view that the ransomed man -is the subject in them. The psalm had a historical basis, and all its -points cannot be introduced into the Messianic interpretation. This -one of praying for the king cannot be; notwithstanding the attempts of -some commentators to find a meaning for it in Christian prayers for -the spread of Christ's kingdom. That explanation does violence to -the language, mistakes the nature of Messianic prophecy, and brings -discredit on the view that the psalm has a Messianic character. - -The last part of the psalm (vv. 16, 17) recurs to petitions for the -growth of the nation and the perpetual flourishing of the king's -name. The fertility of the land and the increase of its people are -the psalmist's desires, which are also certainties, as expressed in -ver. 16. He sees in imagination the whole land waving with abundant -harvests, which reach even to the tops of the mountains, and rustle -in the summer air, with a sound like the cedars of Lebanon, when -they move their layers of greenness to the breeze. The word rendered -above "abundance" is doubtful; but there does not seem to be in -the psalmist's mind the contrast which he is often supposed to be -expressing, beautiful and true as it, is between the small beginnings -and the magnificent end of the kingdom on earth. The mountains are -here thought of as lofty and barren. If waving harvests clothe their -gaunt sides, how will the vales laugh in plentiful crops! As the earth -yields her increase, so the people of the king shall be multiplied, -and from all his cities they shall spring forth abundant as grass. -That figure would bear much expansion; for what could more beautifully -set forth rapidity of growth, close-knit community, multiplication of -units, and absorption of these in a lovely whole, than the picture of -a meadow clothed with its grassy carpet? Such hopes had only partial -fulfilment in Israel. Nor have they had adequate fulfilment up till -now. But they lie on the horizon of the future, and they shall one -day be reached. Much that is dim is treasured in them. There may -be a renovated world, from which the curse of barrenness has been -banished. There shall be a swift increase of the subjects of the -King, until the earlier hope of the psalm is fulfilled, and all -nations shall serve Him. - -But bright as are the poet's visions concerning the kingdom, his last -gaze is fastened on its king, and he prays that his name may last for -ever, and may send forth shoots as long as the sun shines in the sky. -He probably meant no more than a prayer for the continual duration of -the dynasty, and his conception of the name as sending forth shoots was -probably that of its being perpetuated in descendants. But, as has been -already noticed, the perpetuity, which he conceived of as belonging -to a family and an office, really belongs to the One King, Jesus -Christ, whose Name is above every name, and will blossom anew in fresh -revelations of its infinite contents, not only while the sun shines, -but when its fires are cold and its light quenched. The psalmist's last -desire is that the ancient promise to the fathers may be fulfilled in -the King, their descendant, in whom men shall bless themselves. So full -of blessedness may He seem to all men, that they shall take Him for the -very type of felicity, and desire to be even as He is! In men's relation -to Christ the phrase assumes a deeper meaning still; and though that is -not intended by the psalmist, and is not the exposition of his words, -it still is true that in Christ all blessings for humanity are stored, -and that therefore if men are to be truly blessed they must plunge -themselves into Him, and in Him find all that they need for blessedness -and nobility of life and character. If He is our supreme type of -whatsoever things are fair and of good report, and if we have bowed -ourselves to Him because He has delivered us from death, then we share -in His life, and all His blessings are parted among us. - - - - - BOOK III. - - _PSALMS LXXIII.-LXXXIX._ - - - - - PSALM LXXIII. - - 1 Surely God is good to Israel, - To those who are pure in heart; - 2 But I--within a little of turning aside were my feet, - All but slipping were my steps. - - 3 For I was envious of the foolish, - When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. - 4 For they have no bonds [dragging them] to death, - And their body is lusty. - 5 In the trouble belonging to frail mortals they have no part - And [in common] with men they are not smitten. - 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; - Violence covers them as a robe. - - 7 Out of fat their eye flashes; - The imaginations of their heart overflow. - 8 They mock and speak wickedly of oppression, - [As] from on high they speak. - 9 They set in the heavens their mouth, - And their tongue stalks on the earth. - 10 Therefore he turns his people thither, - And waters of abundance are drunk up by them. - - 11 And they say, How does God know? - And is there knowledge in the Most High? - 12 Behold! these are wicked, - And, prosperous for ever, they have increased their wealth. - 13 Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, - And in innocency have washed my hands. - 14 Yet have I been smitten all the day, - And my correction [came] every morning. - - 15 If I had said, I will speak thus, - Behold, I should have been unfaithful to the generation of Thy - children. - 16 When I gave thought in order to understand this, - It was too difficult in my eyes-- - 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God, - And gave heed to their end. - 18 Surely in slippery places Thou dost set them; - Thou castest them down to ruins. - - 19 How are they become a desolation in a moment, - Are ended, consumed with terrors! - 20 Like a dream on awaking, - So Lord, on [Thy] arousing, Thou wilt despise their shadowy form. - 21 For my heart was growing bitter, - And I was pricked [in] my reins. - 22 And I, I was brutish and ignorant, - A [very] beast was I before Thee. - - 23 And yet I, I am continually with Thee; - Thou hast grasped [me] by my right hand - 24 In Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, - And afterwards to glory wilt "take" me. - 25 Whom have I in heaven? - And, possessing Thee, I have no delight on earth. - 26 [Though] my flesh and my heart fail, - The rock of my heart and my portion is God for ever. - - 27 For, behold, they that are far from Thee shall perish; - Thou hast destroyed every one that goes whoring from Thee. - 28 But I, I--to draw near to God is good to me; - I have made in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, - That I may recount all Thy works. - - -The perennial problem of reconciling God's moral government with -observed facts is grappled with in this psalm, as in Psalms xxxvii. -and xlix. It tells how the prosperity of the godless, in apparent flat -contradiction of Divine promises, had all but swept the psalmist from -his faith, and how he was led, through doubt and struggle, to closer -communion with God, in which he learned, not only the evanescence of -the external well-being which had so perplexed him, but the eternity -of the true blessedness belonging to the godly. His solution of -the problem is in part that of the two psalms just mentioned, but -it surpasses them in its clear recognition that the portion of the -righteous, which makes their lot supremely blessed, is no mere earthly -prosperity, but God Himself, and in its pointing to "glory" which -comes afterwards, as one element in the solution of the problem. - -The psalm falls into two divisions, in the first of which (vv. 1-14) the -psalmist tells of his doubts, and, in the second (vv. 15-28), of his -victory over them. The body of the psalm is divided into groups of four -verses, and it has an introduction and conclusion of two verses each. - -The introduction (vv. 1, 2) asserts, with an accent of assurance, the -conviction which the psalmist had all but lost, and therefore had the -more truly won. The initial word "Surely" is an indication of his -past struggle, when the truth that God was good to Israel had seemed -so questionable. "This I have learned by doubts; this I now hold as -most sure; this I proclaim, impugn it who list, and seem to contradict -it what may." The decisiveness of the psalmist's conviction does not -lead him to exaggeration. He does not commit himself to the thesis -that outward prosperity attends Israel. That God is good to those who -truly bear that name is certain; but how He shows His goodness, and -who these are, the psalmist has, by his struggles, learned to conceive -of in a more spiritual fashion than before. That goodness may be -plainly seen in sorrows, and it is only sealed to those who are what -the name of Israel imports--"pure in heart." That such are blessed in -possessing God, and that neither are any other blessed, nor is there -any other blessedness, are the lessons which the singer has brought -with him from the darkness, and by which the ancient faith of the -well-being of the righteous is set on surer foundations than before. - -The avowal of conquered doubts follows on this clear note of certitude. -There is a tinge of shame in the emphatic "I" of ver. 2, and in the -broken construction and the change of subject to "my feet" and "my -steps." The psalmist looks back to that dreary time, and sees more -clearly than he did, while he was caught in the toils of perplexity -and doubt, how narrow had been his escape from casting away his -confidence. He shudders as he remembers it; but he can do so now from -the vantage-ground of tried and regained faith. How eloquently the order -of thought in these two verses speaks of the complete triumph over doubt! - -In the first quatrain of verses, the prosperity of the godless, which -had been the psalmist's stumbling-block, is described. Two things are -specified--physical health, and exemption from calamity. The former is -the theme of ver. 4. Its first clause is doubtful. The word rendered -"bands" only occurs here and in Isa. lviii. 6. It literally means -bands, but may pass into the figurative signification of pains, and is -sometimes by some taken in that meaning here, and the whole clause as -asserting that the wicked have painless and peaceful deaths. But such -a declaration is impossible in the face of vv. 18, 19, which assert -the very opposite, and would be out of place at this point of the -psalm, which is here occupied with the lives, not the deaths, of the -ungodly. Hupfeld translates "They are without pains even until their -deaths"; but that rendering puts an unusual sense on the preposition -"to," which is not "till." A very plausible conjecture alters the -division of words, splitting the one which means "to their death" -(_l'motham_) into two (_lamo tam_), of which the former is attached -to the preceding words ("there are no pains _to them_" = "they have -no pains"), and the latter to the following clause ("_Sound_ and well -nourished is," etc.). This suggestion is adopted by Ewald and most -modern commentators, and has much in its favour. If the existing -text is retained, the rendering above seems best. It describes the -prosperous worldling as free from troubles or diseases, which would -be like chains on a captive, by which he is dragged to execution. -It thus gives a parallel to the next clause, which describes their -bodies (lit., belly) as stalwart. Ver. 5 carries on the description, -and paints the wicked's exemption from trouble. The first clause is -literally, "In the trouble of man they are not." The word for man here -is that which connotes frailty and mortality, while in the next clause -it is the generic term "Adam." Thus the prosperous worldlings appeared -to the psalmist, in his times of scepticism, as possessing charmed -lives, which were free from all the ills that came from frailty and -mortality, and, as like superior beings, lifted above the universal -lot. But what did their exemption do for them? Its effects might have -taught the doubter that the prosperity at which his faith staggered -was no blessing, for it only inflated its recipients with pride, and -urged them on to high-handed acts. Very graphically does ver. 6 paint -them as having the former for their necklace, and the latter for their -robe. A proud man carries a stiff neck and a high head. Hence the -picture in ver. 6 of "pride" as wreathed about their necks as a chain -or necklace. High-handed violence is their garment, according to the -familiar metaphor by which a man's characteristics are likened to his -dress, the garb of his soul. The double meaning of "habit," and the -connection between "custom" and "costume," suggest the same figure. As -the clothing wraps the body and is visible to the world, so insolent -violence, masterfulness enforced by material weapons and contemptuous -of others' rights, characterised these men, who had never learned -gentleness in the school of suffering. Tricked out with a necklace of -pride and a robe of violence, they strutted among men, and thought -themselves far above the herd, and secure from the touch of trouble. - -The next group of verses (vv. 7-10) further describes the unfeeling -insolence begotten of unbroken prosperity, and the crowd of hangers-on, -admirers, and imitators attendant on the successful wicked. "Out of -fat their eye flashes" gives a graphic picture of the fierce glare of -insolent eyes, set in well-fed faces. But graphic as it is, it scarcely -fits the context so well as does a proposed amended reading, which by a -very small change in the word rendered "their eye" yields the meaning -"their iniquity," and takes "fat" as equivalent to a fat, that is, an -obstinate, self-confident, or unfeeling heart. "From an unfeeling heart -their iniquity comes forth" makes a perfect parallel with the second -clause of the verse rightly rendered, "the imaginations of their heart -overflow"; and both clauses paint the arrogant tempers and bearing of -the worldlings. Ver. 8 deals with the manifestation of these in speech. -Well-to-do wickedness delights in making suffering goodness a butt for -its coarse jeers. It does not need much wit to do that. Clumsy jests -are easy, and poverty is fair game for vulgar wealth's ridicule. But -there is a dash of ferocity in such laughter, and such jests pass -quickly into earnest, and wicked oppression. "As from on high they -speak,"--fancying themselves set on a pedestal above the common masses. -The LXX., followed by many moderns, attaches "oppression" to the second -clause, which makes the verse more symmetrical; but the existing -division of clauses yields an appropriate sense. - -The description of arrogant speech is carried on in ver. 9, which has -been variously understood, as referring in _a_ to blasphemy against God -("they set against the heavens their mouth"), and in _b_ to slander -against men; or, as in _a_, continuing the thought of ver. 8 _b_, and -designating their words as spoken as if from heaven itself, and in _b_ -ascribing to their words sovereign power among men. But it is better -to regard "heaven" and "earth" as the ordinary designation of the -whole visible frame of things, and to take the verse as describing the -self-sufficiency which gives its opinions and lays down the law about -everything, and, on the other hand, the currency and influence which are -accorded by the popular voice to the dicta of prosperous worldlings. - -That thought prepares the way for the enigmatic verse which follows. -There are several obscure points in it. First, the verb in the Hebrew -text means _turns_ (transitive), which the Hebrew margin corrects -into _returns_ (intransitive). With the former reading, "his people" -is the object of the verb, and the implied subject is the prosperous -wicked man, the change to the singular "he" from the plural "they" of -the preceding clauses being not unusual in Hebrew. With the latter -reading, "his people" is the subject. The next question is to whom the -"people" are conceived as belonging. It is, at first sight, natural -to think of the frequent Scripture expression, and to take the "his" -as referring to God, and the phrase to mean the true Israel. But the -meaning seems rather to be the mob of parasites and hangers-on, who -servilely follow the successful sinner, in hope of some crumbs from -his table. "Thither" means "to himself," and the whole describes how -such a one as the man whose portrait has just been drawn is sure to -attract a retinue of dependants, who say as he says, and would fain -be what he is. The last clause describes the share of these parasites -in their patron's prosperity. "Waters of abundance"--_i.e._, abundant -waters--may be an emblem of the pernicious principles of the wicked, -which their followers swallow greedily; but it is more probably a -figure for fulness of material good, which rewards the humiliation of -servile adherents to the prosperous worldling. - -The next group (vv. 11-14) begins with an utterance of unbelief or -doubt, but it is difficult to reach certainty as to the speakers. -It is very natural to refer the "they" to the last-mentioned -persons--namely, the people who have been led to attach themselves to -the prosperous sinners, and who, by the example of these, are led to -question the reality of God's acquaintance with and moral government -of human affairs. The question is, as often, in reality a denial. But -"they" may have a more general sense, equivalent to our own colloquial -use of it for an indefinite multitude. "They say"--that is, "the -common opinion and rumour is." So here, the meaning may be, that the -sight of such flushed and flourishing wickedness diffuses widespread -and deep-going doubts of God's knowledge, and makes many infidels. - -Ewald, Delitzsch, and others take all the verses of this group as -spoken by the followers of the ungodly; and, unquestionably, that -view avoids the difficulty of allotting the parts to different unnamed -interlocutors. But it raises difficulties of another kind--as, for -instance, those of supposing that these adulators should roundly call -their patrons wicked, and that an apostate should profess that he has -cleansed his heart. The same objections do not hold against the view -that these four verses are the utterance, not of the wicked rich man -or his coterie of admirers, but of the wider number whose faith has -been shaken. There is nothing in the verses which would be unnatural -on such lips. - -Ver. 11 would then be a question anxiously raised by faith that was -beginning to reel; ver. 12 would be a statement of the anomalous fact -which staggered it; and vv. 13, 14, the complaint of the afflicted -godly. The psalmist's repudiation of a share in such incipient -scepticism would begin with ver. 15. There is much in favour of this -view of the speakers, but against it is the psalmist's acknowledgment, -in ver. 2, that his own confidence in God's moral government had been -shaken, of which there is no further trace in the psalm, unless vv. -13, 14, express the conclusion which he had been tempted to draw, and -which, as he proceeds to say, he had fought down. If these two verses -are ascribed to him, ver. 12 is best regarded as a summary of the -whole preceding part, and only ver. 11 as the utterance either of the -prosperous sinner and his adherents (in which case it is a question -which means denial), or as that of troubled faith (in which case it -is a question that would fain be an affirmation, but has been forced -unwillingly to regard the very pillars of the universe as trembling). - -Vv. 15-18 tell how the psalmist strove with and finally conquered his -doubts, and saw enough of the great arc of the Divine dealings, to -be sure that the anomaly, which had exercised his faith, was capable -of complete reconciliation with the righteousness of Providence. It -is instructive to note that he silenced his doubts, out of regard -to "the generation of Thy children"--that is, to the true Israel, -the pure in heart. He was tempted to speak as others did not fear to -speak, impugning God's justice and proclaiming the uselessness of -purity; but he locked his lips, lest his words should prove him untrue -to the consideration which he owed to meek and simple hearts, who -knew nothing of the speculative difficulties torturing him. He does -not say that his speaking would have been sin against God. It would -not have been so, if, in speaking, he had longed for confirmation of -his wavering faith. But whatever the motive of his words, they might -have shaken some lowly believers. Therefore he resolved on silence. -Like all wise and devout men, he swallowed his own smoke, and let the -process of doubting go on to its end of certainty, one way or another, -before he spoke. This psalm, in which he tells how he overcame them, -is his first acknowledgment that he had had these temptations to cast -away his confidence. Fermentation should be done in the dark. When -the process is finished, and the product is clear, it is fit to be -produced and drank. Certitudes are meant to be uttered; doubts are -meant to be struggled with. The psalmist has set an example which many -men need to ponder to-day. It is easy, and it is also cruel, to raise -questions which the proposer is not ready to answer. - -Silent brooding over his problem did not bring light, as ver. 16 tells -us. The more he thought over it, the more insoluble did it seem to -him. There are chambers which the key of thinking will not open. -Unwelcome as the lesson is, we have to learn that every lock will not -yield to even prolonged and strenuous investigation. The lamp of the -Understanding throws its beams far, but there are depths of darkness -too deep and dark for them; and they are wisest who know its limits -and do not try to use it in regions where it is useless. - -But faith finds a path where speculation discerns none. The psalmist -"went into the sanctuary (literally, sanctuaries) of God," and there -light streamed in on him, in which he saw light. Not mere entrance -into the place of worship, but closer approach to the God who dwelt -there, cleared away the mists. Communion with God solves many problems -which thinking leaves unresolved. The eye which has gazed on God is -purged for much vision besides. The disproportion between the deserts -and fortunes of good and bad men assumes an altogether different -aspect when contemplated in the light of present communion with Him, -which brings a blessedness that makes earthly prosperity seem dross, -and earthly burdens seem feathers. Such communion, in its seclusion -from worldly agitations, enables a man to take calmer, saner views -of life, and in its enduring blessedness reveals more clearly the -transiency of the creatural good which deceives men with the figment -of its permanence. The lesson which the psalmist learned in the solemn -stillness of the sanctuary was the end of ungodly prosperity. That -changes the aspect of the envied position of the prosperous sinner, -for his very prosperity is seen to contribute to his downfall, as well -as to make that downfall more tragic by contrast. His sure footing, -exempt as he seemed from the troubles and ills that flesh is heir to, -was really on a treacherous slope, like smooth sheets of rock on a -mountain-side. To stand on them is to slide down to hideous ruin. - -The theme of the end of the prosperous sinners is continued in the -next group (vv. 19-22). In ver. 19 the psalmist seems as if standing -an amazed spectator of the crash, which tumbles into chaos the -solid-seeming fabric of their insolent prosperity. An exclamation -breaks from his lips as he looks. And then destruction is foretold -for all such, under the solemn and magnificent image of ver. 20. God -has seemed to sleep, letting evil run its course; but He "rouses -Himself"--that is, comes forth in judicial acts--and as a dreamer -remembers his dream, which seemed so real, and smiles at its imaginary -terrors or joys, so He will "despise" them, as no more solid nor -lasting than phantasms of the night. The end contemplated by the -psalmist is not necessarily death, but any sudden overthrow, of which -there are many in the experience of the godless. Life is full of such -awakings of God, both in regard to individuals and nations, which, -if a man duly regards, he will find the problem of the psalm less -insoluble than at first it appears. But if there are lives which, -being without goodness, are also without chastisement, Death comes at -last to such as God's awaking, and a very awful dissipating of earthly -prosperity into a shadowy nothing. - -The psalmist has no revelation here of future retribution. His -vindication of God's justice is not based on that, but simply on the -transiency of worldly prosperity, and on its dangerous character. -It is "a slippery place," and it is sure to come to an end. It is -obvious that there are many other considerations which have to be -taken into account, in order to a complete solution of the problem -of the psalm. But the psalmist's solution goes far to lighten the -painful perplexity of it; and if we add his succeeding thoughts as to -the elements of true blessedness, we have solution enough for peaceful -acquiescence, if not for entire understanding. The psalmist's way -of finding an answer is even more valuable than the answer which he -found. They who dwell in the secret place of the Most High can look on -the riddle of this painful world with equanimity, and be content to -leave it half unsolved. - -Vv. 21, 22, are generally taken as one sentence, and translated as by -Delitzsch, "If my heart should grow bitter ... I should be brutish," -etc.; or, as by Hupfeld, "When my heart grew bitter ... then I was -as a beast," etc.; but they are better regarded as the psalmist's -penitent explanation of his struggle. "Unbelieving thoughts had -fermented in his mind, and a pang of passionate discontent had pierced -his inmost being. But the higher self blames the lower self for such -folly" (Cheyne, _in loc._). His recognition that his doubts had their -source, not in defect in God's providence, but in his own ignorance -and hasty irritation, which took offence without cause, prepares him -for the sweet, clear note of purely spiritual aspiration and fruition -which follows in the next strophe. - -He had all but lost his hold of God; but though his feet had almost gone -astray, his hand had been grasped by God, and that strong hold had kept -him from utterly falling. The pledge of continual communion with God is -not our own vacillating, wayward hearts, but God's gentle, strong clasp, -which will not let us go. Thus conscious of constant fellowship, and -feeling thrillingly God's touch in his inmost spirit, the psalmist rises -to a height of joyous assurance, far above doubts and perplexities -caused by the unequal distribution of earth's trivial good. For him, -all life will be illumined by God's counsel, which will guide him as -a shepherd leads his sheep, and which he will obey as a sheep follows -his shepherd. How small the delights of the prosperous men seem now! -And can there be an end to that sweet alliance, such as smites earthly -good? There are blessings which bear in themselves assurance of their -own undyingness; and this psalmist, who had nothing to say of the future -retribution falling on the sinner whose delights were confined to earth, -feels that death cannot put a period to a union so blessed and spiritual -as was his with God. To him, "afterwards" was irradiated with light -from present blessedness; and a solemnly joyful conviction springs in -his soul, which he casts into words that glance at the story of Enoch's -translation, from which "take" is quoted (_cf._ Psalm xlix. 16). Whether -we translate "with glory" or "to glory," there can be no question that -the psalmist is looking beyond life on earth to dwelling with God in -glory. We have, in this utterance, the expression of the conviction, -inseparable from any true, deep communion with God, that such communion -can never be at the mercy of Death. The real proof of a life beyond the -grave is the resurrection of Jesus; and the pledge of it is present -enjoyment of fellowship with God. - -Such thoughts lift the psalmist to a height from which earth's -troubles show small, and as they diminish, the perplexity arising -from their distribution diminishes in proportion. They fade away -altogether, when he feels how rich he is in possessing God. Surely the -very summit of devotional rapture is reached in the immortal words -which follow! Heaven without God were a waste to this man. With God, -he needs not nor desires anything on earth. If the impossible should -be actual, and heart as well as flesh should fail, his naked self -would be clothed and rich, steadfast and secure, as long as he had -God; and he is so closely knit to God, that he knows that he will -not lose Him though he dies, but have Him for his very own for ever. -What care need he have how earth's vain goods come and go? Whatever -outward calamities or poverty may be his lot, there is no riddle in -that Divine government which thus enriches the devout heart; and the -richest ungodly man is poor, because he shuts himself out from the one -all-sufficient and enduring wealth. - -A final pair of verses, answering to the introductory pair, gathers -up the double truth, which the psalmist has learned to grasp more -firmly by occasion of his doubts. To be absent from God is to perish. -Distance from Him is separation from life. Drawing near to Him is the -only good; and the psalmist has deliberately chosen it as _his_ good, -let worldly prosperity come or go as it list, or, rather, as God shall -choose. By the effort of his own volition he has made God his refuge, -and, safe in Him, he can bear the sorrows of the godly, and look -unenvying on the fleeting prosperity of sinners, while, with insight -drawn from communion, he can recount with faith and praise all God's -works, and find in none of them a stumbling-block, nor fail to find in -any of them material for a song of thankfulness. - - - - - PSALM LXXIV. - - 1 Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off for ever? - [Why] smokes Thine anger against the flock of Thy pasture? - 2 Remember Thy congregation [which] Thou didst acquire of old, - Didst redeem [to be] the tribe of Thine inheritance, - Mount Zion, on which Thou hast dwelt. - 3 Lift up Thy steps to the everlasting ruins, - The enemy has marred everything in the sanctuary. - - 4 Thine adversaries roared in the midst of the place where Thou - dost meet [us], - They set up their signs as signs. - 5 They seem like one who heaves on high - Axes against a thicket of trees. - 6 And now--its carved work altogether - With hatchet and hammers they break down. - 7 They have set on fire Thy sanctuary, - [Rasing it] to the ground, they have profaned the dwelling-place - of Thy name. - 8 They have said in their heart, Let us crush them altogether. - They have burned all meeting-places of God in the land. - 9 Our signs we see not, - There is no prophet any more, - And there is no one who knows how long. - - 10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach? - Shall the enemy despise Thy name for ever? - 11 Why dost Thou draw back Thy hand, even Thy right hand? - From the midst of Thy bosom [pluck it and] consume [them]. - - 12 Yet God is my king from of old, - Working salvations in the midst of the earth. - 13 Thou, Thou didst divide the sea by Thy strength, - Didst break the heads of monsters on the waters. - 14 Thou, Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, - That Thou mightest give him [to be] meat for a people--the desert - beasts. - 15 Thou, Thou didst cleave [a way for] fountain and torrent; - Thou, Thou didst dry up perennial streams. - 16 Thine is day, Thine also is night, - Thou, Thou didst establish light and sun. - 17 Thou, Thou didst set all the bounds of the earth; - Summer and winter, Thou, Thou didst form them. - - 18 Remember this--the enemy reviles Jehovah, - And a foolish people despises Thy name. - 19 Give not up to the company of greed Thy turtle dove, - The company of Thine afflicted forget not for ever. - 20 Look upon the covenant, - For the dark places of the land are full of habitations of - violence. - 21 Let not the oppressed turn back ashamed, - Let the afflicted and needy praise Thy name. - 22 Rise, O God, plead Thine own cause, - Remember Thy reproach from the foolish all the day. - 23 Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries, - The tumult of them which rise against Thee goes up continually. - - -Two periods only correspond to the circumstances described in this -psalm and its companion (lxxix.)--namely, the Chaldean invasion and -sack of Jerusalem, and the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes. The -general situation outlined in the psalm fits either of these; but, of -its details, some are more applicable to the former and others to the -later period. The later date is strongly supported by such complaints -as those of the cessation of prophecy (ver. 9), the flaunting of -the invaders' signs in the sanctuary (ver. 4), and the destruction -by fire of all the "meeting-places of God in the land" (ver. 8). On -the other hand, the earlier date better fits other features of the -psalm--since Antiochus did not destroy or burn, but simply profaned -the Temple, though he did, indeed, set fire to the gates and porch, -but to these only. It would appear that, on either hypothesis, -something must be allowed for poetical colouring. Calvin, whom -Cheyne follows in this, accounts for the introduction of the burning -of the Temple into a psalm referring to the desolation wrought by -Antiochus, by the supposition that the psalmist speaks in the name of -the "faithful, who, looking on the horrid devastation of the Temple, -and being warned by so sad a sight, carried back their thoughts to -that conflagration by which it had been destroyed by the Chaldeans, -and wove the two calamities together into one." It is less difficult -to pare down the statement as to the burning of the Temple so as to -suit the later date, than that as to the silence of prophecy and -the other characteristics mentioned, so as to fit the earlier. The -question is still further complicated by the similarities between the -two psalms and Jeremiah (compare ver. 4 with Lam. ii. 7, and ver. 9 -with Lam. ii. 9). The prophet's well-known fondness for quotations -gives probability, other things being equal, to the supposition that -he is quoting the psalm, which would, in that case, be older than -Lamentations. But this inference scarcely holds good, if there are -other grounds on which the later date of the psalm is established. It -would be very natural in a singer of the Maccabean period to go back -to the prophet whose sad strains had risen at another black hour. On -the whole, the balance is in favour of the later date. - -The psalm begins with a complaining cry to God (vv. 1-3), which passes -into a piteous detail of the nation's misery (vv. 4-9), whence it -rises into petition (vv. 10, 11), stays trembling faith by gazing upon -His past deeds of help and the wonders of His creative power (vv. -12-17), and closes with beseeching God to vindicate the honour of His -own name by the deliverance of His people (vv. 18-23). - -The main emphasis of the prayer in vv. 1-3 lies on the pleas which -it presents, drawn from Israel's relation to God. The characteristic -Asaphic name "Thy flock" stands in ver. 1, and appeals to the -Shepherd, both on the ground of His tenderness and of His honour as -involved in the security of the sheep. A similar appeal lies in the -two words "acquire" and "redeem," in both of which the deliverance -from Egypt is referred to,--the former expression suggesting the -price at which the acquisition was made, as well as the obligations -of ownership; and the latter, the office of the Goel, the -Kinsman-Redeemer, on whom devolved the duty of obtaining satisfaction -for blood. The double designations of Israel as "Thy congregation" and -as "the tribe of Thine inheritance" probably point to the religious -and civil aspects of the national life. The strongest plea is put -last--namely, God's dwelling on Zion. For all these reasons, the -psalmist asks and expects Him to come with swift footsteps to the -desolations, which have endured so long that the impatience of despair -blends with the cry for help, and calls them "everlasting," even while -it prays that they may be built up again. The fact that the enemy -of God and of His flock has marred everything _in the sanctuary_ is -enough, the psalmist thinks, to move God to action. - -The same thought, that the nation's calamities are really dishonouring -to God, and therefore worthy of His intervention, colours the whole -of the description of these in vv. 4-9. The invaders are "_Thine_ -adversaries." It is "in the place where _Thou_ didst meet us" that -their bestial noises, like those of lions over their prey, echo. It -is "_Thy_ sanctuary" which they have set on fire, "the dwelling-place -of _Thy_ name" which they have profaned. It is "_Thy_ meeting-places" -which they have burned throughout the land. Only at the end of the -sad catalogue is the misery of the people touched on, and that, not -so much as inflicted by human foes, as by the withdrawal of God's -Spirit. This is, in fact, the dominant thought of the whole psalm. -It says very little about the sufferings resulting from the success -of the enemy, but constantly recurs to the insult to God, and the -reproach adhering to His name therefrom. The essence of it all is in -the concluding prayer, "Plead _Thine own_ cause" (ver. 22). - -The vivid description of devastation in these verses presents some -difficulties in detail, which call for brief treatment. The "signs" in -ver. 4 _b_ may be taken as military, such as banners or the like; but -it is more in accordance with the usage of the word to suppose them -to be religious emblems, or possibly idols, such as Antiochus thrust -upon the Jews. In vv. 5 and 6 a change of tense represents the action -described in them, as if in progress at the moment before the singer's -eyes. "They seem" is literally "He is known" (or _makes himself -known_), which may refer to the invaders, the change from plural to -singular being frequent in Hebrew; or it may be taken impersonally, -= "It seems." In either case it introduces a comparison between the -hacking and hewing by the spoilers in the Temple, and the work of a -woodman swinging on high his axe in the forest. "And now" seems to -indicate the next step in the scene; which the psalmist picturesquely -conceives as passing before his horror-stricken sight. The end of that -ill-omened activity is that at last it succeeds in shattering the -carved work, which, in the absence of statues, was the chief artistic -glory of the Temple. All is hewed down, as if it were no more than -so much growing timber. With ver. 7 the tenses change to the calmer -tone of historical narration. The plundered Temple is set on fire--a -point which, as has been noticed above, is completely applicable only -to the Chaldean invasion. Similarly, the next clause, "they have -profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name to the ground," does not apply -in literality to the action of Antiochus, who did indeed desecrate, -but did not destroy, the Temple. The expression is a pregnant one, -and calls for some such supplement as is given above, which, however, -dilutes its vigour while it elucidates its meaning. In ver. 8 the word -"let us crush them" has been erroneously taken as a noun, and rendered -"their brood," a verb like "we will root out" being supplied. So the -LXX. and some of the old versions, followed by Hitzig and Baethgen. -But, as Delitzsch well asks,--Why are only the children to be rooted -out? and why should the object of the action be expressed, and not -rather the action, of which the object would be self-evident? The -"meeting-places of God in the land" cannot be old sanctuaries, nor -the high places, which were Israel's sin; for no psalmist could have -adduced the destruction of these as a reason for God's intervention. -They can only be the synagogues. The expression is a strong argument -for the later date of the psalm. Equally strong is the lament in ver. -9 over the removal of the "signs"--_i.e._, as in ver. 4, the emblems -of religion, or the sacrifices and festivals, suppressed by Antiochus, -which were the tokens of the covenant between God and Israel. The -silence of prophecy cannot be alleged of the Chaldean period without -some straining of facts and of the words here; nor is it true that -then there was universal ignorance of the duration of the calamity, -for Jeremiah had foretold it. - -Vv. 10 and 11 are the kernel of the psalm, the rest of which is -folded round them symmetrically. Starting from this centre and working -outwards, we note that it is preceded by six verses dilating on the -profanations of the name of God, and followed by six setting forth -the glories of that name in the past. The connection of these two -portions of the psalm is obvious. They are, as it were, the inner -shell round the kernel. The outer shell is the prayer in three verses -which begins the psalm, and that in six verses which closes it. Ver. -10 takes up the despairing "How long" from the end of the preceding -portion, and turns it into a question to God. It is best to ask Him, -when ignorance pains us. But the interrogation does not so much beg -for enlightenment as to the duration of the calamity as for its -abbreviation. It breathes not precisely impatience, but longing that -a state of things so dishonouring to God should end. That aspect, and -not personal suffering, is prominent in the verse. It is "Thy name" -which is insulted by the adversaries actions, and laid open to their -contempt, as the name of a Deity powerless to protect His worshippers. -Their action "reproaches," and His inaction lets them "despise," His -name. The psalmist cannot endure that this condition should drag on -indefinitely, as if "for ever," and his prayer-question "How long?" is -next exchanged for another similar blending of petition and inquiry, -"_Why_ dost Thou draw back Thy hand?" Both are immediately translated -into that petition which they both really mean. "From the midst of Thy -bosom consume," is a pregnant phrase, like that in ver. 7 _b_, and has -to be completed as above, though, possibly, the verb stands absolutely -as equivalent to "make an end"--_i.e._, of such a state of things. - -The psalmist's petition is next grounded on the revelation of God's -name in Israel's past, and in creative acts of power. These at once -encourage him to expect that God will pluck His hand out from the folds -of His robe, where it lies inactive, and appeal to God to be what He -has been of old, and to rescue the name which He has thus magnified -from insult. There is singular solemnity in the emphatic reiteration -of "Thou" in these verses. The Hebrew does not usually express the -pronominal nominative to a verb, unless special attention is to be -called to it; but in these verses it does so uniformly, with one -exception, and the sevenfold repetition of the word brings forcibly into -view the Divine personality and former deeds which pledge God to act -now. Remembrance of past wonders made present misery more bitter, but it -also fanned into a flame the spark of confidence that the future would -be like the past. One characteristic of the Asaph psalms is wistful -retrospect, which is sometimes the basis of rebuke, and sometimes of -hope, and sometimes of deepened sorrow, but is here in part appeal to -God and in part consolation. The familiar instances of His working -drawn from the Exodus history appear in the psalm. First comes the -dividing of the Red Sea, which is regarded chiefly as occasioning the -destruction of the Egyptians, who are symbolised by the "sea-monsters" -and by "leviathan" (the crocodile). Their fate is an omen of what the -psalmist hopes may befall the oppressors of his own day. There is -great poetic force in the representation that the strong hand, which -by a stroke parted the waters, crushed by the same blow the heads of -the foul creatures who "floated many a rood" on them. And what an end -for the pomp of Pharaoh and his host, to provide a meal for jackals -and the other beasts of the desert, who tear the corpses strewing -the barren shore! The meaning is completely misapprehended when "the -people inhabiting the wilderness" is taken to be wild desert tribes. -The expression refers to animals, and its use as designating them has -parallels (as Prov. xxx. 25, 26). - -In ver. 15 another pregnant expression occurs, which is best filled -out as above, the reference being to cleaving the rock for the flow of -water, with which is contrasted in _b_ the drying up of the Jordan. -Thus the whole of the Exodus period is covered. It is noteworthy that -the psalmist adduces only wonders wrought on waters, being possibly -guided in his selection by the familiar poetic use of floods and seas -as emblems of hostile power and unbridled insolence. From the wonders -of history he passes to those of creation, and chiefly of that might -by which times alternate and each constituent of the Kosmos has its -appointed limits. Day and night, summer and winter, recur by God's -continual operation. Is there to be no dawning for Israel's night of -weeping, and no summer making glad the winter of its discontent? "Thou -didst set all the bounds of the earth,"--wilt Thou not bid back this -surging ocean which has transgressed its limits and filled the breadth -of Thy land? All the lights in the sky, and chiefly the greatest of -them, Thou didst establish,--surely Thou wilt end this eclipse in -which Thy people grope. - -Thus the psalmist lifts himself to the height of confident though -humble prayer, with which the psalm closes, recurring to the opening -tones. Its centre is, as we have seen, a double remonstrance--"How -long?" and "Why?" The encircling circumference is earnest -supplication, of which the keynote is "Remember" (vv. 2 and 18). - -The gist of this closing prayer is the same appeal to God to defend -His own honour, which we have found in the former verses. It is put in -various forms here. Twice (vv. 18 and 22) God is besought to remember -the reproach and contumely heaped on his name, and apparently warranted -by His inaction. The claim of Israel for deliverance is based in ver. 19 -upon its being "_Thy_ turtle dove," which therefore cannot be abandoned -without sullying Thy fame. The psalmist spreads the "covenant" before -God, as reminding Him of His obligations under it. He asks that such -deeds may be done as will give occasion to the afflicted and needy -to "praise Thy name," which is being besmirched by their calamities. -Finally, in wonderfully bold words, he calls on God to take up what -is, after all, "His own" quarrel, and, if the cry of the afflicted -does not move Him, to listen to the loud voices of those who blaspheme -Him all the day. Reverent earnestness of supplication sometimes sounds -like irreverence; but, "when the heart's deeps boil in earnest," God -understands the meaning of what sounds strange, and recognises the -profound trust in His faithfulness and love which underlies bold words. - -The precise rendering of ver. 19 is very doubtful. The word rendered -above by "company" may mean _life_ or _a living creature_, or, -collectively, a _company_ of such. It has been taken in all these -meanings here, and sometimes in one of them in the first clause, -and in another in the second, as most recently by Baethgen, who -renders "Abandon not to _the beast_" in _a_, and "_The life of_ -thine afflicted" in _b_. But it must have the same meaning in both -clauses, and the form of the word shows that it must be construed -in both with a following "of." If so, the rendering adopted above -is best, though it involves taking the word rendered "greed" (lit., -soul) in a somewhat doubtful sense. This rendering is adopted in the -R.V. (margin), and is, on the whole, the least difficult, and yields -a probable sense. Delitzsch recognises the necessity for giving the -ambiguous word the same meaning in both clauses, and takes that -meaning to be "creature," which suits well enough in _a_, but gives -a very harsh meaning to _b_. "Forget not Thy poor animals for ever" -is surely an impossible rendering. Other attempts have been made to -turn the difficulty by textual alteration. Hupfeld would transpose two -words in _a_, and so gets "Give not up to rage the life of Thy dove." -Cheyne corrects the difficult word into "to the sword," and Graetz -follows Dyserinck in preferring "to death," or Krochmal, who reads "to -destruction." If the existing text is retained, probably the rendering -adopted above is best. - - - - - PSALM LXXV. - - 1 We give thanks to Thee, O God, we give thanks; - And [that] Thy name is near, Thy wondrous works declare - - 2 "When I seize the set time, - I, I judge [in] equity. - 3 Dissolved [in fear] are earth and its inhabitants: - I, I set firm its pillars. Selah. - 4 I say to the fools, be not foolish: - And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: - 5 Lift not up your horn on high; - Speak not with stiff neck." - - 6 For not from east, nor from west, - And not from the wilderness is lifting up. - 7 For God is judge: - This one He abases, and that one He lifts up. - 8 For a cup is in the hands of Jehovah, - And it foams with wine; it is full of mixture, - And He pours out from it: - Yea, its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth gulp down and - drink. - - 9 And as for me, I will declare [it] for ever, - I will harp to the God of Jacob. - 10 And all the horns of the wicked will I cut off: - Exalted shall be the horns of the righteous. - - -This psalm deals with the general thought of God's judgment in -history, especially on heathen nations. It has no clear marks of -connection with any particular instance of that judgment. The -prevalent opinion has been that it refers, like the next psalm, to the -destruction of Sennacherib's army. There are in it slight resemblances -to psalm xlvi., and to Isaiah's prophecies regarding that event, -which support the conjecture. Cheyne seems to waver, as on page 148 -of "Orig. of Psalt." he speaks of "the two Maccabean psalms, lxxiv. -and lxxv.," and on page 166 concludes that they "may be Maccabean, ... -but we cannot claim for this view the highest degree of probability, -especially as neither psalm refers to any warlike deeds of Israelites. -It is safer, I think, to ... assign them at the earliest to one of the -happier parts of the Persian age." It is apparently still safer to -refrain from assigning them to any precise period. - -The kernel of the psalm is a majestic Divine utterance, proclaiming -God's judgment as at hand. The limits of that Divine word are doubtful, -but it is best taken as occupying two pairs of verses (2-5). It is -preceded by one verse of praise, and followed by three (6-8) of warning -spoken by the psalmist, and by two (9, 10,) in which he again praises -God the Judge, and stands forth as an instrument of His judicial acts. - -In ver. 1, which is as a prelude to the great Voice from heaven, we hear -the nation giving thanks beforehand for the judgment which is about to -fall. The second part of the verse is doubtful. It may be taken thus: -"And Thy name is near; they (_i.e._, men) declare Thy wondrous works." -So Delitzsch, who comments: The Church "welcomes the future acts of God -with fervent thanks, and all they that belong to it declare beforehand -God's wondrous works." Several modern scholars, among whom are Graetz, -Baethgen, and Cheyne, adopt a textual alteration which gives the -reading, "They who call upon Thy name declare," etc. But the rendering -of the A.V., which is also that of Hupfeld and Perowne, gives a good -meaning. All God's deeds in history proclaim that He is ever at hand to -help. His name is His character as revealed by His self-manifestation; -and this is the glad thanks-evoking lesson, taught by all the past and -by the judicial act of which the psalm is the precursor--that He is near -to deliver His people. As Deut. iv. 7 has it, "What nation is there that -hath God so near unto them?" - -The Divine voice breaks in with majestic abruptness, as in Psalm xlvi. -10. It proclaims impending judgment, which will restore society, -dissolving in dread or moral corruption, and will abase insolent -wickedness, which is therefore exhorted to submission. In ver. 2 two -great principles are declared--one in regard to the time and the other -in regard to the animating spirit of God's judgment. Literally, the -first words of the verse run, "When I lay hold of the appointed time." -The thought is that He has His own appointed time at which His power -will flash forth into act, and that till that moment arrives evil is -permitted to run its course, and insolent men to play their "fantastic -tricks" before an apparently indifferent or unobserving God. His -servants are tempted to think that He delays too long; His enemies, that -He will never break His silence. But the slow hand traverses the dial -in time, and at last the hour strikes and the crash comes punctually -at the moment. The purposes of delay are presented in Scripture as -twofold: on the one hand, "that the long-suffering of God may lead to -repentance"; and on the other, that evil may work itself out and show -its true character. To learn the lesson that, "when the set time is -come," judgment will fall, would save the oppressed from impatience -and despondency and the oppressor from dreams of impunity. It is a -law fruitful for the interpretation of the world's history. The other -fundamental truth in this verse is that the principle of God's judgment -is equity, rigid adherence to justice, so that every act of man's shall -receive accurately "its just recompense of reward." The "I" of ver. 2 -_b_ is emphatic. It brings to view the lofty personality of the Judge, -and asserts the operation of a Divine hand in human affairs, while it -also lays the basis for the assurance that, the judgment being His, and -He being what He is, it must be "according to truth." - -Such a "set time" has arrived, as ver. 3 proceeds to declare. Oppression -and corruption have gone so far that "the earth and its inhabitants" are -as if "dissolved." All things are rushing to ruin. The psalmist does -not distinguish between the physical and the moral here. His figure is -employed in reference to both orders, which he regards as indissolubly -connected. Possibly he is echoing Psalm xlvi. 6, "The earth melted," -though there the "melting" is an expression for dread occasioned by -God's voice, and here rather refers to the results of "the proud man's -wrong." At such a supreme moment, when the solid framework of society -and of the world itself seems to be on the point of dissolution, the -mighty Divine Personality intervenes; that strong hand is thrust forth -to grasp the tottering pillars and stay their fall; or, in plain words, -God Himself then intervenes to re-establish the moral order of society, -and thus to save the sufferers. (Comp. Hannah's song in 1 Sam. ii. 8.) -That intervention has necessarily two aspects, being on the one hand -restorative, and on the other punitive. Therefore in vv. 4 and 5 follow -Divine warnings to the "fools" and "wicked," whose insolent boasting and -tyranny have provoked it. The word rendered "fools" seems to include -the idea of boastfulness as well as folly in the Biblical sense of -that word, which points to moral rather than to merely intellectual -aberration. "Lifting up the horn" is a symbol of arrogance. According to -the accents, the word rendered "stiff" is not to be taken as attached to -"neck", but as the object of the verb "speak," the resulting translation -being, "Speak not arrogance with a [stretched out] neck"; and thus -Delitzsch would render. But it is more natural to take the word in its -usual construction as an epithet of "neck", expressive of superciliously -holding a high head. Cheyne follows Baethgen in altering the text so as -to read "rock" for "neck"--a slight change which is supported by the -LXX. rendering ("Speak not unrighteousness against God")--and renders -"nor speak arrogantly of the rock." Like the other advocates of a -Maccabean date, he finds here a reference to the mad blasphemies of -Antiochus Epiphanes; but the words would suit Rabshakeh's railings quite -as well. - -The exact point where the Divine oracle passes into the psalmist's own -words is doubtful. Ver. 7 is evidently his; and that verse is so closely -connected with ver. 6 that it is best to make the break at the end of -ver. 5, and to suppose that what follows is the singer's application -of the truths which he has heard. Two renderings of ver. 6 _b_ are -possible, which, though very different in English, turn on the minute -difference in the Hebrew of one vowel sign. The same letters spell the -Hebrew word meaning _mountains_ and that meaning _lifting up_. With -one punctuation of the preceding word "wilderness," we must translate -"from the wilderness of mountains"; with another, the two words are less -closely connected, and we must render, "from the wilderness is lifting -up." If the former rendering is adopted, the verse is incomplete, and -some phrase like "help comes" must be supplied, as Delitzsch suggests. -But "lifting up" occurs so often in this psalm, that it is more natural -to take the word in that meaning here, especially as the next verse ends -with it, in a different tense, and thus makes a sort of rhyme with this -verse. "The wilderness of mountains," too, is a singular designation, -either for the Sinaitic peninsula or for Egypt, or for the wilderness of -Judah, which have all been suggested as intended here. "The wilderness" -stands for the south, and thus three cardinal points are named. Why is -the north omitted? If "lifting up" means deliverance, the omission may -be due to the fact that Assyria (from which the danger came, if we adopt -the usual view of the occasion of the psalm) lay to the north. But the -meaning in the rest of the psalm is not _deliverance_, and the psalmist -is addressing the "foolish boasters" here and that consideration takes -away the force of such an explanation of the omission. Probably no -significance attaches to it. The general idea is simply that "lifting -up" does not come from any quarter of earth, but, as the next verse goes -on to say, solely from God. How absurd, then, is the self-sufficient -loftiness of godless men! How vain to look along the low levels of -earth, when all true elevation and dignity come from God! The very -purpose of His judicial energy is to abase the lofty and raise the low. -His hand lifts up, and there is no secure or lasting elevation but that -which He effects. His hand casts down, and that which attracts His -lightnings is "the haughtiness of man." The outburst of His judgment -works like a volcanic eruption, which flings up elevations in valleys -and shatters lofty peaks. The features of the country are changed after -it, and the world looks new. The metaphor of ver. 8, in which judgment -is represented as a cup of foaming wine, which God puts to the lips of -the nations, receives great expansion in the prophets, especially in -Jeremiah, and recurs in the Apocalypse. There is a grim contrast between -the images of festivity and hospitality called up by the picture of a -host presenting the wine cup to his guests, and the stern compulsion -which makes the "wicked" gulp down the nauseous draught held by God to -their reluctant lips. The utmost extremity of punitive inflictions, -unflinchingly inflicted, is suggested by the terrible imagery. And the -judgment is to be world-wide; for "all the wicked of the earth" are to -drink, and that to the dregs. - -And how does the prospect affect the psalmist? It moves him, first, -to solemn praise--not only because God has proved Himself by these -terrible things in righteousness to be the God of His people, but -also because He has thereby manifested His own character as righteous -and hating evil. It is no selfish nor cruel joy which stirs in -devout hearts, when God comes forth in history and smites oppressing -insolence. It is but a spurious benevolence which affects to recoil -from the conception of a God who judges and, when needful, smites. -This psalmist not only praised, but in his degree vowed to imitate. - -The last verse is best understood as his declaration of his own -purpose, though some commentators have proposed to transfer it to the -earlier part of the psalm, regarding it as part of the Divine oracle. -But it is in its right place where it stands. God's servants are His -instruments in carrying out His judgments; and there is a very real -sense in which all of them should seek to fight against dominant evil -and to cripple the power of tyrannous godlessness. - - - - - PSALM LXXVI. - - 1 Known in Judah is God, - In Israel is His name great. - 2 And in Salem was His tent [pitched], - And His dwelling in Zion. - 3 There He shivered the lightnings of the bow, - Shield and sword and battle. Selah. - - 4 Effulgent art Thou [and] glorious - From the mountains of prey [everlasting mountains?]. - 5 Spoiled are the stout of heart, they slumber [into] their sleep, - And none of the men of might have found their hands. - 6 At Thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, - Both chariot and horse are sunk in deep sleep. - - 7 Thou! dread art Thou, - And who can stand before Thee, in the time of Thine anger? - 8 From heaven didst Thou make judgment heard, - Earth feared and was stilled, - 9 At the rising of God for judgment - To save all the afflicted of the earth. Selah. - - 10 For the wrath of man shall praise Thee, - [With] the residue of wraths Thou girdest Thyself. - 11 Vow and pay to Jehovah your God, - Let all around Him bring presents to the Terrible One. - 12 He cuts down the [lofty] spirit of princes, - A dread to the kings of the earth. - - -In contents and tone this psalm is connected with Psalms xlvi. and -xlviii. No known event corresponds so closely with its allusions -as the destruction of Sennacherib's army, to which the LXX. in -its superscription refers it. The singer is absorbed in the one -tremendous judgment which had delivered the dwelling-place of Jehovah. -His song has but one theme--God's forth-flashing of judgment on Zion's -foes. One note of thankfulness sounds at the close, but till then all -is awe. The psalm is divided into four strophes, of three verses each. -The former two describe the act; the latter two deal with its results, -in an awed world and thankful praise. - -The emphatic words in the first strophe are those which designate -the scene of the Divine act. The glow of humble pride, of wonder and -thankfulness, is perceptible in the fourfold reiteration--"in Judah, -in Israel, in Salem, in Zion"; all which names are gathered up in -the eloquent "There" of ver. 3. The true point of view from which to -regard God's acts is that they are His Self-revelation. The reason -why Israel is the object of the acts which manifest His name is that -there He has chosen to dwell. And, since He dwells there, the special -act of judgment which the psalm celebrates was there performed. "The -lightnings of the bow" picturesquely designate arrows, from their -swift flight and deadly impact. (Compare Psalm xlvi. 9.) - -The second strophe (vv. 4-6) comes closer to the fact celebrated, and -describes, with magnificent sweep, brevity, and vividness, the death -sleep of the enemy. But, before it shows the silent corpses, it lifts -one exclamation of reverence to the God who has thus manifested His -power. The word rendered "Effulgent" is doubtful, and by a slight -transposition of letters becomes, as in ver. 7 which begins the next -strophe, "dread." In ver. 4 _b_ the rendering "more excellent than," -etc., yields a comparison which can scarcely be called worthy. It -is little to say of God that He is more glorious than the enemies' -"mountains of prey," though Delitzsch tries to recommend this -rendering, by supposing that God is represented as towering above "the -Lebanon of the hostile army of peoples." The Hebrew idiom expresses -comparison by the preposition _from_ appended to the adjective in -its simple form, and it is best here to take the construction as -indicating point of departure rather than comparison. God comes forth -as "glorious," from the lofty heights where He sits supreme. But -"mountains of prey" is a singular phrase, which can only be explained -by the supposition that God is conceived of as a Conqueror, who has -laid up His spoils in His inaccessible store-house on high. But the -LXX. translates "_everlasting_ mountains," which fits the context -well, and implies a text, which might easily be misinterpreted as -meaning "prey," which misinterpretation may afterwards have crept into -the body of the text. If this alteration is not adopted, the meaning -will be as just stated. - -Ver. 5 gives some support to the existing text, by its representation -of the stout-hearted foe as "spoiled." They are robbed of their might, -their weapons, and their life. How graphically the psalmist sets -before the eyes of his readers the process of destruction from its -beginning! He shows us the warriors falling asleep in the drowsiness -of death. How feeble their "might" now! One vain struggle, as in the -throes of death, and the hands which shot the "lightnings of the bow" -against Zion are stiff for evermore. One word from the sovereign -lips of the God of Jacob, and all the noise of the camp is hushed, -and we look out upon a field of the dead, lying in awful stillness, -dreamlessly sleeping their long slumber. - -The third strophe passes from description of the destruction of the -enemy to paint its widespread results in the manifestation to a -hushed world of God's judgment. In it anger and love are wondrously -blended; and while no creature can bear the terrible blaze of His -face, nor endure the weight of His onset "in the time of His anger," -the most awful manifestations thereof have a side of tenderness and -an inner purpose of blessing. The core of judgment is mercy. It is -worthy of God to smite the oppressor and to save the "afflicted," who -not only suffer, but trust. When He makes His judgments reverberate -from on high, earth should keep an awed stillness, as nature does when -thunder peals. When some gigantic and hoary iniquity crashes to its -fall, there is a moment of awed silence after the hideous tumult. - -The last strophe is mainly a summons to praise God for His manifestation -of delivering judgment. Ver. 10 is obscure. The first clause is -intelligible enough. Since God magnifies His name by His treatment of -opposing men, who set themselves against Him, their very foaming fury -subserves His praise. That is a familiar thought with all the Scripture -writers who meditate on God's dealings. But the second clause is -hard. Whose "wraths" are spoken of in it? God's or man's? The change -from the singular ("wrath of man") to plural ("wraths") in _b_ makes -it all but certain that God's fulness of "wrath" is meant here. It -is set over against the finite and puny "wrath" of men, as an ocean -might be contrasted with a shallow pond. If so, God's girding Himself -with the residue of His own wrath will mean that, after every such -forth-putting of it as the psalm has been hymning, there still remains -an unexhausted store ready to flame out if need arise. It is a stern and -terrible thought of God, but it is solemnly true. His loving-kindness -out-measures man's, and so does His judicial judgment. All Divine -attributes partake of Infinitude, and the stores of His punitive anger -are not less deep than those of His gentle goodness. - -Therefore men are summoned to vow and pay their vows; and while Israel -is called to worship, the nations around, who have seen that field of -the dead, are called to do homage and bring tribute to Him who, as -it so solemnly shows, can cut off the breath of the highest, or can -cut down their pride, as a grape-gatherer does the ripe cluster (for -such is the allusion in the word "cuts down"). The last clause of the -psalm, which stands somewhat disconnected from the preceding, gathers -up the lessons of the tremendous event which inspired it, when it sets -Him forth as to be feared by the kings of the earth. - - - - - PSALM LXXVII. - - 1 [I would lift] my voice to God and cry; - [I would lift] my voice to God, that He may give ear to me. - 2 In the day of my straits I sought the Lord: - My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; - My soul refused to be comforted. - 3 [When] I remember God, I must sigh; - [When] I muse, my spirit is covered [with gloom]. Selah. - - 4 Thou hast held open the guards of my eyes: - I am buffeted, and cannot speak. - 5 I considered the days of old, - The years of ancient times. - 6 I would remember my song in the night: - In my heart I would muse,--and my spirit made anxious search. - - 7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? - And will He continue no more to be favourable? - 8 Is His loving-kindness ended for ever? - Has His promise failed for all generations? - 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? - Or has He in anger drawn in His compassions? Selah. - - 10 Then I said, It is my sickness; - [But I will remember] the years of the right hand of the Most - High. - 11 I will celebrate the deeds of Jah; - For I will remember Thy wonders of old. - 12 And I will meditate on all Thy work, - And will muse on Thy doings. - - 13 O God, in holiness is Thy way: - Who is a great God like God? - 14 Thou, Thou art the God who doest wonders: - Thou hast made known among the peoples Thy strength. - 15 Thou hast redeemed with Thine arm Thy people, - The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. - - 16 The waters saw Thee, O God; - The waters saw Thee, they writhed in pangs: - Yea, the abysses trembled. - 17 The clouds were poured out [in] water; - The skies gave [forth] a voice: - Yea, Thine arrows went to and fro. - 18 The voice of Thy thunder was in [Thy] chariot wheel; - Lightnings illumined the world: - The earth trembled and shook. - 19 In the sea was Thy way, - And Thy paths in great waters, - And Thy footprints were not known. - 20 Thou leadest Thy people like sheep, - By the hand of Moses and Aaron. - - -The occasion of the profound sadness of the first part of this psalm -may be inferred from the thoughts which brighten it into hope in the -second. These were the memories of past national deliverance. It is -natural to suppose that present national disasters were the causes -of the sorrow which enveloped the psalmist's spirit and suggested -questions of despair, only saved from being blasphemous because -they were so wistful. But it by no means follows that the singer is -simply the personified nation. The piercing tone of individual grief -is too clear, especially in the introductory verses, to allow of -that hypothesis. Rather, the psalmist has taken into his heart the -troubles of his people. Public calamity has become personal pain. -What dark epoch has left its marks in this psalm remains uncertain. -If Delitzsch's contention that Habakkuk iii. is in part drawn from -it were indubitably established, the attribution of the psalm to the -times of Josiah would be plausible; but there is, at least, room for -doubt whether there has been borrowing, and if so, which is original -and which echo. The calamities of the Exile in their severity and -duration would give reasonable ground for the psalmist's doubts -whether God had not cast off His people for ever. No brief or partial -eclipse of His favour would supply adequate occasion for these. - -The psalm falls into two parts, in the former of which (vv. 1-9) deepest -gloom wraps the singer's spirit, while in the latter (vv. 10-20) the -clouds break. Each of these parts falls into three strophes, usually of -three verses; but in the concluding strophe, consisting of five, Selah -stands at the end of the first and third, and is not present at the end -of the second, because it is more closely connected with the third than -with the first. In like manner the first strophe of the second part (vv. -10-12) has no Selah, but the second has (vv. 13-15); the closing strophe -(vv. 16-20) being thus parted off. - -The psalmist's agitation colours his language, which fluctuates in the -first six verses between expressions of resolve or desire (vv. 1, 3, -6) and simple statement of fact (vv. 2, 4, 5). He has prayed long and -earnestly, and nothing has been laid in answer on his outstretched -palm. Therefore his cry has died down into a sigh. He fain would lift -his voice to God, but dark thoughts make him dumb for supplication, -and eloquent only in self-pitying monologue. A man must have waded -through like depths to understand this pathetic bewilderment of -spirit. They who glide smoothly over a sunlit surface of sea little -know the terrors of sinking, with choked lungs, into the abyss. A -little experience will go further than much learning in penetrating -the meaning of these moanings of lamed faith. They begin with an -elliptical phrase, which, in its fragmentary character, reveals the -psalmist's discomposure. "My voice to God" evidently needs some such -completion as is supplied above; and the form of the following verb -("cry") suggests that the supplied one should express wish or effort. -The repetition of the phrase in 1 _b_ strengthens the impression of -agitation. The last words of that clause may be a petition, "give -ear," but are probably better taken as above. The psalmist would fain -cry to God, that he may be heard. He has cried, as he goes on to -tell in calmer mood in ver. 2, and has apparently not been heard. He -describes his unintermitted supplications by a strong metaphor. The -word rendered "stretched out" is literally _poured out_ as water, and -is applied to weeping eyes (Lam. iii. 49). The Targum substitutes eye -for hand here, but that is commentary, not translation. The clause -which we render "without ceasing" is literally "and grew not stiff." -That word, too, is used of tears, and derivatives from it are found in -the passage just referred to in Lamentations ("intermission"), and in -Lam. ii. 18 ("rest"). It carries on the metaphor of a stream, the flow -of which is unchecked. The application of this metaphor to the hand -is harsh, but the meaning is plain--that all night long the psalmist -extended his hand in the attitude of prayer, as if open to receive -God's gift. His voice "rose like a fountain night and day"; but -brought no comfort to his soul; and he bewails himself, in the words -which tell of Jacob's despair when he heard that Joseph was dead. _So_ -rooted and inconsolable does he think his sorrows. The thought of -God has changed its nature, as if the sun were to become a source of -darkness. When he looks up, he can only sigh; when he looks within, -his spirit is clothed or veiled--_i.e._, wrapped in melancholy. - -In the next strophe of three verses (vv. 4-6) the psalmist plunges -yet deeper into gloom, and unfolds more clearly its occasion. Sorrow, -like a beast of prey, devours at night; and every sad heart knows how -eyelids, however wearied, refuse to close upon as wearied eyes, which -gaze wide opened into the blackness and see dreadful things there. -This man felt as if God's finger was pushing up his lids and forcing -him to stare out into the night. Buffeted, as if laid on an anvil and -battered with the shocks of doom, he cannot speak; he can only moan, -as he is doing. Prayer seems to be impossible. But to say, "I cannot -pray; would that I could!" is surely prayer, which will reach its -destination, though the sender knows it not. The psalmist had found no -ease in remembering God. He finds as little in remembering a brighter -past. That he should have turned to history in seeking for consolation -implies that his affliction was national in its sweep, however -intensely personal in its pressure. This retrospective meditation -on the great deeds of old is characteristic of the Asaph psalms. It -ministers in them to many moods, as memory always does. In this psalm -we have it feeding two directly opposite emotions. It may be the nurse -of bitter Despair, or of bright-eyed Hope. When the thought of God -occasions but sighs, the remembrance of His acts can only make the -present more doleful. The heavy spirit finds reasons for heaviness -in God's past and in its own. The psalmist in his sleepless vigils -remembers other wakeful times, when his song filled the night with -music and "awoke the dawn." Ver. 6 is parallel with ver. 3. The three -key-words, _remember_, _muse_, _spirit_, recur. There, musing ended -in wrapping the spirit in deeper gloom. Here, it stings that spirit -to activity in questionings, which the next strophe flings out in -vehement number and startling plainness. It is better to be pricked -to even such interrogations by affliction than to be made torpid by -it. All depends on the temper in which they are asked. If that is -right, answers which will scatter gloom are not far off. - -The comparison of present national evils with former happiness naturally -suggests such questions. Obviously, the casting off spoken of in ver. -7 is that of the nation, and hence its mention confirms the view that -the psalmist is suffering under public calamities. All the questions -mean substantially one thing--has God changed? They are not, as some -questions are, the strongest mode of asserting their negative; nor are -they, like others, a more than half assertion of their affirmative; -but they are what they purport to be--the anxious interrogations of an -afflicted man, who would fain be sure that God is the same as ever, -but is staggered by the dismal contrast of Now and Then. He faces with -trembling the terrible possibilities, and, however his language may seem -to regard failure of resources or fickleness of purpose or limitations -in long-suffering as conceivable in God, his doubts are better put into -plain speech than lying diffused and darkening, like poisonous mists, in -his heart. A thought, be it good or bad, can be dealt with when it is -made articulate. Formulating vague conceptions is like cutting a channel -in a bog for the water to run. One gets it together in manageable shape, -and the soil is drained. So the end of the despondent half of the psalm -is marked by the bringing to distinct speech of the suspicions which -floated in the singer's mind and made him miserable. The Selah bids -us dwell on the questions, so as to realise their gravity and prepare -ourselves for their answer. - -The second part begins in ver. 10 with an obscure and -much-commented-on verse, of which two explanations are possible, -depending mainly on the meanings of the two words "sickness" and -"years." The former word may mean "my wounding" or "my sickness." The -latter is by many commentators taken to be an infinitive verb, with -the signification _to be changed_, and by others to be a plural noun -meaning "_years_," as in ver. 6. Neglecting some minor differences, -we may say that those who understand the word to mean _being changed_ -explain the whole thus: "This is my wound (misery, sorrow), that the -right hand of the Most High has changed." So the old versions, and -Hupfeld, Perowne, and Baethgen. But the use of the word in ver. 6 for -"years" creates a strong presumption that its sense is the same here. -As to the other word, its force is best seen by reference to a closely -parallel passage in Jer. x. 19--"I said, Truly this is my grief -(margin, _sickness_), and I must bear it"; where the word for _grief_, -though not the same as in the psalm, is cognate. The most probable -meaning, then, for the expression here is, "This my affliction is -sent from God, and I must bear it with resignation." Then follows an -elevating thought expressed in its simplest form like an exclamation, -"_the years_," etc.--_i.e.,_, "I will remember (comp. ver. 6) the -time when the right hand of Jehovah had the pre-eminence" (Cheyne, -_in loc._). Delitzsch leaves the ellipsis unfilled, and takes the -whole to mean that the psalmist says to himself that the affliction -allotted will only last for the time which the mighty hand of God -has determined. The rendering adopted above avoids the awkwardness -of using the same word in two different senses in the same context, -yields an appropriate meaning, especially in view of the continual -references to remembering, and begins the new strophe with a new note -of hopefulness, whereas the other renderings prolong the minor key of -the first part into the second. It is therefore to be preferred. The -revolution in feeling is abrupt. All is sunny and bright in the last -half. What makes the change? The recognition of two great truths: -first, that the calamity is laid on Israel, and on the psalmist as -a member of the nation, by God, and has not come because of that -impossible change in Him which the bitter questions had suggested; -and, second, the unchangeable eternity of God's delivering power. That -second truth comes to him as with a flash, and the broken words of -ver. 10 _b_ hail the sudden rising of the new star. - -The remainder of the psalm holds fast by that thought of the great -deeds of God in the past. It is a signal example of how the same facts -remembered may depress or gladden, according to the point of view from -which they are regarded. We can elect whether memory shall nourish -despondency or gladness. Yet the alternative is not altogether a matter -of choice; for the only people to whom "remembering happier things" need -not be "a sorrow's crown of sorrow" are those who see God in the past, -and so are sure that every joy that was and is not shall yet again be, -in more thrilling and lasting form. If He shines out on us from the -east that we have left behind, His brightness will paint the western -sky towards which we travel. Beneath confidence in the perpetuity of -past blessings lies confidence in the eternity of God. The "years of the -right hand of the Most High" answer all questions as to His change of -purpose or of disposition, and supply the only firm foundation for calm -assurance of the future. Memory supplies the colours with which Hope -paints her truest pictures. "That which hath been is that which shall -be" may be the utterance of the _blase_ man of the world, or of the -devout man who trusts in the living God, and therefore knows that - - "There shall never be one lost good! - What was shall live as before." - -The strophe in vv. 13-15 fixes on the one great redeeming act of the -Exodus as the pledge of future deeds of a like kind, as need requires. -The language is deeply tinged with reminiscences of Exod. xv. "In -holiness" (not "in the sanctuary"), the question "Who is so great a -God?" the epithet "Who doest wonders," all come from Exod. xv. 11. -"[Thine] arm" in the psalm recalls "By the greatness of Thine arm" in -Exodus (ver. 16), and the psalmist's "redeemed Thy people" reproduces -"the people which Thou hast redeemed" (Exod. xv. 13). The separate -mention of "sons of Joseph" can scarcely be accounted for, if the -psalm is prior to the division of the kingdoms. But the purpose of the -designation is doubtful. It may express the psalmist's protest against -the division as a breach of ancient national unity or his longings for -reunion. - -The final strophe differs from the others in structure. It contains -five verses instead of three, and the verses are (with the exception -of the last) composed of three clauses each instead of two. Some -commentators have supposed that vv. 16-19 are an addition to the -original psalm, and think that they do not cohere well with the -preceding. This view denies that there is any allusion in the closing -verses to the passage of the Red Sea, and takes the whole as simply a -description of a theophany, like that in Psalm xviii. But surely the -writhing of the waters as if in pangs at the sight of God is such an -allusion. Ver. 19, too, is best understood as referring to the path -through the sea, whose waters returned and covered God's footprints -from human eyes. Unless there is such a reference in vv. 16-19, the -connection with the preceding and with ver. 20 is no doubt loose. But -that is not so much a reason for denying the right of these verses -to a place in the psalm as for recognising the reference. Why should -a mere description of a theophany, which had nothing to do with the -psalmist's theme, have been tacked on to it? No doubt, the thunders, -lightnings, and storm so grandly described here are unmentioned in -Exodus; and, quite possibly, may be simply poetic heightening of the -scene, intended to suggest how majestic was the intervention which -freed Israel. Some commentators, indeed, have claimed the picture -as giving additional facts concerning the passage of the Red Sea. -Dean Stanley, for example, has worked these points into his vivid -description; but that carries literalism too far. - -The picture in the psalm is most striking. The continuous short -clauses crash and flash like the thunders and lightnings. That -energetic metaphor of the waters writhing as if panic-struck is more -violent than Western taste approves, but its emotional vigour as a -rendering of the fact is unmistakable. "Thine arrows went to and fro" -is a very imperfect transcript of the Hebrew, which suggests the -swift zigzag of the fierce flashes. In ver. 18 the last word offers -some difficulty. It literally means _a wheel_, and is apparently -best rendered as above, the thunder being poetically conceived of as -the sound of the rolling wheels of God's chariot. There are several -coincidences between vv. 16-19 of the psalm and Hab. iii. 10-15: -namely, the expression "writhed in pain," applied in Habakkuk to -the mountains; the word rendered "overflowing" (A.V.) or "tempest" -(R.V.) in Hab. v. 10, cognate with the verb in ver. 17 of the psalm, -and there rendered "poured out"; the designation of lightnings as -God's arrows. Delitzsch strongly maintains the priority of the psalm; -Hupfeld as strongly that of the prophet. - -The last verse returns to the two-claused structure of the earlier part. -It comes in lovely contrast with the majestic and terrible picture -preceding, like the wonderful setting forth of the purpose of the other -theophany in Psalm xviii., which was for no higher end than to draw one -poor man from the mighty waters. All this pomp of Divine appearance, -with lightnings, thunders, a heaving earth, a shrinking sea, had for its -end the leading the people of God to their land, as a shepherd does his -flock. The image is again an echo of Exod. xv. 13. The thing intended is -not merely the passage of the Red Sea, but the whole process of guidance -begun there amid the darkness. Such a close is too abrupt to please -some commentators. But what more was needful or possible to be said, in -a retrospect of God's past acts, for the solace of a dark present? It -was more than enough to scatter fears and flash radiance into the gloom -which had wrapped the psalmist. He need search no further. He has found -what he sought; and so he hushes his song, and gazes in silence on the -all-sufficient answer which memory has brought to all his questions and -doubts. Nothing could more completely express the living, ever-present -worth of the ancient deeds of God than the "abruptness" with which this -psalm ceases rather than ends. - - - - - PSALM LXXVIII. - - 1 Give ear, my people, to my law, - Bow your ear to the sayings of my mouth. - 2 I will open my mouth in a parable, - I will utter riddles from the ancient days, - 3 What we have heard and known - And our fathers have told us, - 4 We will not hide from their sons, - Recounting to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, - And His might and the wonders that He has done. - - 5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, - And appointed a law in Israel, - Which He commanded our fathers - To make known to their children; - 6 In order that the generation to come might know, - The children who should be born, - [Who] should rise up and tell to their children, - 7 That they might place their confidence in God, - And not forget the deeds of God, - But keep His commandments; - 8 And not be as their fathers, - A stubborn and rebellious generation, - A generation that did not make its heart steadfast, - And whose spirit was not faithful towards God. - - 9 The children of Ephraim, bearing [and] drawing bows, - Turned back in the day of onset. - 10 They kept not the covenant of God, - And in His law they refused to walk, - 11 And they forgot His doings, - And the wonders which He had showed them. - 12 Before their fathers He did marvels, - In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. - 13 He cleft the sea and let them pass through, - And He reared up the waters like a heap of corn, - 14 And He guided them in a cloud by day - And all night in a fiery light. - 15 He cleft rocks in the wilderness, - And gave them drink abundantly, as [from] ocean depths. - 16 And He brought forth streams from the cliff, - And made waters to flow down like rivers. - - 17 But they went on to sin yet more against Him, - To rebel against the Most High in the desert. - 18 And they tempted God in their heart, - In asking meat after their desire. - 19 And they spoke against God, they said, - "Is God able to spread a table in the wilderness? - 20 Behold, He struck a rock, and waters gushed forth, - And torrents flowed out. - Is He able to give bread also? - Or will He prepare flesh for His people?" - - 21 Jehovah heard and was wroth, - And a fire was kindled in Jacob, - And wrath also went up against Israel. - 22 For they did not believe in God, - And trusted not in His salvation. - 23 And He commanded the clouds above, - And opened the doors of heaven, - 24 And rained upon them manna to eat, - And gave them the corn of heaven. - 25 Men did eat the bread of the Mighty Ones; - He sent them sustenance to the full. - - 26 He made the east wind go forth in the heavens, - And guided the south wind by His power; - 27 And He rained flesh upon them like dust, - And winged fowls like the sand of the seas, - 28 And let it fall in the midst of their camp, - Round about their habitations. - 29 So they ate and were surfeited, - And their desires He brought to them. - - 30 They were not estranged from their desires - Their food was yet in their mouths. - 31 And the wrath of God rose against them, - And slew the fattest of them, - And struck down the young men of Israel. - 32 For all this they sinned yet more, - And believed not in His wonders. - 33 So He made their days to vanish like a breath, - And their years in suddenness. - - 34 When He slew them, then they inquired after Him, - And returned and sought God earnestly. - 35 And they remembered that God was their rock, - And God Most High their redeemer. - 36 And they flattered Him with their mouth, - And with their tongue they lied to Him, - 37 And their heart was not steadfast with Him, - And they were not faithful to His covenant. - - 38 But He is compassionate, covers iniquity, and destroys not; - Yea, many a time He takes back His anger, - And rouses not all His wrath. - 39 So He remembered that they were [but] flesh, - A wind that goes and comes not again. - - 40 How often did they provoke Him in the wilderness, - Did they grieve Him in the desert! - 41 Yea, again and again they tempted God, - And the Holy One of Israel they vexed. - 42 They remembered not His hand, - The day when He set them free from the adversary, - 43 When He set forth His signs in Egypt, - And His wonders in the field of Zoan. - 44 And He turned to blood their Nile streams, - And their streams they could not drink. - - 45 He sent amongst them flies that devoured them, - And frogs that destroyed them. - 46 And He gave their increase to the caterpillar, - And their toil to the locust. - 47 He killed their vines with hail, - And their sycamores with frost. [?] - 48 And He gave their cattle up to the hail, - And their flocks to the lightnings. - - 49 He sent against them the heat of His anger, - Wrath and indignation and trouble, - A mission of angels of evil. - 50 He levelled a path for His anger, - He spared not their souls from death, - But delivered over their life to the pestilence. - 51 And He smote all the first-born of Egypt, - The firstlings of [their] strength in the tents of Ham. - - 52 And He made His people go forth like sheep, - And guided them like a flock in the desert. - 53 And He led them safely, that they did not fear, - And the sea covered their enemies. - 54 And He brought them to His holy border, - This mountain, which His right hand had won. - 55 And He drove out the nations before them, - And allotted them by line as an inheritance, - And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. - - 56 But they tempted and provoked God Most High, - And His testimonies they did not keep. - 57 And they turned back and were faithless like their fathers, - They were turned aside like a deceitful bow; - 58 And they provoked Him to anger with their high places, - And with their graven images they moved Him to jealousy. - 59 God heard and was wroth, - And loathed Israel exceedingly. - - 60 So that He rejected the habitation of Shiloh, - The tent [which] He had pitched among men. - 61 And He gave His strength to captivity, - And His beauty into the hand of the adversary. - 62 And He delivered His people to the sword, - And against His inheritance He was wroth. - 63 Their young men the fire devoured, - And their maidens were not praised in the marriage-song. - 64 Their priests fell by the sword, - And their widows made no lamentation. - - 65 Then the Lord awoke as one that had slept, - Like a warrior shouting because of wine. - 66 And He beat His adversaries back, - He put on them a perpetual reproach. - 67 And He loathed the tent of Joseph, - And the tribe of Ephraim He did not choose. - 68 But He chose the tribe of Judah, - Mount Zion, which He loved. - - 69 And He built His sanctuary like [heavenly] heights, - Like the earth which He has founded for ever. - 70 And He chose David His servant, - And took him from the sheepfolds; - 71 From following the ewes that give suck, He brought him - To feed Jacob His people, - And Israel His inheritance. - 72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, - And with the skilfulness of his hands he guided them. - - -This psalm is closely related to Psalms cv.-cvii. - -Like them, it treats the history of Israel, and especially the Exodus -and wilderness wanderings, for purposes of edification, rebuke, -and encouragement. The past is held up as a mirror to the present -generation. It has been one long succession of miracles of mercy met -by equally continuous ingratitude, which has ever been punished by -national calamities. The psalm departs singularly from chronological -order. It arranges its contents in two principal masses, each -introduced by the same formula (vv. 12, 43) referring to "wonders in -Egypt and the field of Zoan." But the first mass has nothing to do -with Egypt, but begins with the passage of the Red Sea, and is wholly -occupied with the wilderness. The second group of wonders begins in -ver. 44 with the plagues of Egypt, touches lightly on the wilderness -history, and then passes to the early history of Israel when settled -in the land, and finishes with the establishment of David on the -throne. It is difficult to account for this singular _bouleversement_ -of the history. But the conjecture may be hazarded that its reason -lies in the better illustration of continual interlacing of mercy -and unthankfulness afforded by the events in the wilderness, than by -the plagues of Egypt. That interlacing is the main point on which -the psalmist wishes to lay stress, and therefore he begins with the -most striking example of it. The use of the formula in ver. 12 looks -as if his original intention had been to follow the order of time. -Another peculiarity is the prominence given to Ephraim, both in ver. -9 as a type of faithlessness, and in ver. 67 as rejected in favour of -Judah. These references naturally point to the date of the psalm as -being subsequent to the separation of the kingdoms; but whether it is -meant as rebuke to the northern kingdom, or as warning to Judah from -the fate of Ephraim, is not clear. Nor are there materials for closer -determination of date. The tone of the closing reference to David -implies that his accession belongs to somewhat remote times. - -There are no regular strophes, but a tendency to run into paragraphs -of four verses, with occasional irregularities. - -Vv. 1-4 declare the singer's didactic purpose. He deeply feels the -solidarity of the nation through all generations--how fathers and -children are knit by mystic ties, and by possession of an eternal -treasure, the mighty deeds of God, of which they are bound to pass on -the record from age to age. The history of ancient days is "a parable" -and a "riddle" or "dark saying," as containing examples of great -principles, and lessons which need reflection to discern and draw out. -From that point of view, the psalmist will sum up the past. He is not -a chronicler, but a religious teacher. His purpose is edification, -rebuke, encouragement, the deepening of godly fear and obedience. In a -word, he means to give the spirit of the nation's history. - -Vv. 5-8 base this purpose on God's declared will that the knowledge of -His deeds for Israel might be handed down from fathers to sons. The -obligations of parents for the religious training of their children, -the true bond of family unity, the ancient order of things when oral -tradition was the principal means of preserving national history, -the peculiarity of this nation's annals, as celebrating no heroes -and recording only the deeds of God by men, the contrast between the -changing bearers of the story and the undying deeds which they had -to tell, are all expressed in these verses, so pathetic in their -gaze upon the linked series of short-lived men, so stern in their -final declaration that Divine commandment and mercy had been in -vain, and that, instead of a tradition of goodness, there had been -a transmission of stubbornness and departure from God, repeating -itself with tragic uniformity. The devout poet, who knows what God -meant family life to be and to do, sadly recognises the grim contrast -presented by its reality. But yet he will make one more attempt to -break the flow of evil from father to son. Perhaps his contemporaries -will listen and shake themselves clear of this entail of disobedience. - -The reference to Ephraim in vv. 9-11 is not to be taken as alluding -to any cowardly retreat from actual battle. Ver. 9 seems to be a -purely figurative way of expressing what is put without a metaphor in -the two following verses. Ephraim's revolt from God's covenant was -like the conduct of soldiers, well armed and refusing to charge the -foe. The better their weapons, the greater the cowardice and ignominy -of the recreants. So the faithlessness of Ephraim was made darker -in criminality by its knowledge of God and experience of His mercy. -These should have knit the tribe to Him. A general truth of wide -application is implied--that the measure of capacity is the measure of -obligation. Guilt increases with endowment, if the latter is misused. -A poor soldier, with no weapon but a sling or a stick, might sooner be -excused for flight than a fully armed archer. The mention of Ephraim -as prominent in faithlessness may be an allusion to the separation -of the kingdoms. That allusion has been denied on the ground that it -is the wilderness history which is here before the psalmist's mind. -But the historical retrospect does not begin till ver. 12, and this -introduction may well deal with an event later than those detailed in -the following verses. Whether the revolt of the Ten Tribes is here in -view or not, the psalmist sees that the wayward and powerful tribe of -Ephraim had been a centre of religious disaffection, and there is no -reason why his view should not be believed, or should be supposed to -be due to mere prejudiced hostility. - -The historical details begin with ver. 12, but, as has been noticed -above, the psalmist seems to change his intention of first narrating -the wonders in Egypt, and passes on to dilate on the wilderness -history. "The field of Zoan" is the territory of the famous Egyptian -city of Tzan, and seems equivalent to the Land of Goshen. The wonders -enumerated are the familiar ones of the passage of the Red Sea, the -guidance by the pillar of cloud and fire, and the miraculous supply of -water from the rock. In vv. 15, 16, the poet brings together the two -instances of such supply, which were separated from each other by the -forty years of wandering, the first having occurred at Horeb in the -first year, and the second at Kadesh in the last year. The two words -"rocks," in ver. 15, and "cliff," in ver. 16, are taken from the two -narratives of these miracles, in Exod. xvii. and Numb. xx. - -The group of four verses (13-16) sets forth God's mighty deeds; the next -quartet of verses (17-20) tells of Israel's requital. It is significant -of the thoughts which filled the singer's heart, that he begins the -latter group with declaring that, notwithstanding such tokens of God's -care, the people "went on to sin yet more," though he had specified no -previous acts of sin. He combines widely separated instances of their -murmurings, as he had combined distant instances of God's miraculous -supply of water. The complaints which preceded the fall of the manna -and the first supply of quails (Exod. xvi.), and those which led to -the second giving of these (Numb. xi.) are thrown together, as one in -kind. The speech put into the mouths of the murmurers in vv. 19, 20, is -a poetic casting into bitter, blasphemous words of the half-conscious -thoughts of the faithless, sensuous crowd. They are represented as -almost upbraiding God with His miracle, as quite unmoved to trust by -it, and as thinking that it has exhausted His power. When they were -half dead with thirst, they thought much of the water, but now they -depreciate that past wonder as a comparatively small thing. So, to the -churlish heart, which cherishes eager desires after some unattained -earthly good, past blessings diminish as they recede, and leave neither -thankfulness nor trust. There is a dash of intense bitterness and -ironical making light of their relation to God in their question, -"Can He provide flesh for _His people_?" Much good that name has done -us, starving here! The root of all this blasphemous talk was sensuous -desire; and because the people yielded to it, they "tempted God"--that -is, they "unbelievingly and defiantly demanded, instead of trustfully -waiting and praying" (Delitzsch). To ask food for their desires was sin; -to ask it for their need would have been faith. - -In ver. 21 the allusion is to the "fire of the Lord," which, according -to Numb. xi. 3, burnt in the camp, just before the second giving of -quails. It comes in here out of chronological order, for the sending -of manna follows it; but the psalmist's didactic purpose renders him -indifferent to chronology. The manna is called "corn of heaven" and -"bread of the Mighty Ones"--_i.e._, angels, as the LXX. renders the -word. Both designations point to its heavenly origin, without its -being necessary to suppose that the poet thought of angels as really -eating it. The description of the fall of the quails (vv. 26-29) is -touched with imaginative beauty. The word rendered above "made to go -forth" is originally applied to the breaking up an encampment, and -that rendered "guided" to a shepherd's leading of his flock. Both -words are found in the Pentateuch, the former in reference to the wind -that brought the quails (Numb. xi. 31), the latter in reference to -that which brought the plague of locusts (Exod. x. 13). So the winds -are conceived of as God's servants, issuing from their tents at His -command, and guided by Him as a shepherd leads his sheep. "He let it -fall in the midst of their camp" graphically describes the dropping -down of the wearied, storm-beaten birds. - -Vv. 30-33 paint the swift punishment of the people's unbelief, in -language almost identical with Numb. xi. 33. The psalmist twice -stigmatises their sin as "lust," and uses the word which enters -into the tragical name given to the scene of the sin and the -punishment--Kibroth-Hat _taavah_ (the graves of Lust). In vv. 32, 33, -the faint-hearted despondency after the return of the spies, and the -punishment of it by the sentence of death on all that generation, seem -to be alluded to. - -The next group of four verses describes the people's superficial and -transient repentance, "When He slew them they sought Him"--_i.e._, -when the fiery serpents were sent among them. But such seeking after -God, which is properly not seeking Him at all, but only seeking to -escape from evil, neither goes deep nor lasts long. Thus the end of it -was only lip reverence, proved to be false by life, and soon ended. -"Their heart was not steadfast." The pressure being removed, they -returned to their habitual position, as all such penitents do. - -From the midst of this sad narrative of faithlessness, springs up, -like a fountain in a weary land, or a flower among half-cooled lava -blocks, the lovely description of God's forbearance in vv. 38, 39. -It must not be read as if it merely carried on the narrative, and -was in continuation of the preceding clauses. The psalmist does not -say "He _was_ full of compassion," though that would be much, in -the circumstances; but he is declaring God's eternal character. His -compassions are unfailing. It is always His wont to cover sin and to -spare. Therefore He exercised these gracious forbearances towards -those obstinate transgressors. He was true to His own compassion in -remembering their mortality and feebleness. What a melancholy sound, -as of wind blowing among forgotten graves, has that summing up of -human life as "a breath that goes and comes not again"! - -With ver. 40 the second portion of the psalm may be regarded as -beginning. The first group of historical details dealt first with -God's mercies, and passed on to man's requital. The second starts -with man's ingratitude, which it paints in the darkest colours, -as provoking Him, grieving Him, tempting Him, and vexing Him. The -psalmist is not afraid to represent God as affected with such emotions -by reason of men's indifference and unbelief. His language is not to -be waved aside as anthropomorphic and antiquated. No doubt, we come -nearer to the unattainable truth, when we conceive of God as grieved -by men's sins and delighting in their trust, than when we think of Him -as an impassive Infinitude, serenely indifferent to tortured or sinful -hearts. For is not His name of names Love? - -The psalmist traces Israel's sin to forgetfulness of God's mercy, -and thus glides into a swift summing up of the plagues of Egypt, -regarded as conducing to Israel's deliverance. They are not arranged -chronologically, though the list begins with the first. Then follow -three of those in which animals were the destroyers: namely, the -fourth, that of flies; the second, that of frogs; and the eighth, -that of locusts. Then comes the seventh, that of hail; and, according -to some commentators, the fifth, that of the murrain, in ver. 49, -followed by the tenth in ver. 51. But the grand, sombre imagery of -ver. 49 is too majestic for such application. It rather sums up the -whole series of plagues, likening them to an embassy (lit., a sending) -of angels of evil. They are a grim company to come forth from His -presence--Wrath, Indignation, and Trouble. The same power which sent -them out on their errand prepared a way before them; and the crowning -judgment, which, in the psalmist's view was also the crowning mercy, -was the death of the first-born. - -The next quartet of verses (vv. 52-55) passes lightly over the -wilderness history and the settlement in the land, and hastens on to -a renewed narration of repeated rebellion, which occupies the next -group (vv. 56-59). These verses cover the period from the entrance on -Canaan to the fall of the sanctuary of Shiloh, during which there was -a continual tendency to relapse into idolatry. That is the special sin -here charged against the Israel of the time of the Judges. The figure -of a "deceitful bow," in ver. 57, well describes the people as failing -to fulfil the purpose of their choice by God. As such a weapon does -not shoot true, and makes the arrow fly wide, however well aimed and -strongly drawn, so Israel foiled all Divine attempts, and failed to -carry God's message to the world, or to fulfil His will in themselves. -Hence the next verses tell, with intense energy and pathos, the sad -story of Israel's humiliation under the Philistines. The language -is extraordinarily strong in its description of God's loathing and -rejection of the nation and sanctuary, and is instinct with sorrow, -blended with stern recognition of His righteousness in judgment. What -a tragic picture the psalmist draws! Shiloh, the dwelling-place of -God, empty for evermore; the "Glory"--that is, the Ark--in the enemy's -hands; everywhere stiffening corpses; a pall of silence over the land; -no brides and no joyous bridal chaunts; the very priests massacred, -unlamented by their widows, who had wept so many tears already that -the fountain of them was dried up, and even sorrowing love was dumb -with horror and despair! - -The two last groups of verses paint God's great mercy in delivering -the nation from such misery. The daring figure of His awaking as from -sleep and dashing upon Israel's foes, who are also His, with a shout -like that of a hero stimulated by wine, is more accordant with Eastern -fervour than with our colder imagination; but it wonderfully expresses -the sudden transition from a period, during which God seemed passive -and careless of His people's wretchedness, to one in which His power -flashed forth triumphant for their defence. The prose fact is the long -series of victories over the Philistines and other oppressors, which -culminated in the restoration of the Ark, the selection of Zion as -its abode, which involved the rejection of Shiloh and consequently of -Ephraim (in whose territory Shiloh was), and the accession of David. The -Davidic kingdom is, in the psalmist's view, the final form of Israel's -national existence; and the sanctuary, like the kingdom, is perpetual as -the lofty heavens or the firm earth. Nor were his visions vain, for that -kingdom subsists and will subsist for ever, and the true sanctuary, the -dwelling-place of God among men, is still more closely intertwined with -the kingdom and its King than the psalmist knew. The perpetual duration -of both is, in truth, the greatest of God's mercies, outshining all -earlier deliverances; and they who truly have become the subjects of the -Christ, the King of Israel and of the world, and who dwell with God in -His house, by dwelling with Jesus, will not rebel against Him any more, -nor ever forget His wonders, but faithfully tell them to the generations -to come. - - - - - PSALM LXXIX. - - 1 O God, [the] heathen have come into Thine inheritance, - They have profaned Thy holy Temple, - They have made Jerusalem heaps of stones. - 2 They have given the corpses of Thy servants [as] meat to the - fowls of the heavens, - The flesh of Thy favoured Ones to the beasts of the earth. - 3 They have poured out their blood like water round Jerusalem, - And there was none to bury [them]. - 4 We have become a reproach to our neighbours, - A scoff and a scorn to those round us. - - 5 How long, Jehovah, wilt Thou be angry for ever? - [How long] shall Thy jealousy burn like fire? - 6 Pour out Thy wrath upon the heathen who know Thee not, - And upon [the] kingdoms which call not upon Thy name. - 7 For they have eaten up Jacob, - And his pasture have they laid waste. - 8 Remember not against us the iniquities of those before us, - Speedily let Thy compassions [come to] meet us, - For we are brought very low. - - 9 Help us, O God, for the sake of the glory of Thy name, - And deliver us, and cover over our sins for the sake of Thy name. - 10 Why should the heathen say, Where is their God? - Let there be known among the heathen before our eyes - The revenging of the blood of Thy servants which is poured out. - 11 Let there come before Thee the groaning of the captive, - According to the greatness of Thine arm preserve the sons of - death. - 12 And return to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom - Their reproach [with] which they have reproached Thee, O Lord. - - 13 And we, we the people and the flock of Thy pasture, - Will thank Thee for ever; - To generation after generation will we recount Thy praise. - - -The same national agony which was the theme of Psalm lxxiv. forced -the sad strains of this psalm from the singer's heart. There, the -profanation of the Temple, and here, the destruction of the city, are -the more prominent. There, the dishonour to God; here, the distresses -of His people, are set forth. Consequently, confession of sin is -more appropriate here, and prayers for pardon blend with those for -deliverance. But the tone of both psalms is the same, and there are -similarities of expression which favour, though they do not demand, -the hypothesis that the author is the same. Such similarities are the -"how long" (lxxiv. 10 and lxxix. 5); the desecration of the Temple -(lxxiv. 3, 7, and lxxix. 1); the giving over to wild beasts (lxxiv. -19, and lxxix. 2); the reproach of God (lxxiv. 10, 18, 22, and lxxix. -12). The comparison of Israel to a flock is found in both psalms, but -in others of the Asaph group also. - -The same remarks which were made as to the date of the former psalm -apply in this case. Two arguments have, however, been urged against -the Maccabean date. The first is that drawn from the occurrence of -vv. 6, 7, in Jer. x. 25. It is contended that Jeremiah is in the -habit of borrowing from earlier writers, that the verse immediately -preceding that in question is quoted from Psalm vi. 1, and that the -connection of the passage in the psalm is closer than in the prophet, -and, therefore, that the words are presumably _in situ_ here, as also -that the verbal alterations are such as to suggest that the prophet -rather than the psalmist is the adapter. But, on the other hand, -Hupfeld maintains that the connection in Jeremiah is the closer. Not -much weight can be attached to that point, for neither prophet nor -poet can be tied down to cool concatenation of sentences. Delitzsch -claims the verbal alterations as indubitable proofs of the priority -of the prophet, and maintains that "the borrower betrays himself" by -changing the prophet's words into less accurate and elegant ones, -and by omissions which impair "the soaring fulness of Jeremiah's -expressions." The critics who hold that the psalm refers to the -Chaldean invasion, and that Jeremiah has borrowed from it, have to -face a formidable difficulty. The psalm must have been written after -the catastrophe: the prophecy preceded it. How then can the prophet be -quoting the psalm? The question has not been satisfactorily answered, -nor is it likely to be. - -A second argument against the Maccabean date is based upon the -quotation of ver. 3 in 1 Macc. vii. 16, which it introduces by -the usual formula of quotation from Scripture. It is urged that a -composition so recent as the psalm would be, if of Maccabean date, -would not be likely to be thus referred to. But this argument confuses -the date of occurrence recorded in 1 Maccabees with the date of the -record; and there is no improbability in the writer of the book -quoting as Scripture a psalm which had sprung from the midst of the -tragedy which he narrates. - -The strophical division is not perfectly clear, but it is probably -best to recognise three strophes of four verses each, with an -appended verse of conclusion. The first spreads before God His -peoples miseries. The second and third are prayer for deliverance -and confession of sin; but they differ, in that the former strophe -dwells mainly upon the wished-for destruction of the enemy, and the -latter upon the rescue of Israel, while a subordinate diversity is -that ancestral sins are confessed in the one, and those of the present -generation in the other. Ver. 13 stands out of the strophe scheme as -a kind of epilogue. - -The first strophe vividly describes the ghastly sights that wrung -the psalmist's heart, and will, as he trusts, move God's to pity and -help. The same thought as was expressed in Psalm lxxiv. underlies the -emphatic repetition of "Thy" in this strophe--namely, the implication -of God's fair name in His people's disasters. "_Thine_ inheritance" -is invaded, and "_Thy_ holy Temple" defiled by thee "heathen." The -corpses of "_Thy_ servants" lie unburied, torn by vultures' beaks -and jackals' claws. The blood of "_Thy_ favoured Ones" saturates the -ground. It was not easy to hold fast by the reality of God's special -relation to a nation thus apparently deserted, but the psalmist's -faith stood even such a strain, and is not dashed by a trace of doubt. -Such times are the test and triumph of trust. If genuine, it will show -brightest against the blackest background. The word in ver. 1 rendered -"heathen" is usually translated "nations," but here evidently connotes -idolatry (ver. 6). Their worship of strange gods, rather than their -alien nationality, makes their invasion of God's inheritance a tragic -anomaly. The psalmist remembers the prophecy of Micah (iii. 12) that -Jerusalem should become heaps, and sadly repeats it as fulfilled at -last. As already noticed, ver. 3 is quoted in 1 Macc. vii. 16, 17, -and ver. 4 is found in Psalm xliv. 13, which is by many commentators -referred to the Maccabean period. - -The second strophe passes to direct petition, which, as it were, gives -voice to the stiffened corpses strewing the streets, and the righteous -blood crying from the ground. The psalmist goes straight to the cause of -calamity--the anger of God--and, in the close of the strophe, confesses -the sins which had kindled it. Beneath the play of politics and the -madness of Antiochus, he discerned God's hand at work. He reiterates the -fundamental lesson, which prophets were never weary of teaching, that -national disasters are caused by the anger of God, which is excited by -national sins. That conviction is the first element in his petitions. -A second is the twin conviction that the "heathen" are used by God as -His instrument of chastisement, but that, when they have done their -work, they are called to account for the human passion--cruelty, lust of -conquest, and the like--which impelled them to it. Even as they poured -out the blood of God's people, they have God's wrath poured out on them, -because "they have eaten up Jacob." - -The same double point of view is frequently taken by the prophets: for -example, in Isaiah's magnificent prophecy against "the Assyrian" (x. -5 _seq._), where the conqueror is first addressed as "the rod of Mine -anger," and then his "punishment" is foretold, because, while executing -God's purpose, he had been unconscious of his mission, and had been -gratifying his ambition. These two convictions go very deep into "the -philosophy of history." Though modified in their application to modern -states and politics, they are true in substance still. The Goths who -swept down on Rome, the Arabs who crushed a corrupt Christianity, the -French who stormed across Europe, were God's scavengers, gathered -vulture-like round carrion, but they were each responsible for their -cruelty, and were punished "for the fruit of their stout hearts." - -The closing verse of the strophe (ver. 8) is intimately connected -with the next, which we take as beginning the third strophe: but this -connection does not set aside the strophical division, though it -somewhat obscures it. The distinction between the similar petitions of -vv. 8, 9, is sufficient to warrant our recognition of that division, -even whilst acknowledging that the two parts coalesce more closely -than usual. The psalmist knows that the heathen have been hurled -against Israel because God is angry; and he knows that God's anger is -no arbitrarily kindled flame, but one lit and fed by Israel's sins. He -knows, too, that there is a fatal entail by which the iniquities of -the fathers are visited on the children. Therefore, he asks first that -these ancestral sins may not be "remembered," nor their consequences -discharged on the children's heads. "The evil that men do lives after -them," and history affords abundant instances of the accumulated -consequences of ancestors' crimes lighting on descendants that had -abandoned the ancient evil, and were possibly doing their best to -redress it. Guilt is not transmitted, but results of wrong are; and -it is one of the tragedies of history that "one soweth and another -reapeth" the bitter fruit. Upon one generation may, and often does, -come the blood of all the righteous men that many generations have -slain (Matt. xxiii. 35). - -The last strophe (vv. 9-12) continues the strain begun in ver. 8, but -with significant deepening into confession of the sins of the existing -generation. The psalmist knows that the present disaster is no case -of the fathers having eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth -being set on edge, but that he and his contemporaries had repeated -the fathers transgressions. The ground of his plea for cleansing and -deliverance is the glory of God's name, which he emphatically puts -at the end of both clauses of ver. 9. He repeats the same thought in -another form in the question of ver. 10, "Why should the heathen say, -Where is their God?" If Israel, sinful though it is, and therefore -meriting chastisement, is destroyed, there will be a blot on God's -name, and the "heathen" will take it as proof, not that Israel's God -was just, but that He was too feeble or too far off to hear prayers or -to send succours. It is bold faith which blends acknowledgment of sins -with such a conviction of the inextricable intertwining of God's glory -and the sinners' deliverance. Lowly confession is wonderfully wedded -to confidence that seems almost too lofty. But the confidence is in -its inmost core as lowly as the confession, for it disclaims all right -to God's help, and clasps His name as its only but sufficient plea. - -The final strophe dwells more on the sufferings of the survivors than -the earlier parts of the psalm do, and in this respect contrasts with -Psalm lxxiv., which is all but entirely silent as to these. Not only -does the spilt blood of dead confessors cry for vengeance, since they -died for their faith, as "Thy servants," but the groans and sighs of -the living who are captives, and "sons of death"--_i.e._, doomed to -die, if unrescued by God--appeal to Him. The expressions "the groaning -of the captive" and "the sons of death" occur in Psalm cii. 20, from -which, if this is a composition of Maccabean date, they are here -quoted. The strophe ends with recurring to the central thought of both -this and the companion psalm--the reproach on God from His servants' -calamities--and prays that the enemies' taunts may be paid back into -their bosoms sevenfold--_i.e._, in fullest measure. - -The epilogue in ver. 13 has the image of a flock, so frequent in the -Asaph psalms, suggesting tender thoughts of the shepherd's care and -of his obligations. Deliverance will evoke praise, and, instead of -the sad succession of sin and suffering from generation to generation, -the solidarity of the nation will be more happily expressed by ringing -songs, transmitted from father to son, and gathering volume as they -flow from age to age. - - - - - PSALM LXXX. - - 1 Shepherd of Israel, give ear, - Thou who leddest Joseph like a flock, - Thou that sittest [throned upon] the cherubim, shine forth. - 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up Thy strength, - And come for salvation for us. - 3 O God, restore us, - And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. - - 4 Jehovah, God [of] Hosts, - How long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people? - 5 Thou hast made them eat tears [as] bread, - And hast given them to drink [of] tears in large measure. - 6 Thou makest us a strife to our neighbours, - And our enemies mock to their hearts' content. - 7 God [of] Hosts, restore us, - And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. - - 8 A vine out of Egypt didst Thou transplant, - Thou didst drive out the nations and plant it. - 9 Thou didst clear a place before it, - And it threw out its roots and filled the land. - 10 The mountains were covered with its shadow, - And its branches [were like] the cedars of God. - 11 It spread its boughs [even] unto the sea, - And to the River its shoots. - - 12 Why hast Thou broken down its fences, - So that all who pass on the way pluck from it? - 13 The boar of the wood roots it up - And the beasts of the field feed on it. - 14 God [of] Hosts, turn, we beseech Thee, - Look from heaven and see, - And visit this vine. - 15 And protect what Thy right hand has planted, - And the son whom Thou madest strong for Thyself. - 16 Burned with fire is it--cut down; - At the rebuke of Thy countenance they perish. - 17 Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, - Upon the son of man [whom] Thou madest strong for Thyself. - 18 And we will not go back from Thee; - Revive us, and we will invoke Thy name. - 19 Jehovah, God [of] Hosts, restore us, - And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. - - -This psalm is a monument of some time of great national calamity; but -its allusions do not enable us to reach certainty as to what that -calamity was. Two striking features of it have been used as clues -to its occasion--namely, the designation of the nation as "Joseph," -and the mention of the three tribes in ver. 2. Calvin, Delitzsch, -Hengstenberg, and others are led thereby to regard it as a prayer -by an inhabitant of Judah for the captive children of the northern -kingdom; while others, as Cheyne, consider that only the Persian -period explains the usage in question. The name of "Joseph" is applied -to the whole nation in other Asaph psalms (lxxvii. 15; lxxxi. 5). It -is tempting to suppose, with Hupfeld, that this nomenclature indicates -that the ancient antagonism of the kingdoms has passed away with the -captivity of the Ten Tribes, and that the psalmist, a singer in Judah, -looks wistfully to the ideal unity, yearns to see breaches healed, -and the old associations of happier days, when "Ephraim and Benjamin -and Manasseh" encamped side by side in the desert, and marched one -after the other, renewed in a restored Israel. If this explanation of -the mention of the tribes is adopted, the psalm falls in some period -after the destruction of the northern kingdom, but prior to that of -Judah. The prayer in the refrain "turn us" might, indeed, mean "bring -us back from exile," but may as accurately be regarded as asking for -restored prosperity--an explanation which accords better with the rest -of the psalm. We take the whole, then, as a prayer for the nation, -conceived of in its original, long-broken unity. It looks back to the -Divine purpose as expressed in ancient deeds of deliverance, and prays -that it may be fulfilled, notwithstanding apparent thwarting. Closer -definition of date is unattainable. - -The triple refrain in vv. 3, 7, 19, divides the psalm into three -unequal parts. The last of these is disproportionately long, and may -be further broken up into three parts, of which the first (vv. 8-11) -describes the luxuriant growth of Israel under the parable of a vine, -the second (vv. 12-14) brings to view the bitter contrast of present -ruin, and, with an imperfect echo of the refrain, melts into the -petitioning tone of the third (vv. 15-19), which is all prayer. - -In the first strophe "Shepherd of Israel" reminds us of Jacob's -blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh, in which he invoked "the God who -shepherded me all my life long" to "bless the lads," and of the title -in Gen. xlix. 24, "the shepherd, the stone of Israel." The comparison -of the nation to a flock is characteristic of the Asaph psalms, and -here refers to the guidance of the people at the Exodus. Delitzsch -regards the notions of the earthly and heavenly sanctuary as being -blended in the designation of God as sitting throned on the cherubim, -but it is better to take the reference as being to His dwelling in the -Temple. The word rendered "shine forth" occurs in Psalm l. 2, where -it expresses His coming from "Zion," and so it does here. The same -metaphor underlies the subsequent petition in ver. 3. In both God is -thought of as light, and the manifestation of His delivering help is -likened to the blazing out of the sun from behind a cloud. - -In reference to the mention of the tribes in ver. 2, we need only -add to what has been already said, that the petitions of ver. 1, -which look back to the wilderness marches, when the Ark led the van, -naturally suggested the mention of the three tribes who were together -reckoned as "the camp of Ephraim," and who, in the removal of the -encampment, "set forth third"--that is, immediately in the rear of the -tabernacle. The order of march explains not only the collocation here, -but the use of the word "Before." Joseph and Benjamin were children of -the same mother, and the schism which parted their descendants is, to -the psalmist's faith, as transient as unnatural. Once again shall the -old unity be seen, when the brothers' sons shall again dwell and fight -side by side, and God shall again go forth before them for victory. - -The prayer of the refrain, "turn us," is not to be taken as for -restoration from exile, which is negatived by the whole tone of the -psalm, nor as for spiritual quickening, but simply asks for the return -of the glories of ancient days. The petition that God would let -His face shine upon the nation alludes to the priestly benediction -(Numb. vi. 25), thus again carrying us back to the wilderness. Such -a flashing forth is all that is needed to change blackest night into -day. To be "saved" means here to be rescued from the assaults of -hostile nations. The poet was sure that Israel's sole defence was God, -and that one gleam of His face would shrivel up the strongest foes, -like unclean, slimy creatures which writhe and die in sunshine. The -same conviction is valid in a higher sphere. Whatever elevation of -meaning is given to "saved," the condition of it is always this--the -manifestation of God's face. That brings light into all dark hearts. -To behold that light, and to walk in it, and to be transformed by -beholding, as they are who lovingly and steadfastly gaze, is salvation. - -A piteous tale of suffering is wailed forth in the second strophe. -The peculiar accumulation of the Divine names in vv. 4, 19, is found -also in Psalms lix. 5 and lxxxiv. 8. It is grammatically anomalous, -as the word for God (Elohim) does not undergo the modification -which would show that the next word is to be connected with it by -"of." Hence, some have regarded "Ts'bhaoth" (hosts) as being almost -equivalent to a proper name of God, which it afterwards undoubtedly -became; while others have explained the construction by supposing the -phrase to be elliptical, requiring after "God" the supplement "God -of." This accumulation of Divine names is by some taken as a sign of -late date. Is it not a mark of the psalmist's intensity rather than -of his period? In accordance with the Elohistic character of the -Asaph psalms, the common expression "Jehovah of Hosts" is expanded; -but the hypothesis that the expansion was the work of a redactor is -unnecessary. It may quite as well have been that of the author. - -The urgent question "How long?" is not petulant impatience, but -hope deferred, and, though sick at heart, still cleaving to God and -remonstrating for long-protracted calamities. The bold imagery of ver. -4 _b_ cannot well be reproduced in translation. The rendering "wilt -Thou be angry?" is but a feeble reproduction of the vigorous original, -which runs "wilt Thou smoke?" Other psalms (_e.g._, lxxiv. 1) speak -of God's anger as smoking, but here the figure is applied to God -Himself. What a contrast it presents to the petition in the refrain! -That "light" of Israel has become "as a flaming fire." A terrible -possibility of darkening and consuming wrath lies in the Divine -nature, and the very emblem of light suggests it. It is questionable -whether the following words should be rendered "against the prayer -of Thy people," or "while Thy people are praying" (Delitzsch). The -former meaning is in accordance with the Hebrew, with other Scripture -passages, and with the tone of the psalm, and is to be preferred, -as more forcibly putting the anomaly of an unanswering God. Ver. 5 -presents the national sorrows under familiar figures. The people's -food and drink were tears. The words of _a_ may either be rendered -"bread of tears"--_i.e._, eaten with, or rather consisting of, tears; -or, as above, "tears [as] bread." The word rendered "in large measure" -means "the third part"--"of some larger measure." It is found only in -Isa. xl. 12. "The third part of an ephah is a puny measure for the -dust of the earth, [but] it is a large measure for tears" (Delitzsch, -_in loc._). Ver. 6 adds one more touch to the picture--gleeful -neighbours cynically rejoicing to their hearts' content (lit., for -themselves) over Israel's calamities. Thus, in three verses, the -psalmist points to an angry God, a weeping nation, and mocking foes, a -trilogy of woe. On all he bases an urgent repetition of the refrain, -which is made more imploring by the expanded name under which God is -invoked to help. Instead of the simple "God," as in ver. 3, he now -says "God of Hosts." As sense of need increases, a true suppliant goes -deeper into God's revealed character. - -From ver. 8 onwards the parable of the vine as representing Israel -fills the singer's mind. As has been already noticed, this part of -the psalm may be regarded as one long strophe, the parts of which -follow in orderly sequence, and are held closely together, as shown -by the recurrence of the refrain at the close only. Three stages are -discernible in it--a picture of what has been, the contrast of what is -now, and a prayer for speedy help. The emblem of the vine, which has -received so great development in the prophets, and has been hallowed -for ever by our Lord's use of it, seems to have been suggested to the -psalmist by the history of Joseph, to which he has already alluded. -For, in Jacob's blessing (Gen. xlix. 22 _seqq._), Joseph is likened -to a fruitful bough. Other Old Testament writers have drawn out the -manifold felicities of the emblem as applied to Israel. But these need -not concern us here, where the point is rather God's husbandry and the -vine's growth, both of which are in startling contrast with a doleful -present. The figure is carried out with much beauty in detail. The -Exodus was the vine's transplanting; the destruction of the Canaanites -was the grubbing up of weeds to clear the ground for it; the numerical -increase of the people was its making roots and spreading far. In ver. -10 _b_ the rendering may be either that adopted above, or "And the -cedars of God [were covered with] its branches." The latter preserves -the parallelism of clauses and the unity of representation in vv. 10, -11, which will then deal throughout with the spreading growth of the -vine. But the cedars would not have been called "of God,"--which implies -their great size,--unless their dimensions had been in point, which -would not be the case if they were only thought of as espaliers for the -vine. And the image of its running over the great trees of Lebanon is -unnatural. The rendering as above is to be preferred, even though it -somewhat mars the unity of the picture. The extent of ground covered by -the vine is described, in ver. 11, as stretching from the Mediterranean -to the Euphrates (Deut. xi. 24; 1 Kings iv. 24). Such had been the -glories of the past; and they had all been the work of God's hand. - -In ver. 12 the miserable contrast of present desolation is spread -before God, with the bold and yet submissive question "Why?" The -vineyard wall is thrown down, and the vine lies exposed to every -vagrant passenger, and to every destructive creature. Swine from the -woods burrow at its roots, and "whatever moves on the plain" (Psalm -l. 11, the only other place where the expression occurs) feeds on it. -The parallelism forbids the supposition that any particular enemy is -meant by the wild boar. Hupfeld would transpose ver. 16 so as to stand -after ver. 13, which he thinks improves the connection, and brings the -last part of the psalm into symmetrical form, in three equal parts, -containing four verses each. Cheyne would put vv. 14, 15, before vv. -12, 13, and thereby secures more coherence and sequence. But accuracy -in these matters is not to be looked for in such highly emotional -poetry, and perhaps a sympathetic ear may catch in the broken words a -truer ring than in the more orderly arrangement of them by critics. - -Ver. 14 sounds like an imperfect echo of the refrain significantly -modified, so as to beseech that God would "turn" Himself, even as He -had been implored to "turn" his people. The purpose of His turning is -that He may "look and see" the condition of the desolated vineyard, -and thence be moved to interfere for its restoration. The verse may be -regarded as closing one of the imperfectly developed strophes of this -last part; but it belongs in substance to the following petitions, -though in form it is more closely connected with the preceding verses. -The picture of Israel's misery passes insensibly into prayer, and the -burden of that prayer is, first, that God would behold the sad facts, -as the preliminary to His acting in view of them. - -The last part (vv. 15-19) is prayer for God's help, into which forces -itself one verse (16), recurring to the miseries of the nation. It -bursts in like an outcrop of lava, revealing underground disturbance -and fires. Surely that interruption is more pathetic and natural than -is the result obtained by the suggested transpositions. The meaning -of the word in ver. 15 rendered above "protect" is doubtful, and many -commentators would translate it as a noun, and regard it as meaning -"plant," or, as the A.V., "vineyard." The verse would then depend -on the preceding verb in ver. 14, "visit." But this construction is -opposed by the copula (_and_) preceding, and it is best to render -"protect," with a slight change in the vocalisation. There may be an -allusion to Jacob's blessing in ver. 15 _b_, for in it (Gen. xlix. 22) -Joseph is called a "fruitful bough"--lit., "son." If so, the figure of -the vine is retained in ver. 15 _b_ as well as in _a_. - -The apparent interruption of the petitions by ver. 16 is accounted -for by the sharp pang that shot into the psalmist's heart, when he -recalled, in his immediately preceding words, the past Divine acts, -which seemed so contradicted now. But the bitterness, though it surges -up, is overcome, and his petitions return to their former strain in -ver. 17, which pathetically takes up, as it were, the broken thread, -by repeating "right hand" from ver. 15 _a_, and "whom Thou madest -strong for Thyself" from ver. 15 _b_. Israel, not an individual, is -the "man of Thy right hand," in which designation, coupled with "son," -there may be an allusion to the name of Benjamin (ver. 2), the "son -of the right hand." Human weakness and Divine strength clothing it -are indicated in that designation for Israel "the son of man whom -Thou madest strong for Thyself." The inmost purpose of God's gifts -is that their recipients may be "the secretaries of His praise." -Israel's sacred calling, its own weakness, and the strength of the -God who endows it are all set forth, not now as lessons to it, but as -pleas with Him, whose gifts are without repentance, and whose purposes -cannot be foiled by man's unworthiness or opposition. - -The psalm closes with a vow of grateful adhesion to God as the result -of His renewed mercy. They who have learned how bitter a thing it is to -turn away from God, and how blessed when He turns again to them, and -turns back their miseries and their sins, have good reason for not again -departing from Him. But if they are wise to remember their own weakness, -they will not only humbly vow future faithfulness, but earnestly implore -continual help; since only the constant communication of a Divine -quickening will open their lips to call upon God's name. - -The refrain in its most expanded form closes the psalm. Growing -intensity of desire and of realisation of the pleas and pledges hived -in the name are expressed by its successive forms,--God; God of Hosts; -Jehovah, God of Hosts. The faith that grasps all that is contained in -that full-toned name already feels the light of God's face shining -upon it, and is sure that its prayer for salvation is not in vain. - - - - - PSALM LXXXI. - - 1 Shout for joy to God our strength, - Shout aloud to the God of Jacob. - 2 Lift up the song, and sound the timbrel, - The pleasant lyre with the harp. - 3 Blow the trumpet on the new moon, - On the full moon, for the day of our feast. - 4 For this is a statute for Israel, - An ordinance of the God of Jacob. - 5 For a testimony in Joseph He appointed it, - When He went forth over the land of Egypt. - --A language which I know not I hear. - - 6 I removed his shoulder from the burden, - His hands were freed from the basket. - 7 In straits thou didst call and I delivered thee, - I answered thee in the secret place of thunder, - I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah. - 8 Hear, My people, and I will witness to thee; - O Israel, would that thou wouldest hearken to Me! - 9 There shall be no strange god in thee, - And thou shalt not bow down to an alien god. - 10 I, I am Jehovah thy God, - Who brought thee up from the land of Egypt. - Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it. - - 11 But My people hearkened not to My voice, - And Israel did not yield to Me. - 12 Then I let them go in the stubbornness of their heart, - That they might walk in their own counsels. - - 13 Would that My people would hearken to Me, - That Israel would walk in My ways! - 14 Easily would I humble their enemies, - And against their adversaries turn My hand. - 15 The haters of Jehovah would come feigning to Him, - But their time should endure for ever. - 16 And He would feed thee with the fat of wheat, - And with honey from the rock would I satisfy thee. - - -The psalmist summons priests and people to a solemn festival, -commemorative of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and sets forth the -lessons which that deliverance teaches, the learning of which is the -true way of keeping the feast. There has been much discussion as to -which feast is in the psalmist's mind. That of Tabernacles has been -widely accepted as intended, chiefly on the ground that the first -day of the month in which it occurred was celebrated by the blowing -of trumpets, as the beginning of the civil year. This practice is -supposed to account for the language of ver. 3, which seems to imply -trumpet-blowing both at new and full moon. But, on other grounds, -the Passover is more likely to be intended, as the psalm deals with -the manifestations of Divine power attending the beginning of the -Exodus, which followed the first Passover, as well as with those -during the desert sojourn, which alone were commemorated by the -feast of Tabernacles. True, we have no independent knowledge of any -trumpet-blowing on the first day of the Passover month (Nisan); -but Delitzsch and others suggest that from this psalm it may be -inferred "that the commencement of each month, and more especially -the commencement of the month (Nisan), which was at the same time the -commencement of the ecclesiastical year, was signalised by the blowing -of horns." On the whole, the Passover is most probably the feast in -question. - -Olshausen, followed by Cheyne, regards the psalm as made up of two -fragments (vv. 1-5 _a_, and 5 _c_-16). But surely the exhortations -and promises of the latter portion are most relevant to the summons to -the festival contained in the former part, and there could be no more -natural way of preparing for the right commemoration of the deliverance -than to draw out its lessons of obedience and to warn against departure -from the delivering God. Definiteness as to date is unattainable. The -presupposed existence of the full Temple ceremonial shows that the psalm -was not written in exile, nor at a time of religious persecution. Its -warning against idolatry would be needless in a post-exilic psalm, as -no tendency thereto existed after the return from captivity. But beyond -such general indications we cannot go. The theory that the psalm is -composed of two fragments exaggerates the difference between the two -parts into which it falls. These are the summons to the feast (vv. 1-5), -and the lessons of the feast (vv. 6-16). - -Delitzsch suggests that the summons in ver. 1 is addressed to the -whole congregation; that in ver. 2 to the Levites, the appointed -singers and musicians; and that in ver. 3 to the priests who are -intrusted with blowing the Shophar, or horn (Josh. vi. 4, and 2 Chron. -xx. 28). One can almost hear the tumult of joyful sounds, in which the -roar of the multitude, the high-pitched notes of singers, the deeper -clash of timbrels, the twanging of stringed instruments, and the -hoarse blare of rams' horns, mingle in concordant discord, grateful -to Eastern ears, however unmusical to ours. The religion of Israel -allowed and required exuberant joy. It sternly rejected painting and -sculpture, but abundantly employed music, the most ethereal of the -arts, which stirs emotions and longings too delicate and deep for -speech. Whatever differences in form have necessarily attended the -progress from the worship of the Temple to that of the Church, the -free play of joyful emotion should mark the latter even more than the -former. Decorum is good, but not if purchased by the loss of ringing -gladness. The psalmist's summons has a meaning still. - -The reason for it is given in vv. 4, 5 _a_. It--_i.e._, the feast -(not the musical accompaniments)--is appointed by God. The psalmist -employs designations for it, which are usually applied to "the word -of the Lord"; statute, ordinance, testimony, being all found in -Psalms xix., cxix., with that meaning. A triple designation of the -people corresponds with these triple names for the feast. _Israel_, -_Jacob_, and _Joseph_ are synonyms, the use of the last of these -having probably the same force here as in the preceding psalm--namely, -to express the singer's longing for the restoration of the shattered -unity of the nation. The summons to the feast is based, not only on -Divine appointment, but also on Divine purpose in that appointment. -It was "a testimony," a rite commemorative of a historical fact, -and therefore an evidence of it to future times. There is no better -proof of such a fact than a celebration of it, which originates -contemporaneously and continues through generations. The feast in -question was thus simultaneous with the event commemorated, as ver. 5 -_b_ tells. It was God, not Israel, as is often erroneously supposed, -who "went forth." For the following preposition is not "from," which -might refer to the national departure, but "over" or "against," which -cannot have such a reference, since Israel did not, in any sense, go -"over" or "against" the land. God's triumphant forth-putting of power -over the whole land, especially in the death of the first-born, on -the night of the Passover, is meant to be remembered for ever, and is -at once the fact commemorated by the feast, and a reason for obeying -His appointment of it. - -So far the thoughts and language are limpid, but ver. 5 _c_ interrupts -their clear flow. Who is the speaker thus suddenly introduced? What is -the "language" (lit., lip) which he "knew not"? The explanation implied -by the A.V. and R.V., that the collective Israel speaks, and that the -reference is, as in Psalm cxiv. 1, to the "strange language" of the -Egyptians, is given by most of the older authorities, and by Ewald -and Hengstenberg, but has against it the necessity for the supplement -"where," and the difficulty of referring the "I" to the nation. The more -usual explanation in modern times is that the speaker is the psalmist, -and that the language which he hears is the voice of God, the substance -of which follows in the remainder of the psalm. As in Job iv. 16 Eliphaz -could not discern the appearance of the mysterious form that stood -before his eyes, and thus its supernatural character is suggested, so -the psalmist hears an utterance of a hitherto unknown kind, which he -thus implies to have been Divine. God Himself speaks, to impress the -lessons of the past, and to excite the thoughts and feelings which would -rightly celebrate the feast. The glad noises of song, harp, and trumpet -are hushed; the psalmist is silent, to hear that dread Voice, and then -with lowly lips he repeats so much of the majestic syllables as he could -translate into words which it was possible for a man to utter. The -inner coherence of the two parts of the psalm is, on this explanation, -so obvious, that there is no need nor room for the hypothesis of two -fragments having been fused into one. - -The Divine Voice begins with recapitulating the facts which the feast -was intended to commemorate--namely, the act of emancipation from -Egyptian bondage (ver. 6), and the miracles of the wilderness sojourn -(ver. 7). The compulsory labour, from which God delivered the people, is -described by two terms, of which the former (burden) is borrowed from -Exodus, where it frequently occurs (Exod. i. 11, v. 4, vi. 6), and the -latter (basket) is by some supposed to mean the wicker-work implement -for carrying, which the monuments show was in use in Egypt (so LXX., -etc.), and by others to mean an earthen vessel, as "an example of the -work in clay in which the Israelites were engaged" (Hupfeld). The years -of desert wandering are summed up, in ver. 7, as one long continuance -of benefits from God. Whenever they cried to Him in their trouble, He -delivered them. He spoke to them "from the secret place of thunder" -("_My thunder-covert_," Cheyne). That expression is generally taken to -refer to the pillar of cloud, but seems more naturally to be regarded as -alluding to the thick darkness, in which God was shrouded on Sinai, when -He spoke His law amid thunderings and lightnings. "The proving at the -waters of Meribah" is, according to the connection and in harmony with -Exod. xvii. 6, to be regarded as a benefit. "It was meant to serve the -purpose of binding Israel still more closely to its God" (Baethgen). It -is usually assumed that, in this reference to "the waters of Meribah," -the two similar incidents of the miraculous supply of water--one of -which occurred near the beginning of the forty years in the desert, at -"Massah and Meribah" (Exod. xvii. 7), and the other at "the waters of -Meribah," near Kadesh, in the fortieth year--have been blended, or, as -Cheyne says, "confused." But there is no need to suppose that there -is any confusion, for the words of the psalm will apply to the latter -miracle as well as to the former, and, if the former clause refers to -the manifestations at Sinai, the selection of an incident at nearly the -end of the wilderness period is natural. The whole stretch of forty -years is thereby declared to have been marked by continuous Divine care. -The Exodus was begun, continued, and ended amid tokens of His watchful -love. The Selah bids the listener meditate on that prolonged revelation. - -That retrospect next becomes the foundation of a Divine exhortation -to the people, which is to be regarded as spoken originally to Israel -in the wilderness, as ver. 11 shows. Perowne well designates these -verses (8-10) "a discourse within a discourse." They put into words -the meaning of the wilderness experience, and sum up the laws spoken -on Sinai, which they in part repeat. The purpose of God's lavish -benefits was to bind Israel to Himself. "Hear, My people," reminds us -of Deut. v. 1, vi. 4. "I will bear witness to thee" here means rather -solemn warning to, than testifying against, the person addressed. -With infinite pathos, the tone of the Divine Speaker changes from -that of authority to pleading and the utterance of a yearning wish, -like a sigh. "Would that thou wouldest hearken!" God desires nothing -so earnestly as that, but His Divine desire is tragically and -mysteriously foiled. The awful human power of resisting His voice -and of making His efforts vain, the still more awful fact of the -exercise of that power, were clear before the psalmist, whose daring -anthropopathy teaches a deep lesson, and warns us against supposing -that men have to do with an impassive Deity. That wonderful utterance -of Divine wish is almost a parenthesis. It gives a moment's glimpse -into the heart of God, and then the tone of command is resumed. -"In ver. 9 the keynote of the revelation of the law from Sinai is -given; the fundamental command which opens the Decalogue demanded -fidelity towards Jehovah, and forbade idolatry, as the sin of sins" -(Delitzsch). The reason for exclusive devotion to God is based in -ver. 10, as in Exod. xx. 2, the fundamental passage, on His act of -deliverance, not on His sole Divinity. A theoretic Monotheism would -be cold; the consciousness of benefits received from One Hand alone -is the only key that will unlock a heart's exclusive devotion and lay -it at His feet. And just as the commandment to worship God alone is -founded on His unaided delivering might and love, so it is followed -by the promise that such exclusive adhesion to Him will secure the -fulfilment of the boldest wishes, and the satisfying of the most -clamant or hungry desires. "Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it." -It is folly to go to strange gods for the supply of needs, when God -is able to give all that every man can wish. We may be well content -to cleave to Him alone, since He alone is more than enough for each -and for all. Why should _they_ waste time and strength in seeking for -supplies from many, who can find all they need in One? They who put -Him to the proof, and find Him enough, will have, in their experience -of His sufficiency, a charm to protect them from all vagrant desire -to "go further and fare worse." The best defence against temptations -to stray from God is the possession by experience, of His rich gifts -that meet all desires. That great saying teaches, too, that God's -bestowals are practically measured by men's capacity and desire. The -ultimate limit of them is His own limitless grace; but the working -limit in each individual is the individual's receptivity, of which -his expectancy and desire are determining factors. - -In vv. 11, 12, the Divine Voice laments the failure of benefits and -commandments and promises to win Israel to God. There is a world of -baffled tenderness and almost wondering rebuke in the designation of -the rebels as "My people." It would have been no cause of astonishment -if other nations had not listened; but that the tribes bound by so -many kindnesses should have been deaf is a sad marvel. Who should -listen to "My voice" if "My people" do not? The penalty of not -yielding to God is to be left unyielding. The worst punishment of sin -is the prolongation and consequent intensifying of the sin. A heart -that wilfully closes itself against God's pleadings brings on itself -the nemesis, that it becomes incapable of opening, as a self-torturing -Hindoo fakir may clench his fist so long, that at last his muscles -lose their power, and it remains shut for his lifetime. The issue of -such "stubbornness" is walking in their own counsels, the practical -life being regulated entirely by self-originated and God-forgetting -dictates of prudence or inclination. He who will not have the Divine -Guide has to grope his way as well as he can. There is no worse fate -for a man than to be allowed to do as he chooses. "The ditch," sooner -or later, receives the man who lets his active powers, which are in -themselves blind, be led by his understanding, which he has himself -blinded by forbidding it to look to the One Light of Life. - -In ver. 13 the Divine Voice turns to address the joyous crowd of -festal worshippers, exhorting them to that obedience which is the -true keeping of the feast, and holding forth bright promises of -the temporal blessings which, in accordance with the fundamental -conditions of Israel's prosperity, should follow thereon. The sad -picture of ancient rebellion just drawn influences the language in -this verse, in which "My people," "hearken," and "walk" recur. The -antithesis to walking in one's own counsels is walking in God's -ways, suppressing native stubbornness, and becoming docile to His -guidance. The highest blessedness of man is to have a will submissive -to God's will, and to carry out that submission in all details of -life. Self-engineered paths are always hard, and, if pursued to the -end, lead into the dark. The listening heart will not lack guidance, -and obedient feet will find God's way the way of peace which steadily -climbs to unfading light. - -The blessings attached in the psalm to such conformity with God's will -are of an external kind, as was to be expected at the Old Testament -stage of revelation. They are mainly two--victory and abundance. But -the precise application of ver. 15 _b_ is doubtful. Whose "time" is to -"endure for ever"? There is much to be said in favour of the translation -"that so their time might endure for ever," as Cheyne renders, and for -understanding it, as he does, as referring to the enemies who yield -themselves to God, in order that they "might be a never-exhausted -people." But to bring in the purpose of the enemies submission is -somewhat irrelevant, and the clause is probably best taken to promise -length of days to Israel. In ver. 16 the sudden change of persons in -a is singular, and, according to the existing vocalisation, there is -an equally sudden change of tenses, which induces Delitzsch and others -to take the verse as recurring to historical retrospect. The change to -the third person is probably occasioned, as Hupfeld suggests, by the -preceding naming of Jehovah, or may have been due to an error. Such -sudden changes are more admissible in Hebrew than with us, and are very -easily accounted for, when God is represented as speaking. The momentary -emergence of the psalmist's personality would lead him to say "He," and -the renewed sense of being but the echo of the Divine Voice would lead -to the recurrence to the "I," in which God speaks directly. The words -are best taken as in line with the other hypothetical promises in the -preceding verses. The whole verse looks back to Deut. xxxii. 13, 14. -"Honey from the rock" is not a natural product; but, as Hupfeld says, -the parallel "oil out of the flinty rock," which follows in Deuteronomy, -shows that "we are here, not on the ground of the actual, but of -the ideal," and that the expression is a hyperbole for incomparable -abundance. Those who hearken to God's voice will have all desires -satisfied and needs supplied. They will find furtherance in hindrances, -fertility in barrenness; rocks will drop honey and stones will become -bread. - - - - - PSALM LXXXII. - - 1 God stands in the congregation of God, - In the midst of the gods He judges. - - 2 How long win ye judge injustice, - And accept the persons of wicked men? Selah. - 3 Right the weak and the orphan, - Vindicate the afflicted and the poor. - 4 Rescue the weak and needy, - From the hand of the wicked deliver [them]. - - 5 They know not, they understand not, - In darkness they walk to and fro, - All the foundations of the earth totter. - 6 I myself have said, Ye are gods, - And sons of the Most High are ye all. - 7 Surely like men shall ye die, - And like one of the princes shall ye fall. - - 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth, - For Thou, Thou shall inherit all the nations. - - -In Psalm 1. God is represented as gathering His people together -to be judged; in this psalm He has garnered them together for His -judgment on judges. The former psalm begins at an earlier point of -the great Cause than this one does. In it, unnamed messengers go -forth to summons the nation; in this, the first verse shows us the -assembled congregation, the accused, and the Divine Judge standing -in "the midst" in statuesque immobility. An awe-inspiring pause -intervenes, and then the silence is broken by a mighty voice of -reproof and admonition (vv. 2-4). The speaker may be the psalmist, -but the grand image of God as judging loses much of its solemnity -and appropriateness, unless these stern rebukes and the following -verses till the end of ver. 7 are regarded as His voice of judgment. -Ver. 5 follows these rebukes with "an indignant aside from the Judge" -(Cheyne), evoked by obstinate deafness to His words; and vv. 6, 7, -pronounce the fatal sentence on the accused, who are condemned by -their own refusal to hearken to Divine remonstrances. Then, in ver. -8, after a pause like that which preceded God's voice, the psalmist, -who has been a silent spectator, prays that what he has heard in the -inward ear, and seen with the inward eye, may be done before the -nations of the world, since it all belongs to Him by right. - -The scene pictured in ver. 1 has been variously interpreted. "The -congregation of God" is most naturally understood according to the -parallel in Psalm l., and the familiar phrase "the congregation of -Israel" as being the assembled nation. Its interpretation and that -of the "gods" who are judged hang together. If the assembly is the -nation, the persons at the bar can scarcely be other than those who -have exercised injustice on the nation. If, on the other hand, the -"gods" are ideal or real angelic beings, the assembly will necessarily -be a heavenly one. The use of the expressions "The congregation of -Jehovah" (Numb. xxvii. 17, xxxi. 16; Josh. xxii. 16, 17) and "Thy -congregation" (Psalm lxxiv. 2) makes the former interpretation the -more natural, and therefore exercises some influence in determining -the meaning of the other disputed word. The interpretation of "gods" -as angels is maintained by Hupfeld; and Bleek, followed by Cheyne, -goes the fun length of regarding them as patron angels of the nations. -But, as Baethgen says, "that angels should be punished with death -is a thought which lies utterly beyond the Old Testament sphere of -representation," and the incongruity can hardly be reckoned to be -removed by Cheyne's remark, that, since angels are in other places -represented as punished, "it is only a step further" to say that they -are punished with death. If, however, these "gods" are earthly rulers, -the question still remains whether they are Jewish or foreign judges? -The latter opinion is adopted chiefly on the ground of the reference -in ver. 8 to a world-embracing judicial act, which, however, by no -means compels its acceptance, since it is entirely in accordance -with the manner of psalmists to recognise in partial acts of Divine -retribution the operation in miniature of the same Divine power, -which will one day set right all wrongs, and, on occasion of the -smaller manifestation of Divine righteousness, to pray for a universal -judgment. There would be little propriety in summoning the national -assembly to behold judgments wrought on foreign rulers, unless these -alien oppressors were afflicting Israel, of which there is no sure -indications in the psalm. The various expressions for the afflicted -in vv. 3, 4, are taken, by the supporters of the view that the judges -are foreigners, to mean the whole nation as it groaned under their -oppression, but there is nothing to show that they do not rather refer -to the helpless in Israel. - -Our Lord's reference to ver. 6 in John x. 34-38 is, by the present -writer, accepted as authoritatively settling both the meaning and the -ground of the remarkable name of "gods" for human judges. It does not -need that we should settle the mystery of His emptying Himself, or trace -the limits of His human knowledge, in order to be sure that He spoke -truth with authority, when He spoke on such a subject as His own Divine -nature, and the analogies and contrasts between it and the highest -human authorities. His whole argument is worthless, unless the "gods" -in the psalm are men. He tells us why that august title is applied -to them--namely, because to them "the word of God came." They were -recipients of a Divine word, constituting them in their office; and, -in so far as they discharged its duties, their decrees were God's word -ministered by them. That is especially true in a theocratic state such -as Israel, where the rulers are, in a direct way, God's vicegerents, -clothed by Him with delegated authority, which they exercise under His -control. But it is also true about all who are set in similar positions -elsewhere. The office is sacred, whatever its holders are. - -The contents of the psalm need little remark. In vv. 2-4 God speaks in -stern upbraiding and command. The abrupt pealing forth of the Divine -Voice, without any statement of who speaks, is extremely dramatic -and impressive. The judgment hall is filled with a hushed crowd. No -herald is needed to proclaim silence. Strained expectance sits on -every ear. Then the silence is broken. These authoritative accents -can come but from one speaker. The crimes rebuked are those to which -rulers, in such a state of society as was in Israel, are especially -prone, and such as must have been well-nigh universal at the time of -the psalmist. They were no imaginary evils against which these sharp -arrows were launched. These princes were like those gibbeted for ever -in Isa. 1.--loving gifts and following after rewards, murderers rather -than judges, and fitter to be "rulers of Sodom" than of God's city. -They had prostituted their office by injustice, had favoured the rich -and neglected the poor, had been deaf to the cry of the helpless, had -steeled their hearts against the miseries of the afflicted, and left -them to perish in the gripe of the wicked. Such is the indictment. -Does it sound applicable to angels? - -For a moment the Divine Voice pauses. Will its tones reach any -consciences? No. There is no sign of contrition among the judges, who -are thus solemnly being judged. Therefore God speaks again, as if -wondering, grieved, and indignant "at the blindness of their hearts," as -His Son was when His words met the same reception from the same class. -Ver. 5 might almost be called a Divine lament over human impenitence, -ere the Voice swells into the fatal sentence. One remembers Christ's -tears, as He looked across the valley to the city glittering in the -morning sun. His tears did not hinder His pronouncing its doom; nor did -His pronouncing its doom hinder His tears. These judges were without -knowledge. They walked in darkness, because they walked in selfishness, -and never thought of God's judgment. Their gait was insolent, as the -form of the word "walk to and fro" implies. And, since they who were -set to be God's representatives on earth, and to show some gleam of His -justice and compassion, were ministers of injustice and vicegerents -of evil, fostering what they should have crushed, and crushing whom -they should have fostered, the foundations of society were shaken, -and, unless these were swept away, it would be dissolved into chaos. -Therefore the sentence must fall, as it does in vv. 6, 7. The grant of -dignity is withdrawn. They are stripped of their honours, as a soldier -of his uniform before he is driven from his corps. The judge's robe, -which they have smirched, is plucked off their shoulders, and they stand -as common men. - - - - - PSALM LXXXIII. - - 1 O God, let there be no rest to Thee, - Be not dumb, and keep not still, O God. - 2 For, behold, Thy enemies make a tumult, - And they who hate Thee lift up the head. - 3 Against Thy people they make a crafty plot, - And consult together against Thy hidden ones. - 4 They say, Come, and let us cut them off from [being] a nation, - And let the name of Israel be remembered no more. - - 5 For they consult together with one heart, - Against Thee they make a league: - 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, - Moab and the Hagarenes, - 7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, - Philistia with the dwellers in Tyre; - 8 Asshur also has joined himself to them, - They have become an arm to the children of Lot. Selah. - - 9 Do Thou to them as [to] Midian, - As [to] Sisera, [to] Jabin at the brook Kishon, - 10 [Who] were destroyed at Endor, - [Who] became manure for the land. - 11 Make them, their nobles, like Oreb and like Zeeb, - And like Zebah and like Zalmunnah all their princes, - 12 Who say, Let us take for a possession to ourselves - The habitations of God. - - 13 My God, make them like a whirl of dust, - Like stubble before the wind, - 14 Like fire [that] burns [the] forest, - And like flame [that] scorches [the] mountains. - 15 So pursue them with Thy storm, - And with Thy tempest strike them with panic. - 16 Fill their face with dishonour, - That they may seek Thy name, Jehovah. - - 17 Let them be ashamed and panic-struck for ever, - And let them be abashed and perish; - 18 And let them know that Thou, [even] Thy name, Jehovah, alone - Art the Most High over all the earth. - - -This psalm is a cry for help against a world in arms. The failure of -all attempts to point to a period when all the allies here represented -as confederate against Israel were or could have been united in -assailing it, inclines one to suppose that the enumeration of enemies -is not history, but poetic idealisation. The psalm would then be, -not the memorial of a fact, but the expression of the standing -relation between Israel and the outlying heathendom. The singer -masses together ancient and modern foes of diverse nationalities and -mutual animosities, and pictures them as burying their enmities and -bridging their separations, and all animated by one fell hatred to the -Dove of God, which sits innocent and helpless in the midst of them. -There are weighty objections to this view; but no other is free from -difficulties even more considerable. There are two theories which divide -the suffrages of commentators. The usual assignment of date is to the -league against Jehoshaphat recorded in 2 Chron. xx. But it is hard to -find that comparatively small local confederacy of three peoples in the -wide-reaching alliance described in the psalm. Chronicles enumerates the -members of the league as being the children of Moab and "the children -of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites," which last unmeaning -designation should be read, as in the LXX., "the Me'unim." and adds to -these Edom (2 Chron. xx. 2, corrected text). Even if the contention -of the advocates of this date for the psalm is admitted, and "the -Me'unim" are taken to include the Arab tribes, whom the psalmist calls -Ishmaelites and Hagarenes, there remains the fact that he names also -Philistia, Amalek, Tyre, and Asshur, none of whom is concerned in the -alliance against Jehoshaphat. It was, in fact, confined to eastern and -south-eastern nations, with whom distant western tribes could have no -common interest. Nor is the other view of the circumstances underlying -the psalm free from difficulty. It advocates a Maccabean date. In 1 -Macc. v. it is recorded that the nations round about were enraged -at the restoration of the altar and dedication of the Temple after -its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes, and were ready to break out in -hostility. Cheyne points to the occurrence in Maccabees of six of the -ten names mentioned in the psalm. But of the four not mentioned, two -are Amalek and Asshur, both of which had been blotted out of the roll -of nations long before the Maccabees' era. "The mention of Amalek," -says Cheyne, "is half-Haggadic, half-antiquarian." But what should -Haggadic or antiquarian elements do in such a list? Asshur is explained -on this hypothesis as meaning Syria, which is very doubtful, and, -even if admitted, leaves unsolved the difficulty that the subordinate -place occupied by the nation in question would not correspond to the -importance of Syria in the time of the Maccabees. Of the two theories, -the second is the more probable, but neither is satisfactory; and -the view already stated, that the psalm does not refer to any actual -alliance, seems to the present writer the most probable. The world is -up in arms against God's people; and what weapon has Israel? Nothing but -prayer. - -The psalm naturally falls into two parts, separated by Selah, of which -the first (vv. 1-8) describes Israel's extremity, and the second (vv. -9-18) is its supplication. - -The psalmist begins with earnest invocation of God's help, beseeching -Him to break His apparent inactivity and silence. "Let there be no -rest to Thee" is like Isa. lxii. 6. God seems passive. It needs but -His Voice to break the dreary silence, and the foes will be scattered. -And there is strong reason for His intervention, for they are _His_ -enemies, who riot and roar like the hoarse chafing of an angry sea, -for so the word rendered "make a tumult" implies (Psalm xlvi. 3). It -is "Thy people" who are the object of their crafty conspiracy, and it -is implied that these are thus hated because they _are_ God's people. -Israel's prerogative, which evokes the heathen's rage, is the ground -of Israel's confidence and the plea urged to God by it. Are we not Thy -"hidden ones"? And shall a hostile world be able to pluck us from our -safe hiding-place in the hollow of Thy hand? The idea of preciousness, -as well as that of protection, is included in the word. Men store -their treasures in secret places; God hides His treasures in the -"secret of His face," the "glorious privacy of light" inaccessible. -How vain are the plotters' whisperings against such a people! - -The conspiracy has for its aim nothing short of blotting out the -national existence and the very name of Israel. It is therefore -high-handed opposition to God's counsel, and the confederacy is -against _Him_. The true antagonists are, not Israel and the world, -but God and the world. Calmness, courage, and confidence spring in -the heart with such thoughts. They who can feel that they are hid in -God may look out, as from a safe islet on the wildest seas, and fear -nothing. And all who will may hide in Him. - -The enumeration of the confederates in vv. 6-8 groups together peoples -who probably were never really united for any common end. Hatred is -a very potent cement, and the most discordant elements may be fused -together in the fire of a common animosity. What a motley assemblage -is here! What could bring together in one company Ishmaelites and -Tyrians, Moab and Asshur? The first seven names in the list of allies -had their seats to the east and south-east of Palestine. Edom, Moab, -Ammon, and Amalek were ancestral foes, the last of which had been -destroyed in the time of Hezekiah (1 Chron. iv. 43). The mention of -descendants of Ishmael and Hagar, nomad Arab tribes to the south and -east, recalls their ancestors' expulsion from the patriarchal family. -Gebal is probably the mountainous region to the south of the Dead Sea. -Then the psalmist turns to the west, to Philistia, the ancient foe, -and Tyre, "the two peoples of the Mediterranean coast, which also -appear in Amos (ch. i.; _cf._ Joel iii.) as making common cause with -the Edomites against Israel" (Delitzsch). Asshur brings up the rear--a -strange post for it to occupy, to be reduced to be an auxiliary to the -"children of Lot," _i.e._ Moab and Ammon. The ideal character of this -muster-roll is supported by this singular inferiority of position, as -well as by the composition of the allied force, and by the allusion -to the shameful origin of the two leading peoples, which is the only -reference to Lot besides the narrative in Genesis. - -The confederacy is formidable, but the psalmist does not enumerate -its members merely in order to emphasise Israel's danger. He is -contrasting this miscellaneous conglomeration of many peoples with -the Almighty One, against whom they are vainly banded. Faith can look -without a tremor on serried battalions of enemies, knowing that one -poor man, with God at his back, outnumbers them all. Let them come -from east and west, south and north, and close round Israel; God -alone is mightier than they. So, after a pause marked by Selah, in -which there is time to let the thought of the multitudinous enemies -sink into the soul, the psalm passes into prayer, which throbs with -confident assurance and anticipatory triumph. The singer recalls -ancient victories, and prays for their repetition. To him, as to -every devout man, to-day's exigencies are as sure of Divine help as -any yesterday's were, and what God has done is pledge and specimen of -what He is doing and will do. The battle is left to be waged by Him -alone. The psalmist does not seem to think of Israel's drawing sword, -but rather that it should stand still and see God fighting for it. The -victory of Gideon over Midian, to which Isaiah also refers as the very -type of complete conquest (Isa. ix. 3), is named first, but thronging -memories drive it out of the singer's mind for a moment, while he goes -back to the other crushing defeat of Jabin and Sisera at the hands of -Barak and Deborah (Judg. iv., v.). He adds a detail to the narrative -in Judges, when he localises the defeat at Endor, which lies on the -eastern edge of the great plain of Esdraelon. In ver. 11 he returns to -his first example of defeat--the slaughter of Midian by Gideon. Oreb -(raven) and Zeeb (wolf) were in command of the Midianites, and were -killed by the Ephraimites in the retreat. Zebah and Zalmunnah were -kings of Midian, and fell by Gideon's own hand (Judg. viii. 21). The -psalmist bases his prayer for such a dread fate for the foes on their -insolent purpose and sacrilegious purpose of making me dwellings (or, -possibly, the pastures) of God their own property. Not because the -land and its peaceful homes belonged to the suppliant and his nation, -but because they were God's, does he thus pray. The enemies had drawn -the sword; it was permissible to pray that they might fall by the -sword, or by some Divine intervention, since such was the only way of -defeating their God-insulting plans. - -The psalm rises to high poetic fervour and imaginative beauty in the -terrible petitions of vv. 13-16. The word rendered "whirling dust" in -ver. 13 is somewhat doubtful. It literally means _a rolling thing_, -but what particular thing of the sort is difficult to determine. The -reference is perhaps to "spherical masses of dry weeds which course -over the plains." Thomson ("Land and Book," 1870, p. 563) suggests -the wild artichoke, which, when ripe, forms a globe of about a foot -in diameter. "In autumn the branches become dry and as light as a -feather, the parent stem breaks off at the ground, and the wind -carries these vegetable globes whithersoever it pleaseth. At the -proper season thousands of them come scudding over the plain, rolling, -leaping, bounding." So understood, the clause would form a complete -parallel with the next, which compares the fleeing foe to stubble, -not, of course, rooted, but loose and whirled before the wind. The -metaphor of ver. 14 is highly poetic, likening the flight of the foe -to the swift rush of a forest fire, which licks up (for so the word -rendered _scorches_ means) the woods on the hillsides, and leaves a -bare, blackened space. Still more terrible is the petition in ver. 15, -which asks that God Himself should chase the flying remnants, and -beat them down, helpless and panic-stricken, with storm and hurricane, -as He did the other confederacy of Canaanitish kings, when they fled -down the pass of Beth-Horon, and "Jehovah cast down great stones on -them from heaven" (Josh. x. 10, 11). - -But there is a deeper desire in the psalmist's heart than the enemies' -destruction. He wishes that they should be turned into God's friends, -and he wishes for their chastisement as the means to that end. "That -they may seek Thy face, Jehovah," is the sum of his aspirations, as it -is the inmost meaning of God's punitive acts. The end of the judgment -of the world, which is continually going on by means of the history -of the world, is none other than what this psalmist contemplated as -the end of the defeat of that confederacy of God's enemies--that -rebels should seek His face, not in enforced submission, but with -true desire to sun themselves in its light, and with heart-felt -acknowledgment of His Name as supreme through all the earth. The -thought of God as standing alone in His majestic omnipotence, while -a world is vainly arrayed against Him, which we have traced in vv. -5-7, is prominent in the close of the psalm. The language of ver. 18 -is somewhat broken, but its purport is plain, and its thought is all -the more impressive for the irregularity of construction. God alone -is the Most High. He is revealed to men by His Name. It stands alone, -as He in His nature does. The highest good of men is to know that -that sovereign Name is unique and high above all creatures, hostile -or obedient. Such knowledge is God's aim in punishment and blessing. -Its universal extension must be the deepest wish of all who have for -themselves learned how strong a fortress against a world in arms that -Name is; and their desires for the foes of God and themselves are not -in harmony with God's heart, nor with this psalmist's song, unless -they are, that His enemies may be led, by salutary defeat of their -enterprises and experience of the weight of God's hand, to bow, in -loving obedience, low before the Name which, whether they recognise -the fact or not, is high above an the earth. - - - - - PSALM LXXXIV. - - 1 How lovely are Thy dwellings, - Jehovah of Hosts! - 2 My soul longs, yea, even languishes, for the courts of Jehovah, - My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. - 3 Yea, the sparrow has found a house, - And the swallow a nest for herself, where she lays her young, - Thine altars, Jehovah of Hosts. - My King and my God. - 4 Blessed they that dwell in Thy house! - They will be still praising Thee, Selah. - - 5 Blessed the man whose strength is in Thee, - In whose heart are the ways! - 6 [Who] passing through the valley of weeping make it a place of - fountains, - Yea, the early rain covers it with blessings. - 7 They go from strength to strength, - Each appears before God in Zion. - 8 Jehovah, God of Hosts, hear my prayer, - Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. - - 9 [Thou], our shield, behold, O God, - And look upon the face of Thine anointed. - 10 For better is a day in Thy courts than a thousand, - Rather would I lie on the threshold in the house of my God, - Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. - 11 For Jehovah God is sun and shield, - Grace and glory Jehovah gives, - No good does He deny to them that walk in integrity. - 12 Jehovah of hosts, - Blessed the man that trusts in Thee! - - -The same longing for and delight in the sanctuary which found pathetic -expression in Psalms xlii., xliii., inspire this psalm. Like these, -it is ascribed in the superscription to the Korachites, whose office -of door-keepers in the Temple seems alluded to in ver. 10. To infer, -however, identity of authorship from similarity of tone is hazardous. -The differences are as obvious as the resemblances. As Cheyne well -says, "the notes of the singer of Psalms xlii., xliii., are here -transposed into a different key. It is still 'Te saluto, te suspiro,' -but no longer 'De longinquo te saluto' (to quote Hildebert)." The -longings after God and the sanctuary, in the first part of the -psalm, do not necessarily imply exile from the latter, for they may -be felt when we are nearest to Him, and are, in fact, an element in -that nearness. It is profitless to inquire what were the singer's -circumstances. He expresses the perennial emotions of devout souls, -and his words are as enduring and as universal as the aspirations -which they so perfectly express. No doubt the psalm identifies -enjoyment of God's presence with the worship of the visible sanctuary -more closely than we have to do, but the true object of its longing -is God, and so long as spirit is tied to body the most spiritual -worship will be tied to form. The psalm may serve as a warning against -premature attempts to dispense with outward aids to inward communion. - -It is divided into three parts by the Selahs. The last verse of the -first part prepares the way for the first of the second, by sounding -the note of "Blessed they," etc., which is prolonged in ver. 5, The -last verse of the second part (ver. 8) similarly prepares for the -first of the third (ver. 9) by beginning the prayer which is prolonged -there. In each part there is a verse pronouncing blessing on Jehovah's -worshippers, and the variation in the designations of these gives the -key to the progress of thought in the psalm. First comes the blessing -on those who dwell in God's house (ver. 4), and that abiding is the -theme of the first part. The description of those who are thus blessed -is changed, in the second strophe, to "those in whose heart are the -[pilgrim] ways," and the joys of the progress of the soul towards God -are the theme of that strophe. Finally, for dwelling in and journeying -towards the sanctuary is substituted the plain designation of "the man -that trusts in Thee," which trust is the impulse to following after -God and the condition of dwelling with Him; and its joys are the theme -of the third part. - -The man who thus interpreted his own psalm had no unworthy conception -of the relation between outward nearness to the sanctuary, and inward -communion with the God who dwelt there. The psalmist's yearning -for the Temple was occasioned by his longing for God. It was God's -presence there which gave it all its beauty. Because they were "Thy -tabernacles," he felt them to be lovely and lovable, for the word -implies both. The abrupt exclamation beginning the psalm is the -breaking into speech of thought which had long increased itself in -silence. The intensity of his desires is expressed very strikingly by -two words, of which the former (_longs_) literally means _grows pale_, -and the latter _fails_, or _is consumed_. His whole being, body and -spirit, is one cry for the living God. The word rendered "cry out" is -usually employed for the shrill cry of joy, and that meaning is by -many retained here. But the cognate noun is not infrequently employed -for any loud or high-pitched call, especially for fervent prayer -(Psalm lxxxviii. 2), and it is better to suppose that this clause -expresses emotion substantially parallel to that of the former one, -than that it makes a contrast to it. "The living God" is an expression -only found in Psalm xlii., and is one of the points of resemblance -between it and this psalm. That Name is more than a contrast with -the gods of the heathen. It lays bare the reason for the psalmist's -longings. By communion with Him who possesses life in its fulness, -and is its fountain for all that live, he will draw supplies of that -"life whereof our veins are scant." Nothing short of a real, living -Person can slake the immortal thirst of the soul, made after God's -own life, and restless till it rests in Him. The surface current -of this singer's desires ran towards the sanctuary; the depth of -them set towards God; and, for the stage of revelation at which he -stood, the deeper was best satisfied through the satisfaction of the -more superficial. The one is modified by the progress of Christian -enlightenment, but the other remains eternally the same. Alas that -the longings of Christian souls for fellowship with God should be so -tepid, as compared with the sacred passion of desire which has found -imperishable utterance in these glowing and most sincere words! - -Ver. 3 has been felt to present grammatical difficulties, which need -not detain us here. The easiest explanation is that the happy, winged -creatures who have found resting-places are contrasted by the psalmist -with himself, seeking, homeless amid creation, for his haven of -repose. We have to complete the somewhat fragmentary words with some -supplement before "Thine altars," such as "So would I find," or the -like. To suppose that he represents the swallows as actually nesting -on the altar is impossible, and, if the latter clauses are taken to -describe the places where the birds housed and bred, there is nothing -to suggest the purpose for which the reference to them is introduced. -If, on the other hand, the poet looks with a poet's eye on these lower -creatures at rest in secure shelters, and longs to be like them, in -his repose in the home which his deeper wants make necessary for him, -a noble thought is expressed with adequate poetic beauty. "Foxes have -holes, and birds of the air roosting-places, but the Son of Man hath -not where to lay His head." All creatures find environment suited to -their need, and are at rest in it, man walks like a stranger on earth, -and restlessly seeks for rest. Where but in God is it to be found? -Who that seeks it in Him shall fail to find it? What their nests are -to the swallows, God is to man. The solemnity of the direct address -to God at the close of ver. 3 would be out of place if the altar were -the dwelling of the birds, but is entirely natural if the psalmist is -thinking of the Temple as the home of his spirit. By the accumulation -of sacred and dear names, and by the lovingly reiterated "my," which -claims personal relation to God, he deepens his conviction of the -blessedness which would be his, were he in that abode of his heart, -and lingeringly tells his riches, as a miser might delight to count -his gold, piece by piece. - -The first part closes with an exclamation which gathers into one -all-expressive word the joy of communion with God. They who have it -are "blessed," with something more sacred and lasting than happiness, -with something deeper and more tranquil than joy, even with a calm -delight, not altogether unlike the still, yet not stagnant, rest of -supreme felicity which fills the life of the living and ever-blessed -God. That thought is prolonged by the music. - -The second strophe (vv. 5-8) is knit to the first, chain-wise, by -taking up again the closing strain, "Blessed the man!" But it turns -the blessedness in another direction. Not only are they blessed who -have found their rest in God, but so also are they who are seeking it. -The goal is sweet, but scarcely less sweet are the steps towards it. -The fruition of God has delights beyond all that earth can give, but -the desire after Him, too, has delights of its own. The experiences -of the soul seeking God in His sanctuary are here cast into the image -of pilgrim bands going up to the Temple. There may be local allusions -in the details. The "ways" in ver. 5 are the pilgrims' paths to the -sanctuary. Hupfeld calls the reading "ways" senseless, and would -substitute "trust"; but such a change is unnecessary, and tasteless. -The condensed expression is not too condensed to be intelligible, and -beautifully describes the true pilgrim spirit. They who are touched -with that desire which impels men to "seek a better country, that is -an heavenly," and to take flight from Time's vanities to the bosom of -God, have ever "the ways" in their hearts. They count the moments lost -during which they linger, or are anywhere but on the road. Amid calls -of lower duties and distractions of many sorts, their desires turn to -the path to God. Like some nomads brought into city life, they are -always longing to escape. The caged eagle sits on the highest point of -his prison, and looks with filmed eye to the free heavens. Hearts that -long for God have an irrepressible instinct stinging them to ever-new -attainments. The consciousness of "not having already attained" is -no pain, when the hope of attaining is strong. Rather, the very -blessedness of life lies in the sense of present imperfection, the -effort for completeness, and the assurance of reaching it. - -Ver. 6 is highly imaginative and profoundly true. If a man has "the -ways" in his heart, he will pass through "the valley of weeping," -and turn it into a "place of fountains." His very tears will fill -the wells. Sorrow borne as a help to pilgrimage changes into joy and -refreshment. The remembrance of past grief nourishes the soul which -is aspiring to God. God puts our tears into His bottle; we lose the -benefit of them, and fail to discern their true intent, unless we -gather them into a well, which may refresh us in many a weary hour -thereafter. If we do, there will be another source of fertility, -plentifully poured out upon our life's path. "The early rain covers -it with blessings." Heaven-descended gifts will not be wanting, nor -the smiling harvests which they quicken and mature. God meets the -pilgrims' love and faith with gently falling influences, which bring -forth rich fruit. Trials borne aright bring down fresh bestowments of -power for fruitful service. Thus possessed of a charm which transforms -grief, and recipients of strength from on high, the pilgrims are -not tired by travel, as others are, but grow stronger day by day, -and their progressive increase in vigour is a pledge that they will -joyously reach their journey's end, and stand in the courts of the -Lord's house. The seekers after God are superior to the law of decay. -It may affect their physical powers, but they are borne up by an -unfulfilled and certain hope, and reinvigorated by continual supplies -from above; and therefore, though in their bodily frame they, like -other men, faint and grow weary, they shall not utterly fail, but, -waiting on Jehovah, "will renew their strength." The fabled fountain -of perpetual youth rises at the foot of God's throne, and its waters -flow to meet those who journey thither. - -Such are the elements of the blessedness of those who seek God's -presence; and with that great promise of certain finding of the good -and the God whom they seek, the description and the strophe properly -ends. But just as the first part prepared the way for the second, -so the second does for the third, by breaking forth into prayer. No -wonder that the thoughts which he has been dwelling on should move the -singer to supplication that these blessednesses may be his. According -to some, ver. 8 is the prayer of the pilgrim on arriving in the -Temple, but it is best taken as the psalmist's own. - -The final part begins with invocation. In ver. 9 "our shield" is in -apposition to "God," not the object to "behold." It anticipates the -designation of God in ver. 11. But why should the prayer for "Thine -anointed" break in upon the current of thought? Are we to say that -the psalmist "completes his work by some rhythmical but ill-connected -verses" (Cheyne)? There is a satisfactory explanation of the apparently -irrelevant petition, if we accept the view that the psalm, like its -kindred Psalms xlii., xliii., was the work of a companion of David's -in his flight. If so, the king's restoration would be the condition -of satisfying the psalmist's longing for the sanctuary. Any other -hypothesis as to his date and circumstances fails to supply a connecting -link between the main subject of the psalm and this petition. The "For" -at the beginning of ver. 10 favours such a view, since it gives the -delights of the house of the Lord, and the psalmist's longing to share -in them, as the reasons for his prayer that Jehovah would look upon the -face of His anointed. In that verse he glides back to the proper theme -of the psalm. Life is to be estimated, not according to its length, but -according to the richness of its contents. Time is elastic. One crowded -moment is better than a millennium of languid years. And nothing fills -life so full or stretches the hours to hold so much of real living, as -communion with God, which works, on those who have plunged into its -depths, some assimilation to the timeless life of Him with whom "one day -is as a thousand years." There may be a reference to the Korachites' -function of door-keepers, in that touchingly beautiful choice of the -psalmist's, rather to lie on the threshold of the Temple than to dwell -in the tents of wickedness. Whether there is or not, the sentiment -breathes sweet humility, and deliberate choice. Just as the poet has -declared that the briefest moment of communion is in his sight to be -preferred to years of earthly delight, so he counts the humblest office -in the sanctuary, and the lowest place there, if only it is within the -doorway, as better than aught besides. The least degree of fellowship -with God has delights superior to the greatest measure of worldly joys. -And this man, knowing that, chose accordingly. How many of us know it, -and yet cannot say with him, "Rather would I lie on the door-sill of the -Temple than sit in the chief places of the world's feasts!" - -Such a choice is the only rational one. It is the choice of supreme -good, correspondent to man's deepest needs, and lasting as his being. -Therefore the psalmist vindicates his preference, and encourages -himself in it, by the thoughts in ver. 11, which he introduces with -"For." Because God is what He is, and gives what He gives, it is the -highest wisdom to take Him for our true good, and never to let Him go. -He is "sun and shield." This is the only place in which He is directly -called a sun, though the idea conveyed is common. He is "the master -light of all our seeing," the fountain of warmth, illumination, and -life. His beams are too bright for human eyes to gaze on, but their -effluence is the joy of creation. They who look to Him "shall not -walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." What folly to -choose darkness rather than light, and, when that Sun is high in the -heavens, ready to flood our hearts with its beams, to prefer to house -ourselves in gloomy caverns of our own sad thoughts and evil doings! -Another reason for the psalmist's choice is that God is a shield. -(Compare ver. 9.) Who that knows the dangers and foes that cluster -thick round every life can wisely refuse to shelter behind that ample -and impenetrable buckler? It is madness to stand in the open field, -with arrows whizzing invisible all round, when one step, one heartfelt -desire, would place that sure defence between us and every peril. God -being such, "grace and glory" will flow from Him to those who seek -Him. These two are given simultaneously, not, as sometimes supposed, -in succession, as though grace were the sum of gifts for earth, and -glory the all-comprehending expression for the higher bestowments of -heaven. The psalmist thinks that both are possessed here. _Grace_ is -the sum of God's gifts, coming from His loving regard to His sinful -and inferior creatures. _Glory_ is the reflection of His own lustrous -perfection, which irradiates lives that are turned to Him, and makes -them shine, as a poor piece of broken pottery will, when the sunlight -falls on it. Since God is the sum of all good, to possess Him is -to possess it all. The one gift unfolds into all things lovely and -needful. It is the raw material, as it were, out of which can be -shaped, according to transient and multiform needs, everything that -can be desired or can bless a soul. - -But high as is the psalmist's flight of mystic devotion, he does not -soar so far as to lose sight of plain morality, as mystics have often -been apt to do. It is the man who walks in his integrity who may hope -to receive these blessings. "Without holiness no man shall see the -Lord"; and neither access to His house nor the blessings flowing from -His presence can belong to him who is faithless to his own convictions -of duty. The pilgrim paths are paths of righteousness. The psalmist's -last word translates his metaphors of dwelling in and travelling -towards the house of Jehovah into their simple meaning, "Blessed is -the man that _trusteth_ in Thee." That trust both seeks and finds God. -There has never been but one way to His presence, and that is the way -of trust. "I am the way.... No man cometh to the Father but by Me." -So coming, we shall find, and then shall seek more eagerly and find -more fully, and thus shall possess at once the joys of fruition and of -desires always satisfied, never satiated, but continually renewed. - - - - - PSALM LXXXV. - - 1 Thou hast become favourable, Jehovah, to Thy land, - Thou hast turned back the captivity of Jacob. - 2 Thou hast taken away the iniquity of Thy people, - Thou hast covered all their sin. - 3 Thou hast drawn in all Thy wrath, - Thou hast turned Thyself from the glow of Thine anger. - - 4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, - And cause Thine indignation towards us to cease. - 5 For ever wilt Thou be angry with us? - Wilt Thou stretch out Thine anger to generation after generation? - 6 Wilt Thou not revive us again, - That Thy people may rejoice in Thee? - 7 Show us, Jehovah, Thy loving-kindness, - And give us Thy salvation. - - 8 I will hear what God, Jehovah, will speak, - For He will speak peace to His people and to His favoured [ones]; - Only let them not turn again to folly. - 9 Surely near to them who fear Him is His salvation, - That glory may dwell in our land. - 10 Loving-kindness and Troth have met together, - Righteousness and Peace have kissed [each other], - 11 Troth springs from the earth, - And Righteousness looks down from heaven. - 12 Yea, Jehovah will give that which is good, - And our land will give her increase. - 13 Righteousness shall go before Him, - And shall make His footsteps a way. - - -The outstanding peculiarity of this psalm is its sudden transitions -of feeling. Beginning with exuberant thanksgiving for restoration of -the nation (vv. 1-3), it passes, without intermediate gradations, to -complaints of God's continued wrath and entreaties for restoration -(vv. 4-7), and then as suddenly rises to joyous assurance of inward -and outward blessings. The condition of the exiles returned from -Babylon best corresponds to such conflicting emotions. The book of -Nehemiah supplies precisely such a background as fits the psalm. A -part of the nation had returned indeed, but to a ruined city, a fallen -Temple, and a mourning land, where they were surrounded by jealous and -powerful enemies. Discouragement had laid hold on the feeble company; -enthusiasm had ebbed away; the harsh realities of their enterprise -had stripped off its imaginative charm; and the mass of the returned -settlers had lost heart as well as devout faith. The psalm accurately -reflects such a state of circumstances and feelings, and may, with -some certitude, be assigned, as it is by most commentators, to the -period of return from exile. - -It falls into three parts, of increasing length,--the first, of three -verses (vv. 1-3), recounts God's acts of mercy already received; the -second, of four verses (vv. 4-7), is a plaintive prayer in view of -still remaining national afflictions; and the third, of six verses, a -glad report by the psalmist of the Divine promises which his waiting -ear had heard, and which might well quicken the most faint-hearted -into triumphant hope. - -In the first strophe one great fact is presented in a threefold -aspect, and traced wholly to Jehovah. "Thou hast turned back the -captivity of Jacob." That expression is sometimes used in a figurative -sense for any restoration of prosperity, but is here to be taken -literally. Now, as at first, the restored Israel, like their -ancestors under Joshua, had not won the land by their own arm, but -"because God had a favour unto them," and had given them favour in the -eyes of those who carried them captive. The restoration of the Jews, -seen from the conqueror's point of view, was a piece of state policy, -but from that of the devout Israelite was the result of God's working -upon the heart of the new ruler of Babylon. The fact is stated in ver. -1; a yet more blessed fact, of which it is most blessed as being a -token, is declared in ver. 2. - -The psalmist knows that captivity had been chastisement, the issue of -national sin. Therefore he is sure that restoration is the sign of -forgiveness. His thoughts are running in the same line as in Isa. xl. -2, where the proclamation to Jerusalem that her iniquity is pardoned -is connected with the assurance that her hard service is accomplished. -He uses two significant words for pardon, both of which occur in Psalm -xxxii. In ver. 2 _a_ sin is regarded as a weight pressing down the -nation, which God's mercy lifts off and takes away; in ver. 2 _b_ it -is conceived of as a hideous stain or foulness, which His mercy hides, -so that it is no longer an offence to heaven. Ver. 3 ventures still -deeper into the sacred recesses of the Divine nature, and traces the -forgiveness, which in act had produced so happy a change in Israel's -position, to its source in a change in God's disposition. "Thou hast -drawn in all Thy wrath," as a man does his breath, or, if the comparison -may be ventured, as some creature armed with a sting retracts it into -its sheath. "Thou hast turned Thyself from the glow of Thine anger" -gives the same idea under another metaphor. The word turn has a singular -fascination for this psalmist. He uses it five times (vv. 1, 3, 4, -6--_lit._, wilt Thou not turn, quicken us?--and 8). God's turning from -His anger is the reason for Israel's returning from captivity. - -The abruptness of the transition from joyous thanksgiving to the sad -minor of lamentation and supplication is striking, but most natural, -if the psalmist was one of the band of returning exiles, surrounded -by the ruins of a happier past, and appalled by the magnitude of the -work before them, the slenderness of their resources, and the fierce -hostility of their neighbours. The prayer of ver. 4, "Turn us," is -best taken as using the word in the same sense as in ver. 1, where -God is said to have "turned" the captivity of Jacob. What was there -regarded as accomplished is here conceived of as still to be done. -That is, the restoration was incomplete, as we know that it was, both -in regard to the bulk of the nation, who still remained in exile, and -in regard to the depressed condition of the small part of it which had -gone back to Palestine. In like manner the petitions of ver. 5 look -back to ver. 3, and pray that the anger which there had been spoken -of as passed may indeed utterly cease. The partial restoration of the -people implied, in the psalmist's view, a diminution rather than a -cessation of God's punitive wrath, and he beseeches Him to complete -that which He had begun. - -The relation of the first to the second strophe is not only that of -contrast, but the prayers of the latter are founded upon the facts of -the former, which constitute both grounds for the suppliant's hope -of answer and pleas with God. He cannot mean to deliver by halves. -The mercies received are incomplete; and His work must be perfect. He -cannot be partially reconciled, nor have meant to bring His people -back to the land, and then leave them to misery. So the contrast -between the bright dawning of the Return and its clouded day is not -wholly depressing; for the remembrance of what has been heartens for -the assurance that what is shall not always be, but will be followed -by a future more correspondent to God's purpose as shown in that past. -When we are tempted to gloomy thoughts by the palpable incongruities -between God's ideals and man's realisation of them, we may take a hint -from this psalmist, and, instead of concluding that the ideal was a -phantasm, argue with ourselves that the incomplete actual will one day -give way to the perfect embodiment. God leaves no work unfinished. He -never leaves off till He has done. His beginnings guarantee congruous -endings. He does not half withdraw His anger; and, if He seems to -do so, it is only because men have but half turned from their sins. -This psalm is rich in teaching as to the right way of regarding the -incompleteness of great movements which, in their incipient stages, -were evidently of God. It instructs us to keep the Divine intervention -which started them clearly in view; to make the shortcomings, which -mar them, a subject of lowly prayer; and to be sure that all which He -begins He will finish, and that the end will fully correspond to the -promise of the beginning. A "day of the Lord" which rose in brightness -may cloud over as its hours roll, but "at eventide it shall be light," -and none of the morning promise will be unfulfilled. - -The third strophe (vv. 8-13) brings solid hopes, based upon Divine -promises, to bear on present discouragements. In ver. 8 the psalmist, -like Habakkuk (ii. 1), encourages himself to listen to what God will -speak. The word "I will hear" expresses resolve or desire, and might -be rendered _Let me hear_, or _I would hear_. Faithful prayer will -always be followed by patient and faithful waiting for response from -God. God will not be silent, when His servant appeals to Him with -recognition of His past mercies, joined with longing that these may -be perfected. No voice will break the silence of the heavens; but, in -the depths of the waiting soul, there will spring a sweet assurance -which comes from God, and is really His answer to prayer, telling -the suppliant that "He will speak peace to His people," and warning -them not to turn away from Him to other helps, which is folly. "His -favoured ones" seems here to be meant as coextensive with "His -people." Israel is regarded as having entered into covenant relations -with God; and the designation is the pledge that what God speaks will -be "peace." That word is to be taken in its widest sense, as meaning, -first and chiefly, peace with Him, who has "turned Himself from His -anger"; and then, generally, well-being of all kinds, outward and -inward, as a consequence of that rectified relation with God. - -The warning of ver. 8 _c_ is thought by some to be out of place, and -an emendation has been suggested, which requires little change in the -Hebrew--namely, "to those who have turned their hearts towards Him." -This reading is supported by the LXX.; but the warning is perfectly -appropriate, and carries a large truth--that the condition of God's -speaking of peace is our firm adherence to Him. Once more the psalmist -uses his favourite word "turn." God had turned the captivity; He had -turned Himself from His anger; the psalmist had prayed Him to turn -or restore the people, and to turn and revive them, and now He warns -against turning again to folly. There is always danger of relapse in -those who have experienced God's delivering mercy. There is a blessed -turning, when they are brought from the far-off land to dwell near -God. But there is a possible fatal turning away from the Voice that -speaks peace, and the Arm that brings salvation, to the old distance -and bondage. Strange that any ears, which have heard the sweetness of -His still small Voice whispering Peace, should wish to stray where it -cannot be heard! Strange that the warning should ever be required, and -tragic that it should so often be despised! - -After the introductory ver. 8, the substance of what Jehovah spoke -to the psalmist is proclaimed in the singer's own words. The first -assurance which the psalmist drew from the Divine word was that God's -salvation, the whole fulness of His delivering grace both in regard -to external and in inward evils, is ever near to them that fear -Him. "Salvation" here is to be taken in its widest sense. It means, -negatively, deliverance from all possible evils, outward and inward; -and, positively, endowment with all possible good, both for body and -spirit. With such fulness of complete blessings, they, and they only, -who keep near to God, and refuse to turn aside to foolish confidences, -shall be enriched. That is the inmost meaning of what God said to -the psalmist; and it is said to all. And that salvation being thus -possessed, it would be possible for "glory"--_i.e._, the manifest -presence of God, as in the Shechinah--to tabernacle in the land. -The condition of God's dwelling with men is their acceptance of His -salvation. That purifies hearts to be temples. - -The lovely personifications in vv. 10-13 have passed into Christian -poetry and art, but are not clearly apprehended when they are taken -to describe the harmonious meeting and co-operation, in Christ's -great work, of apparently opposing attributes of the Divine nature. -No such thoughts are in the psalmist's mind. Loving-kindness and -Faithfulness or Troth are constantly associated in Scripture as -Divine attributes. Righteousness and Peace are as constantly united, -as belonging to the perfection of human character. Ver. 10 seems to -refer to the manifestation of God's Loving-kindness and Faithfulness -in its first clause, and to the exhibition of His people's virtues -and consequent happiness in its second. In all God's dealings for -His people, His Loving-kindness blends with Faithfulness. In all His -people's experience Righteousness and Peace are inseparable. The point -of the assurance in ver. 10 is that heaven and earth are blended in -permanent amity. These four radiant angels "dwell in the land." Then, -in ver. 11, there comes a beautiful inversion of the two pairs of -personifications, of each of which one member only reappears. Troth or -Faithfulness, which in ver. 10 came into view principally as a Divine -attribute, in ver. 11 is conceived of as a human virtue. It "springs -out of the earth"--that is, is produced among men. All human virtue is -an echo of the Divine, and they who have received into their hearts -the blessed results of God's Faithfulness will bring forth in their -lives fruits like it in kind. Similarly, Righteousness, which in ver. -10 was mainly viewed as a human excellence, here appears as dwelling -in and looking down from heaven, like a gracious angel smiling on the -abundance of Faithfulness which springs from earth. Thus "the bridal -of the earth and sky" is set forth in these verses. - -The same idea is further presented in ver. 12, in its most general form. -God gives that which is good, both outward and inward blessings, and, -thus fructified by bestowments from above, earth yields her increase. -His gifts precede men's returns. Without sunshine and rain there are no -harvests. More widely still, God gives first before He asks. He does not -gather where He has not strawed, nor reap what He has not sown. Nor does -He only sow, but He "blesses the springing thereof"; and to Him should -the harvest be rendered. He gives before we can give. Isa. xlv. 8 is -closely parallel, representing in like manner the co-operation of heaven -and earth, in the new world of Messianic times. - -In ver. 13 the thought of the blending of heaven and earth, or of -Divine attributes as being the foundation and parents of their human -analogues, is still more vividly expressed. Righteousness, which in -ver. 10 was regarded as exercised by men, and in ver. 11 as looking -down from heaven, is now represented both as a herald preceding God's -royal progress, and as following in His footsteps. The last clause is -rendered in different ways, which all have the same general sense. -Probably the rendering above is best: "Righteousness shall make His -footsteps a way"--that is, for men to walk in. All God's workings -among men, which are poetically conceived as His way, have stamped -on them Righteousness. That strong angel goes before Him to clear -a path for Him, and trace the course which He shall take. That is -the imaginative expression of the truth--that absolute, inflexible -Righteousness guides all the Divine acts. But the same Righteousness, -which precedes, also follows Him, and points His footsteps as the way -for us. The incongruity of this double position of God's herald makes -the force of the thought greater. It is the poetical embodiment of the -truth, that the perfection of man's character and conduct lies in his -being an "imitator of God," and that, however different in degree, our -righteousness must be based on His. What a wonderful thought that is, -that the union between heaven and earth is so close that God's path is -our way! How deep into the foundation of ethics the psalmist's glowing -vision pierces! How blessed the assurance that God's Righteousness is -revealed from heaven to make men righteous! - -Our psalm needs the completion, which tells of that gospel in which -"the Righteousness of God from faith is revealed for faith." In Jesus -the "glory" has tabernacled among men. He has brought heaven and -earth together. In Him God's Loving-kindness and Faithfulness have -become denizens of earth, as never before. In Him heaven has emptied -its choicest good on earth. Through Him our barrenness and weeds -are changed into harvests of love, praise, and service. In Him the -Righteousness of God is brought near; and, trusting in Him, each of us -may tread in His footsteps, and have His Righteousness fulfilled in us -"who walk, not after the flesh, but after the spirit." - - - - - PSALM LXXXVI. - - 1 Bow down Thine ear, Jehovah, answer me, - For I am afflicted and poor. - 2 Keep my soul, for I am favoured [by Thee], - Save Thy servant, O Thou my God, - That trusts in Thee. - 3 Be gracious to me, Lord, - For to Thee I cry all the day. - 4 Rejoice the soul of Thy servant, - For to Thee, Lord, do I lift up my soul. - 5 For Thou, Lord, art good and forgiving, - And plenteous in loving-kindness to all who call on Thee. - - 6 Give ear, Jehovah, to my prayer, - And take heed to the voice of my supplications. - 7 In the day of my straits will I call [on] Thee, - For Thou wilt answer me. - 8 There is none like Thee among the gods, O Lord, - And no [works] like Thy works. - 9 All nations whom Thou hast made - Shall come and bow themselves before Thee, - And shall give glory to Thy Name, - 10 For great art Thou and doest wonders, - Thou art God alone. - 11 Teach me, Jehovah, Thy way, - I will walk in Thy troth, - Unite my heart to fear Thy Name. - 12 I will thank Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, - And I will glorify Thy Name for ever. - 13 For Thy loving-kindness is great towards me, - And Thou hast delivered my soul from Sheol beneath. - - 14 O God, the proud have risen against me, - And a crew of violent men have sought after my soul, - And have not set Thee before them. - 15 But Thou, Lord, art a God compassionate and gracious, - Long-suffering and plenteous in loving-kindness and troth. - 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, - Give Thy strength to Thy servant, - And save the son of Thy handmaid. - 17 Work for me a sign for good, - That they who hate me may see and be ashamed, - For Thou, Jehovah, hast helped me and comforted me. - - -This psalm is little more than a mosaic of quotations and familiar -phrases of petition. But it is none the less individual, nor is the -psalmist less heavily burdened, or less truly beseeching and trustful, -because he casts his prayer into well-worn words. God does not give -"originality" to every devout man; and He does not require it as a -condition of accepted prayer. Humble souls, who find in more richly -endowed men's words the best expression of their own needs, may be -encouraged by such a psalm. Critics may think little of it, as a mere -cento; but God does not refuse to bow His ear, though He is asked to -do so in borrowed words. A prayer full of quotations may be heartfelt, -and then it will be heard and answered. This psalmist has not only -shown his intimate acquaintance with earlier devotional words, but -he has woven his garland with much quiet beauty, and has blended its -flowers into a harmony of colour all his own. - -There is no fully developed strophical arrangement but there is a -discernible flow of thought, and the psalm may be regarded as falling -into three parts. - -The first of these (vv. 1-5) is a series of petitions, each supported -by a plea. The petitions are the well-worn ones which spring from -universal need, and there is a certain sequence in them. They begin -with "Bow down Thine ear," the first of a suppliant's desires, which, -as it were, clears the way for those which follow. Trusting that he -will not ask in vain, the psalmist then prays that God would "keep" -his soul as a watchful guardian or sentry does, and that, as the -result of such care, he may be saved from impending perils. Nor do his -desires limit themselves to deliverance. They rise to more inward and -select manifestations of God's heart of tenderness, for the prayer "Be -gracious" asks for such, and so goes deeper into the blessedness of the -devout life than the preceding. And the crown of all these requests -is "Rejoice the soul of Thy servant," with the joy which flows from -experience of outward deliverance and of inward whispers of God's -grace, heard in the silent depths of communion with Him. It matters not -that every petition has parallels in other psalms, which this singer -is quoting. His desires are none the less his, because they have been -shared by a company of devout souls before him. His expression of them -is none the less his, because his very words have been uttered by -others. There is rest in thus associating oneself with an innumerable -multitude who have "cried to God and been lightened." The petition in -ver. 1 is like that in Psalm lv. 2. Ver. 2 sounds like a reminiscence of -Psalm xxv. 20; ver. 3 closely resembles Psalm lvii. 1. - -The pleas on which the petitions are grounded are also beautifully -wreathed together. First, the psalmist asks to be heard because he -is afflicted and poor (compare Psalm xl. 17). Our need is a valid -plea with a faithful God. The sense of it drives us to Him; and -our recognition of poverty and want must underlie all faithful -appeal to Him. The second plea is capable of two interpretations. -The psalmist says that he is _Chasid_; and that word is by some -commentators taken to mean _one who exercises_, and by others _one -who is the subject of, Chesed_--_i.e._, loving-kindness. As has -been already remarked on Psalm iv. 3, the passive meaning--_i.e._, -one to whom God's loving-kindness is shown--is preferable. Here it -is distinctly better than the other. The psalmist is not presenting -his own character as a plea, but urging God's gracious relation to -him, which, once entered on, pledges God to unchanging continuance -in manifesting His loving-kindness. But, though the psalmist does -not plead his character, he does, in the subsequent pleas, present -his faith, his daily and day-long prayers, and his lifting of his -desires, aspirations, and whole self above the trivialities of earth -to set them on God. These are valid pleas with Him. It cannot be that -trust fixed on Him should be disappointed, nor that cries perpetually -rising to His ears should be unanswered, nor that a soul stretching -its tendrils heavenward should fail to find the strong stay, round -which it can cling and climb. God owns the force of such appeals, and -delights to be moved to answer, by the spreading before Him of His -servant's faith and longings. - -But all the psalmist's other pleas are merged at last in that one -contained in ver. 5, where he gazes on the revealed Name of God, and -thinks of Him as He had been described of old, and as this suppliant -delights to set to his seal that he has found Him to be--good and -placable, and rich in loving-kindness. God is His own motive, and -Faith can find nothing mightier to urge with God, nor any surer answer -to its own doubts to urge with itself, than the unfolding of all that -lies in the Name of the Lord. These pleas, like the petitions which -they support, are largely echoes of older words. "Afflicted and poor" -comes, as just noticed, from Psalm xl. 17. The designation of "one -whom God favours" is from Psalm iv. 3. "Unto Thee do I lift up my -soul" is taken verbatim from Psalm xxv. 1. The explication of the -contents of the Name of the Lord, like the fuller one in ver. 15, is -based upon Exod. xxxiv. 6. - -Vv. 6-13 may be taken together, as the prayer proper, to which vv. 1-5 -are introductory. In them there is, first, a repetition of the cry -for help, and of the declaration of need (vv. 6, 7); then a joyful -contemplation of God's unapproachable majesty and works, which insure -the ultimate recognition of His Name by all nations (vv. 8-10); -then a profoundly and tenderly spiritual prayer for guidance and -consecration--wants more pressing still than outward deliverance (ver. -11); and, finally, as in so many psalms, anticipatory thanksgivings -for deliverance yet future, but conceived of as present by vivid faith. - -Echoes of earlier psalms sound through the whole; but the general -impression is not that of imitation, but of genuine personal need -and devotion. Ver. 7 is like Psalm xvii. 6 and other passages; ver. -8 _a_ is from Exod. xv. 11; ver. 8 _b_ is modelled on Deut. iii. 24; -ver. 9, on Psalm xxii. 27; ver. 11 _a_, on Psalm xxvii. 11; ver. 11 -_b_, on Psalm xxvi. 3; "Sheol beneath" is from Deut. xxxii. 22. But, -withal, there are unity and progress in this cento of citations. The -psalmist begins with reiterating his cry that God would hear, and in -ver. 7 advances to the assurance that He will. Then in vv. 8-10 he -turns from all his other pleas to dwell on his final one (ver. 5) of -the Divine character. As, in the former verse, he had rested his calm -hope on God's willingness to help, so now he strengthens himself, in -assurance of an answer, by the thought of God's unmatched power, the -unique majesty of His works and His sole Divinity. Ver. 8 might seem -to assert only Jehovah's supremacy above other gods of the heathen; -but ver. 10 shows that the psalmist speaks the language of pure -Monotheism. Most naturally the prophetic assurance that all nations -shall come and worship Him is deduced from His sovereign power and -incomparableness. It cannot be that "the nations whom Thou hast made" -shall for ever remain ignorant of the hand that made them. Sooner or -later that great character shall be seen by all men in its solitary -elevation; and universal praise shall correspond to His sole Divinity. - -The thought of God's sovereign power carries the psalmist beyond -remembrance of his immediate outward needs, and stirs higher desires -in him. Hence spring the beautiful and spiritual petitions of ver. -11, which seek for clearer insight into God's will concerning the -psalmist's conduct, breathe aspirations after a "walk" in that -God-appointed way and in "Thy troth," and culminate in one of the -sweetest and deepest prayers of the Psalter: "Unite my heart to fear -Thy Name." There, at least, the psalmist speaks words borrowed from -no other, but springing fresh from his heart's depths. Jer. xxxii. 39 -is the nearest parallel, and the commandment in Deut. vi. 5, to love -God "with all thine heart," may have been in the psalmist's mind; but -the prayer is all his own. He has known the misery of a divided heart, -the affections and purposes of which are drawn in manifold directions, -and are arrayed in conflict against each other. There is no peace -nor blessedness, neither is any nobility of life possible, without -whole-hearted devotion to one great object; and there is no object -capable of evoking such devotion or worthy to receive it, except Him -who is "God alone." Divided love is no love. It must be "all in -all, or not at all." With deep truth, the command to love God with -all the heart is based upon His Unity--"Hear, O Israel: The Lord thy -God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine -heart" (Deut. vi. 4). The very conception of religion requires that -it should be exclusive, and should dominate the whole nature. It is -only God who is great enough to fill and engage all our capacities. -Only the mass of the central sun is weighty enough to make giant -orbs its satellites, and to wheel them in their courses. There is -no tranquillity nor any power in lives frittered away on a thousand -petty loves. The river that breaks into a multitude of channels is -sucked up in the sand without reaching the ocean, and has no force in -its current to scour away obstructions. Concentration makes strong -men; consecration makes saints. "This one thing I do" is the motto -of all who have done anything worthy. "Unite my heart to fear Thy -Name" is the prayer of all whose devotion is worthy of its object, -and is the source of joy and power to themselves. The psalmist asks -for a heart made one with itself in the fear of God, and then vows -that, with that united heart, he will praise his delivering God. As -in many other psalms, he anticipates the answers to his prayers, and -in ver. 13 speaks of God's loving-kindness as freshly manifested to -him, and of deliverance from the dismal depths of the unseen world, -which threatened to swallow him up. It seems more in accordance with -the usage in similar psalms to regard ver. 13 as thus recounting, -with prophetic certainty, the coming deliverance as if it were -accomplished, than to suppose that in it the psalmist is falling back -on former instances of God's rescuing grace. - -In the closing part (vv. 14-17), the psalmist describes more precisely -his danger. He is surrounded by a rabble rout of proud and violent -men, whose enmity to him is, as in so many of the psalms of persecuted -singers, a proof of their forgetfulness of God. Right against this rapid -outline of his perils, he sets the grand unfolding of the character of -God in ver. 15. It is still fuller than that in ver. 5, and, like it, -rests on Exod. xxxiv. Such juxtaposition is all that is needed to show -how little he has to fear from the hostile crew. On one hand are they, -in their insolence and masterfulness, eagerly hunting after his life; -on the other is God with His infinite pity and loving-kindness. Happy -are they who can discern high above dangers and foes the calm presence -of the only God, and, with hearts undistracted and undismayed, can -oppose to all that assails them the impenetrable shield of the Name -of the Lord! It concerns our peaceful fronting of the darker facts of -life, that we cultivate the habit of never looking at dangers or sorrows -without seeing the helping God beside and above them. - -The psalm ends with prayer for present help. If God is, as the -psalmist has seen Him to be, "full of compassion and gracious," it -is no presumptuous petition that the streams of these perfections -should be made to flow towards a needy suppliant. "Be gracious to -_me_" asks that the light, which pours through the universe, may fall -on one heart, which is surrounded by earth-born darkness. As in the -introductory verses, so in the closing petitions, the psalmist grounds -his prayer principally on God's manifested character, and secondarily -on his own relation to God. Thus in ver. 16 he pleads that he is God's -servant, and "the son of Thy handmaid" (compare Psalm cxvi. 16). That -expression does not imply any special piety in the psalmist's mother, -but pleads his hereditary relation as servant to God, or, in other -words, his belonging by birth to Israel, as a reason for his prayers -being heard. His last petition for "a sign" does not necessarily mean -a miracle, but a clear manifestation of God's favour, which might -be as unmistakably shown by an every-day event as by a supernatural -intervention. To the devout heart, all common things are from God, and -bear witness for Him. Even blind eyes and hard hearts may be led to -see and feel that God is the helper and comforter of humble souls who -trust in Him. A heart that is made at peace with itself by the fear -of God, and has but one dominant purpose and desire, will long for -God's mercies, not only because they have a bearing on its own outward -well-being, but because they will demonstrate that it is no vain thing -to wait on the Lord, and may lead some, who cherished enmity to God's -servant and alienation from Himself, to learn the sweetness of His -Name and the security of trust in Him. - - - - - PSALM LXXXVII. - - 1 His foundation on the holy mountains, - 2 The gates of Zion Jehovah loves - More than all the dwellings of Jacob. - 3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. - - 4 I will proclaim Rahab and Babylon as those who know Me: - "Behold Philistia and Tyre, with Cush; - This one was born there." - 5 And of Zion it shall be said, - "Man after man was born in her," - And He, the Most High, shall establish her. - 6 Jehovah shall reckon when He writes down the peoples, - "This one was born there." Selah. - - 7 And singers and dancers [shall chant], - "All my fountains are in Thee." - - -One clear note sounds in this remarkable psalm. Its single theme -is the incorporation of ancestral foes and distant nations with -the people of God. Aliens are to be enrolled as home-born citizens -of Jerusalem. In modern words, the vision of a universal Church, -a brotherhood of humanity, shines radiant before the seer. Other -psalmists and prophets have like insight into the future expansion -of the nation, but this psalm stands alone in the emphasis which it -places upon the idea of birth into the rights of citizenship. This -singer has had granted to him a glimpse of two great truths--the -universality of the Church, and the mode of entrance into it by -reception of a new life. To what age of Israel he belonged is -uncertain. The mention of Babylon as among the enemies who have become -fellow-citizens favours the supposition of a post-exilic date, which -is also supported by resemblances to Isa. xl.-lxvi. - -The structure is simple. The psalm is divided by Selah into two -strophes, to which a closing verse is appended. The first strophe -bursts abruptly into rapturous praise of Zion, the beloved of God. The -second predicts the gathering of all nations into her citizenship, and -the closing verse apparently paints the exuberant joy of the festal -crowds, who shall then throng her streets. - -The abrupt beginning of the first strophe offends some commentators, -who have tried to smooth ver. 1 into propriety and tameness, by -suggesting possible preliminary clauses, which they suppose to have -dropped out. But there is no canon which forbids a singer, with the -rush of inspiration, either poetic or other, on him, to plunge into -the heart of his theme. Ver. 1 may be construed, as in the A.V. and -R.V. (text), as a complete sentence, but is then somewhat feeble. It -is better to connect it with ver. 2, and to regard "His foundation -upon the holy mountains" as parallel with "the gates of Zion," and -as, like that phrase, dependent on the verb "loves." Hupfeld, indeed, -proposes to transfer "Jehovah loves" from the beginning of ver. 2, -where it now stands, to the end of ver. 1, supplying the verb mentally -in the second clause. He thus gets a complete parallelism:-- - - His foundation upon the holy mountains Jehovah loves, - The gates of Zion before all the dwellings of Jacob. - -But this is not necessary; for the verb may as well be supplied to the -first as to the second clause. The harshness of saying "His foundation," -without designating the person to whom the pronoun refers, which is -extreme if ver. 1 is taken as a separate sentence, is diminished when it -is regarded as connected with ver. 2, in which the mention of Jehovah -leaves no doubt as to whose the "foundation" is. The psalmist's fervent -love for Jerusalem is something more than national pride. It is the -apotheosis of that emotion, clarified and hallowed into religion. Zion -is founded by God Himself. The mountains on which it stands are made -holy by the Divine dwelling. On their heads shines a glory before which -the light that lies on the rock crowned by the Parthenon or on the seven -hills of Rome pales. Not only the Temple mountain is meant, but the city -is the psalmist's theme. The hills, on which it stands, are emblems -of the firmness of its foundation in the Divine purpose, on which it -reposes. It is beloved of God, and that, as the form of the word "loves" -shows, with an abiding affection. The "glorious things" which are spoken -of Zion may be either the immediately following Divine oracle, or, -more probably, prophetic utterances such as many of those in Isaiah, -which predict its future glory. The Divine utterance which follows -expresses the substance of these. So far, the psalm is not unlike other -outpourings in praise of Zion, such as Psalm xlviii. But, in the second -strophe, to which the first is introductory, the singer strikes a note -all his own. - -There can be no doubt as to who is the speaker in ver. 4. The abrupt -introduction of a Divine Oracle accords with a not infrequent usage in -the Psalter, which adds much to the solemnity of the words. If we regard -the "glorious things" mentioned in ver. 3 as being the utterances of -earlier prophets, the psalmist has had his ears purged to hear God's -voice, by meditation on and sympathy with these. The faithful use of -what God has said prepares for hearing further disclosures of His lips. -The enumeration of nations in ver. 4 carries a great lesson. First -comes the ancient enemy, Egypt, designated by the old name of contempt -(Rahab, _i.e._ pride), but from which the contempt has faded; then -follows Babylon, the more recent inflicter of many miseries, once so -detested, but towards whom animosity has died down. These two, as the -chief oppressors, between whom, like a piece of metal between hammer and -anvil, Israel's territory lay, are named first, with the astonishing -declaration that God will proclaim them as among those who know Him. -That knowledge, of course, is not merely intellectual, but the deeper -knowledge of personal acquaintance or friendship--a knowledge of which -love is an element, and which is vital and transforming. Philistia is -the old neighbour and foe, which from the beginning had hung on the -skirts of Israel, and been ever ready to utilise her disasters and -add to them. Tyre is the type of godless luxury and inflated material -prosperity, and, though often in friendly alliance with Israel, as being -exposed to the same foes which harassed her, she was as far from knowing -God as the other nations were. Cush, or Ethiopia, seems mentioned as -a type of distant peoples, rather than because of its hostility to -Israel. God points to these nations--some of them near, some remote, -some powerful and some feeble, some hereditarily hostile and some more -or less amicable with Israel--and gives forth the declaration concerning -them, "This one was born there." - -God's voice ceases, and in ver. 5 the psalmist takes up the -wonderful promise which he has just heard. He slightly shifts his -point of view: for while the nations that were to be gathered into -Zion were the foremost figures in the Divine utterance, the Zion -into which they are gathered is foremost in the psalmist's, in ver. -5. Its glory, when thus enriched by a multitude of new citizens, -bulks in his eyes more largely than their blessedness. Another shade -of difference between the two verses is that, in the former, the -ingathering of the peoples is set forth as collective or national -incorporation, and, in me latter,--as the expression "man after (or -_by_) man" suggests,--individual accession is more clearly foretold. -The establishment of Zion, which the psalmist prophesies, is the -result of her reinforcement by these new citizens. The grand figure -of ver. 6 pictures God as taking a census of the whole world; for it -is "the peoples" whom He numbers. As he writes down each name, He -says concerning it, "This one was born there." That list of citizens -is "the Book of the Living." So "the end of all history is that Zion -becomes the metropolis of all people" (Delitzsch). - -Three great truths had dawned on this psalmist, though their full -light was reserved for the Christian era. He had been led to apprehend -that the Jewish Church would expand into a world-wide community. If -one thinks of the gulfs of hatred and incompatibility which parted -the peoples in his day, his clear utterance of that great truth, the -apprehension of which so far transcended his time, and the realisation -of which so far transcends ours, will surely be seen to be due to a -Divine breath. The broadest New Testament expression of Universalism -does not surpass the psalmist's confident certainty, "There is neither -Greek nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian," says no more than he said. More -remarkable still is his conception of the method by which the nations -should be gathered in to Zion. They are to be "born there." Surely -there shines before the speaker some glimmering ray of the truth that -incorporation with the people of God is effected by the communication -of a new life, a transformation of the natural, which will set men in -new affinities, and make them all brethren, because all participant -of the same wondrous birth. It would be anachronism to read into the -psalm the clear Christian truth "Ye must be born again," but it would -be as false a weakening of its words to refuse to see in them the -germ of that truth. The third discovery which the psalmist has made, -or rather the third revelation which he has received, is that of the -individual accession of the members of the outlying nations. The -Divine voice, in ver. 4, seems to speak of birth into citizenship as -national; but the psalmist, in ver. 6, represents Jehovah as writing -the names of individuals in the burgess-roll, and of saying in regard -to each, as He writes, "This one was born there." In like manner, in -ver. 5, the form of expression is "Man after man," which brings out the -same thought, with the addition that there is an unbroken series of -new citizens. It is by accession of single souls that the population -of Zion is increased. God's register resolves the community into its -component units. Men are born one by one, and one by one they enter -the true kingdom. In the ancient world the community was more than the -individual. But in Christ the individual acquires new worth, while the -bands of social order are not thereby weakened, but made more stringent -and sacred. The city, whose inhabitants have one by one been won by its -King, and have been knit to Him in the sacred depths of personal being, -is more closely "compact together" than the mechanical aggregations -which call themselves civil societies. The unity of Christ's kingdom -does not destroy national characteristics any more than it interferes -with individual idiosyncrasies. The more each constituent member is -himself, the more will he be joined to others, and contribute his -special mite to the general wealth and well-being. - -Ver. 7 is, on any interpretation, extremely obscure, because so abrupt -and condensed. But probably the translation adopted above, though by -no means free from difficulty or doubt, brings out the meaning which -is most in accordance with the preceding. It may be supposed to flash -vividly before the reader's imagination the picture of a triumphal -procession of rejoicing citizens, singers as well as dancers, who -chant, as they advance, a joyous chorus in praise of the city, in -which they have found all fountains of joy and satisfaction welling up -for their refreshment and delight. - - - - - PSALM LXXXVIII. - - 1 Jehovah, God of my salvation, - By day, by night I cry before Thee. - 2 Let my prayer come before Thy face, - Bow Thine ear to my shrill cry. - 3 For sated with troubles is my soul, - And my life has drawn near to Sheol. - 4 I am counted with those that have gone down to the pit, - I am become as a man without strength. - 5 [I am] free among the dead, - Like the slain that lie in the grave, - Whom Thou rememberest no more, - But they are cut off from Thy hand. - 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, - In dark places, in the deeps. - 7 Upon me Thy wrath presses hard, - And [with] all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted [me]. Selah - 8 Thou hast put my familiar friends far from me, - Thou hast made me an abomination to them, - I am shut up so that I cannot come forth. - - 9 My eye wastes away because of affliction, - I have called on Thee daily, Jehovah, - I have spread out my palms to Thee, - 10 For the dead canst Thou do wonders? - Or can the shades arise [and] praise Thee? Selah. - 11 In the grave can Thy loving-kindness be told, - And Thy faithfulness in destruction? - 12 Can Thy wonders be made known in darkness, - And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? - - 13 But I, I have cried unto Thee, Jehovah, - And in the morning my prayer comes to meet Thee. - 14 Why, Jehovah, dost Thou cast off my soul, - [And] hidest Thy face from me? - 15 Afflicted am I and at the point of death from [my] youth, - I have borne Thy terrors [till] I am distracted. - 16 Over me have Thy [streams of] wrath passed, - Thy horrors have cut me off. - 17 They have compassed me about like waters all the day. - They have come round me together. - 18 Thou hast put far from me lover and friend, - My familiar friends are--darkness. - - -A psalm which begins with "God of my salvation" and ends with -"darkness" is an anomaly. All but unbroken gloom broods over it, and -is densest at its close. The psalmist is so "weighed upon by sore -distress," that he has neither definite petition for deliverance nor -hope. His cry to God is only a long-drawn complaint, which brings -no respite from his pains nor brightening of his spirit. But yet to -address God as the God of his salvation, to discern His hand in the -infliction of sorrows, is the operation of true though feeble faith. -"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," is the very spirit of -this psalm. It stands alone in the Psalter, which would be incomplete -as a mirror of phases of devout experience, unless it had one psalm -expressing trust which has ceased to ask or hope for the removal of -lifelong griefs, but still clasps God's hand even in the "darkness." -Such experience is comparatively rare, and is meant to be risen above. -Therefore this psalm stands alone. But it is not unexampled, and all -moods of the devout life would not find lyrical expression in the book -unless this deep note was once sounded. - -It is useless to inquire what was the psalmist's affliction. His -language seems to point to physical disease, of long continuance -and ever threatening a fatal termination; but in all probability -sickness is a symbol here, as so often. What racked his sensitive -spirit matters little. The cry which his pains evoked is what we are -concerned with. There is little trace of strophical arrangement, and -commentators differ much in their disposition of the parts of the -psalm. But we venture to suggest a principle of division which has not -been observed, in the threefold recurrence of "I cry" or "I call," -accompanied in each case by direct address to Jehovah. The resulting -division into three parts gives, first, the psalmist's description -of his hopeless condition as, in effect, already dead (vv. 1-8); -second, an expostulation with God on the ground that, if the psalmist -is actually numbered with the dead, he can no more be the object of -Divine help, nor bring God praise (vv. 9-12); and, third, a repetition -of the thoughts of the first part, with slight variation and addition. - -The central portion of the first division is occupied with an expansion -of the thought that the psalmist is already as good as dead (vv. 3 -_b_-6). The condition of the dead is drawn with a powerful hand, and the -picture is full of solemn grandeur and hopelessness. It is preceded in -vv. 1, 2, by an invocation which has many parallels in the psalms, but -which here is peculiarly striking. This saddest of them all has for its -first words the Name which ought to banish sadness. He who can call on -Jehovah as the God of his salvation possesses a charm which has power -to still agitation, and to flush despair with some light of hope as -from an unrisen sun. But this poet feels no warmth from the beams, and -the mists surge up, if not to hide the light, yet to obscure it. All -the more admirable, then, the persistence of his cry; and all the more -precious the lesson that Faith is not to let present experience limit -its conceptions. God is none the less the God of salvation and none the -less to be believed to be so, though no consciousness of His saving -power blesses the heart at the moment. - -Ver. 1 _b_ is obscure. Psalm xxii. 2 and other places suggest that -the juxtaposition of day and night is meant to express the continuity -of the psalmist's prayer; but, as the text now stands, the first -part of the clause can only mean "In the time (day) when I cry," -and the second has to be supplemented so as to read "[My cry comes] -before Thee." This gives a poor meaning, and there is probability -in the slight emendation on the word for _day_, which is required -in order to make it an adverb of time equivalent to "In the day," -as in the passage already quoted. Another emendation, adopted by -Graetz, Bickell, and Cheyne, changes "God of" into "my God," and "my -salvation" into "I cry" (the same word as in ver. 13), and attaches -"by day" to the first clause. The result is,-- - - Jehovah, my God, I cry to Thee by day, - I call in the night before Thee. - -The changes are very slight and easy, and the effect of them is -satisfactory. The meaning of the verse is obvious, whether the -emendation is accepted or not. The gain from the proposed change is -dearly purchased by the loss of that solitary expression of hope in -the name of "God of my salvation," the one star which gleams for a -moment through a rift in the blackness. - -With "For" in ver. 3 the psalmist begins the dreary description of his -affliction, the desperate and all but deodly character of which he -spreads before God as a reason for hearing his prayer. Despair sometimes -strikes men dumb, and sometimes makes them eloquent. The sorrow which -has a voice is less crushing than that which is tongueless. This -overcharged heart finds relief in self-pitying depicting of its burdens, -and in the exercise of a gloomy imagination, which draws out in detail -the picture of the feebleness, the recumbent stillness, the seclusion -and darkness of the dead. They have "no strength." Their vital force -has ebbed away, and they are but as weak shadows, having an impotent -existence, which does not deserve to be called life. The remarkable -expression of ver. 5, "free among the dead," is to be interpreted in -the light of Job iii. 19, which counts it as one blessing of the grave, -that "there the servant is free from his master." But the psalmist -thinks that that "freedom" is loathsome, not desirable, for it means -removal from the stir of a life, the heaviest duties and cares of which -are better than the torpid immunity from these, which makes the state -of the dead a dreary monotony. They lie stretched out and motionless. -No ripple of cheerful activity stirs that stagnant sea. One unvarying -attitude is theirs. It is not the stillness of rest which prepares for -work, but of incapacity of action or of change. They are forgotten by -Him who remembers all that are. They are parted from the guiding and -blessing influence of the Hand that upholds all being. In some strange -fashion they are and yet are not. Their death has a simulacrum of life. -Their shadowy life is death. Being and non-being may both be predicated -of them. The psalmist speaks in riddles; and the contradictions in his -speech reflect his dim knowledge of that place of darkness. He looks -into its gloomy depths, and he sees little but gloom. It needed the -resurrection of Jesus to flood these depths with light, and to show that -the life beyond may be fuller of bright activity than life here--a state -in which vital strength is increased beyond all earthly experience, and -wherein God's all-quickening hand grasps more closely, and communicates -richer gifts than are attainable in that death which sense calls life. - -Ver. 7 traces the psalmist's sorrows to God. It breathes not complaint -but submission, or, at least, recognition of His hand; and they who, -in the very paroxysm of their pains, can say, "It is the Lord," are -not far from saying, "Let Him do what seemeth Him good," nor from the -peace that comes from a compliant will. The recognition implies, too, -consciousness of sin which has deserved the "wrath" of God, and in -such consciousness lies the germ of blessing. Sensitive nerves may -quiver, as they feel the dreadful weight with which that wrath presses -down on them, as if to crush them; but if the man lies still, and lets -the pressure do its work, it will not force out his life, but only his -evil, as foul water is squeezed from cloth. Ver. 7 _b_ is rendered by -Delitzsch "All Thy billows Thou pressest down," which gives a vivid -picture; but "billows" is scarcely the word to use for the downward -rushing waters of a cataract, and the ordinary rendering, adopted -above, requires only natural supplements. - -Ver. 8 approaches nearer to a specification of the psalmist's -affliction. If taken literally, it points to some loathsome -disease, which had long clung to and made even his friends shrink -from companionship, and thus had condemned him to isolation. All -these details suggest leprosy, which, if referred to here, is most -probably to be taken, as sickness is in several psalms, as symbolic -of affliction. The desertion by friends is a common feature in the -psalmists' complaints. The seclusion as in a prison-house is, no -doubt, appropriate to the leper's condition, but may also simply -refer to the loneliness and compulsory inaction arising from heavy -trials. At all events, the psalmist is flung back friendless on -himself, and hemmed in, so that he cannot expatiate in the joyous -bustle of life. Blessed are they who, when thus situated, can -betake themselves to God, and find that He does not turn away! -The consciousness of His loving presence has not yet lighted the -psalmist's soul; but the clear acknowledgment that it is God who has -put the sweetness of earthly companionship beyond his reach is, at -least, the beginning of the happier experience, that God never makes a -solitude round a soul without desiring to fill it with Himself. - -If the recurring cry to Jehovah in ver. 9 is taken, as we have -suggested it should be, as marking a new turn in the thoughts, -the second part of the psalm will include vv. 9-12. Vv. 10-12 are -apparently the daily prayer referred to in ver. 9. They appeal to -God to preserve the psalmist from the state of death, which he -has just depicted himself as having in effect already entered, -by the consideration which is urged in other psalms as a reason -for Divine intervention (vi. 5, xxx. 9, etc.)--namely, that His -power had no field for its manifestation in the grave, and that He -could draw no revenue of praise from the pale lips that lay silent -there. The conception of the state of the dead is even more dreary -than that in vv. 4, 5. They are "shades," which word conveys the -idea of relaxed feebleness. Their dwelling is Abaddon--_i.e._, -"destruction,"--"darkness," "the land of forgetfulness" whose -inhabitants remember not, nor are remembered, either by God or man. In -that cheerless region, God had no opportunity to show His wonders of -delivering mercy, for monotonous immobility was stamped upon it, and -out of that realm of silence no glad songs of praise could sound. Such -thoughts are in startling contrast with the hopes that sparkle in some -psalms (such as xvi. 10, etc.), and they show that clear, permanent -assurance of future blessedness was not granted to the ancient -Church. Nor could there be sober certainty of it until after Christ's -resurrection. But it is also to be noticed that this psalm neither -affirms nor denies a future resurrection. It does affirm continuous -personal existence after death, of however thin and shadowy a sort. It -is not concerned with what may lie far ahead, but is speaking of the -present state of the dead, as it was conceived of, at the then stage -of revelation, by a devout soul, in its hours of despondency. - -The last part (vv. 13-18) is marked, like the two preceding, by the -repetition of the name of Jehovah, and of the allusion to the psalmist's -continual prayer. It is remarkable, and perhaps significant, that the -time of prayer should here be "the morning," whereas in ver. 1 it -was, according to Delitzsch, _the night_, or, according to the other -rendering, _day and night_. The psalmist had asked in ver. 2 that his -prayer might enter into God's presence; he now vows that it will come -to meet Him. Possibly some lightening of his burden may be hinted at -by the reference to the time of his petition. Morning is the hour of -hope, of new vigour, of a fresh beginning, which may not be only a -prolongation of dreary yesterdays. But if there is any such alleviation, -it is only for a moment, and then the cloud settles down still more -heavily. But one thing the psalmist has won by his cry. He now longs -to know the reason for his affliction. He is confident that God is -righteous when He afflicts, and, heavy as his sorrow is, he has passed -beyond mere complaint concerning it, to the wish to understand it. -The consciousness that it is chastisement, occasioned by his own evil, -and meant to purge that evil away, is present, in a rudimentary form -at least, in that cry, "_Why_ castest Thou off my soul?" If sorrow has -brought a man to offer that prayer, it has done its work, and will cease -before long, or, if it lasts, will be easier to bear, when its meaning -and purpose are clear. But the psalmist rises to such a height but for a -moment, though his momentary attaining it gives promise that he will, by -degrees, be able to remain there permanently. It is significant that the -only direct naming of Jehovah, in addition to the three which accompany -the references to his prayers, is associated with this petition for -enlightenment. The singer presses close to God in his faith that His -hardest blows are not struck at random, and that His administration has -for its basis, not caprice, but reason, moved by love and righteousness. - -Such a cry is never offered in vain, even though it should be followed, -as it is here, by plaintive reiterations of the sufferer's pains. These -are now little more than a summary of the first part. The same idea -of being in effect dead even while alive is repeated in ver. 15, in -which the psalmist wails that from youth he had been but a dying man, -so close to him had death seemed, or so death-like had been his life. -He has borne God's terrors till he is distracted. The word rendered "I -am distracted" is only used here, and consequently is obscure. Hupfeld -and others deny that it is a word at all (he calls it an "Unwort"), and -would read another which means _to become torpid_. The existing text -is defended by Delitzsch and others, who take the word to mean to be -weakened in mind or bewildered. The meaning of the whole seems to be -as rendered above. But it might also be translated, as by Cheyne, "I -bear Thy terrors, my senses must fail." In ver. 16 the word for wrath -is in the plural, to express the manifold outbursts of that deadly -indignation. The word means literally heat; and we may represent the -psalmist's thought as being that the wrath shoots forth many fierce -tongues of licking flame, or, like a lava stream, pours out in many -branches. The word rendered "Cut me off" is anomalous, and is variously -translated _annihilate_, _extinguish_, or as above. The wrath which -was a fiery name in ver. 16 is an overwhelming flood in ver. 17. The -complaint of ver. 8 recurs in ver. 18, in still more tragic form. All -human sympathy and help are far away, and the psalmist's only familiar -friend is--darkness. There is an infinitude of despair in that sad -irony. But there is a gleam of hope, though faint and far, like faint -daylight seen from the innermost recesses of a dark tunnel, in his -recognition that his dismal solitude is the work of God's hand; for, if -God has made a heart or a life empty of human love, it is that He may -Himself fill it with His own sweet and all-compensating presence. - - - - - PSALM LXXXIX - - 1 The loving-kindnesses of Jehovah will I sing for ever, - To generation after generation will I make known Thy Faithfulness - with my mouth. - 2 For I said, For ever shall Loving-kindness be built up, - The heavens--in them wilt Thou establish Thy Faithfulness, - - 3 I have made a covenant with My chosen one, - I have sworn to David My servant; - 4 For ever will I establish thy seed, - And build up thy throne to generation after generation. Selah. - - 5 And the heavens shall make known Thy wonders, Jehovah, - Thy Faithfulness also in the congregation of Thy holy ones. - 6 For who in the skies can be set beside Jehovah, - [Or] likened to Jehovah, amongst the sons of the mighty ones? - - 7 A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones, - And dread above all round about Him. - 8 Jehovah, God of Hosts, who like Thee is mighty, Jah? - And Thy Faithfulness [is] round Thee. - - 9 Thou, Thou rulest the insolence of the sea, - When its waves lift themselves on high, Thou, Thou stillest them. - 10 Thou, Thou hast crushed Rahab as one that is slain, - By the arm of Thy strength Thou hast scattered Thine enemies. - - 11 Thine are the heavens, Thine also the earth, - The world and its fulness, Thou, Thou hast founded them. - 12 North and south, Thou, Thou hast created them, - Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Thy Name. - - 13 Thine is an arm with might, - Strong is Thy hand, high is Thy right hand. - 14 Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of Thy throne, - Loving-kindness and Troth go to meet Thy face. - - 15 Blessed the people who know the festal shout! - Jehovah, in the light of Thy face they walk. - 16 In Thy Name do they exult all the day, - And in Thy righteousness are they exalted. - - 17 For the glory of their strength art Thou, - And in Thy favour shall our horn be exalted. - 18 For to Jehovah [belongs] our shield, - And to the Holy One of Israel our king. - - 19 Then Thou didst speak in vision to Thy favoured one and didst say, - I have laid help upon a hero, - I have exalted one chosen from the people, - 20 I have found David My servant, - With My holy oil have I anointed him - - 21 With whom My hand shall be continually, - Mine arm shall also strengthen him, - 22 No enemy shall steal upon him, - And no son of wickedness shall afflict him. - - 23 And I shatter his adversaries before him, - And them that hate him will I smite, - 24 And My Faithfulness and My Loving-kindness [shall be] with him, - And in My name shall his horn be exalted. - 25 And I will set his hand on the sea, - And his right hand on the rivers. - - 26 He, he shall call upon Me, My Father art Thou, - My God and the rock of my salvation. - 27 Also I, I will give him [to be My] first-born, - Higher than the kings of the earth. - - 28 For ever will I keep for him My Loving-kindness, - And My covenant shall be inviolable towards him. - 29 And I will make his seed [to last] for ever, - And his throne as the days of heaven. - - 30 If his sons forsake My law, - And walk not in My judgments, - 31 If they profane My statutes, - And keep not My commandments, - - 32 Then will I visit their transgression with a rod, - And their iniquity with stripes. - 33 But My Loving-kindness will I not break off from him, - And I will not be false to My Faithfulness. - - 34 I will not profane My covenant, - And that which has gone forth from My lips will I not change. - 35 Once have I sworn by My holiness, - Verily I will not be false to David. - - 36 His seed shall be for ever, - And his throne as the sun before me, - 37 As the moon shall he be established for ever, - And the witness in the sky is true. Selah. - - 38 But Thou, Thou hast cast off and rejected, - Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed, - 39 Thou hast abhorred the covenant of Thy servant, - Thou hast profaned his crown to the ground. - - 40 Thou hast broken down all his fences, - Thou hast made his strongholds a ruin. - 41 All that pass on the way spoil him, - He is become a reproach to his neighbours. - - 42 Thou hast exalted the hand of his adversaries, - Thou hast made all his enemies rejoice. - 43 Also Thou turnest the edge of his sword, - And hast not made him to stand in the battle. - - 44 Thou hast made an end of his lustre, - And cast his throne to the ground, - 45 Thou hast shortened the days of his youth, - Thou hast wrapped shame upon him. Selah. - - 46 How long, Jehovah, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever? - [How long] shall Thy wrath burn like fire? - 47 Remember how short a time I [have to live], - For what vanity hast Thou created all the sons of men! - 48 Who is the man who shall live and not see death, - [Who] shall deliver his soul from the hand of Sheol? - - 49 Where are Thy former loving-kindnesses, Jehovah, - Which Thou swarest to David in Thy faithfulness? - 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Thy servants, - How I bear in my bosom the shame of the peoples(?) - 51 Wherewith Thine enemies have reproached Thee, Jehovah, - Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of Thine anointed. - - 52 Blessed be Jehovah for evermore. - Amen and Amen. - - -The foundation of this psalm is the promise in 2 Sam. vii. which -guaranteed the perpetuity of the Davidic kingdom. Many of the -characteristic phrases of the prophecy recur here--_e.g._, the -promises that the children of wickedness shall not afflict, and -that the transgressions of David's descendants should be followed -by chastisement only, not by rejection. The contents of Nathan's -oracle are first given in brief in vv. 3, 4--"like a text," as -Hupfeld says--and again in detail and with poetic embellishments in -vv. 19-37. But these glorious promises are set in sharpest contrast -with a doleful present, which seems to contradict them. They not only -embitter it, but they bewilder faith, and the psalmist's lament is -made almost a reproach of God, whose faithfulness seems imperilled -by the disasters which had fallen on the monarchy and on Israel. The -complaint and petitions of the latter part are the true burden of the -psalm, to which the celebration of Divine attributes in vv. 1-18, -and the expansion of the fundamental promise in vv. 19-37, are meant -to lead up. The attributes specified are those of Faithfulness (vv. -1, 2, 5, 8, 14) and of Power, which render the fulfilment of God's -promises certain. By such contemplations the psalmist would fortify -himself against the whispers of doubt, which were beginning to make -themselves heard in his mind, and would find in the character of God -both assurance that His promise shall not fail, and a powerful plea -for his prayer that it may not fail. - -The whole tone of the psalm suggests that it was written when the -kingdom was toppling to ruin, or perhaps even after its fall. Delitzsch -improbably supposes that the young king, whom loss and shame make an old -man (ver. 45), is Rehoboam, and that the disasters which gave occasion -to the psalm were those inflicted by the Egyptian king Shishak. Others -see in that youthful prince Jehoiachin, who reigned for three months, -and was then deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, and whom Jeremiah has bewailed -(xxii. 24-29). But all such conjectures are precarious. - -The structure of the psalm can scarcely be called strophical. There are -three well-marked turns in the flow of thought,--first, the hymn to the -Divine attributes (vv. 1-18); second, the expansion of the promise, -which is the basis of the monarchy (vv. 19-37); and, finally, the lament -and prayer, in view of present afflictions, that God would be true to -His attributes and promises (vv. 38-51). For the most part the verses -are grouped in pairs, which are occasionally lengthened into triplets. - -The psalmist begins with announcing the theme of his song--the -Loving-kindness and Faithfulness of God. Surrounded by disasters, -which seem in violent contradiction to God's promise to David, he -falls back on thoughts of the Mercy which gave it and the Faithfulness -which will surely accomplish it. The resolve to celebrate these -in such circumstances argues a faith victorious over doubts, and -putting forth energetic efforts to maintain itself. This bird can -sing in midwinter. True, the song has other notes than joyous ones, -but they, too, extol God's Loving-kindness and Faithfulness, even -while they seem to question them. Self-command, which insists on a -man's averting his thoughts from a gloomy outward present to gaze -on God's loving purpose and unalterable veracity, is no small part -of practical religion. The psalmist will _sing_, because he _said_ -that these two attributes were ever in operation, and lasting as the -heavens. "Loving-kindness snail be built up for ever," its various -manifestations being conceived as each being a stone in the stately -building which is in continual course of progress through all ages, -and can never be completed, since fresh stones will continually be -laid, as long as God lives and pours forth His blessings. Much less -can it ever fall into ruin, as impatient sense would persuade the -psalmist that it is doing in his day. The parallel declaration as -to God's Faithfulness takes the heavens as the type of duration and -immobility, and conceives that attribute to be eternal and fixed, -as they are. These convictions could not burn in the psalmist's -heart without forcing him to speak. Lover, poet, and devout man, in -their several ways, feel the same necessity of utterance. Not every -Christian can "sing," but all can and should speak. They will, if -their faith is strong. - -The Divine promise, on which the Davidic throne rests, is summed up -in the abruptly introduced pair of verses (3, 4). That promise is -the second theme of the psalm; and just as, in some great musical -composition, the overture sounds for the first time phrases which -are to be recurrent and elaborated in the sequel, so, in the four -first verses of the psalm, its ruling thoughts are briefly put. Vv. -1, 2, stand first, but are second in time to vv. 3, 4. God's oracle -preceded the singer's praise. The language of these two verses echoes -the original passage in 2 Sam. vii., as in "_David My servant_, -_establish_, _for ever_, _build_," the last three of which expressions -were used in ver. 2, with a view to their recurrence in ver. 4. The -music keeps before the mind the perpetual duration of David's throne. - -In vv. 6-18 the psalmist sets forth the Power and Faithfulness of God, -which insure the fulfilment of His promises. He is the incomparably -great and terrible God, who subdues the mightiest forces of nature and -tames the proudest nations (vv. 9, 10), who is Maker and Lord of the -world (vv. 11, 12), who rules with power, but also with righteousness, -faithfulness, and grace (vv. 13, 14), and who, therefore, makes His -people blessed and safe (vv. 15-18). Since God is such a God, His -promise cannot remain unfulfilled. Power and willingness to execute it -to the last tittle are witnessed by heaven and earth, by history and -experience. Dark as the present may be, it would, therefore, be folly -to doubt for a moment. - -The psalmist begins his contemplations of the glory of the Divine -nature with figuring the very heavens as vocal with His praise. Not -only the object but the givers of that praise are noteworthy. The -heavens are personified, as in Psalm xix.; and from their silent -depths comes music. There is One higher, mightier, older, more -unperturbed, pure, and enduring than they, whom they extol by their -lustre which they owe to Him. They praise God's "wonder" (which here -means, not so much His marvellous acts, as the wonderfulness of His -Being, His incomparable greatness and power), and His Faithfulness, -the two guarantees of the fulfilment of His promises. Nor are the -visible heavens His only praisers. The holy ones, sons of the -mighty--_i.e._, the angels--bow before Him who is high above their -holiness and might, and own Him for God alone. - -With ver. 9 the hymn descends to earth, and magnifies God's Power and -Faithfulness as manifested there. The sea is, as always, the emblem of -rebellious tumult. Its insolence is calmed by Him. And the proudest -of the nations, such as Rahab ("Pride," a current name for Egypt), -had cause to own His power, when He brought the waves of the sea over -her hosts, thus in one act exemplifying His sovereign sway over both -nature and nations. He is Maker, and therefore Lord, of heaven and -earth. In all quarters of the world His creative hand is manifest, -and His praise sounds. Tabor and Hermon may stand, as the parallelism -requires, for west and east, though some suppose that they are simply -named as conspicuous summits. They "shout for joy at Thy Name," an -expression like that used in ver. 16, in reference to Israel. The poet -thinks of the softly swelling Tabor with its verdure, and of the lofty -Hermon with its snows, as sharing in that gladness, and praising Him -to whom they owe their beauty and majesty. Creation vibrates with the -same emotions which thrill the poet. The sum of all the preceding is -gathered up in ver. 13, which magnifies the might of God's arm. - -But more blessed still for the psalmist, in the midst of national -gloom, is the other thought of the moral character of God's rule. His -throne is broad-based upon the sure foundation of righteousness and -justice. The pair of attributes always closely connected--namely, -Loving-kindness and Troth or Faithfulness--are here, as frequently, -personified. They "go to meet Thy face"--that is, in order to present -themselves before Him. "The two genii of the history of redemption -(Psalm xliii. 3) stand before His countenance, like attendant maidens, -waiting the slightest indication of His will" (Delitzsch). - -Since God is such a God, His Israel is blessed, whatever its present -plight. So the psalmist closes the first part of his song, with -rapturous celebration of the favoured nation's prerogatives. "The -festal shout" or "the trumpet-blast" is probably the music at the -festivals (Numb. xxiii. 21 and xxxi. 6), and "those who know" it -means "those who are familiar with the worship of this great God." -The elements of their blessedness are then unfolded. "They walk in -the light of Thy face." Their outward life is passed in continual -happy consciousness of the Divine presence, which becomes to them a -source of gladness and guidance. "In Thy Name do they exult all the -day." God's self-manifestation, and the knowledge of Him which arises -therefrom, become the occasion of a calm, perpetual joy, which is -secure from change, because its roots go deeper than the region where -change works. "In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted." Through -God's strict adherence to His covenant, not by any power of their -own, shall they be lifted above foes and fears. "The glory of their -strength art Thou." In themselves they are weak, but Thou, not any -arm of flesh, art their strength, and by possession of Thee they are -not only clothed with might, but resplendent with beauty. Human power -is often unlovely; God-given strength is, like armour inlaid with -gold, ornament as well as defence. "In Thy favour our horn shall be -exalted." The psalmist identifies himself at last with the people, -whose blessedness he has so glowingly celebrated. He could keep up -the appearance of distinction no longer. "They" gives place to "we" -unconsciously, as his heart swells with the joy which he paints. -Depressed as he and his people are for the moment, he is sure that -there is lifting up. The emblem of the lifted horn is common, as -expressive of victory. The psalmist is confident of Israel's triumph, -because he is certain that the nation, as represented by and, as it -were, concentrated in its king, belongs to God, who will not lose what -is His. The rendering of ver. 18 in the A.V. cannot be sustained. "Our -shield" in the first clause is parallel with "our king" in the second, -and the meaning of both clauses is that the king of Israel is God's, -and therefore secure. That ownership rests on the promise to David, -and on it in turn is rested the psalmist's confidence that Israel -and its king are possessed of a charmed life, and shall be exalted, -however now abject and despondent. - -The second part (vv. 19-37) draws out in detail, and at some points -with heightened colouring, the fundamental prophecy by Nathan. It -falls into two parts, of which the former (vv. 19-27) refers more -especially to the promises given to David, and the second (vv. 28-37) -to those relating to his descendants. In ver. 19 "vision" is quoted -from 2 Sam. vii. 17; "then" points back to the period of giving the -promise; "Thy favoured one," is possibly Nathan, but more probably -David. The Masoretic reading, however, which is followed by many -ancient versions, has the plural "favoured ones," which Delitzsch -takes to mean Samuel and Nathan. "Help" means the help which, through -the king, comes to his people, and especially, as appears from the -use of the word "hero," aid in battle. But since the selection of -David for the throne is the subject in hand, the emendation which -reads for "help" _crown_ recommends itself as probable. David's -prowess, his humble origin, and his devotion to God's service are -brought into view in vv. 19, 20, as explaining and magnifying the -Divine choice. His dignity is all from God. Consequently, as the -next pair of verses goes on to say, God's protecting hand will ever -be with him, since He cannot set a man in any position and fail to -supply the gifts needed for it. Whom He chooses He will protect. -Sheltered behind that strong hand, the king will be safe from all -assaults. The word rendered "steal upon" in ver. 22 is doubtful, and -by some is taken to mean _to exact_, as a creditor does, but that -gives a flat and incongruous turn to the promise. For ver. 22 _b_ -compare 2 Sam. vii. 10. Victory over all enemies is next promised in -vv. 23-25, and is traced to the perpetual presence with the king of -God's Faithfulness and Loving-kindness, the two attributes of which -so much has been sung in the former part. The manifestation of God's -character (_i.e._, His Name) will secure the exaltation of David's -horn--_i.e._, the victorious exercise of his God-given strength. -Therefore a wide extension of his kingdom is promised in ver. 25, from -the Mediterranean to the Euphrates and its canals, on which God will -lay the king's hand--_i.e._, will put them in his possession. - -The next pair of verses (26, 27) deals with the inward side of the -relations of God and the king. On David's part there will be child-like -love, with all the lowliness of trust and obedience which lies in the -recognition of God's fatherhood, and on God's part there will be the -acknowledgment of the relation, and the adoption of the king as His -"first-born," and therefore, in a special sense, beloved and exalted. -Israel is called by the same name in other places, in reference to -its special prerogative amongst the nations. The national dignity is -concentrated in the king, who stands to other monarchs as Israel to -other nations, and is to them "Most High," the august Divine title, -which here may possibly mean that David is to the rulers of the earth -an image of God. The reciprocal relation of Father and Son is not here -conceived in its full inwardness and depth as Christianity knows it, -for it has reference to office rather than to the person sustaining -the office, but it is approximating thereto. There is an echo of the -fundamental passage in ver. 26. (Compare 2 Sam. vii. 14.) - -From ver. 28 onwards the psalmist turns to expand the promises to -David's line. His words are mainly a poetical paraphrase of 2 Sam. -vii. 14. Transgression shall indeed be visited with chastisement, -which the fatherly relation requires, as the original passage -indicates by the juxtaposition of the promise "I will be his Father," -and the declaration "I will chasten him." But it will be chastisement -only, and not rejection. The unchangeableness of God's loving purpose -is very strongly and beautifully put in ver. 33, in which the twin -attributes of Loving-kindness and Faithfulness are again blended -as the ground of sinful men's hope. The word rendered above "break -off" occasions a difficulty, both in regard to its form and its -appropriateness in this connection. The clause is a quotation from 2 -Sam. vii. 15, and the emendation which substitutes for _break off_ the -more natural word used there--namely, _withdraw_--is to be preferred. -In ver. 33 b the paradoxical expression of _being false to My -faithfulness_ suggests the contradiction inherent in the very thought -that He can break His plighted word. The same idea is again put in -striking form in ver. 34: "I will not profane My covenant," even -though degenerate sons of David "profane" God's statute. His word, -once spoken, is inviolable. He is bound by His oath. He has given His -holiness as the pledge of His word, and, till that holiness wanes, -those utterances which He has sealed with it cannot be recalled. The -certainty that sin does not alter God's promise is not traced here to -His placableness, but to His immutable nature, and to the obligations -under which He is laid by His own word and acts. That unchangeableness -is a rock-foundation, on which sinful men may build their certitude. -It is much to know that they cannot sin away God's mercy nor exhaust -His gentle long-suffering. It is even more to know that His holiness -guarantees that they cannot sin away His promises, nor by any breach -of His commandments provoke Him to break His covenant. - -The allusions to the ancient promise are completed in vv. 36, 37, -with the thought of the perpetual continuance of the Davidic line -and kingdom, expressed by the familiar comparison of its duration to -that of the sun and moon. Ver. 37 _b_ is best understood as above. -Some take the faithful witness to be the moon; others the rainbow, -and render, as in the A.V. and R.V., "and as the faithful witness." -But the designation of the moon as a witness is unexampled and almost -unintelligible. It is better to take the clause as independent, and to -suppose that Jehovah is His own witness, and that the psalmist here -speaks in his own person, the quotation of the promises being ended. -Cheyne encloses the clause in a parenthesis and compares Rev. iii. 14. - -The third part begins with ver. 38, and consists of two portions, in -the first of which the psalmist complains with extraordinary boldness -of remonstrance, and describes the contrast between these lofty -promises and the sad reality (vv. 38-45), and, in the second prays -for the removal of the contradiction of God's promise by Israel's -affliction, and bases this petition on the double ground of the -shortness of life, and the dishonour done to His own Name thereby. - -The expostulation very nearly crosses the boundary of reverent -remonstrance, when it charges God with having Himself "abhorred" or, -according to another rendering, "made void" His covenant, and cast -the king's crown to the ground. The devastation of the kingdom is -described, in vv. 40, 41, in language borrowed from Psalm lxxx. 12. The -pronouns grammatically refer to the king, but the ideas of the land -and the monarch are blended. The next pair of verses (42, 43) ventures -still further in remonstrance, by charging God with taking the side -of Israel's enemies and actively intervening to procure its defeat. -The last verse-pair of this part (44, 45) speaks more exclusively of -the king, or perhaps of the monarchy. The language, especially in ver. -45 _a_, seems most naturally understood of an individual. Delitzsch -takes such to be its application, and supposes it to describe the -king as having been prematurely aged by calamity; while Hupfeld, with -Hengstenberg and others, prefer to regard the expression as lamenting -that the early days of the monarchy's vigour had so soon been succeeded -by decrepitude like that of age. That family, which had been promised -perpetual duration and dominion, has lost its lustre, and is like a -dying lamp. That throne has fallen to the ground, which God had promised -should stand for ever. Senile weakness has stricken the monarchy, and -disaster, which makes it an object of contempt, wraps it like a garment, -instead of the royal robe. A long, sad wail of the music fixes the -picture on the mind of the hearer. - -Then follows prayer, which shows how consistent with true reverence -and humble dependence is the outspoken vigour of the preceding -remonstrance. The boldest thoughts about the apparent contradiction -of God's words and deeds are not too bold, if spoken straight to Him, -and not muttered against Him, and if they lead the speaker to prayer -for the removal of the anomaly. In ver. 46 there is a quotation from -Psalm lxxix. 5. The question "How long" is the more imploring because -life is so short. There is but a little while during which it is -possible for God to manifest Himself as full of Loving-kindness and -Faithfulness. The psalmist lets his feelings of longing to see for -himself the manifestation of these attributes peep forth for a moment, -in that pathetic sudden emergence of "I" instead of "we" or "men," in -ver. 47 _a_. His language is somewhat obscure, but the sense is clear. -Literally, the words read "Remember--I, what a transitoriness." The -meaning is plain enough, when it is observed that, as Perowne rightly -says, "I" is placed first for the sake of emphasis. It is a tender -thought that God may be moved to show forth His Loving-kindness by -remembrance of the brief period within which a man's opportunity of -beholding it is restricted, and by the consideration that so soon he -will have to look on a grimmer sight, and "see death." The music again -comes in with a melancholy cadence, emphasising the sadness which -enwraps man's short life, if no gleams of God's loving-kindness fall -on its fleeting days. - -The last three verses (vv. 49-51) urge yet another plea--that of the -dishonour accruing to God from the continuance of Israel's disasters. -A second "Remember" presents that plea, which is preceded by the -wistful question "Where are Thy former loving-kindnesses?" The psalmist -looks back on the glories of early days, and the retrospect is bitter -and bewildering. That these were sworn to David in God's faithfulness -staggers him, but he makes the fact a plea with God. Then in vv. 50, 51, -he urges the insults and reproaches which enemies hurled against him and -against "Thy servants," and therefore against God. - -Ver. 50 _b_ is obscure. To "bear in the bosom" usually implies -tender care, but here can only mean sympathetic participation. The -psalmist again lets his own personality appear for a moment, while -he identifies himself as a member of the nation with "Thy servants" -and "Thine anointed." The last words of the clause are so obscure -that there must apparently have been textual corruption. If the -existing text is retained, the object of the verb _I bear_ must be -supplied from _a_, and this clause will run, "I bear in my bosom -the reproach of all the many peoples." But the collocation of _all_ -and _many_ is harsh, and the position of _many_ is anomalous. An -ingenious conjecture, adopted by Cheyne from Boettcher and Bickell, and -accepted by Baethgen, reads for "all, many peoples," _the shame of the -peoples_, which gives a good meaning, and may be received as at all -events probable, and expressing the intent of the psalmist. Insolent -conquerors and their armies triumph over the fallen Israel, and -"reproach the footsteps" of the dethroned king or royal line--_i.e._, -they pursue him with their taunts, wherever he goes. These reproaches -cut deep into the singer's heart; but they glance off from the earthly -objects and strike the majesty of Heaven. God's people cannot be -flouted without His honour being touched. Therefore the prayer goes -up, that the Lord would remember these jeers which mocked Him as well -as His afflicted people, and would arise to action on behalf of His -own Name. His Loving-kindness and Faithfulness, which the psalmist -has magnified, and on which he rests his hopes, are darkened in the -eyes of men and even of His own nation by the calamities, which give -point to the rude gibes of the enemy. Therefore the closing petitions -beseech God to think on these reproaches, and to bring into act once -more His Loving-kindness, and to vindicate His Faithfulness, which He -had sealed to David by His oath. - -Ver. 52 is no part of the original psalm, but is the closing doxology -of Book III. - - - - - _Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._ - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - - -Obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout. - -Non-Latin characters have been replaced with the nearest Latin -equivalent for example oe (the oe ligature), was replaced with oe. - -Inconsistent hyphenation left as in the original text. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, -Vol. 2, by Alexander Maclaren - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE *** - -***** This file should be named 42488.txt or 42488.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/4/8/42488/ - -Produced by Douglas L. 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