fill;' ;<:;;;;; , tihvaxy of t:he theological ^emmarjp PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY The Estate of Professor V/alter M. Rankin Zljt €m\MtjQt Bible for ^t|)ooIs anti Colleaes» THE BOOK OF PSALMS (I— XLI) rniNTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SONS, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. The General Editor of The Cambridge Bible for Schools thinks it right to say that he does not hold himself responsible either for the interpretation of particular passages which the Editors of the several Books have adopted, or for any opinion on points of doctrine that they may have expressed. In the New Testament more especially questions arise of the deepest theological import, on which the ablest and most conscientious interpreters have differed and always will differ. His aim has been in all such cases to leave each Contributor to the unfettered exercise of his own judgment, only taking care that mere controversy should as far as possible be avoided. He has contented himself chietiy with a careful revision of the notes, with pointing out omissions, with PREFACE. suggesting occasionally a reconsideration of some question, or a fuller treatment of difficult passages, and the like. Beyond this he has not attempted to interfere, feeling it better that each Commentary should have its own individual character, and being convinced that freshness and variety of treatment are more than a compensation for any lack of uniformity in the Series. CONTENTS. PAGES I. Introduction. /. The Book of Psalms ix— xii //. The Position, Names, Numbering, and Divisions of the Psalter xii — xvii ///. The Titles of the Psalms xvii— xxxi IV. The Authorship and Age of the Psalms ... xxxi— xxxviii V. The Collection and Growth of the Psalter... xxxix— xliv VI. The Form of Hebrew Poetry xliv— xlviii VII. The Hebrew Text, the Ancient Versions, and the English Versions xlix— Ivii VIII. The Messianic Hope Iviii— Ixvii IX. On some points in the Theology of the Psalms Ixvii— Ixxix II. Text and Notes i— 220 III. Appendices - 221—224 Index 225 The Text adopted in this Edition is that of Dr Scrivener's Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordi- nary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the use of italics, will be noticed. For the principles adopted by Dr Scrivener as regards the printing of the Text see his In- troduction to the Paragraph Bible, published by the Cambridge University Press. The choice and floxver of all things profitable in other books the Psalms do both more briefly contain^ and more jnovingly also express, by j-eason of that poetical form wherewith they are written . . . What is there necessary for man to know which the Psalms are not able to teach ? They are to beginners an easy and familiar introdtiction, a mighty augmentation of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation to the jnost perfect among others. Heroical 7nagnanimity, exquisite justice, grave moderation, exact wisdom, 7-epentance unfeigned, unwearied patience, the ?nysteries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, the co^nforts of grace, the W07'ks of Providence over this world, and the promised joys of that world ivhich is to come, all good necessarily to be either known or done or had, this one celestial fountain yieldeth. Let there be any grief or disease incident into the soul of man, any wound or sickness natned, for which there is not in this treasure-house a present contfot-table remedy at all times ready to be found. R. HOOKER. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. Lyric poetry is the most ancient kind of poetry, and Hebrew poetry is mainly lyric. Neither epic nor dramatic poetry flourished in ancient Israel. Some indeed of the historical Psalms may be said to have an epic colouring, but they belong to the class of didactic narrative : Job and the Song of Songs may be called in a sense dramatic, but they do not appear to have been intended for performance on the stage. The only independent branch of poetry in Israel was Gnomic or Pro- verbial poetry, which in the hands of the ' Wise Men ' attained to a rich development, and must have exercised an important influence on the education of the people. The Old Testament is the religious history of Israel, and the poetry preserved in the Book of Psalms is, as might be expected, religious poetry. Secular poetry no doubt existed^ but it has not come down to us. The Psalter then is a collection of religious lyrics. Lyric poetry is defined as " that which directly expresses the individual emotions of the poet;" and religious lyric poetry is the expression of those emotions and feelings as they are stirred by the thought of God and directed God-wards. This is the common characteristic of the Psalms in all their 1 Such as the drinking songs referred to in Amos vi. 5 (R.V.); Is. V. 12: harvest and vintage songs (Is. xvi. 10, 11; Jer. xlviii. 33): parables (Judg. ix. 8 ff.). Solomon's 'thousand and five songs' were probably of a secular character (r Kings iv. 32). Poems like Exod. xv and Judg. v are essentially religious. INTRODUCTION. manifold variety. Some are directly addressed to God, as petition or thanksgiving or praise : some are the communings of the soul with God, expressing its faith, its hope, its love, its needs, its fears, its aspirations, its joys, its triumphs : some celebrate the 'marvellous works' of God in nature and in history : some reflect upon the perplexing problems of life and their relation to the divine government of the world : but God is as it were the sun around which all revolves, and His light and heat illuminate and animate the whole. The Psalms stand in an intimate relation to the whole of the Old Testament. They are the inspired response of the human heart to God's revelation of Himself, in Law and History and Prophecy and Philosophy. The Psalmists celebrate the moral law as the guide of human conduct ; they welcome the ordinances of worship and rejoice in the privilege of access to the presence of God in the Temple, as the crowning joy of life. History supplies its lessons of God's goodness and man's ingratitude. The recollection of the past is a warning for the present, the support of faith in the hour of trial, the ground of comfort in times of calamity. The Psalms are closely connected with Prophecy. The term 'prophesying' is applied to the expression of religious fervour in chant and hymn (i Sam. x. lo ff. ; xix. 20 ff. : i Chr. XXV. I — 3); and David's chief musicians, Heman, Asaph and Jeduthun, are called 'seers' (i Chr. xxv. 5; 2 Chr. xxix. 30; xxxv. 15). Sacred poetry often rises to prophetic foresight, while prophecy passes into lyric poetry ^ The passion for truth and righteousness, and the unquenchable belief that Jehovah's moral government of the world is working, surely if slowly, towards a glorious consummation in the establishment of His universal sovereignty, animate and inspire Psalmists not less than Prophets. Several Psalms reflect the influence of the * Wisdom ' or religious philosophy of Israel, both in its practical and in its speculative aspects. The moral lessons for every-day life collected in the Book of Proverbs, and the discussion of the ^ E.g. Is. xii, xxv, xxvi; Hab. iii. INTRODUCTION. problems of the world in Job and Ecclesiastes, find their echo in the poetry of the Psalter. The importance of the Psalter for a just appreciation of the history of Israel is obvious. How meagre an idea of the higher religious life of Israel should we derive from the Historical Books apart from the Prophets : how imperfect still would be the picture drawn from the Historical Books and the Prophets without the warmth of colouring added to it by the Psalms. These alone give us a glimpse into the inner religion of the best spirits in the nation, and bear witness to the faith, the love, the devotion of pious souls even under the limitations of the Old Covenant. Hence it is essential to study the Psalms critically and historically ; to endeavour to ascertain their original meaning and to assign them to their proper place in the history and development of revelation ; not only in order to give life and reality to the Psalms themselves, and to understand them better ; but for the sake of the light which they throw upon the religious history of Israel, and the course of God's dealings with His people. The inquiry is however one of extreme difficulty. The widest diversity of opinion prevails as to the date and authorship of the Psalms, and we must often be content to acknowledge that a Psalm cannot be assigned to a definite period, still less to a particular author, with any degree of certainty. But after all, the critical and historical study of the Psalms is but a preliminary to the higher study of their spiritual meaning and their devotional use. The Psalter has been through all the centuries and will ever continue to be the one unique and inexhaustible treasury of devotion for the individual and for the Church. Through its guidance the soul learns to commune with God : it supplies the most fitting language for common worship. To some it may seem almost a sacrilege to apply the methods of criticism to such a book. It may be disappointing to find that many Psalms once supposed to be David's must be relegated to a far later age ; perplexing to find familiar renderings con- demned, and long current interpretations abandoned. INTRODUCTION. But Holy Scripture conveys divine truth through the medium of human language, and it is our duty to investigate to the full the meaning and the force of that language. Criticism is not the enemy but the handmaid of devotion. As we learn to understand more of the original meaning of the Psalms for those who wrote and used them, we shall learn more of their true meaning for ourselves. But that meaning is not limited to the ' original ' sense, if by this is meant only that which the writers could recognise in their own words. Every true poet's words contain far more than he himself at the moment intends. And the words of these inspired poets were so shaped and moulded by the Holy Spirit that they might grow and expand with the growth of revelation, and "gather wealth in the course of ages." The Psalms belong indeed to the Old and not to the New Testa- ment. They are the product of the Jewish and not of the Christian Church. But "the Psalter in its spiritual fulness belongs to no special time ;" and the old words are 'fulfilled' in Christ. The Christian Church may, nay must, use them as they are illuminated by the light of the Gospel. And if the saying, "pectus est quod facit theologumV^ is true of the study of the Bible generally, it is most true of the study of that book which has well been called " the Bible within the Bible,'"' the very " heart of the Bible." CHAPTER II. THE POSITION, NAMES, NUMBERING, AND DIVISIONS OF THE PSALTER. I. The position of the Psalter iti the Old Testament. The Hebrew title of the Old Testament indicates the three great divisions, in which, from very early times ^, the Canonical ^ "It is the heart which makes the theologian." 2 This triple division is recognised in the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus, written about B.C. 132 by the author's grandson, who translated the book from Hebrew into Greek. "Whereas many and great things have been delivered unto us by means of (5td) the law and the pro- phets and the others that have followed after them my grand- INTRODUCTION. Books were arranged by the Jewish Church : — Law^ Prophets, Writings. The Book of Psalms belongs to the third of these divisions, the Writings or Hagiographa. But its position in the group has not always been the same. In the MSS. of the German type, which our printed editions follow, the Psalms stand first, followed by Proverbs and Job. That this was the ancient order is at least a probable inference from Luke xxiv. 44 where " the Psalms " stands by the side of " the Law " and "the Prophets" as the title of the Hagiographa in general i. The order of the books of the O. T. in our English Bibles is that which had come to be adopted in the Vulgate by the sixteenth century. It corresponds more nearly to the arrange- ment of the Lxx found in the Vatican MS. than to that of the Hebrew, but differs from it in placing Job before the Psalter instead of after the Song of Songs, and in placing the Minor Prophets after instead of before the Major Prophets, and arranging them as they stand in the Hebrew text. 2. Names of the Psalter. The Septuagint translators em- ployed the word '<^dk\i.6%'^, psalm, to render the Heb. word iniz- rnor, which was the technical term for a song with musical accompaniment (p. xvii). The collection was styled simply Psalms, as in the Vatican MS. (yj/aXfiol, cp. Luke xxiv. 44), or the Book of Psalms (Luke xx. 42), or in later times the Psalter, father Jesus, when he had diligently given himself to the reading of the law and the prophets and the other books of our fathers {tQ)v dWwu TrarptW ^l^XLwv) . . . was drawn on also himself to write something per- taining to instruction and wisdom." And again, apologising for the imperfections of his version, he says: "For words spoken in Hebrew have not precisely the same force, when they are translated into another tongue: and not only this treatise, but even the law and the prophe- cies and the rest of the books (rd \onra tQv j3i^\lo}v) differ in no small degree when they are spoken in their own language." The clear dis- tinction which is here drawn between the Canonical books and Eccle- siasticus, and the reference to the Greek Version of the O.T. as already in existence, should be carefully noticed. 1 Comp. too Philo (B.C. 20— a. D. ^o)de vita cotitempl. (ii. 475): vo/JLOVs Kai \6yia Oea-mcrdevTa dia 7rpo(p7]T0Ju kuI v/ulvovs Kal to, dWa oh eiriaTTjixTf Kai evcre^eia (xwav^ovTai Kal reKeLovvrai.. "Laws and oracles delivered by prophets and hymns and the other writings by which knowledge and piety are increased and perfected." 2 \pa\fi69 denotes (i) the music of a stringed instrument; (2) a song sung to the accompaniment of such music. INTRODUCTION. yj/aXriip or >//-aXr;)pioi/^ The Greek words have come down to us through the Latin psahmis^ psalteritim. The title of the collection in the Hebrew Bible is Book of Praises or simply Praises: Sepher Tehillim abbreviated into Tillim or Tillifi'^. This title was known to Hippolytus^ and Origen^ in the first half of the third century A.D., and to Jerome^ Only one Psalm (cxlv) bears the title A Praise, and the name Book of Praises probably originated in the use of the collection as the hymn-book of the Second Temple^. But no more fitting name could be found for a book, of which a predominant characteristic is praise and thanksgiving, and which ends with a diapason of Hallelujahs. Another title, possibly that of the earliest collection of Davidic Psalms, was Tephilloth or Prayers (Ixxii. 20). Only five Psalms, xvii, Ixxxvi, xc, cii, cxlii, are so entitled ; but again, although some Psalms (e.g. i, ii) contain no direct address to God, the title is a suitable one. Prayer in its widest sense includes all elevation of the mind to God''. Hannah's thanks- giving and Habakkuk's ode are both described as prayer (i Sam. ii. I, Hab. iii. i). 3. Numbering of the Psalms. The Massoretic Text and the LXX both reckon a total of 150 Psalms. The 151st Psalm, which is added in the LXX, is expressly said to be "outside ^ y^a\Tt]piov meant originally a stringed instriuiient, a psaltery (fre- quently in the LXX), and was afterwards applied to a collectioti of psabns, a psalter. In this sense it is used by Hippolytus, Athanasius, Epiphanius, and stands as the title of the Psalms in the Alexandrine MS. ^ The word is derived from the same root as Hallelujah, and the verb is frequently used in connexion with the Temple Service (i Chron. xvi. 4 &c.). 3 p. 188, ed. Lagarde. 'E/Spatoi irepL€ypa\pav ttjv ^l^Xov I,^(ppa deXeifj.. The genuineness of the fragment of Hippolytus which treats of the inscriptions, authorship, divisions, and order of the Psalms, is how- ever doubtful. See Dr Salmon in the Diet, of Christian Biography, iii. 103. ^ In Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25 (ed. Burton) llipapdeWdiJ.. ^ In the Preface to his Psalteritim iuxta Hebraeos (p. 2, ed. La- garde): "titulus ipse Hebraicus sephar tallim, quod interpretatur volu- men hymnornm." ^ Cp. Neh. xii. 46. 7 "Lege totum Psalterium... nihil erit nisi ad Deum in cunctis operibus deprecatio." S. Jerome contra Pelag. i. 5. INTRODUCTION. XV the number 1." But this reckoning has not been uniformly observed. Some ancient Jewish authorities reckon 149, others 147 Psalms, the latter number, as the Jerusalem Talmud says, "according to the years of our father Jacob." These totals are obtained by uniting one or all of the pairs i, ii : ix, x : cxiv, cxv. Although the Hebrew and the LXX agree in the total, they differ in the details of the numeration. The LXX unites ix and X, cxiv and cxv, and divides cxvi and cxlvii. It may be use- ful to subjoin a comparative table, for while our modern English versions follow the Hebrew reckoning, the Vulgate and the older English Versions (e.g. Wycliffe and Coverdale) and modern Roman Catholic versions based upon it, follow that of the LXX. Hebrew (Later English Versions). i — viii. ix, X. xi — cxiii. cxiv, cxv. cxvi. cxvii — cxlvi. cxlvii. cxlviii — cl. LXX (Vulgate. Older English Versions. Rom. Cath. Versions). 1 — viii. ix. x — cxii. cxiii. cxiv, cxv. cxvi — cxiv. cxlvi, cxlvii. cxlviii — cl. 1 This Psalm appears to have been translated from a Hebrew original, but the contrast between it and the canonical Psalms is so noteworthy that it seems worth while to append a version of it. "This Psalm was written by David with his own hand (and it is outside the number) when he fought in single combat with Goliath. I was little among my brethren, and the youngest in my father's house ; I fed my father's sheep. My hands made a harp, my fingers contrived a psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord ? He is the Lord, it is He that heareth. He sent His angel, and took me from my father's sheep, and anointed me with the oil of his anointing. 5. My brethren were comely and tall, and in them the Lord had no pleasure. 6. I went forth to meet the Philistine, and he cursed me by his idols. But I drew the sword from his side, and beheaded him, and took away the reproach from the children of Israel." xvi INTRODUCTION. Thus for the greater part of the Psalter the numeration of the LXX is one behind that of the Hebrew. The EngHsh reader should also remember that the title of a Psalm, when it consists of more than one or two words, is reckoned as a verse, and sometimes (e.g. in Ps. li) as two verses, in the Hebrew text. Attention to this is necessary in using the references of commentaries, which like that of Delitzsch, follow the numbering of the verses in the original. 4. Divisions of the Psalter. The Psalter has from ancient times been divided into five books : Book i = Pss. i — xli: „ ii = Pss. xlii — Ixxii : „ iii = Pss. Ixxiii — Ixxxix : „ iv = Pss. xc — cvi: „ v = Pss. cvii — cl. These divisions are indicated not merely by headings in the Massoretic text, which have been introduced into the Revised Version, but by doxologies at the close of the first four books (xli. 13, Ixxii. 18, 19, Ixxxix. 52, cvi. 48), which obviously form no part of the Psalms to which they are appended. No special doxology is added to Ps. cl. It is in itself an appropriate con- cluding doxology for the whole Psalter. This five-fold division is earlier than the LXX, which con- tains the doxologies. It is often referred to by Jewish and Christian authorities, and compared to the five books of the Pentateuch. Thus the Midrask'^ on Ps. i. i: "Moses gave the Israelites the five books of the Law, and to correspond to these David gave them the Book of Psalms containing five books." Hippolytus [?] (ed. Lagarde, p. 193) : " Let it not escape your notice... that the Hebrews divided the Psalter also into five books, that it might be a second Pentateuch." Jerome, in the Prologus Galeatiis: "Tertius ordo Hagiogra- pha possidet. Et primus liber incipit a Job. Secundus a David, quem quinque incisionibus {sectiofts) et uno Psalmorum ^ An ancient Jewish commentary, probably however in its present form not earlier than the ioth century A.D. INTRODUCTION. xvii volumine comprehendunt." No doubt he chose this form of expression carefully, for in his preface to the Psalter he some- what passionately affirms the unity of the Book. The division is referred to by most of the Fathers, some of whom, as Ambrose, explain it allegorically ; others, as Gregory of Nyssa, find in the several books so many steps rising to moral perfection. As will be shewn presently, the division of the books in part corresponds to older collections out of which the Psalter was formed, in part is purely artificial. CHAPTER III. THE TITLES OF THE PSALMS. To nearly all the Psalms in the first three Books, and to some of those in the fourth and fifth Books, are prefixed titles, designating either (i) the character of the poem, or (2) matters connected with its musical setting, or (3) its liturgical use, or (4) the author, or perhaps more strictly, the collection from which the Psalm was taken, or (5) the historical occasion for which it was written or which it illustrates. Such titles may occur separately or in combination. Many of them are extremely obscure, and their meanings can only be conjectured. All that will be attempted here is to give the most probable explanations. An elaborate discussion of the innumer- able interpretations which have been proposed would be mere waste of time. Some special titles which occur but once will be discussed in the introduction to the Psalms to which they belong. I. Titles descriptive of the character of the poem. Psalm^ Miznior, rendered Psalm, is a technical term found only in the titles of the Psalter. It is prefixed to 57 Psalms, and with few exceptions, preceded or followed by the name of the author, generally that of David. The verb from which Mizmor is derived occurs frequently in the Psalter (e.g. vii. 17, xlvii. 6, 7, cxlix. 3) but rarely elsewhere 1 nirOTO: LXX )/'aX;tt3s: Vulg. Psalnms. PSALMS b xviii INTRODUCTION. (Judg. V. 3; [2 Sam. xxii. 50; i Chr. xvi. 9]; Is. xii. 5). It appears originally to have meant to make music, like the Lat. canere, but came to be applied specially to instrumental music, as distinguished from vocal music. Mizmor then means apiece of fuiisic, a song with instrumental accompaniment. Song^ Shtr, rendered song, is the general term for a song or canticle. It occurs 30 times in the titles, generally pre- ceded or followed by Mizmor, and not unfrequently in the text of the Psalms (e.g. xxviii. 7, xl. 3, cxxxvii. 3, 4), and in other books. It is applied to secular as well as sacred songs (Gen. xxxi. 27; Jud. v. 12; I Kings iv. 32; Is. xxx. 29; Neh. xii. 27, 36, 46). Maschil- is found as the title of thirteen ^ Psalms, eleven of which are in Books ii and iii. The meaning is obscure, {a) It has been explained to mean a didactic psalm. Comp. the use of the cognate verb in xxxii. 8, ' I will instruct thee.' But of the Psalms which bear the title only xxxii and Ixxviii are specifi- cally 'didactic' {b) Delitzsch supposes it to mean a meditation. {c) Most probable however is Ewald's explanation, a skilful psalm. The word is used in Ps. xlvii. 7, 'sing ye praises with imdei'staiiding^ (Heb. maschil), R.V. marg., in a skilful psalm. It may have denoted something more definite than the ordinary Mizjnor, a psalm with musical setting of a specially delicate and artistic character. Michtam occurs in the title of six Psalms, preceded or fol- lowed by of David \ It is probably, like Maschil, a musical term, the meaning of which cannot now be determined. A few of the many explanations which have been given may be mentioned : (i) That of the LXX and Theodotion, aTrj\oypa<^ia or eis (tttjXo- ypa(f)iav, au inscription or for an inscription. Cp. the Targ. a?i excellent itiscription or writing. Hence Delitzsch explains, a 1 1"'K^: LXX in titles usually (^5?), in text wSt; or acr/xa. 2 /'''Sbp : LXX (Tuj/ccrews or eU avveaiv : Vulg. iiitellectus or ad inlet- ledum: Jer. eruditio. 3 xxxii. xlii. xliv. xlv. Iii. liii. liv. Iv. Ixxiv. Ixxviii. Ixxxviii. Ixxxix. cxlii. * xvi. Ivi — Ix. INTRODUCTION. xix poem of epigrammatic character^ containing pithy or expressive sayings. (2) In defiance of all grammar and analogy Aquila Symmachus and Jerome render the word as an epithet of David, the hianble afid sincere or blameless. (3) A golden Psalm (A.V. marg.), with reference to the preciousness of its contents, like the golden sayings (xpt^o-« f""?/) of Pythagoras. (4) An unpub- lished poem. (5) A Psalm of hidden, mysterious meaning. Shiggaion^ occurs in the title of Ps. vii, and the Prayer of Habakkuk is said to be set to Shigionoth. The word is derived from a verb which means to wander, and it probably denotes a particular style of poetry or music, or it may include both, and mean 'a dithyrambic poem in wild ecstatic wandering rhythms, with corresponding music' A Prayer stands as the title of five Psalms (xvii. Ixxxvi. xc. cii. cxlii). Cp. Ixxii. 20; i Sam. ii. i; Hab. iii. i. A Praise is the title of one Psalm only (cxlv). 2. Titles comiected with the musical setting or po'formance. To the chief Musician^: R.V. For the Chief Musician: is prefixed to fifty-five Psalms, of which only two (Ixvi, Ixvii) are anonymous, and most bear the name of David. Fifty-two of these are in Books I — III, and three in Book V. It is found also in the subscription to Habakkuk's Prayer (Hab. iii. 19). The verb, of which the word is a participle, is used in Chro- nicles and Ezra in the sense oi superintending (i Chr. xxiii. 4; 2 Chr. xxxiv. 12; Ezra iii. 8, 9), and in i Chr. xv. 21 in the 1 IVr^ plur. n'li^JK^ : LXX in Ps. vii simply i/'aA^uos, in Hab. iura, (^dijs. Jer. ignoratio, following Symm. dyvorffia. Aq. xp. virep dyvoias, supposing it to refer to the contents of the Psalm. 2 n-'if^P^ {/am'nafceacA). The Targum renders it for praise, giving the general sense. But the other Ancient Versions were completely at a loss. The LXX renders eis to riXos, Vulg. in Jitiem^ 'unto the end' or 'for ever,' confusing the word with HVp.p {Idnefach). The other Greek Versions and Jerome connected it with the sense of victory^ which is one of the meanings of the root. Thus Aquila r

ish People in the time ofjestis Christ, Div. ii. § 32 (Vol. iii. p. 17 ff. E.T.). ^ The development of this argument by Bp Westcott in Smith's Did. of the Bible, ii. 168, on the hypothesis of the Maccabaean date of these Psalms, should still be consulted. ^ Schiirer, p. 21. INTRODUCTION. *'The destruction of the sinner shall be for ever, and he shall not be remembered, when He visiteth the righteous. This is the portion of sinners for ever. But they that fear the Lord shall arise unto life eternal, and their life shall be in the light of the Lord and shall fail no more" (iii. 13 — 16). "For the Lord will spare His saints, and their transgressions will He blot out by correction: for the life of the righteous is for ever, but sinners shall be carried away to destruction and their memorial shall no more be found" (xiii. 9, 10). Equally remarkable is the expression of the Messianic hope: "Behold, O Lord, and raise up unto them their king, the son of David, at the time which thoy knowest, O God, that he may reign over Israel thy servant. And gird him with strength to break in pieces unrighteous rulers" (xvii, 23, 24). # * * * "And in his days there is no unrighteousness in the midst of them, for all are holy, and their king is the anointed lord^" {v. 36). % % % ^ "And he himself is pure from sin, to rule over a great people; to rebuke rulers and to destroy sinners by the might of a word. And he shall not be feeble in his days, relying upon his God, for God made him mighty in the holy spirit, and wise in the counsel of understanding with strength and righteousness" {w. 41, 42). These considerations are sufficient, taken all together, to make us hesitate to assign Psalms to the Maccabaean period, except on the most cogent internal evidence. The discussion of such evidence must necessarily be deferred to the notes on each Psalm. Few commentators however deny the possibility, and most maintain the certainty, of the existence of Maccabaean Psalms in the Psalter. ^ X/)t(TT6s K^'pios: cp. Lam. iv. 20 (LXX). INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER V. THE COLLECTION AND GROWTH OF THE PSALTER. Internal evidence makes it certain that the Psalter grew up gradually from the union of earlier collections of Psalms. The various strata of which it is composed can to some extent be distinguished. Three principal divisions, marked by well-de- fined characteristics, may be observed. They appear to have arisen in successive chronological order, but such a supposition need not exclude the possibility that the earlier collection re- ceived late additions, or that the later collection may contain early Psalms. (i) The First Division is coextensive with Book I (Pss. i — xli). All the Psalms in it have titles, with the exception of i. ii. x. xxxiii, and are described as Psalms "of David." The exceptions are easily accounted for. Pss. i and ii are intro- ductory, and probably did not belong to the original collection. Ps. X was part of Ps. ix, or was written as a pendant to it. Ps. xxxiii appears to be of distinctly later date, inserted as an illustration of the last verse of Ps. xxxii. (ii) The Second Division corresponds to Books II and III (Ps. xlii — Ixxxix). All the Psalms in it, except xliii (which is really part of xlii) and Ixxi, bear titles. It consists of {a) seven Psalms (or eight, if xlii and xliii are both reckoned) "of the sons of Korah" (xlii — xUx) : {b) a Psalm "of Asaph" (1): {c) ten Psalms, all except Ixvi, Ixvii, "of David" (Ii— Ixx): {d) an anonymous Psalm (Ixxi), and a Psalm "of Solomon" (Ixxii)^: {e) eleven Psalms "of Asaph" (Ixxiii — Ixxxiii) : (/) a ^ It has been conjectured by Ewald that Pss. Ii — Ixxii originally stood after xli, so that the arrangement was (i) Davidic Psalms, i — xli; 11 — Ixxii: (2) Levitical Psalms: {a) Korahite, xlii — xlix; [b) Asaphite, 1, Ixxiii — Ixxxiii ; [c) Korahite supplement, Ixxxiv — Ixxxix. The hy- pothesis is ingenious. It brings the Davidic Psalms together, and makes the note to Ixxii. 20 more natural ; and it connects the isolated Psalm of Asaph (1) with the rest of the group. But it is clear that Books ii and iii formed a collection independent of Book i: and the editor may have wished to separate the mass of xl INTRODUCTION. supplement containing three Psalms "of the sons of Korah" (Ixxxiv. Ixxxv. Ixxxvii) ; one "of David," which is manifestly a cento from other Psalms (Ixxxvi) ; one "of Heman the Ezrahite"(lxxxviii); and one "of Ethan the Ezrahite" (Ixxxix). (iii) The Third Division corresponds to Books IV and V (Pss. xc — cl). In this division many Psalms have no title at all, and only a few bear the name of an author. In Book IV, Ps. xc bears the name of Moses: Pss. ci and ciii that of David. In Book V, Pss. cviii — ex, cxxii. cxxiv. cxxxi. cxxxiii. cxxxviii — cxlv, bear the name of David : cxxvii that of Solo- mon. Of the rest the majority have no title, or only that of a subordinate collection (e.g. *A Song of Ascents '). We may now proceed to examine the characteristics of these divisions. The greater part of the Second Division is remark- ably distinguished from the First and Third by the use of the Divine Names. Psalms xlii — Ixxxiii are 'Elohistic'; that is to say, they employ the appellative Elohim^'- Godl in the place and almost to the exclusion of the proper name Jehovah, represented in the A. V. by Lord. In Pss. i — xli, Elohim occurs absolutely^ only 15 times, and in some of these cases it is required by the sense-. Jehovah on the other hand occurs 272 times. In Pss. xlii — Ixxxiii, the proportion is reversed. Elohim occurs 200 times, Jehovah only 43 times (exclusive of the doxology, Ixxii. 18); while in Pss. Ixxxiv- — Ixxxix Elohim occurs only 7 times, Jehovah 31 times. the Asaphite Psalms from the Korahite Psalms by placing the Davidic Psalms between them, while he put 1. next to li. on account of the similarity of its teaching on sacrifice. The note to Ixxii. 20 is true for his collection ; and it does not necessarily imply that none but Davidic Psalms have preceded. Cp. Job xxxi. 40. ^ By 'absolutely' is meant, without either a pronoun attached to it ('my God' and the like) or a qualifying word grammatically connected with it ('God of my righteousness,' 'God of my salvation,' and the like). The English reader must remember that three Hebrew words, El, Eloah, and Elohim, are represented by God in the A.V. El occurs absolutely 11 times in division i, 29 times in division ii, 14 times in division iii. Eloah is rare in the Psalter. - E.g. ix. 17; X. 4, 13; xiv. 1, 2, 5; xxxvi. 1, 7. In iii. 2 the read- ing is doubtful. See note there. INTRODUCTION. xli In Pss. xc — cl, Jehovah occurs 339 times, while Elohim (of the true God) is to be found only in Ps. cviii, which is taken direct from two Psalms in the Elohistic group, and in cxliv. 9, in a Psalm which is evidently compiled from various sources. It may also be noted that Addnai=^Lord' occurs much more frequently in the Second Division (31 times), than in the First (10 times), or Third (8 times). This use of EWilm cannot be explained on internal grounds. It stands precisely as Jehovah does elsewhere, and not unfre- quently the substitution leads to awkwardness of expression. Thus, for example, Ps. 1. 7 is taken from Ex. xx. 2; Ixviii. i, 2, 7, 8 are based upon Num. x. 35 ; Judg. v. 4, 5, 31 ; Ixxi. 19 is from Ex. xv. 11; and in each case Elohim takes the place of Jehovah. More striking still is the fact that in two Psalms which are repeated from Book I. (hii = xiv; lxx=xl. 14 ff.), the alteration is made, though in Ps. h.x Jehovah still occurs twice. To what then is this peculiarity due.'' Is it characteristic of a particular style of writing.? or is it the work of an editor or compiler.'' It seems certain (i) from the alteration in Psalms adopted from Book I, (2) from the variety of the sources from which the Psalms in this group are derived, that the change is, in part at least, due to the hand of an editor. It may no doubt have been the usage of certain writers. It has been suggested that it was a custom in the family of Asaph, connected possibly with the musical or liturgical use of the Psalms. But even if the pecu- liarity is due in some instances to the author, there can be little doubt that it is due, in the group as a whole, to the collector or editor. A guess might be hazarded that the collection was thus adapted for the use of the exiles, with a view to avoid the repe- tition of the Sacred Name in a heathen land. But no positive result can be arrived at. The relation of the 'Elohistic' Psalms to the 'Elohistic' documents in the Pentateuch is also an obscure question, which needs further investigation. It seems clear, however, that the substitution of Elohim for Jehovah was not due to the superstitious avoidance of the use of the Sacred Name in later times. Books IV and V are xlii INTRODUCTION. composed of Psalms the majority of which are unquestionably of later date than those in the Elohistic group. But in these books the TK-axxxt. Jehovah is used throughout, with the exception noted above. The compiler of Book V knew the Elohistic Psalms in their present form : and so apparently did the com- piler of Ps. Ixxxvi, as may be inferred from a comparison of V. 14 with liv. 4 f. The argument for the original independence of the three divisions which is derived from the use of the names of God is corroborated : {a) By the repetition in the Second Division of Psalms found in the First, and in the Third of Psalms found in the Second. Thus liii = xiv: lxx=xl. 15 ff. : cviii = lvii. 7 — 11, Ix. 5 —12. {b) By the note appended to Ps. Ixxii., "the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended ^" This note, whether taken over from an earlier collection by the editor of Books II and III, or inserted by him, appears to shew that he knew of no more Davidic Psalms, or at any rate that his collection contained no more. Clearly therefore his collection must have been indepen- dent of Books IV and V, which contain several more Psalms ascribed to David. {c) By the difference already noticed in regard to titles. In this respect the Third Division is markedly distinguished from the First and Second. In these the Psalms with but few easily explained exceptions have titles, giving the name of the author or the collection from which the Psalm was taken, in many cases the occasion, and some musical or liturgical description or direction. But in the Third Division the majority of the Psalms are anonymous ; musical and liturgical directions are rare; and titles of the obscure character of many of those in Divisions I and II are entirely absent. Moreover the musical term Selah^ which occurs 17 times in Division I, and 50 times in Division II, is found but four times in Division III, and then in two Psalms ascribed to David (cxl. cxliii). {d) By the character of the contents of the three divisions. Speaking broadly and generally, the Psalms of the First Division dixe. personal, those of the Second, national, those of the Third, ^ Comp. Job xxxi. 40. INTRODUCTION. xliii liturgical. There are numerous exceptions, but it is in the First Division that personal prayers and thanksgivings are chiefly to be found : in the Second, prayers in special times of national calamity (xliv. Ix. Ixxiv. Ixxix. Ixxx. Ixxxiii. Ixxxix), and thanksgivings in times of national deliverance (xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. Ixxv. Ixxvi. Ixv — Ixviii) : in the Third, Psalms of praise and thanksgiving for general use in the Temple services (xcii. xcv — c. cv — cvii. cxi — cxviii. cxx — cxxxvi. cxlvi — cl). The various steps in the fonnatioti of the Psalter may have been somewhat as follows : (i) An original collection, which bore the name Psalvis (or, 'Prayers) of David, from its first and greatest poet, though poems by other writers were not excluded from it. It has already been suggested (p. xxix) that the general title of the collection was subsequently transferred to each separate Psalm in the First Group which was taken from it. To this 'Davidic' collection Psalms i and ii were prefixed as an introduction. (2) Next, the 'Elohistic' collection was formed by the union of two selections of Levitical Psalms from the Korahite and Asaphite hymnaries with another selection of 'Davidic' Psalms. To this collection was added an appendix of Korahite and other Psalms (Ixxxiv — Ixxxix), which were not altered by the Elohistic editor. (3) Finally, the Temple Psalms of the Return were collected, with a gleaning of earlier Psalms, some of which were believed to have been written by David, or were taken from a collection bearing his name. The date of these collections cannot be determined with cer- tainty. The nucleus of the First Collection may have been formed by Solomon, or certainly early in the regal period, though it appears to have received later additions. Nothing in the collection (not even xiv. 7) necessarily refers to the Exile or the Return. The Second Collection contains Psalms of the middle period of the Kingdom, but the appendix at any rate cannot have been completed till the Return (Ixxxv). The Third Collection may be placed in the time of Ezra and xliv INTRODUCTION. Nehemiah^ The Chronicler was famiHar with it, and possibly found the doxology at the close of Ps. cvi already in its place (see p. xxxvi). The possibility of much later additions has already been dis- cussed (p. XXXV ff.). Other collections no doubt preceded these. Such were 'The Book of Songs of the Sons of Korah/ 'The Songs of Asaph,' * The Songs of Ascents.' Pss. xcii — c, with the exception perhaps of Ps. xciv, are marked by a common character, and may have formed a separate collection. The 'Hallelujah Psalms,' civ — cvi. cxi — cxviii. cxxxv. cxlvi — cl, may have been taken from some ' Book of Praise.' The arrangeine7it of the Psabns in the several books appears to have been determined partly by their arrangement in the smaller collections from which they were taken, where their order may have been fixed by considerations of date and author- ship ; partly by similarity of character and contents. Thus for example, we find groups of Maschil Psalms (xlii — xlv. Hi — Iv. Ixxxviii, Ixxxix), and Michtam Psalms (Ivi^ — Ix). Resemblance in character may account for the juxtaposition of 1 and li: xxxiii takes up xxxii. 1 1 : xxxiv and xxxv both speak of ' the angel of the Lord,' who is mentioned nowhere else in the Psalter. The title of xxxvi links it to xxxv. 27 ('servant of the Lord') : that of Ivi may connect it with Iv. 6. CHAPTER VI. THE FORM OF HEBREW POETRY. Ancient Hebrew poetry possesses neither metre nor rhyme^. Its essential characteristic is rhythm, which makes itself ap- 1 Cp. the statement in 2 Mace. ii. 13. "Neemias founding a library gathered togetlier...the writings of David" (rd tov Aai/t5). 2 When Philo, Josephus, Eusebius, Jerome, and other early writers, compared Hebrew poetry with Greek and Latin metres, and spoke of hexameters and pentameters, sapphics, or trimeter and tetrameter iam- bics, they were using familiar language loosely. Various attempts have been made to discover a metrical system in the Psalms, on the basis of quantity, or of number of syllables or accents. Most of them involve INTRODUCTION. xlv parent both in the rhythmical cadence of each separate clause, and in the rhythmical balance of clauses when they are com- bined in a verse. The Hebrew language is characterised by a vigorous terse- ness and power of condensation which cannot be preserved in English. Hence the clauses of Hebrew poetry are as a rule short. They consist sometimes of two words only, most fre- quently of three words, but not seldom of more than three words. The rhythm of the clause often reflects the thought which it expresses. Thus, for example, the lively animated rhythm of the opening stanza {vv. i — 3) of Ps. ii vividly suggests the tumul- tuous gathering of the nations ; while the stately measure of V. 4 presents the contrast of the calm and unmoved majesty of Jehovah enthroned in heaven. Or again, the evening hymn Ps. iv sinks to rest in its concluding verse with a rhythm as reposeful as the assurance which it expresses. The rhythm of clauses however, together with many other features of Hebrew poetry, such as assonance and alliteration, distinctive use of words and constructions, and so forth, chiefly concerns the student of the original. But the rhythmical balance of clauses combined in a verse admits of being repro- duced in translation, and can to a large extent be appreciated by the English reader. Owing to this pecuhar nature of its form, Hebrew poetry loses less in translation than poetry which depends for much of its charm upon rhymes or metres which cannot be reproduced in another language. This balanced symmetry of form and sense is known as parallelis7n of claiues {parallelis7mis membf'orum) or simply, parallelism. It satisfies the love of regular and harmonious movement which is natural to the human mind, and was specially adapted to the primitive method of antiphonal chant- the abandonment of the Massoretic vocalisation, and invoke the aid of ' a whole arsenal of licences. ' Happily they do not concern the English reader. Rhyme is found occasionally (e.g. viii. 3 \Heb. 4] ; cvi. 4 — 7), but it appears to be accidental rather than intentional, and is never system- atically employed. Both rhyme and metre have been used in medieval and modern Jewish poetry from the 7th cent. A.D. onwards. xlvi INTRODUCTION. ing (Ex. XV. I, 20, 21; I Sam. xviii. 7). Such poetry is not sharply distinguished from elevated prose. Many passages in the prophets are written in poetical style, and exhibit the features of parallelism as plainly as any of the Psalms K The law of parallelism in Hebrew poetry has an exegetical value. It can often be appealed to in order to determine the construction or connexion of words, to elucidate the sense, or to decide a doubtful reading. The arrangement of the text in lines, adopted by Dr Scrivener in the standard edition of the A. V. from which the text in this edition is taken, and in the Revised Version, makes this characteristic of Hebrew poetry more plainly perceptible to the English reader. The various forms of parallelism are generally classified under three principal heads : (i) Synony7no7is parallclisin^ when the same fundamental thought is repeated in different words in the second line of a couplet. Thus in Ps. cxiv. i : " When Israel went forth out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language:" and the same construction is maintained throughout the Psalm. Every page of the Psalter supplies abundant examples. (2) Antithetic or contrasted parallelism^ when the thought expressed in the first line of a couplet is corroborated or eluci- dated by the affirmation of its opposite in the second line. This form of parallelism is specially suited to Gnomic Poetry, and is particularly characteristic of the oldest collection of proverbs in the Book of Proverbs (chaps, x— xxii. 16). Thus for example : " Every wise woman buildeth her house : But folly plucketh it down with her own hands" (Prov. xiv. i). But it is by no means rare in the Psalms, e.g. i. 6, " For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : But the way of the wicked shall perish." (3) Synthetic or constructive parallelism. Under this head are classed the numerous instances in which the two lines of ^ E.g. Is. Ix. I — 3; Ixv. 13, 14; Hos. xi. 8, 9; Nah. i. 1. INTRODUCTION. xlvii the couplet stand in the relation of cause and consequence, pro- tasis and apodosis, proposition and qualification or supplement, or almost any logical or constructional relation ; or in which the parallelism is one of form only without any logical relation between the clauses. The simplest and most common form of parallelism is the couplet or distich : but this may be expanded into a tristich (triplet) or a tetrastich (quatrain) or even longer combinations, in a variety of ways. Thus the three lines of a verse may be synonymous : " The floods have lifted up, O Lord, The floods have lifted up their voice ; The floods lift up their waves" (Ps. xciii. 3). Or two only of the lines may be synonymous, while the third is introductory (Ps. iii. 7), or supplementary (ii. 2), or antithetic (liv. 3). Similarly in tetrastichs (usually including two verses) we find four synonymous lines, as in xci. 5, 6. Or the first line may be parallel to the third, the second to the fourth, as in xxvii. 3: " Though an host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear : Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident." Or two synonymous lines may be contrasted with two synony- mous Hnes, as in xxxvii. 35, 36 : "I have seen the wicked in his terribleness, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil : And I passed by, and lo ! he was not, Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." Even longer combinations than tetrastichs sometimes occur; and on the other hand single lines are found, for the most part as introductions or conclusions. While maintaining its funda- mental characteristic of rhythm, Hebrew poetry admits of the greatest freedom and variety of form. Strophical arrange7ne?ii. Series of verses are, as might be expected, combined, and many Psalms consist of distinct groups of verses. Such groups may conveniently be called xlviii INTRODUCTION. stanzas or strophes, but the terms must not be supposed to imply that the same metrical or rhythmical structure recurs in each, as in Greek or Latin poetry. The strophes in a Psalm do not even necessarily consist of the same number of lines or verses. Such divisions are sometimes clearly marked by a refrain, as in Pss. xlii — xliii. xlvi. Ivii : or by alphabetical arrangement, as in cxix : or by Selah, denoting probably a musical interlude, as in Pss. iii and iv. But more frequently there is no external mark of the division, though it is clearly indicated by the struc- ture and contents of the Psalm, as in Ps. ii. Alphabetic or Acrostic Psalms. Eight or nine Psalms^ present various forms of alphabetic structure (Pss. ix. x. xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxii. cxix. cxlv). In cxi and cxii each letter begins a line, and the lines are arranged in eight distichs and two tristichs. In Pss. xxv. xxxiv. cxlv. Prov. xxxi. Lam. iv., each letter begins a distich, in Lam. i. ii. a tristich. In Pss. xxxvii each letter begins a pair of verses, commonly containing four, some- times five, lines. In Lam. iii each verse in a stanza of three verses, and in Ps. cxix each verse in a stanza of eight verses, begins with the same letter, and the letters are taken in regular succession. Such an arrangement, artificial though it seems, does not necessarily fetter a poet more than an elaborate metre or rhyme. It is not to be regarded as 'a compensation for the vanished spirit of poetry.' It was probably intended as an aid to memory, and is chiefly employed in Psalms of a proverbial character to connect detached thoughts, or when, as in Ps. cxix and in Lamentations, the poet needs some artificial bond to link together a number of variations upon one theme. The elaborate development of the system in Lamentations proves that alphabetic structure is not in itself a proof of a very late date-. 1 Also Lam. i — iv: Prov. xxxi. lo — 31. Bickell has pointed out traces of alphabetic structure in Nah. i. 3 — 10 : and shewn that the original of Ecclesiasticus Ii. 13 — 30 was alphabetic. 2 The early Roman poet Ennius wrote acrostics (Cicero, de Divina- NTRODUCTION. xHx CHAPTER VII. THE HEBREW TEXT, THE ANCIENT VERSIONS, AND THE ENGLISH VERSIONS. i. The Hebrew Text. A few words on the character of the Hebrew Text are necessary in order to justify the occasional departures from it, which will be met with in this commentary. The extant Hebrew MSS. of the O.T. are all comparatively recent. The oldest of which the age is known with certainty bears date a.d. 916; the majority are of the 12th to the i6th centuries. They all present substantially the same text\ com- monly called the Massoretic Text 2. Thus while we possess MSS. of the N.T. written less than three centuries after the date of the earliest of the books, our oldest MS. of the O.T. is more than ten centuries posterior to the date of the latest of the books which it contains; and while our MSS. of the N.T. present a great variety of readings, those of the O.T. are practically unanimous in supporting the same text. This unanimity was long supposed to be due to the jealous care with which the Jewish scribes had preserved the sacred text from the earliest times. But careful examination makes it clear that this is not the case. Since the rise of the schools of the 'Massoretes,' in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D., the text has, no doubt, been preserved with scrupulous exact- ness. But the recension which they adopted, whether originally tione^ ii. 54, § in); and they are said to have been invented in Greece by the comedian Epicharmus (B.C. 540 — 450). We may compare the alliteration, which is a common feature of early poetry. 1 The variations between them are (roughly speaking) not greater than the variations between the different editions of the A.V. which have appeared since 161 1, and they concern for the most part unim- portant points of orthography. - Massord means (i) tradition in general: (2) specially, tradition concerning the text of the O.T., and in particular the elaborate system of rules and menioria technica by which the later scriltes sought to guard the text from corruption. Those who devoted themselves to this study were called 'masters of Massora', or 'Massoretes'; and the term 'Massoretic' is applied to the text which their labours were de- signed to preserve. PSALMS d 1 INTRODUCTION. derived from a single MS., as some suppose, or from a com- parison of MSS. held in estimation at the time, unquestionably contains not a few errors, which had crept in during the long course of its previous history^ The proof of this lies in the following facts : — (i) There are many passages in which the Massoretic Text cannot be translated without doing violence to the laws of grammar, or is irreconcilable with the context or with other passages. (2) Parallel passages (e.g. Ps. xviii and 2 Sam. xxii) differ in such a way as to make it evident that the variations are due partly to accidental mistakes in transcription, partly to intentional revision. (3) The Ancient Versions represent various readings, which in many cases bear a strong stamp of probability upon them, and often lessen or remove the difficulties of the Mas- soretic Text. The Massoretic Text as a whole is undoubtedly superior to any of the Ancient Versions : but we are amply justified in calling in the aid of those Versions, and in particular the Septuagint, wherever that text appears to be defective: and even where it is not in itself suspicious, but some of the Ancient Versions offer a different reading, that reading may deserve to be taken into account. In some few cases, where there is reason to suspect corruption anterior to all extant documentary authorities, it may even be allowable to resort to conjectural emendation, and such emen- dations will occasionally be mentioned. ^ The history of the Hebrew text may be divided into four periods. (1) The first of these periods was marked by the exclusive use of the archaic character: (2) the second, from the time of Ezra to the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, saw the archaic character completely superseded by the square character, as the Hebrew language was superseded by Ara- maic : {3) in the third period, from the Fall of Jerusalem to the end of the fifth century, the consonantal text was fixed: (4) in the fourth period, the exegetical tradition of the proper method of reading the text was stereotyped by the addition of the vowels, and an elaborate system of rules invented to secure the accurate transmission of the text even in the minutest particulars. INTRODUCTION. Two further points must be mentioned here in order to explain some of the notes : (i) Hebrew, hke other Semitic languages, was originally written without any vowels, except such long vowels as were represented by consonants. In the earlier stages of the language even these were sparingly used. The present elaborate system of vowel marks or 'points,' commonly called the 'Massoretic punctuation' or 'vocalisation,' was not reduced to writing until the seventh or eighth century A.D. It stereotyped the pro- nunciation and reading of the O. T. then current, and in many respects represents a far older tradition. But in a vowelless, or as it is called 'unpointed/ text, many words may be read in different ways, and the Massoretic punctuation does not appear in all cases to give the true way of reading the con- sonants. (2) In some passages the traditional method of reading (O'rl) did not agree with the consonants of the written text (K'thibh). In such cases the Massoretes did not alter the text, but appended a marginal note, giving the consonants with which the vowels shewn in the text were to be read. It should be clearly understood that the Qri or marginal reading is the accepted reading of the Jewish textual tradition. But internal evidence, and the evidence of the Ancient Versions, lead us to prefer sometimes the Qrt and sometimes the KHhibh. See for example Ps. xxiv. 4, where A.V. and R.V. rightly follow the K'thibh, and desert the Jewish tradition : or Ps. c. 3, Avhere A.V. unfortunately followed the K'thibh, and R.V. has happily taken the Qri. ii. The Ancient Versions of the O. T. These possess a fresh interest for the English reader, since the R.V. has given oc- casional references to them in its margin. (i) The Septtiagint. The oldest and most valuable of them is the Greek Version, commonly called the Septuagint (Sept. or LXX), or Version of the Seventy Elders. It derives its name from the tradition that the translation of the Pentateuch was made by seventy or seventy-two elders, despatched from Jerusalem to Alexandria at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus (B.C. 283— 247). But the 'Letter of Aristeas,' on which this story rests, is d2 lii INTRODUCTION. undoubtedly a forgery, and all that can be asserted about the origin of the Septuagint is that it was made (i) in Egypt, and probably at Alexandria, (2) at different times and by different hands during the third and second centuries B.C., (3) before the vowel-points had been added to the Hebrew text, or that text had finally taken its present form. The Pentateuch was probably translated first under the earlier Ptolemies : and the grandson of Jesus the son of Sirach, about 132 B.C., knew and used the version of the Hagiographa as well as of the Law and the Prophets ^ This, it may be assumed, in- cluded the Psalter. The character of the LXX varies greatly in different parts of the O.T. The work of pioneers in the task of translation, with no aids of grammar and lexicon to help them, naturally presents many imperfections. Yet not seldom it gives a valuable clue to the meaning of obscure words, or suggests certain corrections of the Massoretic Text. The version of the Psalter is on the whole fairly good, though it is often altogether at fault in difficult passages. It has a special interest for English readers, because, as will be seen presently, it has indirectly had con- siderable influence on the version most familiar to many of them. Unfortunately the Septuagint has not come down to us in its original form. The text has suffered from numerous corruptions and alterations, partly through the carelessness of transcribers, partly through the introduction of fresh renderings intended to harmonise it with the Massoretic Text, or taken from other Greek Versions. The most important MSS. of the LXX for the Psalter, to which reference will occasionally be made, are the following": The Vatican IMS. (denoted by the letter B); a splendid copy of the Greek Bible, written in the fourth century A.D., and now preserved in the \^atican Library at Rome. Ten leaves of the Psalter, containing Pss. cv. 27 — cxxxvii. 6, are unfortunately lost. ^ See above, p. xii f ^ For fuller information see Dr Swete's edition of the LXX, pub- lished by the Camb. Univ. Press. The Psalter is to be had separately in a convenient form. INTRODUCTION. liii The equally splendid Sinaitic MS. (denoted by the letter J^ Aleph), also written in the fourth century, found by Tischendorf in the convent of St Catharine on Mt Sinai, and now at St Petersburg. The Alexandrine MS. (denoted by the letter A), written in the middle of the fifth century, brought from Alexandria, and now the great treasure of the British Museum. Nine leaves are wanting in the Psalter (Ps. xlix. 19 — Ixxix. 10). The Septuagint, with all its defects, is of the greatest interest to all students of the O.T. (i) It preserves evidence for the text far more ancient than the oldest Hebrew MS., and often represents a text differing from the Massoretic recension. (2) It is one of the most ancient helps for ascertaining the meaning of the language of the O.T., and is a valuable supple- ment to Jewish tradition. (3) It was the means by which the Greek language was wedded to Hebrew thought, and the way prepared for the use of that language in the New Testament. (4) The great majority of the quotations made from the O.T. by the writers of the N.T. are taken from the LXX. (5) It is the version in which the O.T. was studied by the Fathers of the Eastern Church, and indirectly, in the old Latin Versions made from it, by those of the Western, until Jerome's new translation from the Hebrew came into use. In the Psalter its influence was permanent, for as will be seen below (p. Iv), the new version never superseded the old. (ii) The Targian. After the return from the Babylonian exile, Aramaic, sometimes inaccurately called Chaldee, began to take the place of Hebrew in Palestine. As Hebrew died out, the needs of the people were met by oral translations or para- phrases in Aramaic. Hence arose the Aramaic Versions com- monly called the Targums^ The Targum of the Psalter is on the whole a fairly good version, though it often assumes the character of a paraphrastic interpretation. In its present form it appears to contain elements as late as the ninth century, but in the main ^ Targum means interpretation or translation, Cp. dragoman, lit, interpreter. liv INTRODUCTION. it belongs to a much earlier date. As a rule it represents the Massoretic recension, and is not of much value for textual criticism. It is interesting as preserving interpretations current in the ancient Jewish Church, in particular, for the reference of several passages in the Psalter to the Messiah ^ (iii) The Syfiac Version, known as the Peschito [siinple or literal vexsiovi), probably originated at Edessa, about the second century A.D. It was made from the Hebrew, with the help of Jewish converts or actual Jews. But the present text in some parts of the O.T. agrees with the LXX in such a way as to make it evident that either the original translators consulted that version, or subsequent revisers introduced renderings from it. This is largely the case in the Psalms. (iv) The later Greek Versions require only a brief mention. That of Aquila of Pontus, a Jewish proselyte from heathenism, was made in the beginning of the second century A.D., when the breach between Church and Synagogue was com- plete, and the Jews desired an accurate version for purposes of controversy with Christians. It is characterised by a slavish but .ingenious literalism. That of Theodotion, made towards the end of the second century, or possibly earlier^, was little more than a revision of the LXX. That of Symmachus, made probably a Httle later than that of Theodotion, was also based on the LXX. It aimed at com- bining accuracy and perspicuity, and was by far the best of the three. These versions were collected in the gigantic work of Origen (a.D. 185 — 254) called the Hexapla, which contained in six parallel columns, (i) the Hebrew Text, (2) the Hebrew trans- literated into Greek letters, (3) Aquila, (4) Symmachus, (5) the LXX, (6) Theodotion. In the Psalter the Hexapla became the Octapla by the addition of two columns containing two more Greek versions known as the 'Fifth' {Quinta) and *Sixth' {Sexta). ^ See e.g. Ps. xxi. i, 7; xlv. 2, 7; Ixi. 6, 8; Ixxii. i ; Ixxx. 15. - See Schiirer's Hist, of the y elvish People &'c.y Div. ii. § 33 (Vol. iii, p. i73,E.T.). I INTRODUCTION. Iv Unfortunately only fragments of these versions are extant ^ Generally, though not always, they agree with the Massoretic Text. (v) The Latin Versions. The earliest Latin Version of the O.T., the Vetus Latina or Old Latin, was made in North Africa from the LXX. This version, of which various recen- sions appear to have been current, was twice revised by St Jerome (Hieronymus). The first revision, made about a.d. 383, is known as the Roman Psalter^ probably because it was made at Rome and for the use of the Roman Church at the request of Pope Damasus ; the second, made about a.d. 387, is called the Gallican Psalter., because the Gallican Churches were the first to adopt it. Shortly afterwards, about a.d. 389, Jerome commenced his memorable work of translating the O.T. directly from the Hebrew, which occupied him for fourteen years. After bitter opposition and many vicissitudes, it won its way by its intrinsic excellence to be the Bible of the Latin Church, and came to be known as The Vulgate. But long familiarity with the Old Latin Version of the Psalter made it impossible to displace it, and the Gallican Psalter is incorporated in the Vulgate in place of Jerome's new translation. That new translation, "iuxta Hebraicam veritatem," never came into general use. It is of great value for the interpretation of the text, and shews that the Hebrew text known to Jerome was in the main the same as the present Massoretic Text. Accordingly, the student must remember that in the Psalter the Vulgate is an echo of the LXX, and not an independent witness to text or interpretation : while Jerome's translation (referred to as Jer^ occupies the place which the Vulgate does in the other books of the O.T."^ iii. The English Versions. It would be impossible to give here even a sketch of the history of the EngHsh Bible. But as the Version with which many readers are most familiar is not 1 Collected with exhaustive completeness in F. field's Origenis Hcxa- plorum qjiae stipersunt. 1875. ^ The best edition of Jerome's Psalter with critical apparatus is that by P. de Lagarde, Psaltcrhun iuxta Hebraeos Hieronymi, 1874. Ivi INTRODUCTION. that in the Bible, but that in the Prayer-Book, it seems worth while to give a brief account of its origin and characteristics. As the Old Latin Version held its ground against Jerome's more accurate translation, because constant liturgical use had established it too firmly for it to be displaced, so the older English Version of the Psalter taken from the Great Bible has kept its place in the Prayer-Book, and has never been super- seded for devotional use. The 'Great Bible,' sometimes known as Cromwell's, because the first edition (1539) appeared under his auspices, sometimes as Cranmer's, because he wrote the preface to the second edition (1540), was a revision of Matthew's Bible (1537), executed by Coverdale with the help of Sebastian MUnster's Latin version, published in 1534 — 5. Matthew's Bible was a composite work. The Pentateuch and N.T. were taken from Tyndale's published translation; the books from Ezra to Malachi and the Apocrypha from Cover- dale's version ; the remaining books from Joshua to 2 Chron. from a translation which there is little reason to douot was made by Tyndale. The Psalter in Matthew's Bible was therefore Coverdale's work: and Coverdale's Version (1535) lays no claim to inde- pendence. He tells us in the Epistle unto the Kynges hyghnesse prefixed to the work, that he had "with a cleare conscience purely and faythfuUy translated this out of fyve sundry inter- preters," and the original title-page described the book as "faithfully and truly translated out of Douche and Latyn into Enghshe." The 'Douche' was doubtless the Swiss-German version known as the Zurich Bible : the ' Latyn ' was of course the Vulgate : and it is worth while thus to trace the pedigree of the Prayer-Book Version, for in spite of successive revisions, it retains many marks of its origin. Many of its peculiar render- ings, and in particular the additions which it contains, are derived from the LXX through the Vulgate. The A.V. of 161 1, though more accurate, is less melodious, and when, at the revision of the Prayer-Book in 1662, the ver- sion of 161 1 was substituted in the Epistles and Gospels, the INTRODUCTION. Ivii old Psalter was left untouched. "The choirs and congregations had grown familiar with it, and it was felt to be smoother and more easy to sing."^ The Revised Version of 1885 has made a great advance upon the A.V. in respect of accuracy of rendering. The changes made by the Revisers will, as a rule, be quoted in this commentary, but the translation must be read and studied as a whole in order properly to appreciate their force and value. Even with the help which the R.V. now supplies to the English reader, it does not seem superfluous to endeavour by more exact renderings to bring the student closer to the sense of the original. It is well known that the A.V. frequently creates artificial distinctions by different renderings of the same word, and ignores real distinctions by giving the same rendering for different words : and this, though to a far less extent, is still the case in the R.V.^ Rigid uniformity of rendering may be misleading, but it is well that attention should be called to distinctions where they exist. Again, the precise force of a tense, or the exact emphasis of the original, cannot always be given without some circumlocution which would be clumsy in a version intended for general use : but it is worth while to attempt to express finer shades of meaning in a commentary. The best translation cannot always adequately represent the original : and it is well that the English reader should be re- minded that the sense cannot always be determined with pre- cision, and may often best be realised by approaching it from different sides. 1 See Bp Westcott's History of the English Bible, chap. iii. ^ See, for example, iii. 2, 7, 8, where the connexion is obscured by the rendering of the same word help in v. 1, and salvation in v. 8. Two entirely different words are rendered blessed in xli. i, 13. The first expresses congratulation, {Happy: cp. be made happy in v. 2) : the second expresses the tribute of human reverence to the divine majesty. The word rendered trust or put trust in in vii. i, xi. i is quite distinct from the word similarly rendered in xiii. 5. It means to take refuge in, and the sense gains remarkably by the correct rendering. The exact ren- dering of a tense may be sufficient to draw a forcible picture, as in vii. 15. Iviii INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER VIII. THE MESSIANIC HOPE. Poetry was the handmaid of Prophecy in preparing the way for the coming of Christ. Prophetic ideas are taken up, de- veloped, pressed to their full consequences, with the boldness and enthusiasm of inspired imagination. The constant use of the Psalms for devotion and worship familiarised the people with them. Expectation was aroused and kept alive. Hope became part of the national life. Even Psalms, which were not felt beforehand to speak of Him Who was to come, con- tributed to mould the temper of mind which was prepared to receive Him when He came in form and fashion far other than that which popular hopes had anticipated ; and they were recognised in the event as pointing forward to Him. This work of preparation went forward along several distinct lines, some of which are seen to converge or meet even in the O.T., while others were only harmonised by the fulfilment. Thus (i) some Psalms pointed forward to the Messiah as Son of God and King and Priest : others (2) prepared the way for the suffering Redeemer : others (3) only find their full meaning in the perfect Son of Man: others (4) foretell- the Advent of Jehovah Himself to judge and redeem. All these different lines of thought combined to prepare the way for Christ ; but it must be remembered that the preparation was in great measure silent and unconscious. It is difficult for us who read the O.T. in the light of its fulfilment to realise how dim and vague and incomplete the Messianic Hope must have been until the Coming of Christ revealed the divine purpose, and enabled men to recognise how through long ages God had been preparing for its consummation. (i) The Royal Messiah (Psalms ii. xviii. xx. xxi. xlv. Ixi. Ixxii. Ixxxix. ex. cxxxii). The Kingdom of Israel was at once the expression of God's purpose to establish an universal kingdom upon earth, and the means for the accomplishment of that purpose. The people of Israel was Jehovah's son, His firstborn (Ex. iv. 22, 23 ; Deut. xxxii. INTRODUCTION. lix 6; Hos. xi. i), and His servant (Is. xli. 8) ; and the Davidic king as the representative of the nation was Jehovah's son, His first- born (2 Sam. vii. 14; Ps. ii. 7; Ixxxix. 26, 27), and His servant (2 Sam. vii. 5 ff.)- He was no absolute despot, reigning in His own right, but the 'Anointed of Jehovah' who was the true King of Israel, appointed by Him as His viceroy and representative (Ps. ii. 6). He was said to "sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel" (i Chr. xxviii. 5), or even "on the throne of the Lord" (i Chr. xxix. 23). Thus he was at once the representative of the people before Jehovah, and the representative of Jehovah before the people, and before the nations. To Him as Jehovah's viceroy was promised the sovereignty over the nations. Nathan's message to David (2 Sam. vii) was the Davidic king's patent of adoption and title deed of inheritance. It was the procla- mation of "the everlasting covenant" which God made with the house of David (2 Sam. xxiii. 5). Upon the divine choice of David and his house, and in particular upon this great prophecy, are based a series of what may be called Royal Psalms. Critical events in the life of David or later kings, or in the history of the kingdom, gave occasion to David him- self, or other poet-seers, to declare the full significance and extent of that promise. Successive kings might fail to realise their rightful prerogatives, but the divine promise remained unrevoked, waiting for one who could claim its fulfilment in all its grandeur. Different aspects of the promise are presented in different Psalms. They can only be briefly summarised here : for fuller explanation reference must be made to the introductions and notes to each Psalm. In Ps. ii the prominent thought is the divine sonship of the anointed king and its significance. The nations are mustering with intent to renounce their allegiance to the king recently enthroned in Zion. But their purpose is vain, for the king is none other than Jehovah's Son and representative. In rebelling against him they are rebelling against Jehovah, and if they persist, will do it to their own destruction. In David's great thanksgiving (Ps. xviii) he celebrates Jehovah Ix INTRODUCTION. as the giver of victory, and recognises that his position as "the head of the nations" {v. 43) has been given him in order that he may proclaim Jehovah's glory among them (v. 49). The relation of the king to Jehovah as His anointed repre- sentative is the ground of intercession and confidence in Ps. XX. 6 ; and the thanksgiving for victory which follows in Ps. xxi naturally dwells upon the high dignity which belongs to him in virtue of that relation, and anticipates his future triumphs. The same thought is repeated in Ps. Ixi. 6 f. Ps. xlv is a marriage song for Solomon or some later king of the house of David. In lofty language the poet sets before him the ideal of his office (cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3 ff.), and claims for him the fulness of the promise of eternal dominion. The union with a foreign princess suggests the hope of the peaceful union of all nations in harmonious fellowship with Israel. Ps. Ixxii is an intercession for Solomon or some other king on his accession. In glowing colours it depicts the ideal of his office, and prays that he may fulfil it as the righteous sovereign who redresses wrong, and may rule over a world-wide empire, receiving the willing homage of the nations to his virtue, and proving himself the heir of the patriarchal promise. In some crisis of national disaster the author of Ps. Ixxxix recites the promise to David, and contrasting its brilliant hopes with the disappointment which it was his trial to witness, pleads for the renewal of God's favour. Ps. ex is a kind of solemn oracle. It describes David as king, priest, and conqueror. Jehovah adopts him as His as- sessor, placing him in the seat of honour at His side. Though not of Aaron's line he is invested with a priestly dignity. The new king of Zion must inherit all the privileges of the ancient king of Salem, and enter upon the religious as well as the civil memories of his capital. Once more, in Ps. cxxxii, possibly in days when the kingdom had ceased to exist, and the representative of the house of David was only a governor appointed by a foreign conqueror, the ancient promise is pleaded in confidence that it must still find fulfilment. These Psalms refer primarily to the circumstances of the INTRODUCTION. ki time. The revolt of the nations, the royal marriage, the ac- cession of a prince of unique promise, the installation of the king, gave the inspired poets opportunity for dwelling on the promises and hopes connected with the Davidic kingdom. But successive princes of David's line failed to fulfil their high destiny, to subdue the nations, to rule the world in righteous- ness, to establish a permanent dynasty. The kingdom ceased to exist ; yet it was felt that the divine promise could not fail ; and hope was directed to the future. Men were led to see that the divine promise had not been frustrated but postponed, and to look for the coming of One who should 'fulfil' the utmost that had been spoken of Israel's king^. (2) The suffering Messiah (Pss. xxii. Ixix. cix. xxxv. xli. Iv.). Men's minds had to be prepared not only for a triumphant King, but for a suffering Saviour. The great prophecy of Is. lii, liii finds preludes and echoes in the Psalter in what may be called the Passion Psalms. The sufferings of David and other saints of the old dispensation were typical : they helped to familiarise men with the thought of the righteous suffering for God's sake, of suffering as the path to victory, of glory to be won for God and deliverance for man through suffering. They were the anticipation, as the sufferings of the members of the Christian Church are the supplement (Col. i. 24), of the afflictions of Christ. But not only were these sufferings in themselves typical, but the records of them were so moulded by the Spirit of God as to prefigure the sufferings of Christ even in circumstantial details. These details are not the most important part of the type or prophecy ; but they serve to arrest attention, and direct it to the essential idea. These Psalms do not appear to have been applied to the Messiah in the Jewish Church as the Royal Psalms were. It was Christ Himself who first shewed His disciples that He must gather up into Himself and fulfil the manifold experiences of the people of God, in suffering as well as in triumph, and taught them to recognise that those sufferings had been foreor- ^ For references to the Messianic interpretations of the Targums see note on p. liv. Ixii INTRODUCTION. dained in the divine purpose, and how they had been fore- shadowed throughout the Old Testament. Ps. xxii stands by itself among these Psalms. In its descrip- tion of the Psalmist's sufferings, and in its joyous anticipation of the coming extension of Jehovah's kingdom, it foreshadows the Passion of Christ and its glorious fruits : and our Lord's use of the opening words (and probably of the whole Psalm) upon the Cross, stamps it as applicable to and fulfilled in Him. Ps. Ixix records the sufferings of one who was persecuted for Gods sake {vr. 7 ft"). In his consuming zeal for God's house, in his suffering as the victim of causeless hatred (cp. xxxv. 19; cix. 3 ft), in his endurance of reproach for his faithfulness to God, he was the prototype of Christ. The contemptuous mocker)- {vv. 12, 20) and maltreatment (t-^'. 21, 26) to which he was exposed, prefigured the actual sufterings of Christ. The curse which falls upon his persecutors {v. 25 ; cp. cix. 8) be- comes the doom of the arch-traitor (Acts i. 20) ; and the judg- ment invoked upon his enemies {in'. 22 — 24) finds its fulfilment in the rejection of apostate Israel (Rom. xi. 9, 10). The treacher}' of the faithless friend described in xli.- 9 (cp. Iv. 12 ff.) anticipates the treachery of the false disciple. (3) The Son of Man (Pss. viii. xvi. xlj. Psalms which describe the true destiny of man, the issue of perfect fellowship with God, the ideal of complete obedience, unmistakably point fon\ard to Him who as the representative of man triumphed where man had failed. Ps. viii looks away from the Fall and its fatal consequences to man's nature, position, and destiny in the purpose of God. Christ's perfect humanity answered to that ideal, and is seen to be the pledge of the fulfilment of the divine purpose for the whole race of mankind (Heb. ii. 6 ff.). In Ps. xvi faith and hope triumph over the fear of death in the consciousness of fellowship with God. Yet the Psalmist did not escape death : his words looked forward, and first found their adequate realisation in the Resurrection of Christ (Acts ii. 25 ff. ; xiii. 35). In Ps. xl the Psalmist professes his desire to prove his grati- tude to God bv offering the sacrifice of obedience. But that INTRODUCTION. Ixiii obedience was at best imperfect. His words must wait to receive their full accomplishment in the perfect obedience of Christ (Heb. X. 5 ff.). Christ as the perfect Teacher adopted and 'fulfilled' the methods of the teachers of the old dispensation (Ps. Ixxviii. i). (4) The coviing of God. Another series of Psalms describes or anticipates the Advent of Jehovah Himself to judge and to redeem. Such are xviii. 7 ff. 1. Ixviii. xcvi — xcviii. They correspond to the prophetic idea of 'the day of Jehovah,' which culminates in Mai. iii. i ff. They do not indeed predict the Incarnation, but they served to prepare men's minds for the direct personal intervention of God which was to be realised in the Incarnation. We find passages originally spoken of Jehovah applied in the N.T. to Christ 1. The words of Ps. Ixviii. 18, which describe the triumphant ascent of Jehovah to His throne after the subjugation of the world, are adapted and applied to the triumphant return of Christ to heaven and His distribution of the gifts of grace (Eph. iv. 8). The words of cii. 25, 26, contrasting the immutability of the Creator with the mutability of created things, originally ad- dressed to Jehovah by the exile who appealed to Him to inter- vene on behalf of Sion, are applied to the Son through whom the worlds were made (Hebr. i. 10), Thus the inspired poetry of the Psalter, viewing the Davidic kingdom in the light of the prophetic promises attached to it, played its part in preparing men's minds for a King who should be God's Son and representative, as it came to be inter- preted in the course of history through failure and disappoint- ment. The record of the Psalmists' own sufferings helped to give some insight into the part which suffering must perform in the redemption of the world. Their ideals of man's destiny and duty implied the hope of the coming of One who should perfectly fulfil them. The expectation of Jehovah's advent to judge and redeem anticipated a direct divine interposition for the establishment of the divine kingdom in the world. It is not to be supposed that the relation of these various elements of the preparation could be recognised, or that they 1 See Bp Westcott's Hebrews, p. 89. Ixiv INTRODUCTION. could be harmonised into one consistent picture beforehand- It was reserved for the event to shew that the various lines of hope and teaching were not parallel but convergent, meeting in the Person and Work of Him Who is at once God and Man, [ Son and Servant, Priest and King, Sufferer and Victor. j | It has been assumed thus far that these Psalms refer primarily to the circumstances under which they were written. Many commentators however regard some of the * Royal Psalms,' in particular Pss. ii. xlv. Ixxii. ex. as direct prophecies of the Messianic King : some because they are unable to discover the precise historical occasion in existing records: others, because the language seems to reach beyond what could be predicated of any earthly king, and the N. T. application of these Psalms to Christ appears to them to require that theyt should be referred to Him alone. The particular historical reference of each of these Psalms will be discussed in the introduction to it: here it must suffice f to observe that such Psalms as ii and xlv produce the decided] impression that they were written in view of contemporary' events. Lofty as is the language used, it is no more than is warranted by the grandeur of the divine promises to the house of David; and if the words are applied to Christ with a fulness and directness which seems to exclude any lower meaning, it must be remembered that it was through the institution of the* kingdom that men were taught to look for Him, and theirj " fulfilment in Him presumes rather than excludes the view that I they had a true, if partial, meaning for the time at which they were written. Similarly in the case of the ' Passion Psalms ' it has been thought that, at least in Ps. xxii, the Psalmist is speaking in the person of Christ. Yet even this Psalm plainly springs out of personal suffering; though it is equally plain that the character of that suffering was providentially moulded to be a! type, and the record of it inspired by the Holy Spirit to be a prophecy, of the sufferings of Christ. That Ps. Ixix cannot as a whole be placed in the mouth of Christ is evident, if for no other reason, from the confession of sin in v. 5. Have then these Psalms, has prophecy in general, a 'double INTRODUCTION. 1: sense?' a primary historical sense in relation to the circum- stances under which they were written, and a secondary typical or prophetical sense, in which they came to be under- stood by the Jewish and afterwards by the Christian Church ? We may no doubt legitimately talk of a ' double sense,' if what we mean is that Psalmist and Prophet did not realise the full meaning of their words, and that that meaning only came to be understood as it was unfolded by the course of history. But is it not a truer view to regard both senses as essentially one? The institutions of Israel and the discipline of the saints of old were designed to express the divine purpose as the age and the people were able to receive it. The divine purpose is eternally one and the same, though it must be gradually revealed to man, and man's apprehension of it changes. And it is involved in any worthy conception of inspiration that inspired words should express divine ideas with a fulness which cannot at once be intelligible, but only comes to be understood as it is in- terpreted by the course of history or illuminated by the light of fuller revelation. Inspired words are "springing and germinant" in their very nature : they grow with the growing mind of man. They are 'fulfilled,' not in the sense that their meaning is exhausted and their function accomplished, but in the sense that they are enlarged, expanded, ennobled. What is temporary and acci- dental falls away, and the eternal truth shines forth in its in- exhaustible freshness and grandeur. For us the Psalms which were designed to prepare the way for the coming of Christ bear witness to the unity of the divine plan which is being wrought out through successive ages of the world. (5) The nations. Under the head of Messianic Hope in the Psalter must be included the view which is presented of the relation of the nations to Jehovah and to Israel. Few features are more striking than the constant anticipation of the inclusion of all nations in Jehovah's kingdom. On the one hand indeed the nations appear as the deadly enemies of Jehovah's people, leagued together for its destruction (ii. Ixxxiii), but doomed themselves to be destroyed if they Ixvi INTRODUCTION. persist in their unhallowed purpose (ii. 9; ix. 17 ff. ; xxxiii. 10; xlvi. 6ff. ; lix. 5, 8). But concurrently with this view of the relation of the nations to Jehovah and Israel, another and more hopeful view is con- stantly presented. The nations as well as Israel belong to Jehov-ah, and are the objects of His care; they will eventually render Him homage; and Israel is to be the instrument for accomplishing this purpose and establishing the universal divine kingdom. {a) The earth and all its inhabitants belong to Jehovah as their Creator (xxiv. i ; cp. viii. i); they are under His observa- tion (Ixvi. 7), and subservient to His purposes (xxxiii. 14); He disciphnes and teaches them (xciv. 10) ; they are addressed as being capable of moral instruction (xlix. i). He is the supreme and universal King and Judge (xxii. 28; xlvi. 10; xlvii. 2, 8, 9; xcvi. 13 ; xcviii. 9; xcix. 2; cxiii. 4); the nations are constantly exhorted to render Him homage (ii. 8 ff.), to fear Him (xxxiii. 8), to praise Him (Ixvi. i f. ; cxvii. i ; cxlv. 21), and even to worship Him in His temple (xcvi. 7 ff.; c. i, 2). {b) The time will come when all nations will acknowledge His sovereignty (xxii. 27; Ixvi. 4; Ixviii. 29 ff. ; Ixxxvi. 9; cii. 22). The kings of the earth will render homage to their sovereign (cii. 15 ; cxxxviii. 4). To Him as the hearer of prayer shall "all flesh" come (Ixv. 2); He is the confidence of all the ends of the earth (Ixv. 5) ; and the Psalter ends with the chorus of universal praise from every living thing (cl. 6). (c) Israel is Jehovah's instrument for accomplishing the world-wide extension of His kingdom. In the early days of the kingdom it may have seemed that Israel's destiny was to subjugate the nations and include them in the kingdom of Jehovah by conquest (ii; xviii. 43; xlvii); yet the thought is never far distant that the object of Israel's victories is to make Jehovah known (xviii. 49 ; Ivii. 9), and to lead to the harmonious union of the nations with His people (xlvii. 9). Ps. xlv suggests the hope of peaceful alliance, Ps. Ixxii of conquest by moral supremacy {vv. 8 ff.). If to the last the thought of actual conquests survived (cxlix. 6 ff.), a more spiritual conception of Israel's relation to the nations grew up INTRODUCTION. Ixvii side by side with it. The Psalmist's gratitude for personal deliverance widens out into the prospect of the universal worship of Jehovah (xxii). Ps. Ixvii expresses Israel's con- sciousness of its calling to be a blessing to the world, and the final purpose of its prosperity is the conversion of the nations. Zion becomes the spiritual metropohs in which nations once hostile are enrolled as citizens (Ixxxvii) ; and Israel's deliverance from captivity is seen to lead to the universal worship of her Deliverer, and the gathering of the nations to Zion to serve Him (cii. 15, 21 ff. ; cp. xcvi— xcviii). Thus, even under the Hmitations of the old Covenant, were formed the hopes which are in part fulfilled, and in part still await fulfilment, in the Christian Church. CHAPTER IX. ON SOME POINTS IN THE THEOLOGY OF THE PSALMS. A thorough examination of the Theology of the Psalms would exceed the limits of the present work. It would include an investigation whether any progress and development of doctrine can be traced in the Psalms of different periods. All that can be attempted here is a few brief notes on some points which re- quire the student's attention or present special difficulties. (i) The relation of the Psahns to the Ordinances of Worship. The Psalms represent the inward and spiritual side of the religion of Israel. They are the manifold expression of the intense devotion of pious souls to God, of the feelings of trust and hope and love which reach a climax in such Psalms as xxiii. xlii — xiiii. Ixiii. Ixxxiv. They are the many-toned voice of prayer in the widest sense, as the soul's address to God in confession, petition, intercession, meditation, thanksgiving, praise, both in public and private. They offer the most complete proof, if proof were needed, how utterly false is the notion that the religion of Israel was a formal system of external rites and ceremonies. In such a book frequent reference to the external ordinances of worship is scarcely to be expected : but they are presumed, Ixviii INTRODUCTION. and the experience of God's favour is constantly connected with the Sanctuary and its acts of worship i. There are frequent references to the Te?nple as the central place of worship, where men appear before God, and where He specially reveals His power glory and goodness, and interprets the ways of His Providence (xlii. 2 ; xlviii. 9 ; Ixiii. 2 ; Ixv. 4 ; Ixviii. 29; Ixxiii. 17 ; xcvi. 6 ff . ; &c.). The impressive splendour of the priestly array is alluded to (xxix. 2, note ; xcvi. 9 ; ex. 3). The delight of the festal pilgrimages to Zion is vividly de- scribed (xlii. xliii. Ixxxiv. cp. Iv. 14). Consuming zeal for God's house in a corrupt age characterised the saint and ex- posed him to persecution (Ixix. 9). The joyous character of the O. T. worship is so striking a feature of the Psalter as scarcely to need special notice. The Psalter as the hymn-book of the Second Temple was entitled 'The Book of Praises.' We hear the jubilant songs of the troops of pilgrims (xlii. 4; cp. Is. xxx. 29): we see the pro- cessions to the Temple with minstrels and singers (Ixviii. 24, 25) : we hear its courts resound with shouts of praise (xcv. i ff. ; c. I, 4), and music of harp and psaltery, timbrel and trumpet, cymbals and pipe. Sacrifice is referred to as the sanction of the covenant between God and His people (1. 5; cp. Ex. xxiv. 5ff.); as the regular accompaniment of approach to God (xx. 3; 1. 8ff.; Ixvi. 13, 15; xcvi. 8); as the natural expression of worship and thanksgiving (xliii. 4; li. 19; liv. 6; cvii. 22; cxviii. 27), es- pecially in connexion with vows (Ivi. 12 ; Ixvi. 13 ff.), which are frequently mentioned (xxii. 25 ; Ixi. 5, 8 ; Ixv. i ; Ixxvi. 11 ; cxvi. 14, 18). The Levitical ceremonies of purification are alluded to as symbols of the inward cleansing which must be effected by God Himself (li. 7). But the great prophetic doctrine^ of the intrinsic worthless- ness of sacrifice apart from the disposition of the worshipper is emphatically laid down. It is not sacrifice but obedience that 1 Cp. Oehler, 0. T. Theology, § 201. 2 From I Sam. xv. 22 onwards. See Amos v. 21 ff. ; Hos. vi. 6: Is, i. II ff. ; Mic. vi. 6 ff. ; Jer. vi. 20; vii. 21 ff.; xiv. 12. INTRODUCTION. Ixix (jod desires (xl. 6ff.)5 it is not thank-offering, but a thankful heart which finds acceptance with Him (1. 14, 23; cp. Ixix. 30? 31); it is not sacrifice, but contrition which is the condition of forgiveness (li. 16 ff.). Penitence and prayer are true sacrifices (H. 17 ; cxH, 2) : and the moral conditions which can alone make sacrifice acceptable and are requisite for approach to God are constantly insisted upon (iv. 5 ; xv. iff.; xxiv. 3 ff. ; xxvi. 6 ; Ixvi. 18). _ It is God Himself who 'purges away' iniquity (Ixv. 3 ; Ixxviii. 38 ; Ixxix. 9 ; Ixxxv. 2). (ii) The self-righteoiisjiess of the Psalmists. Readers of the Psalms are sometimes startled by assertions of integrity and innocence which appear to indicate a spirit of self-righteous- ness and self-satisfaction approximating to that of the Pharisee (Luke xviii. 9). Thus David appeals to be judged according to his righteousness and his integrity (vii. 8 ; cp. xxvi. i ff.), and regards his deliverance from his enemies as the reward of his righteousness and innocence (xviii. 20 ff.); sincerity and inno- cence are urged as grounds of answer to prayer (xvii. i ff.), and God's most searching scrutiny is invited (xxvi. 2 ff.). Some of these utterances are no more than asseverations that the speaker is innocent of particular crimes laid to his charge by his enemies (vii. 3 ff.); others are general professions of purity of purpose and single-hearted devotion to God (xvii. i ff.). They are not to be compared with the self-complacency of the Pharisee, who prides himself on his superiority to the rest of the world, but to St Paul's assertions of conscious rectitude (Acts xx. 26 ff.; xxiii. i). They breathe the spirit of simple faith and childlike trust, which throws itself unreservedly on God. Those who make them do not profess to be absolutely sinless, but they do claim to belong to the class of the righteous who may expect God's favour, and they do disclaim all fellowship with the wicked, from whom they expect to be distinguished in the course of His Providence. And if God's present favour is expected as the reward of right conduct, it must be remembered that the Israelite looked for the visible manifestation of the divine government of the world in the reward of the godly and the punishment of the evildoer in this present life (i Kings viii. 32, 39). He felt that he had a Ixx INTRODUCTION. right to be treated according to the rectitude of which he was conscious. Further, it was commonly supposed that there was a pro- portion between sin and suffering; that exceptional suffering was an evidence of exceptional guilt. This idea throws light upon the assertions of national innocence in xliv. lyff, and of personal innocence in lix. 3. They are clearly relative, as much as to say, 'We know of no national apostasy which can account for this defeat as a well-merited judgment :' 'I am not conscious of any personal transgression for which this persecution is a fitting chastisement.' So Job repeatedly acknowledges the sinfulness of man, but denies that he has been guilty of any special sin to account for his extraordinary afflictions. Some however of these utterances undoubtedly belong to the O. T. and not to the N.T. They are the partial expression of an eternal truth (Matt. xvi. 27), in a form which belongs to the age in which they were spoken. The N. T. has brought a new reve- lation of the nature of sin, and a more thorough self-knowledge: it teaches the inadmissibility of any plea of merit on man's part (Luke xvii. 10). But the docile spirit which fearlessly submits itself to the divine scrutiny and desires to be instructed (cxxxix. 23, 24) has nothing in common with the Pharisaism which is by its very nature incapable of improvement. And side by side with these assertions of integrity we find in the Psalms the fullest recognition of personal sinfulness (li. 5; Ixix. 5), of man's inabihty to justify himself before God (cxxx. 3 ff., cxHii. 2), of his need of pardon cleansing and renewal (xxxii. li. Ixv. 3), of his dependence on God for preser- vation from sin (xix. 12 ff.), of the barrier which sin erects be- tween him and God (Ixvi. 18, 1. 16 ff.); as well as the strongest expressions of absolute self-surrender and dependence on God and entire trust in His mercy (xxv. 4ff., Ixxiii. 25 ff). (iii) The so-called Imprecatory Psalms have long been felt to constitute one of the 'moral difficulties' of the O.T. We are startled to find the most lofty and spiritual meditations inter- rupted by passionate prayers for vengeance upon enemies, or ending in triumphant exultation at their destruction. How, we ask, can such utterances be part of a divine revelation? How INTRODUCTION. Ixxi can the men who penned them have been in any sense inspired by the Holy Spirit? These imprecations cannot be explained away, as some have thought, by rendering the verbs as futures, and regarding them as authoritative declarations of the certain fate of the wicked. Of these there are many, but in not a few cases the form of the verb is that which specifically expresses a wish or prayer, and it cannot be rendered as a simple future. Nor again can the difficulty be removed by regarding the imprecations of Pss. Ixix and cix as the curses not of the Psalmist himself but of his enemies. Even if this view were exegetically tenable for these two Psalms, which is doubtful, expressions of the same kind are scattered throughout the Psalter. Moreover the Book of Jeremiah contains prayers for vengeance on the prophet's enemies, which are at least as terrible as those of Pss. Ixix and cix. In what light then are these utterances to be regarded.? They must be viewed as belonging to the dispensation of the Old Testament; they must be estimated from the standpoint of the Law, which was based upon the rule of retaliation, and not of the Gospel, which is animated by the principle of love ; they belong to the spirit of Elijah, not of Christ; they use the language of the age which was taught to love its neighbour and hate its enemy (Matt. v. 43)^. Our Lord explicitly declared that the old dispensation, though not contrary to the new, was inferior to it ; that modes of thought and actions were permitted or even enjoined which would not be allowable for His followers; that He had come to 'fulfil' the Law and the Prophets by raising all to a higher moral and spiritual level, expanding and completing what was rudimentary and imperfect (Matt. v. 43; xix. 8; Luke ix. 55). It is essential then to endeavour to understand the ruling ^ It is well to remember, on the other hand, that the Law inculcates service to an enemy (Ex. xxiii. 4, 5), and forbids hatred, vengeance and bearing of grudges (Lev. xix. 17, 18): and the Book of Proverbs bids men leave vengeance to God (xx. 22), and control their exultation at an enemy's misfortune (xxiv. 17; cp. Job xxxi. 29); and teaches that kindness is the best revenge (xxv. 21, 22). We have here the germ of Christian ethics. Ixxii INTRODUCTION. ideas and the circumstances of the age in which these Psalms were composed, in order to realise how, from the point of view of that age, such prayers for vengeance and expressions of triumph as they contain could be regarded as justifiable. In the first place it is important to observe that they are not dictated merely by private vindictiveness and personal thirst for revenge. While it would perhaps be too much to say that they contain no tinge of human passion (for the Psalmists were men of infirmity, and inspiration does not obliterate personal charac- ter), they rise to a far higher level. They spring ultimately from zeal for God's cause, and they express a willingness to leave vengeance in the hands of Him to whom it belongs. Retribution is desired and welcomed as part of the divine order (Iviii. II ; civ. 35). This was a great advance upon the ruder stage of society, in which each man clafmed to be his own avenger. David's first impulse when he was insulted by Nabal was to wreak a terrible vengeance upon him and all that belonged to him. It was the natural instinct of the time. But his final resolve to leave ven- geance to God indicated the better feeling that was being learnt (i Sam. XXV. 21 ff., 39). Though their form belongs to the circumstances and limita- tions of the age, these invocations of vengeance are the feeling after a truth of the divine government of the world. For it is the teaching of the N.T. not less than of the O.T. that the kingdom of God must come in judgment as well as in grace. Love no less than justice demands that there should be an ultimate distinction between the good and the evil, that those who will not submit to the laws of the kingdom should be banished from it (Matt. xiii. 49, 50; xvi. 27 ; John v. 29). But while the Gospel proclaims the law of universal love, and bids men pray without ceasing for the establishment of the kingdom of God by the repentance and reformation even of the most hardened offenders, and leave the issue to the future judgment of God, the Law with its stern principle of retribution and its limitation of view to the present life, allowed men to pray for the establishment of the kingdom of God through the destruction of the wicked. INTRODUCTION. Ixxiii The Prophets and Psahiiists of the O.T. had a keen sense of the great conflict constantly going on between good and evil, between God and His enemies^ That conflict was being waged in the world at large between Israel as the people of God and the nations which threatened to destroy Israel. The enemies of Israel were the enemies of Israel's God; Israel's defeat was a reproach to His Name; the cause at stake was not merely the existence of the nation, but the cause of divine truth and righteousness. This aspect of the conflict is most completely expressed in Ps. Ixxxiii, and prayers for vengeance such as those of Ixxix. lo, 12 and cxxxvii. 8 express the national desire for the vindication of a just cause, and the punishment of cruel insults. Within the nation of Israel this same conflict was being waged on a smaller scale between the godly and the ungodly. When the righteous were oppressed and the wicked triumphant, it seemed as though God's rule were being set at nought, as though God's cause were losing. It was not only allowable but a duty to pray for its triumph, and that involved the destruction of the wicked who persisted in their wickedness. There must be no half-heartedness or compromise. In hatred as well as in love the man who fears God must be wholly on His side (cxxxix. 19 — 22). The perfect ruler resolves not only to choose the faithful in the land for his servants, but "morning by morn- ing " to " destroy all the wicked of the land ; to cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord" (ci. 6 — 8); and it seemed only right and natural to pray that the Divine Ruler would do the same. Further light is thrown on the Imprecatory Psalms by the consideration that there was as yet no revelation of a final judg- ment in which evil will receive its entire condemnation, or of a future state of rewards and punishments (see p. Ixxv fif.). Men expected and desired to see a present and visible distinction between the righteous and the wicked, according to the law of the divine government (cxxv. 4, 5 ; cxlv. 20). It was part of God's lovingkindness not less than of His omnipotence to "reward ^ See Rainy's Development of Christian Doctrine, p. 346, where there is a helpflil treatment of the whole question. Ixxiv INTRODUCTION. every man according to his work" (Ixii. 12). The sufferings of the godly and the prosperity of the ungodly formed one of the severest trials of faith and patience to those whose view was limited to the present life (Ps. xxxvii. Ixxiii). Although God's sentence upon evil is constantly being executed in this world, it is often deferred and not immediately visible; and those who longed for the vindication of righteousness desired to have it executed promptly before their eyes. Hence the righteous could rejoice when he saw the wicked destroyed, for it was a manifest proof of the righteous government of Jehovah (lii. 5 ff. ; liv. 7 ; Iviii. 10, II ; xcii. 11). Again, it must be remembered that we have been taught to distinguish between the evil man and evil : to love the sinner while we hate his sin. But Hebrew modes of thought were concrete. The man was identified with his wickedness; the one was a part of the other ; they were inseparable. Clearly it was desirable that wickedness should be extirpated. How could this be done except by the destruction of the wicked man ? What right had he to exist, if he persisted obstinately in his wickedness and refused to reform (1. 16 ff.)? The imprecations which appear most terrible to us are those which include a man's kith and kin in his doom (Ixix. 25 ; cix. 9ff.). In order to estimate them rightly it must be borne in mind that a man's family was regarded as part of him. He Uved on in his posterity : the sin of the parent was entailed upon the children : if the offence had been monstrous and abnormal, so ought the punishment to be. The defective conception of the rights of the individual, so justly insisted upon by Professor Mozley as one of the chief 'ruling ideas in early ages,' helps us to understand how not only the guilty man, but all his family, could be devoted to destruction^. Let it be noted too that what seems the most awful of all anathemas (Ixix. 28) would not have been understood in the extreme sense which we attach to it : and some of the ex- pressions which shock us most by their ferocity are metaphors derived from times of wild and savage warfare (Iviii. 10; Ixviii. 21 ff.). The noblest thoughts may coexist side by side with 1 See Mozley 's Lectures on the Old Testament, pp. 87 ff., 198 ff. INTRODUCTION. Ixxv much that to a later age seems wholly barbarous and revolt- ing. These utterances then belong to the spirit of the O.T. and not of the N.T., and by it they must be judged. They belong to the age in which the martyr's dying prayer was not, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts vii, 60), but, "The Lord look upon it, and require it" (2 Chron. xxiv. 22). It is im- possible that such language should be repeated in its old and literal sense by any follower of Him Who has bidden us to love our enemies and pray for them that persecute us. Yet these utterances still have their lesson. On the one hand they may make us thankful that we live in the light of the Gospel and under the law of Love: on the other hand they testify to the punishment which the impenitent sinner deserves and must finally receive (Rom. vi. 23). They set an example of moral earnestness, of righteous indignation, of burning zeal for the cause of God. Men have need to beware lest in pity for the sinner they condone the sin, or relax the struggle against evil. The underlying truth is still true, that "the cause of sin shall go down, in the persons of those who maintain it, in such a manner as to throw back on them all the evil they have sought to do.... This was waited for with inexpressible longing. It was fit it should be.... This is not the only truth bearing on the point; but it is truth, and it was then the present truths". It is in virtue of the truth which they contain that these Psalms can be regarded as 'inspired/ and their position in the records of divine revelation justified. Their fundamental motive and idea is the religious passion for justice ; and it was by the Holy Spirit that their writers were taught to discern and grasp this essential truth; but the form in which they clothed their desire for its realisation belonged to the limitations and modes of thought of their particular age. (iv) The Future Life. Death is never regarded in the O. T. as annihilation or the end of personal existence. But it is for the most part contemplated as the end of all that deserves to be called life. Existence continues, but all the joy and vigour of vitahty are gone for ever (Is. xiv. 10; Ps. cxliii. 3 = Lam. iii. 6). ^ Rainy, p. 348. Ixxvi INTRODUCTION. Communion with God is at an end : the dead can no longer "see" Him: they cannot serve or praise Him in the silence of Sheol : His lovingkindness, faithfulness, and righteousness can no longer be experienced there. See Ps. vi. 5 ; xxx. 9 ; Ixxxviii. 4, 5, 10 — 12; cxv. 17; Is. xxxviii. 11, 18: and numerous pas- sages in Job, e.g. vii. 9; x. 21 ff.; xiv. Death is the common lot of all, which none can escape (xlix. 7 ff. ; Ixxxix. 48), but the righteous and the wicked are dis- tinguished by the manner of their death (Ixxiii. 19). When death comes to a man in a good old age, and he leaves his children behind him to keep his name in remembrance, it may be borne with equanimity ; but premature death is usually regarded as the sign of God's displeasure and the penal doom of the wicked (xxvi. 9), and childlessness is little better than annihilation. To the oppressed and persecuted indeed Sheol is a welcome rest (Job iii. 17 ff.), and death may even be a gracious removal from coming evil (Is. Ivii. i, 2) ; but as a rule death is dreaded as the passage into the monotonous and hopeless gloom of the under- world. The continuance of existence after death has no moral or religious element in it. It is practically non-existence. The dead man 'is not' (xxxix. 13). It offers neither encouragement nor warning. It brings no solution of the enigmas of the present life. There is no hope of happiness or fear of punishment in the world beyond. This world was regarded as the scene of recompence and retribution. If reward and punishment did not come to the individual, they might be expected to come to his posterity. For the man lived on in his children: this was his real con- tinuance in life, not the shadowy existence of Sheol : hence the bitterness of childlessness. Nowhere in the Psalter do we find the hope of a Resurrection from the dead. The prophets speak of a national, and finally of a personal resurrection (Hos. vi. i ff. ; Is. xxvi. 19; Ezek. xxxvii. I ff. ; Dan. xii. 2), and predict the final destruction of death (Is. XXV. 8). But just where we should have expected to find such a hope as the ground of consolation, it is conspicuously absent^ 1 Ivi. 13; Ixviii. 20; xc. 3; cxh. 7, which are sometimes referred to, INTRODUCTION. Ixxvii Indeed it is set on one side as incredible (Ixxxviii. lo). It is evident that there was as yet no revelation of a resurrection upon which men could rest ; it was no article of the common religious belief to which the faithful naturally turned for comfort^ But do we not find that strong souls, at least in rare moments of exultant faith and hope, broke through the veil, and anticipated, not indeed the resurrection of the body, but translation through death into a true life of unending fellowship with God, Hke Enoch or Elijah? Do not Pss. xvi, xvii, xlix, Ixxiii, plainly speak of the hope of the righteous in his death? The answer to this question is one of the most difficult problems of the theology of the Psalter. It can only be satis- factorily treated in the detailed exposition of the passages as they stand in their context. Some of the expressions which appear at first sight to imply a sure hope of deliverance from Sheol and of reception into the more immediate presence of God (e.g. xlix. 15, Ixxiii. 24) are used elsewhere of temporal deliverance from death or protection from danger, and may mean no more than this (ix. 13, xviii. 16, xxx. 3, Ixxxvi. 13, ciii. 4, cxxxviii. 7). Reading these passages in the light of fuller revelation we may easily assign to them a deeper and more precise meaning than their original authors and hearers under- stood. They adapt themselves so readily to Christian hope that we are easily led to believe that it was there from the first. Unquestionably these Psalms (xvi, xvii, xlix, Ixxiii) do contain the germ and principle of the doctrine of eternal life. It was present to the mind of the Spirit Who inspired their authors. The intimate fellowship with God of which they speak as man's highest good and truest happiness could not, in view of the nature and destiny of man and his relation to God, continue to be regarded as limited to this life and liable to sudden and final interruption. (See Matt. xxii. 31 ff.). It re- cannot be interpreted of a resurrection. The text of xlviii. 14 is very uncertain; Ixxxvi. 13 is a thanksgiving for deliverance from death; cxviii. 1 7 expresses the hope of such a deliverance. 1 Contrast the precise statements in the Psalms of Solomon, quoted on p. xxxviii, where however it is only a resurrection of the righteous which is anticipated. Ixxviii INTRODUCTION. quired but a step forward to realise the truth of its permanence, but whether the Psahnists took this step is doubtful. But even if they did, there was still no clear and explicit revelation on which the doctrine of a future life or of a resur- rection could be based. It was but a 'postulate of faith,' a splendid hope, a personal and individual conclusion. What was the meaning and purpose of this reserve in the teaching of the O. T..-* Mankind had to be trained through long ages by this stern discipline to knov/ the bitterness of death as the punishment of sin, and to trust God utterly in spite of all appearances. They had to be profoundly impressed with a sense of need and of the incompleteness of life here, in order that they might long for deliverance from this bondage and welcome it when it came (Heb. ii. 15). Nor could the revelation of the Resurrection and eternal life be made in fulness and certainty (so far as we can see) otherwise than through the victory of the second Adam who through death overcame death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life (i Cor. xv. 21 ff.). Yet, as Delitzsch observes, there is nothing which comes to light in the New Testament which does not already exist in germ in the Psalms, The ideas of death and life are regarded by the Psalmists in their fundamental relation to the wrath and the love of God, in such a way that it is easy for Christian faith to appropriate and deepen, in the light of fuller revelation, all that is said of them in the Psalms. There is no contradiction of the Psalmist's thought, when the Christian as he prays substitutes hell for Hades in such a passage as vi. 5, for the Psalmist dreaded Hades only as the realm of wrath and separation from the love of God, which is the true life of man. Nor is there anything contrary to the mind of the authors in the application of xvii. 15 to the future vision of the face of God in all its glory, or of xlix. 14 to the Resurrection morning; for the hopes there expressed in moments of spiritual elevation can only find their full satisfaction in the world to come. The faint glimmerings of twilight in the eschatological darkness of the Old Testament are the first rays of the coming sunrise. And the Christian cannot refrain from passing beyond the INTRODUCTION. Ixxix limits of the Psalmists, and understanding the Psalms according to the mind of the Spirit, whose purpose in the gradual revela- tion of salvation was ever directed towards the final consum- mation. Thus understood, the Psalms belong to the Israel of the New Testament not less than of the Old Testament. The Church, in using the Psalms for its prayers, recognises the unity of the two Testaments : and scholarship, in expound- ing the Psalms, gives full weight to the difference between them. Both are right ; the former in regarding the Psalms in the light of the one unchanging salvation, the latter in dis- tinguishing the different periods and steps in which that salva- tion was historically revealed i. The sacred poetry of heathen religions, in spite of all that it contains of noble aspiration and pathetic "feeling after God," has ceased to be a living power. But "the Psalms of those far distant days, the early utterances of their faith and love, still form the staple of the worship and devotion of the Christian Church"... "The Vedic hymns are dead remains, known in their real spirit and meaning to a few students. The Psalms are as living as when they were written.... They were composed in an age at least as immature as that of the singers of the Veda ; but they are now what they have been for thirty centuries, the very life of spiritual religion — they suit the needs, they express, as nothing else can express, the deepest religious ideas of the foremost in the tiles of time.'-" 1 Delitzsch, The Psalms, p. 63. 2 Dean Church, The Sacred Poetry oj Early Religions, pp. 12, 38. Ill the Psalms the soul ttirns hi7vard on itself^ and their great feature is that they are the expression of a large spiritual experience. They come straight from *' the heart tvithin the heaj-t,^^ and the secret depths of the spirit. Where, in those rough cruel days, did they come from, those piercing, lightning-like gleafns of strange spiritual truth, those magni- ficent outlooks over the kingdom of God, those raptiires at His preseiice and His gloiy, those ivonderftil disclosures of self knowledge, those pure outpourings of the love of God? Surely here is something 7nore than the mere working of the mind of man. Surely they tell of higher guiding, prepared for all ti?ne ; surely, as we believe, they hear ' ' the word behind them saying. This is the way, walk ye in it,'' they repeat the whispers of the Spirit of God, they refect the very light of the Eternal Wisdom. In that wild time there must have been men sheltered and hidden amid the tumult round them, humble and faithful and true, to whom the Holy Ghost could open by degrees the " wondrous things of His law,"" %uhom He taught, and whose mouths He opened, to teach their brethren by their ozvn experience, and to do each their part in the great preparation. Dean Church. THE BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM I. This Psalm is the development in poetical language and imagery of the thought repeated in so many forms in the Book of Proverbs (e.g. ii. 2 1, 22), that it is well with the righteous and ill with the wicked. The belief in Jehovah's righteous government of the world was a fundamental principle of Old Testament religion, and it is here asserted without any of those doubts and questionings which disturbed the minds of many Psalmists and Prophets, especially in the later stages of Old Testament revelation. The Psalm forms an appropriate prologue to the Psalter, which records the manifold experiences of the godly. For it affirms the truth to which they clung, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, in spite of the sufferings of the righteous and the triumphs of the wicked, that the only sure and lasting happiness for man is to be found in fellow- ship with God. The Psalm expresses a general truth, and does not appear to refer to any particular person or occasion. Hence date and authorship must remain uncertain. Some (without good reason) have assigned it to David, during his persecution by Saul, or during Absalom's rebellion: Dean (now Bp.) Perowne conjectures that it may have been written by Solomon as an introduction to a collection of David's poems : Prof. Cheyne thinks that it was a product of the fresh enthusiasm for the study of the Law in the time of Ezra. Two considerations however limit the period to which it may be assigned. (i) It is earlier than Jeremiah, who paraphrases and expands part of it in ch. xvii. 5 — 8 with reference to Jehoiakim or Jehoiachin. (2) The most striking parallels in thought and language are to be found in the middle section of the Book of Proverbs (x — xxiv), which dates from a comparatively early period in the history of Judah, if not from the reign of Solomon himself. The ' scorner ' is a character hardly mentioned outside of the Book of Proverbs : the contrast of the righteous and the wicked, and the belief that prospe- rity is the reward of piety, and adversity of ungodliness, are especially conspicuous in the middle section of that book : and further striking coincidences in detail of thought and language will easily be found. PSALM I. I. The absence of a title distinguishes it from the mass of Psahns in Book L, and points to its having been derived from a different source. It may have been composed or selected as a preface to the original 'Davidic' collection {Introd. p. xliii), or, though this is less probable, placed here by the final editor of the Psalter. The Psalm consists of two equal divisions : i. The enduring prosperity of the righteous (i — 3), ii. contrasted with the speedy ruin of the wicked (4 — 6). Observe the affmity of this Psalm to xxvi ; and still more to cxii, which celebrates the blessedness of the righteous, and begins and ends with the same words {Blessed... perish) : and contrast with its simple confidence the questionings of xxxvii and Ixxiii, in which the prolDlem of the prosperity of the wicked is treated as a trial of faith. 1 T) LESSED is the man JD That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 1 — 3. The happiness of the righteous. 1. More exactly : Happy the man who hath not walked in the counsel of ■wicked men, Nor stood in the way of sinners, Nor sat in the session of scorners. Bhssed\ Or, happy : LXX fxaKapios. Cp. Matt. v. 3 ff. The righteous man is first described negatively and retrospectively. All his life he has observed the precept, 'depart from evil' (xxxiv. 14). the ungodly'] Rather, wicked men: and so in ttv. 4, 5, 6. It is the most general term in the O. T. for the ungodly in contrast to the righteous. If the primary notion of the Hebrew word rdshd is unrest (cp. Job iii. 17; Is. Ivii. 20, ii), the word well expresses the disharmony which sin has brought into human nature, affecting man's relation to God, to man, to self. sinners'] Those who miss the mark, or go astray from the path of right. The intensive form of the word shews that habitual offenders are meant. Cp. Prov. i. 10 ff. the scornful] Better, as the word is rendered in Proverbs, scorners : those who make what is good and holy the object of their ridicule. With the exception of the present passage and Is. xxix. 20 (cp. however Is. xxviii. 14, 22, R.V. ; Hos. vii. 5) the term is peculiar to the Book of Proverbs. There 'the scorners' appear as a class of defiant and cynical freethinkers, in contrast and antagonism to * the wise.' The root-principle of their character is a spirit of proud self-sufficiency, a contemptuous disregard for God and man (Prov. xxi. 24). It is impossible to reform them, for they hate reproof, and will not seek instruction (xiii. i; xv. 12). If they seek for wisdom they will not find it (xiv. 6). It is folly to argue with them (ix. 7, 8). PSALM I. 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord ; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. They are generally detested (xxiv. 9), and in the interests of peace must be banished from society (xxii. 10). Divine judgments are in store for them, and their fate is a warning to the simple (iii. 34 ; xix. 25, 29; xxi. 11). The three clauses of the verse with their threefold parallelism (walk, stand, sit: counsel, way, session: wicked, sinners, scorners) emphasise the godly man's entire avoidance of association with evil and evil-doers in every form and degree. They denote successive steps in a career of evil, and form a climax : — (i) adoption of the principles of the wicked as a rule of life : (2) persistence in the practices of notorious offenders : (3) deliberate association with those who openly mock at religion. With the first clause and for the phrase counsel of the tvicked cp. Mic. vi. 16; Jer. vii. 24; Job x. 3; xxi. i6; xxii. 18: for stood Si.c., cp. Ps. xxxvi. 4. For both clauses cp. the concrete example in 2 Chron. xxii. 3 — 5. With the third clause cp. Ps. xxvi. 4, 5. 2. The positive principle and source of the righteous man's life. The law of the Lord is his rule of conduct. It is no irksome restriction of his liberty but the object of his love and constant study (Deut. vi. 6 — 9). True happiness is to be found not in ways of man's own devising, but in the revealed will of God. "The purpose of the Law was to make men happy." Kay. Cp. Deut. xxxiii. 29. his delight^ The religion of Israel was not an external formalism, but an obedience of the heart. Cp. xxxvii, 31; xl. 8; cxii. i ; cxix. 35, 97. the law of the Lord] The Hebrew word tordh has a much wider range of meaning than law, by which it is always rendered in the A.V. It denotes (i) teaching, instruction, whether human (Prov. i. 8), or divine; (2) a preceptor law; {3) a body of latus, and in particular the Mosaic law, and so finally the Pentateuch. The parallel to the second clause of the verse in Josh. i. 8 suggests a particular reference to Deuteronomy ; but the meaning here must not be limited to the Pentateuch or any part of it. Rather as in passages where it is parallel to and synonymous with the word of the Lord (Is. i. 10; ii. 3) it should be taken to include all Divine revelation as the guide of life. meditate] The Psalmists meditate on God Himself (Ixiii. 6) ; on His works in nature and in history (Ixxvii. 12; cxliii. 5). 3. The consequent prosperity of the godly man is emblematically described. As a tree is nourished by constant supplies of water, with- out which under the burning Eastern sun it would wither and die, so the life of the godly man is maintained by the supplies of grace drawn from constant communion with God through His revelation. Cp. Hi. 8 ; xcii. 12; cxxviii. 3 ; Num. xxiv. 6. If a special tree is meant, it is pro- bably not the oleander (Stanley, Si^iai and Palestine, p. 146), which bears no fruit ; nor the vine (Ezek. xix. 10) ; nor the pomegranate; but the palm. Its love of water, its stately gx'owth, its evergreen foliage, its valuable fruit, combine to suggest that it is here referred to. Cp. Ecclus. xxiv. 14; and see Thomson's Land and the Book, p. 48 f. I 2 PSALM I. 3—5. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; His leaf also shall not wither ; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so : But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. the rivers of wafer] Better, streams of water : either natural watercourses (Is. xliv. 4): or more probably artificial channels for irrigating the land. Cp. Prov. xxi. i ; Eccl. ii. 5, 6. and whatsoever &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper. The figure of the tree is dropped, and the words refer directly to the godly man. The literal meaning of the word rendered prosper is to carry through to a successful result. Cp. Josh. i. 8; and for illustration, Gen. xxxix. 3, 23. 4 — 6. The character and destiny of the wicked. 4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful tree is the chaff on the threshing-floor, worthless in itself, and liable to be swept away by every passing breeze. The scattering of chaff" by the wind is a common figure in the O.T. for the sudden destruction of the wicked. Cp. xxxv. 5; Job xxi. 18 ; Is. xxix. 5 ; Hos. xiii. 3. Here it describes their character as well as their fate. It would be vividly suggestive to those who were familiar with the sight of the threshing-floors, usually placed on high ground to take advantage of every breeze, on which the corn was threshed out and winnowed by throwing it up against the wind with shovels, the grain falling on the floor to be carefully gathered up, the chaff left to be carried away by the wind and vanish. The P.B.V. following the LXX and Vulg. adds from the face of the earth. Cp. Am. ix. 8; Zeph. i. 2, 3. 5. Therefore] The real character of the wicked will be manifested in the judgment. Since they are thus worthless and unstable, destitute of root and fruit, the wicked will not hold their ground in the judgment, in which Jehovah separates the chaft'from the wheat (Matt. iii. 12). stand] So Lat. causa stare, and the opposite causa cadere. Cp. v. 5; cxxx. 3; Nah. i. 6; Mai. iii. 2; Wisd. v. i. in the judgment] Not, before a human tribunal : nor merely in the last judgment, (as the Targum and many interpreters understand it) : but in every act of judgment by which Jehovah separates between the righteous and the wicked, and vindicates His righteous government of the world. Cp. as an illustration Num. xvi. Each such 'day of the Lord ' is a type and pledge of the great day of judgment. Cp. Is. i. 24 ff., ii. 12 ff.; Mai. iii. 5; Eccl. xii. 14. in the congregation of the righteous] The ' congregation of Israel, ' which is the ' congregation of Jehovah,' is in its true idea and ultimate PSALM I. 6. II. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : But the way of the ungodly shall perish. destination, the ' congregation of the righteous ' (cxi. t). It is the aim of each successive judgment to purify it, until at last the complete and final separation shall be effected (Matt. xiii. 41 — 43). 6. The teaching of the Psalm is grounded on the doctrine of divine Providence. Each clause of the verse implies the supplement of its anti- thesis to the other clause. * The Lord knows the way of the righteous,' and under His care it is a ' way of life' (xvi. 11 ; Prov. xii. 28) ; 'a way of peace' (Is. lix. 8); 'a way eternal' (cxxxix. 24). Equally He knows the way of the wicked, and by the unalterable laws of His government it can lead only to destruction; it is a way of death (Prov. xiv. 12). knowethl Divine knowledge cannot be abstract or ineffectual. It involves approval, care, guidance ; or abandonment, judgment. The righteous man's course of life leads to God Himself; and He takes care that it does not fail of its end (Nah. i. 7; 2 Tim. ii. 19). PSALM II. The circumstances which called forth this Psalm stand out clearly. A king of Israel, recently placed upon the throne, and consecrated by the solemn rite of anointing to be Jehovah's representative in the government of His people, is menaced by a confederacy of subject nations, threatening to revolt and cast off their allegiance. The moment is critical : but his cause is Jehovah's ; their endeavour is, futile. He asserts his high claims ; and the nations are exhorted to yield a willing submission, and avoid the destruction which awaits rebels against the authority of Jehovah. Who then was the king? and what was the occasion referred to? The king's consciousness of his high calling, and the confidence with which he appeals to the divine promise, point to a time when that promise was still recent, and the lofty ideal of the theocratic kingdom had not been blurred and defaced by failure and defeat. For such a time we must go back to the reigns of David and Solomon. (i) The language of Acts iv. 25 does not decide the question, for 'David' in the N.T. may mean no more than 'the Psalter' (Heb. iv. 7) or 'a Psalmist.' The older commentators however attribute the Psalm to David, and suppose the occasion to have been the attack of the Philistines shortly after he was anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. v. 17 ff.), or of the confederacy of Ammonites and Syrians described in 2 Sam. X. But the Psalm speaks plainly {v. 3) of subject nations, while the Philistines certainly were not David's subjects at the time, and it is doubtful if the Syrians were. See note on 2 Sam. x. (2) On the other hand there is good reason for supposing that Solo- mon was the king referred to. He was anointed at Gihon, and solemnly enthroned on Zion (i Kings i. 45). Zion was already 'Jehovah's holy mountain ' in virtue of the presence of the Ark there. So strongly was the theocratic character of the kingdom then realised that he is said to have sat 'on the throne of Jehovah' (i Chr. xxix. 23; cp. xxviii. 5). PSALM II. The Psalm is based upon the great promise in 2 Sam, vii. 13 fif., which, although not limited to Solomon, would naturally be claimed by him with special confidence. Solomon succeeded to the great kingdom which his father had built up. But he was young. The succession was disputed. What more likely than that some of the subject nations should threaten to revolt upon his accession ? Hadad's request ( i Kings xi. 21) shews that his enemies thought that their opportunity was come. It is true that we have no account of any such revolt in the Historical Books. But their i-ecords are incomplete and fragmentary; and the language of the Psalm implies that the revolt was only threatened, and had not as yet broken out into open war. Thei-e was still hope that wiser counsels might prevail {w. loff.); and if they did, we should hardly expect to find any reference in Kings and Chron. to a mere threat of rebellion. Moreover, though Solomon's reign was on the whole peaceful, there are incidental notices which make it plain that it was not uniformly and universally so. He made great military preparations (i Kings iv. 26; ix. 15 ff. ; xi. 27 : 2 Chron. viii. 5 ff.), and engaged in wars (2 Chron. viii. 3); and Hadad and Rezon succeeded in 'doing him mischief (i Kings xi. 21 — 25). (3) The conjectures which refer the Psalm to a later occasion have but little probability. The confederacy of Pekah and Rezin against Ahaz (Is. vii.); and the invasion of Judah by the Moabites and their allies (2 Chr. XX.) have been suggested: but neither of these was a revo/i of subject nations. The question still remains whether Solomon was himself the writer. The king and the poet appear to be identified in ziv. 7 ff. ; but in such a highly dramatic Psalm, it is at least possible that the poet might intro- duce the king as a speaker, as he introduces the nations {v. 3), and Jehovah {v. 6). The particular historical reference is however of relatively small moment compared with the typical application of the Psalm to the Kingdom of Christ. To understand this, it is necessary to realise the peculiar position of the Israelite king. Israel was Jehovah's son. His firstborn (Ex. iv. 22; Deut. xxxii. 6); and Israel's king, as the ruler and representative of the people, was adopted by Jehovah as His son, His firstborn (2 Sam. vii. 13 fF.; Ps. Ixxxix. 26, 27). It was a moral relationship, sharply distinguished from the supposed descent of kings and heroes from gods in the heathen world in virtue of which they styled themselves Zeus-born, sons of Zens, and the like. It involved on the one side fatherly love and protection, on the other filial obedience and devotion. The kmg moreover was not an absolute monarch in his own right. He was the Anointed of Jehovah, His viceroy and earthly representative. To him therefore was given not only the sovereignty over Israel, but the sovereignty over the nations. Rebellion against him was rebellion against Jehovah. Thus, as the adopted son of Jehovah and His Anointed King, he was the type of the eternal Son of God, the 'Lord's Christ.' Then, as successive kings of David's line failed to realise their high destiny, men were taught to look for the coming of One who should fulfil the Divine PSALM II, words of promise, giving them a meaning and a reality beyond hope and imagination. See Introd. p, hiii flf. Thb Psalm then is tj^pical and prophetic of the rebellion of the kingdoms of the world against the kingdom of Christ, and of the final triumph of the kingdom of Christ. To Him all nations are given for an inheritance ; if they will not submit He must judge them. This typical meaning does not however exclude (as some commentators think), but rather requires, a historic foundation for the Psalm. In connexion with this Psalm should be studied 2 Sam. ^'ii.; Ps. Ixxxix.; and Pss. xxi., xlv., Ixxii. and ex. The references to this Psalm in the X.T. should be carefully examined. (i) In Acts iv. 25 — 28, z'v. i, 2 are applied to the confederate hostility of Jews and Gentiles against Christ. (2) V. 7 was quoted by St Paul at Antioch (Acts xiii. 33) as fulfilled in the Resurrection of Christ (cp. Rom. L 4) : and in the EpLstle to the Hebrews the words are cited (the Messianic reference of the Psalm being evidently generally admitted) to describe the superiority of the Son to angels (i. 5): and as a declaration of the Divine sonship of Christ, in connexion with the proof of the Divine origin of His high- priesthood (v. 5). 1 (3) It contains the title 'my Son' (Matt. iii. 17); and 'the Lord's Chnst' (Luke ii. ■26) which describe the nature and office of the Messiah. Comp. Matt. xW. 16: John xx. 31. (4) Its language is repeatedly borrowed in the Revelation, the great epic of the conflict and triumph of Christ's kingdom. He ' rules the nations vi-ith a rod of iron' (Rev. xii. 5, xLx. i=j ; and delegates the same power to His ser\-ants (ii. 26, 27). 'Kings of the earth' occurs no less than nine times in this book (i. 5, inc.). 'He that sitteth in the heavens' is the central figure there (iv. 2 and frequently). These quotations sufficiently explain the choice of the Psalm as one of the Proper Psalms for Easter Day. In a few Heb. MSS. the Second Psalm is reckoned as the First, the First being treated as an independent prologue to the whole book ; in a few other MSS. the two are united. Origen says that this was the case in one of two copies he had seen (Op. ii. 537): and there was an ancient Jewish sa>-ing. "The first Psalm begins with blessing (i. i), and ends with blessing" (ii. 12). Some recensions of the LXX appear to have followed this arrangement, though Origen speaks as if all the Greek copies with which he was acquainted di\'ided the two Psalms. Justin Mart)-r in his Apology (i. 40J cites Pss. i and ii as a continuous prophec)', and in Acts xiii. 33 D and cognate authorities representing the 'Western' text, read, 'in theyfrj-/ Psalm.' But though there are points of contact in phraseolc^ (blessed^ L I, ii. 12; imditaie, i. 2, ii. i; f-erish connected with u>ay, i. 6; ii. 12); they are clearly distinct in stjle and character. Ps. i is the calm expression of a general truth; Ps. ii springs out of a special occasion ; it is full of movement, and has a correspondingly vigorous 1 In D and cognate authorities the words, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee" are subsdrnted for "Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased," in Lake iiL 22. This was also the reading of the Ebiooite GospeL 8 rhythm. Probably the absence of a title to Ps. ii (contrary to the usual practice of Book 1.) accounts for its having been joined to Ps. i. The Psalm is dramatic in form. The scene changes. Different persons are introduced as speakers. Its structure is definite and artistic. It consists of four stanzas, each (except the second) of seven lines. i. The poet contemplates with astonishment the tumult of the nations, mustering with the vain idea of revolt from their allegiance (i— 3)- ii. But looking from earth to heaven he beholds Jehovah enthroned in majesty. He mocks their puny efforts. He has but to speak, and they are paralysed (4 — 6). iii. The king speaks, and recites the solemn decree by which Jehovah has adopted him for His son, and given him the nations for his inheritance, with authority to subdue all opposition (7 — 9). iv. The poet concludes with an exhortation to the nations to yield willing submission, instead of resisting to their own destruction (10 — 12). 2 Why do the heathen rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, 1—3. The muster of the nations and its design. 1. Why'] The Psalmist gazes on the great tumult of the nations mustering for war, till the sight forces from him this question of mingled astonishment and indignation. Their insurrection is at once causeless and hopeless. the heathen] Better, as R.V., the nations. Goyim, variously rendered in A.V. nations, heathen, Gentiles, denotes the non-Israelite nations as distinguished from and often in antagonism to the people of Jehovah. Sometimes the word has a moral significance and may rightly be rendered heathen. rage] Rather, as in marg., tu?miltnously assemble; or,' throng together. Cp. the cognate subst. in Ps. Ixiv. 1, insurrection, R.V. tutmilt, marg. throng. the people] R.V. rightly, peoples. Comp. xliv, 1, 14. imagine] Or, meditate: the same word as in i. 2; but in a bad sense, as in xxxviii. 12, 2. The kings of the earth] In contrast to ' my king,' v. 6. Cp. the use of the phrase in striking contexts, Ixxvi. 12; Ixxxix. 27; cii. 15; cxxxviii. 4; cxlviii. 11; Is. xxiv. 21. set themselves] The tenses of the original vaw. \, t give a vividness and variety to the picture which can hardly be reproduced in translation. Rage and take counsel are perfects, representing the throng as already gathered, and the chiefs seated in divan together: imagine and set ^themselves are imperfects (the graphic, pictorial tense of Hebrew poetry), representing their plot in process of development. The rapid PSALM II. 3—6. Against the Lord, and against his anointed, sayings Let us break their bands asunder, 3 And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh : 4 The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, 5 And vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king 6 lively rhythm moreover well suggests the stir and tumult of the gathering host. against the Lord] They would not deny that in making war upon Israel they were making war upon Israel's God (2 Kings xviii. 32 ft'.); but they little knew Whom they were defying (2 Kings xix. 22 ff.). 3. The words of the kings and rulers exhorting one another to cast o^ the yoke of subjection. Bands are the fastenings by which the yoke was secured upon the neck (Jer. xxvii. 2; xxx. 8; Nah. i. 13; &c.) : cords are perhaps merely synonymous with bands: but as the language of the previous clause is derived from the figure of an ox yoked for ploughing, cords may naturally be understood to mean the reins by which the animal was guided and kept under control. Cp. Job xxxix. 10; Hos. xi. 4. The poet-seer draws aside the veil, and bids us look from earth to heaven. There the supreme Ruler of the world sits en- throned in majesty. With sovereign contempt He surveys these petty plottings, and when the moment comes confounds them with a word. 4. He that sitteth iti the heavens'] Enthroned in majesty (cxxiii. i), but withal watching and controlling the course of events upon the earth (xi. 4; ciii. 19; cxiii. 4 ff . ; Rev. v. 13; vi. 16). shall laugh... shall have them in derisiofi] Or, laugheth...mocketh at them. Cp. xxxvii. 13; lix. 8; Prov. i. 26. The O.T. uses human language of God without fear of lowering Him to a human level. the Lord] This is the reading of 161 1, restored by Dr Scrivener. Most editions, and R.V., have the Lord, in accordance with the Massoretic Text, which reads A don at, not Jehovah. The variation is perhaps significant. God is spoken of as the sovereign ruler of the world, rather than as the covenant God of Israel. 5. Then] There is a limit to the divine patience. He will not always look on in silence. If they persist in their folly He must speak, and His word (like that of His representative, Is. xi. 4) is power. vex] Trouble, confound, dismay, with panic terror, paralysing their efforts. Cp. xlviii. 5; Ixxxiii. 15, 17. in his sore displeasure] Lit. fiery lorath (Ex. xv. 7), a word used almost exclusively of divine anger. 6. Yet have L set] R.V., Yet I have set. The first stanza ended with the defiant words of the rebels : the second stanza ends with the answer of Jehovah. The sentence is elliptical, and the pronoun is lo PSALM II. 7, 8. Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree : The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, And I shall give thee the heathen ^r thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth /^r thy possession. emphatic: *Why this uproar, when it is /Who have set up My king' &c. The meaning of the word rendered set has been much disputed, but it certainly means set up, or appointed, not, as A.V. xn^xg. , anointed. Cp. Prov. viii. 23. my king\ A king appointed by Me, to rule over My people, as My representative. Cp. i Sam. xvi. i. 7ny holy hill of Zion] Zion, the name of the ancient strong-hold which became the city of David (2 Sam. v. 7), consecrated by the presence of the Ark until the Temple was built, is the poetical and pro- phetical name for Jerusalem in its character as the holy city, the earthly dwelling-place of Jehovah, and the seat of the kingdom which He had established. For a discussion of the topographical difficulties con- nected with the site of Zion see Comm. on 2 Samuel, p. 239. 7 — 9. Jehovah has acknowledged the king as His own: and now the king takes up Jehovah's declaration, and appeals to the Divine decree of sonsliip, and the promise of world-wide dominion. 7. the decree] The solemn and authoritative edict, promulgated in the promise made to David and his house through Nathan (2 Sam. vii. 12 ff.). hath said imto me] Better, said unto me (R. V.), or, said of me. this day] The day when he was anointed king. If Nathan was (as is commonly supposed) Solomon's tutor, he had no doubt trained him to a consciousness of his high calling ; and when in concert with Zadok he anointed him (1 Kings i. 34), he would not fail to impress upon him the significance of the rite. Comp. David's charge to him in i Chr. xxii. 6ff. have I begotten thee] /is the emphatic word in the clause, contrasting the new sonship by adoption with the existing sonship by natural relation. The recognition of Christ's eternal sonship in the Resurrection corre- sponds to the recognition of the king's adoptive sonship in the rite of anointing (Acts xiii. 33 ; Rom. i. 4). 8. Ask of me] Inheritance is the natural right of sonship. Yet even the son must plead the promise and claim its fulfilment. Dominion over the nations is not expressly mentioned in 2 Sam. vii.; but cp. Ps. Ixxxix. 27. itiheritance . . . possession] Words frequently applied to the gift of Canaan to Israel (Gen. xvii. 8; Deut. iv. 21, xxxii. 49). Now the world shall be his with equal right. Jehovah is king of the world, and PSALM II. 9—12. II Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; c Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings : : Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, = And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, i He oflfers His representative a world-wide dominion. Cp. Ixxii. 8 ; Zech. ix. 9, 10. 9. Thoii shalt break them with a rod of iron] A figure for the severity of the chastisement that awaits rebels. Or perhaps, 'an iron sceptre' (xlv. 6), symbol of a stern and irresistible rule. But the word rendered break them, if read with different vowels, may mean rule (lit. shepherd) them : so the LXX {and after it Rev. ii. 27; xii. 5), Syriac, and Jerome. In this case rod will mean a shepherd's staff (Mic. vii. 14), and the phrase will be an oxymoron. a potter's vessel] An emblem of easy, complete, irreparable destruc- tion. The confederacy is shattered into fragments which cannot be reunited. Cp. Jer. xix. 11; Is. xxx. 11; Prov. vi. 15. 10—12. The poet speaks, drawing the lesson from the great truths which have been set forth. There is a better way. Submission may avert destruction. The leaders of the nations are exhorted to be wise in time, and accept the suzerainty of Jehovah instead of resisting until His wrath is kindled. 10. Be wise now therefore] Norv therefore should stand first, as in R. v., emphatically introducing the conclusion to be drawn from the statements of the preceding verses. kings .. .judges of the earth] Not the rebel leaders of v. i exclusively, though the warning has a special significance for them, but all world- rulers. yudges = x\x\Qxs generally, administration of justice being one of the most important functions of the king in early times. Cp. cxlviii. 1 1 ; Prov. viii. 16. 11. Serve] The context indicates that political submission to Jehovah in the person of His representative is primarily intended. Cp. xviii. 43 ; Ixxii. II. But the wider meaning must not be excluded. Serve and fear are words constantly used with a religious meaning ; and political submission to Israel is only the prelude to that spiritual submission of the nations to Jehovah, which is a constant element in the Messianic expectation of the O.T. Cp. xxii. 27, 28; Ixvii. 7 ; c. 1 ff.; cii. 15; &c. rejoice with trembling] There is no need to alter the reading to tremble (xcvi, 9) or to look for this meaning in the word rendered rejoice. Joyfulness tempered with reverent awe befits those who approach One so gracious yet so terrible. Cp. xcvii. i ; c. 2 ; Hos. iii. 5; xi. 10, 11; Heb. xii. 28. P.B.V. adds unto him with LXX and Vulg. 12. Kiss the Son] According to this rendering the exhortation to serve Jehovah is followed by an exhortation to pay homage to His 12 PSALM II. 12. And ye ptrish from the way, representative. For the /:/ss of homage cp. i Sam. x. i ; i Kings xix. i8; Job xxxi. 27; Hos. xiii. 2. But this rendering must certainly be abandoned, (i) Not to mention some minor difficulties, it assumes that the Psalmist has used the Aramaic word dar for son (cp. Bar-Jona, Bar- Jesus) instead of the usual Hebrew word ben. The only example of its use in the Hebrew of the O.T. (it is of course found in the Aratnaic of Ezra and Daniel) is in Prov. xxxi. 2, a passage which contains other marked Aramaisms. No satisfactory reason has been suggested for its introduction here. We should not expect a poet to borrow a foreign word for son either for 'emphasis' or for 'euphony.' (2) None of the ancient Versions, with the exception of the Syriac, give this sense to the words. They represent two views as to the meaning, {a) The LXX, and of course the Versions dependent on it, render, Lay hold of instruction : and similarly the Targum, Receive in- struction, (b) Symmachus and Jerome render, Worship purely ; oxidi io the same effect, but with his usual bald literalism, Aquila gives, Kiss choicely. The Syriac gives the meaning Kiss the son: but its rendering is merely a transcription of the Hebrew words. The reading of the Ambrosian MS., which agrees with the rendering of the LXX, is a correction by a later hand to the reading of the Hexaplar Syriac. Jerome was acquainted with the translation Worship the son, but rejected it as doubtful. The passage in his treatise against Ruffinus (i. 19) deserves quotation. He had been charged with inconsistency for translating Worship ptirely (adorate pure) in his Psalter, though he had given Worship the son (adorate filium) in his Commentary. After discussing the possible meanings of the words he concludes thus : "Why am I to blame, if I have given different translations of an ambiguous word? and while in my short commentary where there is opportunity for discussion I had said Woj'ship the Son, in the text itself, to avoid all appearance of forced interpretation, and to leave no opening for Jewish cavils, I have said, Worship purely^ or choicely ; as Aquila also and Symmachus have translated it." It is however easier to shew that the rendering Kiss the Son is untenable, than to decide what rendering should be adopted. Bar (beside other senses inapplicable here) may mean choice, or, pure. Hence some commentators have adopted the renderings Worship the chosen one; or, Worship in purity (cp. xviii. 20, 24; xxiv. 3 — 5). But the substantial agreement of the LXX and Targum points to the existence of a widely-spread early tradition as to the sense, and on the whole it seems best to follow their general direction and render, Embrace instruction, or perhaps, obedience. No rendering is free from difficulty, and it may be doubted whether the text is sound. But an exaggerated importance has frequently been attached to the words. The uncertainty as to their meaning does not affect the general drift of the Psalm, or its Messianic interpretation. lest he be angry] The subject of the verb is Jehovah Himself. The verb is applied to God in all the thirteen passages where it occurs. PSALM II. 12. III. 13 When his wrath is kindled but a little : Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. perish from the -way] Rather, as R.V., perish in the way: find that your expedition leads only to ruin. Cp. i. 6. P.B.V. adds ri^hi from the LXX (e^ odoO SiKalas). when his wrath is kindled but a little] Better, For quickly (or easily) may his anger blaze forth. Kindled fails to give the idea of the Divine wrath blazing up to consume all adversaries. Cp. Ixxxiii. 14 f.; Is. XXX. 27. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him] Rather, Happy are all they that take refuge in him: lit. seek asylum or shelter: cp. Jud. ix. 15; Ruth ii. 12 (R.V.); Ps. vii. i; Ivii. i. Here primarily, those are congratulated who place themselves under His protectorate by accepting the suzerainty of His king; but as in the preceding verse, the deeper spiritual sense must not be excluded. Cp. xxxiv. 8. Nah. i. 7 combines the thought with that of i. 6 a. PSALM in. The third and fourth Psalms are closely connected and should be studied together. The one is a morning hymn, after a night spent safely in the midst of danger (iii. 5); the other an evening hymn, when the danger, though less imminent, has not passed away (iv. S). The spirit and the circumstances are the same : there are resemblances of language and of structure. Compare iii. i (" they that distress me") with iv. I ("in distress"); iii. 2 with iv. 6 ("there be many that say" is an expression peculiar to these two Psalms); iii. 3 with iv. 2 ; iii. 5 with iv. 8 ; and on the structure of Ps. iv see below. They are clearly the work of the same author, in the same crisis of his life. That author is in high position (iii. 6) and speaks with a tone of authority (iv. 2 ff.); he is attacked by enemies, not apparently foreigners (iii. i, 6), whose project is profane and unprincipled (iv. 2, 4, 5) : his cause is pro- nounced desperate (iii. 2), but with unshaken faith he appeals to the experience of past deliverances, and with absolute confidence casts himself upon Jehovah for protection and deliverance. We can hardly be wrong in accepting the title which states that the third Psalm was written by David when he fled from Absalom his son, and the third Psalm carries the fourth with it. Of that flight a singularly graphic account is preserved in 2 Sam. xv — xviii. Read in the light of it, these Psalms gain in point and force and vividness. The peril of his position and the ingratitude of the people must be realised in order to estimate duly the strength of the faith and the generosity of feeling, to which these Psalms give expression. The absence of any reference to Absalom himself is thoroughly natural. Comp. 2 Sam. xviii. 33. It has been suggested that the precise occasion of Ps. iii was the morning after the first night following upon David's flight from Jeru- salem. That night however was spent in the passage of the Jordan, in consequence of Hushai's urgent message {2 Sam. xvii. 15 — 23), 14 PSALM III. I, and we must rather think of the morning after some night later on, perhaps the next, which had been marked by unexpected rest, in contrast to the sudden alarms of the previous night. The fourth Psalm was written somewhat later, when David had had time to reflect on the true character of the rebellion ; perhaps at Mahanaim, which was his head-quarters for some time. The second Psalm describes the Kingdom of the Lord's Anointed threatened by enemies from without : the third and fourth tell of a time when it was in danger from intestine foes. All three alike are inspired by the conviction that human schemes are impotent to frustrate the Divine purpose. The Psalm is divided into four stanzas, each, with the exception of the third, closed by a Selah. i. The present distress, vv. 1,2. ii. God the source of help and protection, vv. 3, 4. iii. Confidence in the midst of danger, %n>. 5, 6. iv. Prayer for deliverance, and blessing on the people, vv. 7, 8. A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. 3 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me ! Many are they that rise up against me. 2 Many there be which say of my soul. There is no help for him in God. Selah. 1, 2. David lays his need before Jehovah. He is threatened by a rebellion which hourly gathers fresh adherents. His cause is pro- nounced utterly desperate. 1. they... that trouble me] R.V. mine adversaries: lit. they that distress vie. Cp. iv. i. increased .. .many] "The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. And there came a messenger to David, saying. The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom " (2 Sam. XV. 12, 13; cp. xvi. 15). many are they that rise up against me] lit. many are rising up against me. The rebellion is in full progress and gathering strength. The phrase is used of enemies in general, but is specially appropriate to insurgents against the established government. Cp. 2 Sam. xviii. 31, 32. 2. Faint-hearted friends may be meant, as well as insolent enemies like Shimei, who professed to regard the king's calamities as the divine punishment for his past crimes (2 Sam. xvi. 8 ff.). of my soul] The ' soul ' in O. T. language is a man's ' self ;' it represents him as a living, thinking, conscious individual. help] Or, salvation, as in v. 8; where see note. Cp. 'save me' in V. 7. But the words 'soul' and 'salvation' are not primarily to be understood in a spiritual sense. in God] As distinguished from men. All help, divine as well as human, fails him in his need. Hence the general term God is used. PSALM III. 3—6. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me ; My glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord ivith my voice, And he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept ; I awaked ; for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people. But where David expresses his own confident assurance {v. 8) or pleads for help (z'. 4), he uses the covenant name Jehovah. The LXX how- ever, which P.B.V. follows, reads, in his God. 3, 4. Men may say that God has forsaken him, but he knows that it is not so. 3. a shield for me] More significantly the original, a shield about me. A natural metaphor for a warrior-poet. Cp. God's promise to Abraham, Gen. xv. i ; Deut. xxxiii. 29; Ps. xviii. 2, &c. wj g/ory] The honour of the Israelite king was derived from Jeho- vah, whose representative he was. Cp. xxi. 5 ; Ixii. 7 ; and see note on iv. 2. Jl/y worship (P.B.V.) = ;;/y honour ox glory. the lifter up of mine head] A general truth. David is still confident that as Jehovah raised him from low estate to royal dignity, and brought him up from depths of trouble in times past. He can even now save him and restore him to the throne. Cp. 2 Sam. xv. 25. 4. An appeal to past experiences of answered prayer. *As often as I called,' — the imperfect tense in the Heb. denotes repeated action or habit — 'he answered me.' Cp. iv. i ; xci. 15. out of his holy hill] Cp. ii. 6. Zion, the seat of the Ark of the covenant, which was the symbol and pledge of Jehovah's presence, is as it were the centre from which He exercises His earthly sovereignty. Cp. xiv. 7; XX. 2; Am. i. 2. There is possibly a tacit reference to the sending back of the Ark (2 Sam, xv. 25), which may have discouraged some of his followers. He would assure them that its absence does not diminish Jehovah's power to help. 5. 6. Not only past but present experience justifies this confidence. 6. The pronoun is emphatic : — /, pursued by enemies, despaired of by friends : — and the words refer to the actual experience of the past night. The calmness which could thus repose in the face of danger was a practical proof of faith. sustained] R.V. sustaineth. The tense suggests the unceasing, ever active care by which he is upheld. The same word is used in xxxvii. 17, 24; Ixxi. 6; cxlv. 14. Contrast xxvii. 2. 6. Cp. xxvii. 3. Numbers were on the side of Absalom, and but for the divinely sent infatuation which made him reject Ahithophel's clever advice, in all probability David's handful of followers would have been overwhelmed without effort (2 Sam. xvii. i ff.). i6 PSALM III. 7, 8. That have set themselves against me round about. 7 Arise, O Lord ; save me, O my God : For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. 8 Salvation belojigeth unto the Lord : Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. set themselves against me] A private individual could hardly speak thus; and we are reminded of Ahithophel's counsel to strike one blow at the king, and save a civil war. 7, 8. The Psalm concludes with a prayer for deliverance as in times past, and for a blessing on the people. 7. Arise, Lord] The opening words of the ancient marching- shout of Israel, rich in memories of deliverance and victory. See Num. X. 35. Cp. Ixviii. I. for thou hast smitten] Again, as in v. 4, appeal is made to the ex- perience of the past as the ground of prayer. Hitherto Jehovah has put His enemies to shame, and destroyed their power for mischief. The buffet on the cheek was a climax of insult which shewed that all spirit and power of resistance were gone. Cp. i Kings xxii. 24; Job xvi. 10; Lam. iii. 30; Mic. v. i. Then, by a natural figure (how appropriate in David's mouth ! cp. i Sam. xvii. 34), the wicked are pictured as ferocious wild beasts, rushing upon their prey, but suddenly deprived of their power to hurt. Cp. Iviii. 6. 8. Salvation] R. V. marg. victory unduly limits the thought, though no doubt it is the particular form in which David desires to see Jehovah's saving power manifested. 'Save' is the constant prayer, 'salvation' the constant desire, of the Psalmists. The Hebrew words thus rendered denote primarily enlargement, liberation from a state of confinement and distress, power to move freely and at will, and so deliverance generally. Such deliverance comes from Jehovah alone : it is eagerly sought as the proof of His favour. It is, mainly at least, temporal and material, and is looked for in this life ; for in the O. T. this life is the sphere of God's dealings with His people. But the word grows with the growth of reve- lation, till it gains an inexhaustible fulness of spiritual meaning in the N.T. thy blessing is upon thy people] Rather as R.V., thy blessing be upon thy people. This prayer reveals the noble heart of the true king, to whom the welfare of his people is more than his own personal safety. Like Him of whom he was the type, he intercedes on behalf of the rebels, for 'thy people' cannot be limited to the loyal few. The whole nation is still Jehovah's people, though they have been misled into revolt against His king. As the sequel shewed, the revolt was the work of a party, not of the nation (2 Sam. xix. 9). PSALM IV. I. 17 PSALM IV. The occasion of this Psahn has aheady been discussed in the intro- duction to Ps. iii. Some days at least have elapsed. The immediate personal peril is past. Reflection has deepened David's consciousness of his own integrity, and his sense of the rebels' guilt. The Psalm breathes a spirit of righteous indignation, which rises completely above mere personal vindictiveness. Its structure, if the indications afforded by the Selah at the end of V. 1 and v. 4 are to be followed, is similar to that of its companion Psalm. i. Appeal to God, and remonstrance with the rebels, vv, i, 2. ii. The true character of the rebellion exposed, vv. 3, 4. iii. The better way indicated, w. 5, 6. iv. The supreme joy of perfect trust, w. 7, 8. Most commentators however divide the Psalm thus: i. Appeal to God, V. I ; ii. Remonstrance with enemies, vv. 2 — 5; iii. The superiority of God-given joy to all earthly grounds of rejoicing, vv. 6 — 8. This division however neglects the Selah, which serves to emphasise the im- portant thought of z'. 3, and after v, 4 prepares the way for repentance following on reflection : it ignores the parallelism of structure with Ps. iii, and though at first sight attractive, fails to bring out the true connexion and sequence of the thoughts. To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness : Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress ; The title should be rendered as in R.V., For the Chief Musician ; on stringed instruments. See Introd. pp. xix f., xxii. 1, 2. An appeal to God, and an expostulation with men. 1. Hear w^&c] When I call, answer me. Cp, v. 3 and iii. 4. The LXX and Vulg. represent a diff"erent vocalisation and render, "when I called, the God of my righteousness answered me." This reading agrees well with the second clause of the verse, but on the whole the rhythm of the sentence is in favour of the Massoretic text. God of my righteousness\ David is confident of the integrity of his heart and the justice of his cause. To God alone he looks to help him to his right, and vindicate his righteousness openly in the sight of men by making that cause triumphant. Cp. vii. 8 ff . ; i Kings viii. 32. thou hast enlarged me] R.V., Thou hast set me at large. But the words are perhaps best taken as a relative clause, thou who hast set me at large ; giving a second reason for his appeal to God in the experience of past deliverances, possibly with particular reference to the events of the last few days. This natural figure for liberation from distress may be derived from the idea of an army which has been hemmed in by PSALMS 2 t8 psalm IV. 2,3. Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. ■ 2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? Hoiv long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing ? Selah. 3 But know that the Lord hath set apart hitn that is godly for himself : enemies in some narrow pass escaping into the open plain. Cp. i Sam. xxiii. 26 for an illustration. Have mercy tipon ;;/y the judgment zv/iic/i he executeth : The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. (•>) The wicked shall be turned into hell, cheerful ways of men" and the gloomy entrance to the nether world is obvious. Fo7'^s (P.B.V.) is an obsolete word iov gates, from Lat. porta. the daughter of Zion] A poetical personification of the citizens or the city as an individual. Originally Zion was thought of as the mother, the citizens collectively as her daughter ; but as terms for land and people are easily interchanged, the expression came to be applied to the city itself (Is. i. 8; Lam. ii. 15). 'Daughter of Zion' occurs nowhere else in the Psalter (see however 'daughter of Tyre,' xlv. 12; 'daughter of Babylon,' cxxxvii. 8), but together with the cognate phrases 'daughter of Jerusalem,' 'daughter of my people' &c, frequently in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and is specially characteristic of the Lamentations. salvatioii] KN . masg., saving help. See note on iii. 8. 15, 16. Stanza of Teth, resuming the description of the judgment. Wickedness has been made to minister to its own discomfiture. Cp. vii. 15 f. 15. The heathen] The nations, as in z/. 5. The figures are taken from the pitfalls and nets used in hunting. Cp. vii. 15, xxxv. 7, 8, Ivii. 6. 16. Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment, Snaring the wicked in the work of his own hands. For God's revelation of Himself in judgment comp. xlviii. 3 (R.V.): Ex. vii. 5 ; xiv. 4, 18; Ezek. xxxviii. 23. Higgaionl A musical term, rendered a solemn sound m xcii. 3, and here in conjunction with Selah directing the introduction of a jubilant interlude, to celebrate the triumph of the divine righteousness. 17. 18. Stanza of Yod. Confident anticipation for the future, arising naturally out of the contemplation of Jehovah's recent judgment. 17. R.V. rightly: The wicked shall return to Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God. Sheol is not hell as the place of torment. What is meant is that the career of the wicked in this world will be cut short by the judgment of God. Cp. Iv. J 5, Ixiii. 9. But why 'return?' Man must 'return' unto the ground from which he was taken, to the dust of which he was made, to his elementary atoms (Gen. iii. 19; Ps. civ. 29, xc. 3). A still closer parallel is to be found in the words of Job (xxx. 23) 'unto PSALMS 4 50 PSALM IX. 18—20. And all the nations that forget God. 18 (^) For the needy shall not alway be forgotten : The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. 19 Arise, O Lord ; let not man prevail : Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20 Put them in fear, O Lord : That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. death wilt thou make me return.' Cp. too Job i. ii. The shadowy existence in Sheol to which man passes at death is comparable to the state of non-existence out of which he was called at birth. " From the great deep to the great deep he goes." There Job will have no more enjoyment of life, there 'the wicked' will have no more power for evil. that forget God'\ Cp. Ps. 1. 22; Job viii. 13, for the phrase, and Ps. X. 4 for the thought. Observe that it is God, not Jehovah ; the nations could not know Him in His character of the God of revelation, but even to them "he left not himself without witness" (Acts xiv. 17), but manifested to them what they could know concerning Himself (Rom. i. 18 — 23). Deliberate wickedness, especially as shewn in antagonism to God's chosen people, implied a culpable forgetfulness of God. 18. For the needy shall not perpetually be forgotten; Nor the hope of the afllicted he disappointed for ever. Man forgets God ; but God does not forget man. expectation} The patient hope which waits upon God in faith (LXX viro/Movri : Vulg. patientia). Comp. the frequent use of the cognate verb generally rendered zaait: xxv. 3, 5, 21, xxvii. 14, xxxvii. 9, 34, xl. r, cxxx. 5; Is. xxv. 9, xxvi. 8: and elsewhere. the poor] Here the traditional reading is ^aniyywi, ' afflicted,' though the text has '■andvim, 'meek.' See note ox\.v. 12. 19. 20. This stanza should begin with Kaph, but (if the text is sound) the similar letter Qoph is substituted for it. [Kaph is prefixed to v. 18 in Dr Scrivener's text; but this verse belongs to the stanza of Yod.] It is a prayer for further and still more complete judgment upon the nations, that they may be taught to know their human weakness. Arise, Jehovah ; let not mortal man wax strong : Let the nations be judged in thy presence. Ordain terror for them, Jehovah, Let the nations know they are but mortal. The word for 'man' [enosh) denotes man in his weakness as con- trasted with God (2 Chr. xiv, 11 ; Job iv. 17; Is. li. 7, 12). 'Strength' is the prerogative of God (Ixii. 11); though men and nations are apt to think that it is inherent in themselves (lii. 7) ; and therefore the Psalmist prays that the proud antagonism of the nations may receive a salutary lesson. They are to be summoned to Jehovah's presence and there judged. 20. Put them in fear] Lit. set terror for them: some awe-inspiring exhibition of power, such as were the wonders of the Exodus. (Deut. PSALM X. 1—3. 51 (7) Why standest thou afar off, O Lord ? 10 IV/iy hidest thou thyself m. times of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor : 2 Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, 3 And blesseth the covetous, who?n the Lord abhorreth. iv. 34, xxvi. 8, xxxiv. ii\ Jer. xxxii. 21.) The rendering of LXX, Vulg., Syr., appoint a laivgiver over them, (reading moreh for morah) is certainly wrong, though it is adopted by Luther and by some modern critics. PSALM X. 1, 2. Stanza of Lamed. Expostulation with Jehovah for neglect of His persecuted people, and statement of the wrongs which call for redress. 1. Why standest thou afar off'\ As an indifferent or indolent spectator. Cp. xxxviii. 11 (of fair-weather friends); xxii. i (of God); Is. lix. 14; and the corresponding prayer in xxii. 11, 19, xxxv. 22, xxxviii, 2i,lxxi. 12. Conversely, God is said to be 'near' when His power is manifested (Ixxv. i , xxxiv. 1 8). why hidest thou thyself] Lit. why nmfflest thou? — Thine eyes so that Thou dost not see (Is, i. 15) ; Thine ears so that Thou dost not hear (Lam. iii. 56). Cp. Ps. Iv. i. in times of trouble'] Or, of extremity. See note on ix. 9. 2. The general sense of the first clause is that given by R. V. : In the pride of tlie wicked the poor is hotly pursued; or possibly, is consutned, by fear, anxiety, and distress. In the second clause there is a double ambiguity. The verb taken may be rendered as a wish or as a statement of fact; and its subject may be the 'wicked' or the 'poor.' Hence either, as A.V., let them (the wicked) be taken in the devices that they have imagined: or, as LXX, Vulg., R.V. marg, : they (the poor) are taken in the devices that they (the wicked) have imagined. With the first rendering comp. vii. 15, 16, ix. 16: but the second is on the whole preferable. It gives a good parallelism to the first line of the verse ; and a further description of the wrongs of the poor suits the context better than a parenthetical cry for retribution, 3 — 11. The Psalmist justifies his complaint by a description of the reckless character (3 — 6) and the ruthless conduct (7 — 11) of the wicked man, and he traces them to their source in his virtual atheism. The alphabetic structure disappears in this section. 3. A difficult verse. Boasteth of his heart's desire may mean either, makes shameless boast of his selfish greed without any pretence at con- cealment : or, boasts that he obtains all that he desires, and that, as the 4—2 52 PSALM X. 4, 5. 4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. 5 His ways are always grievous ; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight : As for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. next clause shews, without troubling himself about God. This clause may be rendered ; and in his rapacity renounceth, yea contenmeth Jehovah. The verb rendered bless in A.V. means also to bid farezvell to, to renounce Qob i. 5, ii. 9, &c. ; R.V.). Covetous is an inadequate render- ing for a word which means to appropriate by violence or injustice. The wicked man's lawless plundering of the poor is a virtual renunciation of Jehovah; nay more, it indicates positive contempt for Him {v. 13; Is. i. 4, V. 24). Another rendering however deserves consideration : For the wicked singeth praise over his own soul's lust : And in his rapacity blesseth, (but) contemneth Jehovah. He gives thanks for his prosperity, and like the shepherds of Zech. xi. 5, blesses God, though his conduct is really the grossest contempt for Him. Grammatically possible, but far less forcible, is the rendering of R.V. marg., blesseth the covetous, but contemneth &c. : and v. 13, which combines 3 b and 4 a, is decisive against the rendering of A.V., whom the LORD abhorreth. 4. The A.V. follows the Ancient Versions in rendering, '■the wicked... will not seek after God:' but a comparison of v. 13, which clearly recapitulates w. 3, 4, is decisive in favour of rendering as follows : As for the wicked, according to the loftiness of his looks, he saith. He will not make requisition : There is no God, is the sum of his devices. The constmction is abrupt and forcible. The wicked man's scornful countenance is the index of his character (ci. 5) ; all his devices (as v. 2) are planned on the assumption that God does not regard and punish (ix. 12); upon a virtual atheism, for such an epicurean deity, "careless of mankind," would be no 'living and true God.' Cp. xiv. i. 5, 6. The security of the wicked. He fears neither God nor man. 5. His -ways &c.] Rather, as R.V., Eis ways are firm at all times. His plans succeed : he is never harassed by vicissitudes of fortune. Cp. Iv. 19, Ixxiii. 3 — 5; Jer. xii. i, 2. thy judgments &c.] God, he thinks, is too far away in heaven to interfere. The possibility of retribution does not enter into his calcu- lations or disturb his equanimity. Cp. Job xxii. 12 ff.; and contrast the spirit of Ps. xviii. 22. enemies'] R.V. adversaries. Cp. vi. 7, vii. 4, 6, viii. 2. puffeth at them] Openly by his gestures expressing his scorn and contempt for them. Cp. 'snuff,' Mai. i. 13. PSALM X. 6, 7. 53 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved : < For I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud : Under his tongue is mischief and vanity. 6. He hath said] R.V. lie saith, and so in vz: 11, 13. He presumes in his carnal self-confidence to use language which the righteous man employs in faithful dependence upon God (xvi. 8, &c.). for I shall 7ievi'r &c.] R.V., To all generations I shall not be in adversity. Hardly in the sense that "pride stifles reason," and "he expects to live for ever" (Cheyne); but rather that he identifies his descendants with himself, and looks foi-ward to the uninterrupted continuance of their prosperity. Cp. xlix. 1 1 ; and the promise to the righteous man in xxxvii. 27 — 29. 7. His sins of tongue; cursing, — which may include both malicious imprecation (Job xxxi. 30, R.V.) and perjury (lix. 12: Hos. iv. 2): deceits, the plural, as in xxxviii. 12, expressing their abundance and variety: oppression (Iv. 11, Ixxii. 14), which he advocates, or abets by false witness (xxvii. 12, xxxv. 11 ; Ex. xxiii. i). Under his tongue, ready for immediate use, is a store of mischief and iniquity (vii. 14). This is the usual interpretation; but it seems strange to regard 'under the tongue' as synonymous with 'upon the tongue,' and the use of the phrase in Job xx. 12 suggests another explanation. Wickedness is there spoken of as a delicious morsel which is kept in the mouth to be enjoyed. (See Prof Davidson's note.) And similarly here the mention of the mouth as the organ of speech leads up to the thought of the tongue as the organ of taste. Mischief and iniquity are thoroughly to the wicked man's taste. Cp. Prov. xix. 28, which speaks of iniquity as the wicked man's favourite food: and Job XV. 16. The first half of the verse (according to the LXX) is woven by St Paul into his description of human corruption in Rom. iii. 14. 8 — 11. The wicked man's crimes. He is described as a brigand, lying in wait to rob ; as a lion lurking for its prey ; as a hunter snaring his game. His victims are the innocent and defenceless poor. The reference is probably to the bands of freebooters which, in the absence of a system of police, have always been common in the East. At no time was the country entirely free from them, and in periods of anarchy they would multiply rapidly. See Jud. xi. 3; i Sam. xxii. 2 ; 2 Sam. iv. 2; Hos. vi. 9; St Luke x. 30. The emphatic warning of the wise man to his disciple in Prov. i. 10 — 18 (a passage which should be studied in illustration of this Psalm) shews that such a life was com- mon, and had strong attractions for young men. But in all probability the Psalmist has also in view the powerful nobles who plundered their poorer neighbours, and made their lives intolerable by oppressive exactions. They were no better than the professed brigands, and no doubt did not shrink from actual murder. 54 PSALM X. 8—] 8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages : In the secret places doth he murder the innocent : His eyes are privily set against the poor. 9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den : He lieth in wait to catch the poor : He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. 'o He croucheth, and humbleth himself, That the poor may fall by his strong ones. II He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten : He hideth his face ; he will never see //. See the prophets generally, and in particular Micah's bitter invective, ii. I — II ; iii. i — 3. Cp. Ecclus. xiii. 18, 19. 8. He couchetli in ambusli in the villages : In the secret places doth he murder the innocent, His eyes watch privily for the helpless. The unwalled villages would be most exposed to the raids of marau- ders; and the country-folk, as Micah shews, suffered most from the oppression of the nobles. Helpless (R.V.) or hapless (R.V. marg.) are good renderings of an obscure word peculiar to this psalm {vv. 10, 14). 9. Render: He lieth in ambush in the secret place as a lion in his lair : He lieth in ambush to catch the poor : He catcheth the poor, dragging him off with his net. The wicked man is now described as a lion, lurking in his lair in the forest till his prey comes near. In the third clause the figure is changed for that of a hunter: probably the victim is dragged off to be sold for a slave. 10. We may render with R.V. He croucheth, he boweth down. And the helpless fall by his strong ones. An obscure verse. According to the rendering of the R.V., which follows the traditional reading {Qri), the figure of the lion is resumed. The word rendered boweth dozon is used of a lion couching in Job xxxviii. 40, the whole of which verse should be compared with vv. 9, 10. His strong ones is explained to mean his claws. But it seems preferable to regard the poor as the subject, and, neg- lecting the Massoretic accents, to render : He is crushed, he boweth down and falleth ; (yea) the helpless (fall) by his strong ones : i.e. the ruffians of the wicked man's retinue. The R.V. marg., Ajid being crushed, follows the reading of the text [Kthlbh), and gives the same sense. 11. He saith in his heart, God {El) hath forgotten : He hath hidden his face ; he hath not seen nor ever will. Experience, he thinks, confirms the assumption from which he started {v. 4), that God will not trouble Himself to interfere : the exact opposite PSALM X. 12—14, 55 (p) Arise, O Lord ; O God, lift up thine hand : , Forget not the humble. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God ? , He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. fn) Thou hast seen it ; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, ; To requite // with thy hand : The poor committeth himself unto thee ; of the faith of the saints (ix. 12, t8). The last clause means literally, He hath not seen for ever : i.e. hath not seen hitherto nor will hereafter. 12 — 18. An urgent plea that Jehovah will vindicate His own character by action, grounded upon a confident assurance of the present reality of His government. The alphabetical arrangement is here resumed. 12, 13. Stanza of QoJ>h. 12. Arise] The usual summons to action. Cp. iii. 7, vii. 6 (notes); ix. 19. God] El, as in 2/, 11. lift tip thine hand] The attitude of action. Cp. similar phrases in cxxxviii. 7 ; Ex. vii. 5 ; Mic. v. 9 ; and contrast Ps. Ixxiv. 11. forget not the humble] Disprove the calumny of the wicked {v. ii). The Qri 'anavTm, 'humble' or 'meek,' is preferable to the Kthibh '■aniyyim, 'afflicted' or 'poor.' The spirit in which sufferings have been borne is urged as a plea. Cp. z^. 17. 13. Why, urges the Psalmist in support of his appeal, has God so long tolerated the blasphemies of the wicked man (vv. 3, 4), and by inaction let Himself be misunderstood? The verbs are in the perfect tense, expressing what long has been and still is the case. he hath said] R. V. and say. 14. Stanza of Resh, consisting of one long verse. Originally in all probability there were two verses, as in the other alphabetic stanzas. Thou hast seen it] Whatever the wicked may imagine to the con- trary, arguing from his own limited experience {v. 11). Faith triumphs over appearances, for it rests on the unchanging character of God, Who never ceases to 'behold,' to observe all that goes on upon the earth. Cp. xxxiii. 13; xxxv. 22; xciv. 9. mischief and spite] The words may be understood thus, of the wrong done; or, as in R.V. marg., of the suffering endured, travail and grief . The first word inclines rather to the objective, the second to the sub- jective sense. Perhaps we might render : mischief and vexation. to requite it with thy hand] More exactly as R.V., to take it into thy hand. God's observation cannot fail to lead to action. In His own time He will take the matter in hand. Cp. P.B.V., which how- ever, in opposition to the Hebrew accents, connects the words with the following clause, 'That thou mayest take the matter into thine hand: the poor &c.' the poor] The helpless {vv. 8, 10) abandons (such is the literal sense S6 PSALM X. 15, 16 Thou art the helper of the fatherless. 15 (^) Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man ; Seek out his wickedness //// thou find none. 16 The Lord zs King for ever and ever : The heathen are perished out of his land. of the word) himself and his cause to God, Who will never abandon him (ix. ro). //lou art'] Rather as R.V., thou hast been. It is an appeal to experience. The 'fatherless' (or 'orphan') is mentioned as a typical example of the friendless and unprotected, who are under God's special guardianship. Cp. the primitive law of Ex. xxii. 22 ff., reechoed in the latest utterance of prophecy, Mai. iii. 5. 15, 16. Stanza of Shhi. Prayer for the extermination of evil, based on the facts of faith and history. 15. Break ^LC.] Paralyse his power to do mischief. Cp. xxxvii. 17; Job xxxviii. 15. of the wicked and the evil man] So the ancient versions, taking the most obvious division of the words. R.V. follows the accentuation of the Hebrew text in rendering, and as for the evil man, seek out &c. seek out iS:c.] Lit. when thou rcquirest his wickedness, thou shalt not find. The word is the same as that used in ix. 12 and in vv, 4, 13. The Psalmist looks forward to a time when the wicked will be power- less to do harm. When God ' makes inquisition' and holds His assize, He will find no crime to punish, cp. xvii. 3. There may be an allusion to the proverbial phrase 'to seek and not find,' used in reference to what has utterly disappeared (xxxvii. 36), but a special word for 'seek' is chosen for the sake of the allusion indicated. 16. The second clause has been variously explained to refer (i) to the past, or (2) to the future (prophetic perfect). If (i) it refers to the past, the Psalmist finds the guarantee for the fulfilment of his prayers and hopes in the extermination of the Canaanites, or, it may be, in the repulse of 'the nations' referred to in ix. 5, 6, 15 ff. As the nations have been driven out before God's people, so the wicked must ultimately give place to the godly, and Jehovah's land will become in fact what it is in name, the Holy Land. Cp. the frequent warnings to Israel that the fate of the Canaanites might be theirs (Deut. viii. 19, 20, &c.). If (2) the clause refers to the future, it is a confident anticipation (expressed as though it were already realised) of the ultimate destruction of the foreign oppressors of Israel, including, it may be supposed, all the god- less of whom they are typical. The first explanation suits the context best. The complaint and prayer of the psalm are directed against wicked oppressors within the nation of Israel, not against foreign enemies. An anticipation of the destruction of such external enemies is foreign to the line of thought. But an appeal to history as the ground of hope for the future is quite in place. his land] Cp. Lev. xxv. 23; Joel ii. 18. PSALM X. 17, 18. 57 (n) Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble : 17 Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear : To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, 18 That the man of the earth may no more oppress. 17, 18. Stanza of Tav. God has 'seen' {v. 14); He hasalso 'heard'; the prayer of faith cannot remain unanswered. 17. * The desire of the meek ' is contrasted with ' the desire of the wicked' (z/. 3), which in spite of his boasting is doomed to end in dis- appointment (cxii. 10). The second half of the verse may be taken as an explanatory paren- thesis : thou didst prepare (or direct) their heart to pray (i Sam. vii. 3), thou didst cause thine ear to attend: or as expressing the further antici- pation, thou wilt establish [encoui'age, comfort) their heart: thou ivilt &c. 18. So justice will be done to the orphan ^. 14) and the down- trodden (ix. 9) ; that mortal man wMch is of the earth may be ter- rible no more : may no more insolently defy God, and do violence to men. Cp. ix. 19, 20; xxxvii. 35, note. PSALM XL The Psalmist's situation is desperate. His life is in peril. Faint- hearted friends counsel flight. Wickedness is in the ascendant and irresistible. Indignantly he repudiates their suggestion. Jehovah is his protector. It would be the act of unbelief as well as cowardice to seek any other refuge. Triumphantly he proclaims his faith that Jeho- vah is the righteous Governor of the world, Who will destroy the wicked and welcome the righteous into His Presence. The points of connexion between this Psalm and Pss. v, vii, x, xvii, should be studied. If they are David's, so may this be. It is strikingly appropriate to the circumstances of his life at the court of Saul, and to this period it should be referred, rather than to the time when Absa- lom's conspiracy was hatching. David was in a position of responsi- bility (i Sam. xviii. 13, 16, 30) which he could not abandon without clear indication that it was his duty to do so; the jealousy of the mad king grew daily, until at last he plainly expressed his wish to be rid of David (r Sam. xix. i). Doubtless many of his rivals at the court were ready enough to take his life; but so popular a leader could not be openly murdered. They must wait for an opportunity of despatching him secretly. Meanwhile his friends advised him to secure his safety by flight, and argued that it was hopeless to continue an unequal struggle, when right was subverted by the action of the central autho- rity of the state. But the time for flight had not come, and conscious of his rectitude, David resolves to face the danger in confident assurance that Jehovah will protect him. 58 PSALM XL 1—3. The Psalm consists of two equal stanzas of three verses each, with a concluding verse. i. The suggestions of faint-hearted friends (i — 3). ii. The true ground of confidence (4 — 6). iii. The outlook of faith (7). To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 11 In the Lord put I my trust : How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain ? 2 For lo, the wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string, That they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. 3 If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do ? I — 3. Faith's indignant repudiation of faint-hearted counsel in the hour of danger. 1. put I my triisi] Rather, have I taken refuge (cp. vii. 1) : and therefore it would be an act of unbelief as well as cowardice to seek another asylum in the mountain. to my soul] To me, as one whose very life is in danger. Cp. iii. 2, note. Flee as a dird] Or, as R.V. marg., Jlee ye birds. David and his companions are addressed, and exhorted to flee to their obvious or ac- customed place of refuge in the mountain. But the pronoun j O Lord ? for ever ? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me ? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily ? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me ? 3 Consider aiid hear me, O Lord my God : Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep ^ death ; 4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him ; A7id those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 1, 2. A reproachful expostulation in the hour of despair. 1. How long-, Lord, wilt thou forget me for ever? (R.V.) Feeling, not logic, shapes the sentence, combining two questions into a self-contradictory expression. He is tempted to deny faith's con- fession (ix. 18), and assent to the sneer of the godless (x. 11). He is ready to ask, 'Wilt thou forget me for ever?' but he thrusts the thought away with 'How long?' which implies a termination. In the words of Luther, 'hope despairs and yet despair hopes.' Cp. Ixxix. 5, Ixxxix. 46. wilt thou hide thy face] In anger or indifference. Cp. x. i, 1 1 j and contrast iv. 6, xi, 7, 2. Lit. How long shall I set counsels in my soul? devising one plan after another in vain. daily] The Heb. word means by day in contrast to by night (xxii, 2). We must either supply by night in the preceding line (it is added in some MSS. of the LXX): at night he revolves his plans, in the day his sorrow returns with crushing force as he realises their futility: — or with R.V. render all the day, which however is hardly justified by usage. But an easy emendation gives the sense daily, which seems to be required by the context. be exalted] Be in authority and have the upper hand. Cp. xii. 8. 3. 4. A prayer, in calmer tone. 3. Behold (x. 14), instead of hiding Thy face, answer me (iii. 4) instead of forgetting my need. Lighten mine eyes] Revive and quicken me. The eyes are the index of vital energy. They 'waste away,' they lose their light, they 'are darkened,' by sickness or sorrow (vi. 7, xxxviii. 10; Lam. v. 17). They are 'enlightened' when strength and spirits are restored (i Sam. xiv. 27, 29; Ezr. ix. 8). It is the light of God's face, the illumination of His love and favour, which is the source of life (iv. 6; xxxi. 16; xxxvi. 9). 4. and those &c.] R.V., Lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved. Cp. xxxviii. 16. And by their triumph, as the emphatic contrast of the following verse implies, the honour of God Whom he trusts will suffer. PSALM XIIL 5, 6. XIV. 65 But I have trusted in thy mercy ; 5 My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully 6 with me. 6, 6. The joy of deliverance. 6. More exactly: But as for me, in thy lovingMndness do I trust. Cp. v. 7. My heart shall rejoice. ..Iwill sing\ Better : let my heart rejoice. . .let me sing. Faith has triumphed. He can look forward with confidence. But humility transforms his resolution to give thanks into a prayer. Because he hath dealt bountifully zvith ?ue] He looks back from the stand-point of deliverance granted. P.B. V. follows the LXX in adding from vii. 17, Vea, I will praise the Name of the Lord most Highest. PSALM XIV. The deep and universal corruption of mankind is traced to its source in their failure to seek after God (i — 3). This corruption is illustrated by the cruel treatment to which *the people of Jehovah' have been subjected (4). But He proves Himself their defender (5, 6) ; and the Psalm concludes with a prayer that He will gladden Israel with a full deliverance (7). It is commonly supposed that the Psalmist is describing the depravity of his own age and his own country. But at least in vv. i — 3 it is of mankind at large {the sons of men, v. 2) that he is speaking. Plis words recall the great examples of corruption in the primeval world; in the days before the Flood, at Babel, in Sodom. The reference of w. 4 — 6 is less clear. It depends on the meaning assigned to 'my people' in v. 4. (i) 'My people' may mean the faith- ful few in Israel, the godly poor, who were devoured by heartless oppres- sors. In this case w. 5, 6 must refer to the future, prophetically anti- cipating the judgment which will overtake these godless tyrants. (2) If however *my people' means the nation of Israel, vv. 4 — 6 must refer either to some present oppression by foreign enemies and their antici- pated discomfiture; or to a typical example of oppression and deliver- ance in the past, such as that of Israel in Egypt. If we are right in supposing that w. i — 3 refer to the primitive history of mankind, the latter interpretation seems preferable. The Psalmist naturally passes on to the oppression of Israel in Egypt as the next great instance of defiant antagonism to Jehovah. Vv. 5, 6 are then to be explained as a historical allusion to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea: and the memory of that great national deliverance leads up to the concluding prayer oiv. 7. The Psalm recurs in Book ii as Ps. liii, with some variations. Elo- him (God) is substituted for Jehovah (Lord) in accordance with the general practice of the editor of that book (see Introd. p. xlf.): and v. 5 difiers widely from xiv. 5, 6. Is this difference due to corruption of text or intentional change? The curious similarity of the letters is in PSALMS C 66 PSALM XIV. I. favour of the view that the text of liii. 5 is a restoration of characters which had become partially obliterated : but it is equally possible that the editor of the collection intentionally altered the text in order to introduce a fresh historical reference, probably to the overthrow of Sen- nacherib. The structure of the Psalm resembles that of Ps. xi: two equal stanzas of three verses each, with a concluding verse. The title of Ps. liii runs "For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David." Mahalath (cp. title of Ps. Ixxxviii) may mean sickness, and is best explained as the initial word of some well-known song, to the melody of which the Psalm was set; rather than as de- noting a mournful style of music, or some kind of instrument. On Maschil see Introd. p. xviii. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 14 The fool hath said in his heart, T/iere is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, There is none that doeth good. 1 — 3. The universal depravity of mankind, and its cause. 1. The fool] A class of men, not a particular individual. The word ndbdl here used {or fool denotes moral perversity, not mere ignorance or weakness of reason. 'Folly' is the opposite of 'wisdom' in its highest sense. It may be predicated of forgetfulness of God or impious opposition to His will (Deut. xxxii. 6, 21 ; Job ii. 10; xlii. 8; Ps. Ixxiv. 18, 22): of gross offences against morality (2 Sam. xiii. 12, 13): of sacrilege (Josh, vii. 15): of ungenerous churlishness (i Sam. xxv. 25). For a descrip- tion of the 'fool' in his 'folly' see Is. xxxii. 5, 6 (A.V. vile person, villainy). hath said in his hearl\ It is his deliberate conclusion, upon which he acts. Cp. X. 6, ir, 13. There is no God] Cp. x. 4. This is hardly to be understood of a speculative denial of the existence of God; but rather of a practical disbelief in His moral government. Cp. Ixxiii. 11 ; Jer. v. 12; Zeph. i. 12; Rom. i. 28 ff. They are corrupt &c.] More emphatically the original: They cor- rupted their doings, they made them abominable, there was none doing good. Mankind in general are the subject of the sentence. Abandoning belief in God, they depraved their nature, and gave them- selves up to practices which God 'abhors' (v. 6). 'Corrupted ' describes the self-degradation of their better nature; 'made abominable' the character of their conduct in the sight of God. Such was the condition of the world before the Flood. See Gen. vi. 11, 12; and with the last line of this verse, cp. Gen. vi. 5. P.B.V. follows LXX and Vulg. in adding no not one as in v. 5. For doitigs Ps. liii has iniquity: — 'they did abominable iniquity.' 2. For a while Jehovah as it were overlooked the growing corruption. At length He 'looked down' (xxxiii. 13, 14). So in the yet simpler PSALM XIV. 2—4. 67 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of 2 men, To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together be- 3 come filthy : There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? 4 language of the Pentateuch He is said to have 'come down to see' the wickedness of Babel and Sodom (Gen, xi. 5 ; xviii. 21 ; and note the use of 'look down' in the latter narrative though in a different connexion, xviii. 16). Are not these typical examples of human corruption in the Psalmist's mind? 'Jehovah looked down... to see if there were any that did understand (or deal wisely^ R.V. marg., for the verb often denotes right action as well as right purpose), that did seek God.' Cp. ix. 10. The use of God, not Jehovah, is significant. It is of mankind in general, not of Israel, that the Psalmist is speaking. God made Himself known through the voice of conscience, and in the works of creation, but men would not follow the light of conscience, or read the book of nature. See Acts xiv. 17; xvii. 27; Rom. i. igff. 3. The result of the investigation. All were turned aside from the path of right (Ex. xxxii. 8; Judg, ii. 17): together had they become tainted, a word which in Arabic means to go bad or turn sour, but in Hebr. is used only in a moral sense, here and in Job xv. 16. Three verses follow here in the P.B.V. which are not in the Hebrew text, and are rightly omitted in the A.V. The first three verses of the Psalm are quoted by St Paul in Rom. iii. 10 — 12, in proof of the universal depravity of mankind. He supplements them by further quotations from Ps. v. g; cxl. 3; x. 7; Is. lix. 7, 8; Ps. xxxvi. I : and this cento of passages was at an early date interpolated in the LXX, from which it passed to the Vulgate, and thence to the P.B.V. The addition is found in the Vatican and Sinaitic MSS. (B and X), and other MSS. which represent the older unrevised text; but was rightly obelized by Origen, and has disappeared from the Alexandrian MS. (A) and the mass of later MSS. 4 — 6. The corruption of men exemplified in their oppression of Jehovah's people. Its condign punishment. 4. Jehovah Himself speaks. The first clause may be taken as in A.V., 'Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?' Are they so ignorant that they cannot distinguish between right and wrong? Cp. V. 1 and Ixxxii. 5. But a much better connexion with v. 5 is gained by rendering, Were not all the workers of iniquity made to kmnv? (or, fol- lowing the ancient versions in a change of the vocalisation, shall not... be made to knoio?) i.e. taught by sharp experience to know their error. Then v. 5 follows as the answer to the question. 'Yes, indeed! there 6S PSALM XIV. Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And call not upon the Lord. 5 There were they in great fear : For God is in the generation of the righteous. 6 You have shamed the counsel of the poor, Because the Lord is his refuge. &c.' For this pregnant sense of knozv, cp. Hos. ix. 7; Judg. viii. 16 {taught, lit. made to kiicnv). •who eat up tScc] Lit. eating my people they eat bread. The A.V. follows the ancient versions in understanding this to mean, ' they devour my people as naturally as they take their daily food.' But the words seem rather to mean, 'they live by devouring my people.' Cp. Mic. iii. I — 3; Is. iii. 14 f. And this they do without regard to Jehovah. But who are meant by my people and the ivorkeis of iniqiiity'i Pos- sibly the godly few who alone deserve the name of Jehovah's people (Micah ii. 9; iii. 3, 5 ; and often in the prophets), and the nobles who oppress them. But it is more natural to explain 'my people' of the nation of Israel; and in this case 'the workers of iniquity' must be foreign oppressors, or, if we assume a reference to past history as in vo. I — 3, the Egyptians. In favour of this view it should be noted that Israel is constantly called 'my people' in Ex. iii — x; and the last clause of the verse is illustrated by Ex. v. 2. Cp. also Jer. ii. 3. 5. This verse is commonly explained to refer to the future, the per- fect tense expi-essing the certain assurance of the Psalmist that judgment will be executed. Cp. xxxvi. 12. But it is more natural to refer it to the past. 'There' points emphatically to some signal instance in which panic terror and overwhelming calamity overtook 'the workers of ini- quity.' If V. 4 may be understood of the oppression of Israel in Egypt, V. 5 will refer to the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 24, 25). Ps. liii. 5 adds 7vhei-e no fear was, no natural cause for alarm. for God &c.] Present among them to defend them. 'The genera- tion' (see on xii. 7) 'of the righteous' is synonymous with 'my people;' either the nation, which might be so described in respect of its calling, and in contrast to its oppressors : or the godly part of it. 6. Yon have shamed} R.V., Ye put to shame. You deride the re- sort of the afflicted to Jehovah as mere folly. But the word usually means io frustrate or confoimd: and the line maybe explained, 'Would ye frustrate the counsel of the poor ! Nay ! for Jehovah ' &c. Cp. R.V. marg., which gives But for Because. the poor'] Or, afflicted. Cp. ix. 12 : and Ex. iii. 7, if; iv. 31. In Ps. liii the equivalent oivv. 5, 6 reads thus: ♦' For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them." The bones of Israel's enemies lie bleaching upon the field of battle, where their bodies were left unburied (Ezek. vi. 5). This can hardly be an anticipation of some future defeat. It must rather be an allusion to some historic event ; and it at once suggests the miraculous annihila- PSALM XIV. 7. XV. 69 O that the salvation of Israel 7vere come out of Zion ! When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. tiun of Sennacherib's great army. The text appears to have been altered by the editor of Book ii to introduce a reference to the most famous example in later times of the discomfiture of worldly arrogance venturing to measure its strength with Jehovah. With this reading it is clear that v. 4 must refer to the nation and its enemies, not to oppres- sors and their victims within the nation. 7. Concluding prayer for the deliverance of Israel. out of Zmi\ The dwelling-place of Jehovah. See note on iii. 4. When the Lord bringeth back &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., when the Lord retm-neth to the captivity of his people. At first sight these Avords appear to fix the date of the Psalm in the period of the Exile (cxxvi. 1). Nor does the first line of the verse exclude such a view. For the exiled turned to Zion even in her desolation (Dan, vi. 10; i Kings viii. 44), and from thence Jehovah might be expected to restore His people. But (i) it is very probable that the phrase rendered bring back the captivity means rather restore the fortunes. This mean- ing suits all the passages in which it occurs, while turn the captivity does not, except in the figurative sense of restoring prosperity. See e.g. Job xlii. 10; Ezek. xvi. 53; Zeph. ii. 7. And (2) even if turn the captivity is the true meaning, the phrase is used by Amos (ix. 14) and Hosea (vi. 11) long before the Babylonish Captivity. V. 7 is frequently regarded as a later liturgical addition ; and certainly it does not cohere very closely with the rest of the Psalm. But some conclusion is needed. The Psalm can hardly have ended abruptly with V. ^. Jacob shall rejoice, &c.] Properly a wish or prayer (cp. xiii. 5, 6): let Jacob rejoice, and Israel be glad. PSALM XV. Who is worthy to be a citizen of Zion, to dwell in the immediate presence of Jehovah, to enjoy His protection and blessing {v. i)? The question is first answered in general terms (;v. 1). None but the man of integrity, justice, and truthfulness. Then, in vv. 3 — 5, special instances are given, illustrating the way in which his conduct has been governed by these principles. The Psalm concludes with a promise of blessing. The fulfilment of man's duty to his neighbour is a primary condition of fellowship with God. It is in this that his 'integrity' (see on v. 2) is tested and finds expression. Cp. Matt. xix. i6fif. ; Rom. xiii. 8 — 10; I John iv. 20, 21 ; and the Epistle of St James generally. The Psalm is closely related to Ps. xxiv, which is generally thought to have been written for the translation of the Ark to the tent which David had prepared for it in Zion (2 Sam. vi. 17), and it may belong to the same period. The title holy mountain is no objection to this view. 70 PSALM XV. I, 2. It does not necessarily imply that the Ark had already long been there. Zion would at once be consecrated by Jehovah's Presence. And such a solemn occasion would be a most fitting opportunity for inquiring what kind of conduct was required of those into whose midst a Holy God had come or was about to come (Lev. xi. 44, 45). Compare generally xxiv. 3 — 5 ; v. 4 — 7 ; ci ; Is. xxxiii. 13 — 16. This Psaim is fitly appointed as one of the Proper Psalms for Ascension Day. Christ entered into the Presence of God, after ful- filling all its requirements in a perfect human life. A Psalm of David. 15 Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, 1. More exactly : Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who shall dwell in thy holy mountain ? Who is worthy to be received as Jehovah's guest, to enjoy His protection and hospitality, to dwell in the place which He has consecrated by His Presence? Cp. v. 4. It is not as a mere form of speech that the Psalmist addresses Jehovah. By this appeal he at once places himself and his readers in immediate relation to Jehovah. The question is asked of Him, and the answer is given as in His Presence. In thy tent might be wholly metaphorical and mean no more than /// thy abode, but here where it stands in parallelism to thy holy moun- tain, it is natural to see a reference to 'the tent ' which David pitched for the Ark on Mount Zion. Cp. xxvii. 5, 6. ' Sojourn ' commonly denotes a temporary stay, but not necessarily so (Ixi. 4) ; the special point here lies in the protection which the guest in Oriental countries claims from his host. "The Arabs give the title of ycir alldh to one who resides in Mecca beside the Caaba." Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites, p. 77. Not merely ministers at the sanctuary or even worshippers are meant, but all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were often too prone to assume that God's presence among them was a guarantee of security, instead of recognising that it demanded holiness on their part (Mic, iii. 11). Spiritually, the question concerns all who would draw near to God. 2. The conditions of access stated positively. The man must be ' integer vitae scelerisque purus.' He that ivalketh iiprightly'\ Or, perfectly. Integrity is the rule of his life in relation to (iod as well as man. The word tdmJni means (1) complete, (2) without blemish, of sacrificial victims, (3) in a moral ?,ex\?,Q, perfect, sincere, blameless. It includes whole-hearted devotion to God, and complete integrity in dealing with men. Cp. Gen. xvii. i ; Deut. xviii. 13; Ps. xviii. 23, ci. 2, 6, cxix. i; vii. 8, xxvi. i, 11; PSALM XV. 3, 4. 71 And speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, Nor doeth evil to his neighbour, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour In whose eyes a \\\^ person is contemned ; But he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. Matt. V. 48. The Sept rendering is afxco/xos, for which comp. Eph. i. 4; Col. i. -22, &c. and li^orketh righteousness] Cp. Acts x. 35 ; i John iii. 7. and speaketh the truth in his heart] Truth is the substance of his thoughts. But it is preferable to render speaketh truth with his heart. He speaks truth, and his whole heart goes along with it, unlike the double-hearted flatterers of xii. 2. 3. In the preceding verse the present participle is used ; but here the perfect tense, describing how his actual behaviour has been governed by the principles of truth and justice. He that hath had no slander on his tongnie, Nor done evil to his fellow, Nor taken up reproach against his neighbour. Neighbour in A.V. represents two different words. Friend (R.V.) however is somewhat too strong for the first, which denotes anyone with whom he is associated in the intercourse of life. The general sense of the last line is clear. He has not made his neighbour's faults or misfortunes the object of his ridicule or sarcasm (Ixix. 20). The precise meaning is however not quite certain. Either (i) /f^/^;W reproach, or (2) taken up, and given currency to, what might otherwise have lain unheeded ; or (3), as is most probable, toadedhxs neighbour with reproach, adding to the burden of his trouble (Ixix. 7). 4. Render with R.V., In whose eyes a reprobate is despised. The truthfulness of his character is shewn in his estimate of men. The world's false estimates are one of the evils which will disappear in the Messianic age (Is. xxxii. 5 ff.). A reprobate, one who is not good metal but worthless dross (Jer. vi. 30), he treats with well-merited contempt, while 'he honoureth those that fear Jehovah.' By the Targum and some commentators, ancient and modern, the clause is rendered, despised is he in his oivn eyes, rejected, which is well paraphrased in P.B.V. "He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes;" cp. 2 Sam. vi. 22. But (i) the words ' despicable reprobate ' are such as David could hardly use to express humility and self-abasement; and (2) the contrast required by the parallelism is not 'he despises himself and honours others,' but 'he abhors the base and honours the godly,' i.e. shews right discernment in his regard for men. Cp. xvi. 3; i Sam. ii. 30. He that szueareth &c.] Though he hath sworn to his own hurt, he changeth not. He performs his oaths and vows without modification 72 PSALM XV. 5. 5 He that putteth not out his money to usury, Nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. or rebatement, even though they may have been rashly made and prove to be to his own disadvantage. Comp. the phrase in the Law for the expiation of rash oaths (Lev. v. 4), "if any one swear rashly with his lips to do evil or to do good." Any ' changing ' of animals devoted by vows (which were of the nature of oaths) was expressly forbidden (Lev. xxvii. 10). Here the reference is quite general. The LXX, Vulg., and Syr. render, by a slight change of vocalisation, to his fdhnv (cp. v. 3): and P.B.V. (as in Ixxxiv. 7) combines both renderings in its paraphrase, 'He that sweareth tinto his neighbour and disajjpointeth him not, though it tuere to his 07vn hindrauce.' 5. He that hatli not put out his money for usury, Nor taken bribes against the innocent. Two of the most common and flagrant offences against justice. Cp. Is. xxxiii. 15; Ezek. xxii. 12. Taking interest was forbidden by the Law in dealing with a fellow-countryman as an unbrotherly act (Lev. xxv. 36, 37; cp. Ex. xxii. 25; Ezek. xviii. 17), but allowed in dealing with foreigners (Deut. xxiii. 19, 20). Cp. xxxvii. 26, cxii. 5. For a survey of opinion on the subject in the Christian Church see Diet, of Christian Antiquities, Art. Usury, or Cunningham's Christian Opinion on Usury. The positive rule of the O.T. has become obsolete under the circumstances of modern society, but the principle which underlies it is still of obligation. Bribery has always been the curse of Oriental countries. For the laws against it see Ueut. xxvii. 25 ; Ex. xxiii. 7, 8; Deut. xvi. 19; and comp. numerous passages in the prophets. shall never be moved'\ The Psalmist's conclusion goes a step further than his opening question. Such a man as he has described will not only be admitted to fellowship with Jehovah, but under His protection will enjoy unshaken prosperity. Cp. xvi. 8. PSALM XVI. This Psalm is a joyous profession of faith and hope, springing from the sense of a living fellowship with Jehovah. The danger, if special danger there was, which prompted the prayer o{ v. i, lies entirely in the background. The Psalmist's whole soul is possessed and kindled by the thought that Jehovah is his highest good. It has been suggested that the Psalm was written by David during his outlaw life. He had been banished from his share in the inherit- ance of Jehovah, and exposed to the danger of apostasy (i Sam. xxvi. 19, R.V. marg.). In this hour of trial he triumphs in the thought that Jehovah Himself is the portion of his inheritance, a fairer portion than the goodliest fields and vineyards which could have fallen to his lot {vv. 5, 6) ; and he energetically repudiates the idea of yielding to the temptation to serve another god {v. 4). 1 PSALM XVI. I, 2. 73 There are many links of connexion (see Introd. to Ps. xvii) between this Psahn and Ps. xvii, and they may with good reason be assigned to the same author. As Ps. xvii may with much probability be referred to the time of David's persecution by Saul, the presumption in favour of the Davidic authorship of Ps. xvi is strengthened. Many critics however refer both Psalms to a much later period. Ewald groups together xvii, xvi, xlix (in this order), and on the ground of language and contents places them in the Exile. If, as is often assumed to be the case, xvi. 9 — 11 and xvii. 15 ex- plicitly declare the Psalmist's belief in a resurrection and a future life of blessedness, in sharp contrast to such passages as vi. 5, xxx. 9, Ixxxviii. 10 — 12, these Psalms could hardly be placed earlier than the Exile. Delitzsch indeed, while admitting that the doctrine of a Resurrection does not appear in pre-exilic times as a truth of revelation, asks why it should not appear in Davidic Psalms as 'a bold postulate of faith.' But if the line of interpretation adopted below is correct, the Psalmist's thoughts are to be viewed from a different stand-point altogether. " His antithesis is not this world and the next, but life with God and life without God." (Cheyne.) The Psalm falls into three divisions. i. The Psalmist grounds his prayer for protection on hh relation to Jehovah, Who alone is the source of happiness. His delight is in the society of the faithful ; with apostates he will have no fellowship (1—4)- ii. The thought that Jehovah is his sole good, the source of all his weal, is taken up and developed (5 — 8). iii. Secure in this faith he anticipates a life of true felicity in un- broken fellowship with Jehovah (9 — ir). For a valuable exposition of this Psalm by Prof. W. Robertson Smith see The Expositor^ 1876, Vol. iv. pp. 341 ff. Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God : for in thee do I put my trust. 16 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord : 2 On the title Michtam see Introd. p. xviii. 1, 2. The Psalmist's prayer and profession of faith. 1. Preserve me"] Not that he is at the moment in special danger; but only in God's keeping (xii. 7; xvii. 8) can soul and body be safe. God'\ El, as in V. 4 ; xvii. 6. for in thee &c.] For in thee have I taken refuge. God is respon- sible for protecting His liegeman. See note on vii. i, and cp. xvii. 7. 2. The Massoretic Text reads thoti (fem.) hast said, assuming that the poet holds colloquy with himself, and addresses his soul, as in xlii. 5 ; Lam. iii. 24 (a passage evidently based on this psalm). So the Targum. But an ellipse of O my soul cznnot be grammatically justified; and R.V. is certainly right in reading I have said, with LXX, Vulg., Syr., Jer. Cp. xxxi. 14; xci. 2; cxl. 6. jny Lord] The confession of Jehovah's servant (cp. xxxv. 23), in 74 PSALM XVI. 3. My goodness extendeth not to thee ; 3 But to the saints that are in the earth, And to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. contrast to the self-asserting independence of xii. 4. R.V. marg. the Lord is possible, but less satisfactory. my goodness extendeth not to thee'] Render with R. V., I have no good beyond thee. "Not merely is God the source of all his weal, but every- thing which he recognises as a true good, God actually contains within Himself" (Robertson Smith). Cp. Ixxiii. ■25. The P.B.V. j?iy goods are nothing unto thee (cp. 1. 9 ff.) follows LXX and Vulg., tO^v ayaddov fiov ov xpe^ct" ^X^'s : bonorum nieorum non eges. 3, 4. The Psalmist's society. 3. A difficult verse, the text of which appears to be corrupt. (i) The best rendering is that of R.V. It is true that it can only be wrung from the Massoretic text by some violence, but an easy emendation removes the grammatical difficulty. As for the saints [lit. holy ones'] that are in the earth [or, lancf] They are the excellent {nobles] in whom is all my delight. From God in heaven the Psalmist turns to men on earth. The true 'nobles' (Judg. v. 13) in whose society he delights, are not the wealthy or powerful in the world's estimation, but 'the holy'; those in whom Israel's calling to be *a holy nation' (Ex. xix. 6) has been actually realised. Cp. xv. 4. These he proceeds to contrast with apostates {v. 4). For them nothing but calamity is in store: with them and their worship he will have nothing to do. (2) We may however (with R.V. marg.) connect v. 3 with v. 2, thus : (I have said) unto [or, of] the saints &c., they are the excellent &c. The general sense will remain the same as in (i). (3) Combining the two alternatives in R.V. marg., we may connect V. 3 both with V. 1 and with v. 4 thus : (I have said) unto the saints &c., and the excellent in whom is all my delight : their sorrows &c. Secure in his own choice of Jehovah he warns others against the fatal consequences of apostasy, and repudiates the idea of it for himself. In this case it is possible that saints may mean holy by calling, though not necessarily in character; and excellent may mean nobles in rank only. (4) Taking the second alternative of R.V. marg. only, we may render: As for the saints... and the excellent in whom is all my delight: their sorrows &c. So Ewald, who explains, ''This seems most profoundly to distress him, that the very Israelites, who ought to be the saints and pass for such... the noble, princely men, whom he especially so intensely loves, even these begin to betake themselves in- creasingly to heathenism." But it is difficult to suppose that he would speak of men who were falling into idolatry in language such as this. (4) may safely be rejected; and (i) is simpler than (2) and (3), and deserves the preference. (5) Of the host of conjectural emendations it will suffice to mention PSALM XVI. 4, 5. 75 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another 4 god: Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, Nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup : 5 Thou maintainest my lot. that of Baethgen, which is based on the LXX : *Unio the saints ivhicli arc in his land doth ychovah sheiv honour: all his delight is in themJ' It gives a good contrast \.o v. 4, but is not convincing. 4. Their sorro7Vs] This, and not their idols (Targ. Symm. Jer.), is the right rendering. Cp. xxxii. 10; i Tim. vi. 10. that hasten after another god] The Heb. cannot be so rendered. Rightly R.V., that exchange the Lord for another ^;^^r/. Cp. cvi. 20; and the exact parallel in Jer. ii. 11. Less probable is R.V. marg., give gifts for; for though the verb is used of giving a dowry for a wife (Ex. xxii. 16), and marriage is a common figure for the relationship between Ciod and His people, the wife in this figure always represents the people. Their drink offerings of blood'\ Variously explained of libations ac- companying human sacrifices, or libations of blood offered in idolatrous rituals instead of oil and wine, or libations offered with blood-stained hands and therefore abominable (Is. i. 15 ; lix. 3) ; but probably meaning that their libations are as detestable as though they were composed of blood. Cp. Is. Ixvi. 3. nor take up &c.] R.V., nor take their names upon my lips. Not the idolaters' names, but the names of their gods, which are the expression of their religion. "In Semitic antiquity the very name of a god included a predication of his power, dignity, or virtues; so that even to utter such names as Baal and Molech, that is Lord and King, was an act of homage." (Robertson Smith.) Cp. Ex. xxiii. 13; Hos. ii. 17; Zech. xiii. 2. 5, 6. Jehovah is the Psalmist's portion. 5. the portion &c.] Lit. the portion of jny share and my cup: i.e. my allotted portion and cup. The word rendered share denotes a portion assigned, whether of land or property or food. The A.V. , portion of mine inheritance, implies that Jehovah is compared to the share allotted him in the distribution of the land, a view supported by 5 /', 6 ; but my cup suggests rather the idea of a portion of food : Jehovah is all that he needs to satisfy hunger and thirst. Comp. xlii. 2; John vi. 35; and contrast xi. 6. Thoti maintainest my lot] Lit. thou holdest fast my lot. My welfare is in Thy hand ; no man can rob me of it. But the form of the word rendered maintainest is anomalous; and context and parallelism seem to require a further statement of what God is for the Psalmist rather than what He does for him. Hence some critics render, Thou art the possession of my lot. 76 PSALM XVI. 6- 6 The lines are fallen unto me in p\ea.s3ir\t p/aas ; Yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel : My reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the Lord always before me: Because /le is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth : My flesh also shall rest in hope. The language used here reminds us of the Levites, who had no portion or inheritance, but Jehovah was their portion (Num. xviii. 20; Deut. x. g; xviii. i). Israel was a nation of priests (Ex. xix. 6) ; and spiritually, Jehovah was the portion of Israel (Jer. x. 16), and of individual Israelites (Ixxiii. 26; cxix. 57; cxlii. 5; Lam. iii. ■24). 6. T/u lines &c.] Portions of land measured by line and distributed by lot. The language is still figurative. Jehovah is to him as the choicest of possessions in the goodly land. {v. 11; xxvii. 4; xc. 17; Prov. iii. 17; Jer. iii. 19.) Yea &c.] The peculiar phrase in the original expresses his conscious sense of the beauty of his heritage. 7, 8. The mutual relation of the Psalmist and Jehovah. 7. given me coiinsel\ Taught me to choose Him and to follow Him. Cp. xxxii. 8 (R.V.); Ixxiii. 24. viy reins also &c.] This clause may be taken as still depending on / will bless the Lord, and rendered, yea, that in the night seasons my reins have instructed me. In the quiet hours of the night God ad- monishes and instructs him through the voice of conscience. Cp. iv. 4; xvii. 3. The reins stand for the organs of emotion, the feelings and conscience. 'Heart and reins' denote the whole innermost self, thought and will (vii. 9). 8. The true 'practice of the Presence of God' (cxix. 30; xviii. 22). The LXX has, / beheld the Lord always before my face. at my right hand] As advocate (cix. 31), or champion (ex. 5; cxxi. 5). A warrior defending another person would naturally stand on his right. 9 — 11. The blessed outcome of this fellowship is joy, confidence, progress. 9. my glory] i.e. my soul. See note on vii. 5. The LXX renders freely viy tojigue. my flesh also shall rest in hope] So the Vulg. , insiiper et caro mea requiescet in spe. Beautiful and suggestive as this rendering is, it is inaccurate and misleading, and must be replaced by that of R.V. My flesh also shall dwell in safety (marg. seciirely). Cp. Jer., et caro mca habitavit [v.l. habitabit] confidenter. Dwell in safety is a phrase repeatedly used of a life of undisturbed security in the promised land. See Deut. xxxiii. 12, 28; Prov. i. 33; PSALM XVI. lo, II. ^^ For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor- ruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Jer. xxiii. 6; xxxiii. i6. Fellowship with Jehovah guarantees outward security as well as inward joy. The words do not refer, primarily at least, to the rest of the body in the grave in the hope of a joyful resur- rection. Flesh does not denote the dead corpse, but the living organism in and through which the soul works : together with heart and soul it makes up the whole man (Ixiii. i ; Ixxiii. 26 ; Ixxxiv. 2 ; cp. i Thess. v. 23). 10. Once more the translation must be revised ; For thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol; Neither wilt thou suffer thy beloved one to see the pit. Jehovah will not surrender him to the unseen world, which is like some monster gaping for its prey. He can plead, as one of Jehovah's beloved ones [chasld see on iv. 3, and Addit. Note, p. 221) for the exercise of His lovingkindness (xvii. 7). The text {Ktlilbh) has thy loved ones (plur.), but the traditional reading {Qrl) thy loved one (sing.) is supported by all the versions and required by the context. The word shachath, rendered corruption by LXX, Vulg., and Jerome, probably means the pit (R.V. marg.) i.e. the grave. 'Pit' 7nust be its meaning in many passages (e.g. vii. 15; xxx. 9; Prov. xxvi. 27), and may be its meaning always. Shachath might be derived from a root meaning to destroy (not properly to decay), but it is unnecessary to assume that the same form has two derivations and senses. 'To see the pit' (xlix. 9)= 'to see (i.e. experience) death,' Ixxxix. 48. 11. Thou zvilt sheiv ?ne &c.] Lit. Thou wilt cause me to know (cxliii. 8) the path of life : not only preserve me from death, but lead me onward in that fellowship with Thee which alone is worthy to be called life. See Prov. x. 17; xv. 24; Matt. vii. 14; John xvii. 3. 'The path of life' is not merely a path which leads to life, but one in which life is to be found. It is 'the path of righteousness' (Prov. xii. 28). 'The way of life' is frequently contrasted in the Book of Proverbs with ways that lead to Sheol and death. Cp. too Deut. xxx. 15. It leads onward in the light of God's Presence ; and in that Presence is satisfying fulness of joys. Cp. xvii. 15; xxi. 6; iv. 6, 7; Prov. xix. 23. at thy right hand] R.V. rightly, in thy right hand, as the sole Dispenser of all lasting good. Cp. Prov. iii. 16. The world's joys fade; God's joys alone are eternal. Comp. Hooker's noble words {Eccl. Pol. i. 11. 2): "Then are we happy when fully we enjoy God, as an object wherein the powers of our souls are satisfied even with everlasting delight; so that although Ave be men, yet by being unto God united we live as it were the life of God." Vv. 8 — II were quoted by St Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 25—28), and V. 10 b by St Paul at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 35), as 78 PSALM XVII. a prophecy of Christ's resurrection. The quotation is made from the LXX., which is a free rendering of the Hebrew. St Peter shews that David's glowing words of faith and hope (the argument will be the same if the psalm was the work of some other writer) were not fully realised in himself. He did not finally escape from death. Were his words then a mere idle dream? No! Guided by the Holy Ghost he 'looked forward' to Christ. Over Him Whose fellowship with God was perfect and unbroken by sin, death could have no dominion (Acts ii. 24). In His Resurrection the words first found their adequate realisation, their fulfilment. But their prophetic character does not exclude their primary reference to the Psalmist's own faith and hope. But the question must be asked, What was the meaning which the Psalmist's words had for himself? Does he speak of fellowship with God in this life only, or does he pierce the veil, and realise not only the possibility but the certainty of a continued life of conscious fellowship with God hereafter, and even of the resurrection of the body ? It is difficult to divest the words of the associations which have gathered round them, and impartially to weigh their original meaning. On the one hand, however, it is unquestionable that similar language is used elsewhere of deliverance from temporal death, and enjoyment of fellowship with God in this life ; while in other psalms we find the gloomiest anticipations of death, and the dreariest pictures of the state of the departed. On the other hand it is clear that the words admit of reference to an unending life of fellowship with God. The truth may be (as will be seen more clearly in Ps. xvii) that the antithesis is not between life here and life hereafter, but between life with and life without God ; and for the moment, in the overpowering sense of the blessedness of fellowship with God, death fades entirely from the Psalmist's view. The doctrine of a future life is however involved in the Psalmist's faith. He grounds his hope of deliverance on his relation to Jehovah ; and such a relation could not be interrupted by death (Matt. xxii. 32). But this truth could only be apprehended gradually and through long struggles, and only fully realised when Christ "annulled death, and brought life and incorruption to light through the Gospel." (2 Tim. i. 10.) For ourselves the words must bear the fuller meaning with which Christ's resurrection has illuminated them. To us they must speak of that ' eternal life ' which is begun heie, and is to be consummated hereafter (John vi. 47, 54; xiv. 19). PSALM XVII. The Psalmist and his companions {v. 11) are beset by proud and pitiless enemies, bent upon their destruction. One among them is con- spicuous for the virulence of his hostility {v. 12). Such an occasion in David's life is described in i Sam. xxiii. 25 ff., when " Saul pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon...and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul ; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them." The thoughts and language of the Psalm PSALM XVII. I, 2. 79 find parallels in Davidic Psalms, especially vii and xi. Many critics however refer this Psalm as well as xvi to a much later period. P^wald places them in the Exile. The links of connexion between this Psalm and Ps. xvi should be studied. Compare xvii. 3 with xvi. 7; xvii. 5 with xvi. 11, 8; xvii. 6 with xvi. I (God^El); xvii. 7 with xvi. i, 10 (one who has taken refuge in Jehovah naturally appeals to the Saviour of those that take refuge in Him ; Jehovah's beloved one {chdsid) naturally pleads for the manifestation of His chescd or lovingkindness) ; xvii. 14 with xvi. 5 (the contrast between the portion of the worldly and that of the Psalmist). The ground of appeal in xvii is that integrity of devotion which in- spires xvi; in both Psalms communion with Jehovah is set forth as the highest joy; xvii. 15 re-echoes xvi. 9— 11. Cp. 'I shall be satisfied' (xvii. 15) with 'satisfying fulness' (xvi. ii). But the tone of the two Psalms presents a striking contrast, and points to the difference in the Psalmist's circumstances. In xvi danger is in the background: the Psalm breathes a spirit of calm repose and joyous serenity. In xvii danger is pressing, and help is urgently needed. The faith of calmer days is being put to the proof. The Psalm may be divided thus: i. Appeal to Jehovah for justice on the ground of the petitioner's integrity (1—5). ii. Prayer for protection on the ground of Jehovah's relation to him, enforced by a description of the virulence of his enemies (6 — 12). iii. Reiterated prayer for Jehovah's help, and contrast between the contentment of these men with their material blessings and his own longing for the closest communion with God (13 — 15). A prayer of David is a fitting title for this Psalm. Cp. v. r, and Introd. p. xiv. A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry, 17 Give ear unto niy prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence ; 2 1, 2. An appeal for justice. 1. the right\ Lit. righteousness or justice. With a righteous cause and a just appeal (vii. 8) the Psalmist appears before the righteous Judge (vii. 17; ix. 4, 8), confident in the integrity of his motives towards God and man. A good conscience is the indispensable condition of earnest prayer. niy ay] The word denotes a shrill piercing cry, frequently of joy, sometimes as here of entreaty, *' expressive of emotional excitement such as an Eastern scruples not to use in prayer" (Cheyne). Cp. Ixi. i; Jer. vii. 16. that goeth not out of feigned lips'] Uttered by no deceitful lips. Cp. v. 6; X. 7. There is no hypocrisy in this prayer. 2. The petition. Let my judgment come forth from thy presence. 8o PSALM XVII. 3—5. Let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. 3 Thou hast proved mine heart ; thou hast visited me in the night ; Thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing ; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4 Concerning the worls:s of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, That my footsteps slip not. Cp. xxxvii. 6; Is. xlii. i, 3, 4; Hab. i. 4. Pronounce sentence for me; publish it; give effect to it, and vindicate the justice of my cause. Let thine eyes &c.] Better, Thine eyes behold equity, or, with equity. The prayer is based on the known character of Jehovah. His discernment is complete and impartial. Cp. xi. 4 ; ix. 8. 3 — 5. The bold language of a good conscience. See Introd. p. Ixix. Cp. Acts xxiii. i; xxiv. 16. 3. Thou hast tried mine heart (vii. 9; xi. 4, 5); thou hast visited me in the night, when men's thoughts range unrestrainedly, and they appear in tlieir true colours (xxxvi. 4); thou hast proved or refined me (Ixvi. 10), and findest nothing, no dross of evil purpose. But see next note. / am purposed &c.] A difficult and much disputed clause. The A.V., retained in R.V. text, follows the Massoretic accents. It is how- ever better to connect this and the preceding clause thus: Thou hast proved me, and findest no evil purpose in me; My mouth doth not transgress. In thought, word, and deed (t7. 4), he has nothing to fear from the Divine scrutiny. 4. As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have shunned the paths of the violent. In regard to his behaviour as a man among men, he has obeyed the Divine precepts, and marked and shunned the ways of violent men, avoiding their example and society. God's commandments have been his preservation, supplying the rule and the strength for his conduct. * The paths of the violent ' are the opposite of the ' path of life,' xvi. 1 1. (Prov. i. 19; ii. ii — 19, &c.). Robbery with violence is mentioned as the commonest form of wrong-doing to neighbours (Jer. vii. 1 1 ; Ezek. xviii. 10). For illustration of the verse from David's life see i Sam. xxv. 32 ff. ; xxiv. 10 ff.; cp. Ps. vii. 3 ff. The P.B.V., Because of 7nen^s works, that are done against the words of thy lips, is untenable. 5. My steps have held fast to thy tracks, My feet have not slipped. The A.V. is grammatically untenable. He describes his conduct positively. Paths, a different word from that in v. 4, denotes the PSALM XVI I. 6—9. 81 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God : 6 Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by 7 thy right hand them which put their trust in tlice From those that rise up against tJieni. Keep me as the apple of the eye, 8 Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, 9 From my deadly enemies, ivho compass me about. beaten tracks made by wheeled vehicles. Slipped (the same word as moved in xv. 5, xvi. 8), of moral ' slips ' and ' falls.' 6 — 9. After protesting his integrity he resumes his prayer. 6. / have called upon thee'] I is emphatic. Being such an one as I am, I have called upon Thee, in full confidence that Thou wilt answer me. O God] El, as in xvi. i. See note on v. 4. hear] Wrongly printed in italics in many editions. 7. She"i.(} thy f/iarvclloics lovingkindness] Lit., Make marvellous thy lovingkitidnesses : Vulg. niiriftca misericordias tuas. Cp. xxxi. 21, and note on ix. i. The word implies a signal intervention on his behalf. The need is great, but God's power is greater. Parallel passages decide in favour of connecting thou that savest by thy right hand (Ix. 5; xx. 6). R.V. follows the original in trans- ferring liy thy right hand to the end of the verse for empliasis. But the balanced brevity of the Hebrew (the whole verse contains but six words) defies translation. For put their trust, cp. xvi. i ; for those that rise up against thee, cp. lix. i, xviii. 48. Grammatically possible, but unsup- ported by analogy, is the rendering of R.V. mz.xg., from those that rise tip against thy right hand; cp. V.V>N ., from such as resist thy right hand, which follows the LXX, Vulg., and Jer. [a rcsistentibus dexierae tuae). 8. Keep me &c,] Or, Preserve me (the same word as in xvi. 1) as the apple or pitpil of the eye, an emblem of that which is tenderest and dearest, and therefore guarded with the most jealous care. Cp. Deut. xxxii, 10; Prov. vii. 2; Zech. ii. 8. Hide me &.C.] A favourite figure, taken from the care of the mothei'- bird for her young, not however specially from the hen (Matt, xxiii. 37), for there is no trace in the O. T. of the practice of keeping domestic fowls. Cp. xxxvi. 7; Ivii. i; Ixi. 4; Ixiii. 7; xci. 4. As the first half of the verse may refer to Deut. xxxii. 10, the figure may have been suggested by the reference to the eagle \nv. 11; but the figure there is quite different. God's leading of His people is compared with the eagle teaching its young to fly. 9. that oppress me] R.V., that spoil me. Cp. xii. 5. (R.V.). i?iy deadly enemies] Nothing but his life will satisfy them. Cp. 1 Sam. xxiv. 11. This is the sense, whether the exact meaning is enemies PSALMS 6 82 PSALM XVII. 10—14. to They are inclosed in their own fat : With their mouth they speak proudly. [I They have now compassed us /;/ our steps : They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth ; [2 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. t3 Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down : Deliver my soul from the wicked, ivhich is thy sword : [4 From men which are thy hand, O Lord, From men of the world, zvhicJi have their portion in this life, in soul, i.e. with murderous intent (xxvii. 12; xli. 2), or eneviies against (my) soul. 10 — 12. The character of his enemies. 10. Prosperity has resulted in obtuse self-complacency and con- temptuous arrogance. Cp. Ixxiii. 7, 8; Job xv. 27. The right render- ing of \oa is however probably (cp. R.V. marg.) Their heart (lit. midriff) have they shut up. They have closed it against every influence for good and all sympathy. Cp. r John iii. 17. See for this explanation Prof. Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites, p. 360. they speak proiidly\ Cp. xii. 3ff. ; x. 2 ; xxxi. 18; Ixxiii. 6. 11. It has come to this that they beset the Psalmist and his ad- herents at every step. See i Sam. xxiii. 26. They have set &c.] R.V., They set their eyes to cast us down to the eatth. They watch intently for an opportunity of overthrowing us. Cp. xxxvii. 32, 14; X. 8. 12. Like as a lion &c.] Lit., He is like a lion that is greedy to raven, (xxii. 13). One of the pursuers (Saul, if the singer is David) is conspicuous for ferocity and craftiness. Cp. vii. 2 ; x. 8, 9. 13. Arise, Lord (iii. 7), confront him, meet him face to face as he prepares to spring (or, as R.V. m?ixg., forestall him), make him bow down, crouching in abject submission (xviii. 39). The same word is used of the lion in repose, Gen. xlix. 9; Num. xxiv. 9. 13, 14. from the ivicked, which is thy sword: frojn men which are thy hand\ This rendering, which is in part that of Jerome, is retained in R.V. marg. For the thought that God uses even the wicked as His instruments see Is. x. 5, where the Assyrian is called the rod of Jehovah's anger. But R.V. text is preferable : from the wicked by thy sword ; from men, by thy hand. Cp. vii. 12. 14. fro»i men of the world\ Men whose aims and pleasures belong to the 'world that passeth away': those who in N.T. language are 'of the world' (John xv. 19), 'sons of this age' (Luke xvi. 8; xx. 34, 35), 'who mind earthly things' (Phil. iii. 19). They are further described as those whose portion is in [this] life. Jehovah Himself is the portion of the godly (xvi. 5); these men are content with a portion of material and transitory things. See xlix. 6 ff. ; Ixxiii. 3 ff. ; Wisdom ii. 6 ff. t>SALM XVII. 15. 83 And whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: They are full ^children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied, when /awake, with thy likeness. The sense is still better given by the rendering of R.V. marg., From men whose portion in life is of the world. God deals with them according to their own base desires. They care only for the satisfaction of their lower appetites (Phil. iii. ig), and so He "who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good" fills their belly with His store of blessings, gratifies the animal part of their nature (Job xxii. 18; Luke xvi. 25). They are full of childreu'\ Better, They are satisfied with sons, the universal desire of men in Oriental countries being to see a family perpetuating their name (Job xxi. 8, 11); and leave their super- abundance to their children; their prosperity continues through life, they have enough for themselves and to spare for their families. 15. As for me, in righteousness let me behold thy face : Let me be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. With the low desires of worldly men the Psahnist contrasts his own spiritual aspirations. He does not complain of their prosperity; it does not present itself to him as a trial of patience and a moral enigma, as it does to the authors of Pss. xxxvii. and Ixxiii. Their blessings are not for an instant to be compared with his. 'To behold Jehovah's face' is to enjoy communion with Him and all the blessings that flow from it ; it is the inward reality which corresponds to ' appearing befoi-e Him' in the sanctuary. Cp. xvi. 11. 'Righteousness' is the condition of that 'beholding'; for it is sin that separates from God. Cp. xi. 7 note; xv. i ff. ; Matt. v. 8; Heb. xii. 14. He concludes with a yet bolder prayer, that he may be admitted to that highest degree of privilege which Moses enjoyed, and be satisfcd with the likeness ox form of Jehovah. See Num. xii. 6 — 8. Worldly men are satisfied if they see themselves reflected in their sons : nothing less than the sight of the form of God will satisfy the Psalmist. Cp. xvi. II. But what is meant by when I atvakel Not 'when the night of calamity is at an end ' ; a sense which the word will not bear. What he desires is (i) the daily renewal of this communion (cp. cxxxix. 18; Prov. vi. 22); and (2) as the passage in Numbers suggests, a ivaking sight of God, as distinguished from a dream or vision. The words are commonly explained of awaking from the sleep of death to behold the face of God in the world beyond, and to be trans- figured into His likeness. Death is no doubt spoken of as sleep (xiii. 3), and resurrection as awakening (Is. xxvi. 19; Dan. xii. 2). But elsewhere the context makes the meaning unambiguous. Here, how- ever, this reference is excluded by the context. The Psalmist does not anticipate death, but prays to be delivered from it {vv. 8 ff.). The con- trast present to his mind is not between 'this world' and 'another 6—2 84 PSALM XVIII. world,' the 'present life' and the 'future life,' but between the false life and the true life in this present world, between ' the flesh' and 'the spirit,' between the 'natural man' with his sensuous desires, and the 'spiritual man' with his Godward desires. Here, as in xvi. 9 — 11, death fades from the Psalmist's view. He is absorbed with the thought of the blessedness of fellowship with God^. But the doctrine of life eternal is implicitly contained in the words. For it is inconceivable that communion with God thus begun and daily renewed should be abruptly terminated by death. It is possible that the Psalmist and those for whom he sung may have had some glimmer- ing of this larger hope, though how or when it was to be realised was not yet revealed. But whether they drew the inference must remain doubtful. In the economy of revelation "heaven is first a temper and then a place." It is indeed impossible for us to read the words now without thinking of their 'fulfilment' in the light of the Gospel: of the more profound revelation of righteousness (Rom. i. 17); of the sight of the Father in the Incarnate Son (John xiv. 9) ; of the hope of transfiguration into His likeness here and hereafter, and of the Beatific Vision (2 Cor. iii. 18; Phil. iii. 21; I John iii. 2; Rev. xxii. 4). It may be remarked that none of the ancient versions render as though they definitely referred the passage to the Resurrection. Targ., Aq., Symm., Jer. , all give a literal version. The LXX, / shall be satisfied %vhen Thy glo)y appears : Syx., when Thy faithfulness appears: Theod., zvhen Thy right hand appears: seem to have had a different text. Thy glory is substituted for thy form in LXX as in Num. xii. 18. PSALM XVIII. At length the warrior-king was at peace. The hairbreadth escapes of his flight from Saul, when his life M'as in hourly peril and he knew not whither to turn for safety ; the miseries and bitterness of civil strife, through which though chosen by Jehovah to rule His people he had to fight his way to the throne; the wars with surrounding nations, which, jealous of Israel's rising power, had leagued together to crush the scarcely consolidated kingdom; — all were past and over. David had been preserved through every danger; victory had accompanied his arms; he was the accepted king of an united people; the nations around acknowledged his supremacy. To crown all, Jehovah's message communicated by Nathan had opened out the prospect of a splendid future for his posterity. In this hour of his highest prosperity and happiness David composed this magnificent hymn of thanksgiving. He surveys the course of an 1 Comp. Delitzsch : "The contrast is not so much here and hereafter, as world (life) and God. We see here into the inmost nature of the O.T. belief. All the blessedness and glory of the future life which the N.T. unfolds is for the O.T. faith contained in Jehovah. Jehovah is its highest good; in the posses- sion of Him it is raised above heaven and earth, life and death; to surrender itself blindly to Him, without any explicit knowledge of a future life of blessedness, to be satisfied with Him, to rest in Him, to take refuge in Him in view of death, is characteristic of the O.T. faith." The Psalms, p. 181. PSALM XVIII. 85 eventful life; he traces the hand of Jehovah in every step; and his heart overflows with joyous gratitude. The inspiring thought of the whole Psalm is that Jehovah has made him what he is. To His loving care and unfailing faithfulness he owes it that he has been preserved and guided and raised to his present height of power. By expressive metaphors he describes what Jehovah had proved Him- self to be to him (i — 3) ; and then depicting in forcible figures the ex- tremity of peril to which he had been brought (4 — 6), he tells how in answer to his prayer Jehovah manifested His power (7 — 15), and de- livered him from the enemies who were too strong for him (16 — 19). In strong and simple consciousness of his own integrity (20 — 23), he delights to trace in this deliverance a proof of Jehovah's faithfulness to those who are faithful to Him, in accordance with the general law of His dealings (24 — 27). To Him alone he owes all that he is (28—30); He, the unique and incomparable God, has given him strength and skill for war (31 — ^34); He it is who has made him victorious over his enemies (35 — 42); He it is who has made him king over his people and supreme among surrounding nations (43 — 45). It is Jehovah alone; and His praise shall be celebrated throughout the w^orld. Nor is His lovingkindness limited to David only ; the promise reaches for- ward, and embraces his posterity for evermore {46 — 50). That David was the author of this Psalm is generally admitted, except by critics who question the existence of Davidic Psalms at all. Not only does it stand in the Psalter as David's, but the compiler of 2 Samuel embodied it in his work as at once the best illustration of David's life and character, and the noblest specimen of his poetry. The internal evidence of its contents corroborates the external tradi- tion. The Psalmist is a distinguished and successful warrior, general, and king {vv. 29, 33, 34, 37 ff., 43) : he has had to contend with domestic as well as foreign enemies (43 ti'.), and has received the submission of surrounding nations (44). He looks back upon a life of extraordinary trials and dangers to which he has been exposed from enemies among whom one was conspicuous for his ferocity (4ff., 17, 48). He appeals to his own integrity of purpose, and sees in his deliverance Gods recog- nition of that integrity (20 ff.); yet throughout he shews a singular humility and the clearest sense that he owes to Jehovah's grace what- ever he has or is. These characteristics, taken together, point to David, and to no one else of whom we have any knowledge : and the intense personality and directness of the Psalm are a strong argument against the hypothesis that it is a composition put into his mouth by some later poet. At what period of David's life the Psalm was written has been much debated. But title and contents both point unmistakably to the middle period of his reign, when he was in the zenith of his prosperity and power, rather than to the close of his life. His triumphs over his enemies at home and abroad are still recent; the perils of his flight from Saul are still fresh in his memory. On the other hand there is not a trace of the sins and sorrows which clouded the later years of his reign. The free and joyous tone of the Psalm, and its bold assertions of integrity, point to a time before his sin with Bath-sheba, and 86 PSALM XVIII. Absalom's rebellion. The composition of the Psalm may therefore most naturally and fitly be assigned to the interval of peace mentioned in 2 Sam. vii. i, which may (see notes there) have been subsequent to some at least of the wars described in ch. viii, for the arrangement of the book does not appear to be strictly chronological. But it must be placed after the visit of Nathan recorded in 2 Sam. vii, as v. 50 clearly refers to the promise then given : unless indeed v. 50 is to be regarded as a later addition to the Psalm. In that time of tranquillity David reviewed the mercies of Jehovah in this sublime ode of thanksgiving, and planned to raise a monument of his gratitude in the scheme for building the Temple, which he was not allowed to carry out. The title of the Psalm is composite. The first part of it, For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, is analogous to the titles of other psalms in this collection : the second part is taken from 2 Sam. xxii. i, or from the older history which the compiler of Samuel made use of. Comp. the similar titles in Ex. xv. i ; Deut. xxxi. 30. Here, as in the title of Ps. xxxvi, David is styled Jehovah^s servant. Cp. 2 Sam. iii, 18; vii. 5, 8; i Kings viii. 24; Ps. Ixxviii. 70; Ixxxix. 3, 20; cxxxii. ro. Any Israelite might profess himself Jehovah's servant in addressing Him, but only a few who were raised up to do special service or who stood in a special relation to Jehovah, such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Job, are honoured with this distinctive title. Saul is mentioned by name as the most bitter and implacable of David's enemies. (For the form of expression cp. Ex. xviii. 10.) David's preservation in that fierce persecution which was aimed at his very life was the most signal instance of the providence which had watched over him. Much of the language of this Psalm reflects the experience of that time of anxiety and peril. The Two Recensions of Psalm xviii. The existence of this Psalm in two forms or recensions, in the Psalter and in 2 Sam., is a fact of the highest interest and importance in its bearing on the history and character of the Massoretic text of the O. T. Two questions obviously arise: (i) how are the variations to be account- ed for? and (2) which text is to be preferred as on the whole nearest to the original? Defenders of the integrity of the Massoretic text have maintained that both recensions proceeded from the poet himself, and are both equally authentic. That in Samuel is supposed to be the original form ; that in the Psalter is supposed to be a revision prepared by David him- self, probably towards the close of his life, for public use. This hypothe- sis can neither be proved nor disproved, but few will now maintain it. It is certain that many of the variations are due to errors of tran- scription (see on vv. 4, 10, 41, 42, 50); and the great probability is that those which appear to be due to intentional alteration were the work of a later reviser (see on vv. 11, 32, 45). Critics differ widely as to the relative value of the two texts. Both texts have unquestionably been affected by errors of transcription, and the text in 2 Sam. has suffered most from this cause, less care having PSALM XVIII. I, 2. 87 been bestowed on the preservation of the historical books. On the other hand the text in the Psalter appears to the present editor to have been subjected to a hterary revision at a later date, in which peculiar forms, which were possibly "licences of popular usage" have been re- placed by the forms in ordinary use; unusual constructions simplified; archaisms and obscure expressions explained. If this view is correct, the text in Samuel best preserves the original features of the poem, while at the same time it frequently needs correction from the text in the Psalter. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day t/zai the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul : And he said, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 18 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 2 My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, a/id my high tower. 1 — 3. Introductory prelude, in which one title is heaped upon another to express all that experience had proved Jehovah to be to David. 1. / wi// love theel Fervently do I love thee, a word occurring nowhere else in this form, and denoting tender and intimate aftection. This verse is omitted in 2 Sam. 2. The imagery which David uses is derived from the features of a country abounding in cliffs and caves and natural strongholds, with which he had become familiar in his flight from Saul. The rock, or cliflf [sela) where he had been so unexpectedly delivered from Saul (i Sam. xxiii. 25 — 28): the fortress or stronghold in the wilderness of Judah or the fastnesses of En-gedi (i Sam. xxii. 4, xxiii. 14, 19, 29, xxiv. 22); "the rocks of the wild goats" (i Sam. xxiv. 2; i Chr. xi. 1 5) ; were all emblems of Him who had been throughout his true Refuge and Deliverer. ??iy God] El, and so in vv. 30, 32, 47. See note on v. 4. my strength &c.] Lit., my rock in whom I take refuge. Here first in the Psalter occurs the title Rock, so frequently used to describe the strength, faithfulness, and unchangeableness of Jehovah. See vv. 31, 46; Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31; i Sam. ii. 2; Ps. xix. 14; xxviii. I ; &c. Here, as the relative clause shews, the special idea is that of an asylum in danger. Cp. xciv. 22; Deut. xxxii. 37. my bwkltr &c.] As my shield He defends me : as the horn of my salvation He drives my enemies before Him and gives me the victory. The horn is a common symbol of irresistible strength, derived from horned animals, especially wild oxen. See Deut. xxxiii. 17 ; and note the use of the phrase in Lk. i. 69. Cp. Ps. xxviii. 7, 8. my high toiuer] See note on ix. 9. 2 Sam. adds, "and my retreat, my saviour, who savest me from violence," 88 PSALM XVIII. 3—5. 3 1 will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised : So shall I be saved from mine enemies. 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about : The snares of death prevented me. 3. Not merely a resolution or expression of confidence for the future (/ will call... so shall I be saved); but the expression of a general conviction of God's faithfuhiess to answer prayer; whensoever I call... then am I saved &c. Cp. Ivi. 9. This conviction is based on experience, and illustrated by what follows [v. 6). worthy to be praised^ Cp. xlviii. i, xcvi. 4, cxiii. 3, cxlv. 3. Jehovah is the one object of Israel's praise (Deut. x. 21), and on Israel's praises ■ He sits enthroned (Ps. xxii. 3). The keynote of worship is Hallehijah, 'praise ye Jah,' and the Hebrew title of the Psalter is Tehillim, i. e. Praises. 4 — 6. In forcible figures David pictures the extremity of need in which he cried for help, and not in vain. Again and again there had been 'but a step between him and death.' (i Sam. xx. 3.) The perils to which he had been exposed are described as waves and torrents which threatened to engulf him or sweep him away : Sheol and Death are represented as hunters laying wait for his life v.'ith nets and snares. 4. The sorroivs of dcath'\ Rather, as R.V., The cords of death. But the word has been wrongly introduced here from v. 5, and the true reading should be restored from 2 Sam. : the waves (lit. breakers) of death. This gives a proper parallelism to floods in the next line. But the reading cords must be very ancient, for Ps. cxvi. 3 appears to recognise it. floods of jingodly vien] More graphically the original, torrents of destruction, or, ungodliness. Destruction threatened him like a torrent swollen by a sudden storm, and SM'eeping all before it (Jud. v. 21). The Heb. word belial, lit. 7c>orthless;iess, may mean destruction, physical mischief, as well as zaiched?icss, moral mischief: and the context points rather to the former sense here. Death, Destruction, and Sheol, are indeed almost personified, as conspiring for his ruin. 5. Render with R.V., The cords of Sheol were round about me : The snares of death came upon me. The Heb. word rendered sorroivs in the A.V. may no doubt have the meaning pangs, and is so rendered by the LXX (cJSr/'es davarov... lb. aSov, cp. Acts ii. 24). But the parallelism decides in favour of the renhei'mg cords. Death and Sheol, the mysterious unseen world (see on vi. e,), are like hunters lying in wait for their prey with nooses and nets. prevented] i.e. came before, confronted me (xvii. 13) with hostile intention. See note on t'. 18. PSALM XVIII. 6, 7. 89 In my distress I called upon the Lord, t And cried unto my God : He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, eve/i into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled ; : The foundations also of the hills moved 6. called... cried] The tense in the original denotes frei^uenf and repeated prayer. The text of 1 Sam. has called twice, no doubt by an error of transcription. out of his temple] The palace-temple of heaven, where He sits enthroned. See on xi. 4. Cp. v. 16. and my cry &c.] R.V., and my cry before Mm came into his ears. But the terse vigour of the text in 2 Sam. is preferable: "and my cry was in his ears." An alternative reading or an explanatory gloss has crept into the text here, to the detriment of the rhythm. 7 — 15. Forthwith David's prayer is answered by the Advent of Jehovah for the discomfiture of his enemies. He manifests Himself in earthquake and storm. The majestic though terrible phenomena of nature are the expression of His presence. Nature in its stern and awful aspect is a revelation of His judicial wrath. We may call this an 'ideal' description of a Theophany ; for though it is possible that David refers to some occasion when his enemies were scattered by the breaking of a terrible storm (cp. Josh, x, 11; Jud. v. 20 f.; i Sam. vii. 10), we have no record of such an event having actually happened in his life; and in any case the picture is intended to serve as a description of God's providential interposition for his deliverance in general, and not upon any single occasion. His power was exerted as really and truly as if all these extraordinary natural phenomena had visibly attested His Advent. Compare the accounts of the Exodus and the Giving of the Law. See Ex. xix. 16—18; Jud. v. 4, 5; Ps. Ixviii. 7, 8, Ixxvii. 16—18: and cp. 1. 2 ff., xcvii. 2 ff., cxiv; Is. xxix. 6, xxx. 27 ff., Ixiv. I ff; Hab. iii. 3 ff. Ps. xxix should be compared as illustrating David's sense of the grandeur and significance of natural phenomena. The earthquake {v. 7); the distant lightnings {v. 8); the gathering darkness of the storm {vv. 9—11); the final outburst of its full fury i^ov. 12 — 15); are pictured in regular succession. 7. The paronomasia of the original in the first line might be preserved by rendering, Then the earth did shake and quake. the foundations &c.] Render : And the foundations of the moun- tains trembled. The strong mountains were shaken to their very bases. Cp. Is. xxiv. 18; Hab. iii. 6. The text in 2 Sam. has "the founda- tions of heaven;" heaven as well as earth trembled. Its 'foundations' may be the mountains on which the vault of heaven seems to rest : cp. "the pillars of heaven" (Job xxvi. 11): or more probably the universe is spoken of as a vast building, without any idea of applying the details of the metaphor precisely. 90 PSALM XVIII. 8- And were shaken, because he was wroth. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured : Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down : And darkness 7vas under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly : because he was ■wrolh'] The coming of Jehovah for the deliverance of His servant is necessarily a coming for the judgment of His enemies ; and * wrath ' is that attribute of God's character which moves Him to judgment. Cp. Rev. vi. i6, 17. 8. The startling boldness of the language will be intelligible if the distinctive character of Hebrew symbolism is borne in mind. It is no "gross anthropomorphism," for the poet did not intend that the mind's eye should shape his figures into a concrete form. His aim is vividly to express the awfulness of this manifestation of God's wrath, and he does it by using figures which are intended to remain as purely mental conceptions, not to be realised as though God appeared in any visible shape. See some excellent remarks in Archbishop Trench's Comm. on the Epistles to the Seven Churches, p. 43. a smoke\ The outward sign of the pent-up fires of wrath. So anger is said to smoke (Ps. Ixxiv. i; Ixxx. 4 mafg.). This bold figure is suggested by the panting and snorting of an infuriated animal. See the description of the crocodile in Job xli. 19 — 21. out of his nostrils'] Cp. v. 15. In his wrath (R.V. marg.) is a possible rendering, but the context and parallelism are against it. Jiie] The constant emblem of the consuming wrath of God. See Ex. XV. 7; Deut. xxxii. 22; Ps. xcvii. 3; Heb. xii. 29. coals &c.] Or, hot burning coals came out of it: the fiery messengers of vengeance (cxl. 10). 9. The dark canopy of storm clouds, which is the pavement under His feet (Nah. i. 3), lowers as He descends to judgment. God is said to come down when He manifests His power in the world (Gen. xi. 7, xviii. 21 ; Is. Ixiv. i). The darkness, or better as R.V., thick darkness, in which He conceals Himself from human view, symbolises the mystery and awfulness of His Advent (Ex. xix. 16; xx. 21: i Kings viii. 12; Ps. xcvii. 2). 10. As the Shechinah, or mystic Presence of Jehovah in the cloud of glory, rested over the cherubim which were upon the " Mercy-seat " or covering of the ark (2 Sam. vi. 2; Ps. Ixxx. 1 ; Heb. ix. 5), so here Je'.iovah is represented "riding upon a cherub," as the living throne on which He traverses space. The Cherubim appear in Scripture (a) as the guardians of Paradise (Gen. iii. 24) : {b) as sculptured or wrought figures in the Tabernacle and Temple (Ex. xxv. 17 — 22, xxvi. 1; 1 Kings vi. 23 ff. ; vii. 29, 36) : (c) in prophetic visions as the attendants of God (Ezek. x. iff.; cp. Ezek. i; Is. vi; Rev. iv). The Cherubim of the Tabernacle and Temple PSALM XVIII. II— 14. 91 Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place ; n His pavilion round about him JFere dark waters a//d thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness f/ia/ was before him his thick clouds passed, 12 W^W-stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, 13 And the Highest gave his voice ; Yi^W-stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them ; i^ seem to have been winged human figures, representing the angelic attendants who minister in God's Presence: those of Ezekiel's vision appear as composite figures (Ez. x. 20, 21), symbolical perhaps of all the powers of nature, which wait upon God and fulfil His Will. yea, he did fly\ R.V. yea, lie flew swiftly. The Heb. word is a peculiar one, used of the sivooping of birds of prey (Deut. xxviii. 49; Jer. xlviii. 40, xlix. 22). The reading "yea, he was seen" in 2 Sam. is an obvious corruption. The consonants of the two words are so nearly alike (&